June 15, 2019

India Creates Defense Space Research Agency, Plans July War Game Simulation (Source: Space Daily)
India's new Defense Space Agency (DSA) is preparing to conduct a "table-top" war game to explore the strengths and weaknesses of the country's growing and increasingly integrated space warfare capabilities. The news comes amid the establishment of a new dedicated space research agency.

India's space agencies have taken off like a rocketship since the successful March 27 test of an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile, making the country part of an elite group of countries capable of destroying objects in space; only the US, China and Russia possess similar capability.

Next month, the DSA will coordinate with the Integrated Defense Staff of the Ministry of Defense to direct a simulated war game called IndSpaceEx to test the gaps in India's space security as well as the strengths of its newly integrated space agencies. The exercise will be similar to those undertaken by think tanks from other countries, like the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and India's own Observer Research Foundation, The Diplomat noted. (6/13)

The World’s Largest Airplane is Up for Sale for $400 Million (Source: CNBC)
Stratolaunch, which is the world’s largest airplane and has flown only once, is up for sale. Holding company Vulcan is seeking to sell Stratolaunch for $400 million, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Vulcan is the investment conglomerate of late billionaire Paul Allen, a Microsoft co-founder. Allen died last October following complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The hefty price tag includes ownership of the airplane as well as the intellectual property and facilities. Stratolaunch is the world’s largest airplane by wingspan, which stretches 385 feet — longer than an American football field. The plane is powered by six jet engines salvaged from Boeing 747 aircraft. Allen’s vision of a massive plane that can launch rockets from the air was at least partially fulfilled in April, when Stratolaunch flew for the first time after about eight years in development. (6/14)

Trump Must Win Central Florida to Be Re-Elected (Source: Florida Today)
If state transportation authorities ever wanted to rename Interstate 4, the highway that slashes across Central Florida from Tampa Bay to Daytona Beach, they might consider calling it, "The Road to the White House."  With its 29 Electoral College votes, Florida is the biggest swing state in the nation. Taking Florida in the 2020 presidential election will be key to winning the White House next year. In fact, over the past 50 years, only Bill Clinton in 1992 won the presidential election without prevailing Florida.

And the key to winning Florida, is winning Central Florida. Which is why it's no coincidence that Donald Trump chose Orlando to officially kick-off his re-election campaign. "There is a reason why they are going to be in Orlando to start the campaign," said State Sen. Joe Gruters, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. "The president has to win re-election here if he is going to win the White House again." (6/14)

Where Did the Moon Come From? A New Theory (Source: TED Talk)
The Earth and Moon are like identical twins, made up of the exact same materials -- which is really strange, since no other celestial bodies we know of share this kind of chemical relationship. What's responsible for this special connection? Looking for an answer, planetary scientist and MacArthur "Genius" Sarah T. Stewart discovered a new kind of astronomical object -- a synestia -- and a new way to solve the mystery of the Moon's origin. Click here. (6/14)

NASA Estimates It Will Need $20-30 Billion for Moon Landing, Administrator Says (Source: CNN)
NASA has touted its bold plan to return American astronauts to the moon by 2024 for months. Now we're starting to get an idea of how much it will cost. The space agency will need an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion over the next five years for its moon project, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Thursday. That would mean adding another $4 billion to $6 billion per year, on average, to the agency's budget, which is already expected to be about $20 billion annually.

Bridenstine's remarks are the first time that NASA has shared a total cost estimate for its moon program, which is called Artemis (after the Greek goddess of the moon) and could send people to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century. NASA wants that mission to include two astronauts: A man and the first-ever woman to walk on the moon.

The $20 to $30 billion cost estimate is less expensive than some had predicted — though they're not necessarily the final figures. Bridenstine acknowledged that spaceflight can be dangerous and unpredictable, so it's practically impossible to settle on an accurate price tag. "We're negotiating within the administration," he said. "We're talking to [the federal Office of Management and Budget]; we're talking to the National Space Council." (6/13)

SpaceX Starship Taking Shape at Cocoa Steel Facility (Source: ClickOlando)
The future of space is taking shape on the Space Coast. SpaceX is leasing Coastal Steel to build its largest spaceship ever. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said right now, there is simultaneous construction of the interplanetary Starship going on in both Texas and Florida. Rising from the grounds of the facility Thursday, the Starship is starting to take shape. It will stand 180 feet tall and be 30 feet wide. Production on Cidco Road was initially unannounced by SpaceX. Musk later confirmed the operation on Twitter. (6/13)

NASA Spots "Star Trek" Starfleet Logo on Mars Surface (Source: CBS)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has spotted an unusual symbol on the surface of Mars — the iconic "Star Trek" Starfleet logo. The MRO captured a series of strange chevron symbols on a Martian sand dune in the southeast Hellas Planitia region. The MRO HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera team at the University of Arizona highlighted the discovery Wednesday, though the image was acquired by the team April 22. Click here. (6/13)

