April 16, 2018

Orbital ATK Unveils OmegA Rocket (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Orbital ATK provided a detailed update on the important progress being made on its Next Generation Launch System. The company reaffirmed its commitment to the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program for national security space missions with the announcement of the name of the rocket, OmegA, and the selection of its upper stage propulsion system. As one of the company’s largest strategic investments, OmegA will provide intermediate- to heavy-class launch services for Department of Defense, civil government and commercial customers beginning in three years. (4/16)

Orbital ATK Selects Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RL10C for Newly Christened OmegA Rocket (Source: Space News)
Orbital ATK revealed new details about the rocket it has been developing over the last three years in an effort to take Air Force launch contracts away from ULA and SpaceX. With the Air Force expected to select up to three companies this summer to build and test rockets capable of launching intermediate to heavy-class national security payloads, Orbital ATK executives announced they have picked Aerojet Rocketdyne’s RL10C engine to power the upper stage of a next-generation launch vehicle they are now calling OmegA.

OmegA’s solid-fuel lower stages, as previously disclosed, are based on space shuttle solid rocket motor segments developed by Orbital ATK, and solid strap-on boosters used on ULA’s rockets. Executives called OmegA one of the company’s largest strategic investments. It was developed under a three-year, $250 million cost-sharing partnership with the Air Force. (4/16)

SpaceX to Build Mars Rocket at Port of Los Angeles (Source: WESH)
SpaceX plans to open up shop at the Port of Los Angeles where it will work on research, design and development of its Mars rocket. Los Angeles officials said Monday that a tentative lease agreement would allow SpaceX to take over a dormant building at the port in a move that could bring as any as 700 jobs to the area.

The deal is expected to be approved by the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday. SpaceX won't have to pay rent for the facility for more than two decades. It will get more than $40 million in rent credits for renovating and upgrading the facility, which has been vacant since 2005. The company will not receive any subsidies from the city. Musk said in February that SpaceX will soon go all-in on the bold idea and begin dedicating its engineering talent to developing the BFR. (4/16)

The Planet That Took Us Beyond the Solar System (Source: The Atlantic)
For millennia, the only planets we knew of were the ones in our own solar system. That changed in October 1995, when a pair of Swiss astrophysicists discovered a planet orbiting a sun-like star about 50 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. For decades, scientists had suspected that other planets existed in the cosmos, and they finally had the proof.

The discovery of 51 Pegasi b, as it was called, was just the beginning. The astronomy community was witnessing “A Parade of New Planets,” declared a headline in Scientific American in 1996. In the months since the exoplanet discovery had been announced, the publication reported, astronomers had reported finding at least four more planets. Click here. (4/16)

Turbopump Bloamed for China's Long March 5 Launch Failure in 2017 (Source: Space News)
China has disclosed the cause of last year's Long March 5 launch failure. China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense released a report Monday blaming the July 2017 failure on a turbopump in one of the two YF-77 main engines in the rocket's first stage. The report said the turbopump's exhaust structure failed under "complex thermal conditions." A redesigned version of the YF-77 has undergone static fire tests, and the Long March 5 is expected to return to flight in November. Last year's failure delayed the launch of the Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission until some time in 2019. (4/16)

House Version of NASA Authorization Urges Commmercial Partnerships (Source: Space News)
The House Science Committee will markup a NASA authorization bill Tuesday that puts a greater emphasis on commercial partnerships. The bill, introduced Friday by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), directs NASA to, among other things, make use of commercially available space products and in-space infrastructure to support its exploration plans, and calls for a study on the use of commercial capabilities to carry out some aspects of current Landsat remote sensing missions. The bill doesn't endorse a particular approach for transitioning the International Space Station to commercial users, concluding the feasibility of doing so is dependent on many factors. The bill instead asks for quarterly reports from NASA on its progress. (4/16)

Fueling Issue Brings Firefighters to Rocket Lab Launch Pad (Source: New Zealand Herald)
A "minor fueling issue" during a dress rehearsal for the next Rocket Lab Electron launch prompted a response from local firefighters. The company acknowledged the incident Sunday, and said fire and emergency personnel came to the pad "as a precautionary measure," but did not disclose additional details about the incident. The Electron is scheduled to launch late this week on its first commercial mission, carrying satellites for GeoOptics and Spire. (4/16)

Methane Detection Satellite Planned by Environmental Group (Source: Space News)
An environmental group is planning a satellite to track emissions on one specific greenhouse gas. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced last week it will develop MethaneSAT, a smallsat designed to track methane emissions from oil and gas production regions. EDF has hired Tom Ingersoll, the former chief executive of Skybox Imaging, to help run the MethaneSAT project. The satellite is planned for launch in late 2020 or early 2021, but details about who will build and launch it have yet to be determined. (4/16)

Indian Satellite Still Lost in Space (Source: The Hindu)
India's GSAT-6A satellite remains silent two weeks after it stopped communicating with ground controllers. K. Sivan, the head of the Indian space agency ISRO, said GSAT-6A's orbital location was known, and was hopeful that ground stations would reestablish contact with the satellite soon. GSAT-6A, launched in late March, went silent after the second in a series of orbit-raising maneuvers. (4/16)

US-Russia Rocket Cooperation ‘Shining Example’ of Joint Success - RD Amross (Source: Sputnik)
Cooperation between Russia and the United States on rocket engines demonstrates a "shining example" of how the two states can successfully accomplish joint tasks, RD Amross CEO Michael Baker said. The US-Russian joint venture RD Amross hopes that the cooperation between the two countries on rocket engines will continue for many years ahead, Baker said.

"Our joint cooperative programs between Russia and the US over the last 20 years have been a shining example of how our two countries can work to together to accomplish great things," Baker said. Baker pointed out that at the working level the United States and Russia work together very well to solve any issues that arise, both technical and programmatic. (4/16)

12 Missions, 12 Months - ISRO's Mega Plan For 2018 (Source: NDTV)
2018 is proving to be a very busy year for India's space agency ISRO, with a mission planned for each month. The Indian Space Research Organization has already launched 3 important satellites between January 1 and April 12. These include remote sensing satellite Cartosat-2 on board the PSLV-C40 rocket in January, communication satellite GSAT-6A on board GSLV-F08 rocket on March 29, and navigation satellite IRNSS-1I on board the PSLV-C41 rocket on April 12. "In the next eight months, ISRO has nine more important missions planned," ISRO Chairman K Sivan said. This means ISRO will average one mission every month for the year 2018 - which would be a remarkable achievement. (4/16)

Is Space Tourism Really Just Around the Corner? (Source: Cosmos)
The announcement of the first “space hotel” in low Earth orbit has fired up the imaginations of would be space tourists. The Aurora Station, planned for launch by space startup Orion Span, is planned for launch in 2021 for a 2022 open, offering 12 days at 320 km above Earth for the low, low price of $US9.5 million. Despite this exciting announcement, how close are we really to the human dream of room service in zero G?

A lifetime of watching Skywalkers and Kirks and so forth zip about in space has give us the impression that space travel is about as risky as getting on a bus. However, there are risks inherent to space with which the industry is only now starting to grapple – especially their lawyers and insurers.

Many of the technical problems have been solved, such as the existence of reuseable launch vehicles, but perhaps the biggest problem with space travel – as opposed to bus travel – is that there’s nobody to ask for help if things go wrong. This is a major risk even for trained astronauts who have gamed out contingencies, and thus an even greater one for civilians. This is why guests will precede their 12 day stay on Aurora Station with a three month training program. Click here. (4/16)