July 28, 2018

Interview with SpaceX's Gwynne Shotwell (Source: Makers)
Gwynne Shotwell talks about her love for math and science, what first sparked her interest in engineering, her work at SpaceX, and how she became one of Forbes' Top 100 Most Powerful Women in the World. Click here. (7/27)

Microgravity Entrepreneurs Eager to Know What Comes After ISS (Source: Space News)
It’s a tricky time for entrepreneurs whose businesses rely on the International Space Station. Uncertainty over the timing of the orbiting outpost’s retirement and the eventual transition to one or more new platforms is making it challenging for companies to attract investors and plan for the future.

Part of the confusion stems from President’s Trump’s budget proposal to halt direct U.S. government funding of ISS after 2024. Speakers at the ISS Research & Development conference here July 23 to 26 emphasized the need for ongoing human activity in low Earth orbit and said the fate of ISS will be determined by its international partners: the United States, Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation and the European Space Agency’s 11 member states. (7/27)

SpaceX Flexing Economic Muscle in Central Texas (Source: Waco Tribune)
The SpaceX rocket-testing plant in McGregor occasionally rattles windows in homes across the area, in a sense part of a soundtrack for its quest to build a craft to carry astronauts into space and eventually another planet. But it also is shaking up the local economy, attracting young engineers from around the country to McLennan County. They buy homes nearby, shop for motorcycles at Harley-Davidson of Waco, pop into Keith’s Ace Hardware on McGregor Drive or eat dinner at Luigi’s or the Coffee Shop Cafe.

“They buy what you would expect 20-to-30-year-olds to buy,” local real estate agent Camille Johnson said. Johnson has brokered home purchases for four SpaceX employees, most in the $300,000 range, she said. California-based SpaceX needs land for its activities here, so it pays McGregor almost $500,000 annually to lease more than 4,000 acres on the city’s outskirts. That accounts for a ninth of McGregor’s $4.5 million general fund budget, City Manager Kevin Evans said. (7/27)

Alaska Launch Shrouded in Secrecy (Source: Space News)
A secretive California company carried out a suborbital launch from an Alaska spaceport July 20, but a week after the event few details about the event are clear, including its outcome. Astra Space carried out a launch at 6 p.m. Eastern July 20 of its “Rocket 1” vehicle from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island. Foggy conditions made it difficult to observe the launch, according to one local reporter covering the event.

Astra Space received a license from the FAA in March for a suborbital test flight. According the license, the launch would carry an inert upper stage on a trajectory traveling to the south. The FAA also issued a notice to airmen restricting airspace in the vicinity. The launch, though, does not appear in the list of licensed launches maintained by AST on its website, even though the list includes launches, both orbital and suborbital, that took place since the Astra Space event. The FAA confirmed that the launch took place but that a “mishap” of some kind occurred.

Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska, formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex, is operated by Alaska Aerospace Corporation. Craig Campbell, president and chief executive of Alaska Aerospace, told SpaceNews July 27 that a nondisclosure agreement with the customer limited what he could discuss. “Our customer has requested we not discuss their operations with the press,” he said. “I can confirm that a launch from the Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska occurred on Friday, July 20th and that the customer is very pleased with the outcome of the launch.” (7/27)

Benefits for KSC Firefighters in Jeopardy, with Pay Cuts Potentially on the Horizon (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Accusations that the contractor that manages NASA / KSC's fire department has decided to cut pay and benefits for its firefighters - have caused representatives with the Transport Workers Union to picket outside of the Space Center's Gate 3 by State Road 405. The cause for the picketing is not NASA, but rather Chenega Infinity LLC a company that manages emergency services – including those provided by the firefighters at KSC.

“About four months ago, the union and Chenega came to an impasse, when that happened the company imposed their ‘best and final’ contract. Kevin Smith with the Transport Workers Union told SpaceFlight Insider. “Their ‘best and final’ contract included the following – about an 80 to 85 percent reduction in their retirement benefits, a 100 percent deletion of their sick leave which they no longer have and then a pretty substantial hit on any kind of overtime provisions.” (7/28)

After 25 Years, Military Told to Move from “Expendable” to “Reusable” Rockets (Source: Ars Technica)
Less than a year and a half has passed since SpaceX first flew a used first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, but this achievement has already shaken up the glacial process of lawmaking and military budgeting. The final version of the defense budget bill for fiscal year 2019 will make both a symbolic and a significant policy change when it comes to reusable rockets.

The conference report from the US House and Senate calls for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program of the Department of Defense, commonly known as the EELV program, to be named the "National Security Space Launch program" as of March 1, 2019. No longer will the military rely solely on expendable rockets.

