February 6, 2020

‘Pass-Through’ Funding May Become Core of Space Force Budget (Source: Air Force Magazine)
The Air Force’s unique “pass-through” budget mechanism, which inflates the apparent size of the service’s budget with monies that aren’t actually under its control, may become the core of the new Space Force’s budget, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett reported. Barrett, in a Jan. 30 interview with Air Force Magazine, said giving the pass-through account to Space Force is “one of the ideas” being evaluated as the new service’s budget is shaped for the first time.

The notion that the services each get 30 percent of the Pentagon budget, and the remaining 10 percent goes to defense agencies, is one of those “old constructs that have become chiseled in granite, … sacrosanct,” Barrett said, and the idea that the “Air Force covers ‘pass-through’” is among them. Such thinking is “reflective of a World War II mindset, or even a Civil War mindset,” she said. But, “the world has changed” and there is recognition that space is a domain “of paramount importance.” Consequently, there is a dedicated scrutiny underway of how “we structure” the Space Force budget. (2/4)

Exolaunch Arranges Rides for Spire Cubesats on Indian Rocket (Source: Space News)
German launch services provider Exolaunch announced plans at the SmallSat Symposium to send four Spire Global cubesats into low inclination orbits on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle later this year. Through the launch, Spire is seeking to diversify the orbits of its cubesats, which gather weather data in addition to performing maritime and aircraft tracking.

The mission also will serve as a springboard for cooperation between Exolaunch and Indian launch services provider, New Space India Ltd. (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization, according to a Feb. 4 news release. Exolaunch is integrating the Spire cubesats in EXOpod, a deployer large enough to hold 12 single cubesats. In addition, Exolaunch is providing launch services and technical support for the Spire mission. (2/4)

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract to SpaceX for Earth Science Mission (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. The total cost for NASA to launch PACE is approximately $80.4 million, which includes the launch service and other mission related costs. The PACE mission currently is targeted to launch in December 2022 on a Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Centerwill manage the SpaceX launch service.

The PACE mission represents the nation’s next great investment in understanding and protecting our home planet. The mission will provide global ocean color, cloud, and aerosol data that will provide unprecedented insights into oceanographic and atmospheric responses to Earth’s changing climate. PACE will help scientists investigate the diversity of organisms fueling marine food webs and the U.S. economy, and deliver advanced data products to reduce uncertainties in global climate models and improve our interdisciplinary understanding of the Earth system. (2/4)

Scientists Slam Congress's New Plan for NASA (Source: Gizmodo)
A recently proposed House bill that calls for NASA to send humans to Mars in 2033 is coming under fire from scientists who think it would be a mistake to assign secondary importance to a lunar mission and to neglect technological contributions from the private sector. The bill makes a number of key recommendations, including a revised timeline that would see Americans land on the Moon in 2028 instead of 2024, as mandated by the Trump administration. The bill also suggests an aggressive timeline that would see Americans on Mars by 2033, along with a directive that would preclude or at least limit private sector participation in the development of the Artemis lunar lander.

Congress, it would appear, wants NASA to restore some of its development capabilities, which the agency has been off-loading for years now, recruiting the help of private partners such as Boeing Aerospace, SpaceX, and Lockheed Martin. It’s possible that Congress wants the government to maintain ownership of certain space tech or that it’s frustrated with the rash of manufacturing delays (or both). Bridenstine is not alone in his criticisms of the pending bill, as a number of scientists have spoken out against the bipartisan bill in its current form.

In a letter published this past Friday, more than a dozen “concerned scientists” expressed their misgivings, some of which echoed Bridenstine’s comments. The signers of the open letter included Jack Burns from the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences at the University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, Lillian Ostrach, a lunar scientist based in Arizona, and Bradley Jolliff from Washington University in St. Louis, among other scientists, mission planners, and engineers—some of whom were involved with the Apollo missions and some now involved with the Artemis lunar mission. (2/5)

Australia Considers Satellite-Based Disaster Response (Source: ITNews)
Australia’s National Broadband Network is mulling a formal disaster response satellite service in the wake of the country’s bush fires. NBN Co., which has 23 sites using free Wi-Fi from its twin Sky Muster satellites, said it will begin testing the formal service later this month. The formal disaster service includes a satellite dish, Wi-Fi access and an emergency power supply. (2/6)

