February 4, 2019

How Easy Will It Be to Build a Moon Base? (Source: BBC)
China is not alone in this ambition. Across the globe, 50 years after the Moon landings, the practicalities of a moonbase are taking shape. The irony is that, while only the United States of America has left footprints on the Moon, the Americans are now having to play catch up. It didn’t unveil plans for a permanent moonbase until August 2018. NASA’s primary focus until then had been Mars. The European Space Agency (ESA) was already one step ahead.

ESA announced plans for a permanent lunar base in 2016. Pioneered by its new director-general, Jan Woerner, his vision for a ‘Moon village’ would contain a diverse population of people – from scientists to artists – and both public and private organisations. This could be for astronomical research, tourism or geological prospecting for minerals in short supply on Earth.

He was definitely ahead of the curve. Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative has brought together multi-disciplinary research groups ranging from robotics and synthetic neurobiology to architecture, art, space and design. NASA aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and is planning a lunar orbiting platform called the Gateway. Private companies are heading to the Moon too. Blue Origin, for instance, is partnering with OHB and MT Aerospace on its Blue Moon cargo ship for a lunar landing. But whichever organization gets there first, the key priority will be survival. The longest time humans have lived on the Moon so far is just three days. (2/4)

Boeing's Starliner Astronaut Taxi Is a Go: Test Flight Next Month (Source: Digital Trends)
Space taxis are almost ready for lift-off — and America’s astronauts may soon soar from Cape Canaveral once again. Boeing’s answer to NASA’s need is called the CST-100 Starliner, and despite problems in development (a propellant leak occurred during testing last year), the craft is ready for its first test flight in March, according to the company.

Boeing was one of two private companies (along with SpaceX and it’s Crew Dragon capsule) contracted by NASA to ferry astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS). The company developed its CST-100 Starliner for the eventual task of shuttling astronauts to and from the ISS, but before any person can climb aboard the spacecraft, it needs to perform an unmanned test flight to check whether it can fly safely and dock with the orbiting ISS.

The ISS is ready to receive the Starliner; astronauts there have already installed high definition cameras on the docking equipment so that visiting spacecraft can be accurately docked. Spacecraft must carefully align as they approach the ISS to make sure that they dock correctly without damaging any sensitive equipment nearby. The Starliner hasn’t been tested in space yet, but engineers are confident that it will carry out its test flight safely: It has already passed parachute drop tests performed within the Earth’s atmosphere. (2/2)

A Space Guard to Enable, Regulate, and Protect National Civil and Commercial Space Activities (Source: Space Review)
While proposals continue to be debated about a Space Force or Space Corps, such a military entity may not be well-suited to many other challenges involving space operations. Al Anzaldúa, Hoyt Davidson, and others make the case for a civilian Space Guard to handle issues from regulation and inspection to protection and rescue. Click here. (2/4) 
 
Creating a Space Guard for Key Needs in Space (Source: Al Koller)
One way to address many of these issues would be to form a service like the Coast Guard that has served us successfully for 228 years! That model is a good one, and we can begin now to develop and implement the processes of pulling together capabilities and standards to be phased in when ready and as needed to assist in developing complementary rather than competing elements to operate in the common space around our planet at low earth orbit ~ 150km to 2000km - and geostationary orbit ~35,800km. Click here. (2/4)

Rethinking Satellite Servicing (Source: Space Review)
In a somewhat surprising move last week, Space Systems Loral announced it was cancelling its agreement with DARPA on a satellite servicing program for financial reasons. Jeff Foust reports that other companies still remain interested in developing systems for servicing satellites, at least for now. Click here. (2/4)
 
Roscosmos Singles Out Design of Carrier Rocket for Lunar Missions (Source: Sputnik)
Roscosmos has finally approved the design of the Yenisei super-heavy class launch vehicle for future lunar missions, it will use the RD-180 and RD-171MB engines, a Russian space industry source told Sputnik. "Only one version of the super-heavy class rocket is being considered now. It has been proposed by the Samara-based Progress rocket space center and comprises six side boosters with RD-171MB engines and a central core stage powered by an RD-180 engine. Other proposed projects are no longer under consideration", the source said. (2/4)

The Ramjet Mystery (Source: Space Review)
Ramjets, studied decades ago for missiles, have been considered for use on some launch vehicle concepts. John Hollaway wonders if ramjets might be more efficient than previously thought for reusable spaceplanes. Click here. (2/4)

NASA Completes Booster Motor Segments for First Space Launch System Flight (Source: Space Daily)
NASA and its industry partners have completed manufacture and checkout of 10 motor segments that will power two of the largest solid propellant boosters ever built. The solid rocket fuel will help produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust to send NASA's Space Launch System rocket on its first integrated flight with the Orion spacecraft.

Technicians at Northrop Grumman in Promontory, Utah, in coordination with SLS program leads at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, finalized the fabrication of all 10 motor segments and fitted them with key flight instrumentation. They'll be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, joined with booster forward and aft assemblies, and readied to power the SLS Exploration Mission-1 test flight when it launches from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (2/1)

SpaceX Tests Raptor Engine (Source: Space News)
SpaceX performed the first test of a flight version of its Raptor engine Sunday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on Twitter the test late Sunday night at the company's McGregor, Texas, test site. While SpaceX has been testing versions of the engine since 2016, this test marked the first firing of a flight version of the engine, which uses methane and liquid oxygen propellants and produces up to 440,000 pounds-force of thrust. The engine will be used on the Starship "hopper" test vehicle being assembled at SpaceX's South Texas launch site for low-altitude test flights. (2/4)

NGA Chief Retiring (Source: Space News)
Robert Cardillo, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), is retiring from the agency this week. Cardillo will step down Thursday after more than four years as head of the NGA, and will be succeeded by Navy Vice Adm. Robert Sharp. In an interview, Cardillo emphasized the importance of industry partnerships as NGA makes more use of imagery from commercial providers and works with others in industry and academia to find better ways to analyze those images. "The challenge now is not how we'll get the image — some will be commercial, some will be governmental — the bigger challenge is how do we get the information off the image in a timeline that serves users," he said. (2/4)

Crowdfunding Falls Short for Space Station Venture (Source: Space News)
A company that tried to raise $2 million in an equity crowdfunding campaign to support its plans for commercial space stations appears to fallen far short of its goal. Orion Span started the campaign in December, seeking to raise the $2 million in exchange for equity in the company. However, the effort appears to have raised only $235,700, according to an archived version of the fundraising website that has since been taken offline.

