December 18, 2018

Defense Department Reveals Previously Undisclosed Location of Military Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite observers recently noticed that Space Track — the online service operated by U.S. Strategic Command that provides data on the orbits of satellites and other objects — started to include information on some U.S. military satellites that were previously excluded, such as the AEHF, MUOS and WGS military communications satellites in geostationary orbit. This is part of a new effort by the Defense Department to provide more space situational awareness data. (12/18)

SpaceX Scrubs GPS 3 Launch, Abort Ttriggered by Falcon 9 Flight Computer (Source: Space News)
SpaceX scrubbed Tuesday’s highly anticipated launch of the Air Force’s first GPS 3 satellite. The abort was triggered by the onboard Falcon 9 flight computer, according to SpaceX. (12/18)

President Moves Forward with Space Command (Source: Space News)
In a Dec. 18 memo, President Trump directed the Pentagon to establish a U.S. Space Command as a Unified Combatant Command. "In consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I direct the establishment, consistent with United States law, of United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command. I also direct the Secretary of Defense to recommend officers for my nomination and Senate confirmation as Commander and Deputy Commander of the new United States Space Command." the memo said. (12/18)

Planet to Acquire Software Specialist Boundless Spatial (Source: Space News)
Earth observation company Planet plans to acquire Boundless Spatial Inc., a geospatial software specialist, “to accelerate the adoption by government and enterprise customers of commercial geospatial information services,” said Robbie Schingler, Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer. The terms of the deal announced Dec. 18 were not disclosed.

Planet’s U.S. government group will merge with Boundless to create a subsidiary, Planet Federal, focused on selling commercial products to meet U.S. government requirements. Both Planet and Boundless currently serve government customers including the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. However, the firms approach the work from different perspectives. (12/18)

NASA's New Horizons Probe On Course for Historic Flyby (Source: BBC)
The American space agency's New Horizons probe remains on course for its daring flyby of Ultima Thule. When the mission sweeps past the 30km wide object on New Year's Day, it will be making the most distant ever visit to a Solar System body - at some 6.5 billion km from Earth. Mission planners decided at the weekend to forego a possible trajectory change. It means the probe will get to fly 3,500km from icy Ultima's surface to take a series of photos and other data. (12/18)

Neil Armstrong's Boot Sold for $49,000 (Source: Daily Mail)
A boot worn by Neil Armstrong has sold for $49,000 (£38,000) as part of an auction of space memorabilia. The prototype Apollo A7L lunar boot never went to the moon with the astronaut but it is believed it was used in a different flight or served as a backup. It is embroidered with 'Armstrong' on the inside of the tongue and has a silver, gold and blue exterior. Parts of the shoe are believed to have been re-purposed by the designers and used on other NASA items. (12/17)

Ovzon Orders Satellite From SSL (Source: Space News)
Startup satellite operator Ovzon has ordered a communications satellite from SSL. The Swedish company said Monday it's ordered the Ovzon-3 satellite for launch in 2021 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket it previously signed a contract for. The contract is conditional on Ovzon raising the money needed for the spacecraft, which it expects to obtain through a combination of a rights offer, external loans and existing funds. It's not clear how the order might be affected by plans by SSL's parent company, Maxar Technologies, to divest its geostationary satellite business and sell the property currently used by SSL for satellite manufacturing. (12/18)

DOD Acquisition Chief Urges More Use of Small Launchers (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's procurement chief says the Defense Department needs to make more use of small launch vehicles. Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, said Monday she visited one small launch vehicle developer, Virgin Orbit, on a recent trip to California. "They're an example of the type of companies I think we need to cultivate," Lord said. Virgin Orbit, through its government services subsidiary Vox Space, has a contract to launch a payload for the DOD Space Test Program in 2019. (12/18)

Israel's SpaceIL Readies Lunar Lander for Florida Launch in February (Source: Space News)
SpaceIL has completed a lunar lander it plans to launch early next year. The Israeli organization, working with Israel Aerospace Industries, held a ceremony Monday to install the final, symbolic component of the lander, a digital time capsule. The lander will be shipped soon to Florida for launch in February as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9. If successful, the lander will be the first non-government mission to land on the moon. (12/18)

China's Chang'e-3 Sleeps While Chang'e-4 Readies for Lunar Landing (Source: GB Times)
China's existing Chang'e-3 lunar lander will go into hibernation while the new Chang'e-4 spacecraft attempts a landing in the coming weeks. Chang'e-3, which has been on the moon for five years, is still operating, although with only one working instrument, an ultraviolet telescope. Chinese officials said the existing lander would go into hibernation as spacecraft controllers prepare to land Chang'e-4 on the lunar farside by early January. (12/18)

SpaceX Starlink Debris Could Pose Significant Risk to People on Ground (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Reentering spacecraft from SpaceX's proposed satellite constellations could pose a risk of injury to people on the ground. One analysis of data submitted by SpaceX to the FCC concluded there is a 45 percent chance of injury or death to someone over a five-year period from debris that survives reentry of SpaceX's Starlink satellites. Individual Starlink satellites comply with a requirement that they pose no greater than a 1-in-10,000 chance of causing injury or death upon reentry, but the FCC noted that the sheer size of the constellations, which could eventually comprise nearly 12,000 satellites, created a much higher aggregate risk. SpaceX says it's working with NASA on ways to ensure more parts of each satellite burn up on reentry and other design changes to minimize risk to people. (12/18)

SpaceX Investors Concerned About Support to Boring Company (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Some SpaceX investors are critical of how the company used resources to support another Elon Musk venture. Musk reportedly used SpaceX funds and employees for The Boring Company, Musk's tunnel-digging startup. That alarmed some investors, like the Founders Fund, particularly since nearly all the equity in The Boring Company went to Musk. SpaceX subsequently received a six percent stake in The Boring Company as compensation and Founders Fund now says it has "no concerns whatsoever" about the link between the two companies. (12/18)

Virgin Orbit Considers Guam for Launches (Source: Pacific Daily News)
Virgin Orbit is in talks to perform satellite launches from the island of Guam. The operator of the island's international airport says it's working with Virgin Orbit to allow the company's air-launch system to operate from there. Those discussions have been ongoing since April, but became public Monday when Guam Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo announced the airport authority was conducting feasibility studies on supporting launch operations. Virgin Orbit has previously mentioned interest in a Pacific launch site to support launches to low inclinations. (12/18)