March 20, 2020

SpaceX May Have Missed a Rocket Booster Landing But it Snagged Both Fairing Halves (Source: Teslarati)
Although SpaceX sadly lost a record-breaking rocket booster and suffered a significant in-flight anomaly during its sixth Starlink launch, the company later revealed that it successfully recovered both of Falcon 9’s nosecone halves. Starlink V1 L5 is now the second time ever that SpaceX – or anyone, for that matter – has successfully reused an orbital-class launch vehicle payload fairing, while the mission also marked the first time that SpaceX managed to recover a reused Falcon fairing. The burn from booster issues certainly isn’t fully salved, as twin fairing catchers Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief both missed their fairing catch attempts, but both twice-flown fairing halves were still successfully scooped out of the Atlantic Ocean before they were torn apart.

This is perhaps the most important milestone for SpaceX’s fairing recovery and reuse program since the first successful catch (June 2019) and first successful reuse (November 2019). With a twice-flown fairing now safely in hand for the first time, SpaceX will hopefully be able to dramatically expand its understanding of how flight-proven fairings – especially those that were fished out of the sea – stand up to launch conditions. If these flight-proven halves appear to be in great condition, it could be a boon for the near-term future of fairing recovery and reuse. (3/19)

SpaceX Starship Prototype Speeding Toward Launch Pad for First Raptor Engine Tests (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX continues to build full-scale Starship hardware at a jaw-dropping pace, testing the limits of rocket production to complete the fifth full-scale prototype in three months and prepare the ship for its first Raptor engine ignition tests. This time around, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is fairly confident that the latest Starship prototype – known as serial number 3 (SN3) – has the best chance yet of becoming the first full-scale ship to pass acceptance tests and kick off a Raptor engine static fire campaign. A step further, if said static fires go according to plan, Starship SN3 could become the first full-scale vehicle of its kind to perform controlled flight tests.

Starship SN3 will thus attempt to follow in the footsteps of Starhopper and hopefully avoid an unintentional launch debut similar to the one that destroyed Starship SN1 earlier this month. A successful Starship flight test powered by three Raptor engines would be a major bode of confidence in the upgraded rocket factory SpaceX is building in South Texas. Musk recently made it clear that setting up the machine that builds the machine is currently just as important as individual Starship tests. Thankfully, given that SpaceX is already managing to build colossal rocket prototypes in a matter of weeks for what has to be pennies on the dollar, all with a team of just a few hundred people, the next Starship test campaign is likely just a week or two away. (3/20)

Boca Chica Residents Take Elon Musk’s Money, Make Way for SpaceX Launches From Texas (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Maria Pointer held one final party at her home overlooking the SpaceX facility outside of Brownsville, with guests visiting from early morning until the stars twinkled goodnight and said farewell to the woman who shared her front-row seat of Elon Musk’s rocket activities in Texas. Her husband Rayford, however, couldn’t bring himself to attend the party, devastated by the way things played out. The Pointers purchased the property for its isolation and birdwatching. They spent years building their perfect retirement home.

Then SpaceX moved next door and began building prototypes for its Starship vehicle. Maria Pointer, making the best of the situation, turned her energy toward photographing the company’s progress, building a reputation among SpaceX enthusiasts as Boca Chica Maria. But the Pointers’ relationship with SpaceX grew tenuous last year when the company sought to buy their house and other nearby properties, saying it had become increasingly difficult to minimize disruption.

SpaceX offered to pay three times the property’s market value, based off an independent appraisal. Residents, however, said the appraisals provided by SpaceX weren’t accurate, calling them a lowball offer from the company’s billionaire owner Elon Musk. Negotiations continued, and some residents have since moved out. The Pointers hope to be out by this weekend. Maria Pointer thinks the home will be used by SpaceX employees and doesn’t expect it will be torn down. She wouldn’t say what SpaceX paid, but she acknowledged it was higher than the first offer of $231,000. (3/18)

SpaceX Claims Some Success in Darkening Starlink Satellites (Source: Space News)
SpaceX says it will take more steps to reduce the impact of its Starlink satellite constellation on astronomy, although astronomers disagree with statements by Elon Musk that the system will have “zero” effect on their work. The company has placed 362 Starlink satellites into orbit, counting two experimental satellites launched in 2018, and nearly all of them remain in orbit.