Leidos Completes Purchase of Dynetics (Source: Leidos)
Leidos said Jan. 31 it completed its $1.65 billion acquisition of Dynetics. Leidos used cash on hand and $1.25 billion of short-term borrowing capacity to finance the purchase, announced in December. Space solutions and hypersonics comprise about 25% of Dynetics’ revenue. Dynetics will function as a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos. (2/6)

Opportunities Grow for Smallsat Rideshare Launches (Source: Space News)
SpaceX disclosed new details about its small satellite rideshare efforts Feb. 5 as it, and other programs like it by large launch vehicle operators, put new pricing pressure on small launch vehicle companies. SpaceX updated the website for its smallsat rideshare initiative, including creating an online booking system. Customers can see what launches are available for payloads seeking to go to a range of orbits, select a specific launch opportunity and any additional services, like insurance, and then pay a deposit.

Pricing for payloads starts at $1 million for satellites weighing up to 200 kilograms. That is the same pricing that the company announced in late August, when it updated the program it rolled out earlier that month. SpaceX’s initiative is one of several by operators of larger launch vehicles to provide rideshare launch services for smallsats. The return-to-flight mission for Arianespace’s Vega launch vehicle, scheduled for late March, will be a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission with up to 44 satellites on board. That mission was scheduled to launch last September but was postponed by the July 2019 Vega launch failure.

The growth in rideshare opportunities on larger launchers creates new competition — or, at least, the perception of competition — with the emerging crop of small launch vehicles. SpaceX’s program in particular, with its million-dollar price point and promise of monthly launch opportunities, has raised questions about the viability of more expensive small launchers. “It created a bit of an issue,” said Brad Schneider, chief revenue officer of Firefly Aerospace. That best value, he and other small launch vehicles developers argue, is dedicated launches driven by the schedule of the smallsat developer, and the ability to go to specific orbits not offered by rideshare missions. (1/6)

OneWeb: Broadband Satellite Company is 'Playing the Long Game' (Source: BBC)
This year, 2020, will see the London-based OneWeb company launching regular, large batches of satellites. More than 30 at a time. The aim is to have a fully deployed constellation of 648 spacecraft delivering broadband to the entire world by the end of 2021. The start-up's CEO Adrian Steckel told our correspondent Jonathan Amos what OneWeb has been doing since it lofted an initial fleet of six pathfinder satellites in early 2019. Click here. (2/6)

Kinéis Raises $110 Million for IoT (Source: Space News)
A French smallsat company has raised more than $100 million to deploy an Internet of Things constellation. Kinéis raised 100 million euros ($110 million) from a mix of public and private investors to fully fund the development of a constellation of 25 16U cubesats to provide IoT connectivity services, along with tracking ships using a secondary Automatic Identification System payload. The company plans to launch its satellites in groups of five during the second half of 2022, with service starting early in 2023. Kinéis spun out last year from Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), a French maritime and environmental monitoring company. (2/5)

Cybersecurity, Sustainability, Workforce Challenge Smallsat Industry Growth (Source: Space News)
While the smallsat industry continues to grow, a number of issues could hinder future growth. A report released Tuesday by Bryce Space and Technology found that 389 smallsats launched in 2019, an increase of nearly 19% over 2018. Deployment of megaconstellations like those by OneWeb and SpaceX will ensure continued growth in 2020. However, a panel of experts at the SmallSat Symposium in California Tuesday warned that the industry faces a number of challenges that aren't widely appreciated, from cybersecurity to space sustainability to workforce development. (2/5)

Europa Clipper Mission Searches for Costs to Cut (Source: Space News)
The Europa Clipper mission is looking to find cost savings as its funding reserves dwindle. At a presentation this week, project management said that cost reserves for the mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than 2023, had dropped from 25% to 12% in the second half of last year. That's led to efforts to find "low-risk" ways to cut costs, such as scaling back work on spare hardware while avoiding anything that could affect the mission's science. The project hopes to get its cost reserves back to 20% by its critical design review in August. (2/5)

