April 4, 2020

SpaceX Loses Another Starship Test Article in Texas Tanking Test (Source: Space News)
A third prototype of SpaceX's Starship vehicle was destroyed in a tanking test early Friday. Video of the cryogenic tanking test of Starship SN3 showed that the cylindrical vehicle appeared to crumple halfway up, causing the top of the vehicle to topple. Elon Musk tweeted shortly after the incident that the problem may have been an issue with the configuration of the test, rather than a problem with the vehicle itself. Two other Starship prototypes were destroyed in similar tanking tests last November and in late February. Had this tanking test been successful, SpaceX was planning to perform a static-fire test of Starship SN3 as soon as next week, followed by a low-altitude test flight. (4/3)

Northrop Grumman Making Good Progress Toward OmegA’s First Launch (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
At various centers in the United States, Northrop Grumman is marching toward the OmegA rocket’s debut flight.  The company has finalized the investigation of the nozzle anomaly on the C600 booster static fire test last year, and completed a successful C300 booster static test in February. Meanwhile, work continues at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, as elements of OmegA and its launch infrastructure remain on track for a first launch in Spring 2021.

At the Kennedy Space Center, work is progressing on modifications to the Mobile Launch Platform and High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. These two elements are critical to Northrop Grumman as the Mobile Launch Platform is what OmegA will be stacked on and launched from while VAB High Bay 2 is where the rocket will be integrated prior to rollout to LC-39B for launch. At present, all work is on track for Northrop Grumman to be able to stack the first OmegA rocket in High Bay 2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building in Spring 2021. (4/3)

Space Development Agency to Seek Bids for its First Constellation (Source: Space News)
The Space Development Agency intends to select two or more companies later this year to design, build and test a mesh network of up to 20 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2022. This will be the Pentagon-based space agency’s first step toward building a much larger constellation by 2024 to provide global connectivity to the U.S. military, officials said April 2. A final solicitation for bids for the mesh network that SDA calls “transport layer” will be issued around May 1, the agency’s director Derek Tournear said. (4/2)

Blue Origin Employees Concerned About Pandemic Exposure (Source: The Verge)
Some Blue Origin employees are critical of the company's plans to carry out a New Shepard test flight during the coronavirus pandemic. Several employees, speaking on background, said they were being pressured into supporting a New Shepard test flight from the company's site in West Texas later this month. Those employees were worried about the risks of exposure to COVID-19 both to themselves and to the community in Van Horn, Texas, the closest town to the test site and where employees stay during test campaigns. The company said it was continuing operations because it is considered an essential business by federal, state and local governments, but that safety is "our highest value." (4/3)

JWST Work Continues (Source: Space News)
Testing of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is continuing at a reduced pace, but will soon come to a stop because of the pandemic. NASA announced March 20 that it had halted work on the telescope, undergoing integration and testing at a Northrop Grumman facility in Southern California, but said five days later it had restarted with reduced personnel. That work will end in early April, the project manager for JWST said at a committee meeting this week, because remaining work requires the full team of NASA and Northrop Grumman personnel. The impact of the delayed work on the mission's schedule, including a launch set for March 2021, won't be clear until after the worst of the pandemic passes. (4/3)

Florida Stay-At-Home Order Doesn't Impact Some Space Operations (Source: Florida Today)
Most space companies in Florida are continuing operations in Florida even after a new stay-at-home order. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued the order earlier this week, following the lead of dozens of other states with similar restrictions. Launch companies and others in the space industry, though, are continuing operations at some level because they are classified as essential businesses, with protocols in place to emphasize teleworking and physical distancing for on-site work. (4/3)

Space Foundation Reschedules Annual Symposium to October/November (Source: Space News)
The Space Foundation announced Thursday that its Space Symposium conference has been rescheduled for the fall. The conference, which would have taken place this week, is now scheduled for Oct. 31 through Nov. 3, or Halloween through Election Day, in Colorado Springs. (4/3)

Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Postponed at KSC (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame has postponed an induction ceremony for its latest class of inductees that was scheduled for May. The event, at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, has not been rescheduled yet; that center has been closed because of the pandemic since mid-March. The ceremony will induct former astronauts Scott Kelly, Michael Lopez-Alegria and Pam Melroy into the hall. (4/3)

Space Force Gets First Enlisted Member (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force will get its first enlisted member today. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman will be sworn in as the top enlisted leader of the U.S. Space Force, military officials said. Towberman will become the second official member of the U.S. Space Force, after Gen. Jay Raymond, the chief of space operations. Raymond announced in February that Towberman, the senior enlisted leader of U.S. Space Command, would also assume that role for the U.S. Space Force. (4/3)

China to Launch Communication Satellite for Indonesia (Source: Space Daily)
China is preparing to launch a communication satellite, Palapa-N1, for Indonesia at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The satellite was developed under a contract signed between the China Great Wall Industry Corp. under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) and the Palapa Satelit Nusantara Sejahtera of Indonesia in May 2017. Palapa-N1 was built on an enhanced Dongfanghong-4 communication satellite platform by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), and will be launched by a Long March-3B rocket. (4/2)

A User Guide—In Case You Buy a Starship (Source: TIME)
SpaceX is nowhere near ready to launch its ambitious, 100-passenger Starship rocket, but that hasn't stopped the company from releasing, this week, a six-page user guide that is completely in earnest—but comes with a subtle nod to glories past. Inside, it resembles nothing so much as the dead-serious manuals NASA published in the Apollo and pre-Apollo era, detailing the specs of both its crewed and uncrewed spacecraft. SpaceX fully intends Starship to fly, and continues to promise a crewed circumlunar flight by 2023. Click here. (4/3)