April 24, 2018

NGA Likes Commercial Satellite Imagery, But Won't Depend On It (Source: Space News)
The head of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) says he likes access to commercial imagery data, but won't depend on it. In a speech Monday at the GEOINT Symposium, Robert Cardillo said that a "vibrant" commercial satellite imaging industry is good for his agency, but he will not depend on imagery from those companies alone nor wants those companies to depend solely on the government for their business. Others at the conference noted that there's a "trust barrier" that commercial imagery companies need to overcome to win broader use of their data by NGA, a culture shift some think may take years to accomplish. (4/24)

Colorado Congressman Dropped From Ballot (Source: Colorado Springs Gazette)
A Colorado congressman active on military space issues has been dropped from the ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Doug Lamborn failed to collect enough signatures to quality for the ballot for the Republican primary after a set of signatures, collected by petition ciculators who were not state residents, were disqualified. Lamborn, whose district includes Colorado Springs, serves on the strategic forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. Lamborn's campaign plans to go to federal court to challenge the state law that requires petition circulators to be state residents. (4/24)

Russia Readies for Second Launch Pad at Vostochny Spaceport (Source: Construction.ru)
Construction of a second launch pad at Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome is about to start. Dmitry Rogozin, Russian deputy prime minister, told spaceport officials that work on the second pad at the launch site in Russia's Far East region should start by May. The facility is scheduled to be completed by 2023. (4/24)

Chris Hadfield Teaches Space Exploration (Source: Masterclass)
Impossible things happen. At age nine, Chris Hadfield knew he wanted to go to space. He eventually went there three times, becoming a commander of the International Space Station. In his MasterClass, Chris teaches you what it takes to explore space and what the future holds for humans in the final frontier. Learn about the science of space travel, life as an astronaut, and how flying in space will forever change the way you think about living on Earth. Click here. (4/24)

Everything, Everywhere, All the Time—Now What? (Source: Trajectory)
A near-clairvoyant ability to develop knowledge on everything, everywhere, all the time is fictitiously portrayed in TV shows such as 24, Person of Interest, The Wire, Alias, and Homeland. However, recent proliferation of new sensors, the integration of humans and machines, and the advent of big data analytics provide new opportunities to translate this portrayed drama and excitement of intelligence fiction into intelligence fact.

The persistence and depth of data now readily available allows new products to be woven together out of three basic threads or classes of information: vector-based knowledge (everything), locational knowledge (everywhere), and temporal knowledge (all the time).

As we move to an era of ubiquitous, real-time information, economists, first responders, business intelligence analysts, scientific researchers, intelligence officers, and many other analysts have the potential to answer questions previously unimagined. However, reaching this potential future vision will require the geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) Community to overcome several distinct challenges. Click here. (2/1)

University of Central Florida Planetary Scientist Highlights CubeSat Progress (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Adrienne Dove, a University of Central Florida (UCF) planetary scientist, physicist, and associate professor, capped off the university’s 2018 Distinguished Speaker series with a talk about CubeSats and UCF’s involvement with CubeSat-based science missions. Dove began her talk detailing some of the key activities of the university’s Physics Department.

UCF’s recent space efforts have included participating in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission; measuring exoplanets using data from the Spitzer Space Telescope; serving as home to the Florida Space Institute; and most recently leading the consortium that will take over management of the Arecibo Observatory. “This is big,” said Dove, noting that handling big activities is becoming a more common theme at the university. (4/21)

SpaceX's Plan to Fly You Across the Globe in 30 Minutes (Source: TED Talk)
What's up at SpaceX? Engineer Gwynne Shotwell was employee number seven at Elon Musk's pioneering aerospace company and is now its president. In conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson, she discusses SpaceX's race to put people into orbit and the organization's next big project, the BFR (ask her what it stands for). The new giant rocket is designed to take humanity to Mars -- but it has another potential use: space travel for earthlings. Click here. (4/21)

Bill Gates Backs Plan to Surveil the Entire Planet From Space (Source: Gizmodo)
EarthNow is a new company looking to provide satellite imagery and live video in virtually real-time. Its unsettling pitch describes a network of satellites that can see any corner of the globe and provide live video with a latency of about a second. And a look at the startup’s top investors gives a lot of confidence that this thing is happening.

On Wednesday, EarthNow announced that it will emerge from the Intellectual Ventures ISF Incubator to become a full-scale commercial business. Its first round of investors is comprised of a small group of complimentary powerhouses: AirBus, the SoftBank Group, Bill Gates, and satellite-industry vet Greg Wyler.

