May 3, 2018

Texas Congressman Urges Haste for Orion Flight (Source: Rep. Culberson)
U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-TX, expressed concern to NASA contractors about the timeline for launching the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft during a visit to Houston. Exploration Mission-1, an unmanned trek that will take SLS and Orion past the moon, is slated to launch in December 2019 and contractors and suppliers continue to work toward that. But, as previously announced, that date will likely be pushed to spring 2020.

 “It’s just critical that we get it up and flying as quickly as possible,” Culberson told media after touring Oceaneering Space Systems in Houston. “Every delay is a concern and a worry.” Culberson chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science that funds NASA. He was in Houston to get an update on the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft by prime contractors Orbital ATK and Lockheed Martin. The companies’ suppliers were also in the audience. (4/30)

Japan Space Agency to Test Reusable Rocket to Shave Costs (Source: Nikkei)
Japan's space agency will develop a reusable rocket that can carry payloads into orbit on two consecutive days, aiming to cut the costs of space transport, the need for which continues to grow. JAXA plans to build a rocket that can carry observation equipment into space, return to Earth, and be ready for launch again the next day. JAXA aims to start test-launching and landing the roughly 7-meter rocket as early as the spring of 2019, and introduce it for regular operations in the 2020s.

JAXA has already confirmed that the rocket's key components, including its engine, can endure more than 100 launches, significantly reducing costs compared with single-use models. The rocket will be tested at a JAXA facility in the city of Noshiro on the northern Sea of Japan coast. Initial test launches will reach an altitude of 100 meters, gradually increasing to 5,000 meters. (5/2)

UAE's Space Missions to Solve Water, Energy and Food Issues (Source: Khaleej Times)
The space sector will help solve critical issues that revolve around renewable energy, transportation, nutrition and water conservation, noted Dr Ahmad bin Abdullah Humaid Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE Minister of State for Higher Education and Advanced Skills and Chairman of the UAE Space Agency. Al Falasi highlighted that new initiatives such as the UAE's Mars Scientific City and the Hope Probe mission to Mars will allow the UAE to tackle regional and global challenges and bring significant benefits to humanity.

Arab space industry leaders also convened during a panel session to discuss ways of facilitating collaboration between Middle East nations in the space sector. They described the tangible benefits they have witnessed from the development of their national space capabilities and related research and scientific facilities. They also agreed on the need for greater collaboration and cooperation to help bring the region closer together and create partnerships for the future. (5/1)

Bezos Dreams of a World with a Trillion People Living in Space (Source: CNBC)
Jeff Bezos's vision for the world that his great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren will live in is pretty wild to imagine. The Amazon and Blue Origin boss says a trillion people will live in space, there will be "a thousand Einsteins and a thousand Mozarts" and we'll develop other planets, leaving Earth a beautiful place to be.

"First of all, of course, I'm interested in space, because I'm passionate about it. I've been studying it and thinking about it since I was a 5-year-old boy," says Bezos. "But that is not why I'm pursuing this work." Bezos — who is currently worth $130 billion, according to Forbes — says if humanity does not become multiplanetary, eventually it will stagnate.

"I'm pursuing this work, because I believe if we don't, we will eventually end up with a civilization of stasis, which I find very demoralizing. I don't want my great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren to live in a civilization of stasis. We all enjoy a dynamic civilization of growth and change," says Bezos. (5/1)

NASA's "Nearly Silent" Supersonic X-Plane Goes Into Production (Source: Dezeen)
NASA has started production of a plane that will fly faster than the speed of sound, but will be almost inaudible from the ground below. The US space agency plans to bring supersonic speeds back to commercial air travel with the X-Plane. But unlike its predecessor Concorde, its sonic booms will be too soft to be noticed from the ground. If all goes to plan, the piloted aircraft will be built and delivered to NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Centre by the end of 2021, and will be approved for commercial use by 2025. (5/2)

Update on Blue Origin Progress at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
“Things are coming together nicely for the New Glenn maiden flight for the end of 2020,” said Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s Head of astronaut strategy and sales. “When New Glenn takes off, with 3.85 million pounds of thrust, you are going to feel it. It’s gonna make a rumble.” Blue Origin is also working on a refurbishment facility at Launch Complex 36, to inspect, refit, and refuel rockets that come back to land at the pad.

Blue Origin’s biggest competitor in the new commercial space industry, SpaceX, is already bringing orbital rockets back to the cape after launching commercial and government payloads and has indicated its refurbishment facility will be at Port Canaveral. Blue Origin plans to land rockets on a barge and on land. Cornell said the barge will be moving when the rocket lands, which she said will provide greater stability and faster turnaround times.

