April 25, 2018

Payload Issue Delays Ariane Launch, GSAT Returned to India (Source: Space News)
Arianespace has cancelled its next Ariane 5 launch because of problems with one of its payloads. The company said Tuesday the mission, which was scheduled for a May 25 launch, would be cancelled because India's GSAT-11 spacecraft was being shipped back to India for "additional technical checks." GSAT-11 was to launch on that mission with Azerspace-2/Intelsat-38; that satellite will instead launch with a different co-passenger later this summer. India's space agency ISRO has provided no details about the reason for delaying the GSAT-11 launch, including whether it is linked to problems with the GSAT-6A satellite that stopped communicating with controllers shortly after launch last month. (4/25)

Russian Rockot Launches Europe's Sentinel Satellite (Source: ESA)
The latest in the Sentinel series of European Earth-observation satellites was launched by a Rockot launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The rocket launched the Sentinel-3B satellite into orbit. That satellite, like Sentinel-3A satellite launched in 2016, will monitor oceans, land, ice and the atmosphere as part of the Copernicus program. (4/25)

A Short New Movie of a Comet’s Surface is Pretty Incredible (Source: Ars Technica)
The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014 and subsequently became the first mission to ever orbit around a comet. Additionally, its small Philae lander became the first to touch down on a comet’s surface—although it was subsequently lost after it was unable to deploy its solar panels in a proper configuration to capture enough energy to continue operations.

During its two years in varying orbits around the comet, which is about 4km on its longest side, Rosetta captured some unprecedented imagery of these Solar System interlopers. Now, a Twitter user named landru79 has combed through the Rosetta image archives and found a striking series of 12.5-second exposure photos taken from about 13km away from the comet. The images from June 1, 2016 are combined into the short video. Click here. (4/25)

Northrop Grumman Declines to Bid on GPS 3 Contract (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman executives said the company declined to submit a proposal for the next set of GPS 3 satellites, all but guaranteeing that Lockheed Martin will win the competition. In an earnings call with analysts, Kathy Warden, president and chief operating officer of Northrop Grumman, said the decision not to bid on a contract for up to 22 GPS satellites, as well as a separate no-bid decision for components for the F-35 program, was the outcome of a “very disciplined” company process to select those programs that offer the most benefit to the company. (4/25)

Lockheed Martin Confident of GPS 3 Win (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin executives said Tuesday they're confident they'll win an Air Force competition to build the next set of GPS 3 satellites. In an earnings call, officials said their proposal incorporated a "flexible, modular architecture" that incorporates new features while lowering costs. The company acknowledged that this new competition was set up by problems it had with early GPS 3 satellites, but argued that it had resolved those problems. It's unclear what competition, if any, Lockheed faces for the GPS 3 satellites, as Boeing said last week it did not submit a proposal and Northrop Grumman declined to comment. (4/25)

Regulatory Reform Bill Moves Through House (Source: Space News)
The House approved a bill Tuesday intended to improve the regulatory environment for commercial space ventures. The American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act passed on a voice vote in the House after a brief debate, with no members speaking in opposition to the bill. The legislation streamlines existing commercial remote-sensing regulations within the Office of Space Commerce and creates a "certification" system for new commercial space applications that wouldn't otherwise be licensed by the FAA or FCC. The Senate is working on its own commercial space bill covering similar issues, while the Department of Commerce is developing a legislative proposal on those issues in response to a National Space Council recommendation. (4/25)

Avio Seeks More Competitive Vega Launcher (Source: Space News)
Avio is seeking to take a bigger role in the smallsat launch business. Avio manufactures the Vega rocket, which last week won two orders from Spaceflight Industries for launches using its Small Spacecraft Mission System adapter. Avio's CEO said the company is lowering Vega launch costs through an increased flight rate. The upcoming Vega C version of the rocket will share motors with the Ariane 6, allowing for additional cost reductions. (4/25)

Interior Dept. Considering Imagery Pricing (Source: Nature)
The Interior Department is considering reinstituting charges for Landsat imagery. The department has asked an advisory committee to study how charging for images from the Landsat spacecraft would affect scientists and other users. The U.S. Geological Survey, which operates the satellites, stopped charging for images in 2008 after past efforts to recoup the satellites' costs through user fees failed. Scientists are concerned that charging for Landsat access could hinder their work, and past studies showed that the economic benefit created by free access to Landsat images far outweighed the cost of operating the satellites. (4/25)