Moreover, the report says the US Air Force must consider both expendable and reusable launch vehicles as part of its solicitation for military launch contracts. And in the event that a contract is solicited for a mission that a reusable launch vehicle is not eligible to compete for, the Air Force should report back to Congress with the reason why. The US House has already agreed to the conference report, and it should be taken up in the Senate next week. After that, it will need the president's signature to become law. Click here. (7/27)

Senate Bill Puts DOT in Charge of Non-Traditional Space Regulations, Extends ISS to 2030 (Source: Space Policy Online)
A new Senate bill, the Space Frontier Act, would put the Department of Transportation (DOT) rather than the Department of Commerce (DOC) in charge of authorizing non-governmental space activities not already regulated under other federal law. It is at odds with legislation in the House and space policy directives signed by President Trump.  The legislation would also keep the International Space Station (ISS) operating until 2030 instead of 2025 as the Trump Administration proposed.

The bill, S. 3277, has bipartisan co-sponsors: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). Cruz chairs the Space, Science, and Competitiveness subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Markey is the top Democrat (“Ranking Member”) on that subcommittee. Nelson is the Ranking Member on the full committee.

Companies have been urging the government to settle on a regulatory regime for their non-traditional space activities.  They argue that not only do they need to know what steps they must take to get government approval, but potential investors are reluctant to sign up without knowing what regulatory risks the endeavor may face. Click here. (7/27)

Nature Experts Set to Give UK Spaceport Plan the Bird (Source: Northern Times)
Britian's first spaceport could be grounded because of birds, conservationists have warned. Vertical rocket and satellite launches are planned from the remote A'Mhoine peninsular in Sutherland. The UK Space Agency said the move could pave the way for spaceflights from the site between Tongue and Durness.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will be given £2.5m from the UK government to develop the spaceport which could be up and running by the early 2020s. But much of the area is a protected wildlife haven - mainly for birds. A spokesman for RSPB Scotland said: “The news that Scotland could host the UK’s first space port represents a potentially exciting opportunity for the country, but it must be done in a way that respects the incredible wildlife and habitats of this area that support numerous rare and threatened species. (7/27)

Canaveral Begins Spaceport Transformation (Source: Port Technology)
Work has begun on a multi-purpose cargo berth project at Port Canaveral that will provide facilities for the commercial space industry. The project, to design and engineer the multimodal and intermodal North Cargo Berth 8 (NCB8), will increase flexibility, boost capacity, and facilitate a more diverse commerce at the port.

The new infrastructure, scheduled for completion in mid-2019, will enable Canaveral to handle a growing portfolio of heavy and over-sized cargo. In addition, NCB8 will have a capacity of 2,000 lbs-per-square-foot, which is a necessary requirement for handling aerospace cargo. A 900-foot sea wall and 100-foot pier extension is also planned as part of the project, which, once complete, will allow Canaveral to accommodate an 850-foot ship. (7/27)

SpaceX’s Secret Weapon Is Gwynne Shotwell (Source: Bloomberg)
In early February, SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell arrived in Saudi Arabia for a bit of last-minute cleanup. SpaceX was days away from its most ambitious launch yet. Its new rocket, Falcon Heavy, would have a larger capacity than any that had lifted off in the U.S. since the Apollo era. And unlike NASA’s Saturn V, which last flew in 1973, the Falcon Heavy would be reusable, capable of bringing its three boosters back from the edge of space and landing them vertically. To make the rocket’s first flight even more memorable, Elon Musk wanted the experimental payload to include his own sports car.

If all went well, Musk’s cherry-red Tesla Roadster would be propelled toward Mars with a spacesuit-clad dummy behind the wheel and David Bowie’s Life on Mars? playing on the stereo. “Destination is Mars orbit,” Musk tweeted in early December. “Will be in deep space for a billion years or so if it doesn’t blow up on ascent.” News organizations around the world were soon scrambling to cover the launch. “It’s either going to be an exciting success or an exciting failure,” Musk told CBS News on Feb. 5. “One big boom! I’d say tune in.”

But Shotwell wasn’t thrilled about the buzz Musk was generating. SpaceX’s customers pay the company tens of millions of dollars to ferry their $100 million satellites thousands of miles into space. As a general rule, it’s unwise to have them envisioning big booms. And so, with just two days to go before the launch, Shotwell was paying a visit to the Riyadh headquarters of the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat), which had reserved a Falcon Heavy launch. “I needed to get way more across than what was in the tweets,” she says. Click here. (7/26)

Homemade Spacesuit Is About To Get Its First Life-or-Death Test (Source: Medium)
Cameron Smith has never been to space, but this autumn he’ll get close. In a few months, Smith and the small team of volunteers that comprise Pacific Spaceflight will travel to an undisclosed location on the West Coast where Smith will don a homemade spacesuit and attempt to pilot a hot air balloon to over 60,000 feet. Beyond this altitude — known as the Armstrong Limit — pressurized enclosures are necessary to prevent exposed body fluids, such as the moisture on your eyes or tongue, from literally boiling away.

