September 25, 2018

Financial Document Reveals Vulcan Rocket Engine Competition is Over (Source: Ars Technica)
The latest financial release from aerospace manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne reveals that the company spent none of its own money on development of the AR1 rocket engine this spring. Moreover, the quarterly 10-Q filing that covers financial data through June 30, 2018 indicates that Aerojet may permanently stop funding the engine with its own money altogether—a sign the company has no immediate customers.

Although Aerojet will continue to receive some funding from the US military through next year to develop its large, new rocket engine, this money won't be enough to bring it to completion. Instead of having a flight-ready engine for use by the end of 2019, the filing indicates that Aerojet now intends to have just a single prototype completed within the time frame.

The AR1 rocket engine, fueled by refined kerosene and liquid oxygen, is in the running to power United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan rocket, which is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2020 or 2021. (The government is investing in the AR1 engine because it views the Vulcan as a potentially significant provider of defense launch needs.) The Colorado-based rocket manufacturer has said it prefers to use Blue Origin's BE-4 engine to power Vulcan's first stage but is considering the AR1 as a back-up option. (9/24)

Antarctica Greenhouse Produces Cucumbers, Tomatoes and More in Mars-Like Test (Source: Space.com)
Fresh vegetables on Mars, anyone? An Antarctic greenhouse known as EDEN ISS not only survived the polar night but emerged from it with a harvest for local researchers, thus providing hope that future Mars colonists could also enjoy fresh food during their time on the Red Planet, German Aerospace Center (DLR) officials said in a statement.

Regularly withstanding temperatures below minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius), the greenhouse provided herbs, lettuce and other vegetables to 10 people who were riding out the winter in the remote station, called the Alfred Wegener Institute's Neumayer Station III. It's the first time the greenhouse operated through the winter. (9/24)

SpaceX’s BFR Gets Closer to Mars, By Way of the Moon (Source: Space Review)
SpaceX used the announcement of the first customer for its Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) to reveal some changes to the vehicle’s design. Jeff Foust reports on the update and the unique plans that customer has for that mission. Click here. (9/25)
 
A Comet or Titan: The Next New Frontiers Mission (Source: Space Review)
NASA will select next year either a comet sample return mission or a spacecraft to Saturn’s moon Titan as its next New Frontiers medium-sized planetary mission. Van Kane describes the two missions and the science they would perform. Click here. (9/25)
 
Commentary on the Planetary Society’s “Principles for Human Spaceflight” (Source: Space Review)
The Planetary Society recently outlined its core beliefs regarding the goals of and approaches to humans spaceflight. Four authors affiliated with the National Space Society offer a critique of that document and suggest some changes. Click here. (9/25)

Cassini Data Reveals Another Feature That Suggests Titan is Similar to Earth (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Analysis of data returned by the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn for 13 years, confirms the existence of giant dust storms in the equatorial regions of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The finding makes Titan the third world in our solar system that is known to harbor dust storms (the other two being Earth and Mars). (9/25)

How Max Polyakov Develops the Ukrainian Space Industry (Source: Space Daily)
Ukraine became the owner of 24 factories which provide the rocket production after the USSR stopped existing. The most famous ones are the design office "Yuzhnoye" and the plant "Yuzhmash'. Even Elon Mask thinks that the Ukrainian rocket "Zenit" is the best one after the SpaceX products. Despite the fact that only state organizations have the right to develop the space industry in Ukraine, Max Polyakov supports the sphere in the country.

He and his Noosphere organize the events concerning the field's theme. Although Ukraine has an impressive manufacturing potential, the Firefly Company founder, Max Polyakov, thinks that the country is still behind the leaders of cosmic exploration: USA, EU, China, and Japan. Moreover, they refuse to collaborate with it. Max Polyakov mentions Brazil as an example. The country refused to develop the "Cyclone-4" launch with Ukraine because of an inappropriate fulfillment of conditions. As a result, we lost around $800 million.

