September 10, 2019

Arianespace CEO: Satellite Demand Picking Up Across Sizes, Capabilities (Source: Space News)
Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel says demand for geostationary satellites is growing, and a variety of sizes and capabilities are finding customers. "We see the dominance of electric propulsion, a very large breadth of masses and the possibility of aggregating these satellites with the platform," he said. Of the 11 geostationary satellites ordered industry-wide in 2019, nine rely on electric propulsion. The satellite masses range from 300 kilograms for Astranis, a startup planning to provide internet links via satellite, to ViaSat-3 weighing in at 6,500 kilograms.

Arianespace has booked nine contracts since Jan. 1: two contracts apiece for Ariane 5, Ariane 6 and Soyuz plus three Vega contracts. Arianespace also announced plans this year to move the planned launch of the ViaSat-3 communications satellite from an Ariane 5 to an Ariane 6 rocket. Orders for geostationary satellites are beginning to rebound in a market that is far more varied than in the past, said Israel. (9/9)

Vector Forfeits Air Force Launch Contract, $4.9M Goes Instead to Aevum (Source: Space News)
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center on Monday awarded a $4.9 million contract to space startup Aevum to lift experimental satellites to low Earth orbit. The Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON)-45 space lift mission had been originally awarded to Vector Launch Aug. 7. But Vector formally withdrew Aug. 26 in the wake of financial difficulties that forced the company to suspend operations and halt development of its Vector-R small launch vehicle.

The Rocket Systems Launch Program — part of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Launch Enterprise — used a Federal Acquisition Regulation “simplified acquisition procedure” to expedite another agreement with a different contractor, the Air Force said in a news release. Aevum’s contract is $1.5 million higher than the one that had been awarded to Vector. (9/9)

Amid Questions About Leadership, NASA is “Close” to Making a Key Hire (Source: Ars Technica)
Nearly two months have now passed since NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine essentially fired Bill Gerstenmaier, the agency's chief of human spaceflight. Since then, Bridenstine has been winnowing a field of potential candidates for this critical position at NASA—a position which has oversight of all human spaceflight activities, including the space station, commercial crew, and Artemis lunar programs.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel on Friday urged Bridenstine to move quickly on finding a qualified replacement for the highly respected Gerstenmaier. A source close to Bridenstine disputed the notion that there is a vacuum in leadership at the agency, citing the interim appointment of five-time astronaut and former aerospace industry official Ken Bowersox to fill Gerstenmaier's job. However, this source said that Bridenstine is "close" to making a hire to permanently replace Gerstenmaier. (9/9)

NASA Announces New Director of Langley Research Center (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Monday the selection of Clayton Turner as the next director of the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Since 2015, Turner has served as Langley’s deputy center director. As center director, he will lead a diverse group of about 3,400 civil servant and contractor scientists, researchers, engineers and support staff, who work to make revolutionary improvements to aviation, expand understanding of Earth’s atmosphere, and develop technology for space exploration. (9/9)

Air Force Space Command Study Calls for Space Settlement (Source: NSS)
The National Space Society (NSS) commends Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) for its September 5th report on its Space Futures Workshop entitled “The Future of Space 2060 and Implications for U.S. Strategy.” AFSPC’s report recommended that a U.S.-led coalition establish a preferred future where space is a major contributor to a human economy, where “people live and work widely in space” and where “space settlement [is a] primary driver of the nation’s civil space program.”

In this recommendation, AFSPC’s report reflects the vision of the National Space Society. The report recommends that civil space programs be assessed by their ability to further “large-scale human space settlement” with deep private sector involvement. Included in the report is a call for the U.S.-led coalition to shape a “rules-based, democratic international order” in space where “norms of behavior, rules, and laws” are based on “fairness, open commerce, freedom of movement, and international cooperation.” (9/9)

Astronauts Mix Cement on ISS, Pave Way for Future Space Colonies (Source: Astronomy)
Concrete, in one form or another, has been a staple of human construction for some 5,000 years. Now, researchers have finally brought the ancient technology to outer space. For the first time, scientists have successfully mixed cement — a primary ingredient of concrete — in the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

