February 13, 2020

NASA Plan for Yearly Artemis Moon Flights Through 2030. The First Could Fly in 2021 (Source: Space.com)
The first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket and Orion crew capsule — and the first big step in putting astronauts back on the moon — was originally scheduled to launch this year, but the mission is now expected to slip to 2021. A new document from NASA explaining President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2021 budget request for the agency lists the uncrewed test flight, known as Artemis 1, as scheduled to launch in 2021.

Although NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and other agency officials have said they expect the mission to be delayed, an updated launch target has not yet been officially announced. An updated timeline for that mission is currently under review, and NASA expects to present its new plan to Congress about six weeks from now, Doug Loverro, the director of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, told reporters at a State of NASA event at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. (2/12)

U.S. Seeks Improved Security and Resiliency for GPS (Source: Space News)
The White House issued an executive order Wednesday calling for government agencies to improve the security and resilience of services that depend on GPS. The document, titled "Strengthening National Resilience Through Responsible Use of Positioning, Navigation and Timing Services," directs the executive branch departments and agencies to adopt guidelines for how to manage the risk of disruption to critical infrastructure that rely on GPS services. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the agency that develops cybersecurity standards for different industries, will be in charge of developing cybersecurity guidance for GPS-related services. (2/12)

Make Way for the Space National Guard (Source: Space News)
National Guard officials say that the Pentagon needs to establish a Space National Guard to support the U.S. Space Force. National Guard Bureau officials and adjutants general from five states met with reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday to make the case that a Space National Guard could serve as the reserve component of the Space Force. The Defense Department's current plans for the Space Force do not include a role for the National Guard, and some officials privately have cautioned that creating a Space National Guard could open the door to every state to want to have a space guard to fuel economic growth. Guard officials counter they're not seeking Space National Guard units in every state, but only "some additional overhead in the particular states that participate in the mission." (2/12)

Mixed Reactions in Congress to NASA Budget Request (Source: Space News)
NASA's fiscal year 2021 budget proposal has received a mixed reaction from Capitol Hill and industry. Some in Congress, like Rep. Kendra Horn (D-OK), chair of the House space subcommittee, welcomed the overall increase but criticized proposals to cancel a number of science missions and NASA's education office. Horn also said at a panel discussion this week that she questioned whether the overall increase was sufficient to meet the 2024 lunar landing goal, and sought more information from NASA about its plans. (2/12)

FAA Seeks 6% Increase for Space Office Budget (Source: Space News)
The FAA is seeking a modest increase in its budget to keep up with growth in the commercial launch industry. The FAA's budget proposal requests more than $27.5 million for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, an increase of about 6% from its 2020 appropriation. The office would use the additional funding to hire more staff for launch licensing and related activities as the number of licensed launches continues to grow. The office is also completing a reorganization intended to make it more efficient. (2/12)

JAXA Picks Astroscale to Rendezvous and Inspect Space Junk (Source: Space News)
Astroscale has won a contract from the Japanese space agency JAXA to inspect a discarded rocket stage. The contract, whose value was not disclosed, would cover a mission to rendezvous with and inspect a rocket stage left in orbit from an earlier Japanese launch. A follow-on mission would then attempt to deorbit the stage. Astroscale is the second company in recent months to be awarded a contract for a debris-removal mission. In December, Swiss startup ClearSpace received a European Space Agency contract to deorbit a derelict rocket upper stage in 2025. (2/12)

Blue Canyon to Demo In-Space Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
Blue Canyon Technologies will provide the satellite bus for an in-space manufacturing demonstration mission. Blue Canyon's X-SAT bus will be used for the Archinaut One mission by Made In Space, scheduled for launch no earlier than 2022. The mission, supported by a NASA contract awarded last year, will demonstrate the ability to additively manufacture a pair of beams each 10 meters long for the spacecraft's solar arrays. Blue Canyon previously won a contract for X-SAT, its largest satellite bus, from the Environmental Defense Fund for its MethaneSat mission. (2/12)