Smith’s flight to altitude will be his pressure suit’s first survival test. It’s the culmination of a nearly decade-long endeavor to design and build a functioning, low-cost spacesuit. This is the story of Pacific Spaceflight, a volunteer-driven organization hellbent on making a spacesuit for the rest of us. Click here. (7/27)

Trump in Space (Source: New York Times)
Unsatisfied with mere terrestrial disruption, or maybe just eager to change the subject yet again, President Trump recently seized on outer space, blindsiding the Pentagon with a directive to create a sixth branch of the military called the Space Force.

Mr. Trump is right to call attention to this vulnerability and defend American interests. But his aggressive ambitions — with talk of “dominance in space” and space being a “war-fighting domain” like the land, sea and air — could spur an arms race in space and make war-fighting there more likely.

Congress is making the situation worse by ordering the Pentagon, in the 2019 defense bill, to begin work on a space-based missile interceptor that experts say is provocative, technically infeasible and prohibitively expensive. Rather than leaping to a vast new military bureaucracy, Mr. Trump might consider starting with a precise understanding of what is needed for improved space defense. Does the Pentagon need to do a better job of buying satellites and harmonizing the assets among the military services? Of building satellites that are more resilient? (7/27)

Trump Doubles Record for Longest Time Without Science Adviser (Source: The Hill)
President Trump this week broke the record for going the longest time without a science adviser among modern presidents. According to The Washington Post, Trump this week reached double the length of time any modern president has gone without selecting a science adviser.

Former President George W. Bush previously held the record, serving as president for nine months and four days without selecting someone for the role. Former Presidents Obama, Kennedy, Nixon and Clinton selected their science adviser picks prior to assuming office. A Post analysis found that every president since Eisenhower filled the role by the first October of their administration, excluding Trump. (7/27)

What Looks Like Ceres on Earth? (Source: JPL)
With its dark, heavily cratered surface interrupted by tantalizing bright spots, Ceres may not remind you of our home planet Earth at first glance. The dwarf planet, which orbits the Sun in the vast asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, is also far smaller than Earth (in both mass and diameter). With its frigid temperature and lack of atmosphere, we're pretty sure Ceres can't support life as we know it.

But these two bodies, Ceres and Earth, formed from similar materials in our solar system. And, after combing through thousands of images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting Ceres since 2015, scientists have spotted many features on Ceres that look like formations they've seen on Earth.

By looking at similar features on different bodies -- what scientists call "analogs" -- we can learn more about the origins and evolution of these bodies over time. Check out these prominent features of Ceres, and see if you recognize any of their earthly cousins! Click here. (7/24)

Space Center Houston’s New ‘Scientist in Residence’ Hopes to Inspire Next Generation with Space Tidbits (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Space history tidbits roll off John Charles’ tongue as easily as an adult reciting the alphabet. “Apollo astronauts started wearing red stripes on their space suits so they could identify themselves later in pictures.” ... “About two-liters of vascular fluids, such as blood and lymph, shift from an astronaut’s legs toward their head in space.”

A self-proclaimed “space nerd,” Charles’ knowledge of NASA’s 60-year history is vast and, seemingly, endless — making him exactly the type of person you’d want leading a tour of Space Center Houston, the museum side of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. That’s why his new appointment as the museum’s “scientist in residence” is such a perfect fit.

This type of position is a first for Space Center Houston — in fact, it was Charles’ idea in the first place — but museum officials couldn’t be more excited for him to come aboard. “He’s going to be an incredible asset in interpreting a lot of research coming out of JSC and the amazing work they’re doing,” said Phyllis Friello, the museum’s education manager. “He will take that information and help it make sense to everyone.” (7/28)

Argentina Prepares for Launch of Satellite Into Space (Source: Xinhua)
Argentina is preparing for the launch of the first of four satellites into space to help monitor geological conditions and manage disasters, according to its national space agency. Argentina's Microwave Observation Satellite, the SAOCOM 1-A, will be shipped later this month to the U.S. Vandenberg Air Force Base in the southern state of California, where it is to be launched in September, according to the National Space Activities Commission (CONAE).