In This Space Race, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Are Competing to Take You There (Source: New York Times)
Two new books chronicle this fascinating transition. “The Space Barons,” by Christian Davenport, a Washington Post reporter, is an exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport’s access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling. “Rocket Billionaires,” by Tim Fernholz, a reporter for Quartz, is not quite as vibrant a narrative and lacks some of Davenport’s memorable scenes, but it provides smart analysis of the New Space sector as well as historical context about NASA’s triumphs and failures. Click here. (4/24)

Meet the Mighty Women of NASA's New Astronaut Class (Source: A Mighty Girl)
When NASA announced its newest class of astronaut candidates in 2017, it included five  inspiring women! NASA received a record-breaking number of applicants for this astronaut class — over 18,000 in all — and the class itself has twelve members, their largest since the year 2000. "These women and men deserve our enthusiastic congratulations," said retired astronaut and Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa. "Children all across the United States right now dream of being in their shoes someday. We here at NASA are excited to welcome them to the team and look forward to working with them to inspire the next generation of explorers."

The astronaut candidates have two years of training in front of them before they're ready to break Earth's atmosphere, but in the meantime, space-loving Mighty Girls have five new role models to look up to! In this blog post, we introduce you to these five remarkably talented women. And, to inspire children who dream of their own careers in space, at the end of the post, we've showcased a variety of girl-empowering books and toys about shooting for the stars! Click here. (12/15)

SpaceX Expands Texas Rocket Test Facilities for BFR (Source: Teslarati)
Aerial observations of SpaceX’s McGregor, Texas testing facilities on April 17 revealed an unusually frenetic level of construction and expansion centered around Raptor – the rocket engine intended to power BFR and SpaceX to Mars – and a new test-stand, the purpose of which is currently unknown. With a minimum of 1200 seconds of hot-fires under its belt, SpaceX’s Raptor propulsion program is likely rapidly approaching the end of what is best described as the experimental phase of testing.

While this has not been communicated by SpaceX, it is a logical conclusion following several recent developments. Namely the true beginning of BFR test article fabrication and an impressively bullish level of commitment and confidence in the fully reusable launch system demonstrated in the last few months alone by CEO Elon Musk and President/COO Gwynne Shotwell.

While Musk is infamous both within and beyond his companies for painfully impractical development timelines, he demonstrated some level of growing consciousness of that fallibility at 2018’s SXSW, stating that he was working on recalibrating his expectations. Without taking a breath, he reiterated his anticipation for short hop tests of the first full-scale spaceship prototype in the first half of 2019. (4/24)

Why Elon Musk Will Win the Race for Space-Based Internet (Source: Eureka)
Even by Elon Musk’s standards, his plan to send 4,425 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites into space to provide high-speed internet to the whole planet, is audacious and financially risky. The SpaceX constellation would more than double the world’s current number of functioning satellites and Musk is already planning to send up another 7,518 satellites for Phase 2 of the Starlink project after 2023. Not for the first time, the scale of his ambition is unprecedented, yet several companies have already lost billions of dollars on similar satellite ventures, notably Teledesic back in the 1990s. So why should Elon Musk succeed where they all failed?

There are two reasons to believe Musk has a better chance of making it work. The first is his track record of proving doubters wrong, despite the frequent delays. The second reason is that the economics of the satellite market have changed fundamentally, partly because of SpaceX’s interventions, which have helped to lower launch costs dramatically. (4/24)

House Passes Bill Creating, Reforming Commercial Space Regulation (Source: Space Policy Online)
The House passed the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act by voice vote with bipartisan support.  The bill modernizes the existing regulatory system for commercial remote sensing satellites and designates the Department of Commerce as the agency responsible for regulating new “non-traditional” commercial space activities.  Action now moves to the Senate.

House Science, Space and Technology (SS&T) chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) led floor debate on the bill, H.R. 2809, though it was not a debate as much as an affirmation of bipartisan support.

Smith said the bill  “declares that America is fully open for business in space.” Rep. Ami Bera (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Space Subcommittee, managed the bill for Democrats and asserted that while the bill is not perfect, it “strikes a fair balance in achieving the goal of certifying non-traditional commercial space activities that don’t fit within the current regulatory structure.” However, he spelled out some changes Democrats will be seeking as the legislative process continues. Click here. (4/25)

Iceye and Ursa Space Forge SAR Data-Sharing Partnership (Source: Space News)
Iceye, the Finnish company flying a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) microsatellite, forged an alliance April 24 at the 2018 GEOINT Symposium with Ursa Space Systems, a firm that offers economic insights from geospatial data.

