October 1, 2018

China Aims to Explore Polar Regions of Moon by 2030 (Source: Space Daily)
China plans to land on and explore the southern and northern polar regions of the Moon by 2030, according to an official of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Li Guoping, director of the Department of System Engineering of the CNSA, said that China is planning four missions for the fourth stage of its lunar exploration program. (9/26)

Astranis to Fund Launch of Student-Built Satellite (Source: Space News)
A startup developing small communications satellites will fund the launch of a student-built satellite selected through a competition. Astranis Space Technologies announced Oct. 1 that it will work with NanoRacks to fund a future launch of a university-built 1U cubesat. The satellite will be selected through a competition run by a student space organization, Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), among its U.S.-based chapters. (10/1)

The Physics of Launching a Lunar Lander From the Moon's Surface (Source: WIRED)
What happens when the ascent stage of the lunar module leaves the surface of the moon? It fires its rockets and accelerates away from the moon (into orbit to rendezvous with the Apollo capsule). But what is the acceleration during launch? That is what I am going to measure. Click here. (10/1)

Gilmour Space Raises $13.7 Million for Hybrid Launch Vehicle (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Gilmour Space Technologies has raised AUD 19 million (USD 14 million) to scale-up and launch its first commercial hybrid rocket to space in 2020. The Series B round was led by top-tier venture capital firms in Australia: Main Sequence Ventures, which manages Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) innovation fund; and Blackbird Ventures, which led Gilmour Space’s AUD 5 million Series A round in May last year. (10/1)

Moon Express Raises $12.5M (Source: Space News)
Florida-based Moon Express has raised $12.5 million to continue development of its lunar landers. The company said it raised a $2.5 million bridge round, led by Minerva Capital Group, and $10 million of a planned $20 million Series B round led by an undisclosed investor. The company plans to use the funding to redevelop the former Launch Complex 17 at Cape Canaveral into its new spacecraft development and testing facility, with plans to launch its first lunar lander mission in mid-2020. (10/1)

China Conducts Mystery Space Launch (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
China launched a mysterious small satellite on a small launch vehicle Saturday. A Kuaizhou-1A rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:13 a.m. Eastern Saturday and placed the CentiSpace-1-S1 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The mission of the satellite has not been disclosed, but some speculate it could be an experimental Earth observation satellite. The solid-fuel Kuaizhou-1A is operated by Exspace, a Chinese company that is a subsidiary of aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. (10/1)

Luxembourg Attracts American Space Startups (Source: Space News)
Luxembourg has lured three American space startups to set up operations in the country. In an announcement last week, the Luxembourg government said that CubeRover, Hydrosat and Made In Space will all set up offices in the country to support research and development efforts ranging from tiny planetary rovers to robotic arms. Neither the government nor the companies disclosed any incentives that Luxembourg provided to attract the companies. Luxembourg has been working for the last few years to attract more space startups, focusing initially on the emerging space resources field but more recently expanding to other markets. (10/2)

Musk Loses Post at Tesla (Source: New York Times)
Elon Musk and Tesla have reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of the agreement announced Saturday, Musk will stay on as CEO of Tesla but will step down as chairman of the board for three years, and also pay a $20 million fine. The SEC filed suit against Musk Thursday, alleging he provided false statements about plans to take the company private that Tesla later abandoned. That suit came after Musk rejected a proposed settlement similar to the one he later agreed to. The settlement doesn't affect his leadership of SpaceX, a privately held company. (10/1)

LeoLabs Plans Space Tracking Radar in New Zealand (Source: Space News)
LeoLabs will install a radar in New Zealand to track space objects. The company said it reached an agreement with the New Zealand government to install a phased array radar at a site in Central Otago on New Zealand's South Island in 2019. The company currently operates radars in Alaska and Texas, but the new site will give it improved coverage of the southern hemisphere. The radar also includes improvements over its existing equipment to allow it to track objects as small as 2 centimeters across in low Earth orbit. LeoLabs raised $13 million in Series A funding this summer, with the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund among those participating in the round. (10/2)

