December 28, 2018

Looking Back at 2018: Spaceflight (Source: Aviation Week)
From the iconic launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to Virgin Galactic’s first flight to the edge of space, from a landing on Mars to a probe grazing the Sun, to a sample-return rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid (below), 2018 was a year of progress and contrasts in space. Click here. (12/26)

Soyuz Launches 28 Satellites From Vostochny Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a cluster of satellites from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off at 9:07 p.m. Eastern Wednesday night from the launch site in Russia's Far East, the fourth launch from the new spaceport. The primary payloads were the Kanopus-V5 and -V6 remote sensing satellites. The rocket also carried 26 smallsats, including 12 Dove cubesats for Planet and eight Lemur cubesats for Spire, which were placed into two separate orbits. (12/28)

Partial Russian Ownership of OneWeb Might Be the Cost of Doing Business There (Source: Reuters)
OneWeb has reportedly offered to sell one-eighth of the company to the Russian government in order to win approval to operate there. Sources said OneWeb offered to allow the government to take a 12.5 percent stake in the company in exchange for giving permission for the company's satellites to use a frequency band. Government agencies there had previously opposed allowing OneWeb to operate in Russia out of concerns the broadband constellation could also gather intelligence, but was still considering this proposal. The company declined to comment on the report. (12/28)

Commerce Dept. Seeks to Expand Institutional Investment in Space (Source: Space News)
The Commerce Department wants to encourage more institutional investment in the space industry. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier this month that, despite growing venture capital funding for the industry, there was little participation from bigger institutions like banks that can offer more funding to companies. The department convened a workshop in Washington in mid-December to find ways to promote more investment in the space industry, such as developing metrics to track the progress of companies. (12/28)

Air Force Moves to Protect Satcom Networks from Cyberattack (Source: Space News)
The Air Force is taking more steps to harden military satellite communications networks from cyberattacks. The Air Force is developing software and satcom ground equipment to boost the protection of networks for the Wideband Global Satcom system of military communications satellites.That effort will start with the Navy's carrier groups, with new systems in place 18 months earlier than originally planned. In the long term, the plan is to add a new space component, either newly designed spacecraft or military communications payloads hosted on commercial buses. (12/28)

Russia First to Print Living Tissue in Space (Source: Parabolic Arc)
INVITRO, a leading medical company, and 3D Bioprinting Solutions biotechnology laboratory announced a successful completion of the first stage of the Magnetic 3D Bioprinter space experiment. On December 3, 2018, the Organaut bioprinter was delivered to the ISS on board the Soyuz MS-11 manned spacecraft. For the first time on orbit, cosmonaut-researcher Oleg Kononenko printed human cartilage tissue and a rodent thyroid gland using a Russian bioprinter.

The Organaut was already aboard the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft on October 11, 2018, but its crew returned to Earth 20 minutes later after an emergency situation. The bioprinter landed in the habitation module and was significantly damaged by overload. The backup was prepared and the crew’s repeated training was organized in the shortest possible time. (12/28)

Nonprofit Promotes Moon Village (Source: Space News)
A nonprofit organization is taking on the mission of promoting the Moon Village concept. The Moon Village Association has the goal of being "a forum to advance the development of the Moon Village," a concept originally proposed by the head of ESA, Jan Woerner, for creating an open architecture for promoting exploration of the moon. At a conference last month, the association drafted a document outlining its principles and strategic goals, which call for lunar activities that can be coordinated without the need for an overarching international framework. (12/28)

Shutdown Could Delay Orion Tests (Source: Sandusky Register)
An extended government shutdown could delay testing of NASA's Orion spacecraft at an Ohio facility. The shutdown has halted work at Plum Brook Station, known for its large thermal vacuum testing facilities. A shutdown that lasts for weeks could push back some tests associated with the Orion spacecraft scheduled for the facility in 2019. (12/28)

India Advances Work on Reusable Rocket (Source: Times of India)
India's space agency is working on vertical landing technology for reusable rockets. ISRO is developing a small scale test vehicle called ADMIRE to demonstrate vertical landing technologies using an approach similar to SpaceX's Falcon 9. An ISRO officials discussing the project Wednesday said the agency is developing a test site for the vehicle, but didn't disclose a schedule for flights. (12/28)