Since large-scale Starlink launches started in May 2019, astronomers have warned that the satellites, far brighter than expected, could interfere with their observations, particularly if SpaceX proceeds with plans to launch 12,000 or more such satellites in the next several years. In response to those concerns, SpaceX included an experimental “DarkSat” among the 60 Starlink satellites launched Jan. 6, with portions of the satellite darkened to reduce its reflectivity and hence brightness.

SpaceX claimed some success with that effort. “Preliminary results show a notable reduction,” said Jessica Anderson. She added that the company had “a couple of other ideas that we think could reduce the reflectivity even further.” One of those, she said, was a “sunshade” that would deploy like a patio umbrella from the satellite. That will be tested on a future Starlink mission, but she didn’t give more details about either the sunshade itself or when it would be flown. (3/18)

How Will NASA Deal With the Moon Dust Problem for Artemis Lunar Landings? (Source: Space.com)
Study teams have gone back to look at Apollo lunar landing data to appraise how much moon terrain was ejected into space. Not only did Apollo landing crews get fogged out by the blown dust, making touchdowns troublesome, but substantial amounts of rock and debris were also sent flying during the rocket-powered landings. NASA aims to put astronauts on the moon again by 2024, so what to do about the dust problem? Scientists are trying to devise the workarounds that appear needed if traveling to the moon is to become routine.

Philip Metzger and other team members at UCF's Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) say landing pads are needed for missions that repeatedly visit a lunar outpost. For lunar landings, CLASS research has shown that the sandblasting that will occur at a lunar outpost is unacceptable, as it will excessively degrade optics, solar cells, thermal control surfaces and moving joints on mechanisms. Impacts of blowing rocks could also break hardware.

Florida Space Institute rsearchers are investigating methods to mitigate the effects of these blasts, such as sintering lunar regolith. They're also looking at robotics for bulldozing and building berms, as well as considering the use of gravel or pavers. And they're organizing a series of robotics competitions for landing pad construction technologies in conjunction with machine learning firms to further advance the necessary robotics capabilities. (3/19)

NASA Asks Public to Design Sensors for Venus Rover Concept (Source: Space.com)
NASA is asking the public to help them explore "hell," as the agency terms it — the roasting surface of the planet Venus. The cloud-shrouded planet is so socked in that its surface — which is covered in lava flows and possibly active volcanoes — soars to oven-like temperatures of 840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius). The surface pressure is so great that it would quickly crush a nuclear submarine, according to NASA.

But NASA has plans to deploy a very hardy rover to the surface, and the agency is asking the public to design a sensor to ride on this early-stage conceptual vehicle. Called Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE), the vehicle will use wind power to spend several months carefully crawling Venus' surface. The vehicle requires the sensor to navigate obstacles in its environment, such as rocks and steep terrain. (3/19)

Vega Rocket's New 3D-Printed Thrust Chamber Passes Critical Hot-Fire Test (Source: Space.com)
A successful firing test shows that Europe's lightweight Vega launcher is well on its way to cheaper and more efficient launches in 2025, officials say. Video footage from the "hot-fire" test of a 3D-printed thrust chamber prototype for Vega's new M10 engine showed it successfully firing on a rainy day. Flames jut out from the thrust chamber, with the pressure causing ripples in the puddles below. The thrust chamber assembly fired 19 times for 450 seconds (about 7.5 minutes) at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama — a common location for developing rocket technology.

