June 2, 2018

Orbital ATK Looks Ahead to Commercial Market for Antares (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
While Antares has thus far only exclusively launched Cygnus crafts to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK will offer the vehicle on the commercial market and notes that Antares has been on-ramp is part of NASA’s Launch Services II contract. “We’re on-ramped to the NASA Launch Services II contract, and that basically puts us on an approved bidders list and enables us to bid on launches that NASA has in the future.  And so we are planning to look at opportunities that may come along and bid on them,” noted Mr. Eberly.

Moreover, Orbital ATK sees no overlap or competition between the types of missions suited for Antares and those for the upcoming OmegA rocket. “OmegA is an EELV-class rocket, an intermediate to heavy lift vehicle.  It’s for an Air Force customer, and while they are looking to enter the commercial market as well and NASA civil certainly, primarily OmegA is an EELV-sized and classed rocket,” said Mr. Eberly. “Antares is a medium-class rocket, and we have our niche here on CRS.  And so, in the near term, we’re focused on doing Antares launches and trying to win new business while OmegA is trying to get developed.” (6/1)

White House Policy Seeks Fewer Lawyers, More Engineers at Space Companies (Source: Ars Technica)
The new directive formalizes recommendations made in February at the second meeting of the National Space Council to reform the regulatory environment. In short, the White House wants to cut paperwork for commercial companies launching rockets and flying satellites in Earth orbit. As one official said, the White House would like these companies to be able to hire more engineers and fewer lawyers.

The proposed reforms, which should emerge as "final" rules early next year, concern several areas according to the White House. For rocket companies, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao will devise a new regulatory system for managing launch and re-entry activity, including the possibility of requiring just a single license for all types of commercial space flight launch and re-entry operations, and replacing prescriptive requirements in the process with performance-based criteria. "What we basically want to see is faster turnaround for launch licences," a White House official said. (5/24)

Roscosmos May Curb Russia's Space Program Due to Lack of Funds (Source: Space Daily)
The Russian federal space program might face cuts as the Roscosmos state corporation is likely to suffer funding shortages amounting to 150 billion rubles (almost $2.4 billion) in the next three years, a source in the industry told Sputnik.

"The shortages of budgetary funds planned for allocation to Roscosmos from the previous parameters for the next three years is about 150 billion rubles ... the lack of funds has already become a reason of delays in the development of interplanetary projects, slowing down construction of the second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome and the development of new rocket and space equipment," the source said.

The federal program for the development of Russian space launch centers for the period of 2017-2025 in 2019 it may receive 17 billion rubles less that it was initially planned, while in 2020 it may see a reduction of funding by 52 billion rubles and in 2021 - 75 billion less, according to the source. Due to the funding shortages, the program will most likely be reviewed in the coming months, the source noted. (5/31)

Commercial Satellite Launch Service Market to Grow Strongly Through 2024 (Source: Space Daily)
According to a new research report by the market research and strategy consulting firm, Global Market Insights, Inc, the Commercial Satellite Launch Service Market to hit $7 billion by 2024. Increasing usage of communication data-based services and GPS systems is driving the commercial satellite launch service market size over the forecast period.

These services are adopted by various sectors such as Automotive, Electronics, Military, IT, among others. Increasing number of vehicles integrated with built-in navigation units will contribute majorly for launching additional satellites. Additionally, Oil and Gas companies across the globe uses vehicle tracking systems for their official vehicles and tankers to locate their vehicles and maintain transparency. (6/1)

Space Traffic Management - Oversight, Licensing And Enforcement (Source: Space Daily)
The government is about to impose, for the first time, space traffic management policies on the satellite industry. The initial result will be shock and angst among all satellite operators. Once we have a policy, next comes a set of regulations. Then there will be government oversight, licensing and enforcement. All this will surely result in higher costs, restrictive orbit selection, additional avionics and mandatory self-removal at end-of-life. In addition, there will be requirements for active satellite separation at all times.

Regulations can apply only to active satellites. But, what about the other 1014 uncontrolled objects that occupy the same space? This is a big problem. No one wants to tackle the debris population. In fact, no one wants pay for it. If this problem is not addressed, it is conceivable that the government may create a wonderfully controlled space traffic environment in the middle of an unmitigated disaster. So, maybe we should solve the debris problem first. (6/1)

US Aerospace/Defense Firms are At Risk of Losing Their Edge to New Rivals (Source: Defense News)
Despite a growing defense budget, U.S. defense and aerospace companies are at risk to be superseded by emerging competitors, a new PwC sector trends report cautions. Not only are established companies receiving domestic pressure from emerging innovators like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but also Chinese and Russian companies backed by state funding. The PwC report notes “China is making a big push to develop military artificial intelligence technologies, and China and Russia are developing sophisticated air-to-air missile systems that use advanced imagery and sensors to thwart enemy intrusions before they pierce the skies.”

