June 27, 2018

Southern State Coalition Bid Likely for Boeing NMA Assembly Site (Source: Leeham News)
A coalition of four Southern US states that joined to win the US Air Force tanker contact site location for Mobile (AL) will likely link up again to bid for the assembly line of the prospective Boeing New Midmarket Aircraft, officials of three of the states said yesterday. The Aerospace Alliance includes Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. An official of an economic development commission for Charleston (SC) said Charleston will also likely throw its hat into the ring.

Becky Thompson said that a key to attracting companies to the Aerospace Alliance states is “workforce, workforce, workforce.” Workforce will be a key consideration for Boeing, which faces retirements of more than 5,000 each from its engineering/technicians and touch-labor work groups in the next 5-10 years. A Teal Group study considered workforce as one of its state ranking metrics but failed to focus in the executive analysis the importance Washington State needs to place on workforce training and its importance to Boeing. (6/27)

Georgia Spaceport Opponents Slam "Flawed" FAA Impact Study (Source: SpaceportFacts.org)
The Public Comment period for the Spaceport Camden Draft Environmental Statement (“DEIS”) closed on June 14, 2018, after more than 1,000 negative comments were submitted to the Federal Aviation Agency. The FAA must respond to all substantive comments in the Final EIS. Camden County Commissioners have already invested over $4,000,000 in the spaceport and have budgeted an additional $1,500,000 for the next 12 months’ spaceport expenses. Purchase of the spaceport properties, hazardous site remediation, infrastructure, or construction are not included.

A review of significant Comments indicates the DEIS fails to meet the legal requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). NEPA requires a favorable Record of Decision determination before Camden County can apply to the FAA for a spaceport site license. A favorable decision cannot be issued unless a project meets several NEPA requirements.

In 129 pages of NEPA Comments, the Southern Environmental Law Center points out, “The DEIS is rife with failures to properly address critical aspects of the proposed project and comply with applicable laws. The FAA can cure these shortcomings only by preparing a new DEIS containing the necessary information and analysis. But even if the FAA corrects the DEIS’s deficiencies, it will not be able to correct problems that are inherent in the proposed site, including the fact that any rocket launched would travel over populated areas and significant public lands.” Click here. (6/27)

DOD Sees Space as Key to Facing Hypersonic Threat (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department as early as next year could fund the development of space-based sensors to detect incoming hypersonic missiles, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves. "We believe the hypersonic threat is real," that the US must be prepared, and that "[s]pace will be a big part of that," he said.

The Pentagon hopes to have funding approved possibly next year to begin work on a network of missile-watching satellites amid new warnings that Russia is testing hypersonic ballistic glider weapons that today would be undetectable after the initial boost phase of their flight. “We will not repeat AEHF, SBIRS, GPS 3, OCX,” he said, referring to a litany of Air Force satellite programs that collectively ran tens of billions of dollars over budget and were years behind schedule due to technological setbacks. (6/26)

Enthusiasm Growing For Mars Sample Return Mission (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA’s interest in leading a Mars sample return mission with international partnerships has struck a chord, one focused on addressing the high science priority of whether the red planet ever hosted some form of life, according to presentations on recent mission development activities before a virtual gathering of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG).

Envisioned for the late 2020s, the complex mission’s earliest launch opportunity is likely 2026, Mike Meyer, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program lead scientist, told the June 25 MEPAG session. The sharply focused mission would gather up samples collected from the Martian surface by NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, a surface rover set to launch in July 2020 and touch down on the neighboring planet in February 2021.The two-year primary mission would be intended to collect and cache about 30 small samples of soil and rock. (6/26)

The Air Force is “as Serious as a Heart Attack” About Opposing the Space Corps (Source: Muckrock)
While President Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this year regarding the possible establishment of a “Space Force,” FOIA shows that not everyone in his own administration is so keen on the idea. In a series of recently released emails from last year, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson made clear her opposition to the establishment of a semi-autonomous “Space Corps,” insisting that it be the USAF in charge of militarizing the cosmos.

The proposed Space Corps would function similar to the Marine Corps and the Navy, with the USAF maintaining a large degree of jurisdiction. Not enough apparently, as Wilson has publicly stated that she feels the bureaucratic bloat of adding another military agency would only complicate an already distended Pentagon. House Armed Services Committee member Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL) disagreed, arguing that it is time the government dedicates a full on military agency to protect American assets in space, i.e. satellites.