It's one small step on a longer road to development for Vega, which is now facing tight competition from private companies eager to grab a slice of the small-launcher space. The M10 engine uses liquid oxygen and liquid methane (which are two environmentally friendly fuels) to replace the second- and third-stage engines in the current Vega rocket, the European Space Agency said in a statement. (3/18)

NASA Mars Budget "Overstressed" with Ongoing Missions (Source: Space News)
Operations of some ongoing Mars missions are threatened by an "overstressed" NASA Mars budget. The agency's fiscal year 2021 budget proposes to end operations of the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter and reduce operations of the Curiosity rover. NASA officials said "available funding for extended mission longevity is limited" even as NASA seeks money to start work on future Mars sample return missions as well as Mars Ice Mapper, an orbiter that would search for subsurface water ice and serve as a communications relay. Cost overruns last year on the Mars 2020 mission also contributed to "austerity" measures for other Mars programs. Mars 2020 remains on schedule for a launch in July, and NASA is current confident that will remain the case despite the coronavirus pandemic. (3/20)

Space Force Seeks Manager for Enterprise Consortium (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is seeking proposals to manage its Space Enterprise Consortium. The solicitation, released Wednesday, seeks bids from organizations to run the consortium, which will oversee up to $12 billion worth of projects over the next decade. The consortium was created in 2017 and has since become a central player in efforts by the Space and Missile Systems Center to bridge the cultural gap between military buyers and commercial space startups and small businesses. (3/20)

Argentina's Arsat Plans Third Satellite (Source: Space News)
A satellite operator in Argentina has revived plans a third satellite. Arsat, Argentina's national satellite operator, expects to soon sign a contract with domestic manufacturer INVAP for a geostationary communications satellite. Arsat CEO Pablo Tognetti said the new Argentine government established in December has decided to finance a third satellite, reversing a decision from the previous administration. That satellite, SG-1, will launch in 2023 with a Ka-band payload. (3/20)

COVID-19 Pandemic Making Astronaut Launch Preparations Unusual (Source: AP)
A NASA astronaut launching to the International Space Station this month says the pandemic is making launch preparations unusual. Chris Cassidy said in media interviews Thursday that he won't have any guests at his April 9 launch from Kazakhstan, including friends and family, and is already in quarantine. He said the swap of his two Russian crewmates with their backups last month, a move made because of a medical issue with one of them, shouldn't be an issue since he already knew the backup crew well. (3/20)
 
Russia Eyes Oct 2021 Launch for Ffirst Lunar Mission in 45 Years (Source: The Telegraph)
Russia is set to send a spacecraft to the moon for the first time in 45 years in a bid to find water on its surface and "lead the world" in space exploration. The Luna-25 spacecraft is expected to take off in October 2021 and touch down near the South Pole, the so-called dark side of the moon. The mission, which comes as the US also looks to ramp up its space program, has echoes of a more cordial version of the Cold-War era space race between the two nations, although both superpowers are now merely catching up with their own achievements decades after slashing funding for the most ambitious and costly projects. (3/17)

RUAG Space to Supply Payload Adapters and Separation Systems for the Soyuz Launchers (Source: Space Daily)
GK Launch Services, an operator of Soyuz-2 commercial launches and RUAG Space, a leading independent space product supplier, have signed a Long-term Purchase Agreement for Payload Adapters and Separation systems for the Soyuz-2 launchers. RUAG Space will supply Payload Adapters and Separation systems for the Soyuz-2 family of launchers. The new purchase agreement between GK Launch Services, an operator of Soyuz-2 commercial launches and RUAG Space a leading independent space product supplier, has been signed on March 11. (3/16)

Students Integrate Cubesat Before Coronavirus Shuts School (Source: Space News)
Boston University student and professors spent eight years developing what they affectionately call the Toaster. It’s a six-unit cubesat scheduled to launch in late March on a Rocket Lab Electron flight from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula to detect electrical currents in Earth’s atmosphere. The mission called ANDESITE, or Ad-Hoc Network Demonstration for Extended Satellite-Based Inquiry, relies on a toaster-sized mothership to eject eight nodes, each about the size of a slice of toast. In orbit, the nodes create a wireless network and relay magnetometer data to the mothership through low-power radios. (3/19)

SpaceX Will Investigate Falcon 9 Rocket Engine Anomaly Before Launching Again (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX's latest batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites made it to orbit just fine this morning (March 18), but the company's Falcon 9 rocket ride suffered a slight hiccup along the way. One of the nine Merlin engines that powers the reusable Falcon 9's first stage shut down too early during today's launch, said SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. He vowed to get to the bottom of the issue, even though it didn't prevent the rocket from doing its job.

