April 29, 2020

Asteroid 1998 OR2 Makes a Close Pass of Earth (Source: SpaceQ)
As these things go, it wasn't that close. Asteroid 1998 OR2 came within several million kilometers of Earth and NASA says there’s “no possibility of impact for at least the next 200 years.” Whoa, about that 200 years bit, NASA says it can't reliably predict beyond 200 years the path of he asteroid. And its large, at 2 km wide, which is why NASA classifies it as a "potentially hazardous asteroid." (4/29)

Study Backs Plan for Two DoD Post-EELV Launch Contracts, Plus Potential Support for Third Provider (Source: Space News)
The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) says that a RAND study backs its plans to award launch contracts to two companies later this year. SMC released the report Tuesday that concluded that, in the long term, there is only enough demand to support two companies. The study, SMC officials said, backs their plans to select two companies for National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contracts in the next few months. The report, though, made the case for "tailored support" in the near term for a third provider, which would meet near-term demand and "allows market forces to determine which firms are strongest, and thus survive." (4/29)

China Readies New Long March 5B for Test Launch (Source: Space News)
China has rolled out its Long March 5B rocket for a test flight as soon as next week. The rocket rolled out to the pad at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center for final preparations for a launch whose date has not been officially announced but is expected to be around May 5. The Long March 5B is a version of the Long March 5 without an upper stage, and will be used to launch modules of China's space station. This launch will carry a prototype of a next-generation crewed spacecraft. (4/29)

Smallsats Typically Suffer Launch Delays (Source: Space News)
A study found that every smallsat launched commercially in the last five years suffered launch delays. The study, prepared by Bryce Space and Technology for Spaceflight, found the median delay for more than 1,000 satellites studied to be 128 days, with individual satellite delays ranging from less than two weeks to more than two years. Launch vehicle issues caused about a third of the delays, while issues with the payloads, including the primary payload for launches where smallsats were secondary payloads, accounted for 40% of delays. Spaceflight says the study shows the benefit of greater standardization of smallsat accommodations on launch vehicles to make it easier for customers to switch from one vehicle to another. (4/29)

Army Space Officers Desire Space Force Transfer (Source: Space News)
Most U.S. Army space officers want to transfer to the Space Force. A survey of the entire active-duty officer corps of Functional Area 40 Space Operations in the Army found that the vast majority were interested in transferring, even if the Army maintains the majority of its space capabilities and formations. Those interested in transferring said they were interested in helping shape a new service and believed they would have career opportunities not available in the Army. Those not interested in transferring said they viewed the Space Force as too Air Force-centric. (4/29)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Sales and Earnings Dip (Source: Aerojet Rocketdyne)
Aerojet Rocketdyne reported a dip in sales and earnings in the first quarter of 2020. The company reported Tuesday that net sales fell by about 3%, to $476.1 million, and net income fell by 19%, to $31.1 million, compared to the first quarter of 2019. Aerojet said the completion of the AJ-60 solid rocket motor program and decreased work on Boeing's commercial crew vehicle were some of the main reasons for the lower results. The company said that the pandemic had a "minimal impact" on its operations in the first quarter, but that long-term impacts "will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted." (4/29)

SpaceX Plans Partial Starlink Service by Year's End (Source: GeekWire)
SpaceX said in a regulatory filing it expects to start providing Starlink services to parts of the U.S. and Canada by the end of the year. In a document filed with the FCC this week, SpaceX said that before the end of 2020 it will be able to offer service in the northern U.S. and southern Canada, "then will rapidly expand to near global coverage of the populated world in 2021." SpaceX sought regulatory changes for constellations like Starlink in the document, including ensuring non-U. S. operators pay the same fees as domestic ones. (4/29)

Russian Space Agency Doctor 'Falls From Window' and Dies (Source: Moscow Times)
A Russian doctor treating a coronavirus outbreak at a cosmonaut training center fell from a window and died. Natalia Lebedeva, the chief emergency medical services officer at the Star City center outside Moscow, fell from a hospital window in what officials called an "accident." She had been hospitalized with COVID-19 after treating colleagues at Star City diagnosed with the disease. Roscosmos said earlier this week that, to date, 111 people in the space industry had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and three had died. (4/29)

Global Arms Spending is Rising, But Covid-19 will Trim Budgets (Source: The Economist)
Armies have built hospitals, enforced lockdowns and joined the hunt for a vaccine. That is not the usual business of soldiering, but armed forces must earn their substantial keep. Over $1.9trn was lavished on military spending globally in 2019, the most in inflation-adjusted terms in more than three decades, according to a report published on April 27th by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a think-tank. But as the world economy slumps and debt piles up, guns may lose out to butter.

Global military spending slumped after the end of the cold war, hitting a low of a little over $1trn in the late 1990s (in 2018 dollars). It then shot up again in the 2000s, as America tooled up for its “war on terror” and China’s economy took off. After a brief dip, spending has climbed each year since 2015, driven by competition between America and China, European fears of Russian aggression and an Arab arms-buying spree. But the league table has been shuffled over time.

America remains comfortably on top, despite some lean years. Total military spending, including the cost of operations around the world, declined continuously, by over a fifth, between 2010 and 2017, and remains 15% below its peak in 2010. But a heavyweight on a diet still packs a punch; the numbers are dizzying. America’s outlay in 2019 grew by 5.3% to $732bn, almost two-fifths of the world’s total and more than the next ten countries combined. Its year-on-year increase alone was equivalent to the entire annual military expenditure of Germany, notes SIPRI. (4/26)