January 24, 2019

Craig Offers Microsatellite Launch Services From ISS (Source: Craig Technologies)
Craig Technologies, based on Florida's Space Coast, is now offering microsatellite launch services from the ISS. Craig provides turnkey services to manage and perform the work for the successful integration and on-orbit operations of payloads using the Space Station's Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payload Systems (SSIKLOPS or “Cyclops”) or other research platforms. In addition to government agencies, the company provides satellite launch support to commercial customers both nationally and globally.
 
Craig provides operation, engineering, and manufacturing to provide full lifecycle payload support. This Mission Operations and Integration offering complements the capabilities established while developing a successful ISS flight test platform focused on additive manufactured and pharmaceutical payloads in unpressurized space. “Craig Technologies is excited to participate in growing the commercial LEO market through utilization of ISS resources which allows us to provide a lower-cost alternative to the launching of microsatellites” said Carol Craig, founder and CEO. (1/232)

Aerospace Group Pushes for End to Government Shutdown (Source: AIA)
The Aerospace Industries Association is leading calls to end the government shutdown, joining with other trade groups to pressure the White House and Congress. "We write to urge you to act now to prevent the negative impacts currently being experienced by the U.S. aviation and space transportation industries that support the traveling and shipping public and all the users of satellites and spacecraft," says a letter signed by AIA and others. (1/23)

Winds in Texas Topple Top of SpaceX's Shiny Starship Prototype (Source: Florida Today)
The shiny, futuristic SpaceX prototype built to conduct tests of a future company spacecraft fell victim to an unexpected foe Tuesday night: Texas wind. The "Starship hopper," a small-scale version of the final product designed take humans on interplanetary trips to the moon and Mars, was damaged when winds broke the secure points for the fairing, or nose cone.

"I just heard," CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter early Wednesday. "50 mph winds broke the mooring blocks late last night & fairing was blown over. Will take a few weeks to repair." The bottom of the vehicle, which contains propellant tanks and engines, was not toppled or damaged during the windy night. It was expected to launch and land as soon as February, but that will likely be delayed to later in the month or March as teams work on repairs. (1/23)

House Moves Forward on NASA Funding (Source: Space News)
A House spending bill to be taken up this week would give NASA $21.5 billion but warns NASA that additional problems with the James Webb Space Telescope could result in its cancelation. The funding bill is part of a package that House leadership said it will vote on later this week in the latest effort to end the partial government shutdown. The bill, reflecting negotiations between the House and Senate, fully funds most NASA science and exploration programs.

The report accompanying the bill expresses "profound disappointment" over the JWST delays last year but does agree to increase the mission's cost cap by $800 million. "NASA should strictly adhere to this cap or, under this agreement, JWST will have to find cost savings or cancel the mission," the report states. (1/21)

Angara Design Flaw Could Destroy Rocket (Source: Reuters)
Russia's Angara A5 rocket may suffer from a design flaw. Engineers at Energomash, which makes the engines for the rocket, found that those engines can produce low-frequency oscillations in flight that could destroy the rocket. A paper discussing the issue was scheduled to be presented at a conference this month. The Angara A5 is intended to ultimately replace the Proton rocket, but has not flown since its inaugural test flight in late 2014. (1/21)

QuadSat Raises Funding for Antenna-Calibrating Drones (Source: Space News)
A Danish company that uses drones to calibrate satellite antennas has raised an initial round of funding. QuadSat raised a seed round of nearly $800,000 to continue its work to calibrate antennas using quadcopters, an approach the company says is more efficient than current techniques. The company will use the funding to expand an office opened recently in the United Kingdom. (1/21)

Russia's February ISS Crew Launch Likely Moving to April (Source: TASS)
The next Soyuz mission to the International Space Station may slip a month. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said Friday that the Soyuz MS-12 mission currently scheduled for launch at the end of February will likely be delayed to early April. That delay, he said, is linked to other schedule changes so that Roscosmos can fly an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates later this year. The flight of that astronaut was planned for this mission, but postponed after the decision to fly a three-person crew to return the ISS to its normal six-person crew. (1/21)

