December 9, 2019

Catalyzing Space Debris Removal, Salvage, and Use (Source: Space Review)
Everyone acknowledges that orbital debris is a problem, but approaches to removing debris are hampered by legal issues. Three authors suggest an approach, borrowing from maritime law, that could address the problem without changes to existing space treaties. Click here. (12/9)
 
How Many Spaceports are Too Many? (Source: Space Review)
A lack of launch companies and launch activity has not deterred the development of new spaceports around the United States and elsewhere. Jeff Foust reports on what motivates these sites beyond the prospect of one day hosting launches or landings. Click here. (12/9) 
 
Giant Leaps For Humanity: Liberalism for a Multiplanetary Species (Source: Space Review)
Growing commercial and other space capabilities offer all sorts of new opportunities. Ian McCann describes how space travel offers an unprecedented vehicle for liberalism. Click here. (12/9)

Japan's 'Yakitori' Counts Down to Lift Off for Outer Space (Source: Nikkei)
Yakitori, Japan's popular charcoal-grilled chicken, is finding a new nest in outer space as the ubiquitous bar snack receives certification by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. It will not be lifting off on the usual wood skewers, though. Rather, it will be sent into orbit in cans prepared by Hotei Foods Corporation, which is set to launch the snack food next year.

Certified Japanese space food must have a shelf life of more than 18 months at room temperature. Importantly, it must not crumble or otherwise break apart in the weightlessness of outer space. The yakitori developed by the Shizuoka-based company fulfills both these requirements, giving astronauts a taste of home -- sadly, without the beer or sake. (12/9)

Defense Authorization Bill Will Include Space Force (Source: Space News)
A final version of a defense authorization act will include language creating a Space Force. Under a deal reached Friday between congressional leaders and the White House, the Space Force provision will be in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in exchange for including paid parental leave for federal employees. The Space Force would be created within the Air Force, analogous to the Marine Corps within the Navy. The proposed language would authorize a civilian leader for the Space Force who would report to Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett and also would create a Senate-confirmable post to oversee Space Force acquisitions. The final version of the NDAA is expected to be introduced Monday and voted on in the House as soon as Wednesday. (12/9)

SpaceX Plans Dragon In-Flight Abort Test in January (Source: Space News)
SpaceX will perform an in-flight abort test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft early next month. NASA and SpaceX announced Friday the test is scheduled for no earlier than Jan. 4. In the test, a Crew Dragon will escape from its Falcon 9 rocket about 90 seconds after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center to test the ability of the launch abort system to operate at maximum dynamic pressure. The test is one of the final milestones before a crewed test flight of the spacecraft in early 2020. Separately, Boeing announced the uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner had slipped another day, to Dec. 20, because of a one-day delay in a dress rehearsal last week. The launch had previously been delayed two days by a minor launch vehicle issue. (12/9)

SpaceX Tests Long-Coast Re-Start for Air Force (Source: Space News)
A long coast by a Falcon 9 upper stage following a launch last week was a test for the U.S. Air Force. The upper stage coasted for six hours after deploying a Dragon cargo spacecraft Thursday, then fired its engine for 20.1 seconds in a disposal burn. The test had been requested by the U.S. Air Force to demonstrate the vehicle can deliver national security payloads directly to geosynchronous Earth orbit, SpaceX's Shotwell said Friday. SpaceX needed to show it could do that before it can fly classified national security missions to GEO in late 2020 under contracts the Air Force already awarded. (12/9)

China Demonstrates Rapid Response Launches (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Two small Chinese rockets launched from the same spaceport six hours apart Friday night. A Kuaizhou 1A launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 9:55 p.m. Eastern Friday carrying the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B Earth observation satellite. A second Kuaizhou 1A launched from the center at 3:52 a.m. Eastern Saturday carrying six smallsats. The solid-fuel rockets launched from separate mobile launch platforms at the center. (12/9)

Kacific Borrows $160 Million (Source: Space News)
Satellite operator Kacific has borrowed $160 million to refinance loans for its first satellite. The company obtained the financing from the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank and GuarantCo, a European- and Australian-government backed infrastructure investment organization, along with other financiers. Kacific will use it to repay the short-term loans it obtained to fund development of Kacific-1, a Boeing-built satellite scheduled for launch next week by SpaceX. Kacific-1 carries 56 Ka-band spot beams designed to provide internet connectivity across more than 25 Asia-Pacific countries. (12/9)

