June 6, 2019

Award Season! National Space Club Invites Nominations From YOU (Source: NSCFL)
The National Space Club, Florida Committee, is preparing for multiple annual award presentations and invites online nominations from members and non-members. Awards are for Floridians who have contributed to national security space; space-related journalism and communications; and lifetime achievement. Also planned are awards for "rising star" space workers, and our Space Worker Hall of Fame. Nominations are easy and can be submitted quickly online at this website. (6/6)

Human Beings May Owe Their Existence to Nearby Supernovas (Source: Economist)
If a supernova went off near Earth, that would be bad. From a distance of less than, say, 25 light-years, the resulting bombardment of fast-moving atomic nuclei, known as cosmic rays, would destroy the layer of atmospheric ozone that stops most of the sun’s harmful ultraviolet light reaching Earth’s surface. In combination, these two kinds of radiation, cosmic and ultraviolet, would then kill many forms of life.

If a supernova went off not quite so close by, though, that might be interesting. It would have effects, but more subtle ones. Indeed, a paper published in the latest edition of the Journal of Geology, by Brian Thomas of Washburn University, in Kansas, and Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas, suggests that a series of such stellar explosions may have nudged humanity’s forebears down from their trees and up onto their hind legs. (5/30)

In Fight For Artemis Money, NASA Chief Finds Unlikely Ally (Source: WMFE)
“The administrator really has a herculean task,” said former Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. The space-policy heavy hitter has been tapped by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine to help sell the plan. Artemis is going to cost billions of dollars. Now the agency is scrambling to come up with the funding. Artemis wasn’t included in NASA’s original FY2020 $21 billion budget ask. NASA required a budget amendment for the $1.6 billion needed. “This isn’t going to be enough,” said Laura Forczyk, a space policy analyst and founder of Astrolytical.

Despite a House appropriations committee drafting a NASA budget slightly higher than requested, the additional $1.6 billion for Artemis is far from certain. That’s because the White House said that money should come from a $9 billion surplus in the Pell Grant program. Florida Congressman Darren Soto wants that Pell Grant surplus to go back into education — not the Artemis program. He said the money could be used for things like absolving student loan debt instead.

On the other hand, Republicans like Congressman Bill Posey think funneling that money into the moon program will have its own educational benefits. “It will get more kids interested in the STEM field, which we are direly in need of right now. Congress will decide whether that’s the appropriate place or there’s another place.” Republican Senator Rick Scott said “We have a significant budget [in Congress]. You ought to be able to walk and chew gum. We ought to be able to invest in space, invest in in our Pell Grants, invest in higher education.”  (6/6)

Firefly Prepares for Maiden Flight with Critical Testing, New Additions (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
For the better part of 18 months, Texas-based rocket startup Firefly Aerospace has been building and testing components of a small orbital launch vehicle, currently set to make its debut later this year. However, the company has recently ramped up operations in all aspects and has unveiled newer technologies and facilities with which to expand their horizons. Firefly said all systems performed as expected during a recent full-duration second stage test, and that this test further supported their goal of conducting the first test flight of the launcher as soon as December.

The company will initially make use of Space Launch Complex 2 West at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for Alpha launches to Sun synchronous orbits. Firefly also acquired a lease to use Launch Complex 20 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and intends to build a mass production facility in nearby Exploration Park to support a more rapid launch cadence in the near future. In addition to new facilities, the company has made references to new vehicles that could enter the fold. One such vehicle is the Beta, an upgraded tri-core launcher derived from the Alpha.

According to the official payload user’s guide, the Beta is capable of lofting 4,000 kilograms (8,818 pounds) to a 200-kilometer orbit, and would also be able to launch 400 kilograms (818 pounds) to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. With Alpha set to launch on its maiden flight in 2020, the Beta is currently slated to fly no earlier than the 2021-2022 timeframe. (6/5)

Mr Steven Preparing for Fairing Catch Attempt While SpaceX Considers Alternatives (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX recovery vessel Mr Steven has spent the last several weeks undergoing major refits – including a new net and arms – and testing the upgraded hardware in anticipation of the vessel’s first fairing catch attempt in more than four months. Successfully catching fairings could help SpaceX dramatically ramp its launch cadence and lower costs, especially critical for the affordable launch of the company’s own Starlink satellite constellation.

