November 27, 2019

Stars Align for Epic Space Missions (Source: BBC)
Two of the most exciting space missions of the 2030s are likely now to be launched within a year of each other. European Space Agency member states are poised to increase the organisation's science budget on Thursday by 10%. This would make it possible to align projects to build a big X-ray telescope and a trio of satellites to sense the collision of gargantuan black holes.

It's important they fly together because the insights they'll bring are highly complementary. When black holes merge, they despatch vibrations across the fabric of space-time - so-called gravitational waves. And being violent events, these unions will potentially also emit high-energy radiation. Scientists want the fullest picture possible and the Athena X-ray telescope and the Lisa observatory give them that opportunity. (11/27)

UK Set for 'Active' Role at European Space Meeting (Source: BBC)
It now looks highly likely that the UK will increase its subscription to the European Space Agency. For the past week the long-promised uplift in the country's membership fee had appeared extremely doubtful. Such a reversal would have threatened leadership roles in a number of space missions and denied British industry some lucrative R&D contracts. But the UK government indicated to ESA late on Tuesday that it was ready to move forward with negotiations. (11/27)

India Launches Remote Sensing Satellite (Source: Sputnik)
India has successfully launched Cartosat-3 and 13 additional small satellites using the nation's polar launch vehicle. Cartosat-3 is an advanced satellite having a resolution of 25 cm which enables it to identify two objects separated by a distance of 25 cm. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan earlier offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh. ISRO had earlier postponed the launch of Cartosat-3 for two days without giving any specific reason. (11/27)

Virgin Galactic’s Real Goal May Be Point-to-Point Travel Around Earth (Source: Ars Technica)
Nearly a month has passed since Virgin Galactic became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, opening trading at $11.75 a share. Since that time the stock has had a rough ride, falling to under $7.50 a share as of Tuesday morning and losing more than a third of its value under the SPCE symbol. Although the offering provides investors a unique opportunity to purchase stock in a space-tourism company involved in human spaceflight, there are questions about the viability of Virgin Galactic's business model and ability to profitably send thousands of humans safely on suborbital space rides.

However, the firm's new chairman, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, recently suggested that the company's long-term profitability may come more through travel than space tourism. At the Phocuswright travel industry conference last week, Palihapitiya spoke about his interest in point-to-point travel on Earth. "As an investor, in order to build something that can send people to space and back, what you are really doing is validating a bunch of very difficult technical concepts," he said. "When we start commercial operations, we will be the only company in the world who will be flying paid passengers at hypersonic speeds." (11/26)

The Girl Who Dreams to Live on Mars (Source: Florida Today)
For Alyssa Carson, colonizing Mars is just the first step in saving the human race. The 18-year-old astrobiology student at Florida Tech remembers when she was nine years old, she had the opportunity to meet and speak to former NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus at the Sally Ride Science Festival in Louisiana. "I asked her, 'When did you decide to become an astronaut,' and she told me that she was around nine or so," Carson, a freshman at Florida Tech said.

Already engrossed in all things space, the brief encounter with Magnus gave Carson the extra push to continue to pursue a career in the space industry. "She just kind of inspired me that you can decide what you want to do at a young age, work hard and it can actually become a reality," Carson said. She's now 18 years old, with a pilot's license, is "certified" to go to space and hopes to be a part of the crew that lays down the foundation to colonize the red planet.

It first started with children's TV show, "The Backyardigans." One specific episode titled, "Mission to Mars," was the initial spark for Alyssa Carson's interest in space. "From that point, I was just always asking for books or videos or whatever I could learn about space," Carson said. She was about five years old at the time. Three years later, she attended her first (of many) space camps in Huntsville, Alabama, and the following year when she went back, her call sign, "NASA Blueberry" originated. (11/26)

Soyuz 2.1v Rocket Launches Military Satellite (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Soyuz rocket launched a classified military satellite Monday. The Soyuz-2.1v rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 12:52 p.m. Eastern and deployed its payload into orbit several hours later. Russian officials said the satellite, likely to be named Cosmos 2542, will monitor other Russian satellites and takes images of the Earth. (11/25)

Weather Delay for Ariane 5 Launch, Rescheduled for Monday (Source: Arianespace)
Poor weather created another delay Monday for an Ariane 5 launch. Arianespace said the launch of the rocket carrying two communications satellites was now scheduled for Tuesday at 4:09 p.m. Eastern after poor weather ruled out a Monday launch. The launch was originally scheduled for last Friday but delayed by a power supply issue with ground equipment that pushed back the launch until Monday. (11/26)

Eutelsat Supports C-Band Auction (Source: Space News)
Eutelsat says it is willing to support a public auction of C-band spectrum by the FCC provided it is compensated. The satellite operator, which dropped out of the C-Band Alliance coalition of other satellite operators this fall, said it would support the FCC's plans announced last week for a public auction of 280 megahertz of satellite C-band spectrum for terrestrial 5G services as long as some proceeds from the spectrum sale go toward covering costs satellite operators will incur moving out of the band. The FCC hasn't disclosed if auction proceeds would be used to cover such costs, although there are provisions to do so in a Senate bill introduced last week. (11/25)

Orion Capsule Shippted to Ohio for Tests (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)
An Orion spacecraft has arrived in Ohio for environmental testing. The Orion that will fly the Artemis 1 mission was flown on a Super Guppy aircraft from Florida to Mansfield, Ohio, on Sunday. Later today it will be transported from the airport to NASA's Plum Brook Station, where it will undergo several months of environmental testing there before returning to Florida. Artemis 1, scheduled for launch no earlier than late 2020, will be an uncrewed test flight of the Orion spacecraft, flying on the first launch of the Space Launch System. (11/25)

