April 10, 2018

Monteith Talks Eastern Range in Fast Company Interview (Source: Fast Company)
U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Wayne Monteith always intended to follow his father and stepfather into military service, but imperfect eyesight quashed that plan. Instead, he got an MBA, then joined the Air Force as a nuclear weapons officer. After moving over to space operations, Monteith flew military satellites before being tapped to run 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, which adjoins Cape Canaveral in Florida, in August 2015.

A lot has happened in space innovation since Monteith’s promotion. Perhaps most famously, Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched and landed its Falcon 9 rocket, setting the stage for a new era of cheaper, reusable rockets. More broadly, the space business as a whole has taken off, with a flurry of new startups and investment.

None of that accelerated pace of innovation would’ve been possible without parallel changes in how the Air Force manages its Cape Canaveral operations. Monteith, who oversees all commercial and U.S. government launches from the Cape, sat down with Fast Company to discuss speed, safety, and getting to know billionaire rocket entrepreneurs like Musk and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. Click here. (4/9)

Space Hotel Already Booked First Four Months (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Wealthy space enthusiasts are paying $80,000 deposits to secure a spot in the solar system’s first-ever space hotel, which could accept guests starting in 2022. Aurora Station, the brainchild of Orion Span based in Houston and Silicon Valley, sold four months of reservations within 72 hours of being announced last week. The modular space station would allow guests to float in zero gravity, grow food to take home as a souvenir and see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. Click here. (4/9)

NASA is Counting on Long-Lived Mars Orbiter Lasting Another Decade (Source: Spaceflight Now)
NASA’s focus at the red planet has shifted to collecting and bringing rock samples back to Earth — a feat that could take a decade and leave little money for other Mars missions — and the space agency is counting on the workhorse Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter continuing its imaging and radio relay functions for nearly 10 more years, officials said last week.

That’s because there are no more Mars orbiters planned with MRO’s unique capabilities, which merge high-resolution mapping and telecom relay between Earth and rovers on the Martian surface, from a low orbit that averages less than 200 miles (300 kilometers) above the planet.

The bucket of funding devoted to NASA’s robotic Mars exploration program will instead be funneled into a sample return campaign, the first step of which is finishing a rover set for launch in July 2020 to collect approximately three dozen core samples from Martian rocks. The mobile robot, based on the Curiosity rover currently exploring Mars, will drop the sealed sample containers at a caching site for retrieval by a future mission to bring them back to Earth. (4/9)

NanoRacks Lays Out Vision for Converting Spent Rocket Stages Into Space Outposts (Source: GeekWire)
Don’t call them commercial space stations, or gateways, or portals. NanoRacks is laying claim to a different moniker for its new breed of refurbished orbital modules. “We like ‘outposts,'” NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber said. The space outposts that Manber has in mind, at least to start out with, are converted Centaur upper stages — the rocket boosters that sit atop the first stage of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket.

NanoRacks’ concept calls for refurbishing the insides of a Centaur upper stage after it’s finished delivering an Atlas payload to its proper orbit, so that it can be reused as an orbital habitat. The work could be done by a crew on the International Space Station, or by a robot. MDA US Systems, a business unit of Maxar Technologies, has already worked out a procedure for robotic remodeling. Click here. (4/10)

Space Coast Aerospace Employers are Turning to Apprenticeships (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Alex Condevillamar runs a computer-guided cutting machine at a new space company in Titusville five days a week, helping to build satellite components for RUAG Space USA. One night a week, he leaves that job early to attend classes to learn more complex skills as a machinist. The classes are paid for by RUAG, as part of its apprenticeship philosophy.

“It’s a lot of work, but I’m convinced this is where the future is,” says Condevillamar, a 39-year-old Army veteran who lives in Kissimmee. “If more companies did this, they would not only get better workers, they’d keep them longer.”

One of the next steps will be to approach the Legislature for help funding tuition for the apprenticeship program, Sutton said. Space Florida, the state’s marketing and economic development agency for space, also is tuned in. “This may even become an issue in the 2018 campaigns,” said Dale Ketcham, vice president of government and external relations at Space Florida. “It’s vital to the state that we build up this workforce and offer opportunities to current residents.” (4/10)

Cool Companies Post Cool Space Coast Job Openings (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Imagine helping space companies like Blue Origin or SpaceX in Central Florida reach for the stars, literally – or the moon. These are mostly high-paying tech jobs, but there’s a few jobs that are more mainstream. You could become a barista at SpaceX for example – possibly making a coffee for legendary entrepreneur Elon Musk when he’s in town. (He’s had a famous coffee and caffeine habit.) The space companies are currently starting up an apprenticeship program to help train local students for the more technical positions. Click here. (4/9) 

China Launches More Reconnaissance Satellites (Source: GB Times)
China launched another trio of reconnaissance satellites overnight. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:25 a.m. Eastern Tuesday and placed three Yaogan-31 satellites into orbit. Chinese media said the satellites will be used for "electromagnetic environment surveys and other related technology tests," but Western observers believe they are military reconnaissance satellites. The launch, which took place without any advance notice, was the eleventh this year by China. (4/9)

Solar Probe Arrives in Florida for July Launch (Source: Space News)
A NASA spacecraft to study the sun is in Florida for launch preparations, although engineers are still studying some issues with it. NASA shipped the Parker Solar Probe last week from Maryland to Florida to begin final preparations for a launch on a Delta 4 Heavy scheduled for the end of July. NASA shipped the spacecraft despite concerns with higher-than-expected failure rates with thermometers on the spacecraft that are part of its thermal control system. A NASA official said at a committee meeting last week that the problem was debated "quite significantly" at a pre-ship review, but managers agreed that any fixes needed for the spacecraft could be done in Florida as part of launch preparations. (4/9)

IAI May Build Satellite Anyway After Spacecom Contract Loss (Source: Reuters)
After losing a competition to build a satellite for Spacecom, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is considering building and operating its own satellite. IAI said it was surprised that Israeli operator Spacecom selected Space Systems Loral for its Amos-8 satellite. The company is now considering building a communications satellite to serve the Israeli government and other customers, but did not disclose how it planned to finance such a satellite. (4/9)

Homeowners Remain Concerned About Rocket Overflight at Georgia Spaceport (Source: Savannah Morning News)
Homeowners near a proposed Georgia spaceport object to language in an environmental study. That report, assessing plans for a launch site in Camden County on the Atlantic coast, said that residents of Little Cumberland Island, near the spaceport, are considered "authorized persons" who would be allowed to stay on the island during launches, while the public is evacuated.

Residents object to that term, which is not official FAA language, and worry that their homes are at risk in the event of a launch accident. A consultant for the spaceport said he doesn't expect the island to fall within any hazard zones for launches planned for the spaceport. Click here. (4/9)

Gagarin Memorial in Belgrade: Head Too Small, Base Too Tall (Source: BBC)
A new memorial to Yuri Gagarin in Belgrade has a problem of proportions. The memorial, placed on a street that bears his name, features a small bust of Gagarin on top of a very tall column, such that it's hard to see the bust, local residents complain. "The only way you can see it clearly is to launch yourself into the sky," said one writer. "While this is somewhat symbolic, there's certainly no common sense on show." (4/9)