As part of an experiment called the Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification, researchers sent the basic building blocks of cement — tricalcium silicate, hydrated lime, and distilled water — to the ISS. The ingredients were then mixed in pouches and allowed to harden for 42 days through a process called hydration. (9/9)

Colliding Satellites Could Create a Belt of Space Junk Around Earth (Source: Vice)
More than 1,300 active human-made satellites are flying in low orbit right now. They ceaselessly glide, boosting up and down to avoid bits of space junk and occasionally each other in a robotic ballet hundreds of miles above their human controllers. In a few years, there could be ten times as many artificial satellites in low-Earth orbit alone (the band of space where the International Space Station resides) thanks to private companies that have proposed launching spacecraft to deliver services such as beaming the internet down from space.

That huge influx of corporate satellites is going to complicate things in space, where there are effectively no traffic rules—like a highway with no cops and everyone driving blindfolded. Already, stress fractures have appeared in the global system that keeps satellites from colliding. Although the possibility of two satellites colliding above our heads seems new and rather frightening, it has happened before. The first-ever recorded collision between two human-made satellites occurred 10 years ago, in 2009, and drastically changed how the world approaches space traffic management and debris mitigation.

"We tend to think of the probability as astronomically low, and it is pretty low, but given enough rolls of the dice it will eventually happen." According to NASA, space debris "is the No. 1 threat to spacecraft, satellites, and astronauts." In space, a 10-centimetre projectile packs the same punch as 7 pounds of TNT on Earth. This debris moves fast, and unlike satellites it cannot be maneuvered—all we can do is track it and try to get out of its way if it appears catastrophic. (9/9)

We Need a Space Resources Institute (Source: Scientific American)
The global space industry is estimated to be worth more than $400B in 2018. By 2030, it could double in size because of new technologies and commercial innovation, including space resources. The US is well-situated to capture a significant share of that growth, but that is far from assured. A further focus on scientific research is needed. Recently, the bipartisan “Space Resources Institute Act” was introduced (HR 1029 and S 391). This proposal, which could further unlock space resource technologies, comes from four members of Colorado’s Congressional delegation.

Based on the objective of “maintaining US preeminence in space,” the act would direct NASA to investigate the feasibility and need to establish a Space Resources Institute within six months. Specific objectives include: 1) Identifying, developing and distributing space resources, including by encouraging the development of foundational science and technology; 2) Reducing the technological risks associated with identifying, developing and distributing space resources; and 3) Developing options for using space resources to support current and future space architectures, programs and missions; and enable such architectures, programs and missions that would not otherwise be possible. (4/19)

Virginia's Workforce Focus Improves on Georgia's and Louisiana's Programs (Source: Virginia Business)
In 2007, when Stephen Moret was CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber in Louisiana, he had a career-changing moment. A new employee from Georgia had raved about her state’s innovative workforce development program, so he arranged to take a tour. “It’s probably something the Georgia people regret to this day,” jokes Moret, now president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). “I’ve never been more impressed with a single economic or workforce development program than I was with Georgia Quick Start,” he recalls. “It was just so impressive.”

Moret was so impressed, in fact, that when he was tapped as Louisiana’s secretary of economic development in 2008, his first order of business was to replicate Georgia’s Quick Start program — and improve upon it. And he hired the second-ranked Georgia Quick Start official to run it. That became Louisiana’s FastStart program. Launched that same year, it provides prospective companies with free recruitment and training services as long as they commit to creating a set number of jobs in the state.

FastStart quickly eclipsed Georgia as the top-ranked workforce development program in the nation. Business Facilities Magazine deemed it the “gold standard” for such programs. During the past 10 years, FastStart has developed custom workforce solutions for companies including Benteler, Electronic Arts, Gardner Denver, GE Capital, IBM and ConAgra. Now Moret’s set to do it again here in Virginia, as he prepares the VEDP to create a “world-class, turnkey, customized workforce recruitment and training incentive program” based on the Georgia and Louisiana initiatives. (9/3)

US May Have to Show Enemies Our Space Capabilities as a Deterrent (Source: Breaking Defense)
Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, head of the Air Force Central Command, says the US may have to declassify some space technology in a bid to improve cooperation with allies and deter enemies. Deterring adversaries in space, and just as critically, enabling seamless integration with allies will require US policy makers and military leaders to make “tough decisions” about what can be made public about US and adversary capabilities, says the three-star general.

