February 11, 2019

Boeing Wins Viasat Order for New Satellite (Source: Space News)
Viasat has ordered a third satellite for its next-generation broadband communications network. The company announced last week that it executed an agreement with Boeing for a third ViaSat-3 that will serve the Asia Pacific region. Boeing is building the first two ViaSat-3 spacecraft, expected to launch in 2021. The third satellite will likely launch in the second half of 2022. Viasat reported record revenue of $555 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, up 45 percent year over year. [SpaceNews]

New NRO Chief to Face Space Force Challenge (Source: Space News)
One of the big challenges facing the new director of the NRO is figuring out relationships with any future Space Force. Chris Scolese, director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, was nominated for the position last week. He has strong support from the Pentagon's top leadership, notably Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin, a former NASA administrator. Scolese's position as an outsider could make him ideal to determining how the NRO should work with the Space Force, since he's not perceived as being from either the defense side or the intelligence side, said one former Pentagon official. Scolese would also be the first political appointee to run the NRO after a change enacted in 2014 legislation. [SpaceNews]

Second Shutdown Looms (Sources: Washington Post, NBC)
The risk of another partial government shutdown spiked this weekend after congressional negotiations broke down. The negotiations about a border security package foundered over disagreements about how many unauthorized immigrants could be detained. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Sunday the talks were "stalled" and that he wasn't confident an agreement could be reached. The continuing resolution funding many government agencies, including NASA, expires Friday night. Mick Mulvaney, the White House chief of staff, said Sunday he couldn't rule out another shutdown if Congress doesn't reach an agreement acceptable to the president. (2/11)

CASIS Seeks Rebranding for ISS (Source: Space News)
The organization that runs the portion of the International Space Station designated a national laboratory hopes a change in branding will encourage more use of the facility. The Center for the Advancement of Science In Space (CASIS), the nonprofit with a NASA agreement to use the resources of the ISS designated a national lab by Congress, has in recent months branded itself as simply the ISS National Lab. That change, the head of CASIS said at its annual public board meeting Friday, is intended to increase awareness about the organization and the national lab in a bid to also increase utilization of the station. The organization will retain CASIS as its formal legal name. (2/11)

Putin Talks Super-Heavy Launcher (Source: Space News)
The head of Roscosmos discussed a proposed super-heavy launch vehicle last week with Vladimir Putin. In a Feb. 4 meeting at the Kremlin, Dmitry Rogozin discussed planning for Yenisei, a vehicle that will combine elements of two other vehicles in development, the Angara and Soyuz-5. The vehicle will be able to place 70 tons into low Earth orbit with a first launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2028, a date that is likely to be overly optimistic given delays suffered by other vehicle development programs. The discussion of Yenisei was likely a high point of Rogozin's meeting with Putin, which focused primarily on financial problems at Roscosmos. (2/11)

Cygnus Departs ISS for Release Cubesats Before Reentry (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Cygnus cargo spacecraft left the ISS Friday. The station's robotic arm unberthed the Cygnus and released it at 11:16 a.m. Eastern Friday. The Cygnus maneuvered away from the station, going into a higher orbit to deploy several cubesats, and will later lower its orbit to release another cubesat prior to reentering Feb. 25. The spacecraft, named "S.S. John Young" by Northrop Grumman, launched in November on the NG-10 cargo mission to the ISS. (2/11)

NASA Has Taken a Significant Step Toward Human Landings on the Moon (Source: Ars Technica)
For two years, the Trump administration has made various noises about returning humans to the Moon. There have been bill signings with Apollo astronauts such as Buzz Aldrin and Harrison Schmitt. Vice President Mike Pence has traveled to NASA facilities around the country to make speeches. And the president himself has mused about the Moon and Mars.

However, beyond talk of returning humans to the Moon, much of the country's civil space policy and budgeting priorities really hadn't changed much until late last week. On Thursday, NASA released a broad agency announcement asking the US aerospace industry for its help to develop large landers that, as early as 2028, would carry astronauts to the surface of the Moon.

The new documents contain a trove of details about how the agency expects to send people back to the Moon with what it calls a "Human Landing System." This activity, the documents state, "will once again establish US preeminence around and on the Moon. NASA is planning to develop a series of progressively more complex missions to the lunar surface, utilizing commercial participation to enhance US leadership." Click here. (2/11)