The defense sectors reluctance to take risks by investing their own funds in research and development also is a major impediment. Despite their large budgets, aerospace and defense companies spend less on R&D than nearly every other industry.

That’s going to have to change if these firms want to remain competitive. PwC’s report recommends companies “adopt a more rigorous and less risk-averse approach to evaluating and making strategic investment choices (for example, product development, technology innovation, and R&D) that yield long-term value. Accept uncertainty as part of the normal course of business; view it as an opportunity, not a danger.” (6/1)

SpaceX Recovers Fairings From Iridium Launch After Pacific Splashdown (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX has released the first high-quality photos of Falcon 9’s payload fairing recovery hardware in action, showing the massive carbon fiber-aluminum halves gliding by parafoil less than a rocket-length away from recovery vessel Mr. Steven’s massive net. If anything, these photos demonstrate just how close SpaceX is – both literally and figuratively – to successfully catching payload fairings out of the air, the final keystone of fairing reuse.

Per the extraordinarily minimalist appearance of each half’s parafoil recovery hardware and the lack of any clear control mechanism, it’s very likely that SpaceX has sided with an in-canopy system of actuators tasked with subtly warping the parafoil, comparable in functionality to a crude replica of a bird’s wing. After approximately a year of trying, SpaceX appears to be rounding the very last corner to fairing recovery and reuse, perhaps avoiding the need for a series of drop-and-catch tests hinted at recently by Elon Musk.

Once the massive 800-kilogram components can be captured in flight by Mr. Steven, it should be a fairly easy for SpaceX to move from recovery to reuse, potentially saving as much as 10% ($6m) of the cost of each Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch. Perhaps even more importantly, fairing reuse would remove some of the pressure placed on SpaceX’s composite production floor, which currently must support the fabrication of dozens of fairing halves, booster interstages, payload adapters, Falcon Heavy nose cones, and much more, including smaller subassemblies required for both Crew and Cargo Dragons. Click here. (5/31)

It's Teen Rocket Science! Georgia Team Wins National Fly-Off (Source: Space.com)
High school students from Georgia's high-flying, egg-toting rocket team will soon represent the U.S. in an international competition. On May 12, the Creekview High School aeronautics team won first place at the National Fly-Off for the Team America Rocketry Challenge. The students, who are 17 and 18, designed and built their own rocket which they used to compete against teams from across the country. The Georgia team, sponsored by Raytheon, will compete on the international stage against other national winners in London on July 19-20. (5/31)

Engineers Aim for the Stars with New Rocket Engine (Source: Phys.org)
A 'self-eating' rocket engine which could place small satellites in orbit more easily and more affordably is under development at universities in Scotland and Ukraine. Engineers have built, fired, and for the first time throttled up and down an 'autophage' engine which could change how small satellites are sent into space.

Today, most rockets use tanks to store their propellant as they climb, and the weight of the tanks is usually many times greater than the weight of the useful payload. This reduces the efficiency of the launch vehicle, and also contributes to the problem of space debris. However, a launch vehicle powered by an autophage engine would consume its own structure during ascent, so more cargo capacity could be freed-up and less debris would enter orbit.

The autophage engine consumes a propellant rod which has solid fuel on the outside and oxidizer on the inside. The solid fuel is a strong plastic, such as polyethylene, so the rod is effectively a pipe full of powdered oxidizer. By driving the rod into a hot engine, the fuel and oxidizer can be vaporized into gases that flow into the combustion chamber. This produces thrust, as well as the heat required to vaporize the next section of propellant. (5/24)

Students Meet Challenge of NASA's 9th Annual Robotic Mining Competition at KSC (Source: NASA)
More than 40 one-of-a-kind robots mined in simulated regolith, called BP-1, during NASA's 9th Annual Robotic Mining Competition (RMC), May 14-18, at the agency's KSC Visitor Complex in Florida. Undergraduate and graduate students from universities around the U.S. spent the last year designing and building their robots and converged at the visitor complex to dig deep in the mining arena.

The teams participated in other competition requirements. They submitted a systems engineering paper, and demonstrated and explained how they designed their robots. Teams also were required to perform science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach in their communities throughout the year and report on their efforts.

In previous years' competitions, the robots were required to mine and collect as much of the BP-1 near the surface as possible during two 10-minute runs and deposit the material into a collector. This year's competition had a new mining requirement—a little twist—to dig and mine for the icy regolith simulant (gravel) buried at least a foot below the surface and deposit it into the collector bin to be weighed. (6/1)