“That involves where some stuff that is behind the green door is going to have to come out, and those are some tough decisions that senior leaders are going to have to make — because the risks of not doing it may outweigh the technical concerns of doing it,” Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella told the Mitchell Institute Sep. 6. Guastella explained that for deterrence to be credible, adversaries “have to know that you have something, and you have to demonstrate a willingness to use it.” He added, “clearly we have to think how we are going to do this. At some point, we have to reveal some things — not everything, but some things.” (9/9)

White House Sends Air Force Secretary Pick Barrett’s Nomination to the Senate (Source: Space News)
The White House officially sent to the Senate the nomination of Barbara Barrett to be the next secretary of the U.S. Air Force. Trump announced on May 21 that he intended to nominate Barrett but the vetting process and a review of her financial assets were not completed until August. Barrett was spotted in the Pentagon over the past two weeks where she received unclassified briefings and was prepped for her confirmation hearing. Sources say Barrett was briefed on space issues, including the potential reorganization of the Air Force if Congress authorizes the establishment of a space service under the Department of the Air Force.

Barrett is a former U.S. ambassador and Arizona gubernatorial candidate. In 2008 and 2009, she was the nation’s ambassador to Finland under President George W. Bush. She also served as senior adviser to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, is a former chairman of the State Department’s Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group, U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Export Conference. From 2013 until 2017, Barrett served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Aerospace Corporation.

Barrett earned bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees at Arizona State University, and received honorary doctorates from ASU, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of South Carolina, Pepperdine University and Finlandia University. A space enthusiast and certified aircraft pilot, in 2009 Barrett trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and Kazakhstan, culminating in certification for space travel. (9/9)

Intersections in Real Time: the Decision to Build the KH-11 KENNEN Reconnaissance Satellite (Source: Space Review)
The idea that reconnaissance satellites can return high-definition images in near real time is taken for granted today, but took technology advancements and political persistence to make possible. Dwayne Day examines the efforts by the CIA in the 1960s to develop such spacecraft. Click here. (9/9)
 
Solving the Commercial Passenger Spaceflight Puzzle (Source: Space Review)
In the second part of his analysis of commercial spaceflight passenger safety, Mike Snead examines how the airworthiness certification system developed for aircraft could be applied to crewed spacecraft. Click here. (9/9)
 
Schrödinger’s Lander (Source: Space Review)
On Friday, India attempted to land its Vikram spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, but contact was lost with the spacecraft during its descent. Jeff Foust reports on the uncertain status of the lander and the lessons it and other setbacks offer for future missions to the Moon. Click here. (9/9) 

Saturn Satellite Networks Acquired by NovaWorks (Source: Space News)
Small GEO satellite startup Saturn Satellite Networks has acquired smallsat technology company NovaWurks. Saturn and NovaWurks did not disclose the terms of the transaction, but the chairman of Saturn said it was "well into seven figures." Saturn is a firm founded by former executives of fleet operator ABS of Bermuda to build Nationsat, a digital platform for small geostationary satellites. Saturn plans to use modular satellite technologies called "satlets" developed by NovaWurks to accelerate development of Nationalsat. (9/10)

NASA Reschedules Long-Delayed Pegasus ICON Launch to Oct. 10 (Source: Space News)
A long-delayed NASA space science mission has a new launch date. NASA said it has rescheduled the launch of the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite on a Pegasus XL rocket Oct. 10 from Cape Canaveral. Problems with the rocket delayed the launch several times, most recently last November. (9/10)

Maxar to Provide Fish Mapping (Source: Space News)
Maxar will provide oceanographic data and saltwater fishing recommendations for SiriusXM’s new Fish Mapping service. Maxar will use its geospatial analytics system to combine a variety of data sources to support anglers. This is not a new business for Maxar, which has created oceanographic datasets that highlight fishing recommendations for more than 20 years. (9/10)