Astroscale Plans De-Orbit Tech Test (Source: Space News)
Astroscale is looking to the U.S. military as possible customers for its satellite and debris removal services. Astroscale is preparing to demonstrate satellite de-orbiting technology in low Earth orbit next year and is talking to potential commercial and government customers, including the Air Force. The company, based in Japan but with a U.S. subsidiary, responded to a call for white papers from the Space and Missile Systems Center on new technologies that will inform the Air Force's National Security Launch Architecture study. (12/9)

L3Harris and Northrop Grumman to Integrate Satellite WiFi on Air Force Planes (Source: Space News)
L3Harris and Northrop Grumman won contracts from the Air Force last week to integrate commercial space internet services on military aircraft. The contracts, valued at $17.9 million for L3Harris and $9.9 million for Northrop Grumman, will go toward the ability for Air Force aircraft to communicate with multiple commercial satellite constellations using common user terminal hardware elements. The contracts are the latest awarded under a project called Defense Experimentation Using the Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, which includes deals with SpaceX's Starlink, Iridium, OneWeb, Telesat and SES's O3b to test the services. (12/9)

India Seeks $10.5 Million for Next Lunar Lander Mission (Source: Times of India)
India's space agency is seeking funding to start work on a new lunar mission. ISRO has reportedly requested 750 million rupees ($10.5 million) for Chandrayaan-3 as part of a package of supplemental funding for the 2019—20 budget. That mission will be similar to Chandrayaan-2 with an orbiter, lander and rover. ISRO previously suggested Chandrayaan-3 could launch as soon as next November, but didn't specify a launch date in its request for additional funding. (12/9)

UAE Plans Next Class of Astronauts (Source: The National)
The United Arab Emirates has opened applications for a second class of astronauts. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced applications were open on Friday, and space agency officials said they received nearly 1,000 applications in just four hours. The UAE selected two astronauts in its first round in 2018 from more than 4,000 applicants, one of whom, Hazza Al Mansouri, flew to the ISS this fall on a brief mission there.(12/9)

NASA Engineers Break SLS Test Tank on Purpose to Test Extreme Limits (Source: NASA)
Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Dec. 5 deliberately pushed the world’s largest rocket fuel tank beyond its design limits to really understand its breaking point. The test version of the Space Launch System rocket’s liquid hydrogen tank withstood more than 260% of expected flight loads over five hours before engineers detected a buckling point, which then ruptured. Engineers concluded the test at approximately 11 p.m.

“We purposely took this tank to its extreme limits and broke it because pushing systems to the point of failure gives us additional data to help us build rockets intelligently,” said Neil Otte, chief engineer of the SLS Stages Office at Marshall. “We will be flying the Space Launch System for decades to come, and breaking the propellant tank today will help us safely and efficiently evolve the SLS rocket as our desired missions evolve.”

The test version of the tank aced earlier tests, withstanding forces expected at engine thrust levels planned for Artemis lunar missions, showing no signs of cracks, buckling or breaking. The test on Dec. 5 -- conducted using a combination of gaseous nitrogen for pressurization and hydraulics for loads -- pushed the tank to the limits by exposing it to higher forces that caused it to break as engineers predicted. Earlier tests at Marshall certified the tank for both the current version of the SLS -- called Block 1, which will use an upper stage called the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage -- and the Block 1B version that will replace the ICPS with the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage. (12/6)

SpaceX Broadband Service Will Be ‘Bumpy’ at First, Gwynne Shotwell Says (Source: LA Times)
When SpaceX’s broadband service starts mid-2020, the initial experience will be “bumpy,” company President Gwynne Shotwell said Friday. However, she said she expects SpaceX to mature as an internet service provider by 2021. The company will take pre-sales for customer service, similar to what fellow Elon Musk-led company Tesla Inc. has done for new vehicles, Shotwell said. And early customers will be part of that learning curve.

“We’re not going to fib and say it’s going to be the best thing ever,” she said. “When you get service, it’s going to be great. But it’ll be bumpy for a while.” SpaceX has already launched two rounds of 60 satellites each. The company expects it will need 24 launches, with about 1,440 satellites, to have enough to provide full global coverage. SpaceX has not yet determined customer pricing. SpaceX has asked an international regulatory group for permission to eventually operate as many as 30,000 satellites.

Shotwell said subsequent launches will see satellites with experimental coatings to reduce their brightness in the sky, which has been a concern for astronomers who fear the satellites could affect telescope images. (12/7)

Is Boeing's Mega Space Rocket Back On Track? (Source: Politico)
Boeing's Space Launch System rocket, designed to bring humans to the moon and even Mars, has taken fire from every angle. Costs have grown by $1.8 billion, according to a June Government Accountability Office report, and the first flight, originally scheduled for November 2018, could take place as late as June 2021.