Its mission control center will be at the 750,000-square-foot rocket factory, which is on Kennedy Space Center land leased by Space Florida. She said New Glenn is “such a large rocket that we decided to build the rocket not far from where we launch it. We take the raw materials in, and a finished rocket comes out the other side.” (4/30)

Block 5 Rocket Launch Marks the End of the Beginning for SpaceX (Source: Ars Technica)
Less than eight years after its maiden launch, the Falcon 9 booster has become the most dominant rocket in the world. Modern and efficient, no rocket launched more than the 70m Falcon 9 booster launched last year. Barring catastrophe, no rocket seems likely to launch more this year. In part, SpaceX has achieved this level of efficiency by bringing a Silicon Valley mindset to the aerospace industry. The company seeks to disrupt, take chances, and, like so many relentless start-up companies, drive employees to work long hours to meet demanding engineering goals.

Although this has caused headaches for customers like NASA and some suppliers, constant tinkering has allowed SpaceX to maximize performance of this rocket. By regularly upgrading the Merlin engines, shedding weight with lighter materials, and using super-chilled rocket fuel to maximize density, the Falcon 9 rocket now is about twice as powerful as it was during its initial flight. Rarely during its more than 50 launches since June 2010 has a Falcon 9 rocket not had a handful or more changes from the previous edition.

To find a Falcon 9 launch of comparable magnitude to the forthcoming Block 5 launch, one probably has to go back to December 2015. The stakes were incredibly high then, too. Six months before, in June, SpaceX had suffered the first failure of the Falcon 9 booster, a catastrophic break-up of the second stage at about 150 seconds into the flight. The Dragon spacecraft ascending into space, laden with NASA cargo valued at more than $100 million, was lost. SpaceX spent nearly half a year assessing and fixing the problem before returning to the launch pad. For that December flight, SpaceX doubled-down on its philosophy of taking risks. (5/3)

Private Companies Took Over Rocket Launches. Can They Do the Same For Moon Landers? (Source: Popular Mechanics)
NASA's support of private spaceflight has helped spur competition between companies like SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin, and that rocket race has driven launch costs to historic lows. The next step will give industry a chance to take the reins a little farther from home by putting the first private lander on the surface of the moon.

The move to rely on businesses for lunar landings is something of a gamble. For one thing, no company has ever landed a spacecraft on the moon, though the industry might be on the lunar doorstep. Google's $20 million competition to land on the moon, the Lunar X Prize, ended in January without a winner, but many of the companies that competed in that competition still plan lunar landings.

Moon Express, one of the American competitors, plans to land progressively larger spacecraft on the moon to access lunar resources, conduct science experiments, and eventually take on sample-return missions. Bob Richards, CEO and co-founder of Moon Express, sees lunar missions as the next step in industry contributions to space exploration. (5/3)

Can We Prevent War in Space? These Guidelines May Help (Source: Space.com)
Can we prevent war from breaking out in space? What rules would apply? Legal experts are now debating those questions and others as they develop a manual on how Earthbound laws might apply to wars in outer space. The hope is that this work may help deter such warfare from happening by spelling out what its consequences may be, researchers said.

An international team of legal experts is now developing what they hope will become the definitive document on military and security law as it applies to space: the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations. Partnering institutions include the U.S. Naval War College and Xiamen University in China.

The Woomera Manual "is quite similar to other manuals that have been developed by legal and policy experts over the last 20 years, such as the Harvard Manual on Air and Missile Warfare, and the Tallinn Manuals dealing with laws applicable to cyber operations and warfare," Magilton said. "The goal is to articulate how international law generally applies to military space activities in a time of rising tension or armed conflict. (5/2)

Is America Lost in Space? (Source: New York Times)
Fifty years ago, NASA’s manned space program was grounded, still recovering after the Apollo1 disaster in 1967. “Lost in Space” was on television. This week — a generation later — we find NASA’s manned space program grounded again, in the wake of the decision to discontinue American flights after the conclusion of the shuttle program in 2011. And “Lost in Space” is again on television.

The new head of NASA is Jim Bridenstine, a former Republican representative from Oklahoma. Would you be shocked to learn that President Trump’s choice to run the space agency is not an actual scientist or engineer? Or that he is a climate change skeptic? Or that he has never run a large organization? You probably wouldn’t. In fact, Mr. Bridenstine’s lack of qualifications make him a perfect fit for the Trump administration. (5/3)

This is What a Payload Fairing Looks Like as it Returns from Space (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX has been experimenting during recent launches with recovering the payload fairing at the top of its Falcon 9 rocket. The fairing is a $6 million shroud that protects the satellite during its turbulent ride through the atmosphere and into outer space. We haven't really seen what this kind of recovery looks like as it happens—until now. SpaceX founder Elon Musk shared a photo of one half of a payload fairing opening its parafoil after re-entering Earth's atmosphere. In his Instagram post, Musk did not specify which mission this photo is from. Click here. (5/3)

A New Governance Model to Grow U.S. Space Launch Capability (Source: Space News)
The rapid market development for commercial space launch services over the past several years threatens to overwhelm the capacity of the federal government to efficiently manage airspace usage between planes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and spacecraft. To address this challenge, the federal government can develop a strong governance model based on existing principles to ensure the long-term resiliency of the U.S. space launch capability.

