March 17, 2020

Embry-Riddle Alumna Uses 3-D Printing to Help Guide, Control ‘Asteroid Jumping’ Spacecraft (Source: ERAU)
Poking around under the hood is in Yomary Betancur Vesga’s comfort zone. As an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduate student, she handled all of her own car maintenance herself — a budgetary necessity, she said. Now as a young engineer, newly hired by Collins Aerospace, she is applying her skills far beyond her home garage — namely, in designing a vehicle that can withstand the rigors of space exploration. Her work has required her to create 3-D printed parts, integrate hardware and software, develop algorithms, and then, test, verify and validate her work, all as a part of a project funded by NASA.

Working in the Advanced Dynamic and Control Lab at the John Mica Engineering and Aerospace Innovation Complex (“MicaPlex”), in Embry-Riddle’s Research Park, she has been developing and implementing guidance, navigation and control systems for a six-degree-of-freedom spacecraft. The craft, complete with a camera and drill system, will have the ability to “jump” onto asteroids to collect samples. (12/20)

Mom-and-Pop Investors’ Craze for Space Tourism Survives Coronavirus (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The coronavirus has brought markets crashing back to Earth, but its gravity isn’t restraining mom-and-pop investors’ enthusiasm for space-tourism venture Virgin Galactic. Shares in the company created by British billionaire Richard Branson were up more than 200% before fears about the Covid-19 outbreak buffeted the equity market, relative to their price when the company was first listed back in October. Since the market selloff started on Feb. 19, they have fallen about 70%. (3/16)

Creation of an Indian Defence Space Agency: A New Chapter In Exploring India’s Space Security (Source: Defence Aviation Post)
Outer space exploration has turned into a key part of a modern society’s functionality with several services including weather, communication, Internet, banking and navigation, supported by satellites orbiting the Earth. India being one of the major actors in outer space has in many ways led the usage of satellites for the benefit of the society. With the space infrastructure of India powering the economy, is there a case for exploring the defence of these vital systems?

Moreover, given that the geopolitics and security scenarios are changing with respect to the utilisation of outer space, should India explore its capabilities and capacities built in the country for the past 50 years for dedicated space defence operations? The present work provides insights on the key question as to are we or are we not at a tipping point where the government needs to draw a vision in securing national interests via creation of a Defence Space Agency as an interim arrangement until a full-fledged Aerospace Command is in place. If so, what are its technological, organisational and policy facets? (3/17)

Space, Right Here At Home In SoCal (Source: Forbes)
Being housebound during the Coronavirus outbreak, had me thinking about an exciting space story close to home. I am blessed to teach entrepreneurship in the very heart of the global commercial space industry, Southern California. SpaceX, Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space and many other amazing space startups are all within a few miles of my office in the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial studies.

Our University, the University of Southern California has long been a national leader in space research and education. Our notable space alumni include recent NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, former House Space Subcommittee Chair Dana Rohrabacher and Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong. The first moonwalker actually completed his mission while enrolled at USC as master’s student in Aerospace engineering. (3/17)

How NASA is Preparing to Launch Humans to Space as Coronavirus Pandemic Worsens (Source: The Verge)
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the US, NASA is still moving forward with many of its upcoming missions, including some launches that will send humans to the International Space Station in the near future. As of now, NASA does not foresee any changes being made to these missions, and there are already procedures in place to guarantee astronauts do not bring any illnesses with them into space.

NASA has its own internal “response framework” for how it plans to deal with the pandemic. It lists four different stages for the agency, which each detail the amount of people who will work from home, the level of access to NASA facilities, and how much travel will be allowed. Right now, two NASA centers — Ames Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center — are on Stage 3, which makes telework mandatory and only allows “mission-essential” personnel on site at facilities. NASA bumped these two centers to Stage 3 after employees tested positive for COVID-19 at each place. (3/17)

How Russia Still Reveals The United States’ Vulnerability In Space (Source: Forbes)
A few weeks ago, a handful of trade journals benignly reported that at least one Russian satellite, Cosmos 2542, had been launched into orbits eerily close to some of America’s most expensive and exquisite satellites. Ironically, the British DailyMail had the most to say about the mysterious spacecraft, while some are suggesting that this occurrence is akin to Sputnik 2.0.

There has been plenty of whispering in Washington about similar events in recent years, but very little is being reported in either mainstream or alternative media, save for Time magazine. Not too long ago, it was China’s notorious SJ-17 that was conducting unexplained and provocative maneuvers towards U.S. satellites. Intelsat, a commercial company that provides a large portion of the wideband communications for the military, went public about nefarious threats from Russia. (3/17)

SpaceX Tweaks Starship's Super Heavy Rocket Booster as Design Continues to Evolve (Source: Teslarati)
CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX continues to evolve the design of its next-generation Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket booster, a process of continuous improvement the company has successfully used for a decade. Designed to place more than 100 metric tons (220,000 lb) of payload into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Starship would effectively double (and possibly triple) the expendable performance of SpaceX’s existing Falcon Heavy rocket. Critically, it would be able to dramatically outclass Falcon Heavy (and Falcon 9 even more so) in a fully reusable configuration, meaning that both the Starship upper stage and Super Heavy booster could be recovered and reused.