But Jennifer Boland-Masterson, the director of Boeing operations at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, insists the program's problems are firmly in the past. And she can prove it by comparing the first rocket, which is nearing completion and will fly the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon, with the second, which is being built at the NASA facility in New Orleans and will bring humans back to the moon.

"We're seeing 68 percent improvement in quality from core stage one to core stage two," she said. "That's your learning curves and your innovations." Boland-Masterson, who began overseeing construction of the SLS in June 2018 after working on Boeing's problem-plagued 787 Dreamliner aircraft. "If it was easy, anybody would do it," she said. "You'd have lots of people building this rocket, but you don't for a reason." (12/6)

How India Can Build its Own SpaceX (Source: Deccan Herald)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched India’s most advanced Earth-imaging satellite, Cartosat-3, about ten days ago from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. In his post-launch speech, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said the organisation has 13 more missions, six launch vehicle events and seven satellite missions planned till March 2020.

The crowded calendar is not surprising at all. ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) have been doing a commendable job in the past few years – Cartostat-3 was launched on PSLV C-47 -- and providing reliable launches to multiple satellites from around the world. In the process, in fact, ISRO has been competing with the likes of SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. Click here. (12/7)

China Sends Six Satellites Into Orbit with Single Rocket (Source: Xinhua)
China sent six satellites into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province at 4:52 p.m. Saturday (Beijing Time). They were launched by a Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) rocket and have entered the planned orbit successfully. It was the second launch from the Taiyuan launch center in less than six hours after another KZ-1A rocket sent the Jilin-1 Gaofen 02B satellite into space at 10:55 a.m., setting a new record for China's aerospace industry.

It also marked a breakthrough for the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in its rapid launch and emergency launch capabilities. The satellites HEAD-2A and HEAD-2B were the first batch of satellites for the Skywalker Constellation, which was developed by Beijing-based HEAD Aerospace Technology Co. Ltd. They will provide global users with services such as environmental monitoring, material supervision, emergency communication enhancement and information collection on global ships and aircraft. (12/7)

NASA EGS Completes First SLS Mobile Launcher Fueling Tests (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Across two weekends in November NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and prime Test and Operations Support Contractor (TOSC) Jacobs successfully completed the first flow tests of liquid hydrogen (LH2) and liquid oxygen (LOX/LO2) between the refurbished and updated Launch Pad 39B infrastructure and Mobile Launcher-1 (ML-1) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

The integrated propellant loading test of the pad and the mobile launcher (ML) was a major objective of the Multi Element Verification and Validation (MEV&V) campaign ahead of the launch of Artemis 1, the first joint mission across the EGS, Orion, and Space Launch System (SLS) programs. The test campaign started at the beginning of the summer and is expected to conclude by the end of the year.

The flow test of cryogenic LH2 and LOX was the first of three flows to be completed ahead of launch; the next one will be during the Artemis 1 Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) to fuel the Artemis 1 launch vehicle for the first time ahead of the countdown for its first launch, expected in 2021. (12/6)

Re-Entry Step Towards Re-Use (Source: Gisborne Herald)
A rocket launched from Mahia last night marked a “major step” towards being able to make rockets re-usable, launch company Rocket Lab says. The mission, named ‘Running Out Of Fingers’ in recognition of Rocket Lab’s tenth launch, lifted off from the Rocket Lab launch complex on Mahia Peninsula at 9.18pm.

The seven satellites on board were for commercial rideshare customers Alba Orbital and ALE (the latter of which was procured by Spaceflight) bringing the total number of small satellites deployed by Rocket Lab from Mahia to 47, continuing the company’s record of 100 percent mission success for customers. A Rocket Lab statement said it also successfully completed a guided re-entry of the Electron (rocket) vehicle’s first stage as part of the company’s plans to make Electron a reusable rocket. (12/7)

Space Project eXTP to Set Example of Good Cooperation with China: Czech Scientists (Source: Xinhua)
The enhanced X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP) could set an example of good cooperation between the Czech Republic and China, said Czech scientists attending an international workshop on Astronomical X-Ray Optics which closed here on Friday. The eXTP is a China-led cutting-edge satellite observatory that aims to explore still mysterious celestial bodies, such as black holes and neutron stars.

The project, to be launched by 2027, has reached out for cooperation with scientists from more than 20 countries, including Italy, Germany,and France. Chinese researchers in the past relied mainly on interpreting data from other space programs, noted Prof. Vladimir Karas, director of Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. (12/6)