Israeli Lunar Lander Arrives in Florida for February Launch (Source: Florida Today)
An Israeli lunar lander has arrived in Florida for launch next month. The Beresheet lander arrived in Florida Friday from Israel to undergo final preparations for launch. The lander, developed by SpaceIL, will be a secondary payload on a Falcon 9 launching a communications satellite in February. If successful, the lander will be the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the moon. (1/21)

Mars TV Series Canceled (Source: Variety)
Another Mars mission has been canceled: the Hulu series "The First". The streaming service said Friday it would not renew the series, starring Sean Penn, after a single season. The show, about the first human mission to Mars, got mixed reviews, including criticism about its slow pacing that saw the show spend that first, and now only, season primarily on Earth. (1/21)

There is No Space Race (Source: Space Review)
The Change’e-4 landing on the far side of the Moon this month has led many to argue that a new space race is emerging between China and the United States. Roger Handberg argues that there can’t be a competition if only one of them is really racing. Click here. (1/21)
 
Selecting the Next Great Space Observatory (Source: Space Review)
The next decadal survey for astrophysics is getting started, and among its tasks will be to prioritize the most promising concepts for large space-based telescopes to be developed in the 2020s. Jeff Foust reports on the four specific concepts under consideration and the pressure they face from the budget problems of their predecessors. Click here. (1/21)
 
Mars: Bringer of Ennui (Source: Space Review)
The second second of the National Geographic Channel series Mars attempted to bring new drama to the Red Planet. Dwayne Day reviews the series and finds that attempt at drama rather lacking. Click here. (1/21)
 
Beyond UNISPACE: It’s Time for the Moon Treaty (Source: Space Review)
The Moon Treaty has long been criticized as stifling commercial space activities. Dennis O’Brien argues that the treaty, with a proper implementation agreement, can instead address uncertainties about commercialization that will enable those activities to proceed. Click here. (1/21)
 
A Bad Start to a Great Year (Source: Space Review)
This year was supposed to be one of major milestones for commercial space companies, but three weeks into 2019 the milestones have been largely negative. A.J. Mackenzie examines the bad news for various companies and what it means for NewSpace in general. Click here. (1/21)

China's First Female Astronaut Shows How 'Women Hold Up Half the Sky' (Source: The Guardian)
The famous Chinese maxim has it that women hold up half the sky. Thanks to Liu Yang, they have now soared past it. On Saturday a Shenzhou-9 spacecraft blasted off from its Gobi desert launch site carrying the first Chinese woman into space. "I am grateful to the motherland and the people. I feel honoured to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens," Liu told reporters before take-off.

Speaking alongside her two male colleagues, she said: "Men and women have their own advantages and capabilities in carrying out space missions. They can complement each other and better complete their mission."

The launch is the latest step in China's ambitious programme to build its own space station. American objections prevented it from participating in the international space station. Shenzhou-9 will perform China's first staffed docking mission with an orbiting space laboratory module. Two astronauts will live and work inside the Tiangong-1 to test its life-support systems, while the third will remain in the Shenzhou-9 capsule. (1/16)

This Massive Rocket Creates a Fireball as it Launches, and That’s By Design (Source: Ars Technica)
Anyone who watched the launch of ULA's Delta IV Heavy rocket on Saturday was treated to an up-close view of the liftoff. This vantage point, showing the three-core rocket taking off beneath blue skies, offered a distinct view of a fireball engulfing the rocket during launch. This can be rather distracting if you've never seen it before—uhh, is that rocket about to blow up?—but in reality it's a byproduct of the RS-68 rocket engines that power each of the three cores of the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.

Developed during the 1990s by Rocketdyne, the expendable RS-68 engine was designed to be less expensive and more powerful than the Space Shuttle's reusable RS-25 main engines. Like the Shuttle's engines, the RS-68 engine runs on a cryogenic fuel mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The fireball phenomenon manifests on the Delta IV Heavy rocket because of design differences between the RS-68 and the Shuttle main engines and because the RS-68 fuel valve is open longer before the oxidizer starts flowing. Essentially, at engine startup, only liquid hydrogen is running through the engine because it is less chemically active than oxygen. (1/21)