SpaceX Wins NASA Contract to Launch PACE Earth Science Satellite (Source: Space News)
NASA awarded SpaceX a contract Tuesday to launch an Earth science mission that avoided multiple attempts at cancellation. SpaceX will launch the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft on a Falcon 9 in late 2022 under a contract valued at $80.4 million. PACE carries sensors to allow studies of phytoplankton in the ocean and measure properties of clouds, aerosols and the ocean. NASA's budget requests in the last three fiscal years all proposed canceling PACE, but Congress has continued to fund the mission. (2/5)

Trump Includes Space in SOTU Address (Source: Space Policy Online)
President Trump mentioned both Space Force and NASA's Artemis program in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. Trump noted the creation of the Space Force in last year's defense authorization bill, the first new branch of the armed forces established since the Air Force more than 70 years ago. He later asked Congress to "fully fund" NASA's Artemis program to return humans to the moon, saying the program is "a launchpad to ensure that America is the first nation to plant its flag on Mars." Trump did not disclose how much money the program will cost, although NASA's fiscal year 2021 budget request, due out next Monday, will likely have a cost estimate for Artemis. (2/5)

Momentus Signs SteamJet for Space Tug Demonstration (Source: Space News)
In-space transportation company Momentus has signed up another customer for its orbital transfer service. SteamJet Space Systems will fly a cubesat on a Momentus Vigoride demonstration mission launching on a Soyuz rocket later this year. SteamJet will use that satellite to test a new satellite propulsion system. SteamJet and startup NuSpace of Singapore are the first two customers to announce rides on Momentus' shuttle service, which includes launch arrangements and transfer from the rocket's drop-off point to another orbit. Momentus plans to begin offering quarterly shuttles to sun-synchronous and mid-inclination in 2021. (2/5)

Exolaunch Supporting Four Spire Cubesats Planned for India PSLV Launch (Source: Space News)
Exolaunch will launch four Spire cubesats on an Indian PSLV rocket this year. The launch, to a low-inclination orbit, will hep Spire diversify the orbits of its cubesats, which gather weather data in addition to performing maritime and aircraft tracking. The mission also will serve as a springboard for cooperation between Exolaunch and Indian launch services provider New Space India Ltd., a commercial arm of the Indian space agency ISRO. Spire has launched more than 100 cubesats and currently has about 80 in orbit, and Exolaunch has helped deploy about one-third of that constellation. (2/5)

SpaceX Gears Up for Major Starship Flight Test at Texas Site (Source: The Verge)
SpaceX is gearing up for a suborbital test flight of its Starship vehicle. The company has filed an application with the FCC for communications during that launch, which will fly Starship to an altitude of 20 kilometers before landing back at the test site in South Texas. SpaceX's application is for a six-month window that begins March 16. The company still has to obtain a commercial launch license or experimental permit from the FAA, a process more difficult than an FCC license. (2/5)

India Looks Forward to Space Tourism, Colonization (Source: Live Mint)
Gaganyaan, India's planned mission to take humans to space, will open huge commercial opportunities in the space sector, said former ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair. Nair said once that capability is achieved by putting three astronauts into space using ISRO's GSLV Mk III in December 2021, the country can think in terms of entering the realm of space tourism.

"It is a big international business opportunity for India as there are only a few countries with that capability, and India has a definite advantage as its technology is one of the best and the costs are low," he said. "Once human space travel is achieved, the country can think in terms of colonizing the Moon and later Mars. Chandrayaan has detected the presence of huge quantities of Helium-3 on the Moon which is used for nuclear fission. One tonne of Helium-3 is enough to satisfy the energy needs of the entire country," said Nair. (2/1)

SSTL Begins Work on Lunar Comms Satellite (Source: BBC)
A British company has started work on a satellite to provide communications services at the moon. Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) said Tuesday it has started work on Lunar Pathfinder, a data-relay satellite for lunar missions. SSTL is financing development of the satellite for launch in late 2022, and will sell communications services through a contract with ESA. (2/5)

DOD Deploying New Jammer Tech for Adversary Satellite Comms (Source: Space News)
The U.S. military will deploy a new version of a ground-based communications jammer used to block adversaries' satellite transmissions. The latest version of the Counter Communications System has completed tests and will be ready for initial operations sometime in 2020. Operators on the ground use the system to temporarily deny an adversary access to satellite-based transmissions. The system is operated by the 4th Space Control Squadron, part of the U.S. Space Force's 21st Space Wing in Colorado. (2/5)