Today's success "shows value of having 9 engines! Thorough investigation needed before next mission," Musk said. An anomalous engine reading caused the Falcon 9 to automatically abort a launch attempt on Monday (March 16), pushing the mission back to today. It's possible, though far from confirmed, that today's engine issue is related to the one that caused the abort, Musk said. (3/18)

SpaceX Hits Another Reusability Record: The Rocket That Launched 60 Satellites Wednesday Was on its 5th Flight (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Wednesday’s SpaceX launch was all about reusability. A five-times reused rocket carried 60 satellites inside a reused fairing, or the nose cone of the vehicle, to low-Earth orbit at 8:16 a.m, marking another step toward lowering launch costs for SpaceX. The soot-covered booster used in the mission from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Wednesday most recently flew in November, supporting the second flight of SpaceX’s Starlink spacecraft, a set of internet satellites the company has been rapidly launching to space since May 2019. (3/18)

Outer Space Diplomacy in South Asia (Source: Modern Diplomacy)
In the South Asian region, India is a superpower in outer space activities. India can share the outer space benefit with its South Asian neighbours to make a strong bond on Space diplomacy. In 2017, India’s successful launch of the first-ever South Asia Satellite (SAS) to boost communication and improve disaster links among its six SAARC neighbours (except Pakistan) has “opened up new horizons of engagement” in the region and helped it carve a unique place for itself in space diplomacy. (3/18)

Roscosmos Removes Employees From Kourou Amid COVID-19 Pandemic (Source: RIA News)
Roscosmos plans to remove all its employees from the Kourou Cosmodrome (South America) in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, for which they will send a plane for them, RIA Novosti was told in the press service of Roscosmos. "Now, employees of enterprises of the Russian rocket industry in the Guiana Space Center are carrying out work on the launch complex of the Soyuz-ST launch vehicle. After all work is completed, all specialists will be transported to Russia on a charter flight," the state corporation said. (3/18)

Space Force and Air Force Continue Space Operations During COVID-19 Pandemic (Source: Space News)
The coronavirus pandemic has crippled many activities across the U.S. military but essential duties are being performed, officials said. The U.S. Space Force continues to carry out key duties such as supporting space launches and monitoring potential threats in outer space, service spokesman Maj. Will Russell said. (3/18)

Northrop Grumman Awarded $48.2M for MUOS Satellite Systems for Navy (Source: Space Daily)
Northrop Grumman received a $48.2 million contract to procure the Mobile User Objective System for the Navy, according to the Department of Defense. Under the contract the Navy will procure the MUOS for upgrade its ultra high frequency satellite communications systems. The MUOS is the Navy's next-generation satellite system. (3/18)

More Broadband Satellites Are in Orbit. But Can Researchers Help Them Avoid Space Debris? (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Space debris is not a new phenomenon, but it is a growing concern as potentially tens of thousands of satellites that provide high-speed broadband internet are being launched by companies including OneWeb, Amazon and SpaceX. That’s a dramatic increase from the roughly 2,600 satellites currently in orbit, and it could burden the systems used to track objects and predict potential collisions. Last year, the U.S. Space Force sent out 11.8 million alerts to satellite operators because their spacecraft had a higher-than-desired likelihood of collision. Click here. (3/20)