“We signed an agreement with Ursa for them to have full access to our X1 data,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of Iceye. “They will be able to utilize the X1 archive as well as task the satellite. We will work in close cooperation to improve the system so the satellites and the way we operate them reflects what the customers need.” (4/24)

Danish 'Rocketman' Convicted of Journalist's Murder (Source: New York Times)
A Danish inventor who admitted to dismembering a journalist and discarding her body from the submarine he built was convicted on Wednesday of killing her, in one of the most gruesome and closely watched cases in Scandinavian history.

A court in Copenhagen found the submarine inventor Peter Madsen, 47, guilty of premeditated killing — equivalent to murder — in the death of Kim Wall, 30, whom prosecutors said he bound, tortured, sexually assaulted and stabbed repeatedly after she went on his submarine, the UC3 Nautilus, to interview him. He was sentenced to life in prison. Editor's Note: Madsen was previously affiliated with a Danish effort to develop and launch a commercial launch system. (4/25)

Space Station 'Tiangong' to Commercialize On-Orbit Operations (Source: ECNS)
China's space station "Tiangong," scheduled to be ready in 2022, will seek to commercialize on-orbit operations to attract investment, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program. The space station will be comprised of a core module and two labs forming a T-shape, weighing 66 tons in total, and will accommodate three astronauts generally or up to six for shorter stints.

The space station will have three kinds of docking interfaces for cargo ships, crewed spacecraft and space lab modules. An "optical module" will also be part of the space station, providing a level of resolution no less than the famous Hubble space telescope but with a field of view 200 times larger.

Zhou said the space station will reach world-class standards in terms of function, cost-effectiveness and technology. The space station has an initial designed life of at least 10 years and, once it begins on-orbit operations, commercial activities will be used to accelerate the pace of transferring technology and to promote space travel. (4/25)

China Outlines Roadmap for Deep Space Exploration (Source: Xinhua)
China is planning four deep space exploration missions before 2030, including probes to Mars, asteroids and Jupiter, says Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

China would launch its first Mars probe in 2020, and it was expected to orbit around, land and put a rover on the Red Planet, Pei told a space conference on Tuesday, China's Space Day. It also plans to probe asteroids around 2022, followed by a probe in 2028 to bring Mars samples back to Earth. An exploration mission to the Jupiter system was planned around 2029. Lunar and deep space exploration were important for China's endeavor to become a major space power, Pei said. (4/25)

The Rise of Nanosatellites (Source: The Week)
America's space program might seem stagnant — after all, NASA retired the Space Shuttle program back in 2011 and still doesn't have a replacement to send U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station and bring them back home. But America's private space industry is booming.

Private spaceflight companies are making incredible progress. Just witness the recent highly publicized launch and synchronized dual booster landing of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which is now the largest operational rocket in the world. But it's not all about size. There's also been a flurry of activity with very small satellites. Click here. (4/25)

Space Commerce, the Final Bureaucratic Frontier (Source: Weekly Standard)
If you want to carry out a commercial space mission, like, say, mining asteroids, you’ll have to fill out some paperwork. The application process could be substantially reformed under the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act, which is expected to pass the House Tuesday night, but the paperwork aspect will, of course, remain.

Your application to conduct commercial space activities will require much of the information that you’d encounter in current paperwork, such as your name, address, contact information, planned launch date and location, details of the space object’s shape, size, and its functions.

But under the new bill, you’d also have to attest that your space object is (to paraphrase the bill's language) A) not a nuclear weapon or a weapon of mass destruction, B) will not carry a nuclear weapon or weapon of mass destruction, and C) will not be operated or used for testing of any weapon on a celestial body. (4/24)

Globalstar Merging with FiberLight for $1.65 Billion (Source: Space News)
Thermo Capital, owner of Globalstar, is merging the satellite operator with a landline company it owns in a $1.65 billion deal intended to help pay off Globalstar’s debts. Thermo is combining Covington, Louisiana-based Globalstar with FiberLight under a single entity called Thermo Companies and injecting badly needed capital in the form of $100 million in cash and 15.5 million shares of Century Link, currently worth about $285 million.

The arrangement diversifies Globalstar’s revenue streams, which have been insufficient to cover the cost of its second-generation fleet of 24 low-Earth-orbit satellites launched between 2010 and 2013. Globalstar has been seeking to leverage some of its spectrum resources to create new revenue streams through cellular services. The merger makes Globalstar one of four subsidiaries under Thermo Companies, along with FiberLight, Global SpectrumCo and Thermo Investments. (4/25)