April 26, 2020

Soyuz Launches From Kazakhstan with Space Station Supply Ship (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Soyuz rocket decorated to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe fired into space Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, sending a Progress supply ship on a fast-track, three-hour pursuit of the International Space Station. The number 75 has a double significance because the cargo mission is the 75th Progress resupply flight to the International Space Station since 2000. The Soyuz launch was timed less than a minute before the space station soared directly over the historic Central Asia spaceport, putting the Progress cargo freighter on course to dock with the orbiting research outpost less than three-and-a-half hours later. (4/25)

Sea Launch “Frozen” After Ships Moved to Russia (Source: Space News)
The two vessels that serve as a floating launch platform and command ship for Sea Launch are now in a Russian port, but the company’s owner says no launches are planned for the foreseeable future. Vladislav Filev, chairman of the board of S7 Group, the Russian airline which owns Sea Launch, said that while the command ship and launch platform had now arrived in port near Vladivostok, the project was on hold.

Filev said in the interview that there currently was no opportunity to do anything with the vessels, “so we have frozen the program until better times.” Filev didn’t give a more specific estimate on when company operations could resume. The two vessels had been based in the Port of Long Beach, California, since Sea Launch started operations in the late 1990s. They were used for launches of the Zenit-3SL rocket, most recently in May 2014.

In 2016, S7 Group announced an agreement to purchase Sea Launch from RSC Energia, who had become the primary owner during a reorganization after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2009. Filev said S7 Group paid about $150 million for Sea Launch, and envisioned conducting 70 launches over 15 years with the system. The sale of Sea Launch to S7 Group closed in April 2018, but only in recent months had the company taken steps to move the ships from Long Beach to Russia. In February, the launch platform, Odyssey, was loaded onto a cargo ship that transported it to Russia, while the command ship sailed on its own. (4/24)

Lockheed Martin Wins DARPA Contract to Integrate Blackjack Satellites (Source: Space News)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Lockheed Martin a $5.8 million contract for satellite integration work for the Blackjack program, the company announced April 24. Blackjack is a project to deploy a constellation of 20 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2022 and demonstrate that a LEO system can provide global high-speed communications. Lockheed Martin will define and manage interfaces between Blackjack’s satellite buses, payloads and the so-called Pit Boss autonomous data processor. The work will be performed at the company’s satellite manufacturing plant in California. (4/24)

U.S. SPACECOM Official on FCC Ligado Decision: ‘I Want to See the Analysis’ (Source: Space News)
The Federal Communications Commission insists that the vote to license spectrum to Ligado adjacent to the Global Positioning System was based on expert guidance. The commission said engineering studies show that Ligado’s terrestrial cellular network, contrary to Pentagon claims, will not interfere with GPS. U.S. Space Command’s Brig. Gen. Thomas James said he is unconvinced. “I would want to personally see the analysis,” James said April 24 during an online forum hosted by the Mitchell Institute. (4/24)

China Reveals Name, Logo for its 'Tianwen' First Mars Landing Mission (Source: CollectSpace)
China revealed the name and logo for its first mission aimed at landing on the planet Mars to mark the 50th anniversary of its first satellite launch. Celebrating the country's Space Day on Friday (April 24), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that its upcoming robotic mission to the Red Planet will be named "Tianwen-1." The name, borrowed from an ancient Chinese verse by poet Qu Yuan, translates to "questions about the heavens." (4/24)

ULA Begins Stacking Rrocket for Next Launch of U.S. Military Spaceplane (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
United Launch Alliance technicians raised the first stage of the company’s next Atlas 5 rocket onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral Thursday, kicking off the launch vehicle’s build-up for a mission scheduled for liftoff May 16 with the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane. The Atlas 5’s 107-foot-tall (32.6-meter) cylindrical bronze first stage was transferred to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility early Thursday and hoisted upright by a crane. Fitted with a Russian-made RD-180 main engine, the rocket was moved over the mobile launch platform inside the vertical hangar, then lowered into position on the platform’s deck. (4/24)