Rogers is quoted in Space News as saying, “The Air Force is as fast as a herd of turtles as far as space is concerned.” The emails show Wilson strongly disagreeing with Rogers’ opinion. As these emails show, the fight over a Space Corps or Space Force is less Star Wars and more Shark Tank - this is a bureaucratic drama over who gets to weaponize the final frontier, not whether or not we should do so. And so far, to take Wilson at her word, the USAF isn’t backing down. Click here. (4/20)

Launch of NASA's $8 Billion James Webb Telescope Delayed Again, to March 2021 (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Human error and other technical problems have driven the cost of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope up to $9.7 billion and forced yet another delay of its launch to March 2021. Webb already is 13 years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Wednesday's announcement follows a review of the project by a 10-member Independent Review Board, which made recommendations to top NASA officials. (6/27)

Proton-Medium Project Stalls Due to Lack of Funding (Source: Russian Space Web)
A potential decision to retire the Proton family earlier than previously planned could kill the hopes for building a lighter version of the Proton-M rocket intended to make the Proton family more competitive on the international market. At the end of May 2018, the Interfax news agency reported that GKNPTs Khrunichev had given up its effort to develop "light" and "medium" versions of the vehicle, due to financial problems.

To build the Proton-Medium version of the rocket, GKNPTs Khrunichev needed to redesign and re-test the structure of the transfer compartment (connecting the second stage and the Briz-M space tug) and to manufacture several other components. However, while GKNPTs Khrunichev's subcontractors demanded advance payments for the work, the company was not able to raise enough money for the project. Roskosmos State Corporation refused to fund Proton-Medium, while all the attempts to find private investors failed. (6/27)

The Space-Time Echoes That Point to a New Theory of Reality (Source: New Scientist)
A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, two black holes collided. We know this because more than a billion years later, on the morning of 14 September 2015, we felt it: in the world’s most exquisitely sensitive measuring device, laser beams shifted ever so slightly as ripples in space-time washed over Earth. This first detection of gravitational waves was the culmination of an epic scientific quest, and a stunning endorsement of general relativity, Einstein’s landmark theory of gravity.

Since then, our detectors have seen them five more times. But this is just the start – and although everything we have learned from the first waves is consistent with Einstein’s masterpiece, the coming deluge of sightings could tear it apart. Gravitational waves carry us into uncharted waters, where the fabric of the universe is so warped and gravity so extreme that our best theories are pushed to their limits. “If there is something wrong with general relativity, we are going to find it here,” says Salvatore Vitale at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As engineers recalibrate the lasers to make the detectors yet more sensitive, physicists are buzzing with anticipation about what they might reveal. Theorists are now entertaining cosmic oddities that could transform our understanding of black holes, gravity and space-time itself. (6/20)

U.S.-Brazil Advance Talks on Rocket Launch Agreement (Source: 321Go Space)
An international agreement between U.S. and Brazil for commercial use of a rocket launch site in Alcantara is advancing and will take center stage during Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Brasilia this week. Brazil's defense minister recently said that Boeing, Lockheed Martin and other U.S. aerospace companies have expressed interest in launching rockets from its Alcantara military base. Alcantara's location makes it attractive because one-fifth less fuel is used to launch satellites into orbit along the equator compared with sites farther north or south.

The Brazilian Air Force plans to spend approximately $2.4 billion over the next 10 years on its strategic space systems program, including on four or five fleets of satellites, investment in the Alcântara infrastructure, laboratories and research. Brazil's satellite program plans to spend $380 million over the same period. A cooperation on a space partnership between the U.S. and Brazil will be an important part of the upcoming trip and a topic of a working lunch Vice President Mike Pence will have with President Michel Temer. Pence heads the National Space Council and is seeking to expand the council's work with international space partnerships. (6/25)

Lockheed Martin and Harris Corp. Land $1 Billion in Combined Contracts With Central Florida Work (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Central Florida defense firms are lining up work agreements now that will help create a bright future for the area's economy. Lockheed Martin landed a $503.2 million Navy contract for air vehicle spares for the F-35 aircraft, with a chunk of the work taking place in Orlando and Melbourne, where Lockheed Martin has more than 7,000 employees. Meanwhile, Melbourne-based Harris Corp. won a $495 million Army contract. Harris currently has over 240 job openings. (6/25)

Buzz Aldrin's Former Business Manager Says She's Being Defamed in Lawsuit (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The former business manager for Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin said Tuesday she's being unfairly defamed in a lawsuit accusing her along with two of his children of misusing his credit cards and slandering him. Christina Korp also posted a statement blaming people who began to "exert undue influence" on Aldrin, adding that they drove a wedge between Buzz, his children and herself. She told ABC's "Good Morning America" she is saddened by this.

Court-appointed mental health experts planned to evaluate Aldrin in Florida this week. In April, Aldrin underwent his own evaluation conducted by a geriatric psychiatrist at UCLA, who said Aldrin scored "superior to normal" for his age on tests. "I also believe that he is perfectly capable of providing for his physical health needs, food, clothing and shelter, and is substantially able to manage his finances and resist fraud and undue influence," said Dr. James Spar in a letter to Aldrin's attorney.

