November 17, 2018

Big New Indian Rocket Launches Satellite, Setting Stage for Moon Mission (Source: Space.com)
India's most powerful rocket aced its second orbital flight Wednesday (Nov. 14), setting the stage for a robotic lunar mission in January. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at 6:38 a.m. EST (1138 GMT) Wednesday, successfully delivering the GSAT-29 communications satellite into orbit.

Following the success of Wednesday's flight, Indian officials declared the rocket ready for operational flights, beginning with the launch of the Chandrayaan-2 lunar lander. That liftoff is currently scheduled for Jan. 30, according to Spaceflight Now.  Chandrayaan-2, India's planned second robotic mission to the moon, consists of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is a follow-on mission from the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, which in 2009 helped confirmed the presence of water ice on the lunar surface. (11/17)

National Space Council Gets Report on Human Spaceflight in Low-Earth Orbit (Source: NASA)
NASA and the Departments of State and Commerce have submitted a report to the National Space Council outlining future opportunities and challenges for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit (LEO), and its potential economic contributions to the broader field of exploration. The National Space Council requested NASA lead an interagency effort to produce the report, entitled ‘A Strategy for Human Spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit and Economic Growth in Space,’ during its February meeting.

The report details four overarching goals for human spaceflight in LEO that were developed in collaboration with NASA’s interagency partners: 1) To achieve a continuous U.S. presence in LEO – both NASA astronauts and private citizens – in order to support the use of space by U.S. citizens, companies, academia, and international partners and to maintain a permanent American foothold on the nearest part of the space frontier. 2) To create a regulatory environment in LEO that enables American commercial activities to thrive. 3) To conduct human spaceflight research in LEO that will advance the technology and systems required for long-duration spaceflight systems, including systems for interplanetary travel and permanent space habitation. 4) To expand and extend commercial opportunity though international partnerships and engagement. (11/16)

Space Tourism Company Is Interested In Boeing's Starliner Space Taxi (Source: Investor's Business Daily)
Boeing's Starliner space taxi could see demand from tourism and foreign governments, potentially lowering costs enough for space flight to be accessible beyond the very rich. While NASA currently is the key customer for the Boeing Starliner, the company is exploring ways to extend its space taxi service to other passengers.

We've seen "a lot of interest from both paying passengers but also other companies and other nations that are either part of the space station community and want additional access or are building their own destinations," said John Mulholland, the Boeing Starliner program manager. Space Adventures, a space tourism company that has sent seven customers on Soyuz capsules, has shown interest in the Starliner, he added. "NASA is receptive to it," Mulholland said of space tourism. "As soon as we demonstrate the capability, they will work with us." (11/15)

Draper Designing Gyroscope System as Space Suit Safety Feature (Source: Draper)
Designing the spin control system required Draper engineers to address the worst-case scenario—emergency situations encountered by astronauts and space tourists traveling in the high stratosphere, which is anywhere from 20 to 30 miles above the Earth. With no atmosphere at that altitude, a person in a flat spin would need a way to counter and slow their motion. A suit with a built-in system that could activate automatically, without manual operation, would help in situations of an out-of-control spin.

“Improving spacesuits for emergency escape at high altitudes is a priority for the space systems community, and that includes NASA and many of the private space companies developing suborbital and orbital vehicles,” Duda said. According to the United States Parachute Association, each year 3.2 million people in the U.S. jump out of a plane, and about 2,129 have an accident requiring a medical care facility. Click here. (11/16)

Senior Defense Officials Offer Dueling Pricetags for Space Force (Source: Defense One)
Senior defense officials remain far apart in their estimates of how much it would to create the Space Force military branch championed by President Trump. Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Thursday told reporters at the Pentagon that it would cost “single digit, not a double-digit” billions of dollars. “It might be lower than $5” billion, he said.

About two hours later, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson defended her service’s far higher estimate. In September, she estimated that standing up a Space Force and a new combatant command for space warfare would cost about $13 billion over five years. (Shanahan did not specify the timeframe for his $5 billion estimate.) Wilson’s estimate assumes that the National Reconnaissance Office will be folded into the new military branch. But a draft proposal of the Pentagon’s Space Force plan, which will be sent to Congress in February, did not include NRO in the Space Force.

Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was deeply critical of Wilson’s cost estimate, which he called “an example of malicious compliance.” Next Monday, Harrison is scheduled to release a detailed Space Force cost estimate. (11/15)

Microsatellite Maker Spacety Looks to Fill the Gaps in the New Chinese Market (Source: Space News)
Spacety is one of China’s first commercial and private satellite companies in China, established in January 2016, following new government policies introduced in 2014 and 2015 to deregulate the nation’s space sector. The company — based in Changsa, the capital of Hunan province — engages in scientific research, provides comprehensive solutions for microsatellites and has been backed by major investors in China. Spacety has seen its satellites fly on four separate missions, with two more launches possible this year. Click here. (11/16)

LEO Startup Raises $39.5 Million for Constellation to Watch Earth and Space (Source: Space News)
Canadian startup NorthStar Earth and Space has raised 52 million Canadian dollars ($39.5 million) for a 40-satellite constellation that would monitor the Earth and objects in space. The round brings NorthStar E&S’s total funding to 83 million Canadian dollars and ends a funding drought from when the company announced its plans three years ago. Stewart Bain, NorthStar E&S’ chief executive, said the funding puts the company on a path to start service in 2021, about a year later than initially planned. (11/16)

Mysterious Interstellar Object Conundrum Intensifies as NASA Reveals it Didn't Originally See It (Source: Fox News)
The mystery of Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever spotted in our solar system, has taken a new, unexpected twist and it's from someone you might not expect – NASA. In a new study published in the Astronomical Journal, the government space agency reveals that when it was looking at the interstellar object in November with its Spitzer Space Telescope, it came up with — nothing.

"'Oumuamua was too faint for Spitzer to detect when it looked more than two months after the object's closest approach to Earth in early September," NASA said in a release accompanying the study. "However, the 'non-detection' puts a new limit on how large the strange object can be." NASA also noted that Oumuamua, the Hawaiian name for "pathfinder" or "scout," was exceptionally bright, perhaps up to 10 times more reflective than comets that are usually found in our solar system. (11/16)

Progress Resupply Craft Launches From Kazakhstan to ISS (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Russian Progress freighter loaded with nearly three tons of supplies, water and fuel lifted off on top of a Soyuz rocket Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a two-day trek to the International Space Station, clearing the way for the next Soyuz launch Dec. 3 with the next station-bound crew. The Soyuz launcher that lifted off Friday flew in the Soyuz-FG configuration, the same variant of Russian’s most famous rocket used for liftoffs with crews heading for the space station. (11/17)

Northrop Grumman Launches Cygnus Cargo Ship to ISS From Virginia Spaceport (Source: AFP)
An unmanned Cygnus cargo ship blasted off Saturday toward the International Space Station, marking the second supply mission in 24 hours destined to carry food and supplies to the astronauts living in space. An Antares rocket operated by Northrop Grumman lit up the night sky at 4:01 am (0901 GMT) as it propelled the craft loaded with 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of gear into space.

An Antares rocket operated by Northrop Grumman lit up the night sky at 4:01 am (0901 GMT) as it propelled the craft loaded with 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of gear into space. On Friday, a Russian Soyuz rocket launched its first cargo mission to the space station since a Soyuz rocket carrying astronauts failed last month. The successful liftoff of the Progress cargo craft toward the orbiting outpost was seen as a rehearsal for the next crewed mission on December 3. (11/17)

UAE Student-Made Satellite Launches Into Space (Source: Kahaleej Times)
A nanosatellite built by the UAE students has lifted-off into the space successfully from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. MySat-1, a nanosatellite developed by Khalifa University students, launched at 1.02pm on November 17, UAE-time, onboard the Cygnus NG-10 flight to the International Space Station. The initial launch was set for November 15, however, it was delayed for two days due to unsuitable weather in Virginia. Rocket separated successfully at 1.06pm and the spacecraft inserted itself into orbit successfully at 1.11pm. It will reach the International Space Station in two days. (11/17)

Arecibo Challenge Seeks Next Message to Extraterrestrials (Source: GeekWire)
The UCF-managed Arecibo Observatory kicked off a student-focused competition to design a new message to beam to extraterrestrials, 44 years to the day since the first deliberate message was sent out from Arecibo’s 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope. “Our society and our technology have changed a lot since 1974,” said Francisco Cordova, the observatory’s director. “So if we were assembling our message today, what would it say? What would it look like? What one would need to learn to be able to design the right updated message from the earthlings? Those are the questions we are posing to young people around the world through the New Arecibo Message – the global challenge.” (11/16)