New Spaceports Focus on Economic Development Impacts (Source: Space News)
Spaceports are increasingly positioning themselves as drivers of economic development. At a meeting last week, officials with the Houston Spaceport at the city's Ellington Airport discussed how getting an FAA spaceport license provided support to economic development plans there, including a business park that will host a variety of aerospace companies. The spaceport has yet to host a launch, with none expected for the foreseeable future, but officials there say their focus on economic development can be a model for other commercial spaceports. (11/25)

5G Spectrum Allocation Could Jeopardize Weather Forecasting (Source: Nature)
A decision regarding 5G spectrum at a recent conference could jeopardize weather forecasting. Regulators at the World Radiocommuincation Conference agreed last week to allow 5G services in a band near 24 gigahertz, a frequency currently used by weather satellites to measure atmospheric water vapor. Meteorologists are worried that interference from 5G services in that band could reduce the accuracy of weather forecasts. The decision does eventually establish strict limits on interference, but not until 2027, after an initial period of lower standards as 5G services are set up. (11/25)

Planets Around a Black Hole? (Source: NINS)
Theoreticians in two different fields defied the common knowledge that planets orbit stars like the Sun. They proposed the possibility of thousands of planets around a supermassive black hole. "With the right conditions, planets could be formed even in harsh environments, such as around a black hole," says Keiichi Wada, a professor at Kagoshima University researching active galactic nuclei which are luminous objects energized by black holes.

According to the latest theories, planets are formed from fluffy dust aggregates in a protoplanetary disk around a young star. But young stars are not the only objects that possess dust disks. In a novel approach, the researchers focused on heavy disks around supermassive black holes in the nuclei of galaxies. (11/25)

SpaceX Could Launch Four Rockets in December (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
After a lull, SpaceX is gearing up for a busy December. The company has performed only one launch since August but has as many as four Falcon 9 launches scheduled for December. Those launches include a Dragon cargo mission to the space station, the JCSAT-18/Kacific-1 geostationary communications satellite and another set of Starlink broadband satellites. The company is preparing for an in-flight abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft in December that would also launch on a Falcon 9. (11/25)

Dragon to Carry a Ton of Cargo to ISS (Source: Space.com)
The Dragon cargo mission will send nearly a metric ton of science payloads to the station.  The Dragon, scheduled for launch Dec. 4, includes 952 kilograms of science among its total cargo of 2,585 kilograms. The equipment ranges from an upgrade for the station's Cold Atom Lab facility installed there last year to another payload of rodents for biomedical research. Also on board will be Budweiser — not the beer but instead barley that Anheuser-Busch is flying to see how its seeds germinate in space. (11/25)

Once Again, a Chinese Rocket Has Doused a Village with Toxic Fuel (Source: Ars Technica)
China's space program now ranks among the most successful in the world, with more launches than any other country on an annual basis, the capability to send humans into orbit, and an exploration plan that includes firsts such as the Chang'e-4 spacecraft's landing on the far side of the Moon. However, in its steady ascent China has flouted some norms of launch. One of these is that areas down range of launch pads should be sparsely populated—preferably oceans—due to launch hazards and the uncontrolled descent of first and second stages.

China's defiance of this norm has resulted in some horrific scenes as its boosters have periodically crashed into villages. On Friday, a Long March 3B rocket launched a pair of Beidou satellites into orbit. The rocket's ascent was normal, but its first stage booster tumbled into a village down range from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, in the South-Central part of the country.

Earlier this year, China began experimenting with grid fins to help steer the first stage of its rockets away from populated areas. However, it seems likely that China has invested in the grid fin experiments more to emulate SpaceX's ability to land and reuse first stage boosters than protect its population. This is because the Xichang launch center has been open for more than three decades, and grid fin technology is older than this. The country has had ample time to protect its citizens, but only now—after SpaceX as demonstrated the viability of vertical take off and vertical landing—has the country seriously looked into such technology. (11/25)

NASA Funds Research into Food Production on Deep Space Missions (Source: Parabolic Arc)
As NASA contemplates deep space missions to the moon and Mars, the space agency faces increasing challenges in keeping its astronauts physically and mentally healthy. One of the key elements in that challenge is fresh food. Currently, fresh produce is supplied periodically to astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on resupply ships. Crew members have also grown small quantities of vegetables on board. Resupply becomes a more difficult task on deep space missions due to distance. Thus, astronauts will need to grow more of their own food. Last week, NASA announced three Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards to advance that goal. (11/25)

DoD Launch Support Contract Gearing Up for Recompete (Source: Space News)
The Air Force plans to award in 2020 a technical and engineering support contract to facilitate DoD launches. A solicitation is expected in the coming days for the Systems Engineering and Integration (SE&I) Space and Missile Systems Center Enterprise Core Launch (SMC/ECL) contract. This is a recompete of the SE&I contract that Mantech won in 2010 and runs out in March 2020. The new contract also will be a single award, with a one-year base period and nine one-year options.

The engineering and technical support services are for the SMC Launch Enterprise, and for the 30th and 45th Space Wings at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, respectively. According to SMC, the contractor will provide “critical support necessary to ensure successful on-time launches in a new era of National Security Space Launch. These services will also provide support in new critical Launch Enterprise areas.”

The contract Mantech won in 2010 was worth $160 million over 10 years. Industry sources said the new contract could be much larger, perhaps in the $300 million to $450 million range. Mantech's team will be challenged by teams that may include BAE Systems, Booz Alen, Parsons, a.i. Solutions, and others. (11/26)