Max Polyakov thinks that after the collapse of the USSR, the development of space technologies almost stopped in Ukraine. Despite the fact we have all production capacities, the country didn't create any innovative product for the industry during the last 25 years. One of the reasons why is the absence of the government demand on intercontinental ballistic rockets which was the main element of operations of space manufacturers of Ukraine. Investments could save the situation but the industry has always been and is still closed to the private sector. (9/24)

GRACE-FO Satellite Switches to Backup System (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
One of NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) satellites is expected to switch to a backup system for its Microwave Instrument.

Launched May 22, 2018, the twin spacecraft are designed to fly in tandem about 137 miles (220 kilometers) apart to monitor changes in Earth’s water cycle and surface mass. While the mission produced its first preliminary gravity field map about a month after its liftoff, it hasn’t collected science data since mid-July because of an anomaly with a component of the Microwave Instrument (MWI) on one of the vehicles, according to NASA.

“On July 19, the primary MWI Instrument Processing Unit (IPU) on the GRACE-FO 2 satellite powered down in response to autonomous commands from an instrument fault monitor indicating that the IPU was using less current than expected,” a Sept. 14, 2018, NASA statement reads. “The IPU provides various timing references for the satellite as well as onboard digital signal-processing functions for the Microwave Instrument and GPS signals.” (9/24)

Argentina Hoping Satellite Will Help With Agriculture (Source: Reuters)
Argentina is hoping a satellite scheduled for launch next month will help its agricultural sector. The $600 million SAOCOM 1A satellite, scheduled for launch Oct. 6 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from California, carries a radar mapping instrument that will provide a map of water resources intended to aid the country's struggling agricultural economy. The satellite "is going to boost the high quality precision agriculture Argentina relies on," said the country's president, Mauricio Macri. (9/23)

Australia Seeks Role in Gateway (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Australia's new space agency is looking for a role in NASA's Gateway project. Megan Clark, the head of the Australian Space Agency, said Monday that the agency has already been in discussions with NASA about roles it could play on the Gateway or a future lunar base. She suggested Australian experience dealing with harsh environments on Earth gives it capabilities it could offer for a lunar facility, but didn't note specific technologies or other roles. (9/24)

'It is Time to Shut Down the Spaceport in Midland' (Source: Midland Reporter Telegram)
A city councilman in a Texas city says it's time for the city to pull the plug on its spaceflight ambitions. In an op-ed, Spencer Robnett, a member of the Midland City Council, said he will oppose a measure at this week's council meeting to extend a contract with a company supporting work on a renewal of the spaceport license for the city's airport. The airport received the five-year license in 2014 to allow flights there by XCOR Aerospace's Lynx spaceplane, but the company went bankrupt last year. Robnett said the city had spent more than $20 million on attracting space businesses without success, and that it should instead spend money on infrastructure needed for the area's oil industry. (9/23)

FAA Bill Includes "Space Support Vehicles" Provisions (Source: Space News)
The final version of an FAA reauthorization bill includes several commercial launch provisions as the industry seeks passage of other legislation later this year. The FAA bill released early Saturday after the completion of negotiations between the House and Senate would create an Office of Spaceports within the FAA and also authorize commercial flights of "space support vehicles" such as the aircraft portions of air-launch systems. At a space law conference Friday, industry officials sought passage this year of other legislation that would reform commercial remote sensing licensing and also address who has oversight of "non-traditional" commercial space activities. They said failure to pass legislation this year would be a major setback for the industry and could even drive some companies overseas. (9/24)

Northrop Grumman Seeking to Cut Costs on Small Launch Vehicles (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman is looking for ways to reduce the costs of the small launch vehicle programs it inherited when it acquired Orbital ATK. In a panel discussion at a recent conference, a company executive said they were committed to both the Pegasus air-launch vehicle and Minotaur family of ground-launched vehicles, with work already underway to make use of common avionics to reduce costs. Northrop has a plan to continue operating Pegasus' L-1011 carrier aircraft, one of the last L-1011 planes still flying, for the next 10 years. The company is also starting to look at ways to take advantage of the larger resources of Northrop Grumman to further reduce costs of the vehicles, which face competition from a growing number of new launch startups. (9/24)