October 27, 2019

Space: a Major Legal Void (Source: Space.com)
The idea of putting tens of thousands more satellites into orbit, as compared with the roughly 2,000 that are currently active around the Earth, highlights the fact that space is a legal twilight zone. Experts debated the subject at length this week in Washington at the 70th International Astronautical Conference. The treaties that have governed space up until now were written at a time when only a few nations were sending civilian and military satellites into orbit.

Today, any university could decide to launch a mini-satellite. That could yield a legal morass. Roughly 20,000 objects in space are now big enough -- the size of a fist or about four inches (10 centimeters) -- to be catalogued. Jan Woerner, the director general of the European Space Agency, admits: "The best situation would be to have international law... but if you ask for that, it will take decades." So far, only France has stipulated in its own laws that any satellite in low orbit must be removed from orbit in 25 years. The US space agency NASA and others have adopted rules for their own satellites, but without legal constraints.

So the space agencies and industry power players are hoping that everyone will voluntarily adopt rules of good behavior, defining things like the required space between satellites, coordination and data exchanges. Various codes and standards were put down on paper from the 1990s, notably under the auspices of the United Nations. (10/27)

There's a Chance the Black Hole at the Center of Our Galaxy is Actually a Wormhole (Source: Popular Science)
While most particles and electric fields are stopped short of traveling intact through a black hole, the force of gravity can sail smoothly through. That means, theoretically, objects on our side could feel the tug of something especially massive on the other side. "We were kind of surprised," Stojkovic says, "but what else would you expect? Gravity is the property of spacetime itself." The new research goes on to ask whether astronomers could detect such subtle gravitational tugs on stars in the Milky Way.

The ideal target, Stojkovic and his colleagues propose, is Sagittarius (Sag) A—the black hole that allegedly sits at the heart of our galaxy. More specifically, they calculated the possible effects on S2, a star that orbits Sag A. If the black hole harbors a wormhole within it, similar stars would likely orbit on the other side, somewhere else in the universe, and S2 might feel the gravitational pull of a distant twin traveling through the cosmic connection between them. (10/25)

X37B Spaceplane Lands at Cape Canaveral Spaceport After 780 Days In Orbit (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane successfully landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility Oct. 27 at 3:51 AM EST, the Air Force announced. This was the fifth mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. It flew for 780 days during this mission, breaking its own record by being in orbit for more than two years. As of today, the total number of days spent on-orbit for the entire test vehicle program is 2,865 days, the Air Force said. The spaceplane originally was designed to fly for just 270 days.

“The X-37B continues to demonstrate the importance of a reusable spaceplane,” Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said. The mission, called OTV-5, was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sept. 7, 2017. The spaceplane program, managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, has been used for science experiments to test technologies in a long-duration space environment. “With a successful landing today, the X-37B completed its longest flight to date and successfully completed all mission objectives,” said Randy Walden

Space Florida operates the landing strip where the X-37B returned, and a hangar where the vehicle is rumored to be kept before transfer to a dedicated former Shuttle processing facility (also converted with support from Space Florida) adjancent to the iconic VAB. "Space Florida continues to play a significant role in the development and re-utilization of excess government assets for use in the commercial [and military] space market at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport." (10/27)

Exos Aerospace Suborbital Launch Fails at Spaceport America (Source: Space News)
A reusable suborbital sounding rocket launched by Exos Aerospace malfunctioned shortly after liftoff Oct. 26, causing the vehicle to crash back to Earth minutes later. The Suborbital Autonomous Rocket with GuidancE, or SARGE, sounding rocket lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at approximately 1:40 p.m. Eastern. The rocket cleared its launch pad smoothly, but seconds later appeared to suffer a loss of attitude control and wobble.

The rocket is designed to deploy parachutes to guide it back to a landing near the launch site. Instead, several pieces of debris were visible falling back to the ground, and the rocket body crashed near the launch pad nearly three and a half minutes after liftoff. The rocket reached a peak altitude of about 12,600 meters, according to telemetry displayed on the webcast, far short of the planned altitude of at least 80 kilometers.

The launch was the fourth for SARGE, a vehicle designed for dozens of flights to the edge of space. This launch carried a number of research payloads from organizations ranging from the Mayo Clinic to Purdue University, seeking to take advantage of the roughly 90 seconds of “good-quality microgravity.” Exos has experienced problems with the guidance system on SARGE in past flights. During the previous SARGE launch June 29, also from Spaceport America, the rocket started gyrating shortly after liftoff. However, the recovery systems worked as expected and the rocket was safely recovered. (10/26)

Samsung Pseudo Satellite Falls Out of the Sky, Lands in Rural Michigan Neighborhood (Source: USA Today)
A Samsung pseudo satellite fell from the sky Saturday morning in a rural Michigan neighborhood. Nancy Welke heard the crash around 8:45 a.m., just before she and her husband Dan were going to let their horses out, the Gratiot County Herald reported. According to Gratiot Central Dispatch officials, the fire department closed the roadway where the "satellite" fell because of  a large object caught in live power lines. The road reopened 30 minutes later.

"Unbelievable. Look what just fell out of the sky and 911 is baffled and it's caught up in our tree," Welke said in a post on Facebook. In an article from Samsung Newsroom U.K., the Samsung SpaceSelfie project is designed for Samsung consumers to get their pictures with a backdrop of space using a high-altitude balloon to carry a Galaxy S10 5G phone into the stratosphere. According to an email statement from Samsung, the landing was planned, and no injuries occurred Saturday when the "Samsung Europe's SpaceSelfie balloon" landed. (10/26)

Beyond Launches, Midland TX Spaceport Touts Business Park (Source: IFG International)
Spaceports can host a wide array of businesses in addition to serving as space transport hubs. The development, testing, and manufacture of rockets, spaceplanes and spacecraft, as well as multi-use infrastructure for tracking, telecommunications, propulsion R&D, super/hypersonic systems, and other aerospace operations can bring high-profile, high-wage, high value economic development to an entire region surrounding the spaceport.

The Midland Texas spaceport effort, which includes an adjacent business park, has attracted satellite maker AST&Science, and space companies Nano Avionics and LeoLabs. The spaceport is also approved for future operations of the Sierra Nevada Dreamchaser reusable spacecraft. According to IFG, a consultant to the Midland project: "It takes investment and relationship building to bring such quality tenants to any spaceport and airport, just take a look at competitors... they look at the Midland spaceport and envy it for doing so much with their investment!" (10/27)