In Aldrin's lawsuit, the former astronaut asked a judge to remove Andrew Aldrin from control of his financial affairs, social media accounts and several nonprofit and business enterprises. Andrew Aldrin had been a trustee of his father's trust. Buzz Aldrin said in the complaint that despite revoking the power of attorney he had given his son, Andrew Aldrin continued making financial decisions for him. (6/26)

Why Europe's Astronauts are Learning Chinese (Source: BBC)
It was not what Matthias Maurer was expecting when he signed up for sea survival training with Chinese astronauts. “It was so nice and relaxed,” says the German European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut. “I was floating there in the life raft, looking up at the sky – I only needed some music and it would have given me a real Hawaii holiday feeling.” The exercise took place last year at a newly built training centre near the coastal city of Yantai, around an hour’s flight south-east of Beijing. For two weeks, Maurer and fellow ESA astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, lived and worked alongside their Chinese counterparts.

“We trained together, stayed in the same building as the Chinese astronauts, shared the same food and it was quite an intense experience,” says Maurer. “It felt like being part of a family – it was completely different to being in Houston, where I rent an apartment and see my colleagues only during a two or three-hour training session.”

Whereas other space agencies run special team-building exercises to help astronauts work together, the Chinese have adopted a more fundamental approach. “The Chinese astronauts even spend their vacations together, they know each other perfectly well so they’re like brothers and sisters,” says Maurer. “When we lived there we felt so warm-heartedly accepted into their family.” (6/27)

Rocket Lab Launch Scrub Linked to Previous Problem (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab scrubbed its latest Electron launch attempt Tuesday evening after finding a technical problem similar to one that postponed an earlier launch. Rocket Lab was less than a half-hour away from the scheduled 10:10 p.m. Eastern launch of the rocket when it announced the scrub because of a problem with a motor controller on the rocket. The problem appears similar to one found during a wet dress rehearsal for an earlier launch attempt in April that postponed the mission until June. Rocket Lab has not yet released additional details about the problem or set a new launch date. (6/27)

China Launches Two "Technology Test" Satellites (Source: GB Times)
China launched a pair of technology demonstration satellites overnight. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and placed the two spacecraft into orbit. The satellites, identified only as "new technology test" satellites A and B, will reportedly test intersatellite communications links and Earth observation technologies. The launch is the 18th this year for China, the same as China launched in all of 2017. (6/27)

SpaceX Constellation Moving Forward While Boeing's is Stalled (Source: Space News)
As SpaceX moves forward with its satellite constellation, Boeing is stuck in neutral. A Boeing executive said this week that while it has filed for a constellation of up to nearly 3,000 satellites, the company hasn't started developing the system. The FCC has yet to approve that application. SpaceX, which won FCC approval for its megaconstellation earlier this year, is in the "very early days" of that system's development, according to the company. SpaceX launched two prototype satellites in March and is still working on both the technology for the system as well as its cost effectiveness. (6/27)

Europe Plans $18 Billion for Space Projects (Source: Space News)
The European Commission wants to spend more than $18 billion on its space programs during an upcoming six-year period. The commission's space plan for 2021 through 2027 calls for spending most of that money on the Galileo satellite navigation program and Copernicus Earth observation program, with 500 million euros earmarked for new security components. Some of that funding would go to research and development work for a new generation of Copernicus and Galileo satellites. (6/27)

Japanese Probe Nears Asteroid (Source: Nature)
Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has arrived in the vicinity of the asteroid Ryugu. The spacecraft, launched three and a half years ago, arrived Wednesday at a rendezvous point 20 kilometers from the asteroid. Hayabusa2 will later move closer to the asteroid, eventually reaching the surface to collect samples for return to Earth in 2020. (6/27)

Arianespace Won't Meet 14-Launch Goal (Source: Reuters)
Arianespace will fall short of its goal of 14 launches this year. The company now expects to carry out 11 launches of its Ariane 5, Soyuz and Vega rockets this year, blaming a problem with a January Ariane launch that placed two satellites into the wrong orbits and a May launch that was postponed when the Indian space agency ISRO shipped its satellite back for further testing. The company expects a similar number of launches in 2019, but said it's too soon to offer a definitive forecast. (6/27)

House Members Concerned at Pace of Launch Licensing Reform (Source: Space News)
Some in Congress and industry are concerned about the fast pace of commercial launch regulatory reform. Space Policy Directive 2 requires the Transportation Department, through the FAA, to develop streamlined rules for licensing commercial launches by Feb. 1 of next year. At a hearing Tuesday of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee, some members wondered if that deadline was feasible and if it might jeopardize safety. Industry officials at the hearing emphasized the importance of regulatory reform and noted the deadline is only for a notice of proposed rulemaking, not the final rule. (6/27)

The Rockets That Are Pushing the Boundaries of Space Travel (Source: Phys.org)
Friday morning at 5:24 am, a rocket owned by the US company SpaceX will blast off from Florida carrying two and a half tons of gear from NASA, only to dock three days later and 250 miles above Earth at the International Space Station. The rocket itself is not new. It launched a NASA satellite into orbit two months ago, then landed back on Earth—upright—on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral. Even the Dragon capsule, carrying the cargo and affixed to the top of the rocket was used before, having flown a mission to the ISS in 2016.