Although Mr. Steven’s prospects look better than they have in months, SpaceX’s fairing recovery engineers and technicians have not been sitting on their hands. Begun as a check against the growing possibility that reliably catching fairings in a (relatively) small net is just too difficult to be worth it, SpaceX has been analyzing methods of reusing fairings without Mr. Steven. Most notably, despite the failure to catch fairings out of the air, the fairing halves themselves – relying on GPS-guided parafoils – have proven to be capable of reliably performing gentle landings on the ocean surface.

This consistently leaves the fairings intact and floating on the ocean but at the cost of partial saltwater immersion and exposure to surface-level sea spray and waves. At least in today’s era of highly complex large satellites, customers typically demand that payload fairings (like Falcon 9’s) offer a clean room-quality environment once the satellite is encapsulated inside. Sea water is full of salt, organic molecules, and water, all three of which do not get along well with extremely sensitive electronics. The whole purpose of recovering and reusing fairings is to make their reuse more efficient and less expensive than simply building a new fairing. (6/6)

Researchers Put Inexpensive Chip-Size Satellites Into Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
Zac Manchester's team deployed 105 ChipSats into low-Earth orbit on March 18 and, the next day, detected the signals they sent one another, demonstrating their ability to communicate as a group, a prerequisite to operating as a swarm. Since that time, the researchers have been working with NASA to complete the first phase of the mission data analysis. Each ChipSat is a circuit board slightly larger than a postage stamp. Built for under $100 apiece, each ChipSat uses solar cells to power its essential systems: the radio, microcontroller and sensors that enable each device to locate and communicate with its peers.

In the future, ChipSats could contain electronics tailored to specific missions, Manchester said. For instance, they could be used to study weather patterns, animal migrations or other terrestrial phenomena. Spacefaring applications might include mapping the surface features or internal composition of asteroids or moons orbiting other planets. "The biggest cost of space exploration is the launch, and we're trying to create the smallest, lightest satellite platform capable of carrying out useful tasks," Manchester said. (6/6)

World View Reaches New Mmilestone in Stratollite Development (Source: Space News)
World View achieved new milestones in the development of its high-altitude balloon platform on its latest flight. The 16-day Stratollite mission over the American Southwest, which concluded Monday, was the longest to date for the system, which also demonstrated its ability to stationkeep over specific areas for extended periods. World View is developing Stratollite to serve as an alternative to satellites for applications such as remote sensing and communications, and hired a new CEO earlier this year to "productize" the system. (6/6)

Virgin Orbit to Launch From Japan Too (Source: Reuters)
Virgin Orbit is planning to operate from Japan as well. Company founder Richard Branson said Thursday Virgin Orbit will partner with Japan's ANA Holdings to operate out an airport in the country. The companies will work with an organization called Space Port Japan to identify a suitable airport in the country for operations, but didn't state when launch operations could begin there. (6/6)

RUAG Prepares to Go Public (Source: Reuters)
Ruag is planning to invest in space systems as it prepares to go public. The company, currently owned by the Swiss government, is preparing to go public in 2021 or 2022. As it prepares for that IPO, the company is looking to reduce its emphasis on defense work and instead invest more in production of space hardware, its most profitable line of business. The company is preparing to spend up to $500 million on acquisitions to enhance its space business. (6/6)

China Nearing Completion of Beidou Navigation Constellation (Source: Xinhua)
China expects to have its Beidou-3 global navigation system completed next year. The planned 35-satellite system currently has 20 satellites in orbit, along with 18 older Beidou-2 satellites. The remaining Beidou-3 satellites should be launched by next year, said speakers at a satellite navigation conference in China this week that is examining the applications of the system. (6/6)

EmDrive Tests Planned in Germany (Source: WIRED)
Experiments this year could dash the prospects of a controversial alternative propulsion system. The SpaceDrive project at Germany's Technische Universität Dresden plans an extremely accurate test of the EmDrive, which developers argue produces thrust in violation of the conservation of momentum. Past experiments have claimed to detected tiny amounts of thrust from EmDrive prototypes, but with measurement errors high enough to question if the thrust was real. The new research will involve experiments with a precision of billionths of a newton. (6/6)

NRO Moving Away From Single-Source Satellite Imagery (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office is open to new satellite imagery vendors after years of using a single source. The office has "study contracts" with current vendor Maxar in addition to new vendors Planet and BlackSky. Government spending cuts have forced NGA to slash its imagery budget by half. A newly created Commercial Systems Program Office at the NRO will oversee the procurement of imagery. (6/6)

