April 5, 2020

L3Harris Technologies Passes PDR for Experimental Satellite Navigation Program (Source: Space Daily)
L3Harris Technologies has reached a major milestone in the U.S. Air Force's Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) project - passing the preliminary design review that defines the spacecraft's path to delivery and allows the program to move to the next phase of development. NTS-3 is an experimental program examining ways to improve the resiliency of the military's positioning, navigation and timing capabilities. It will also develop key technologies relevant to the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation, with the goal of future transition to the GPS IIIF program.

In collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space and Missile Systems Center, and United States Space Force, L3Harris is combining experimental antennas, flexible and secure signals, increased automation, and use of commercial command and control assets. The Space Enterprise Consortium selected L3Harris for the $84-million contract in 2018 as the prime system integrator to design, develop, integrate and test NTS-3, including ground mission applications. (4/3)

An Urgent Call for Action on Space Traffic Management (Source: Politico)
The need to better manage traffic in space is growing more urgent as companies start launching constellations that will eventually include hundreds of satellites, says Dean Bellamy, the senior director of space strategies and development at Peraton, the government services firm spun off of Harris Corp. in 2017. Lawmakers have begun to turn their attention to low-Earth orbit as it gets more congested and held a pair of hearings this year on the subject. But more is warranted as companies like SpaceX and Amazon prepare to launch thousands of satellites into orbit, according to Bellamy.

“I actually believe Congress has to take action,” said Bellamy. “It will add clarity and help prevent the risk of miscalculation and the risk of a debris incident." Eventually, international organizations like the United Nations will need to develop a set of binding recommendations to ensure people around the world are adhering to the same behavioral norms and rules in space. But action from Congress and the administration can help find "an area of common ground and agreement we can all work together on at the UN level," he added.

Congress can start by developing a set of nonbinding best practices. “I believe the first step should be nonbinding. Once you build trust, you can move to binding,” Bellamy said. “Congress strengthening space traffic management to help us work with our allies is a really good first step.” (4/3)

Here are 10 Alternative Ideas for What NASA Could Do with its Moon Budget (Source: Ars Technica)
One year ago, NASA embarked upon a journey to send humans back to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo Program. At the direction of the White House, NASA seeks to land astronauts at the South Pole of the Moon by 2024. Only recently, in February, did the space agency put a price on this Artemis Moon plan—$35 billion over the next five years above its existing budget.

Since then, of course, the world has turned upside down. In the weeks after NASA released this cost estimate, the threat posed by COVID-19 has swamped space budget debates or policy concerns. Moreover, most of the space agency's major hardware development programs for the Moon landing are temporarily shuttered. And truth be told, no one knows what kind of economy or federal budget will emerge on the other side of this pandemic.

So during this pause in government spaceflight activity perhaps it is worth asking, is the Moon worth it? Certainly for much of the human spaceflight community, the Moon is the next logical step. It offers a nearby place to test our ability to fly humans beyond low-Earth orbit and the next frontier for human economic activity in space. On the other hand, $35 billion over five years is a lot of money. Instead of accelerating a human landing on the Moon by a few years—and there is no guarantee that Artemis will succeed—NASA could accomplish other interesting and useful things. (4/3)

Blue Origin Worker at Kent Factory Tested Positive for Coronavirus (Source: GeekWire)
An employee at Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has tested positive for coronavirus and is now in quarantine at home, a spokeswoman for the company said tonight. Word of the detection comes a day after reports emerged that some Blue Origin employees were concerned about plans to send a team down to the company’s West Texas launch complex for an uncrewed test flight of the New Shepard suborbital spacecraft. The concerns focused not only on the potential travel risk for employees, but also on the potential for an employee with an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 to pass along the virus unwittingly to residents in the area surrounding the launch site. (4/3)

Chinese Commercial Rocket Sells for $5.6 Million in April Fool’s Day Auction (Source: Space News)
A Chinese commercial Kuaizhou-1A rocket sold for $5.6 million in a live streamed auction hosted by e-commerce platform Taobao Wednesday. Chinese launch service provider Expace combined with Taobao for the April Fool’s Day stunt. 800 people placed a 500,000 yuan down payment inside five minutes, according to CGTN.