Scotland's Proposed Spaceport Site For Sale (Source: Construction Index)
A Scottish airport that has proposed becoming a spaceport is up for sale. The Scottish government said it's looking to sell Glasgow Prestwick Airport to a private operator. The government bought the airport in 2013 to keep it from closing, but always intended to sell it once there was interest. The airport has proposed becoming a launch site for horizontal takeoff and landing vehicles, such as air-launch systems, although it has no firm commitments from existing vehicle operators. (6/13)

2019 State of the US Aerospace and Defense Industry (Source: AIA)
The aerospace and defense industry plays a critical role in supporting America's national security objectives and driving our economy, and 2018 was another standout year for the industry. Our industry registered $929 billion in economic output, $151 billion in exports, a positive trade balance of nearly $90 billion, and employed 2.5 million people in the United States -- all up substantially from 2017 achievements. (6/14)

Earth is Approaching the Same "Meteor Swarm" That May Have Caused Tunguska Impact in 1908 (Source: CBS)
A swarm of meteors heading toward Earth could have the potential to cause a catastrophic impact, a new study from Western Ontario University says. The so-called Taurid swarm is a recurring event that some scientists believe could have played a role in the biggest Earth impact of modern times, in 1908, when a space rock slammed into Siberia with enough force to destroy an entire forest.

What has become known as the Tunguska explosion of 1908 was so powerful that the blast leveled 80 million trees over an 800-square-mile area. It's considered to be a one-in-1,000-year event, according to Western Ontario University. But while the Tunguska explosion occurred just over a century ago, another such phenomenon could occur much sooner than its 1,000-year expectancy, the researchers say. That's why they're focusing new attention on the Taurid swarm. (6/12)

Meet Launch Complex 48, NASA's New Small Rocket Pad at Kennedy Space Center (Source: Florida Today)
Just a few feet from the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean, Kennedy Space Center's easternmost artery runs along the coast, connecting some of the most significant and active launch pads in the world. Philips Parkway connects five pads overseen by the Air Force and NASA, but a new entrant is joining the fray: Launch Complex 48.

The NASA-developed complex will sit between KSC's pad 39A to the north and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41 to the south, the latter of which is operated by United Launch Alliance for Atlas V rockets. Its target use: commercial companies wanting a pad from which to launch their small rockets. "This is a NASA capability that is being made available to whatever small launcher company wants to come in here and do small vehicle launches," said Tom Engler.

Slated for completion by the end of the year, LC-48's first phase will consist of a road that intersects with Philips Parkway from the west. The pad itself will have three "prongs," the center of which will be a triangular slab of concrete for companies to roll out their rockets. Two smaller prongs to the east and west will allow for the separation of liquid oxygen tanks from fuel tanks. The launch pad itself, minus the side storage tanks, would measure 54 feet wide by 42 feet long, according to a NASA environmental analysis completed in February. Maximum liftoff weight for small rockets would be 300,000 pounds and no landings would be allowed. (6/15)

Maxar Eyes Sale of Space Robotics Unit (Source: Reuters)
U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies Inc is exploring a sale of its space robotics business, which could fetch more than $1 billion and allow it to pay down some of its debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The sale of the business, dubbed MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), would help address concerns about Maxar’s $3.2 billion debt pile. Its WorldView-4 satellite failed in January, causing shares to slide. (6/14)

Kourou’s New Pad for Ariane 6 Enters Final Leg of Construction (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The huge launch pad complex for Arianespace’s new workhorse, Ariane 6, is in the final months of construction ahead of the new rocket’s debut in 2021. ELA-4 includes a massive mobile gantry that will roll back off the pad ahead of launch. Arianespace is currently working on constructing 14 contracted Ariane 6s. The Ariane 6 launch complex has been under construction since 2017 and – per the latest update this week – is expected to be completed before the end of 2019. (6/15)

Arizona Challenger Space Center to Get New Life in 2020. But Where Did the Museum Land? (Source: Arizona Central)
The Peoria Unified School District got the keys to the Arizona Challenger Space Center's old home a year and a half ago and hasn't put it to use, but recently approved plans will bring new life and a new name to the building next year. The school board in late May approved $1.6 million in renovations that will transform the building into the Sunrise Mountain Arts Center. The Arizona Challenger Space Center temporarily found a home at Phoenix's Metrocenter Mall.