SpaceX Launches Another Batch of Starlink Satellites, Fails to Recover Booster (Source: Space News)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched another set of Starlink satellites Wednesday morning, but failed to land the booster. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 8:16 a.m. Eastern and deployed the 60 Starlink satellites into orbit 15 minutes later. The rocket's first stage, making a record-setting fifth flight, did not perform a successful droneship landing, but SpaceX disclosed few details about what went wrong. The launch was scheduled for Sunday but aborted at the last second because of "out of family data" during engine startup. (3/19)

NASA Centers Go Mandatory Telework (Source: Space News)
All of NASA's centers have instituted mandatory telework for most personnel in response to the coronavirus pandemic. NASA announced late Tuesday it was moving to "Stage 3" of its response framework, allowing only mission-essential personnel to access its centers. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that while only a "limited" number of NASA personnel had tested positive for COVID-19, the shift to mandatory telework was a "pre-emptive step to thwart further spreading of the virus among the workforce and our communities." Several NASA centers had already gone to Stage 3, either because of cases among employees or concerns about community transmission of the disease. (3/19)

Blue Origin Continues Operations Despite COVID-19 (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin is continuing work on its launch vehicles and engines despite the pandemic. The company, headquartered near Seattle, a hotspot for the disease in the United States, set up a task force weeks ago on the issue, and many employees are now teleworking. Company CEO Bob Smith said that Blue Origin continues to work on its New Shepard and New Glenn launch vehicles and testing of the BE-4 engine that will be used by New Glenn and ULA's Vulcan rocket. He added the company still expected to start flying people on the New Shepard suborbital vehicle before the end of this year. (3/19)

Gogo Seeks Relief After Air Travel Plummets  (Source: Space News)
Inflight connectivity company Gogo is seeking relief on its satellite capacity contracts as demand for air travel plummets. Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne said decreased airline traffic has had a knock-on effect on demand for passenger wi-fi. Because the coronavirus pandemic is driving airlines to remove planes from service, Gogo is not issuing financial guidance for 2020. Gogo plans to use its heft as a large buyer of satellite capacity from companies like Intelsat and SES to get more favorable terms for capacity leases. (3/19)

More COVID-19 Event Shifts (Source: The National)
The 16th International Conference on Space Operations, or SpaceOps, has been postponed because of the pandemic. The conference, which was scheduled for May 18-22 in Cape Town, South Africa, has been rescheduled for May 3-7, 2021. The United Arab Emirates Space Agency says that Hope, its Mars orbiter mission, is still scheduled to launch in July despite travel disruptions caused by the pandemic. A spokesperson for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, whose H-2 rocket will launch the spacecraft, said the company expects only "minimal" impacts on its operations. (3/18)
 
Afghanistan Seeks Indian Satellite Capacity for Remote Education Amid COVID-19 Outbreak (Source: Hindustan Times)
Afghanistan is requesting India provide capacity on one of its satellites to enable remote education during the coronavirus outbreak. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said use of an Indian satellite would help with social distancing to prevent new cases of COVID-19 infections. As a landlocked country bordering Iran, a country with one of the highest rates of infection, Ghani said that Afghanistan is particularly challenged when combating the disease. Satellite connectivity would support education for Afghan youth and women, he said. (3/18)

ESA Patents Signal Compression Standards for Satellite Telemetry (Source: ESA)
The European Space Agency has patented a family of signal compression standards developed using its Proba-2 microsatellite. The standards help compress satellite telemetry data, reducing bandwidth needs when linking with ground stations. Satellite operators can use the freed up bandwidth to beam down more valuable data, such as scientific measurements or imagery, depending on the type of satellite. (3/18)

Intelsat Picks SpaceX to Launch Maxar-Built Satellite (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has selected SpaceX to launch its Intelsat 40e satellite. Intelsat said a Falcon 9 will launch the Maxar-built satellite in 2022, with terms of the deal not disclosed. Intelsat-40e will provide connectivity in Ku- and Ka-band over North America, supporting customers in government, in-flight connectivity and enterprise businesses, and also carries a NASA Earth science hosted payload, TEMPO. (3/18)

SLS Suffers $300M Overrun and Years of Delay with KSC-Based Mobile Launcher (Source: Space News)
A report by NASA's Office of Inspector General found cost and schedule issues with the development of the Space Launch System's launch platform. The report said that the Mobile Launcher (ML) 1 platform suffered more than $300 million in overruns and years of delays. ML-1 was originally built for Constellation's Ares 1 rocket but needed significant work to modify it for use by SLS.

