January 24, 2018

Lunar X Prize Goes Unclaimed, Moon Express Presses On (Source: Space News)
The organization running the Google Lunar X Prize said Tuesday none of the remaining teams in the competition would launch before the prize's March 31 deadline. The X Prize Foundation said that a combination of financial, technical and regulatory problems would keep any of the teams from winning the prize, with no plans by prize sponsor Google to extend the deadline again. The competition offered a $20 million grand prize for the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the moon, travel at least 500 meters, and return video and other data. The X Prize Foundation said it was considering other ways to keep the competition alive, either through a new prize sponsor or "a non-cash competition" where the foundation promotes the teams but no longer offers a prize purse.

One year ago, the foundation whittled the competition field, which at the time had 16 teams, to five finalists: Moon Express, SpaceIL, Synergy Moon, TeamIndus and Team Hakuto. Those teams were previously required to launch by the end of 2017, but the foundation tweaked the rules to eliminate the requirement so long as their missions completed by March 31, 2018.

Moon Express has, in recent months, deemphasized its pursuit of the Google Lunar X Prize while laying out a long-term plan for lunar lander and sample return missions. “The competition has always been a sweetener in the landscape of the business case, but it’s never been the business case itself,” Bob Richards, chief executive of Moon Express, wrote in a recent op-ed. “With Moon Express, we have always been supportive of the competition and have continued to include plans for one or more prize attempts in our maiden mission operations.” (1/23)

Space Walk Fixes Robotic Arm at ISS (Source: Space.com)
Astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Tuesday to replace a hand on the station's robotic arm. Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle spent nearly seven and a half hours outside the station on an EVA that started at 6:49 a.m. Eastern. They replaced one of the "latching end effectors" on the Canadarm2 arm with a spare unit. The new hand initially was not communicating properly, but a reboot of the arm's electronics fixed the issue. Vande Hei and Norishige Kanai will perform a second spacewalk next week to complete the hand replacement work. (1/24)

Telenor Seeks Broadband Markets (Source: Space News)
A Norwegian satellite operator is seeking to build up its broadband business to reduce reliance on broadcasting. Direct-to-home television broadcasting is still the largest source of revenue for Telenor Satellite, but the company is building up maritime and other broadband connectivity business using the Ka-band high-throughput payload on its Thor-7 satellite. "We made a strategic decision to build two equally strong legs," said Telenor CEO Morten Tengs on the plan to rely on both broadcast and broadband business. (1/24)

Rocket Lab Launch Tested New Upper Stage (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab's successful Electron launch also tested a new kick stage. The company said that the kick stage, powered by a small monopropellant engine called Curie, circularized the orbits of the two Spire satellites on the vehicle. Rocket Lab, which had not disclosed the development of the kick stage until after the launch, said it will provide additional flexibility in deploying satellites. (1/24)

Ariane 6 Engine Tested (Source: Ariane Group)
ArianeGroup said Tuesday it performed the first successful test firing of the main engine for the Ariane 6. The Vulcain 2.1 engine was fired at a DLR test facility in Germany, beginning a series of qualification tests for the engine. The Vulcain 2.1 is based on the Vulcain 2 used on the Ariane 5, but with design changes intended to lower production costs. (1/24)

Satellites At Risk for Cyber Attack (Source: Space News)
Analysts worry the U.S. military is not paying enough attention to cybersecurity, including protecting satellites, as part of its nuclear modernization plans. A new nuclear posture review suggests that the U.S. would consider using nuclear weapons in response to a cyber attack. However, nuclear modernization plans, experts argue, aren't doing enough to protect military command networks and communications satellites from cyber attacks themselves. (1/24)

Tesla Deal Could Enable Musk Investment in SpaceX (Source: New York Times)
Tesla could help Elon Musk fund his Mars plans. Musk, who is the CEO of the electric car company, reached a new 10-year compensation agreement with the company's board. Musk's compensation will be tied to the growth of the company and its valuation, with Musk receiving stock awards as the company hits a series of targets. If Musk achieves all the goals, which many outsiders believe to be unrealistic, he would receive stock valued at $55 billion. Musk suggested the money would go towards his Mars settlement plans. "I want to contribute as much as possible to humanity becoming a multi-planet species," he said. "That obviously requires a certain amount of capital." (1/24)

