February 6, 2018

UK Space Agency Awards $4.9 Million to Spire (Source: Via Satellite)
The U.K. Space Agency has awarded more than 4 million pounds ($5.59 million) to Spire Global to demonstrate space technology including parallel super-computing. The announcement gives the green light to missions designed to showcase the technology and put U.K. companies into orbit faster and at a lower cost. The U.K. is the largest funder of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Satellites (ARTES) program, which transforms research into successful commercial projects.

Lord Henley, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, announced the funding on a visit to Spire’s U.K. base in Glasgow, where the company intends to create new jobs to add to its existing workforce. (2/5)

Cosmonauts Position Antenna Wrong During Record-Long Spacewalk (Source: Space Daily)
A pair of Russian cosmonauts didn't set out to break the record for longest Russian spacewalk, but what seemed like a relatively straightforward mission turned out to be surprisingly complicated. Expedition commander Alexander Misurkin and flight engineer Anton Shkaplerov spent 8 hours and 13 minutes outside the ISS, a record in Russian space history. In 2013, a pair of cosmonauts spent 8 hours and 7 minutes outside the space station.

On Friday, the duo were were tasked with replacing an electronics box for a communication antenna. But after replacing the old box and installing the new one, the cosmonauts realized the antenna wasn't extending after being folded up during repairs. Misurkin and Shkaplerov struggled to get the box and antennae into proper positioning so that it could fully extend. After more than eight hours, they succeeded.

However, the antennae is still positioned 180 degrees askew. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, is looking into whether the technology will need to be adjusted further during a future spacewalk. Part of the reason the mission took so long, NASA TV commentator Rob Navias said during the online broadcast, is that the electronics box is bulky and difficult to handle with the rather clunky space gloves worn during spacewalks. (2/6)

Orbital ATK Must Face SSL's Trade Secret Theft Suit (Sources: Law360, Reuters)
A Virginia federal judge on Friday trimmed two claims from Space Systems/Loral’s suit accusing rival Orbital ATK of stealing its trade secrets through a shared NASA server, but refused to toss the suit, saying SSL had adequately pled the majority of its allegations. SSL’s conversion and unjust enrichment claims were preempted by a misappropriation claim it had made under the Virginia Uniform Trade Secrets Act, as all three claims were based on the same alleged harm — Orbital ATK Inc.’s alleged theft of proprietary data and business plans for an in-space satellite servicing technology.

At least four confidential SSL documents were viewed and distributed by an Orbital ATK employee working at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, where the data is stored as part of an ongoing SSL partnership with the U.S. space agency, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. (2/6)

SpaceX Back-Burners Crewed Lunar Dragon Mission (Source: Space News)
SpaceX, though, is no longer emphasizing one potential mission for the Falcon Heavy, carrying people. Musk said the company is no longer planning to use the Falcon Heavy to launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a flight around the moon, a mission the company announced less than a year ago. Musk said the progress SpaceX has made on its far larger BFR rocket led him to decide to focus the company's resources on that vehicle rather than qualifying Falcon Heavy for crewed missions. Musk said that SpaceX could revisit crewed flights on the Falcon Heavy should BFR development run into delays. (2/5)

Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom Ready for In-Flight Broadband (Source: Space News)
Two companies have completed work on a hybrid network to provide broadband services to aircraft. Inmarsat and Deutsche Telekom announced Monday they had finished work on the European Aviation Network (EAN), which features 300 ground-based towers and S-band services from the Inmarsat S EAN satellite launched last year. EAN will provide connectivity to aircraft serving Europe at rates above 75 Mbps, with service set to start in the first half of this year. (2/5)

House Kicks Budget Can With New Continuing Resolution (Source: Roll Call)
House appropriators have introduced another continuing resolution to fund the federal government, but this time with full defense funding. The "cromnibus" bill would provide funding for the Defense Department through the rest of fiscal year 2018, but fund other agencies only through March 23. While the measure is expected to pass the House, it has an uncertain future in the Senate, where Democrats say they're opposed to funding defense for the rest of the year without a broader budget deal. The current CR funding the government expires Thursday night. (2/5)

Thaicom Scraps Plan for New Satellite (Source: Bangkok Post)
Thaicom and the Thai government have dropped plans to build a new communications satellite. Thaicom scrapped plans to build the Thaicom 9 communications satellite because of declining demand for satellite services, as well as a regulatory dispute with the government. The Thai government is now considering developing instead an "exploration satellite for natural resources" but disclosed few details about those plans. (2/5)

NASA Plans Earth Science Cubesats (Source: NASA)
NASA announced Monday it has selected two Earth science instruments for flight on cubesats and the International Space Station. The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE) mission will fly instruments on a pair of cubesats to study Arctic warming, sea ice loss and ice-sheet melting. The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument will be mounted on the ISS to determine the mineral composition of natural sources of dust aerosols in the atmosphere. NASA picked the two instruments from 14 proposals submitted in its latest Earth Venture Instrument opportunity. (2/5)

Congressional Caucus to Promote Planetary Science (Source: Planetary Society)
Members of Congress have established a new caucus devoted to promoting planetary science. The Planetary Science Caucus includes members who plan to advocate for space science and exploration, including "advancing federal policies that support the search for life in our solar system and beyond." The caucus is co-chaired by Reps. John Culberson (R-TX) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and includes members of the House and Senate from both parties. A kickoff event for the caucus is planned for May. (2/5)

Flat-Earth Rocketman Remains Grounded (Source: Space.com)
A man who said he can prove the Earth is flat by launching himself in a rocket has failed to lift off, again. Mike Hughes had planned to launch himself in a small rocket over the weekend Saturday in California, but the launch was scrubbed because of a technical problem, he said. A planned launch late last year was also postponed because he didn't have permits from the Bureau of Land Management. Hughes said photos he can take during the rocket launch will demonstrate the Earth is flat, even though the rocket will get no higher than about half a kilometer, a far lower altitude than even most aircraft. (2/5)

Single-Person Spacecraft Design Passes Pool Test (Source: Space.com)
Putting on a spacesuit is one of the most dangerous activities for astronauts. During spacewalks, there is little protection against micrometeoroids, which can puncture the protective suits. Occasionally, the suits themselves suffer failures that can threaten the life of the astronaut.

To avoid this dangerous situation, what if astronauts could do activities that normally require a spacewalk with a maneuverable single-person spacecraft instead? That's the vision that the Maryland-based company Genesis Engineering Solutions suggests could work for future missions, including missions to NASA's proposed Deep Space Gateway near the moon.

In the company's proposed spacecraft design, the vehicle would be attached to the larger station or living space, and all an astronaut would need to do is shinny through the bottom of the spacecraft to get inside it. It would be equipped with little robot arms to do repairs, and lots of fuel to zoom to even distant areas of the space station. (2/6)

KSC Visitor Complex Sells Out for Falcon Heavy Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launch attempt Tuesday afternoon is expected to draw up to 100,000 viewers to Cape Canaveral and the surrounding area, making it one of the most anticipated since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. The Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex sold out its tickets for Tuesday, including the most expensive and closest — $195 to watch from the Apollo/Saturn launch complex. The visitor complex, normally open to the public, will be closed to anyone without an official placard for their car. (2/5)