November 4, 2017

Blue Origin's KSC Rocket Factory Coming Together Ahead of December Opening (Source: Florida Today)
Blue Origin, the rocketry company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, appears to be putting the finishing touches on its massive factory at Kennedy Space Center. Crews recently installed bright "Blue Origin" logos on the sides of the white-and-blue building, which sits just west of the spaceport at Exploration Park. Two massive, yellow crane rails were also transported to the factory last week.

The 750,000-square-foot facility will assemble 270- and 330-foot variants of the company's reusable New Glenn rockets, which will launch from about 10 miles away at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 36. The factory will also function as launch control for Blue Origin's missions due to the pad's proximity and advances in automation. (11/3)

Telescope Permit Decision Appealed to Hawaii Supreme Court (Source: ABC News)
Opponents of a giant telescope planned for a Hawaii mountain are appealing the state land board's approval of the project's construction permit. Richard Wurdeman, an attorney representing some of the opponents, filed a notice of appeal with the state Supreme Court on Monday.

The board in September approved a construction permit for Thirty Meter Telescope. Opponents of the $1.4 billion project say it will desecrate land sacred to Native Hawaiians while supporters say it will provide educational and economic opportunities. The opponents appealed directly to the state Supreme Court because of a law that allows certain contested-case hearing decisions to bypass the Intermediate Court of Appeals. (11/1)

Boeing CEO Highlights Company's Role in Supporting Jobs, US Economy (Source: Fox Business)
Boeing is a "significant job generator," supporting 13,000 small- to medium-size businesses -- or about 1.5 million US manufacturing jobs -- with its supply chain, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg says. He notes that 90% of Boeing's jobs are in the US and about 80% of its products are exported -- so "every airplane sale overseas generates US jobs." (11/2)

Air Force: GPS 3 Competition Coming Soon (Source: Space News)
Air Force officials predict more than one company will step up to challenge Lockheed Martin for the production of up to 22 GPS 3 satellites. “Our goal is to issue a request for proposals in the very near future,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, California.

“The market research we’ve done over the past couple of years clearly indicates there is strong and viable competition in the market,” Thompson told reporters Thursday at the Pentagon. “I think there are many vendors interested in that competition.” He suggested Boeing and Northrop Grumman are likely bidders. (11/3)

How NASA Plans to Get Humans Back to the Moon (Source: Space News)
It's been 45 years since a crewed spacecraft journeyed toward the moon with a "trans-lunar injection," but NASA plans to make that happen again in just a few years. The agency recently released a video showing the profile for the first uncrewed test of its new moon mission profile, called Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1). The test is scheduled for 2019 (following some delays), and will be the first integrated test of both the Space Launch System — NASA's rocket to bring astronauts into deep space — and the new Orion spacecraft. Click here. (11/2)

U.S. Report Says Humans Cause Climate Change, Contradicting Top Trump Officials (Source: New York Times)
The Earth is experiencing the warmest period in the history of civilization and humans are the dominant cause of the temperature rise that has occurred since the start of the 20th century, according to an exhaustive scientific report unveiled Friday by 13 federal agencies. The report was approved by the White House, but it directly contradicts much of the Trump administration’s position on climate change.

Over the past 115 years global average temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to record-breaking weather events and temperature extremes. The global, long-term warming trend is “unambiguous,” the report says, and there is “no convincing alternative explanation” that anything other than humans — the cars we drive, the power plants we operate, the forests we destroy — are to blame.

The findings come as the Trump administration is defending its climate change policies on several fronts. The United Nations convenes its annual climate change conference next week in Bonn, Germany, and the Trump delegation is expected to face harsh criticism over President Trump’s decision to walk away from the 195-nation Paris accord on climate and top American officials’ stated doubts about the causes and impacts of a warming planet. “This report has some very powerful, hard-hitting statements that are totally at odds with senior administration folks and at odds with their policies,” said Philip B. Duffy, president of the Woods Hole Research Center. (11/3)

China’s Secretive Spaceplane May Launch in 2020 (Source: Ars Technica)
There have been rumors about China's development of a spaceplane for the better part of a decade, but now the vehicle has a tentative launch date. According to a statement from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, published by the Chinese state news service Xinhua, the reusable spacecraft will launch in 2020.

Should Chinese scientists and engineers deliver on their promises, some of the technology promised by the new spaceplane will be downright futuristic. Based on various reports, the spacecraft would take off from a runway and then, higher in the atmosphere, shift to ramjet propulsion before finally using rocket motors to exit Earth's atmosphere and move into orbit around the planet. (11/2)