Friday's flight will be the 15th SpaceX mission for the US space agency since 2012, one of which exploded in flight. Another company, Orbital ATK, has completed nine supply trips, with one explosion as well. These missions may appear routine, but they represent a revolution in space travel. Before SpaceX, only national governments resupplied the space station. Today, NASA is so dependent on the private sector that the US space agency has signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing to send astronauts to space beginning next year, as soon as their capsules are ready.

Thanks to SpaceX, the United States has taken the global lead in launches once again, after losing ground for more than a decade to Russia and China, which launched even more rockets. "The Russians have certainly been one of the countries that have had the greatest loss in terms of launch market share," said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association. The number of satellite launches is expected to surge in the coming years. Never before has low-Earth orbit been so accessible. (6/27)

Opinion: How To Seize Revolution In Hypersonics And Space (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. is on the brink of a tremendous tipping point of commercial, military and political opportunities. This historic moment is enabled by a combination of reusable rockets and hypersonic-vehicle technologies.

In fact, the coming intersection of reusable launch and hypersonic flight offers the kind of opportunity not seen since the invention of the steam-powered locomotive. These technologies could soon allow humans to travel anywhere on the globe in a couple of hours — and provide consistent low-cost access to space. This will be a tremendous boon to U.S. commerce. Meanwhile, a fleet of hypersonic military vehicles could revolutionize the way we defend our country. If the railroad opened and secured our continent, the combination of reusable rockets and hypersonics will open and secure our Solar System.

The vision of burgeoning economic growth on the space frontier and a hypersonic military protecting the peace is very real, but it is far from guaranteed. As with all great visions, creating the reality requires time, talent and treasure. Moreover, as Machiavelli pointed out 500 years ago, where the vision replaces existing systems and capabilities, those representing the status quo will fight to preserve the old order — no matter how superior the new systems and technologies may be. Change is hard and can only be accomplished with strong leadership, great people, short chains of command, incentives, and (often) money. (6/22)

Buzz Aldrin Shares His Latest Space Vision Even as Questions Swirl About His State of Mind (Source: GeekWire)
Buzz Aldrin wants people to know that he has some cool new ideas about how to get to the moon — not just because they’re cool, but also because they show his mind is working. “That’s not an inactive, incapacitated, dependent mind,” the 88-year-old Aldrin, who became one of the first humans to walk on the moon during 1969’s Apollo 11 mission, told me today during a wide-ranging telephone interview.

That’s an issue nowadays, due to a legal fight that’s pitting Aldrin and his new business managers against two of his children and his former business manager. The children, Andrew and Janice Aldrin, have asked a court to determine the former astronaut’s competency, with the aim of taking more control of his accounts as co-guardians. They say the allegations in the lawsuit “are products of the increased confusion and memory loss that Dad has demonstrated in recent years.”

The family feud is sure to get even more tangled: This week, Aldrin will reportedly undergo examinations by court-appointed mental health experts. But that’s not what Aldrin wanted to talk about when he called me up today. He wanted to talk about building space gateways to the moon. “I crystallized this thinking while I was getting a massage this morning,” he joked. Click here. (6/26)

First Space, Then Auto—Now Elon Musk Quietly Tinkers with Education (Source: Ars Technica)
In a corner of SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, a small, secretive group called Ad Astra is hard at work. These are not the company’s usual rocket scientists. At the direction of Elon Musk, they are tackling ambitious projects involving flamethrowers, robots, nuclear politics, and defeating evil AIs.

Those at Ad Astra still find time for a quick game of dodgeball at lunch, however, because the average age within this group is just 10 years old. Ad Astra encompasses students, not employees. For the past four years, this experimental non-profit school has been quietly educating Musk’s sons, the children of select SpaceX employees, and a few high-achievers from nearby Los Angeles.

It started back in 2014, when Musk pulled his five young sons out of one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious private schools for gifted children. Hiring one of his sons’ teachers, the CEO founded Ad Astra to “exceed traditional school metrics on all relevant subject matter through unique project-based learning experiences.” (6/25)