April 9, 2019

Northrop Grumman Ready to 'Start Cutting Metal' at KSC for New OmegA Rocket (Source: Florida Today)
As Northrop Grumman's upcoming OmegA rocket progresses toward a 2021 debut flight, company officials here on Monday said it's time to "start cutting metal" at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the new launch system. The solid rocket fuel-powered vehicle, which recently secured nearly $800 million in support from the Air Force, will use former space shuttle architecture at KSC like an unused mobile launcher platform.

Northrop Grumman will also take advantage of the Vehicle Assembly Building, a crawler-transporter, and pad 39B – all of which will also support NASA's upcoming Space Launch System. The company expects work at KSC to begin this month, which keeps it on track for a 2021 liftoff. "The first thing you're going to see is mobile launch platform number three roll out to the west park site," said Mike Laidley. Sharing a pad with NASA means teams will have to configure OmegA's rollout through a series of steps that will also be necessary for SLS. The hardware changes at KSC will be significant.

The rocket will use the Vehicle Assembly Building for vertical stacking and other preparations, which will require dedicated tooling and systems. Before Omega can roll out to pad 39B for launch, it will need support from a mobile launch tower as the pad itself doesn't have one – it's what NASA refers to as a "clean pad concept." Northrop Grumman will have to build one, likely at great effort and expense as it will have to be taller than the rocket itself, which clocks in at nearly 200 feet. (4/9)

OmegA Missions to Transport Launch Tower to Pad, Can Potentially Support Moon Missions (Source: Florida Today)
A NASA crawler-transporter will pick up the stacked rocket and mobile launch tower in NASA's VAB and transport them to pad 39B for launch a few days later. This is a departure from space shuttle missions, which used an unmovable launch tower and sometimes sat on the pad for weeks. The short times on the pad will be critical as SLS and Omega will have to share it. Northrop Grumman's Kent Rominger says the OmegA launch system is currently not looking to get a human rating, but it can take 20,000 pounds to lunar orbit. (4/9)

Air Force Contract a "Must-Win" for OmegA (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman says that upcoming launch competition is a must-win for their OmegA rocket. The company, which won a $792 million Launch Service Agreement to share the cost of developing OmegA to carry military satellites, said it's making good progress on the vehicle, with two critical static-fire tests coming up in May and August. Northrop, though, said it would evaluate what it would do with the rocket if it is not selected in the Launch Service Procurement, including deciding to not continue the program "or maybe put it on the shelf." (4/9)

ULA Will Fly Vulcan Hardware on Atlas 5 (Source: Space News)
ULA will start flying hardware designed for its Vulcan rocket on the Atlas 5 to gain flight heritage. The first Vulcan technology to fly on Atlas 5 will be new payload fairings from Swiss supplier Ruag intended to be faster and cheaper to produce. The Atlas will also start using new solid rocket boosters from Northrop Grumman next year that are similar to those that will later be used with Vulcan. Phasing in that technology, a ULA executive said, helps reduce risk for the overall Vulcan development effort. (4/9)

Blue Origin Seeks Delay for Air Force Launcher Contract (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin is seeking a delay in the Air Force's upcoming launch competition. The company, working on its New Glenn rocket, believes the Air Force's hurry to select two providers to split, on a 60-40 basis, contracts for up to 25 launches between 2022 and 2026 would forestall competition. Blue Origin also thinks that a competition now would give an edge to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. The Air Force intends to call for those proposals in the coming weeks with a solicitation known as the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement, although some on Capitol Hill have also been lobbying for a delay. (4/9)

Made In Space Unveils Small Satellite Interferometry Tool (Source: Space News)
Made in Space unveiled a product April 8 to help customers conduct interferometry missions on small satellites. Possible applications for the new product, Optimast-Structurally Connected Interferometer (Optimast-SCI) include space situational awareness and detection of near-Earth objects. Traditional space-based interferometry missions bring along large deployable structures to separate their telescopes or other instruments.

Hinges and mechanical systems on the deployable structures allow them to be folded in launch fairings and extended in orbit. Made In Space proposes instead equipping satellites weighing roughly 150- to 300-kilograms with technology to manufacture in orbit a 20-meter optical boom interferometer with a modular internal optics bench the firm developed with Lowell Observatory. (4/8)

Rocket Lab Designs Kick-Stage to Serve as Satellite Payload (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab announced Monday it is offering a new smallsat bus derived from the kick stage of its Electron rocket. The Photon bus will be able to carry more than 150 kilograms of payload and support a wide range of applications. The company says that Photon, bundled with Electron launches, will allow companies to get their payloads to space faster than if they built their own satellites. Rocket Lab has not announced any customers yet for Photon but says it is in discussions with a number of potential users, with a first flight expected in 2020. (4/8)

'Wolf Amendment' a Barrier to Beneficial U.S. - China Cooperation in Space (Source: Space News)
There are opportunities for the U.S. and China to expand cooperation in space that could have broader benefits. At a recent panel discussion, experts said that the "Wolf Amendment," widely seen as barring bilateral cooperation between NASA and Chinese organizations, only restricts such cooperation, and that there is room to expand that cooperation while considering ways to either relax that provision or do away with it entirely. Broader civil space cooperation between the countries could improve overall engagement between the countries in space issues, including military space activities. (4/9)

Air Force Reportedly Eyeing One of These 6 Bases to House US Space Command (Source: Business Insider)
The Air Force is narrowing down the best location to house the Defense Department's newest unified combatant command, and many of the bases in top contention are in Colorado. Air Force officials are still reviewing installations to house US Space Command, which officials have called a stepping stone to creating a US Space Force. "No candidate basing lists have been sent to the secretary of the Air Force for consideration," service spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said.