Bezos Sale of Amazon Stock Allows More Investment in Blue Origin (Source: CNBC)
Jeff Bezos has sold $1.8 billion in stock, perhaps for funding Blue Origin. Regulatory filings show that Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, sold more than 900,000 shares of that company's stock over the last several days, generating $1.84 billion in cash. Bezos has previously said he provides his space company, Blue Origin, with $1 billion a year to fund its activities. Bezos conducted similar sales of stock in 2019 and 2017. (2/5)

Changing the Way NASA Keeps it Cool (Source: Space Daily)
When deep space exploration missions launch, like NASA's future Artemis missions to the Moon, they carry liquids with them for fuel and life support systems. These liquids are stored at cryogenic temperatures, which range from -243 to -423 degrees F, and to be usable, they need to remain cold and in a liquid state. But as the extreme environment of space warms a spacecraft, the fuels begin to evaporate or "boiloff."

"As energy from the Sun, Earth, and even the Moon enters the cryogenic propellant tanks, the liquid has to absorb that energy, which causes it to boiloff," explains Wesley Johnson, cryogenic fluid management technical lead at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. "Any propellant that evaporates can't be used by the rocket and decreases the efficiency of the rocket." To combat boiloff, NASA's eCryo project team is evaluating a series of technologies aimed at reducing the boiloff losses for human exploration missions. (2/5)

NASA Astronaut's Record-Setting Mission Helps Scientists for Future Missions (Source: Space Daily)
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is set to return to Earth on Feb. 6, after 328 days living and working aboard the ISS. Her mission is the longest single spaceflight by any woman, which is helping scientists gather data for future missions to the Moon and Mars. Koch now holds the record for the second-longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut, which places her seventh on the list of U.S. space travelers for overall time in space. Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly holds the longest single spaceflight for U.S. astronauts at 340 days, set during his one-year mission in 2015-16.

Koch's work during her record-setting mission included participation in more than 210 investigations, helping advance NASA's goals to return humans to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars. Koch participated in a number of studies to support those future exploration missions, including research into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight. One particular research project Koch participated in is the Vertebral Strength investigation, which better defines the extent of spaceflight-induced bone and muscle degradation of the spine, and the associated risk for broken vertebrae. (2/5)

L3Harris Developing GPS Augmenter Test Satellite (Source: Space News)
An experimental navigation satellite being developed by L3Harris for the U.S. Air Force has passed a preliminary design review. The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) is an experiment to show that a layer of smaller satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit could be deployed to supplement GPS satellites in medium Earth orbit. NTS-3 also will be used to develop technologies such as experimental antennas, flexible and secure signals, automation and use of commercial command and control systems that could be used on future GPS 3F satellites. The Air Force Research Laboratory plans to launch NTS-3 in 2022. (2/5)

Momentus to Fly Aurora Cubesat De-Orbit Test on December Falcon 9 Mission (Source: Space News)
A Finnish startup has signed a contract to fly a deorbiting technology demonstration on a Momentus Space Vigoride mission. Aurora Propulsion Technologies plans to send a 1.5-unit cubesat into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December 2020 before riding with Momentus' Vigoride service to sun-synchronous orbit. The Aurora cubesat will demonstrate water-fueled resistojet thrusters to provide attitude and altitude control as well as the Plasma Brake Module, a tether thinner than a human hair but 500 meters long, for deorbiting. The tether works by creating drag through interaction with plasma in the ionosphere. (2/5)

Soyuz Capsule Returns Astronauts to Earth From ISS (Source: AP)
A Soyuz spacecraft successfully landed in Kazakhstan early Thursday, returning three International Space Station crew members to Earth. The Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft landed at 4:12 a.m. Eastern, nearly three and a half hours after undocking from the station. The Soyuz brought back to Earth NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman at 328 days. Also on the Soyuz were ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. (2/6)

Intelsat Could Declare Bankruptcy Over C-Band Funding (Source: Bloomberg)
Intelsat is reportedly considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy if it can't secure more money for C-band spectrum. The company hired bankruptcy experts at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to work on such a filing, according to a source. That news caused the company's stock to drop by a third at one point in trading Wednesday. A bankruptcy filing would delay plans by the FCC to auction C-band spectrum currently used by Intelsat and other satellite operators for terrestrial 5G systems. Intelsat has complained that current proposals would provide far too little compensation to satellite companies for yielding that spectrum. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is scheduled to disclose details of the C-band auction plan today. (2/6)