Astronauts and Athletes Have Lower Risk of Premature Death (Source: Reuters)
Astronauts are not more at risk of premature death than the general public, according to a new study. Researchers examined death rates for NASA astronauts and compared them to both the general public as well as professional baseball and basketball players, people likely to have similar fitness levels as astronauts. The study found that athletes and astronauts had a lower risk of premature death than the general public, and astronauts were less likely to die of natural causes than athletes. The results suggest that the exposure to radiation from spaceflight does not increase the risk of premature death, at least at the levels from missions carried out to date. (12/28)

New Materials Architectures Sought to Cool Hypersonic Vehicles (Source: Space Daily)
Hypersonic vehicles fly through the atmosphere at incredibly high speeds, creating intense friction with the surrounding air as they travel at Mach 5 or above - five times faster than sound travels. Developing structures that can withstand furnace-like temperatures at such high speeds is a technical challenge, especially for leading edges that bear the brunt of the heat.

To address this thermal challenge, DARPA recently announced its Materials Architectures and Characterization for Hypersonics (MACH) program. The MACH program seeks to develop and demonstrate new design and material solutions for sharp, shape-stable, cooled leading edges for hypersonic vehicles. (12/21)

Crow Industries Hopes for On-Ramp Opportunity for Lunar Lander Work (Source: Space News)
The one company that failed to win a commercial lunar lander contract from NASA says it will try again in the future. Nine of the 10 companies that submitted proposals received awards, but the tenth, Crow Industries, was rejected because of concerns about its ability to develop a lander that would be ready by the end of 2021. The company says it's still in the early phases of development of its B1 lander and looks forward for future "on-ramps" in the program to try again. (12/28)

Soyuz Launch Pad Planned for Retirement at Kazakhstan Spaceport (Source: Sputnik)
The closure of a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome could create a bottleneck for Soyuz launches starting in 2020. A Russian industry source said one of two current Soyuz launch pads at the cosmodrome will be decommissioned in late 2019. That will leave one site with the ability to support about 15 launches a year, including OneWeb and other satellite launches as well as crew and cargo missions to the International Space Station. (12/28)

Saudi Space Agency To Be Led By Astronaut (Source: Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
The Saudi government is establishing a space agency to be led by the country's first astronaut. The government of Saudi Arabia announced Thursday the formation of the Saudi Space Agency to be led by Prince Sultan bin Salman, son of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Prince Salman became the first person from Saudi Arabia in space when he flew as a payload specialist on a shuttle mission in 1985. (12/28)

China to Invest in Cloud Computing Constellation (Source: Space News)
A startup developing a space-based cloud computing system says it is finalizing a $100 million investment from China. Cloud Constellation says Hughes China Holdings Company Limited of Hong Kong has agreed to provide $100 million as part of a $200 million Series B round, with the deal to be finalized in early 2019. Cloud Constellation is developing the SpaceBelt system of relay and "memory" satellites that will serve as a cloud computing platform. The company says it's not concerned about taking investment from China despite the recent events involving Global IP, a company with Chinese backers that lost a satellite order with Boeing. (12/28)

Bridenstine: Shutdown Won't Stop Coverage of OSIRIS-REx and New Horizons Missions (Source: @JimBridenstine)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says the agency will provide coverage of two space events early next week despite the ongoing government shutdown. Bridenstine tweeted Thursday night that NASA will provide updates via social media and NASA TV of OSIRIS-REx entering orbit around the asteroid Bennu Monday and New Horizons' flyby of Ultima Thule Tuesday. The agency previously said The University of Arizona and the Applied Physics Lab would be responsible for updates about those missions because of the shutdown that has furloughed about 95 percent of NASA's staff. Bridenstine said the contracts for those activities were "forward funded" and thus can continue. (12/28)

Shutdown Likely Extending Beyond Jan. 3 (Source: Politico)
That partial government shutdown shows no signs of ending soon. The House and Senate made no progress Thursday on a new funding bill to reopen agencies like NASA as a dispute involving Congress and the White House on border security funding continues. There's now little chance of ending the shutdown before the new Congress convenes Jan. 3. The new Democratic majority in the House is then expected to pass a new spending bill like the one the Senate approved last week, but the Senate will need to pass it again and the bill could face a veto from President Trump. (12/28)

China's Beidou Providing Global Navigation Support With 10 Meter Accuracy (Source: Xinhua)
China's Beidou satellite navigation system is now providing limited global services. At a press conference Thursday, Chinese officials said the Beidou network can now provide navigation services globally, although with an accuracy of only 10 meters. Within the Asia-Pacific region, that accuracy improves to five meters. China plans to launch 12 more Beidou satellites in the next two years to complete the global system, after launching 19 satellites this year. (12/28)