January 13, 2018

StarGate: Enabling Florida's Polar Option (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Air Force's announcement that polar or high-inclination missions may soon be launching from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport has raised questions about how this is possible. As I understand it, the rockets must use an Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) because the destruct signals for traditional flight termination systems can be blocked by the rocket's plume. Also, the rockets must perform a performance-diminishing 'dogleg' turn to the south after initially launching eastward.

Details on the Polar Corridor have not been made public, but it is clear that there will be some overflight of islands to the south of Florida, and there will be an adverse impact on air traffic corridors into Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. The corridor is designed to avoid overflight of Florida's coast, but it seemingly cannot avoid an overflight of Cuba. This begs the question: when is this kind of overflight OK?

The answer depends on having the rocket achieve an orbital "gate" prior to the overflight. I believe this means that even though it technically has not reached orbit, the vehicle/payload has achieved a velocity and altitude--along a tightly defined trajectory and after having detached from its lower stages--that would qualify it as being safely in space. But what is the velocity, altitude and trajectory? The assumption left by the Air Force's announcement is that SpaceX's Falcon-9 can use the Polar Corridor. If/when ULA switches to AFSS for its Atlas, Delta, and Vulcan rockets, will they too be able to go polar? (1/12)

2018 Could Be a Revolutionary Year for Smallsats (Source: Satellite Today)
Overall, 2017 was a “very good year” for smallsat launch rates, with the industry orbiting 329 smallsats (between 1 and 500 kg) in total. This is the highest number launched in one year to date, easily outstripping the mere 130 orbited in 2016. While the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) record-breaking launch of 105 satellites was a bit of an outlier, Belle believes the growing smallsat trend is here to stay.

NSR estimates that less than half of the currently proposed constellations will actually be successful. Nonetheless, their emergence is breathing new life into the industry, as both satellite manufacturers and launch providers compete for their contracts.

Manufacturers in particular seem grateful for the new potential business. Demand for Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites have plummeted in recent years, culminating in just nine orders in 2017. “That was a more significant decline than anything we’ve seen before,” Carlolyn Belle said. “That was the lowest number in more than a decade.” (1/10)

Ariane-5 Heading Toward Retirement (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
After more than twenty years in service, the Ariane 5 rocket is going to stop flying. The European rocket was first flown in June of 1996, and ArianeSpace has now ordered the last ten Ariane 5 launchers. The Ariane 5 succeeded the Ariane 4, but was not derived from it. This round of rockets, and the phase-out of the Ariane 5, will pave the way for the Ariane 6, which is currently scheduled to begin flights in 2020. The Ariane 6 will use a Vulcain 2.1 engine in the lower stage, with the new VINCI engine in the upper stage. (1/12)

China Launches Two BeiDou-3 Spacecraft to Replenish its Homegrown Satellite Navigation System (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
China has conducted its second flight of 2018 by launching a Long March 3B rocket with a duo of BeiDou-3 spacecraft for its homegrown BieDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). China had kept the details about the mission under wraps. The satellites (26th and 27th satellites of the BeiDou system) are based on a newly-developed dedicated satellite bus and weigh about one metric ton each.

The two newly-launched satellites represent the third phase of the BDS system (BeiDou-3). It is the final stage of the establishment of a Chinese space-based navigation architecture. The constellation will consist of 27 BeiDou-3M satellites in MEO, five BeiDou-3G satellites in a geostationary orbit (GTO), and three BeiDou-3I satellites in an inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit (IGSO). (1/12)

Rocket Lab Sets New Window for Second Electron Launch at New Zealand Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab announced Jan. 11 it plans to make another attempt to launch its Electron small rocket on its second mission later this month. Rocket Lab said the nine-day launch window for the mission at its New Zealand launch site will open at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 20 local time (8:30 p.m. Jan. 19 Eastern time). There will be a four-hour window each day, opening at the same time, for the launch. The company, headquartered in the United States but with launch and other operations in New Zealand, attempted to carry out the launch during a 10-day window in December. However, several attempts were postponed by poor weather. (1/12)

Shelby: Crashed Elon Musk Satellite Raises SpaceX Contract Questions (Source: Washington Post)
The Pentagon refused any public comment on a secret U.S. government satellite that apparently crashed into the sea after it was launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Sen. Richard Shelby, who heads the panel that approves appropriations for NASA, said the lost satellite raises new questions about SpaceX contracts. Shelby is a strong supporter of United Launch Alliance, which has operations in his state. (1/12)

Pentagon Shuts Down Questions About Zuma, Raises More Questions (Source: Space News)
When a big-ticket military weapon development or procurement goes off the rails for any reason, the Pentagon as a rule does not deflect media questions to the contractor that the government hired to do the work. So reporters at the Pentagon were shocked on Thursday when the Defense Department’s top spokesperson Dana White not only refused to comment on the apparent failure of a secret military space mission codenamed Zuma, but also told a journalist to direct his questions to SpaceX. (1/12)

Safety Panel Raises Concerns About Falcon 9 Pressure Vessel for Commercial Crew Missions (Source: Space News)
An independent safety panel recommended NASA not certify SpaceX’s commercial crew system until the agency better understands the behavior of pressure vessels linked to a Falcon 9 failure in 2016. That recommendation was one of the stronger items in the annual report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), which found that NASA was generally managing risk well on its various programs.