Citing an Air Force Space Command memorandum it obtained, CNN reported last week that the Air Force may choose from four Colorado locations, including Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson Air Force Base, and Schriever Air Force Base. Other options are the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Editor's Note: Where's Florida? (4/9)

Evolving Military Space Plans Create Uncertainty for Industry (Source: Space News)
Ongoing and proposed government organizations of military space have put companies into a holding pattern. Those proposals, from the establishment of the Space Development Agency and the proposed Space Force to the reorganization of the Space and Missile Systems Center, have left many companies uncertain about the future of key national security space efforts.

"There's a lot of uncertainty, and people are trying to figure out what this means," said Steve Isakowitz of the Aerospace Corporation, who said the administration's desire to move quickly is running into problems in Congress. "People have been waiting for a series of shoes to drop." (4/9)

DOD Space Development Agency Hopes to Leverage Commercial Constellations (Source: Space News)
The head of the new Space Development Agency says he wants to disrupt the way the military does space programs by leveraging commercial capabilities. In his first interview since being named head of the agency, Fred Kennedy said his first priority is to refine a next-generation space architecture that can make use of the satellite manufacturing capabilities being developed by broadband constellation companies.

He said he wants to take a similar approach to ground terminals and other systems. The agency won't be bound by traditional Defense Department procurement systems, but Kennedy said he doesn't see it as a near-term threat to the existing Space and Missile Systems Center and its role in space acquisitions. (4/9)

Space Council Advisory Group Seeks Role in NASA Human Spaceflight Planning (Source: Space News)
The advisory group for the National Space Council wants a role in reviewing NASA's revised human spaceflight plans. The Users' Advisory Group discussed developing a task force that would provide a "red team" review of the agency's architecture for landing humans on the moon by 2024. The group didn't formally approve the proposal, but its chairman, James Ellis, said he would refine that proposal and have the group consider it at its next meeting.

Separately, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Monday that he has named former aerospace executive Mark Sirangelo as a special assistant to lead development of those revised plans and creation of a new mission directorate within the agency that will implement them. (4/9)

Wilbur Ross: We've Gotta Get Back to the Moon—to Exploit the Hell Out of It (Source: Daily Beast)
Late last month, out of the blue, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States would land an American on the moon by 2024—four years ahead of schedule. Now we know why the Trump administration is in such a hurry to get back to the lunar surface: The administration wants to mine the moon, staking a claim on these supposed lunar riches before any other country (most likely China) can—and before the end of Pres. Donald Trump’s possible second term.

At the annual Space Symposium conference in Colorado Springs on Tuesday, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross suggested that there’s so much money to be made on the moon that America better get there first, risk and uncertainty be damned. “As more countries land on the moon, we risk a Wild West situation without clarification of ownership rights,” Ross said. But this proverbial lunar gold rush is risky. Congress might not fund it: some critics were already saying a previous NASA effort to land a man on the moon was half-baked and not worth the cost.

Even with a Congressional appropriation, NASA expects it will have to cut other space programs to make way for moon work. Government officials admitted at the conference that some of the technology it needs doesn’t yet exist. Also, no one really knows how much cobalt, gold, helium, iron, palladium, platinum and tungsten lies under the lunar dust. Even more murky is exactly what it would take to dig it up and process it on the moon or send it back to some factory on Earth. (4/9)

SpaceX Likely to Win NASA’s Crew Competition by Months, for Billions Less (Source: Ars Technica)
Publicly, some Boeing officials were denigrating SpaceX, emphasizing their own blue-blooded legacy. Boeing has had a successful working relationship with NASA dating back to 1961 and the first stage of the Saturn V rocket. By contrast, Boeing would note, Elon Musk seemed more interested in flashy marketing and never met his launch targets. "We go for substance," said Boeing's John Elbon. "Not pizzazz." Behind the scenes, Boeing was pushing hard to win all the commercial crew funding, and was encouraging NASA to go with the safe choice over spaceflight newcomers SpaceX and Sierra Nevada.

In the end, NASA's chief of human spaceflight, William Gerstenmaier, kept two providers, Boeing and SpaceX. This has proven a wise decision for reasons of both cost and schedule. It also offers a timely lesson as NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine considers new approaches to taking humans back to the Moon with a reasonable budget and schedule. In terms of cost, NASA is getting a better deal from SpaceX. In recent years, since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, NASA has paid Russia as much as $81.8 million per seat. Gerstenmaier has quoted a figure of $58 million for Commercial Crew.

