July 2, 2019

Mississippi Announces Strategy for Space Growth (Source: Clarion Ledger)
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant announced two new state-backed space projects. One is an economic development project called Space Initiative, intended to attract more space companies to Mississippi. Patrick Scheuermann, the former leader of both Hancock County's Stennis Space Center and Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center, will organize it, a statement from the governor's office said.

Bryant also announced the formation of the Mississippi National Guard Space Directorate. Bryant spokesman Bobby Morgan said its purpose is to attract U.S. Department of Defense investments to Mississippi that are part of President Donald Trump's new Space Force. The federal Space Force was created by executive order in February as a new branch of the U.S. Air Force. Morgan said a yet-to-be-named task force will figure out how best to attract those new federal investments. The task force is expected to tap into expertise at NASA, universities and the aerospace industry, an announcement said. The directorate will be led by Col. Billy Murphy of the Mississippi Air National Guard's 186th Air Operations Group. Bryant signed executive order 1445 to create the new state-backed space force. (7/2)

Air Force Space Buyers Trying to Make Change Happen (Source: Space News)
Lt. Gen. John Thompson has been on a warpath against his own organization’s entrenched ways of doing business. And he admits that change doesn’t happen easily or quickly at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, a 65-year-old institution that develops and builds satellites, and decides what rockets will launch them into orbit. “When I got here two years ago, I found an organization that was used to delivering very high quality systems, but there was not a whole lot of focus on schedule and cost,” Thompson said.

For the past year, Thompson has led a reorganization known as SMC 2.0. “We had an old business model organization,” he said. The goal is to turn SMC into a more agile enterprise that can churn out new systems at a faster pace, keep up with technological advances in the private sector and stay ahead of adversaries that are targeting U.S. satellites. A deep-rooted organization like SMC with more than 5,000 employees and a $7 billion budget is not going to change overnight, but it’s taking small steps. Program offices that operated in isolation were moved into a more horizontal command structure; paperwork requirements have been reduced; program reviews have been simplified, and Thompson has delegated authority to lower level managers to help expedite contract awards. (7/2)

June was Hottest Ever Recorded on Earth, European Satellite Agency Announces (Source: Independent)
Last month was the hottest June ever recorded, the EU‘s satellite agency has announced. Data provided by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the EU, showed that the global average temperature for June 2019 was the highest on record for the month. The data showed European average ​temperatures were more than 2C above normal and temperatures were 6-10C above normal over most of France, Germany and northern Spain during the final days of the month. (7/2)

ULA Says Malfunction of Russian RD-180 Rocket Engine Occurred in 2018 During Atlas V Launch (Source: Space Daily)
ULA said that there was an emergency situation with Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine in 2018 during a launch of an Atlas V rocket, noting that the incident did not affect the flight. In June, the GAO released a report on NASA's Commercial Crew Program that noted an emergency situation with an engine that occurred during the launch of the Atlas V rocket in 2018. The Atlas V is planned to be used for launches of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the Space Station. (7/2)

What a Space Vacation Deal (Source: Space Daily)
Three weeks ago, NASA announced a new program to entice more commercial activities on the US side of the International Space Station (ISS). Starting in 2020, the station will be open to vacationers and others at a per-night-rate of $35,000. While this is the first time the American side of the ISS has been promoted as a high-flying hotel, there have been five tourists who have visited the Russian side of the station, starting with Dennis Tito in 2001. He spent eight days in the ISS.

The hotel room was part of a complete travel package negotiated with the Russians. The total cost was $20,000,000 including round-trip accommodations on a Soyuz spacecraft. Dennis probably thought this was an expensive trip, but he could afford it. As it turns out, he had a great deal on the hotel accommodations and the transportation. Today, Dennis would have to pay $245,000 per week for an "American room" and probably close to $60,000,000 for the round-trip transport to and from the station. (7/2)

Russia to Train Indian Astronauts (Source: Times of India)
The Indian space agency ISRO has signed an agreement with a Russian organization for astronaut training. The agreement with Glavkosmos, announced Monday, covers services such as consulting on astronaut selection processes, medical examinations and training of selected astronauts. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. India plans to fly three people on its first crewed mission no later than 2022. (7/2)

Orion Abort System Test Succeeds With Launch at Space Florida Pad (Source: Space News)
NASA performed a successful in-flight test of the Orion spacecraft's abort system this morning. The refurbished Peacekeeper booster motor carrying a boilerplate Orion and its launch abort system (LAS) lifted off from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 46 at 7 a.m. Eastern. The LAS fired 55 seconds after liftoff, pulling the capsule away from the booster before jettisoning. NASA said immediately after the test that it appeared to go as planned, with more details about the test expected later this morning. The LAS was tested under conditions it would experience should it have to pull an Orion spacecraft away from an SLS during ascent. (7/2)

SpaceX Starlink Constellation Status Check (Source: Space News)
SpaceX says it has lost contact with three of the 60 Starlink satellites it launched in May. In a statement, SpaceX said 45 of the 60 satellites had reached their operational orbits with 10 more either raising their orbits or undergoing checkouts. Two satellites deliberately lowered their orbits as a deorbiting test. The company said that the low orbits the satellites operate in ensure that satellites that malfunction can passively deorbit in a matter of a few years.

