June 21, 2018

Florida Invests to Assist Commercial Lunar Lander Firm (Source: Florida Today)
At a board meeting Wednesday in Tampa, Space Florida approved loaning $1.5 million to a company identified only by the code name Project Forge, described as a contender to win contracts under a NASA program developing lunar landers. Space Florida said the company generates revenue and is “well-positioned” to win a portion of those NASA contracts as either a prime contractor or sub-contractor.

The loan “represents an early yet strategic position by Space Florida designed to create a foothold for prospective lunar service providers in Florida, and thus lead to a clustering effect to attract additional activity to Florida in this emerging market segment,” said Howard Haug, the agency’s treasurer and chief investment officer. Haug said the company would establish lunar lander integration and technology development work exclusively in Florida, be expected to choose a Cape Canaveral facility “as part of their Florida footprint,” and to perform testing at the KSC runway.

Similar to how the agency has partnered with private companies to fly cargo and soon astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA envisions incrementally developing commercial moon landers for robotic and eventually human missions. One likely competitor for NASA’s early lunar contracts, Moon Express, has already established a presence at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 17, and performed prototype lander tests at the shuttle runway. (6/21)

Space Florida Commits to Runway Upgrades for Horizontal Launcher (Source: Florida Today)
Space Florida committed to spending up to $1 million to upgrade utilities at Kennedy Space Center’s former space shuttle runway to support test flights — as soon as early 2019 — by an unidentified company. “This is the first real space user for horizontal launch and landing,” board chairman Bill Dymond said.

If the company fails to complete an agreed upon number of test flights, Haug said the state would recoup some its of investment in utilities including power and high-speed data connections. “When that craft comes back, its need to plug into broadband is insatiable,” he said. “Because the minute that thing stops, they’re downloading gobs of data, and it stays connected.” The planned improvements should ultimately prove useful to any runway users, whether spacecraft or aircraft, said Jim Kuzma, senior vice president and general manager at Space Florida. (6/21)

Space Florida Approves Funding for SpaceX, Blue Origin Facilities (Source: Florida Today)
Space Florida’s board approved committing up to $14.5 million to SpaceX’s planned expansion at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, and up to $3.4 million for a new engine-related facility that Blue Origin will add to its New Glenn rocket manufacturing site at Exploration Park. “It actually provides a capability so they don’t have to ship the engines to other sites in the United States, they can do it on site,” said Kuzma. Combined, the two FDOT-funded projects are expected to create 140 jobs — 90 at SpaceX and 50 at Blue Origin — with average annual wages of roughly $80,000. (6/21)

What Would the Mission of the United States Space Force Be? (Source: Space News)
Going beyond protecting American space assets and attacking those of an enemy, a number of other missions for a USSF present themselves. For example, the problem of cleaning up space junk, which would become a major problem in the event of a space war, would constitute a good peacetime task. Cleaning up the debris left by dead satellites would not only ensure that near Earth space remains navigable; it would constitute excellent practice for operating in space.

Farther down the line, with the United States and other countries as well as private industry heading back to the moon, a Space Force could take on the functions of a space-faring version of the Coast Guard, providing rescue services, enforcing the law, and helping to arbitrate disputes among nations and private entities beyond the Earth.

Finally, a United States Space Force could provide the ultimate defense against a threat that could arrive from deep space that could end civilization, if not the human species. Sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid hit the Earth in the region of the Yucatan, ending the reign of the dinosaurs and ensuring the rise of mammals as the dominant species on Earth. (6/19)

Pentagon Stuck With Space Force Directive (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon has found itself in a bind regarding the creation of a Space Force. Although President Trump directed the Defense Department to establish a separate branch devoted to space on Monday, the department has no plans in place for doing so, and any such effort would require congressional approval. The Center for Naval Analyses is currently conducting a study looking at options for a military space branch, but its report is not due until the end of the year. Former Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James noted it's widely known that Air Force and Pentagon leadership were opposed to creating a Space Force. "But now they're stuck," she said. "If they want to keep their jobs, they have to do something." (6/20)

New Asteroid Action Plan Hopes to Deal With Impact Risks (Source: Space News)
The White House released Wednesday an "action plan" for dealing with threats posed by near Earth objects (NEOs). The plan outlines five goals ranging from improved searches for NEOs to planning to deal with a potential impact threat. The document, though, is short on specific details, and there are no plans to spend additional money on the effort beyond the budget increases provided to NASA's planetary defense program. No known NEOs pose a risk of impacting the Earth for the foreseeable future. (6/20)

China Preparing to De-Orbit Space Station (Source: Space News)
China appears to be preparing to deorbit its Tiangong-2 module to avoid a repeat of the uncontrolled reentry of a similar spacecraft. Tracking by the U.S. military shows that Tiangong-2 has lowered its orbit from about 380 to 290 kilometers, suggesting a deliberate effort to deorbit the spacecraft. The Chinese government has not announced any plans to deorbit the module, launched in 2016 and hosting one crew for a 30-day mission. Tiangong-1 reentered  over the South Pacific Ocean earlier this year after China lost the ability to control the spacecraft. (6/20)

Russia to Host UAE Astronaut for ISS Mission (Source: The National)
An Emirati astronaut will fly to the International Space Station next year. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in the United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday an agreement with Roscosmos where an Emirati astronaut will fly to the station in April 2019 on a Soyuz spacecraft for a 10-day mission. Terms of the agreement between the countries, including the cost to the UAE for the flight, were not disclosed. The UAE Space Agency is in the midst of an astronaut selection process, but the person who will fly on that mission will begin training next month. (6/20)

Opportunity Rover Remains in Sleep Mode During Weeks-Long Martian Storm (Source: NASA)
NASA's Opportunity Mars rover remains silent as a dust storm spreads across the planet. NASA said Wednesday that the dust storm that started less than a month ago has now spread across the planet, and it's not clear how long the storm will last. The solar-powered Opportunity rover has been in a sleep mode since early last week because of diminished power levels, and NASA doesn't expect to hear from the rover until after the dust storm subsides. The nuclear-powered Curiosity rover remains in operation even as it records record-high dust levels at its location across the planet from Opportunity. (6/20)

UK's First Space Camp Accelerator Unveils First 6 Startups (Source: Tech Crunch)
Seraphim Capital’s new “Space Camp Accelerator” is the UK’s first dedicated accelerator program for startups in the spacetech industry. They've now selected the six companies in the first cohort. They come from from the US, Denmark and the UK. The program is underway and is 9 weeks in total, ending 9/10 July. The key partners are the new UK Space Agency, Dentons, Rolls-Royce, Cyient, European Space Agency, SA Catapult and Capital Enterprise as well as Airbus, SSTL and Telespazio. Here’s a run-down of which companies are in the program. (6/20)

Video Shows True Size of SpaceX Rockets (Source: Inverse)
Elon Musk has shared a video that helps visualize the sheer scale of SpaceX’s rockets, and the results are awe-inspiring. The CEO retweeted a video on Wednesday from YouTube channel Corridor Crew, which uses visual effects to show the size of the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and BFR rockets in real-life situations. The video, which uses 3D models produced by Reese Wilson, shows the sheer scale of the company’s rockets that it’s using to fulfill its space exploration ambitions. Click here. (6/20)