July 7, 2018

Fly Me to the Moon ... For a Proposal? Firm Offers Launches From Kennedy for Lovebirds (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
If you can hold off another four years and have $145 million to spare – and, honestly, who doesn’t? – a French company wants to send you into space from Kennedy Space Center for an out-of-this-world marriage proposal. ApoteoSurprise Agency will start booking flights in March 2022 for hopeless romantics with deep pockets to jump aboard a rocket and take off into space.

The company specializes in helping people plan proposals in Paris. Details on which flights would be the ones to carry these lovebirds were not shared. Before you are whisked off beyond the clouds you’ll have to endure 12 weeks of technical and physical training. But, if you make it, your reward is a launch from Florida to the theme of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and a three-day flight into the moon’s orbit. (7/7)

Boeing and Embraer Agree to $4.75 Billion Commercial JV (Source: AIN Online)
Boeing will take an 80-percent share of Embraer’s commercial aviation business under the terms of a non-binding agreement announced Thursday. The memorandum of understanding proposes the formation of a joint venture meant to “strategically align” the companies’ commercial development, production, marketing, and lifecycle services operations. Under the terms of the agreement, Boeing will hold an 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture and Embraer will own the remaining 20 percent stake.

The transaction values Embraer’s commercial aircraft operations at $4.75 billion and contemplates a value of $3.8 billion for Boeing’s 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture. Boeing said it expects the partnership will become accretive to its earnings per share in 2020 and to generate annual pre-tax cost “synergies” of some $150 million by its third year. (7/5)

How a Snafu Over Swarming Satellites Led Spaceflight to Sharpen its Launch Policy (Source: GeekWire)
When India’s PSLV rocket launched a host of satellites into orbit in January, one big piece was missing: the Federal Communications Commission’s authorization for Swarm Technologies’ super-miniaturized satellites. The FCC had nixed Swarm’s application on the grounds that the wallet-sized communications satellites, known as SpaceBEEs, were too small to be tracked properly. But Seattle-based Spaceflight, which had arranged for the launch, didn’t know that.

January’s unauthorized launch of the SpaceBEEs resulted in a regulatory slap for Swarm, and no small embarrassment for Spaceflight. Curt Blake, the launch logistics company’s president, vows it won’t happen again. “It’s very difficult for the FCC or any government body to keep up,” Blake said. “NOAA, the FCC, the FAA — if you talk to anyone in the commercial satellite industry, you’ll quickly learn that the time delays are large on getting licenses approved. … What ends up happening is that it really compresses the time frame for approval.” (7/7)

Girgin Galactic Agrees to Launch From Italy (Source: TechCrunch)
U.S. space venture Virgin Galactic announced it has partnered with two aerospace companies to help bring commercial space launches to Italy. The agreement with Italy’s largest private space company SITAEL, and ALTEC, a public-private company owned by the Italian Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space, has been two years in the making.

The idea is to put Virgin Galactic’s  space vehicle system at the future Grottaglie Spaceport where it can be used by private individuals who want to experience space, as well as customers like the Italian Space Agency interested in conducting research.

Earlier this year, Italian aviation authority ENAC designated the Taranto-Grottaglie Airport as the future home for horizontally launched spaceflights in Italy. While this Italian spaceport will eventually provide the infrastructure for future Virgin Galactic suborbital flights, the company will maintain its operational headquarters at Spaceport America in New Mexico. (7/6)

Eight Ways Commercial Space Travel Will Change Things (Source: Forbes)
Space travel for everyone can be a little difficult to image with our current technology levels. However, companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are working to make it happen. We asked members of the Forbes Technology Council what they thought the future of commercial space travel might look like, and what it could mean for the future of technology. The answers suggested breathtaking new opportunities for humans and for the commerce in general, given time and focus. Click here. (7/6)

Buzz Aldrin's Son Tells His Side of the Story (Source: The Atlantic)
“I think people are taking advantage of him,” Andy Aldrin said. Both sides must now prepare for their first court date, which has not yet been set, according to a clerk for Brevard County, Florida, where the suit was filed. Andy said he believes a new set of managers wants to take control of Buzz’s space memorabilia, which is controlled by a trust that Buzz and his children set up in 2016. The lawsuit seeks to remove Andy from his role as trustee.

Korp, who has worked with Buzz since 2011, agrees. She said in a recent interview that the Apollo astronaut told her in June of last year that he no longer wanted her to book public appearances for him. “He just felt pressured to continue to perform every day,” Korp said. “He loved to keep busy, he loved to do a lot, but he also very publicly has struggled with depression."

"He’s not someone who does that well with idle time,” she said. “His mind goes a million miles a minute.” It was at about this time, Korp said, that Buzz met a business adviser named Lisa La Bonte. Buzz had traveled to the United Arab Emirates for public speeches, and La Bonte had served as the head of a stem-education nonprofit group, the Arab Youth Venture Foundation. Buzz invited La Bonte to an Aldrin family reunion in Florida last August, Korp said. After that, “she just started showing up places,” she said. (7/6)

Russia's Soyuz Spacecraft Could Find New Life as a Lunar Taxi (Source: Popular Mechanics)
On June 28, the new head of the Roscosmos State Corporation Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia could begin human missions to the Moon before completing the development of its next-generation spacecraft Federatsiya (Federation). Instead, Russia will once again rely on its 50-year-old legend.