That failure rate, though, raises concerns about the sustainability of Starlink and other megaconstellations. An on-orbit failure rate like that seen with the initial Starlink launch could leave hundreds of dead satellites in low Earth orbits, some high enough that could keep them in space for centuries. At a recent conference, industry and government officials warned that such practices could jeopardize those orbits by filling them with debris. Some called for at least some degree of international regulation to mitigate the problem, with others proposing approaches like active debris removal. (7/2)

NASA Selects 12 New Lunar Science, Technology Investigations (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected 12 new science and technology payloads that will help us study the Moon and explore more of its surface as part of the agency’s Artemis lunar program. These investigations and demonstrations will help the agency send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 as a way to prepare to send humans to Mars for the first time.

The selected investigations will go to the Moon on future flights through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project. The CLPS project allows rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services for payloads like these that advance capabilities for science, exploration, or commercial development of the Moon. Many of the new selections incorporate existing hardware, such as parts or models designed for missions that have already flown. Seven of the new selections are focused on answering questions in planetary science or heliophysics, while five will demonstrate new technologies. Click here. (7/1)

Pentagon Says US Must Protect Struggling Aerospace Suppliers (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Suppliers of parts critical to the design and manufacture of next-generation combat aircraft are withering away because there’s not enough work to keep them in business, a new Pentagon study on the industrial base has found. The report echoes warnings from a major study last fall that sounded the alarm that domestic producers of some defense-critical products are down to one or none, compelling the US to rely on foreign suppliers.

The Pentagon suggested several steps—such as laws to rein in counterfeit parts and lifting restrictions on exports—that cou​ld make the difference in preserving capacity in some key sectors. (6/28)

Rocket Lab Launches Seven Satellites at New Zealand Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab successfully launched seven satellites Saturday on a mission for payload aggregator Spaceflight. Rocket Lab's Electron rocket lifted off at 12:30 a.m. Eastern and released the seven satellites into low Earth orbit nearly an hour later. The payloads included BlackSky's Global-3 imaging satellite and smaller satellites for Swarm Technologies, U.S. Special Operations Command, an Australian student organization and an undisclosed customer. The launch is the third this year for Rocket Lab, which is seeking to reach a monthly cadence of missions this year but has not disclosed the customer or schedule for its next mission. (7/1)

Space Command’s Major Components Will Be based in California and Colorado (Source: Space News)
The two major components of U.S. Space Command will be based in California and Colorado. The Combined Forces Space Component Command at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California will be responsible to support military commanders around the world with space services, from GPS to missile warning. The Joint Task Force Space Defense at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado will be co-located with the National Space Defense Center and will be responsible for protecting military satellites on orbit. Space Command will be led by Air Force Gen. Jay Raymond, who was formally confirmed to the post by the Senate last week, although the location of Space Command headquarters has not been announced. (6/30)

Exos Test Launch at Spaceport America Suffers Glitch (Source: Space News)
A test flight of Exos Aerospace's reusable sounding rocket didn't go as planned Saturday, although the company did recover the rocket. The SARGE sounding rocket lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 2 p.m. Eastern Saturday and appeared to lose attitude control seconds later. Controllers were able to restore control and abort the mission, and the rocket descended back to Earth under a parachute to a landing within sight of the launch pad. The launch was the third for SARGE, and Exos hoped a successful mission would allow it to proceed to commercial operations and press ahead with development of an orbital launch vehicle. Click here for the video. (7/1)

Next Falcon Heavy Mission Could Be a Year Away (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
While SpaceX's Falcon Heavy performed two launches in two and a half months recently, its next mission may be more than a year away. The next mission on the heavy-lift rocket's manifest is the AFSPC-44 mission for the U.S. Air Force, scheduled for launch in the fall of 2020. The Air Force has not identified what the rocket will launch on the mission, but the request for proposals for the mission suggested it will carry two satellites to geostationary orbit. Another Falcon Heavy mission for the Air Force is scheduled for the spring of 2021. (7/1)

UN Sets Space Sustainability Guidelines (Source: Space News)
Government and industry said the approval of a set of space sustainability guidelines by a U.N. committee in June was a major milestone. The U.N.'s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) formally approved 21 guidelines for long-term sustainability of space at the end of its latest session in Vienna June 21. That approval wrapped up a process that started in 2010 and required the consensus support of the 92 member states of COPUOS.

The guidelines cover a range of recommended behaviors and best practices in space, including safety of space operations and international cooperation. The guidelines are not binding, but countries are expected to incorporate the practices outlined in them in national laws and regulations. (7/1)

China's Lunar Rover Continues Operations Despite Glitches (Source: Space News)
China's Yutu-2 lunar rover has had to overcome some communications issues that hindered its operations. According to a Chinese "Yutu-2 driving diary" published June 27, the rover had suffered issues during its sixth lunar day of operations which caused interference with communications between the Yutu-2 rover and the Queqiao relay satellite, including a loss of telemetry and contact with the rover. Analysis indicated an error caused by a cosmic ray striking a rover microchip and the issue was resolved successfully. Yutu-2 has passed its design lifetime of three months, but one Chinese official expressed hopes late March that the rover can operate for at least one year. (7/1)

Astronomers Detect Late-Arriving Small Asteroid (Source: NASA)
Astronomers were able to detect a very small asteroid before it harmlessly burned up in the Earth's atmosphere last month. Astronomers discovered 2019 MO on June 22 when it was about 500,000 kilometers from the Earth. Observations showed that it might hit the Earth later in the day, but the object was only five meters in diameter and thus didn't pose a risk. Scientists were able to link 2019 MO to a flash detected by a lightning mapper instrument on the GOES-16 satellite over the Caribbean Sea, and said the event provided a useful test of parts of their asteroid impact alert system. (7/1)