Russia Could Assist Indian Human Spaceflight Program (Source: Deccan Herald)
Russia could provide a flight of Indian astronauts as a test before India's first human spaceflight launch. Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly propose such a mission to the International Space Station when he meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this week. The launch would involve at least some of the astronauts that India would later fly on its own crewed spacecraft, slated for launch no later than August 2022. Russia, which flew an Indian astronaut on a Soyuz flight more than 30 years ago, previously offered to help train India's new astronauts. (10/2)

Texas County Offers Incentive for SpaceX Expansion (Source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
A Texas county is offering incentives to SpaceX to expand part of a test site. Coryell County is offering up to $15 million in grants to SpaceX if it expands operations in part of its test site in the country. Most of the test site is on property belonging to the city of McGregor, but about 300 of the 4,300 acres is on Coryell County land. SpaceX would earn the grants if it expands operations on the part of the property in that county and employs people living in the county. SpaceX has not announced any plans for such an expansion, though. (10/1)

SpaceX Techs Work Toward Falcon 9 Fairing Recovery with Wacky Series of Experiments (Source: Teslarati)
Over the course of the past week, Teslarati photographer Pauline Acalin has captured a multitude of unusual occurrences at SpaceX’s Port of Los Angeles dock space, each time involving a Falcon fairing recovery vessel like Mr Steven or NRC Quest, a Falcon fairing half (flight-proven or otherwise), and one of several attenuating circumstances.

More likely than not, what appears as a menagerie of weird and disconnected events on the sidelines is actually a reasonably organized leg of a larger program, in this case focused on experimentation and testing to close the fairing recovery loop and secure Mr Steven’s first successful fairing catch. Click here. (9/26)

Economic Report Lays Out Strategies to Boost Washington's $1.8 Billion Space Industry (Source: GeekWire)
A newly published economic report estimates the space industry’s contribution to Washington state’s economy at $1.8 billion and 6,200 jobs in 2018 — and goes on to suggest ways to boost the industry to a higher orbit. “The central Puget Sound region is already a worldwide leader in aerospace and information technology, and we plan on being a world leader in the space industry as well,” said Terry Ryan, a member of the Snohomish County Council and president of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Economic Development Board.

The regional council’s 60-page report, titled “Washington State Space Economy,” may be the first economic study of the Evergreen State’s aerospace industry that doesn’t lead off with Boeing. Instead, the study highlights the role of Blue Origin. Blue Origin’s workforce has already reached past the 1,500-employee mark, and Bezos has said he spends $1 billion annually to support the venture. (It should be noted, however, that much of that money goes toward development work in Texas and Florida.) (9/27)

New Horizons Team Completes Final Trial Run of Ultima Thule Flyby (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NASA's New Horizons team successfully completed a simulation of the spacecraft's upcoming flyby of Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) Ultima Thule that included "data" based on actual observations and projections regarding the target object. (9/28)

Asteroid Ryugu's Rubbly Surface Pops in Best-Ever Photo (Source: Space.com)
The sharpest-ever photo of the big asteroid Ryugu shows a complex surface strewn with rocks and rubble. Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft captured the image with its Optical Navigation Camera-Telescopic instrument at 12:04 a.m. EDT (0404 GMT) on Sept. 21, 2018, from a height of about 210 feet (64 meters), according to Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials. Click here. (9/29)

Iridium Supports Ocean Cleanup Effort (Source: Iridium)
Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that is building a fleet of 60 plastic collector screens in the Pacific Ocean, will connect its fleet using Iridium satellites for broadband. Iridium said Sept. 25 that it is providing two terminals per screen in order to provide data, imagery and video for the environmental initiative, which aims to halve the amount of plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. Each plastic collector screen measures 600 meters long and three meters deep, and uses wind and ocean movements to trap plastic that a boat then retrieves for recycling. Iridium service provider The AST Group is providing the satellite operator’s L-band terminals to Ocean Cleanup. (9/26)

Spacecom Cancels Amos-8 Satellite Contract (Source: Space News)
Israeli satellite operator Spacecom confirmed it's canceling its Amos-8 contracts, but said little about its future plans. Spacecom said Tuesday it was cancelling the contracts with SSL to build Amos-8 and with SpaceX to launch it. While the Israeli government announced earlier this month an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries to build Amos-8, Spacecom was vague about its plans to replace the destroyed Amos-6 satellite. "The company is examining the program's feasibilities with several options, including potential joint efforts with the Government of the State of Israel," it stated. (9/26)