February 14, 2020

Space Florida Well Positioned as Legislative Session Approaches Final Phase (Source: SPACErePORT)
Budget deliberations in the Florida House and Senate appear on track for providing Space Florida with $12.5 million for operations and $6 million for project financing. Also, a bill that would provide the agency with more flexibility for financial deals appears headed for passage in both chambers. Meanwhile, Enterprise Florida, Visit Florida, and the state's other economic and workforce development agencies are not facing the kinds of deep budget cuts that were threatened last year. The state's Department of Transportation also supports space industry development, with millions of dollars provided every year for spaceport infrastructure projects that are adopted into regional transportation plans. (2/14)

NASA Picks Four Concepts for Planetary Science (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected four finalists for its next round of the Discovery program of planetary science missions. The four concepts announced Thursday include two missions to Venus, one to Jupiter's volcanic moon Io and one to Triton, Neptune's largest moon. Each concept will receive $3 million for a nine-month concept study, and NASA plans to select one or two of the missions in 2021 for launch in the mid to late 2020s. (2/14)

Space Force Gets First Senior Enlisted Member (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has named its first senior enlisted adviser. Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, who is already the top enlisted adviser at U.S. Space Command, will take on that role for the new service. Towberman will advise the Space Force's enlisted corps and will serve as a personal adviser to the Chief of Space Operations and the Secretary of the Air Force on issues like the welfare, readiness and morale of the force. (2/14)

Airmen, Spacemen, Guardians? Space Force Seeks Ideas for What To Call Its Members (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is looking for ideas for what to call its members. The call for ideas, currently limited to Air Force personnel but later to be expanded to space professionals in other services, is seeking input on what service members of the Space Force should be called, similar to the Air Force's airmen. Officials also are looking for ideas on Space Force ranks and names for operational units. (2/14)

Trump Budget Proposal Would Cancel SOFIA Flying Telescope (Source: Space News)
The White House's budget proposal seeks to cancel NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory despite recent efforts to make it more efficient. The proposal released this week argued that SOFIA's high operating costs could not be justified by its science output and there were no signs of "a dramatic improvement" in its efficiency in the near future. NASA performed two studies of SOFIA last year, though, that found various efficiencies intended to make the observatory more productive. NASA proposed terminating SOFIA six years ago, just as its prime mission was starting, but Congress rejected that plan and continued to fund the project. (2/14)

Iceye Opens California Office (Source: Space News)
Iceye has opened a U.S. office as it considers building synthetic aperture radar satellites in the country. Iceye, headquartered in Finland, set up an office in the San Francisco Bay Area led by Mark Matossian, who managed a series of aerospace programs at Google including the Earth-imaging venture Terra Bella now owned by Planet. The company says an American office will enable it to more effectively work with customers in the U.S., and that it will later consider establishing a "full manufacturing chain" for its system in the country. (2/14)

Virgin Galactic Sends Space Ship to New Mexico (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has arrived in New Mexico for a final series of flight tests. The suborbital spaceplane, named VSS Unity, was ferried from California to Spaceport America in New Mexico Thursday on its WhiteKnightTwo aircraft. The company plans a series of flight tests at the spaceport in the coming months to become familiar with operations there and to test upgrades to the vehicle and its new passenger cabin. Virgin has previously stated it expects to begin commercial operations at the spaceport by June. (2/14)

New Members Added to National Space Council (Source: Space News)
The White House has added three new members to the National Space Council. In an executive order signed Thursday by President Trump, the White House expanded the roster of the council to include the Secretary of Energy, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. The Energy Department has, in recent months, emphasized the role it can play in the space industry beyond providing nuclear power sources, noting its expertise in areas from quantum networks to developing astronomical instruments. (2/14)

Northrop Grumman to Develop Cyber-Secure Satellite Communications (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman has won an Air Force contract to develop a "cyber-secure" communications payload for satellites. The $253.5 million contract, awarded this week, covers work to build a prototype payload under the Protected Tactical Satellite Communications (PTS) program that the U.S. Air Force started in 2018. As many as four prototype payloads will be funded under the PTS program. Two payloads will be selected to launch in 2024 for on-orbit demonstrations that will last three to five years. (2/14)

Hackers Could Shut Down Satellites - or Turn Them Into Weapons (Source: Space Daily)
As a scholar who studies cyber conflict, I'm keenly aware of the lack of cybersecurity standards for satellites. This, coupled with satellites' complex supply chains and layers of stakeholders, leaves them highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. If hackers were to take control of these satellites, the consequences could be dire. On the mundane end of scale, hackers could simply shut down satellites, denying access to their services. Hackers could also jam or spoof the signals from satellites, creating havoc for critical infrastructure. This includes electric grids, water networks and transportation systems.

Some of these new satellites have thrusters that allow them to speed up, slow down and change direction in space. If hackers took control of these steerable satellites, the consequences could be catastrophic. Hackers could alter the satellites' orbits and crash them into other satellites or even the International Space Station. Makers of these satellites, particularly small CubeSats, use off-the-shelf technology to keep costs low. The wide availability of these components means hackers can analyze them for vulnerabilities. In addition, many of the components draw on open-source technology. The danger here is that hackers could insert back doors and other vulnerabilities into satellites' software.

Some analysts have begun to advocate for strong government involvement in the development and regulation of cybersecurity standards for satellites and other space assets. Congress could work to adopt a comprehensive regulatory framework for the commercial space sector. For instance, they could pass legislation that requires satellites manufacturers to develop a common cybersecurity architecture. They could also mandate the reporting of all cyber breaches involving satellites. (2/14)

Norway Claims Chinese Intelligence Has Repeatedly Stolen its Space Technology (Source: Space Daily)
Norway plays an important role in space exploration for key military space facilities used by the US, including the Globus II radar in Finnmark County, sometimes referred to as the world's most advanced radar for tracking satellites. In recent years, the Chinese intelligence service has succeeded in obtaining advanced Norwegian technology several times, the Scandinavian country's intelligence service has stressed, warning that China is en route to becoming "a military superpower in Norway's neighborhood". (2/13)

Iran Dismisses US Claims Its Rockets Have Military Purpose, Vows to Continue Tests (Source: Sputnik)
Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami has dismissed allegations issued by the US that the satellite carriers could be turned into military missiles and that the recent launch of a Zafar satellite was part of Iran's missile program. "The satellite launch and satellite carrier [...] are not related to missile [the program]", Hatami said. The defence minister went on to say that despite opposition from some foreign countries, Iran will continue to develop its satellite program. He added that while the rocket doesn't have any military applications, the satellite that it will eventually take into orbit could be used for defensive purposes by the Islamic Republic. (2/13)

Man Leads Kennedy Space Center Police on Chase Before Crashing Near Launch Pad (Source: Florida Today)
A man led Kennedy Space Center police on a high-speed chase through the federal facility late last month, eventually crashing into a structure near a launch pad before being apprehended. KSC confirmed Wednesday that on the last day of January, a man without appropriate credentials failed to obey police directions to make a U-turn and leave the property. Once in the restricted area, police immediately began chasing the vehicle southbound on Kennedy Parkway at speeds up to 80 mph.

The vehicle crashed through two gates before turning on a road that approached pad 39B, which is the northernmost launch complex. The man finally crashed into a trailer near the pad's entrance and was apprehended. Major pads like 39B and 39A have additional fences and gates. (2/12)