February 27, 2020

Cruz Doubtful of NASA Authorization Passing Senate This Year (Source: Space News)
The chair of the Senate's space subcommittee said Wednesday he's skeptical that space-related legislation can get through Congress this year. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that while the Senate is moving forward with its version of a NASA authorization bill, he had concerns about a House version that differs in several key areas, notably about NASA's human space exploration plans. Similarly, the Space Frontier Act, a commercial space policy bill, is awaiting action by the full Senate, but Cruz said he didn't see the issue as a priority in the House. Cruz also suggested that it might be difficult for Congress to pass any appropriations bills this election year, forcing instead continuing resolutions that would keep spending at 2020 levels. (2/27)

Florida Air Force Bases Switch to Space Force Next Month (Source: Space News)
A formal name change for two Florida Air Force facilities being transferred to the Space Force could happen next month. Brig. Gen. Douglas Schiess, commander of the 45th Space Wing and director of the Eastern Range, said changing Patrick Air Force Base to Patrick Space Force Base, and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, could happen some time in March, although a firm date has not yet been set. Even after the name change, Schiess said the bases will still be maintained and supported by the U.S. Air Force. The renaming of bases is one of a long list of administrative changes planned for the coming year as part of the standup of the U.S. Space Force. (2/27)

49 Total Launches Anticipated for 2020 at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Cape Canaveral could see as many as 49 launches this year. Schiess said that five launches have taken place from the Cape so far, and current manifests project a total of 49 launches this year, with room to accommodate a couple more. He said the base has made improvements to allow for that higher launch tempo, including better planning software and the increased use of autonomous flight termination systems. (2/27)

SpaceX's Starlink Launch Ambitions Just Saved a Space Station Resupply Mission From Bigger Delays (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX’s ambitious 2020 Starlink launch goals have unintentionally saved a Cargo Dragon spacecraft mission from much longer delays after a major part of its Falcon 9 rocket had to be replaced at the last second. Known as SpaceX’s 20th NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-20) mission, SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft was initially scheduled to launch supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as March 2nd, 2020, a date that recently slipped four days to 11:50 pm EDT (04:50 UTC), March 6th. Simultaneously, a separate Falcon 9 Starlink mission – assigned to a different launch pad – found itself delayed from March 4th to March 11th.

A day or so after news of the CRS-20 launch delay first broke, NASA published a blog post noting that SpaceX had taken the extraordinary step of fully replacing the mission’s Falcon 9 second stage, the part of the rocket (pictured underneath Dragon in the photo above) tasked with taking payloads from the edge of space into Earth orbit (or beyond). Triggered by a faulty component in its space-optimized Merlin Vacuum engine, the fact that SpaceX chose to replace the upper stage and still only delayed CRS-20’s launch by four days suggests that its ambitious Starlink launch plans are already creating positive side effects for commercial customers. (2/27)

Earth Has Acquired a Brand New Moon that's About the Size of a Car (Source: New Scientist)
Earth might have a tiny new moon. On 19 February, astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spotted a dim object moving quickly across the sky. Over the next few days, researchers at six more observatories around the world watched the object, designated 2020 CD3, and calculated its orbit, confirming that it has been gravitationally bound to Earth for about three years. An announcement posted by the Minor Planet Center, which monitors small bodies in space, states that “no link to a known artificial object has been found”, implying that it is most likely an asteroid caught by Earth’s gravity as it passed by. (2/26)

Will America Get a Space National Guard? (Source: Roll Call)
The United States has a new military service, the Space Force, but it has never been clear whether or not the country will also have a Space Guard and Reserve. Many observers on Capitol Hill were hoping the Pentagon would have clarified the question by now. But a Feb. 3 report to Congress on the Space Force organizational plan — written by the Air Force, which oversees the Space Force — did not offer any answers.

And now, a draft Defense Department legislative proposal that is supposed to cover integrating the "active and reserve" elements of the Space Force into U.S. law also does not resolve the matter, according to officials familiar with the document. The report is said to be sitting in Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s inbox. The legislative blueprint, required by the fiscal 2020 defense authorization law, was due to Congress last week. (2/26)

Kepler Aerospace Touches Down in Midland (Source: NewsWest 9)
Midland City Council approved an economic development agreement and commercial sublease agreement with Kepler Aerospace to move into the Midland Air and Space Port. The company develops satellite delivery systems through plasma technologies. Kepler Aerospace looks to move into the hangar and business park space previously occupied by Orbital Outfitters. Kepler Aerospace is expected to open their Midland headquarters by summer 2020.

Although Kepler Aerospace was given approval to move into the Midland Air and Space Port, the decision was not unanimous. "10 years ago, when the space port conversation started, the economy in Midland looked a lot different than it does today. We're $25 million into the space port, and we have nothing to show for it. I think the longer we continue to enter agreements, we'll be wasting taxpayer dollars," said City Councilman Spencer Robnett. (2/26)

Virgin Galactic Keeps Bleeding Cash — But Says Demand for Spaceflights Has Doubled (Source: The Next Web)
Virgin Galactic’s latest earning reports confirmed it still doesn’t make any money. But, eager space nerds looking to be shot into (sub)orbit by Richard Branson can now pay a $1,000 deposit, so that’s something. The Mojave-based firm only made $529,000 revenue last quarter, leading to a loss of $55 million, higher than analysts anticipated. The quarter previous saw it generate more than $800,000 in revenue, but lose $51.5 million overall.

While losses mount, Virgin Galactic says customer demand has doubled, having garnered almost 8,000 reservations of interest since December 2018’s successful powered test flight — the first since 2014’s tragic crashing of its SpaceshipTwo VSS Enterprise. An absence of revenue streams hasn’t wavered buyer resolve. Virgin Galactic’s share price has already more-than tripled this year on the back of no news at all, from $11 to over $34.04 at Tuesday’s close. (2/27)

Space Force Wants Companies to Help Pay for Range Updates (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Space Force officials here want federal lawmakers to tweak spending rules so the military can use money from private companies to pay for infrastructure changes to the launch range at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. “We’re going to have to come up with ways that the launch providers can also help us out,” 45th Space Wing commander Brig. Gen. Doug Scheiss told Air Force Magazine in a Feb. 24 interview here. “They get a pretty good deal from being able to lease our facilities and the things that we do with them, but it’s very difficult [when] they go, ‘Hey, I’d like to be able to help out with that.’”

The Department of the Air Force currently can’t touch money provided by industry because of a legal firewall between public and private funding. Wing officials think creating a so-called “revolving fund” could help pay for—and speed up—projects from communications network upgrades to widening roads. “This network, we probably would have had it already if the launch providers could have said, ‘Hey, we’ll help out with that,’” Scheiss said. “There’s maybe some changes in how we budget that we could take advantage of.”

Contractors would still need to complete the typical permitting and review processes to do that work, and conduct it in cooperation with the Space Force. If Congress approves the idea, it could affect both Florida’s Eastern Range and the Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Tom Eye, the plans and programs chief for the 45th SW, said the idea began several years ago when rocket manufacturer Blue Origin wanted to widen the roadway at the cape. (2/26)

Boeing Starliner Could Fly Tourists Too (Source: Aviation Week)
Space Adventures also has an agreement with Boeing to market seats aboard upcoming CST-100 Starliner missions to the ISS. Starliner has a fifth seat available that could be sold to a paying passenger, who could accompany four station crewmembers on NASA-purchased rides to and from the orbital outpost. (2/27)