August 7, 2019

Ariane 5 Launches Two Satellites (Source: Space News)
An Ariane 5 successfully launched two communications satellites Tuesday. The Ariane 5 took off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern from Kourou, French Guiana, and placed the Intelsat-39 communications satellite and the EDRS-C laser relay satellite into geostationary transfer orbits about a half-hour later. Originally scheduled for July 24, the launch was delayed after the July 10 failure of a Vega rocket, the cause of which is still under investigation. (8/7)

HawkEye 360 Raises $70M for Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
Smallsat constellation company HawkEye 360 announced Tuesday it has raised $70 million. The Series B round attracted new investors Airbus and Esri as well as additional funding from existing investors, including Razor's Edge Ventures, Allied Minds and Shield Capital Partners. HawkEye 360 is developing a constellation of radio-frequency signal mapping satellites, and the company says the new round will allow it to complete the construction and launch six satellite clusters. HawkEye 360 launched its first three-satellite cluster in December, with a second cluster scheduled for launch in early 2020. (8/7)

Army General Tapped for US Space Command (Source: Space News)
An Army general is expected to be nominated to be the deputy commander of U.S. Space Command. Lt. Gen. James Dickinson is currently the commander of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command and Army Force Strategic Command. His nomination to be deputy commander of U.S. Space Command will soon be submitted to the Senate, according to a Pentagon source. In a keynote speech on Tuesday at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium, Dickinson did not provide any hints that he had been tapped to become Gen. John Raymond’s deputy, instead making a detailed pitch for the Army's space forces. (8/7)

Orbex to Launch Small Satellite from UK (Source: Space News)
Orbex has won a contract to launch a small satellite for In-Space Missions. The contract, announced early Wednesday, is for the launch of the Faraday-2b smallsat on Orbex's Prime small launch vehicle in 2022. Both companies are based in the United Kingdom, and In-Space Missions said one reason it chose Orbex is that both building and launching its satellites in the U.K. helps reduce regulatory uncertainties. In-Space Missions is the fourth customer for Orbex, whose Prime rocket is scheduled to make its first launch in late 2021. (8/7)

Growing Trend of Scientists Running for Office (Source: Business Insider)
11 scientists were elected to the US House and Senate in 2018— a boost to the science credentials of Congress, whose members are mostly career politicians, business people, and lawyers. So far, three scientist candidates are hoping to join their ranks in 2020: NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, chemistry professor Nancy Goroff, and aerospace engineer Adam Hattersley. The scientists, all Democrats, told Business Insider that they want to bring more scientific thought processesto the Hill. Click here. (8/7)

Vector Launch Awarded its First U.S. Air Force Mission (Source: Space News)
Small launch provider Vector Launch has received a $3.4 million contract from the Air Force Rocket Systems Launch Program office to lift experimental satellites to low Earth orbit. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center announced the award Aug. 7. The company was informed of the award Aug. 6. The contract falls under the Small Rocket Program-Orbital (SRP-O) program run by the Space and Missile Systems Center's launch enterprise experimental division at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Rocket Systems Launch Program office is part of SMC's Launch Enterprise.

The Air Force issued a solicitation for bids Dec. 14, 2018, for the Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON). Responses were due Jan. 18. The ASLON-45 space vehicle manifest will consist of multiple 3U and larger U.S. government cubesats to low Earth orbit (LEO) at a 45 degree inclination. Under the contract, Vector will provide all required dispensers and perform all payload integration and launch operations. (8/7)

SpaceX Launches Commercial Satellite at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Ars Technica)
After a short weather delay, a Falcon 9 rocket launched on Tuesday evening from Florida and successfully delivered a large, 6.5-ton communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. The first stage was not recovered due to mission requirements. (8/7)

SpaceX Ship Catches Fairing After Successful Launch (Source: C/Net)
SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 two-stage rocket to orbit on Tuesday, offering a free ride for the AMOS-17 communications satellite. It was the third flight for the Falcon 9 booster and to get the satellite to orbit SpaceX had to do away with the booster -- so we don't get to see SpaceX pull off another dazzling booster return. However, we have got the next best thing: A droneship capturing the rocket's fairing. Here's the video. (8/7)