Sigmatech to Support Air Force Space Acquisition (Source: Space News)
Sigmatech has won a contract to provide support services for an Air Force space acquisition office. The five-year, $74 million contract covers expert support staff to assist the office of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration. That office is run by Shawn Barnes, who serves as the principal space adviser to Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and is also helping to coordinate the standup of the U.S. Space Force. (2/12)

Firefly Distances Itself From Investor's Controversies (Sources: The Verge, Snopes)
Firefly Aerospace says there is no link between its activities and controversial practices by its major investor. A recent investigation found evidence of deceptive practices in a chain of dating sites run by Ukrainian businessman Max Polyakov, whose Noosphere Ventures rescued Firefly from bankruptcy and is the launch company's major investor. Thomas Markusic, CEO of Firefly, said that his company is independent from Noosphere's other businesses, and that Polyakov is not involved in day-to-day operations of Firefly. (2/12)

Mars 2020 Spacecraft Arrives at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: NASA JPL)
NASA's Mars 2020 spacecraft has arrived in Florida for launch preparations. The spacecraft's major components, including the rover, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday afternoon on a pair of C-17 cargo planes. At KSC the spacecraft will undergo final tests and integration prior to its launch on an Atlas 5 in July. (2/12)

NASA Plans New Class of Astronaut Candidates (Source: CollectSpace)
NASA will open another astronaut selection round in March. The agency announced this week that it will solicit astronaut applications from March 2 through March 31. NASA is making some changes in this round, including requiring a master's degree in a STEM field or related education, and will make applicants take an online assessment at the beginning of the application process "to help ensure that the applications that are evaluated by the Astronaut Rating Panel best reflect the requirements of the position." NASA plans to select a new class by the middle of next year, but has not disclosed how many people will be included in that class. (2/12)

Hurling Satellites Into Space Seems Crazy—But Might Just Work (Source: WIRED)
With SpinLaunch the basic idea is to physically throw a missile off the planet, in much the same way our ancestors hurled rocks with a leather sling. In this case, a giant centrifuge would spin the craft around in a vacuum to build up insane speed, then open a door and release it into the sky. But the physicist in me also can’t help being a little skeptical. The challenges here—like air drag, for starters—seem enormous. I’m not saying this thing won’t work, but I want to crunch the numbers myself to see what’s involved. Click here. (2/11) 

NASA Prepares for Moon and Mars With New Addition to Its Deep Space Network (Source: NASA JPL)
NASA officials broke ground on a new antenna for communicating with the agency's farthest-flung robotic spacecraft. Part of the Deep Space Network (DSN), the 112-foot-wide antenna dish being built represents a future in which more missions will require advanced technology, such as lasers capable of transmitting vast amounts of data from astronauts on the Martian surface.

Using massive antenna dishes, the agency talks to more than 30 deep space missions on any given day, including many international missions. As more missions have launched and with more in the works, NASA is looking to strengthen the network. When completed in 2½ years, the new dish will be christened Deep Space Station-23 (DSS-23), bringing the DSN's number of operational antennas to 13. (2/11)

Colorado Pushes for Space Command HQ Location Decision (Source: Space News)
At a Space Foundation event, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said the investments made by the Air Force in military space infrastructure in Colorado are one reason the Pentagon “needs to make a permanent decision as to where U.S. Space Command will be located.” A decision on announcing the permanent site for U.S. Space Command’s headquarters has been delayed with no explanation, Lamborn said.