NASA Wallops Breaks Ground on Major Solar Project (Source: SpaceRef)
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility broke ground today on a solar project that is estimated to reduce energy consumption of non-renewable resources at the Facility by as much as 80%. The 13-megawatt solar farm will include both Sun-tracking ground mounted arrays near the facility’s airfield and carport-style canopy arrays. (6/6)

Space Coast Companies Invited to Aerospace Workforce Workshop (Source: CareerSource Brevard)
Never before has workforce development been as important to the success of businesses and regional economic prosperity as it is today.  As a result of the ongoing and growing importance of creating a talent pipeline to support business growth, CareerSource Brevard, in partnership with Space Florida, FloridaMakes and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, will be hosting an Aerospace Industry Workforce Workshop on June 13th at the Bill Posey Conference Center.  

This workshop will highlight new, innovative and industry-focused approaches to meeting the needs of businesses and provide an opportunity to design and develop solutions to building the required skilled workforce of the industry.  Your participation is vital to guarantee the challenges you confront are clearly defined. Click here to register. (6/6)

Next Launch Set at California Spaceport (Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune)
We now know the date of the next rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Canadian Space Agency has confirmed that commercial space company SpaceX will launch its Falcon 9 rocket from the Lompoc base on June 11. The launch has been delayed numerous times. Most recently, an anticipated mid-May launch was pushed to the new launch window. It is unclear exactly what time the rocket launch will occur. The mission will launch three earth-imaging satellites for the Canadian Space Agency. (6/5)

Space Rider: Europe's Reusable Space Transport System (Source: ESA)
Initially proposed in 2016, ESA’s Space Rider reentry vehicle provides a return to Earth and landing capability that compliments the existing launch options of the Ariane and Vega families. Having recently completed system and subsystem preliminary design reviews, Space Rider is advancing quickly towards the Critical design review at the end of 2019.

Launched on Vega-C, Space Rider will serve as an uncrewed high-tech space laboratory operating for periods longer than two months in low orbit. It will then re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and land, returning its valuable payload to eager engineers and scientists at the landing site. After minimal refurbishment it will be ready for its next mission with new payloads and a new mission.

Space Rider combines reusability, in-orbit operations and transportation, and precise descent of a reentry vehicle able to safely traverse and land close to inhabited zones. These are major developments, set to extend European knowhow across a host of applications allowing industry to open up new markets. (6/5)

Physicists Search for Monstrous Higgs Particle. It Could Seal the Fate of the Universe (Source: Live Science)
We all know and love the Higgs boson — which to physicists' chagrin has been mistakenly tagged in the media as the "God particle" — a subatomic particle first spotted in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) back in 2012. That particle is a piece of a field that permeates all of space-time; it interacts with many particles, like electrons and quarks, providing those particles with mass, which is pretty cool.

But the Higgs that we spotted was surprisingly lightweight. According to our best estimates, it should have been a lot heavier. This opens up an interesting question: Sure, we spotted a Higgs boson, but was that the only Higgs boson? Are there more floating around out there doing their own things?

Though we don't have any evidence yet of a heavier Higgs, a team of researchers based at the LHC, the world's largest atom smasher, is digging into that question as we speak. And there's talk that as protons are smashed together inside the ring-shaped collider, hefty Higgs and even Higgs particles made up of various types of Higgs could come out of hiding. (6/5)

Before Elon Musk Reaches Mars, SpaceX May Need to Survive South Texas (Source: Business Insider)
SpaceX initially planned to launch a dozen rockets a year from the site. Instead, it's now using the private spaceport to develop and test Starship, a rocket designed to send people to Mars. But the site's location, sinking soil, windy weather, and residents may challenge SpaceX's plans. Launching a skyscraper-size rocket from this area (engineering challenges notwithstanding) is no trivial undertaking. For one, any future flight path must avoid populated islands. The bay-bottom mud and sand below SpaceX's site also cause dense structures and tall towers tend to sink and lean.

Gulf Coast weather is a challenge, too, as SpaceX recently saw when gale-force winds damaged its Starhopper. And then there are the 20 or so people, like the Pointers, who live in or near Boca Chica Village. For them, the unparalleled view of the experimental rocket program, while stirring, is also foreboding. "Most of us came down here are here because we're retired and wanted a nice quiet place to live," Sam Clauson, a part-time resident of Boca Chica Village, said.