Space Force Expects SDA, MDA Decisions Next Year (Source: Breaking Defene)
Whether to Integrate the acquisition functions of the Space Development Agency and the Missile Defense Agency with those of the Space Force could be decided as soon as next year, says Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson. “This isn’t just a matter of acquisition process,” he told a Space News webinar yesterday, noting the upcoming recommendations to Congress in the Air Force’s (now almost a month overdue) report on space acquisition “that will help to streamline that make the lines of authority clear and make sure we can be more effective across all of those organizations.” He explained that there is also an organizational question regarding current acquisition entities as the Space Force stands up. (4/24)

Space Coast Rocket Launch Schedule Looks Quiet Until May (Source: Florida Today)
The Space Coast's launch manifest is likely to be quiet until mid-May at least in part due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest available scheduling information. ULA is targeting May 16 during a yet-to-be-determined window for the launch of X-37B, a Boeing-built military spaceplane that performs secretive operations in low-Earth orbit for years at a time. The 29-foot-long spacecraft with a 15-foot wingspan will launch on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41.

Beyond that, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting May 27 for the first launch of American astronauts from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program nearly a decade ago. The 4:32 p.m. liftoff from Kennedy Space Center will be historic for several reasons, but NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is urging the public to stay away from the Space Coast due to the pandemic and instead watch from home via webcast.

SpaceX was scheduled to launch a mission known as SAOCOM in May, but it was indefinitely delayed due to travel-related restrictions caused by COVID-19. Officials from Argentina's space agency were slated to travel to the Space Coast to support the mission, but have been unable to do so. SpaceX could also try to launch another batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites in May, but no specific date has been approved and published. It would mark the eighth mission for the constellation, which if successful will increase its size to 480 satellites in low-Earth orbit. (4/24)

As Patrick Air Force Base Celebrates 70th Anniversary, it Was Almost Not Chosen to Launch Rockets (Source: Florida Today)
It seems hard to imagine a more iconic place than the Kennedy Space Center, where rockets have sent humans and spacecraft to the outer reaches of Earth's atmosphere and out to explore the cosmos. Sure, there's the Russian Space Agency's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, but from an American perspective, the premier gateway to space is here on the swampy lands of the Cape Canaveral area. Yet when deciding where to base U.S. space efforts nearly 70 years ago, the Cape was the third choice for the U.S. Air Force. Other places like southern California or Washington state were in contention for that first pick.

"We had all these islands downrange on which you could put tracking stations so you can track the missile in flight and make sure everything was going well," Roger McCormick explained. "Also, we're kind of close to the Earth's equator so we're taking advantage of the Earth's easterly rotation. Launching from Cape Canaveral is a bit more efficient as far as your rocket, how large it needs to be, how much fuel you need to have."

Aside from the Cape having favorable conditions to launch rockets, there was already a military base set up here nearly 10 years before the Air Force selected this area. Known as Naval Air Station Banana River before being renamed Patrick Air Force Base in 1950, the Navy decided to set up a military base in 1940 to complement facilities in Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale. (4/24)

NASA Funds Project for Spacecraft That Make Make Their Own Landing Pads (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Planetary landings are a messy business that can be dangerous for anything nearby, but they can also be risky for the landers themselves. Engine plumes can kick dust, dirt, and rocks back up towards the spacecraft, endangering engines, science payloads (this happened to a weather instrument on the Curiosity Mars rover), and potentially even astronauts.

We’ve managed so far because most unmanned probes, and even the Apollo lunar landers, have been light enough that their engine plumes have been relatively mild. But as we look towards scaling up our presence on the moon, we’re going to need rockets that are much, much bigger. NASA’s proposed Artemis landers will be somewhere between double and quadruple the mass of Apollo, and modeling suggests that one of these could displace something like 470 tons (!) of lunar soil during landing.