The report devoted a section to the composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) used to store helium in the second stage propellant tanks of the Falcon 9. The investigation into the September 2016 pad explosion that destroyed a Falcon 9 while being prepared for a static-fire test concluded that liquid oxygen in the tank got trapped between the COPV overwrap and liner and then ignited through friction or other mechanisms.

SpaceX has since changed its loading processes to avoid exposing the COPVs to similar conditions, but also agreed with NASA to redesign the COPV to reduce the risk for crewed launches. NASA has since started a “rigorous test program” to understand how the redesigned COPV behaves when exposed to liquid oxygen, the report stated. (1/12)

Classified NROL-47 Mission Launches Atop Delta-4 From Vandenberg (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed its first flight of 2018 on Jan. 12, two days after high ground winds forced the scrubbing of the initial launch attempt and one day after a ground system valve forced a second scrub. A ULA Delta IV carrying the classified NROL-47 payload lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. It was ULA’s 27th flight for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the 36th flight of the Delta IV rocket, which first flew in 2002. (1/12)

SpaceShipTwo Conducts Successful Test Flight (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Virgin Galactic conducted a successful test flight of the SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity vehicle on Thursday, Jan. 11. The high-speed glide test marks the seventh for VSS Unity, which reached a top speed of Mach 0.9 during the flight. At the helm were pilots Mark Stucky and Michael Masucci, who pushed the test article of the spacecraft to the limits of its atmospheric gliding capabilities. The flight comes several months after the previous flight of Unity in August of 2017.

In the intervening time, extensive analysis, testing, and some small modifications were made to the vehicle to prepare it to withstand higher loads. Mach 0.9 is approximately the highest speed the vehicle can reach without firing the rocket motor, according to a release on the Virgin Galactic website. (1/13)

O'Keefe: Jim Bridenstine is the Leader NASA Needs (Source: The Hill)
Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), the president’s nominee for NASA administrator, is facing criticism regarding his qualifications for the job. These concerns seem to be rooted in a clear preference instead for a nominee possessing skills or experience as a scientist, engineer or technologist. Perhaps most critically, some have dismissed Bridenstine's experience as inadequate given that he is an elected politician.

But if history is any guide, technical skills are not necessarily requisites for success leading this storied agency. While several previous NASA leaders were credentialed or experienced in such disciplines, this was not a clear determinant for success. And contrary to the critical view, Bridenstine arguably has the best qualifications for success given the challenges ahead.

Of the dozen previous NASA administrators, perhaps the most extraordinary and historically noteworthy of them served during the Apollo era. James Webb possessed a diverse base of experience, but none of the technical skills extolled in some of the current dialogue. Webb earned an undergraduate degree in Education, served in the Marine Corps, earned a law degree and served as a congressional staffer before a brief time in industry. (1/13)

Hawaii Missile Attack False Alarm: 'Thank God the President was Playing Golf' (Source: The Hill)
A former Defense Department official under former President Barack Obama reacted to the false alarm of a ballistic missile headed towards Hawaii on Saturday by saying “thank God the President was playing golf.” Patrick Granfield, a former strategic communications director at the Pentagon, posted the tweet after Hawaii officials declared the emergency alert was a false alarm...38 minutes after it was mistakenly issued.

Critics went after Trump for being at his Trump International Golf Course in Florida when the false alarm alert was sent out on Saturday. The false alarm came amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program and continued testing of ballistic missiles. Hawaii has been preparing for a potential attack from North Korea for months amid heightened tensions with the rogue state over its nuclear program.

The island state is roughly 4,600 miles from North Korea, making it a relatively natural target. Kim Jong Un's regime, which is believed to have anywhere between 25 to 60 nuclear weapons, threatened to target the U.S. territory of Guam in 2017 on more than one occasion, prompting Hawaii to take extra measures to ensure it's prepared in the event of an attack. (1/13)

Dragon Splashes Down, Falcon Heavy Static Fire Rescheduled for Monday (Source: Parabolic Arc)
SpaceX’s Dragon resupply ship splashed down in the Pacific Ocean this morning with 4,078.6 lbs (1,850 kg) of experiments and technology from the International Space Station. The vehicle spent nearly a month at the station. Meanwhile, SpaceX has rescheduled Falcon Heavy’s static fire for Monday. The six-hour window runs from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST (2100 to 0300 UTC). The heavy-lift booster’s 27 first stage engines will be fired for up to 15 seconds. (1/13)