The satellite, designed and built by the prestigious state-owned high-technology firm INVAP, will contribute to a number of tasks, CONAE spokesperson Josefina Peres told reporters during a tour of INVAP's headquarters in Bariloche, in southern Rio Negro province. (7/28)

From a Space Station in Argentina, China Expands Its Reach in Latin America (Source: New York Times)
The giant antenna rises from the desert floor like an apparition, a gleaming metal tower jutting 16 stories above an endless wind-whipped stretch of Patagonia. The 450-ton device, with its hulking dish embracing the open skies, is the centerpiece of a $50 million satellite and space mission control station built by the Chinese military.

The isolated base is one of the most striking symbols of Beijing’s long push to transform Latin America and shape its future for generations to come — often in ways that directly undermine the United States’ political, economic and strategic power in the region. (7/28)

JAXA Vice President and Astronaut, Helps Chart Future of ISS and Human Space Exploration (Source: Space News)
Koichi Wakata, the Japanese space agency’s vice president and director general for human spaceflight technology, is intimately familiar with the International Space Station. As an astronaut, he helped assemble the space station in 2000 and lived onboard for four months in 2009 and six months in 2013 and 2014. Now, Wakata leads JAXA’s preparation for the eventual transition from a single government owned and operated outpost to one or more new stations in low Earth orbit (LEO). Click here. (7/27)

French Space Agency pledges 10-Million-Euro Boost to French Guiana Economy (Source: Space News)
The French space agency CNES has agreed to allocate an additional 10 million euros ($11.7 million) to further the economic and social development of French Guiana, the South American territory home to Europe’s spaceport. The increase announced July 27 comes a little over a year after the largest protest in French Guiana’s 71-year history. Protesters blocked access to the Guiana Space Center, or CSG, for five weeks last spring to draw attention to French Guiana’s low standards of living compared to mainland France. (7/27)

NASA Could be Israel's Ticket to Space (Source: The Hill)
Recently NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine embarked on his first international trip as chief of the space agency. Israel was the first stop on the diplomatic journey. Bridenstine met with a variety of players in the Israeli government and private sector. He signed an agreement to forge a partnership with Israel for NASA’s program to return to the moon, a sound move, considering that country’s growing expertise in technology. (7/27)

Luxembourg Backs Second Military Satellite (Source: Luxembourg Times)
Luxembourg's plans to launch a second military satellite have passed a vote in Parliament. MPs on Tuesday backed a law to acquire, launch and operate a satellite to meet the country's defence needs. The bill was adopted with 58 votes in favour and two against, from The Left MPs. The satellite and its ground-observation system will be funded over 14 years through a €170-million investment from the Luxembourg state. The satellite, to be launched in 2020, is intended to help national defence forces detect risks and carry out observation missions in emergencies, such as natural disasters. (7/25)

ULA Betting Big on New Vulcan Rocket for Future Business (Source: SpaceQ)
United Launch Alliance, the launch company created from a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin went from being the go-to company for launching U.S. military satellites, to being the other rocket company as SpaceX garners much of the headlines. ULA's Tory Bruno has had to make many changes, including downsizing the company, making the Atlas V more competitive by dropping the price by as much as 37%, developing plans for a next generation rocket named Vulcan, and more.

Those who follow the development the future Vulcan rocket and have been wondering what engine will power the first stage, Tory says that decision is coming soon. Oh, and the price range listed in the FAA’s 2018 Annual Compendium of Commercial Space Transportation, it didn’t come from ULA, and Tory won’t reveal the actual prices, yet. And as you’ll hear from Tory, there’s also been some culture change at ULA and innovation in reusability isn’t just what SpaceX does. Importantly to ULA, their next rocket, Vulcan, will feature the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage, or ACES upper stage, that the company is betting heavily on. Click here. (7/27)

Will the First Unauthorized Launch Shape the Future of Space Startups? (Source: Space Angels)
Companies that track objects in space, clear up debris and help manage the flow of “traffic” in orbit have been on Space Angels’ radar for some time, but an unprecedented event has demonstrated what a crucial role they are could play in the future.

In January 2018, California-based company Swarm Technologies launched four “SpaceBEE” satellites, each just 10cm by 10cm by 2.8cm, from an Indian rocket. The launch sent shockwaves through the space infrastructure community, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had refused to authorize these SpaceBEEs a month earlier, concerned that they were too small to track. The event has been described as the first satellite launch unauthorized by any government, and there are concerns that this could be the beginning of a new era of unregulated objects in space.

The skies around our planet are becoming increasingly crowded, and while there’s only a couple of thousand satellites in orbit right now, tens of thousands more are expected to be launched in the next few years. Add the prospect of unauthorized and unregistered objects being sent into space, and the risk of collision worsens. That’s why a company like Silicon Valley-based LeoLabs — which uses a worldwide network of ground-based radars to map objects and debris in low-Earth orbit and to help avoid collisions — was able to raise a $4m investment round in 2017, after being founded just the previous year. (7/26)