April 16, 2020

Rubio, Blumenthal Urge NASA to Expand Partnerships With Private Sector to Support Artemis (Source: Sen. Rubio)
U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) urged NASA Administrator James Bridenstine to expand partnerships with the private sector to support the Artemis program and NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program. In the letter, the senators highlight the importance of continued lunar exploration to support the goal of developing a sustainable presence on the Moon. (4/15)

Virgin Galactic Stock is Jumping, But Some Might be Trading the Wrong Company (Source: CNBC)
Shares of Virgin Galactic surged higher in Tuesday trading but some of the positive momentum appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Virgin Galactic’s stock has been a favorite among speculative traders, especially in the final few months of the bull market earlier this year. It’s also been prone to volatile swings and, on Tuesday, it rose alongside other technology stocks. But Virgin Galactic shares jumped even higher in midday trading, after a headline noted that similarly-named Virgin Orbit had won a government contract.

Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic does not have any ownership or stake in Virgin Orbit, a company that is developing rockets to launch small satellites. Additionally, while Virgin Galactic is publicly-traded, Virgin Orbit was spun-off in 2017 and is privately held by Sir Richard Branson’s multinational conglomerate Virgin Group. (4/14)

Shocking Research Threatens Our Understanding of Dark Matter (Source: Futurism)
A controversial new research paper threatens to upend what many astrophysicists assume to be true about dark matter — but many remain unconvinced the new study is correct. A team of University of California, Berkeley astrophysicists failed to find any dark matter, the invisible stuff that holds galaxies together, within the Milky Way, Live Science reports. But because that’s almost certainly an incorrect takeaway, the paper seems instead to suggest that other astrophysicists were wrong about how to find dark matter in the first place.

One popular hypothesis is that dark matter is made of a theoretical subatomic particle called the sterile neutrino. When sterile neutrinos decay, they’re thought to give off x-rays at a specific wavelength. So scanning galaxies for those x-rays has been an indirect way to measure how much dark matter they contain. Here’s where the new research creates a problem: astrophysicists turned their attention inward and looked for that x-ray frequency within our own galaxy. And they found nothing, potentially debunking the sterile neutrino model. (4/13)

Is Intelsat Going Bankrupt? (Source: Bloomberg)
Intelsat shares tumbled Tuesday after a report bankers are working a bankruptcy financing package for the company. JPMorgan Chase is lining up a debtor-in-possession loan for the satellite operator, according to people with knowledge of the plans, which would be needed if Intelsat sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing could allow the company to restructure its high debt ahead of an auction of C-band spectrum that could net the company billions. Intelsat didn't comment on the report, but that news did cause the company's shares to drop by more than 20% in trading Tuesday. (4/15)

Synspective Ditches Arianespace, Shifts Launch to Rocket Lab (Source: Space News)
A Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR) startup will launch its first satellite with Rocket Lab rather than Arianespace. Rocket Lab announced Tuesday it signed a contract to launch the first Synspective SAR satellite on an Electron rocket late this year. Synspective, which has raised $100 million for a constellation of about 25 such satellites, originally planned to launch that first satellite on a Vega rideshare mission. Synspective said that it switched to rocket lab "as a result of adjusting the launch timing and the orbit of the satellite," and would fly a future satellite on Vega instead. (4/15)

NASA Advances Food-in-Space Technology (Source: Space Daily)
NASA is prepared to plant new varieties and bigger quantities of food in gardens on the International Space Station as part of its planned Moon to Mars program. While astronauts in orbit harvest and sample leafy greens grown in space, scientists on the ground in Florida develop new space crops using the same equipment. Growing food in space has become part of NASA's planned Artemis missions for travel to the moon and Mars because the agency has found that gardens on board boost astronaut nutrition, psychology and health.

NASA envisions a ramp-up of fresh food production in space by adding more growing chambers in the coming years. Plants are grown on the ground exactly as they are in space -- with the exception of weightlessness. That allows NASA to target new plant varieties that could grow on the space station, such as radishes, tomatoes and chili peppers. The space agency also studies the difference between plants grown in space and those grown on the ground to spot any potential differences. (4/14)

Air Force Supports Startups Focused on Cislunar Projects (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force is working with a group of startups on ways to monitor objects in cislunar space. Rhea Space Activity and Saber Astronautics received an Air Force SBIR contract to develop a concept to collect and analyze information about objects and activities in cislunar space near the moon. The companies' concept involves "a three-dimensional space situational awareness portal" to track objects and analyze data. The Air Force sought proposals last December on ways it can expand its space domain awareness capabilities beyond geosynchronous orbit as cislunar space becomes "more crowded and competitive." (4/15)

Launcher Inks Deal With Stennis for Engine Testing (Source: Space News)
Small launch vehicle company Launcher has an agreement to test its rocket engines at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The company said it signed a Space Act Agreement with Stennis to use a test complex there for tests of the company's E-2 engine it is developing for a small launch vehicle. Launcher hopes to begin testing the engine's combustion chamber there this summer, followed by full-scale engine testing. Launcher is focusing on engine development for now, after which it will scale up development of the overall launch vehicle for flights starting in the mid-2020s. (4/15)

Chinese Startup Raises $14 Million for Rocket Engines (Source: Space News)
Chinese space propulsion startup Space Pioneer has raised a round of funding to complete work on new engines. ZJU Joint Innovation Investment, linked to Zhejiang University, led the $14 million pre-Series A round announced this week. The company, established in 2015, will use the funds to complete work on a 30-ton-thrust liquid-propellant engine named Tianhuo-3. It plans to fully develop the engine, which uses a "next-generation" green, ambient temperature propellant, and take it to the test stand this year. (4/15)

NASA Develops Unique Materials for the Next Generation of Aircraft (Source: Space Daily)
As NASA looks to the future of flight, the agency is investing in technologies aimed at changing the aviation industry as we know it. These developments vary from basic materials to full-scale experimental aircraft, all designed to increase efficiency and reliability, while decreasing weight and cost. NASA engineers are developing innovative new materials that can be used to manufacture better parts for aircraft engines and related systems. One of these materials is Silicon Carbide (SiC) Fiber-Reinforced SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites (SiC/SiC CMCs).