According to Musk, the Super Heavy booster will be stretched by a steel ring or two, reaching a new height of ~70m (230 ft). In other words, Starship’s first stage alone will measure as tall as the entirety of a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rocket – first stage, second stage, and payload fairing included. Powered by up to 37 Raptor engines, a Super Heavy booster could produce more than ~90,000 kN (19,600,000 lbf) of thrust at liftoff – an incredible 12 times as much thrust as SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.

Starship, meanwhile, will be a beast of an orbital-class upper stage on its own, measuring at least 50m (165 ft) tall and weighing some 1350 metric tons (3 million lb) fully-fueled. Stacked on top of Super Heavy, a Starship ‘stack’ would reach a staggering 120m (395 ft) and weigh more than 5000 metric tons (11 million lb) once loaded with liquid oxygen and methane propellant. (3/17)

Rocket Lab’s Electron Launch Vehicle Certified by NASA (Source: Rocket Lab)
NASA has certified Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle, providing confidence for NASA’s low cost scientific, educational and technology demonstration small satellites. The certification milestone was achieved largely through the successful launch of the NASA ELaNa-19 mission which saw 13 NASA CubeSats delivered to orbit by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle in December 2018.

The mission was Rocket Lab’s fourth successful Electron launch. It marked a significant milestone for NASA’s forward-leaning Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) initiative because it was the first time NASA CubeSats received a dedicated ride to orbit on a commercial launch vehicle. Following this launch, an extensive assessment of Rocket Lab’s Electron production facilities and processes was also carried out in 2019, culminating in the Category 1 certification being awarded. (3/17)

Soyuz Launches Glonass Navsat From Russia (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a Glonass navigation satellite Monday. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 2:28 p.m. Eastern and deployed the satellite, Cosmos 2545, into a medium Earth orbit several hours later. The satellite will help maintain global coverage for the navigation system. (3/17)

Space Force Needs Clearly Defined Mission, Identity (Source: Space News)
A new report says the new U.S. Space Force needs to clearly define its mission and work to develop a singular identity. The report by the RAND Corporation, released Monday, recommends that most, of not all, Defense Department space activities be consolidated under the Space Force to ensure the new service has sufficient size and resources going forward. RAND recommends that the Space Force headquarters build up resources that are essential to the independence and identity of the service, such as experts who can develop operational concepts and doctrine, and those who put together budget plans. The report was requested by Maj. Gen. Clinton Crosier, who led the planning effort to stand up a space service under the Department of the Air Force. (3/17)

Small Launcher Suspends Operations (Source: Space News)
Small launch vehicle startup Leo Aerospace has suspended operations because of funding problems. The early stage startup said that investors were more interested in companies that could provide returns on shorter time horizons, and that the U.S. Air Force had delayed for months a decision on an SBIR grant application it filed. The company had been working on a launch system that would have used a balloon-based platform for launching rockets to place small satellites into orbit. It was one of dozens of companies pursuing small launch vehicles, most of which investors and industry experts expect to fail. (3/17)

Finalists Selected for Small Astrophysics Missions (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected finalists for its next small astrophysics mission. NASA announced Monday it chose two full-scale Small Explorer, or SMEX, mission concepts and two smaller Mission of Opportunity proposals for nine-month studies. NASA will pick up to two next year to go into development for launch by 2025. The proposed missions range from observations of stars whose flares could strip the atmospheres from exoplanets to gamma-ray observations of stellar explosions and neutron star mergers. (3/17)

Sea Launch Vessel Arrives in Russia (Source: Sputnik)
One of the vessels used by the Sea Launch system has arrived in Russia. The Sea Launch command ship arrived at the port of Slavyanka in the Russian Far East. It had been based at Long Beach, California, since Sea Launch started operations in the late 1990s, but is being moved by the new owner of the venture, S7 Group, to Russia. The mobile launch platform used by Sea Launch is also in the process of moving from Long Beach to Russia. (3/17)

Ryugu is Highly Porous (Source: Science News)
The asteroid Ryugu reminds scientists of … instant coffee. Japanese scientists working on the Hayabusa2 mission to Ryugu say the asteroid is highly porous. About half of the asteroid's volume is voids, something consistent with the "rubble pile" model of its formation from debris aggregated from the breakup of a larger body. The surface texture of Ryugu, said one scientist, "is something like freeze-dry coffee." (3/17)