$2.784 billion is the total amount NASA is paying for 12 operational flights to the space station from 2020 to 2024, or a total of 48 seats from both companies. Overall, NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion for its commercial crew contract and SpaceX $2.6 billion. According to our analysis, NASA will pay Boeing about $71.6 million per Starliner seat and SpaceX $44.4 million per Dragon seat. Why is NASA paying Boeing so much more? Probably because the company asked for it. (4/8)

Russian S7 Space Firm to Cancel Deal with Ukraine's Rocket Maker (Source: Sputnik)
Russia's privately-owned S7 Space company will scrap a contract it has with a Ukrainian state rocket maker, Yuzhmash, on the production of 12 Zenit launch vehicles, the Russian firm's co-owner said. "Yes, we are going to," Natalya Fileva, who owns the company together with her husband, Vladislav Filev, said, adding she could not name the exact date of the cancellation.

Sputnik first learned about the plan to terminate the 2017 deal on the production of rockets for S7 Space's Sea Launch project from industry sources. Yuzhmash said they would not initiate the breakup. The company launched over 30 rockets from the buoyant spaceport in Long Beach, California by 2014 but the project was stalled amid a row between Ukraine and Russia. (3/26)

Spaceport America Opens its Doors to Visitors (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
Hundreds of families visited New Mexico’s Spaceport America to see the facility firsthand and learn more about plans for Virgin Galactic to offer commercial flights. Brothers Sean Anderson, 5, Nathan Anderson, 10, and Owen Anderson, 7, of Rio Rancho, operate a Rio Rancho Robo Racers’ robot during Sunday’s festival at Spaceport America. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)

“I’m really looking forward to commercial service,” said Virgin Galactic astronaut pilot Frederick “CJ” Sturckow after giving a presentation to the crowd. “After you’ve been in space yourself, one of the funnest things is to share that experience with someone else.” The former NASA astronaut joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 and was on SpaceShip Two’s VSS Unity alongside test pilot Mark Stucky in December. Many of those at the open house were eager to find out when Virgin Galactic would begin passenger flights to space. (4/8)

Port Link to SpaceX Perhaps One Year Away (Source: Brownsville
The South Port Connector Road was in the works long before SpaceX appeared on the horizon, though it will come in very handy in terms of the Port of Brownsville’s relationship with the rocket company, by connecting the port with S.H. 4 just down the road from SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch complex. At the annual State of the Port event on March 19, Brownsville Navigation District Chairman John Reed said in his presentation that “the port expects to play an important role in the operation of SpaceX, similar in scope to what’s happening at Cape Canaveral in Florida.” (4/7)

Arizona: Student-Led CatSat Mission Selected for Flight by NASA (Source: Space Daily)
An inflatable space antenna designed by University of Arizona students is one of 16 small research satellites from 10 states NASA has selected to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard space missions planned to launch in 2020, 2021 and 2022. The selections are part of the 10th round of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative.

CubeSats are a type of spacecraft called nanosatellites, often measuring about four inches on each side and weighing less than three pounds, with a volume of about one quart. CubeSats are built using these standard dimensions as Units or "U," and are classified as 1U, 2U, 3U, or 6U in total size. CatSat is a 6U CubeSat led by UA students from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and various departments including aerospace and mechanical engineering, astronomy, computer science, and systems and industrial engineering. (3/19)

India to Launch Military Satellite to Detect Enemy Radars, Sensors and Devices (Source: Sputnik)
India is set to launch a locally built advanced military satellite, along with 28 other satellites from international partners, on 1 April from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. This will be the 47th mission of ISRO's C45 Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The launch is also aimed at demonstrating the PSLV's capability to place satellites into orbit. (3/26)

Defense Contractors See Growth in Space (Source: Space News)
With the Trump administration making a big push to create a Space Force and recent moves by the Pentagon to stand up a Space Development Agency and a U.S. Space Command, some companies in the defense industry are positioning themselves to compete for a share of the U.S. military’s $14 billion space budget. “We are expanding into the space domain,” said Damian DiPippa, general manager of mission intelligence solutions at ManTech International, a $2 billion defense contractor that provides technical support services to the military and intelligence agencies.

ManTech is looking to apply its cybersecurity expertise to space. Satellites and supporting ground systems used by DoD and the intelligence community for communications and other critical missions have become enemy targets, DiPippa said in an interview. “Protecting these assets and the critical intelligence they carry is a top priority.”

Parsons is another defense contractor that is rapidly moving into the space business. Most of its space work thus far has been in geospatial intelligence, cloud computing and data analytics. It is now expanding to space launch support, said David Weissmiller, Parsons’ director of space strategy and business development. The company in February won a contract worth up to $100 million over five years from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch Enterprise Directorate to serve as the prime contractor for the integration of small satellites with launch vehicles. (4/8)