The center is raising funds and has not yet reopened. The center had raised $250,000, but needs $250,000 more for exhibits and to make the facility ADA compliant. The center is on a renewable two-year lease with the Paradise Valley school district and doesn't have an opening date scheduled yet. It won't have one until officials finish retrofitting the building and reassembling the space mission simulator, Swayman said. Why the hold up? Moving artifacts is one thing, but it turns out moving a space mission simulator is more difficult. (6/14)

Mars Can Wait. First Let’s Terraform Earth. (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Being in environmental law, I have hoped that my children would pursue a profession that brings happiness and hope, rather than frustration and anxiety over the state of the world. Space and the sciences critical to space exploration can do that. But I am of two minds when it comes to space travel these days. By pushing toward new frontiers, investing in NASA has resulted in some of the most important technological advances in our society. I have always considered the cost worth it, even if we fail at times.

Ultimately the human race should look to expand beyond the confines of this planet. But we will be unable to do so if we do not take care of this planet first. Every day it becomes clearer that Earth faces an existential crisis driven by climate change. (6/14)

Third Annual Spaceport America Cup Next Week (Source: KVIA)
The third annual Spaceport America Cup is June 18-22 at the Las Cruces Convention Center and Spaceport America. The Cup is designed around the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition for student rocketry teams. This competition hosts teams from American and International Colleges and Universities. With over 120 teams registered in 2019 from around the globe, the competition will be challenging for the participants and exciting for spectators. University students will be launching solid, liquid, and hybrid rockets to target altitudes of 30,000 feet and more. (6/14)

Study Finds That a GPS Outage Would Cost $1 Billion Per Day (Source: Ars Technica)
Since becoming fully operational in 1995, Global Positioning System technology has become widely adopted in the United States and abroad. The concept of satellite-based navigation has become so essential that other world powers, including China, Russia, the European Union, India, and Japan, have all started building their own regional or global systems.

Now, one of the most comprehensive studies on the subject has assessed the value of this GPS technology to the US economy and examined what effect a 30-day outage would have—whether it's due to a severe space weather event or "nefarious activity by a bad actor." The study was sponsored by the US government's National Institutes of Standards and Technology and performed by a North Carolina-based research organization named RTI International.

As part of the analysis, researchers spoke to more than 200 experts in the use of GPS technology for various services, from agriculture to the positioning of offshore drilling rigs to location services for delivery drivers. (If they'd spoken to me, I'd have said the value of using GPS to navigate Los Angeles freeways and side streets was incalculable). The study covered a period from 1984, when the nascent GPS network was first opened to commercial use, through 2017. It found that GPS has generated an estimated $1.4 trillion in economic benefits during that time period. (6/14)

Congress Gives Trump Rump Space Force (Source: Breaking Defense)
When is a Space Force not a Space Force? When it is a reorganization of the Air Force by a different name. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees’ versions of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) both ‘just say no’ to the Trump Administration’s plans for a sixth branch of the armed forces integrating all military programs and personnel dedicated to space.

Instead, the HASC and SASC have taken action to separate the Air Force’s space activities into a Marine Corps-like structure, as well as rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic that is DoD space acquisition. The two versions of the defense authorization bill vary on their approach to acquisition, but they agree on much of the structure of the new Space Force — or Space Corps.

Proponents of the creation of a truly separate military organization for space — one separate from the Air Force and incorporating all four services’ space activities — remain cautiously optimistic that the moves by Congress are a step in the right direction. (6/14)

Bezos and Musk in Epic Feud Over Space Travel - Here's a Timeline (Source: Business Insider)
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, two tech moguls with grand visions for exploring and settling humans in space, have increasingly found themselves feuding over what our future in that final frontier should look like. Their disagreements mainly arise because both are pursuing reusable rockets, next-generation spacecraft, and ambitious space-settling plans. In May, for instance, Bezos unveiled a moon lander design by his spaceflight company, Blue Origin; in that presentation, he criticized the idea of populating Mars — the overarching goal of SpaceX, Musk's rocket company. Click here. (6/15)

Will Apollo Nostalgia Help NASA Get Its Artemis Moon Money? (Source: Space.com)
NASA's big moon push may be coming at just the right time. The space agency is working to land astronauts at the lunar south pole by 2024, as part of a program called Artemis that seeks to establish a long-term, sustainable human presence on and around Earth's nearest neighbor. NASA originally targeted 2028 for this crewed lunar landing — the first since the Apollo era — but Vice President Mike Pence accelerated the timeline this past March.

And there's another variable, which could play in Artemis' favor — the fast-approaching 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which occurred on July 20, 1969. The wave of nostalgia that's already  building in the public consciousness certainly won't hurt the new project's prospects, Logsdon said. That's not to imply that Bridenstine's cost estimate was cagily or cynically timed. "I think it's a coincidence of timing, and, from the advocates' point of view, probably a positive coincidence," Logsdon said. (6/15)