The company's filings with the SEC said that it also needed to raise a total of $1 million from both the equity crowdfunding effort and a concurrent, more conventional effort by Feb. 1, but the company has not reported if it achieved that goal. Orion Span announced last April its intent to develop private space stations for launch as soon as 2022, but has shown little progress since then. (2/4)

The Arch Mission Foundation and SpaceChain Create Orbital Library (Source: Space Daily)
The Arch Mission Foundation has announced that they had successfully placed the first archive in space in partnership with SpaceChain, a community-based space platform that combines space and blockchain technologies to build the world's first open-source blockchain-based satellite network. The archive, called the Orbital Library, initially contains a copy of Wikipedia and was launched as part of SpaceChain's payload sent by a CZ-4B Y34 rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, Xinzhou, China in October 2018. (2/4)

China's BeiDou Achieves Real-Time Transmission of Deep-Sea Data (Source: Space Daily)
China has achieved real-time transmission of deep-sea data at 6,000-meter depth through its self-developed BeiDou satellites for the first time, a move essential to more secure, independent and reliable deep-sea data transmission. China's most sophisticated research vessel Kexue (Science) returned to the eastern port city of Qingdao on Thursday after wrapping up a 74-day, 12,000-nautical mile expedition.

During the trip, Chinese scientists maintained and upgraded the country's scientific observation network in the West Pacific, according to the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Researchers replaced batteries on 20 sets of submersible buoys on the network, optimized their positions and installed BeiDou satellite communication modules in them. (2/4)

NSF Prepares for Next Shutdown (Source: Space News)
Even as it continued to recover from one government shutdown, the National Science Foundation is preparing for another potential shutdown. In a call with reporters Friday, NSF officials said they had handled back pay for its more than 1,400 employees and was working to reschedule review panels that were postponed by the five-week shutdown. The NSF, which funds the operations of a number of observatories, said none of its research facilities had to halt operations because of the shutdown, although some were running short on funding as the shutdown ended.

The agency said it's starting planning for another shutdown, such as advancing funding to those facilities, should the continuing resolution currently funding part of the government expire Feb. 15 without a new spending deal. (2/4)

SpaceX Fairing Catcher Makes Way to Florida (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A ship used by SpaceX in efforts to recover payload fairings is headed from California to Florida. The ship, Mr. Steven, left port in California last week and is heading to Florida via the Panama Canal. The ship is equipped with a large net intended to catch payload fairings from Falcon 9 launches as part of the company's effort to recover and reuse them. In a video posted by SpaceX last week, half of a payload fairing was dropped from a helicopter in a test, landing on the edge of the net only to slip off and fall into the water. (2/4)

Former Senate Staffer Appointed to NASA Legislative Affairs Post (Source: NASA)
A former Senate staffer is NASA's new associate administrator for legislative affairs. NASA announced Friday that it had appointed Suzanne Gillen to the post, responsible for the agency's interactions with Congress. Gillen had worked for 14 years in the Senate in a variety of roles, including as the staff member for NASA and civil space issues for John Thune, the former chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. She worked for the last year as the senior director of government relations and public policy at Maxar Technologies. (2/4)

Investors Increasingly Looking to Space Startups (Source: SpaceQ)
Space Angels, a leading proponent and investor in space startups, has released its 2018 fourth quarter report which indicates that US$2.97B in equity capital was invested in space companies globally in 2018. In total, the report states that US$18.0B has been invested into 412 space companies since 2009.

The report also states that the “U.S. continues to lead global investment in Space, accounting for 57% ($9.6B) since 2009. However, Q4 saw increased international participation with significant investments in Chinese, German, Singaporean, and Canadian companies. Importantly, China now accounts for 5% of total global investment since 2009, illustrating that private companies will play an important role in China’s strategic space initiatives. In 2018 alone, $336M was invested in Chinese space companies, up 57% Y/Y. China also surpassed the U.S. in number of launches last year, for the first time in history.” (2/4)

Bezos Yanked $20 Million Blue Origin Super Bowl Ad Over Lauren Sanchez Affair (Source: Page Six)
Jeff Bezos pulled the plug on a $20 million Super Bowl ad for his spaceflight company, Blue Origin, after it was revealed his mistress had helped shoot footage for the commercial, sources told Page Six. Instead, the Amazon owner had a last-minute commercial created for his Washington Post, with some all-star narration by Tom Hanks.

TV insiders said Bezos nixed the space exploration ad when his affair with Lauren Sanchez went public. Sanchez, a former TV anchor and helicopter pilot, has been shooting aerial footage of Blue Origin rocket launches and landings for Bezos. “Bezos did shoot a Blue Origin ad, costing around $15 to $20 million, that was scheduled to run during the Super Bowl,” a source said.

“There was talk that he spent so much money on it because he wanted to be close to her. But the speculation is that he pulled the ad because it would be embarrassing because Lauren worked on the ads.” It’s not clear if the WaPo ad was added as a replacement for the Blue Origin commercial or if one of the other Amazon ads filled that slot. (2/4)