Rogozin says moonshots could be possible with the existing Soyuz spacecraft, which currently taxis crews to the International Space Station orbiting the Earth. "The Soyuz was originally developed for the (Soviet) lunar program and that means its upgrade (for lunar missions) is quite possible, until we get the new vehicle," Rogozin says. If that sounds familiar, it’s because various schemes to send Soyuz on a long loop behind the Moon have been on the table for years, but never got the green light from the Russian government—until now. (7/6)

The Greatest Threat to America's Military? A 'Pearl Harbor' In Space. (Source: National Interest)
This monumental reorganization of the military space enterprise would begin to yield benefits in the 2040s. That would be fine, as good things are worth the wait, provided no seriously bad event happens before then. Unfortunately, the threat of a space Pearl Harbor will emerge stealthily in the early 2020s in the guise of dual-use spacecraft for which we are ill-prepared.

If we do not deter this devastating threat of the 2020s, the well-intentioned Space Force of the 2040s would be too little too late. The hectic deliberations on the Space Force must first consider the far more urgent peril of a space Pearl Harbor. The strategies we utilize to deter and counter this emerging threat will form a solid foundation upon which the United States can decide how and when to create a Space Force to best keep peace in space for the 2030s and beyond. (7/6)

EchoStar Drops $3.2 Billion Bid for Inmarsat (Source: Reuters)
U.S. satellite group EchoStar Corp. said it does not intend to make an offer for Britain’s Inmarsat Plc (ISA.L) after the British company rejected a $3.2 billion takeover approach. Earlier on Friday, EchoStar revealed it had made a cash and shares bid of 532 pence per share on July 3, which was rejected by Inmarsat the following day. (7/6)

SpaceX, ULA Near-Term Manifests Take Shape, SpaceX Aims for 1st RTLS at Vandenberg (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
With the first half of 2018 in the books, SpaceX and United Launch Alliance’s near term launch manifests are taking shape with an exciting 15 day period between 20 July and 4 August during which four flights are scheduled.  SpaceX has also officially filed paperwork with the Federal Communications Commission, FCC, to perform the first Return To Launch Site landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, of the Falcon 9 rocket No Earlier Than September. Click here. (7/6)

The Air Force is Already Betting on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy (Source: WIRED)
Fallcon Heavy is about to take off in a big way. Just a few months after its thrilling debut, SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket is back in the headlines. Not for sending another cherry-red Tesla into space, but for gaining some major accolades from the Air Force.

In a surprising move, and after just one flight, the Air Force announced it has certified Falcon Heavy for military launches and awarded the vehicle its first highly coveted launch contract: the AFSPC-52 mission. The contract is valued at $130 million—that’s the price of ferrying the Air Force Space Command-52 satellite to its intended orbit sometime in 2020.

After only one flight, the Air Force decided the heavy lifter had earned its seal of approval. It will still need to fly at least three times before AFSPC-52’s scheduled 2020 launch date to maintain the contract. This makes the Falcon Heavy—essentially three strapped-together Falcon 9 rockets—a powerful new weapon in SpaceX’s arsenal. (7/5)

China Launches New Space Science Program (Source: Xinhua)
hina Wednesday launched a new space science program focusing on the origin and evolution of the universe, black holes, gravitational waves and relationship between the solar system and human. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced to develop a group of four satellites in the program.

The program includes a satellite named "Einstein-Probe (EP)", which is tasked with discovering celestial bodies that emit X-rays during fierce changes as well as quiescent black holes with transient high-energy radiation. The Advanced Space-borne Solar Observatory (ASO-S) will help scientists understand the causality among solar magnetic fields, flares and coronal mass ejections.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or SMILE, which is a Sino-European joint mission, will focus on the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth magnetosphere. The program also includes the Gravitational Wave Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM), which is aimed at searching for electromagnetic signals associated with gravitational waves. (7/4)

Florida Invests More Than $1.4 Million to Protect Military Installations (Source: Enterprise Florida)
Governor Rick Scott announced that $1,469,000 has been awarded through the Florida Defense Support Task Force Grant Program to six projects to protect military installations across the state. This year, awards were given to the South Florida Progress Foundation, Polk County, Clay County Development Authority, Bay County, the Central Florida Planning Region and Gulf Coast State College. Florida’s military and defense industry contributes more than $84.9 billion in economic impact, and the industry supports more than 801,747 jobs in Florida, which is the second largest economic sector in the state. (7/6)

I Spent a Day as a Martian Astronaut. It Wasn't Easy (Source: C/Net)
"Be careful! If you fall here, it's a one-way trip." My heart races as I glance into the giant hole in front of me. My breathing speeds up, fogging the plastic faceplate of my shiny white helmet. My feet crunch the fragile red volcanic rock as I cautiously make my way past the pit of no return, as I've dubbed it in my mind.

I'm on the Mauna Loa volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, but the endless expanse of red and black rock makes me feel like I'm on Mars. That's the point. I'm visiting the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation habitat, or Mars HI-SEAS for short, that's 8,200 feet above sea level and an hour's drive from the beach. Click here. (7/3)