April 11, 2020

Teledyne Takes Hit From OneWeb Bankruptcy (Source: Teledyne)
Teledyne, one of the first component suppliers to announce an agreement with OneWeb, is considering a $40 million pre-tax charge to its financial performance because of OneWeb’s bankruptcy. Teledyne said April 6 it may establish a reserve for accounts receivable and inventory related to OneWeb, which launched 74 of a planned 648 satellites before filing for bankruptcy. Teledyne received a $95 million contract to provide signal converters and filter assemblies to OneWeb Satellites, the manufacturer of OneWeb’s constellation. (4/10)

Swarm Obtains U.S. Regulatory OK to Start IoT Constellation Service (Source: Swarm)
Smallsat internet-of-things startup Swarm has received all the regulatory approvals it needs to start service in the United States later this year. The company’s FCC license covers 1 million user devices so Swarm’s tiny SpaceBEE satellites can link to customers. Swarm also has market access in Germany, Sweden, the U.K., New Zealand, Antarctica and over international waters. Swarm anticipates having 30 gateway ground stations installed by the end of the summer to enable services from a constellation that could eventually number 150 satellites. So far the company has ground stations in the U.S., the U.K., Antarctica, New Zealand, and the Azores archipelago. (4/10)

$15 for One Acre of Land on Mars from Buy Planet Mars (Source: Groupon)
Groupon is offering a half-price deal to purchase an acre of land on Mars. "Own an acre of land in our Solar System’s 4th planet; package includes the deed, a map with location of your land, and a Mars info eBook." Click here. (4/11)

FCC to Approve Spectrum Plan That Pentagon Claims Will Harm GPS (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Federal Communications Commission is poised to approve a draft order as soon as today that would reallocate a specific portion of the radio spectrum for broadband communications, overruling a decade of strong objections from the Department of Defense. Senior Pentagon leaders warn that such a move will lead to “unacceptable” harm to the GPS system by creating new interference that could disrupt satellites critical to national security. The decision, described by multiple sources, would allow the privately held Ligado Networks, formerly known as LightSquared, to operate in L-band frequency range despite years of government resistance, largely led by the DoD. (4/10)

Astronauts Brace for Return to Earth – and Coronavirus (Source: CBS)
Nearly seven months aboard the International Space Station may be an extreme case of social distancing and isolation, but astronaut Jessica Meir says she expects to feel more isolated than ever when she returns next week to a planet in the grip of the coronavirus. "It is quite surreal for us to see this whole situation unfolding on the planet below," Meir told CBS News during an orbital news conference Friday. "The Earth still looks just as stunning as always from up here, so it's difficult to believe all the changes that have taken place." (4/10)

DoD Space Acquisition Council to Consider New Actions to Help Aerospace Industry Cope with Pandemic (Source: Space News)
A senior level group created by Congress to synchronize space procurements across the Defense Department will hold an emergency meeting to discuss possible measures to assist the aerospace industry, the Department of the Air Force’s top acquisition executive Will Roper said. The council plans to hold an “out of cycle” meeting within the next two weeks to focus on actions to shore up the aerospace industry and “identify how best to focus additional stimulus funding during COVID-19,” Roper said. (4/11)

NASA: Northeast U.S. Air Pollution Drops 30% (Source: Aviation Week)
Signs of the global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus are clearly visible in satellite data that show a 30% drop in air pollution over the Northeast U.S. as residents bunker down to avoid exposure to COVID-19 (4/10).

Chernobyl Forest Wildfire Seen From Space as Radiation Spikes (Source: Space.com)
The forest near the old Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is burning, and the effects are visible from space. The Suomi NPP satellite, a joint project of NASA and NOAA, captured a photo Sunday (April 5) of the human-caused wildfire burning in Ukraine's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Radiation counts near the fire have registered 2.3 microsievert per hour, a spike from the typical 0.14 μSv/h, according to Live Science. (4/10)

UAE's First Spacecraft Bound for Mars is Now Complete (Source: Space.com)
If all goes smoothly this summer, three new spacecraft will launch toward the Red Planet, including the Arab world's first interplanetary probe, dubbed Hope Mars Mission. Construction on that spacecraft wrapped up earlier this year in the United Arab Emirates in preparation for its July launch. The launch will come less than a year after another major milestone for the country: In September 2019 its first spaceflyer, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket and spent a week living and working on the International Space Station. (4/10)

How SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Orbit and ULA are Helping in the Fight Against Coronavirus (Source: Florida Today)
Houston, we have a solution! There seems to be no challenge too big for aerospace engineers to handle. They can make the most powerful rocket on earth. They can land rovers on Mars. They can send humans to the moon. And in the case of NASA's Apollo 13 mission— the 50th anniversary is April 11 — they could repair a dying spacecraft and save the three men aboard using duct tape and cardboard. Known for the ingenuity and problem-solving skills, the engineers responsible for making rockets and spacecraft are now putting their brainpower and high-tech manufacturing methods to help combat COVID-19. Click here. (4/10)

NASA Looks to University Teams to Advance Aviation Technology (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected five teams led by university faculty and students to examine a range of technical areas in support of the agency’s aeronautics research goals. Known as the University Leadership Initiative (ULI), the project will provide a total of $32.8 million to the five teams during the next four years. “Each of these teams is working on important problems that definitely will help break down barriers in ways that will benefit the U.S. aviation industry,” said John Cavolowsky, director of NASA’s Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program in Washington, D.C.

This is the third time NASA Aeronautics has reached out to the academic community in this way. Five teams were selected in 2017 and three teams announced in 2019. Unlike other NASA-funded research programs in which the agency specifies the project goals, universities are asked to come up with a compelling investigation, so long as that technical challenge addresses one of the strategic research thrusts of NASA. Another key goal of ULI is for the student researchers involved to gain experience in leading a multidisciplinary team made up of partners from other universities and industry, especially representing those who traditionally have not applied their skills to aviation problems. (4/10)