Through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NAIC) program, the space agency is funding a creative new approach towards making planetary landings safer for large spacecraft. Masten Space Systems is developing a concept for “Instant Landing Pads,” where a spacecraft builds its own landing pad as it descends towards the surface. By not requiring landing pads to be constructed in advance, this technique would be safer, cheaper, and help us establish a base on the moon as quickly and efficiently as possible. (4/23)

Have Iran’s Space Ambitions Taken a Worrisome New Turn? (Source: European Leadership Network)
With the launch of the Qased, Iran has unveiled its parallel space program run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Corps (IRGC) for the first time. While fears about Iran’s previous space launches serving as cover for ICBM development have been vastly overblown, there are strong indications that Iran’s emerging IRGC track does indeed represent a hedging strategy aimed at acquiring long-range ballistic missile technology. The first sign that the launch of the Qased was different from previous Iranian launches lay with the people who pressed the launch button.

While Iranian satellite launches are traditionally conducted by the Iranian Space Agency in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the Qased was launched by the IRGC. This novel institutional setup was also reflected in the launch location. The Qased was the first SLV to be launched outside the perimeter of Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport, taking off from the Revolutionary Guard's missile development and launch complex in Shahroud instead. However, the IRGC’s role in the Qased was not merely restricted to launch operations. Both the Qased’s second stage motor, as well as the Noor satellite itself, were developed by the IRGC outside of the regular structures of Iran’s missile industry. (4/24)

Russian Parliament Voices Support for Iran's Satellite Launch (Source: Islamic Republic News Agency)
Head of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Duma (Parliament) Leonid Slutsky, along with the Senate and the Russian government, rejected the US claim that Iran had violated the Security Council resolutions by launching the "Noor -1" military satellite into space. Slutsky added that the concept of military satellite does not mean carrying military weapons, and such an interpretation of ​​Iran's space action was improper.

Last night, Konstantin Kosachev, head of the International Affairs Commission of the Federation Council (Russian Senate), denied US allegations that Iran had violated Security Council Resolution 2231 over its successful launch of the Noor 1 military satellite to Russia's Interfax news agency that no resolution has made Iran not to launch a military satellite. He added that the remarks of Iranian officials about the launch of the Noor 1 Iranian military satellite into space, which does not violate the Security Council resolution, are true because they do not have nuclear ammunition. We must pay attention to the fact that the concept of military satellite does not mean the weapon is installed. (4/24)

UAE Leads its Pursuit of a Strong Astronaut Corps (Source: Gulf Business)
The UAE’s national dress – the kandura – received astronomical attention last year. When the Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori wore one on his first space expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) – a journey that commenced on September 25 and lasted eight days – he took the traditional robe to galactic heights. “[The thought was] to share our culture with the whole world,” says AlMansoori.

Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi were the first astronauts selected in the UAE’s debut Astronaut Programme announced in 2017. Now national heroes, they are involved in the process of selecting the next two astronauts – slated to be announced in January 2021. “Top things I’d see [in an aspiring astronaut] are humility, passion and determination,” AlMansoori opines. “It will be between three to five years after [the selection of the new astronauts]. It could be sooner, it could be later, but this is something that we are currently working on,” says Salem Al Marri. (4/25)

Upcoming Report to Congress on Space Acquisition Expected to be ‘Groundbreaking’ (Source: C4ISRnet)
Senior Defense Department officials are reviewing a report on reforming space acquisitions, according to U.S. Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson, who added the report could be sent to Congress in the near future. “It’s in the final stages of review with the department. The department will in the very near term submit it to Congress,” Thompson said. When Congress created the Space Force in December, it was largely agnostic about how acquisitions should be reformed under the new, sixth service branch of the military.

While the legislation established a new council and executive position to oversee space acquisitions under the Department of the Air Force, it did not provide substantial guidance on the organizational structure of acquisitions, which are currently divided primarily among the Space and Missile Systems Center, the Space Development Agency, and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office. Neither did the legislation dictate what was to happen to space-related acquisitions taking place outside of the Department of the Air Force.

Instead, the legislation called on the newly established Space Force to provide a report to Congress by the end of March on acquisition reforms. However, the legislative proposal the Space Force delivered kicked many of the more complicated issues — including acquisition reforms — down the road. Thompson said an acquisitions report would likely be sent to Congress shortly. “We’ve ... recently completed a report that’s being reviewed by senior members of the Department of Defense to propose a new, more agile, more responsive acquisitions system,” Thompson said. (4/24)