Exos Test Suborbital Rocket Destined for Launches at Spaceport America (Source: Spaceport America)
Exos Aerospace said it's completed a "tie-down" test of its SARGE suborbital rocket. The Texas company said the test, a form of static fire testing, is one of the last testing milestones before the vehicle is ready to fly. Exos Aerospace plans to launch the first SARGE sounding rocket from Spaceport America in New Mexico later this year, and expects to receive an FAA launch license by next month. (1/24)

Planets Around Red Dwarf Seem Habitable (Source: Guardian)
Models suggest that two of the planets discovered last year orbiting a red dwarf are particularly likely to be habitable. A new study modeled the formation and probable composition of seven planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1. Two of the planets are in a temperate range around the star, one with temperatures slightly above the freezing point of water and one colder "but also reasonable." The actual presence of water, and habitability, of those worlds will require studies by future telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope. (1/24)

Reduced DOD Space Spending Meant Less R&D, Less Hardware (Source: Space News)
The space industry was hard-hit by a downturn in defense spending, according to a new report. The Center for Strategic and International Studies found that contracts for space systems dropped from nearly $10 billion in 2009 to just over $6 billion in 2016. Research and development work suffered an even steeper cut, from from $6 billion to $3 billion in the same period. The cuts illustrate not just a reduction in overall space spending but a shift from products to services. (1/23)

China Launches Canadian Cubesat (Source: Space News)
A Chinese launch last week placed into orbit the first satellite for a Canadian constellation. Kepler Communications confirmed that its first cubesat, dubbed Kipp, was among the payloads on a Long March 11 rocket launched Friday. The Ku-band satellite is the first in a planned constellation to provide broadband store-and-forward communications. The company is one of 11 that has filed for FCC licenses for Ku- or Ka-band spectrum for non-geostationary orbit satellite services. (1/23)

Russia's Energia Develops ISS Replacement Plan (Source: Tass)
A Russian company has developed plans for a potential Russian successor to the International Space Station. An RSC Energia executive said Tuesday the proposed station would feature five modules, with a total mass of 60 metric tons. The company didn't state when the station would be built or how much it would cost. Russian officials have suggested in the past it would develop a new station, using in part modules from the ISS, once the ISS ends. (1/23)

JSC Director Plans Retirement in May (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The director of NASA's Johnson Space Center will retire in May. Ellen Ochoa notified employees last week that she plans to retire after 30 years at the space agency. Ochoa was an astronaut who flew on four shuttle missions before taking a center management position, and became director of JSC in 2012. In a memo to employees, she said she will be moving with her family to Boise, Idaho, "and I intend to be involved with a number of activities that interest me (including getting back to playing flute, which I once considered for a career!)" (1/23)

Italy's First Female Astronaut: 'No Room for Conflicts in Space' (Source: Space Daily)
While Earth is seized by geopolitical tensions and friction, up in space there are endless possibilities to work together for more important common goals, such were the conclusions during a recent conference on space held in Rome, Italy.

Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian European Space Agency astronaut, who is also an Italian Air Force pilot and engineer, believes that humans are not going to Mars anytime soon. "It will take a long time to fly to Mars. If from the ISS to go to the Moon it takes long time, then to Mars it takes even more. Currently there are many expectations regarding this, but we need investments," Cristoforetti said. (1/23)

This NASA Spacecraft Will Get Closer to the Sun Than Anything Ever Before (Source: Washington Post)
Shortly after NASA was established in 1958, the nation's top scientists compiled a list of missions they thought the brand-new space agency should pursue. The proposals were heady, considering at that point only three satellites had ever been launched. Researchers suggested an Earth-orbiting telescope that could detect the universe's most distant stars, probes that would venture to the solar system's other planets, an initiative to land humans on the surface of the moon. With time, each of those dreams became a reality

All except one: an effort to get a close look at the sun, the source of Earth's light and heat, as well as solar storms that could disrupt our satellites and fry our electric grid. It took decades for the technology to protect scientific equipment from the sun's ferocious rays to be invented. This summer, the Parker Solar Probe will launch on a journey that will send it skimming through the sun's atmosphere at a pace of 450,000 mph — fast enough to get from Washington to New York in about a second. It will fly within 4 million miles of the sun's surface. (1/22)