SpaceX expected to spend about $100 million developing the site. The original plan was to develop an operational spaceport by 2017 and launch up to two Falcon Heavy and 10 Falcon 9 rockets a year. During a May 2018 teleconference, Musk said the Texas facility would be dedicated to Starship instead of the commercial spaceport it had previously pitched. SpaceX workers began swarming the site later that year. In March, just before the debut of Starhopper, Musk said on Twitter that SpaceX was "working on regulatory approval" for Starship launches from Boca Chica as well as Florida. Click here. (6/5)

Challenges at SpaceX's Texas Launch Site (Source: Business Insider)
The company underestimated the task. In its original plans for the site, SpaceX was to erect four lightning towers around a launchpad to draw any would-be strikes away from the rocket. Designs also called for a tower capable of flooding the pad with 250,000 gallons of water during lift-off, a trick used to dampen dangerous levels of noise and vibration that could threaten a launch.

But Brazos Island, where SpaceX built its first launch pad in the area, is essentially a giant sandbar. Its porous soil allows ocean water to seep in and out with the shifting tide. Digging down just a few feet down can reveal a soupy, salty, gritty muck. SpaceX kicked off construction by drilling for bedrock, which could help anchor a dense launch pad. It never found any. "Where the pad is, that's all bay bottom — there is no bottom," John Hancock said. "Back in 2006, there was a tower that was built on Padre Island. Before it was ever occupied, it started leaning, and they had to blow the thing up."

In a white paper published in 2014, experts Edward Ellegood and Wayne Eleazer flagged numerous issues that they said the FAA did not fully address when it granted SpaceX approval for the Boca Chica site. One of the biggest challenges, they said, would be avoiding flying over Cuba, southern Florida, and the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as smaller islands in between. The study added that oil rigs also pepper the Gulf of Mexico, several major aircraft flight paths cut across it, and the water has heavy boat traffic. Click here. (6/5)

KBRwyle Wins NASA Launch Range Operations Contract at Virginia Spaceport (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a contract to KBRwyle Technology Solutions to provide launch range operations support at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. The $200 million, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract includes cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed price ordering capability over a five-year period. The period of performance begins Aug. 10 and runs through Aug. 9, 2024.  

The scope of the work includes launch range operations support such as radar, telemetry, logistics, tracking, and communications services for flight vehicles including orbital and suborbital rockets, aircraft, satellites, balloons, and unmanned aerial systems. Additional services include information and computer systems services; testing, modifying and installing communications and electronic systems at launch facilities, launch control centers and test facilities; and range technology sustainment engineering services. (6/5)

Lockheed Martin Offering New Satellite Image Analysis Service (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin is marketing a new artificial intelligence product that helps analysts identify objects in satellite imagery. In a demonstration, it searched the entire state of Pennsylvania and in two hours located every fracking site in the state. The company showed the system publicly for the first time at the GEOINT 2019 symposium that is heavily attended by intelligence analysts from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office.

The so-called global automated target recognition system could be used to find any type of objects in satellite imagery, saving analysts a lot of time and manual labor, said Mark Pritt, senior fellow at Lockheed Martin who helped develop the system.

Satellite imagery analysis is a growing and crowded industry where defense contractors compete with commercial players. Lockheed Martin decided to commercialize the system that originally was developed to compete in the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity “Functional Map of the World” challenge last year. The Lockheed Martin team was the only U.S. company that placed in the top five from a total of 69 participants. (6/4)

Orion Service Module for Artemis 1 Undergoes Acoustic Tests at KSC (Source: NASA)
Orion’s service module for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission completed acoustic testing inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week. The tests were the latest step in preparing for the agency’s first uncrewed flight test of Orion on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

Teams completed the test May 25, 2019, and technicians will analyze the data collected during the tests to check for flaws uncovered by the acoustic environment. During the testing, engineers secured the service module inside the test cell and then attached microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers to it. They conducted a series of five tests, with acoustic levels ranging from 128 to 140 decibels – as loud as a jet engine during takeoff. (5/30)

Loft Orbital Fills First Condosat, Preps for Quarterly Launches (Source: Space News)
Loft Orbital, a company preparing a constellation to carry payloads for customers who don’t want to operate their own satellites, has filled up its first satellite and booked a January 2020 launch through Spaceflight Industries. San Francisco-based Loft Orbital will carry five customer payloads on its first mission, designated YAM-2, Alex Greenberg, Loft Orbital co-founder and head of operations, told SpaceNews. Greenberg said the satellite will launch aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to low Earth orbit.

