September 2, 2018

Why Space Florida is Keeping an Eye on the Small Launch Vehicle Market (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Dale Ketcham knows the commercial sector of the space industry will continue to thrive, but in order for Florida to maintain its status as the top area for rocket and satellite activity, economic development leaders not only should focus on the big players, but also the little guys who, together, can create an even bigger impact.

“Rocket Lab, Firefly, Virgin Orbit — those companies are due to make significant decisions on their locations for launch activities probably before the end of the year.” What also is bolstering the growth of small rocket firms is satellite customers looking for the cheapest, but still reliable, service around. Companies such as Hawthorne, Calif.-base SpaceX Inc., owned by billionaire Elon Musk, and Kent, Wash.-based Blue Origin LLC, owned by Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, are both in the satellite launching business but cater mostly to those firms that require a larger rocket.

Some of that activity already seems to be happening, as Tucson, Ariz.-based aerospace firm Vector Space Systems Inc. is looking at building a manufacturing facility in Central Florida to make its 42-foot-tall rockets. The facility would lead to “at least a couple hundred people,” Jim Cantrell, CEO of Vector, previously said. But in order for that facility to happen, Vector’s launch cadence in Florida would need to be high enough to justify the need. (8/30)

Blue Origin Scores Big in NASA’s Latest Batch of Flight Opportunities for Space Tech (Source: GeekWire) (8/30)
NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 15 promising space technologies for testing on suborbital flights, and almost half of them are set to fly on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship. Jeff Bezos’ space venture, headquartered in Kent, Wash., started flying science payloads to the edge of space and back more than two years ago. This week’s NASA announcement solidifies Blue Origin’s status as a leader in suborbital space science missions.

New Shepard’s uncrewed test flights provide a few minutes of zero gravity, more scientifically known as microgravity. That’s long enough to see how a technology that’s designed for orbital use might fare during much longer stints of zero-G. The seven missions planned for New Shepard flights illustrate the range of science and engineering projects supported by the program are listed here. (8/30)