December 1, 2018

SpaceX Fairing Recovery Vessel Mr. Steven’s Owner Abruptly Files for Bankruptcy (Source: Teslarati)
The legal owners of SpaceX’s sole fairing recovery vessel are in dire financial straits, signaled by business owner Steven Miguez’s decision to file for bankruptcy as a last chance of protecting Seatran Marine, a company which owns and leases eight utility vessels known as crew boats.

Mr. Steven, leased by SpaceX in late 2017, is one of those crew boats, although he has since been dramatically modified to support a series of consecutively larger arms, nets, and other various components in hopes of eventually catching Falcon 9 payload fairings out of the air. While there is most likely no serious risk of SpaceX actually losing access to Mr. Steven, this development still raises the question of what will happen to the ship in the near and more distant future. (11/29)

Small Satellites Flying High with $37 Billion Market and 6,500 Satellites to Launch by 2027 (Source: NSR)
A new study forecasts the market to yield $37 billion in cumulative revenues from smallsat manufacturing and launch services by 2027, with 6,500 smallsats set to launch during this time. Constellations will be the dominating factor of this growth, making up over 70% of the total market. While growth is anticipated across all applications, communications will drive the largest share of revenues, with some of the largest constellations planned in this segment. (11/28)

UK Science Minister Quits Over Brexit Deal as UK Ends Galileo Talks (Source: Politico)
U.K. Science Minister Sam Gyimah quit late Friday over Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal, after the government pulled out of “frustrating” talks on the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system which offered “only a foretaste of things to come.” Gyimah, who served in the Education Department and did not have Cabinet rank, is the seventh minister to quit since May presented the Brexit deal negotiated by the British government and the EU to Cabinet two weeks ago. He said he would vote against the agreement in the House of Commons.

The government on Friday abandoned efforts to remain within the satellite project and is likely to forego the £1.2 billion it has already invested in the scheme. "The PM is right to call time on a negotiation that was stacked against us from the very beginning. But Galileo is only a foretaste of what’s to come under the Government’s Brexit deal,” he said. (12/1)

Embry-Riddle Student-Designed Spacecraft Aims to Aid Planetary Exploration (Source: ERAU)
A self-directed spacecraft rotates on a platform inside a glass enclosed test chamber in the Engineering Physics Propulsion Lab in the College of Arts & Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Nearby, a student wearing a virtual reality headset maneuvers a 3D digital version of the spacecraft through a simulated Martian atmosphere.

This fully autonomous, early-stage spacecraft prototype is just one of the projects under development in the lab, which is funded by industrial sponsor Jay D’Amico, CEO and owner of several industrial companies in Louisiana and Texas and through grants from the College of Arts & Sciences (COAS) and the College of Engineering at the Daytona Beach Campus.  A recent NASA subcontract also has students studying steam-powered propulsion for near–planet spacecraft. Click here. (11/30)

Dedicated Rideshare Falcon 9 Launch Raises Satellite Tracking Concerns (Source: Space News)
As SpaceX prepares to launch a Falcon 9 carrying dozens of small satellites, some experts are worried that it will be difficult to track and identify the satellites once in orbit. The Falcon 9 flying the SSO-A mission for Spaceflight Industries is currently scheduled to launch Dec. 2 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch, once scheduled for Nov. 19, was delayed first by additional inspections of the Falcon 9 and then by poor weather at the launch site.

The number of satellites on the mission has changed, with the company reporting earlier this year more than 70 satellites would be on the mission. Christie Melby, a spokesperson representing Spaceflight, confirmed the payload for the mission changed from 71 to 64 satellites. “Manifests can change leading up to the launch for a variety of reasons, including payloads not being ready, the right licensing not being secured, etc.,” she said Nov. 27, adding the company had no plans to publish a final manifest of payloads on the launch. (11/30)

Branson Says Virgin Galactic Will Take People to Space Before Christmas (Source: CNN)
Richard Branson says Virgin Galactic is on the verge of a major achievement: It will send astronauts into space by Christmas. The billionaire entrepreneur told CNN Business' Rachel Crane this week he is "pretty confident" his space tourism venture can achieve its milestone by the end of the year. "We have a brilliant group of astronauts who literally believe 100% in the project, and give it their everything," he said.

The first few trips to space will be flown by test pilots without anyone else on board. Branson says he will be the first passenger. Eventually, paying tourists will also make the trip. "I'm not allowed up until the [test pilots] have broken it in a few times, first," he said. "I would love to have gone on this very [first] flight, but [pilots] are incredibly brave people." (11/30)