Tardigrades are Now on the Moon Thanks to Crashed Israeli Spacecraft (Source: C/Net)
Tardigrades, affectionately known as water bears, are microscopic animals that can survive in almost any environment. We already know it's possible for scientists to bring tardigrades back to life after a 30-year deep freeze.  As "extremophiles," tardigrades can shut down their metabolism and survive in hostile conditions for long periods. But can they survive in space, more specifically on the moon? Back in April, an Israeli spacecraft called Beresheet, which carried thousands of dehydrated tardigrades (among other cargo), crashed on the moon. Some people wondered if the water bears could survive.

"About the tardigrades in the Lunar Library: Some are sealed in epoxy with 100 million human, plant and microorganism cells," Spivack tweeted Tuesday. "Some are encapsulated onto the sticky side of a 1cm square piece of Kapton tape that is sealed inside the disc stack. They cannot reproduce on the moon." Even though the dehydrated tardigrades can't spring to life on the moon, they could theoretically be gathered, revived and studied to teach us about their time there. (8/6)

Rideshare Programs Are In Vogue at Smallsat Conference (Source: SPACErePORT)
This week's annual Small Satellite conference in Utah featured the latest on smallsat R&D, manufacture, operations, regulation, and of course launch. Rideshare opportunities were highlighted in one of the panel sessions. Here is a link to that panel's presentations. And here is a link to the entire conference's presentations. (8/6)

Spaceflight's Second Rideshare Mission with Rocket Lab Slated Next (Source: Spaceflight)
Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, today announced it has managed the procurement, integration, and mission management services for three spacecraft on Rocket Lab’s next mission aboard an Electron rocket. This mission, called “Look Ma, No Hands” by Rocket Lab, represents Spaceflight’s second of several launches scheduled with Rocket Lab this year, and follows the launch of seven spacecraft on its inaugural “Make it Rain” mission with Rocket Lab in late June from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. (8/5)

Brazil Audit Court Halts Selection for Geostationary Satellite (Source: BN Americas)
Brazil’s federal audit court TCU suspended a process for the selection of suppliers to build the country’s second geostationary satellite for defense and strategic communications, known as SGDC. The selection was being conducted by Visiona, the JV created in 2012 between state controlled telco Telebras and Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer to develop and manage the SGDC program.

The process, according to the court, contains many irregularities, including outdated financial estimates and insufficient technical argumentation presented by Telebras to justify the need for requesting Visiona to lead the process. The court also said Telebras based its projections for the demand for a new satellite on an obsolete 2011 study. (8/6)

Opposition to Canadian Spaceport Grows (Source: Halifax Examiner)
I hadn’t even made it into Canso when I happened upon the first person willing and eager to speak her mind on the proposed spaceport that Maritime Launch Services wants to construct in the picturesque community at the very end of Highway 16, an area that boasts spectacular coastline, one ocean-side provincial park and another proposed spaceport. “The government of Nova Scotia and the government of Canada are partnering with a dubious, nearly bankrupt Ukrainian company using Cold-War technology," says Michael Byers, an expert in space law. (8/5)

Space Travel Might Fry Your Brain, Causing Permanent Learning and Memory Problems (Source: Phys.org)
The Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field, largely protect life on the planet from cosmic radiation. When astronauts travel beyond that protective bubble, energetic particles called galactic cosmic rays bombard their bodies. The most worrisome consequence of these radiation exposures are the adverse effects on the astronauts' brains. According to the results of a new study in mice, exposure to cosmic rays impairs brain function causing problems with learning, memory and mood that may, if the results hold true for humans, influence a person's ability to adapt and respond in unexpected or stressful situations. This outcome could jeopardize astronaut safety and mission success. (8/6)

Amid Protests In Hawaii Against Giant Telescope, Astronomers Look To 'Plan B' (Source: NPR)
A consortium of scientists hoping to build the world's largest optical telescope on Hawaii's tallest peak has applied to site it instead in the Canary Islands amid ongoing protests by Native Hawaiians who oppose construction of the instrument on what they consider a sacred volcano. Astronomers say the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, will have a dozen times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope. For weeks, protesters have delayed the start of construction on the Big Island's Mauna Kea volcano.