The report blamed both "immature" SLS and Orion requirements that caused significant rework of the platform, as well as poor performance by one contractor. NASA addressed some of those issues with plans for a second mobile launcher, ML-2, for the Block 1B version of the SLS, but the report warned those changes may not prevent cost and schedule problems. ML-1 will ultimately cost $927 million, but be used for no more than four SLS missions. (3/18)

Apollo Astronaut Al Worden, Who Orbited the Moon, Dies at 88 (Source: CollectSpace)
Apollo astronaut Alfred Worden, who performed the first-ever spacewalk in deep space while on his way home from the moon in 1971, has died at the age of 88. Worden's death was announced by his family on Wednesday morning (March 18). He recently had developed an infection that led to a collapse at his home in League City, Texas, for which he was receiving care at Texas Medical Center in Houston at the time of his death.

Chosen by NASA with its fifth class of astronauts in 1966, Worden made his first and only spaceflight as the command module pilot of Apollo 15, the fourth mission to land humans on the moon. Launched on July 26, 1971, Worden remained in lunar orbit on board the Apollo 15 command module "Endeavour" while his two crewmates, David Scott and James Irwin, spent almost three days exploring the moon's Hadley Rille. (3/18)

OneWeb Considers Bankruptcy as Cash Dwindles (Source: Bloomberg)
OneWeb is reportedly considering a bankruptcy filing because of limited cash. Company sources said it may seek court protection while also considering other options to address funding needs as it deploys its broadband satellite constellation. The company declined to comment on the report, and its next launch remains on schedule for Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (3/20)

COVID-19 Forces NASA to Suspend SLS and Orion Work at Michoud and Stennis (Source: Space News)
NASA is suspending work on the Space Launch System and Orion at two NASA centers because of the coronavirus pandemic. NASA announced late Thursday that it was elevating the Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space Center to "Stage 4" of its pandemic response framework. The decision effectively shuts down both facilities, allowing only those personnel needed for safety and security to be on site. That puts a halt to work such as SLS core stage testing at Stennis and manufacturing of SLS core stages and Orion components at Michoud. (3/20)

Demand Sustains Space Industry Amid COVID-19 Pandemic (Source: Space News)
The space industry may not be as strongly affected by the pandemic as other parts of the economy, according to a report. The study by Quilty Analytics concluded that growing demand for broadband created by teleworking, and reduced cord-cutting of traditional TV services by people stuck at home, will bolster the satellite communications sector. Companies that do provide maritime and aviation connectivity will be hurt, the report noted, but continued government business may sustain others. (3/20)

Rocket Lab Readies Next Launch (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab is continuing with plans for its next launch at the end of this month. A company spokesperson said Thursday that the next Electron launch remains on track, with a launch no earlier than March 30. The company's launch team is in place, as are all the payloads for the mission, such as the ANDESITE cubesat built by students at Boston University. The New Zealand government closed its borders Friday, allowing only citizens and residents into the country. (3/20)

Astra Scheduled for Next Launch Attempt at Alaska Spaceport (Source: Space News)
California-based Astra is scheduled to make another launch attempt of its small rocket from Alaska the week of March 23, according to FAA and Coast Guard notices, but the company has not publicly confirmed its launch plans and did not respond to a request for comment about them. (3/20)

Virgin Orbit Sees Potential Maiden Launch Slip Due to COVID-19 (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit's first launch may slip because of the pandemic. The company said Thursday that it is reassessing the schedule for the first LauncherOne mission, which was likely to take place in April, while "moving aggressively" to protect the health of its employees and families. Most employees are teleworking, although some are still working on site at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California to prepare the vehicle. (3/20)