With the commercial appetite for space launch growing, the federal government will soon need a more sustainable, safe, and adaptable way to manage airspace. This growing need will require collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including commercial airlines, airports, space launch providers and spaceport facilities.

Authorities, most likely the FAA, should convene representatives from all the key stakeholders. As consensus or disagreement emerges, critical data points can be funneled up to senior decision makers in the federal government and businesses for executive-level discussions hosted by the National Space Council. The federal government can then work to establish a management plan at the national level. Click here. (5/3) http://spacenews.com/op-ed-a-new-governance-model-to-grow-u-s-space-launch-capability/

World's First Space Travel Agent Launches, Offering Zero-Gravity Holidays in Orbit from $250,000 (Source: Daily Mail)
The world's first 'space travel agent' has launched in the UK after increased demand from budding astronauts. The service will arrange flights, accommodation and even entertainment packages for the public with prices ranging from $250,000 to $791,666. However, bookings for trips will only be confirmed once space holidays become available to holidaymakers. At the moment they aren't, though a hotel is due in earth's orbit that will open in 2021. Editor's Note: I have read a dozen "first space travel agent" stories over the past 10 years. (5/2)

Lightfoot Lands at LSINC (Source: LSINC)
Former NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot didn't stay retired for long. Lightfoot was named Wednesday as the new president of LSINC, a company based in Huntsville, Alabama, involved in engineering, product development and related services. Lightfoot retired from NASA at the end of April after nearly 30 years at the agency, including 15 months as acting administrator. (5/3)

Ross Sees Moon as 'Gas Station' for Exploration (Source: Washington Post)
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the moon could become a "gas station" for future exploration. Ross said in an interview at a conference that he sees "the moon being a type of gas station" by harnessing resources there. Asked if that could be achieved in the next decade, he said it would be "a lot sooner than that," although most experts believe it may take considerably longer to identify potential lunar resources and test practical extraction techniques. (5/3)

Helium Detected at Exoplanet (Source: Nature)
Astronomers have detected for the first time helium escaping from an exoplanet. Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to study WASP-107b, an exoplanet 60 parsecs away, looking for the presence of methane. They instead detected a sharp peak in spectra of the planet that corresponded to a "metastable" state of helium, energized by radiation from the star it closely orbits, escaping from its atmosphere. WASP-107b is just the fourth planet known to have an atmosphere escaping into space, but the discovery suggests that such planets could be common. (5/3)

Demonstration Proves Nuclear Fission System Can Provide Space Exploration Power (Source: NASA)
NASA and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have successfully demonstrated a new nuclear reactor power system that could enable long-duration crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and destinations beyond. NASA announced the results of the demonstration, called the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology (KRUSTY) experiment,during a news conference Wednesday at its Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The Kilopower experimentwas conducted at the NNSA’s Nevada National Security Site from November 2017 through March.

“Safe, efficient and plentiful energy will be the key to future robotic and human exploration,” said Jim Reuter, NASA’s acting associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “I expect the Kilopower project to be an essential part of lunar and Mars power architectures as they evolve.” ​Kilopower is a small, lightweight fission power system capable of providing up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power - enough to run several average households - continuously for at least 10 years. Four Kilopower units would provide enough power to establish an outpost. (5/2)

A Facebook Satellite Constellation? (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Facebook may be considering its own satellite broadband constellation. Filings with the FCC from a venture called PointView Tech LLC revealed a satellite called Athena under development for launch next year on a Vega rocket. The 150-kilogram satellite, being built by SSL, will demonstrate using E-band spectrum to provide communications at rates of up to 10 gigabits per second, far higher than other proposed satellite broadband systems. Paperwork links PointView Tech to Facebook, but the company declined to comment on any satellite plans it has. (5/2)

Machinists Union Recommends Rejection of Labor Deal for United Launch Alliance (Source: Space News)
A union representing nearly 600 United Launch Alliance employees is recommending its members reject a contract offer. The negotiating committee for the Machinists Union said it unanimously rejected the proposed three-year contract presented by ULA as its best and final offer last week. Members are scheduled to vote on the contract Sunday and, if they reject it, could then vote to strike. ULA argues that its offer is "well above market" and says it has contingency plans should there be a strike. Union members approved a contract three years ago from the company despite a similar recommendation by the union's negotiators to reject the deal. (5/2)

US Agencies Consider Best Way to Buy Satellite Imagery Amid Glut of Suppliers (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office will soon take over the procurement of commercial satellite imagery. NRO will take on the job of acquiring images from various commercial providers, a role currently held by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. NRO Director Betty Sapp said last month that the agencies are working to make the transition "seamless" for companies and users. The shift comes as the government studies how it should buy imagery or other commercial satellite data given the growing population of providers and diversity of products. (5/2)

Australia Moving Forward with Space Agency Creation (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Australian government is preparing to provide "seed funding" for a new space agency. The next federal budget, to be released next week, will offer $50 million (US$38 million) to formally establish a national space agency. The government announced plans for the space agency last September. Megan Clark, former head of the Australian scientific research agency CSIRO, will be named to lead the space agency. (5/2)