In a written statement on Monday, TMT Executive Director Ed Stone said that obtaining a permit to build in Spain's Canary Islands, off West Africa, was meant as a "'Plan B' site ... should it not be possible to build in Hawaii." However, he emphasized that Mauna Kea "remains the preferred site." Protest leader Kealoha Pisciotta told The Associated Press that those who oppose the TMT are not anti-science and that the permit to build the scope instead in the Spanish archipelago is a "win for everyone." (8/6)

Rocket Lab Unveils Plan to Land Small Rockets by Catching Them with a Helicopter (Source: CNBC)
Rocket Lab, the leading U.S. company in launching small rockets, is aiming to take a major step in the year ahead: Recovering and re-using the largest part of its Electron rocket. If Rocket Lab’s plan succeeds, it would become only the second private company to return an orbital-class rocket booster to land – only SpaceX has previously pulled off the feat. (8/6)

How NASA's Apollo Program Kicked Off Silicon Valley's Tech Revolution (Source: CNN)
Silicon Valley, its visionaries like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and the entire tech revolution may not have happened without the Cold War space race. President John F. Kennedy's iconic 1962 speech, directing the US to put boots on the moon within the decade, set in motion a leap in innovation. In just seven years, America went from lagging the Soviet Union in space technology to planting a flag on the lunar surface. The Apollo program was the birthplace of the modern tech ecosystem, says Basil Hero, a former investigative reporter and media executive who authored the new book "The Mission of a Lifetime." (8/4)

General Dynamics to Sell Off its Satellite Communications Antenna Business (Source: Space News)
Pentagon contractor General Dynamics Mission Systems has agreed to sell its satellite communications antenna business — called SATCOM Technologies — to Communications & Power Industries. The companies announced the deal on Monday and did not disclose the value of the transaction. (8/5)

Air Force Space Modernization Starts From the Ground Up (Source: Space News)
Fair or not, rockets and satellites generally overshadow the ground systems they need to do their missions. But as the U.S. military looks for faster and cheaper ways to get data from satellites, ground systems are attracting growing attention.

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), based in Los Angeles, is placing greater focus on the modernization of ground systems, says Col. Rhet Turnbull, the head of a new organization within SMC called Cross Mission Ground and Communications Enterprise. This new office was created as part of a major reorganization known as SMC 2.0 that started more than a year ago. (8/5)

Tethers Unlimited Joins Forces with TriSept to Test System for Reducing Orbital Debris (Source: GeekWire)
Tethers Unlimited will have its technology for deorbiting space debris put to its most ambitious test next year, during a satellite mission that will be conducted in league with TriSept Corp., Millennium Space Systems and Rocket Lab. The technology, known as Terminator Tape, involves placing a module on a small satellite that can unwind a stretch of electrically conductive tape when it’s time to dispose of the satellite. (8/5)

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative Opens Call for Payloads on Artemis 2 Mission (Source: NASA)
CubeSats can be part of a historic mission—Artemis 2—when NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket will send astronauts on their first flight aboard the Orion spacecraft farther into the solar system than humanity has ever traveled before. Artemis 2, will mark a significant step forward in NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and future missions to worlds beyond, including Mars, and the small satellites traveling along for the mission will help inform the next steps of exploration.

NASA is seeking proposals from U.S. small satellite developers to fly their CubeSat missions as secondary payloads aboard the SLS on the Artemis 2 mission under the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). CSLI provides CubeSat developers a low-cost pathway to conduct research in space that advances NASA's strategic goals in the areas of science, exploration, technology development, education and operations. The initiative allows students, teachers and faculty to gain hands-on experience designing, building, and operating these small research satellites. (8/5)