January 30, 2018

SpaceWorks Forecast Sees Another Rise in Small Satellite Launch Demand (Source: SpaceWorks)
SpaceWorks Enterprises has released its annual nanosatellite and microsatellite market forecast. Projections indicate as many as 2,600 nano/microsatellites will require launch over the next 5 years. The 2018 market forecast is available in presentation form as a free download on the SpaceWorks Commercial website, www.spaceworkscommercial.com.
 
Compared with last year's Nano/Microsatellite forecast, the current projections have been increased to reflect an increase in small satellite launch opportunities, the continued maturation of emerging small satellite operators, and a strong influx of venture capital financing into the space sector. An estimated 263 - 413 nano/microsatellites (1 - 50 kg) will launch globally in 2018, representing a 15% decrease from 2017, but an overall increase of 160% from 2016. (1/30)

Lockheed Martin Reports $51 Billion in Sales, Reduced Space Activity (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin reported record sales for 2017, but the company's space business has little to do with that growth. In earnings results released Monday, the company reported $5.9 billion in operating profit on net sales of $51 billion for 2017. Sales in the company's space segment, though, increased by less than one percent in 2017, and its operating profit fell by 23 percent. Reduced activity on space transportation and government satellite programs were among the key reasons for the limited sales growth and decreased profits. (1/29)

Quika Plans Free Satellite Broadband Service to Middle East and African Regions (Source: Space News)
A new company is offering "entirely free" satellite broadband services to underserved regions of the globe this year, but with a catch. Quika Ltd. announced this month it will provide satellite broadband services to Afghanistan and Iran this spring and nearly half of African nations this summer, using Ka-band capacity leased on other companies' satellites. However, users of the Quika Free service have to deposit $350 for the terminals and move to a paid plan if they want more bandwidth or to hide the ads that underwrite the free service. (1/30)

Port Canaveral Plans $18M Investment for Space Programs (Source: Florida Today)
Port Canaveral plans to spend nearly $18 million on facilities to support the space industry. Commissioners approved a $17.9 million contract last week to make improvements to part of the port to support commercial space activities. That could include recovering boosters that land on ships at sea, which SpaceX currently does with the Falcon 9 and Blue Origin plans to do with its New Glenn vehicle. The port's 30-year master plan, also approved last week, includes additional phases of work "to accommodate growth needs of the industry." (1/30)

Japanese Space Agency Offering $3,500 to Volunteers Willing To Spend 14 Days In A Simulated Space Station (Source: Inquisitr)
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is currently searching for eight lucky individuals who will receive 380,000 yen (US$3,500) from it after spending about two weeks in isolation inside a simulated space station. JAXA wants to select eight volunteers for this experiment. The experiment will allow JAXA scientists to establish precise stress markers for astronauts who have to spend long periods of time in small, confined space during space missions. (1/30)

New Mexico Debate on Spaceport Confidentiality Bill (Source: NM Politics)
The New Mexico legislature will start debate this week on a bill that will exempt many spaceport documents from open records laws. A state senate committee will consider the bill Tuesday, although both that committee and another will need to approve it before the full senate can vote on it. While the bill has the support of New Mexico. Gov. Susana Martinez, the state's lieutenant governor, John Sanchez, said he expects the bill to be amended in the legislature, arguing that information such as lease payments by spaceport tenants should not be considered confidential. (1/30)

Joi Scientific Lures Microsoft Exec to New Job (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An executive from Microsoft has left the tech giant to join a Space Coast startup bent on revolutionizing hydrogen fuel creation, Joi Scientific. Stefan Sjöström led public sector activities for Microsoft in Asia and Western Europe for the past eight years. He will now be the president of international business for Joi.

Sjöström will be continue to be based in Singapore, where he will work on leading global sales for Joi Scientific’s technology into energy and public utilities, in both developed and developing countries.  Joi calls its technology Hydrogen 2.0. The company claims it enables the on-demand production of hydrogen fuel from seawater. Joi hasn’t demonstrated its technology publicly yet, and many of its claims are still met with skepticism from the scientific community. (1/30)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Lures Orbital ATK Exec to VP Role (Source: Aerojet Rocketdyne)
Aerojet Rocketdyne has hired a former Orbital ATK executive as senior vice president of strategy and business development. Greg Jones joins Aerojet from Orbital, where he was vice president of corporate business development and international programs. Jones also previously worked for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas during his more than 30 years in the industry. He succeeds Jim Simpson, who left Aerojet  to become CEO of satellite operator ABS last month. (1/29)

Trump Backs Commercial Launch For Gateway Power Module (Source: Aviation Week)
Following through on plans to focus NASA’s post-International Space Station (ISS) human exploration program on the Moon and to increase the agency’s commercial and international partnerships, the Trump administration is proposing that the first element of the lunar-orbiting Deep Space Gateway research and test facility be launched by a commercial provider rather than the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. (1/30)

SpaceX Seeks $5 Million in Additional State Funding for Texas Spaceport (Source: 512tech)
SpaceX is seeking new state funding to build a commercial spaceport in Texas, even though the high-profile project that it began near Brownsville in 2014 is behind schedule and millions in state tax dollars already set aside for it have yet to be spent. SpaceX is seeking up to $5 million more from the state to help build infrastructure related to the launch facility at Boca Chica beach outside Brownsville. Meanwhile, McLennan County — which encompasses Waco — also has applied for some of the same state spaceport funds through an entity it has created to develop a spaceport.

Kris Collins, an official with the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, declined to reveal the name of the aerospace company that McLennan County has been working with on a potential spaceport project. However, SpaceX already has a major rocket design and testing facility in McGregor, which is near Waco, and the company previously has been awarded local incentives for economic development. A SpaceX spokesman said company executives weren’t immediately available to comment on their Texas spaceport plans.

About $15.3 million in state funding already has been set aside for SpaceX’s planned Boca Chica spaceport, but only about $3 million has been disbursed so far — and SpaceX has returned a small portion because it has fallen short of hiring goals as the project failed to keep pace with its original timetable. (1/30)