This lightweight and reusable fiber material is ideal for high-performance machinery, like aircraft engines, operating for extended periods of time in punishing conditions. SiC fibers can withstand up to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit and are strong enough to last months, or even years, between maintenance cycles. (4/9)

GeoOptics Uses GPS Satellites to Analyze Weather (Source: Space News)
GeoOptics has developed a new way to better analyze weather data from GPS radio occultation satellites. The system it developed is designed to address an inherent challenge in employing radio occultation data when two signals reach a receiver at the same time and have to be separated. GeoOptics is developing a constellation of satellites to collect such data, and delivers it to NOAA as part of its Commercial Weather Data Pilot. (4/15)

Satellites Track Polluters in China (Source: Space News)
Satellite imagery has identified the sources of air pollution that continued in China despite a slowdown in activity earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. A Finnish institute used images from Planet's constellation of satellites to visually inspect factory plumes to see which continued to operate. They found that steel factories and power plants kept going even as other factories shut down, which can explain why pollution levels around Beijing did not drop as much as researchers expected. (4/15)

French Researchers Use Pandemic Quarantine to Study Long-Duration Spaceflight (Source: Reuters)
French researchers are using the pandemic as an experiment of sorts for long-duration spaceflight. Sixty students at a university in Toulouse, confined to their dorm rooms because of a lockdown in response to the pandemic, are keeping a journal and performing computer-based tests to see how the isolation is affecting them. Researchers said that while the comparison to an extended space mission is not perfect — the students can leave their dorm rooms for daily trips outside — it provides an opportunity to study the psychological effects isolation can have on people. (4/15)

Russia Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon, Earning U.S. Rebuke (Source: Space News)
Russia tested an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon Wednesday, drawing a strong rebuke from the U.S. military. The test of the direct-ascent ASAT, a ballistic missile called Nudol, did not appear to hit a satellite, and was just the latest in a series of tests of the system dating back to 2014. However, Gen. John Raymond, commander of U.S. Space Command and U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, criticized the test in a statement, calling it "yet another example that the threats to U.S. and allied space systems are real, serious and growing." Raymond previously criticized Russian tests of an "inspector" satellite that came close to an NRO reconnaissance satellite. (4/16)

Pandemic Won't Stop NASA Mars 2020 Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA's Mars 2020 rover mission remains on schedule for a launch in three months. Agency officials said at a meeting Wednesday that launch preparations for the mission are continuing, with new precautions to keep those working at the Kennedy Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory healthy during the pandemic. The mission has a narrow launch window that opens July 17, and would be delayed to 2022 if it does not launch by Aug. 5. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who has previously identified Mars 2020 and the upcoming SpaceX commercial crew test flight as the top two near-term priorities for the agency, said a launch delay to 2022 could cost NASA more than $500 million. (4/16)

Spire to Support Ship Tracking (Source: Space News)
Spire Global will work with a Greek company to develop data products based on ship-tracking data collected by its satellites. Spire Maritime, the company's maritime division, said it partnered with VesselBot, a Greek technology company focused on the international maritime industry, to develop products based on Spire's automatic identification system (AIS) data. The companies said those future services will include information to help ship owners "optimize performance" of their vessels. (4/16)

Russian Space Executive Diagnosed with COVID-19 Infection (Source: TASS)
An executive of Russian space company RSC Energia has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Yevgeny Mikrin, who is the chief designer and deputy CEO of Energia, tested positive for the disease but has not shown any symptoms. He is self-isolating at home. About 30 people in the Russian space industry have COVID-19, but Mikrin is the only high-ranking official diagnosed so far. (4/16)

Europe's Cheops Astronomy Satellite Ready for Planet Hunting (Source: BBC)
A European exoplanet spacecraft is ready to begin its mission. The Cheops spacecraft, launched in December, has completed its post-launch commissioning and is beginning observations of stars known to harbor exoplanets. The spacecraft will study those exoplanets that pass in front of, or transit, their stars as seen from Earth, creating small decreases in the star's brightness. Astronomers plan to use Cheops to better characterize those exoplanets with more precise measurements of their sizes. (4/16)

Astronomers Find Potential Earthlike Planet (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have found a potentially Earthlike planet orbiting a distant star. The planet, Kepler-1649c, orbits a red dwarf star at a distance that would allow liquid water to exist on its surface. The planet is about 6% bigger than the Earth and is 300 light-years away. Astronomers note that don't have any evidence yet that the planet could be habitable beyond its size and orbit. The planet had initially been dismissed as a "false positive" in data from the Kepler mission, but astronomers reexamined the data and concluded that the planet did, in fact, exist. (4/16)