16,000 Air Force Personnel Assigned to Space Force, But Questions Remain on Details (Source: Space News)
Pentagon officials admit there are still many unanswered questions about standing up the new U.S. Space Force. Among the issues officials discussed at a Wednesday briefing include transferring Air Force personnel to the Space Force: while 16,000 airmen have been assigned to the Space Force, they remain in the Air Force and only the Space Force's commanding general, Jay Raymond, has been formally transferred to the Space Force. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Thompson, vice commander of the U.S. Space Force, said many of those issues will have to be worked out with Congress. (2/6)

ESA Chief Won't Seek Another Term (Source: Space News)
The head of the European Space Agency says he's not seeking another term. In a Feb. 1 email sent to ESA staff, Director General Jan Woerner said he does not want to face a repeat of the 2018 process, during which Woerner says he was targeted by a campaign to erode his standing. However, Woerner said in a blog post two days later that he will remain in the post as long as he receives the trust of the ESA's member states. Woerner has led ESA since July 2015, and his current term expires next January. (2/5)

Virgin Orbit Nears First Launch (Source: Space News)
One small launch vehicle developer, Virgin Orbit, says it is weeks away from its first launch. The company's first LauncherOne rocket is mated to its Boeing 747 aircraft at the Mojave Air and Space Port for final tests, including am upcoming captive carry flight. Company CEO Dan Hart said at the SmallSat Symposium this week that the launch should take place in the "coming weeks." Hart said that, if the demonstration launch is successful, Virgin Orbit should be able to move quickly into operations with additional launches out of Mojave and also from Guam. (2/5)

AdvancingX Announces Collaborative Agreement with ISS National Lab (Source: Space Daily)
AdvancingX has signed a collaborative agreement with the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory (ISS National Lab) to work together to develop outreach and educational projects and activities intended to engage and excite the next generation of researchers and explorers through the orbiting laboratory. AdvancingX has established free access to STEM-X Education programs aimed at engaging students leveraging industry-based content and transforming it into engaging student-led projects.

The program is designed to connect science projects to career goals in space through the Career Astronaut Competition, Veteran Astronaut Training programs, and advancements in Optimal Team Design for Earth based organizations. The ISS National Lab has established Space Station Explorers (SSE) as a community and multi-partner program to promote educational engagements with a broad array of scientific experiments. Members develop and deliver high-quality educational programs that feature STEM concepts and skills including the opportunity for students to design, build, launch and operate their own experiments on the ISS. (2/5)

PLD Space Books First Suborbital Flight, Nears Resolution of Engine Setback (Source: Space News)
Spanish launch startup PLD Space says secured a second customer for the maiden flight of its Miura 1 reusable suborbital rocket while tackling development issues that prevented the mission from occurring last year. Pablo Gallego Sanmiguel, PLD Space’s senior vice president, said Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida will fly four student- and faculty-built experiments on Muira 1.

Those payloads take the remaining commercial space on the mission, which will also fly two microgravity experiments for the Bremen, Germany-based Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity, also known as ZARM. Half the rocket’s payload space will carry sensors to study its first flight. PLD Space planned to launch Miura 1 in 2019, but delayed the rocket’s debut after a “series of test firing anomalies” during engine development, Sanmiguel said. "It was concluded that the issues were related to an overpressure condition during the start of the engine at ignition,” Sanmiguel said. (2/5)

Lockheed Martin Space Wins $473.8M Contract for Trident II Upgrades (Source: Space Daily)
Lockheed Martin Space was awarded a $473.8 million contract for the U.S. Navy's Trident II life extension program. The Trident II (D5) Life Extension 2 Strategic Systems Programs Alteration Advanced Development Program is involved in modernization of subsystems of the submarine-based ballistic missiles, first deployed in 1990. The improvement of the missiles' subsystems -- launcher, navigation, fire control guidance, missile and re-entry -- are under constant improvement in the Strategic Systems Program.