The Air Force last year said the finalists were Alabama’s Redstone Arsenal, California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base and Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base, Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, and Schriever Air Force Base. The command is currently based at Peterson and would have to move as soon as a decision is made. Other states, including Florida and Texas, have lobbied the Trump administration to have their bases added to the short list. (2/12)

2021 NASA Budget Request Supports X-59 Experimental Supersonic Jet Development (Source: Space.com)
While the Trump administration's proposed NASA budget for 2021 includes a big boost for human spaceflight, it also would boost funding for the agency's aeronautics division. Included in the $25.2 billion budget request for NASA is $819 million for aeronautics research, up from $783 million in 2020. One of NASA's chief aeronautics programs is the experimental X-59 supersonic aircraft being built by Lockheed Martin to pioneer quieter sonic booms for commercial travel. NASA's budget documents released to date did not include the exact funding for the new jet. (2/12)

L3Harris Developing Next-Generation GPS Satellite Payload (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has given L3Harris the green light to continue the development of a fully digital navigation payload for the next generation of GPS satellites known as GPS 3 Follow-on, or GPS 3F. The digital payload cleared what the military calls a “critical design review” that required demonstrating the new payload design is mature enough to proceed to final development test and delivery.

The central component of the navigation payload is the mission data unit, which is expected to provide more powerful signals and ensure accurate atomic clock operations. Lockheed Martin manufactures the satellites for the U.S. military. The company is making 10 GPS 3 satellites use L3Harris’ 70-percent digital mission data unit. The 100-percent digital payload will be introduced in the 11th satellite of the GPS 3 constellation which will the Follow-on variant. (2/12)

Spaceflight Industries Sells Rideshare Business to Japanese Companies (Source: Space News)
Spaceflight Industries announced Tuesday it will sell its satellite rideshare launch business to two Japanese companies. Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Yamasa Co., Ltd. will acquire Spaceflight, Inc. for an undisclosed sum in a deal expected to close in the second quarter. Spaceflight has arranged the launches of 271 satellites on 29 missions, including 64 on the Falcon 9 SSO-A launch in late 2018. Spaceflight will remain an independent company based in the U.S. under the deal. The sale allows Spaceflight Industries to focus on its BlackSky geospatial intelligence business, including the deployment of a constellation of high-resolution imaging satellites. (2/12)

Colorado-Based DoD Space Ops Facility Funded in 2021 Budget Proposal (Source: Space News)
The fiscal year 2021 budget proposal includes funding to complete construction of the military's Consolidated Space Operations Facility. The $88 million included in the Pentagon's budget proposal would complete construction of the center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. The facility is designed to meet growing demands for secure facilities for military space operators and analysts from the intelligence community. The funding request was welcomed by Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) during a panel discussion Tuesday. (2/12)

IAI Hopes to Maintain Satellite Production Line (Source: Space News)
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) believes that a recent satellite order from the Israeli government will be the first of several. The Israeli government ordered the Dror-1 satellite last month, a deal seen as a way to keep IAI's production lines open. In an interview, an IAI executive said he expected follow-on orders from the government, but didn't predict when those contracts would materialize. Dror-1 will be completed in four years and will be IAI's first satellite with a digital payload. (2/12)

Army Soldiers to Join Space Force (Source: Defense One)
A group of U.S. Army soldiers may be the first troops outside of the Air Force to join the U.S. Space Force. About 100 Army soldiers already trained in space-related fields will join the Space Force in 2021, Army officials said Tuesday. The Air Force assigned 16,000 personnel to the Space Force, but only Gen. Jay Raymond has formally become part of the Space Force. The Air Force expects to start transferring airmen to the Space Force later this year. (2/12)

Former Vector Executives Seek to Acquire Satellite Tech Eyed by Lockheed Martin (Source: Breaking Defense)
A startup founded by former executives of Vector is seeking to acquire that company's satellite technology. NewSpace Networks is bidding on Vector's software-defined satellite technology, called GalacticSky, competing against Lockheed Martin. The startup hopes to use that technology to support efforts like the Space Development Agency's plans to develop satellite constellations for communications and missile tracking. It's also interested in other government and commercial work. The GalacticSky technology will be sold at auction later this month as part of Vector's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. (2/12)

Mysterious Radio Signal From Space is Repeating Every 16 Days (Source: CNN)
Mysterious radio signals from space have been known to repeat, but for the first time, researchers have noticed a pattern in a series of bursts coming from a single source half a billion light-years from Earth. Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are millisecond-long bursts of radio waves in space. Individual radio bursts emit once and don't repeat. But repeating fast radio bursts are known to send out short, energetic radio waves multiple times. And usually when they repeat, it's sporadic or in a cluster, according to previous observations.