The amount of the initial investment hasn’t been disclosed, but the announcement says the funding “focuses primarily on maturing the overall system design to deliver innovative and unique real-time Earth observation services.” That makes it sound like the company is in its very early stages, but don’t be so sure. Click here. (4/19)

Political Tensions Could Rob the U.S. of the Russian Rocket Engine It Desperately Needs (Source: Popular Mechanics)
The burgeoning private space industry might find itself caught in the middle of geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia. Russian lawmakers have drafted a law that would ban cooperation between the two countries on building rocket engines, including sales of the crucial RD-180.

The RD-180 powers the Atlas V, the launch system maintained by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint company owned by both Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Earlier this year the company was awarded a $351 million dollar contract by the U.S Air Force for launching satellites.

Derived from Soviet rocketry—RD engines, built by NPO Energomash, powered the famed Vostock and Soyuz missions—the RD-180 is living proof of Russia's outsized power in space as opposed to the rest of its economy. In the early 90s, the United States suffered the tragedy of the Challenger and a series of Titan rocket failures. (4/19)

The Military Will Award $10 Million To The Company That Can Launch Satellites On Short Notice (Source: Government Executive)
Military leaders are bullish about small satellites as tools to spy on adversaries and provide secure communications, but there’s just one problem: There isn’t a good way to get them into space, on demand. Inspired by NASA’s partnerships with rocket makers like SpaceX, the Pentagon is turning to private industry, as half a dozen companies, most backed by venture capitalists, are working to launch small satellites more cheaply than ever to meet the demands of a growing number of small-satellite startups.

DARPA will ask, by announcing a contest with a $10-million grand prize to any company that can launch two small satellites into orbit in a matter of days. Adding to the difficulty: Competitors will be told where their first launch site is just weeks before the contest, and given the details of the payload and where it is going days before. (4/19)

One of the Most Worrisome Predictions About Climate Change May Be Coming True (Source: Washington Post)
Two years ago, former NASA climate scientist James Hansen and a number of colleagues laid out a dire scenario in which gigantic pulses of fresh water from melting glaciers could upend the circulation of the oceans, leading to a world of fast-rising seas and even superstorms.

Hansen’s scenario was based on a computer simulation, not hard data from the real world, and met with skepticism from a number of other climate scientists. But now, a new oceanographic study appears to have confirmed one aspect of this picture — in its early stages, at least.

The new research, based on ocean measurements off the coast of East Antarctica, shows that melting Antarctic glaciers are indeed freshening the ocean around them. And this, in turn, is blocking a process in which cold and salty ocean water sinks below the sea surface in winter, forming “the densest water on the Earth.” (4/23)

China's Astronaut Extravehicular Activity Training Space Suit Unveiled (Source: GB Times)
An underwater space suit designed for training China's astronauts was displayed publicly on April 20 in Beijing, giving an insight into preparations for missions to the future Chinese Space Station. The Astronaut Center of China started to develop the training suit in 2014, tackling challenges including controlling pressure, temperature and humidity, acquisition and transmission of signal and voice in the state of neutral buoyancy. Click here. (4/23)

China Strengthens International Space Cooperation (Source: Space Daily)
China will continue to strengthen international cooperation in peaceful exploration and utilization of outer space, said Li Guoping, a spokesman of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Thursday. So far, China has signed 121 cooperation agreements with 37 countries and four international organizations, Li said at a press conference about the Space Day of China, which will come on April 24, marking the day the country's first satellite was sent into space in 1970.

He raised the example of the 30-year-long cooperation between China and Brazil in the development of earth resources satellites. Currently, the two countries are jointly developing a fourth satellite, which is progressing well.

China and France are also in close collaboration. An ocean-observing satellite jointly developed by the two countries will be sent into orbit this year, which will be used to study global climate change. The two countries are also cooperating in developing an astronomical satellite. (4/23)

NASA’s New Planet Finder is in Space. Now What? (Source: Ars Technica)
Most everyone reading this story will probably know that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on Wednesday carrying a NASA spacecraft into orbit—the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite—that will further the space agency's mission of searching for exoplanets.

Less well known is the TESS spacecraft's clever orbit, which will enable an on-a-budget but robust science mission of searching for planets transiting in front of nearby stars. This "lunar resonant" orbit, which has never been used by a spacecraft, will allow TESS to both observe nearby stars and transmit data back to Earth with a minimal energy expenditure. (The useful lifetime of a spacecraft is often determined by its amount of onboard propellant).

Science missions often need continuous and unobstructed views of their targets, and TESS is no different, as it will monitor about 200,000 relatively nearby stars for minuscule changes in their brightness. NASA's previous planet-hunter that searched for similar transits, the Kepler mission, observed its targets from an Earth-trailing, heliocentric orbit about 10 million km from our planet. Such an orbit has high costs in terms of energy needed to reach it, station keeping, and data limitations. (4/22)