Greenberg said the YAM-2 satellite will use a chassis from Blue Canyon Technologies, and has a mass slightly under 100 kilograms. Customers on the mission include hyperspectral imaging startup Orbital Sidekick, blockchain startup SpaceChain, and a UAE government agency, he said. Greenberg declined to identify the other two customers for YAM-2, but said one is an established geostationary satellite operator. (6/2)

SoftBank Working on Satellite Positioning System for Self-Driving Vehicles (Source: Mobile World Live)
Japanese technology giant and OneWeb investor SoftBank is preparing a satellite positioning service to support self-driving vehicles. The company said June 3 it plans to install more than 3,300 control points at cellular base stations around Japan for centimeter-level accuracy. The project will use signals from global navigation satellite systems such as Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System for positioning services.

SoftBank plans to test the service in July, with commercial launch following at the end of November. Agriculture and construction companies are joining the trials, along with a provider of autonomous and assisted driving technology. (6/5)

Watch Brad Pitt Go to Space in ‘Ad Astra’ Trailer (Source: Rolling Stone)
20th Century Fox has dropped the first trailer for Brad Pitt’s Ad Astra, a sci-fi thriller due in theater September 20th. The action-packed trailer shows Pitt as an astronaut who has to help save the Earth when he discovers his father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, has been doing threatening experiments in space. “All life could be destroyed,” Pitt’s character is told. “We’re counting on you to find out what’s happening out there.”

Directed by James Gray, the film’s official synopsis reads, “Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet. His journey will uncover secrets that challenge the nature of human existence and our place in the cosmos.” Ruth Negga, Liv Tyler and Donald Sutherland are also part of the cast. Click here. (6/5)

What Does the Rise of Asia’s Space Forces Mean? (Source: The Diplomat)
While U.S. President Donald Trump’s release of Space Policy Directive-4 in February that enables the establishment of the U.S. Space Force received much focus in the way of headlines, this was hardly the first time that a military has set up a special branch for space operations. Indeed, there is a need to focus much more on what the significance of these moves means for Asian security and the implications of efforts to create space commands and forces. Click here. (6/5)

Space Companies Fight for Cash with Rockets On the Line (Source: Axios)
SpaceX, Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Northrop Grumman are fighting tooth and nail for the privilege of sending spy satellites and other national security payloads to orbit for the U.S. military through the mid-2020s. Why it matters: Billions of dollars in taxpayer money are on the line, along with the viability of entirely new, massive rockets, like Blue Origin's New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan Centaur launcher.

Sending government payloads to orbit can be a steady source of much-needed income for nascent rocket companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. The up to 34 estimated launches that will be procured between fiscal years 2020 and 2024 will be split 60/40 by the two companies the Air Force chooses. (6/4)

How the First U.S. Satellite Launch Became Something of an International Joke (Source: Fast Company)
The feeling that the Russians were far ahead of the Americans was only exacerbated by the less ambitious–and less successful–nature of the U.S. missions that followed similar Russian ones. The first U.S. satellite launch came two months after Sputnik, on December 6, 1957. The U.S. considered it merely a test (the soccer ball-sized satellite weighed six pounds, not even half what Laika had weighed), but no one else did: The launch of Vanguard 1A attracted more than 100 reporters and live TV coverage.

But the Vanguard rocket malfunctioned, rising just three feet off its pad before crashing back down, exploding in billows of flame and smoke. The moment was a global humiliation for the United States; one day later, the New York Times ran nearly a full page of scathing and mocking criticism of the U.S. performance from newspapers around the world. Vanguard was variously labeled “flopnik” and “kaputnik.”

The first U.S. astronaut, Alan Shepard, was launched aboard his Mercury capsule on May 5, 1961. But Gagarin did a full orbit of the Earth, at 18,000 miles an hour, during a flight that lasted 108 minutes and included an hour of weightlessness. Shepard’s pop-fly style flight just barely arced into space, lasted 15 minutes, went only 303 miles into the Atlantic Ocean from Florida, and included five minutes of weightlessness–and came three weeks after Gagarin’s flight. Click here. (6/5)