Between September 16, 2018 and October 30, 2019, researchers with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment/Fast Radio Burst Project collaboration detected a pattern in bursts occurring every 16.35 days. Over the course of four days, the signal would release a burst or two each hour. Then, it would go silent for another 12 days. (2/12)

Unique Atlas 5 to Launch This Year (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A previously unflown variant of the Atlas 5 will make its first launch later this year. The Atlas 5 511, with a five-meter payload fairing and a single solid rocket booster, will launch a pair of surveillance satellites to geosynchronous orbit in the fourth quarter of this year. That version is the only version of the Atlas 5 yet to fly. The most popular Atlas 5 version, the 401 with a four-meter fairing and no boosters, has flown 38 times. (2/12)

Russia Delays Weather Satellite Launch After Problems With Similar Satellite (Source: TASS)
Russia will delay the launch of a weather satellite after a similar model experienced problems in orbit. Roscosmos said the Meteor-M 2-3 satellite, which was scheduled for launch later this year, will be delayed to 2021 in order to perform additional tests on the satellite. Meteor-M 2-2 suffered problems in December that, at the time, Roscosmos said was caused by a micrometeoroid impact. The spacecraft malfunctioned again early this month but has returned to service. The cause of the most recently glitch has not been disclosed. (2/12)

ESA Struggling with ExoMars 2020 Schedule (Source: Aviation Week)
ESA and its ExoMars 2020 contractors are working flat out to catch up on delays and meet the planned launch window this summer. If the July/August window is missed, the next opportunity is in two years later in August 2022. Problems have been experienced with the lander's parachutes, and with Russian-developed hardware delivered eight months late. (2/12)

ESA Mars Rover Ready for ExoMars Integration (Source: BBC)
ESA's Rosalind Franklin Mars rover is ready to be integrated with its spacecraft. The rover completed environmental testing recently at an Airbus facility in Toulouse, France, and is now at a Thales Alenia Space factory in Cannes to meet up with the rest of the hardware for the ExoMars 2020 mission. That mission is scheduled for launch this summer on a Russian Proton rocket, pending the outcome of tests of the spacecraft's parachute system scheduled for the coming weeks in the United States. Problems in past parachute tests raised questions about whether the mission would be ready in time for launch. (2/12)

False Claims Cloud NewSpace Progress (Source: Space News)
The space industry has a B.S. problem. The problem of misinformation is not unique to the space industry, but the problem of deception may be magnified in the fast-paced commercial space industry because entrepreneurs and executives face immense challenges. Another reason for the recent surge in tall tales is that some entrepreneurs feel pressure to show rapid progress. Founders of startups and established space companies, as well as investors, are becoming increasingly frustrated by false claims. (2/12)

Airline Industry Fears Traffic Disruption From Spaceport Launches (Source: Aviation Week)
"We're talking [about] spaceports with in five miles of a metropolitan area right now," said Steve Jangelis, a Delta captain who serves as aviation safety chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association. In 2018, the pilots' union opposed establoihsing the Colorado Air and Space Port at the former Front Range Airport in Colorado. "We've been insulated because we've been launching from protected areas," Jangelis argued. "We have to start looking at when we start launching from the middle of the lower 48 states, when we start launching directly across populated areas."

"We are going to press the FAA to make sure that it's safe. We are going to lobby hard for that," said Jangelis. SpaceX's historic Falcon Heavy test launch in 2018 closed 1,000 miles of airspace for three hours, resulting in 563 flight delays and 34,000 additional miles flown by airliners. While only a handful of current commercial sites are very active, proponents believe spaceports represent an economic boon. (2/12)

Algae Caviar, Anyone? What We'll Eat on the Journey to Mars (Source: WIRED)
Until now, design for space has focused on survival. But Ekblaw thinks it's possible, even essential, to imagine an entirely new microgravitational culture, one that doesn't simply adapt Earth products and technologies but instead conceives them anew. Whatever else they do, they'll require nourishment, which is why food is a central focus of the MIT program. NASA and other government space agencies have traditionally treated food as a practical challenge—an extreme version of provisioning for an outback camping trip.