The Navy announced the life extension program, to make Trident II missiles usable until at least 2040, in 2002. The program aims to replace obsolete components at minimal cost through the use of commercial off-the-shelf hardware without compromising performance. Weapons aboard numerous Navy submarines, as well as four in Britain's Royal Navy, have been upgraded through the life extension program. The contract announced Friday with Lockheed Martin Space, based in Titusville, Florida, is expected to be completed by September 2026, with the majority of the work to be performed in the company's Denver facilities. (2/3)

Space Key to Wetland Conservation (Source: Space Daily)
Wetlands worldwide are vanishing at an alarming rate. New maps produced by ESA's GlobWetland Africa project show how satellite observations can be used for the effective use and management of wetlands in Africa. World Wetlands Day on Feb. 2 raises global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for our planet, paying particular attention to wetland biodiversity. Approximately 35% of the world's wetlands were lost between 1970 and 2015, with annual rates of loss accelerating from 2000. Wetlands are currently vanishing three times faster than forests. (2/6)

X-file Solved? Truth Behind Roswell 'Alien' That Made a Woman Faint (Source: Florida Today)
After taking off from Roswell, Walter Singlevich's military helicopter flew across the dusty New Mexico plains to his top-secret Cold War-era target: a silvery balloon equipped to detect nuclear detonations that lay sprawled atop a knoll near a rural ranch house. The helicopter landed nearby. Singlevich and the pilot donned bulky 1950s-era radiation protective suits — complete with hoods and respirators — and hustled up the hill.

That's when the short-statured Singlevich may have inadvertently added a chapter to the "little green men" alien conspiracy lore that swirls around Roswell, New Mexico, where some believe a UFO crashed in 1947. “As they came over the rise where the balloon was, they ran into this woman who was coming from the ranch house," said Jim Whidden, Air Force Technical Applications Center director of staff. "And when she saw them, she fainted," Whidden said.

“So they walked over and made sure that she didn’t hurt herself, and basically left her there — this was very highly classified. They picked up the balloon and all the equipment and the sample, and took it back to the helicopter and left," he said. Singlevich, a former Melbourne Beach resident, died in 1992 at age 73 — and in his later years, he joked that he was a Roswell space alien, Whidden said. He told friends that the stunned woman could have passed a lie detector test while contending she had seen extraterrestrial visitors and their ship. (2/6)

The Majority of New Mexico's STEM Workforce Doesn't Have a Bachelor's Degree (Source: Albuquerque Business First)
According to a newly released analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs data, 57 percent of STEM jobs in New Mexico are held by those without a bachelor's degree. At Sandia National Laboratories, over a fifth of the workforce has a bachelor's degree, according to publicly available data. (2/5)

Boeing’s Exit From Space Plane Project Is A Lesson In Why We Need To Kill Zombies (Source: Forbes)
Sometimes you just have to kill the zombie. We learned  that Boeing has abruptly decided to end its participation in DARPA's Experimental Space Plane (XSP) program – an effort intended to build and fly a reusable rocket “ten times in ten days.” The program got its start back in 2013, right around the same time Elon Musk decided to build a Falcon 9 that can land itself. The difference? Musk’s rocket works. He and his team worked overtime for three years and they figured it out. XSP, on the other hand, has already consumed over six years of engineering effort yet never managed to get beyond an engine demonstration, and – had Boeing not walked away – would still be years away from first flight.

High-tech projects, whether they involve building a new aircraft, a complex software application, an autonomous car, or a rocket, tend to take on lives of their own, and almost never in a good way. Often, a seemingly elegant concept collides with the harsh reality of poor technology forecasting, a totally predictable lack of resources (human, budgetary, and otherwise), vague or badly understood requirements, and – most critically – no clearly stated way to know when you’ve done all you should and it’s simply time to move on to something else.

I can’t emphasize this last problem enough. Hard projects become agonizing slogs if you aren’t meticulous about designing test events (“gates”) that unambiguously shout “succeed” or “fail.” Why? Because the project team and its patrons desperately want to keep trying – they’re invested, they’ve fallen victim to sunk cost, they grow increasingly risk-averse – and as a result their programs become de facto zombies, eking out a twilight existence for year after miserable year, despite mounting evidence suggesting that what’s being attempted is not a good idea after all, and that it would probably be better to go back to the drawing board or shut down altogether. (1/24)