But while a highly trained astronaut might be able to subsist on space gorp without losing her mind, what about a civilian with a one-way ticket to Mars? Coblentz, who is leading the Space Exploration Initiative's gastronomic research, argues that, as much as art or music or movement, good food will enable us to thrive as we leave Earth behind. It has always been the glue that connects us to each other and to the environment around us.

Our pursuit of food has shaped the evolution of our sensory apparatus—the very tools through which we, as a species, perceive the world. The choices we make every day about food selection, preparation, and consumption lie at the foundation of our identities and relationships and affinities. As the Italian historian Massimo Montanari succinctly put it, food is culture. (2/11)

Rocket Engine Test in Cocoa Sends Debris Flying, Starts Fire (Source: Click Orlando)
Rocket engine company Rocket Crafters was conducting an engine test Thursday that resulted in a mishap sending debris flying and starting small brush fires, company officials confirmed. The private space company was conducting a rocket engine test fire at its facility around noon in Cocoa when an “over-pressurization anomaly occurred...Per standard procedure, individuals were cleared from the test bay before the test, and no one on-site was injured during the incident.” (2/13)

Australian Govt Funds Rocket Fuel Tank Research (Source: Space Daily)
Research that could cut space travel cost by 25 per cent has received a $3 million boost from the Australian Government. A Gilmour Space Technologies, University of Southern Queensland (USQ) and Teakle Composites project to create lightweight rocket fuel tanks was included in the latest round of the Cooperative Research Centers Projects (CRC-P) grants. The project is a $12.5 million investment by the consortium with support from the Federal Government in order to design, develop and manufacture flight ready cryotanks. (2/13)

Understanding the Impact of Satellite Constellations on Astronomy (Source: Space Daily)
While there is large uncertainty about the future number of satellites, some simulations were conducted on the basis of a large sample of over 25 000 satellites from representative satellite constellations from different companies. With this sample, the number of satellites above the horizon at any given time would be between ~1500 and a few thousand, depending on the latitude.

Most of these will appear very close to the horizon, only a few of them passing directly overhead; for instance, about 250 to 300 would have an elevation of more than 30 degrees over the horizon (i.e. where the sky is clear from obstructions, and where most of the astronomical observations are performed). The vast majority of these will be too faint to be visible to the naked eye.

When the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon (i.e. when the night becomes dark), the number of illuminated satellites above the horizon would be around 1000 (with around 160 at elevations higher than 30 degrees). The numbers decrease further towards the middle of the night, when more satellites are in the Earth's shadow (e.g., no reflected sunlight). At the moment it is difficult to predict how many of the illuminated satellites will be visible to the naked eye, because of uncertainties in their actual reflectivity (also since experiments are being carried out by SpaceX to reduce the reflectivity of a Starlink satellite by adopting different coatings). (2/13)

Space Internet Startup Astranis Raises $90 Million (Source: Fortune)
Astranis, a satellite Internet startup focused on bringing overlooked parts of the world online, raised $90 million in new funding. The deal includes $40 million in equity venture capital led by Venrock, the company tells Fortune. Andreessen Horowitz, which led Astranis's 2018 fundraising, also participated, marking that firm's only space investment. The deal also includes $50 million of debt financing.

The new funding will help Astranis deploy its first satellite, already contracted to provide Internet service in Alaska, as well as funding further growth, CEO John Gedmark tells Fortune. The Alaska deal will bring in "many tens of millions of dollars" of revenue over coming years, and the company is in talks with customers like Internet service providers, smaller countries, and in-flight connectivity providers to launch 20 to 30 more similar satellites, he says. (2/13)