Cao Meng of Expace introduced the Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) service, including launch, custom rocket body art, and access to the launch site. The winning bid was 40 million yuan, with the bidder’s identity not revealed. The Chinese rocket auction was followed by over two million viewers, and the topic was read over 500 million times on social media platform Sina Weibo as of Friday. Taobao and private Chinese launch firm Landspace jointly promoted a rocket-based postal delivery system on April 1, 2019. (4/3)

NASA Report Outlines Vision for Long-Term Human Lunar Exploration (Source: Space News)
NASA released a report April 2 outlining its long-term approach to lunar exploration that involves establishing a “base camp” at the south pole of the moon, but with few details about cost and schedule. NASA prepared the report, “NASA’s Plan for Sustained Lunar Exploration and Development,” for the National Space Council at the request of Vice President Mike Pence at the council’s most recent meeting in August 2019. At that meeting, Pence requested a report “for sustainable lunar surface exploration and the development of crewed missions to Mars” delivered within 60 days.

The 13-page report, after discussing efforts leading up to a human return to the moon by 2024 on the Artemis 3 mission, describes the agency’s plans for subsequent missions. “After Artemis III, the overall plan is to conduct operations on and around the Moon that help prepare us for the mission durations and activities that we will experience during the first human mission to Mars, while also emplacing and building the infrastructure, systems, and robotic missions that can enable a sustained lunar surface presence,” the report states.

That will be achieved by creating what NASA calls the “Artemis Base Camp” at the south pole of the moon. “Artemis Base Camp will be our first sustainable foothold on the lunar frontier,” the report states, eventually supporting missions lasting one to two months. The report identified three key capabilities needed for that base camp. The first is a lunar terrain vehicle, an unpressurized rover analogous to the lunar rover used on the later Apollo missions. That would be followed by a larger pressurized rover called a “habitable mobility platform” used for trips lasting up to 45 days, and a “foundation surface habitat” capable of hosting four people. (4/3)

Radiation Poses Major Obstacle to Future Deep-Space Astronauts Bound for Mars (Source: Space.com)
Mars seems to be on everybody's mind in the space industry. There are already several robotic missions to the Red Planet underway, and companies and space agencies are already working to one day send humans there. But a crewed mission would present many more challenges. One of these obstacles is radiation, and so researchers are working to find a way to protect a crew against the dangerous radiation of deep space.

Humans evolved underneath the protective blanket that is the Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere. Our bodies are not like the robots we shoot into the far reaches of the solar system. We are made of organic matter that needs to be shielded from harmful radiation.

Radiation comes from waves of energy. There is radiation around us all the time — even bananas, which are rich in potassium, emit radiation — but the amount of radiation we're exposed to on a regular basis is so low that our body copes fine with it. However, some waves of energy can damage our cells and our DNA faster than our body can repair the damage. These harmful waves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum that includes gamma rays, x-rays and some ultraviolet radiation. That's why health officials advise that people use sunscreen and why medical staff use protective blankets when patients receive X-ray exams. (4/3)

How NASA and SpaceX Plan to Launch Astronauts in May Despite a Pandemic (Source: CNBC)
This year began with NASA’s goal of once again flying astronauts in sight, with partner SpaceX a few months away from launching its first crew. Then coronavirus swept across the U.S. NASA began locking down its centers last month in response to the mounting COVID-19 crisis, with over 245,000 cases in the U.S. A handful of NASA employees have tested positive for the virus and about half of the agency’s centers are now at its most elevated response level, meaning all facilities are closed.

Only employees working on programs deemed “mission essential” are continuing to come in, with a mandatory work from home policy in place for about 75% of NASA’s workforce. But despite the pandemic, the SpaceX “Demo-2” mission is moving forward. As its name implies, Demo-2 will be the second time the company launches its Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. But, unlike Demo-1 last year, this time two astronauts will be on board – a pair that will be the first NASA astronauts to launch from the U.S. since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011. (4/3)

Canadian Space Sector Revenues Show Flat Growth in 2018 (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency has released its 2019 State of the Canadian Space Sector report which shows flat growth for the second year in a row. According to report, revenues for the Canadian space sector were $5.671 billion up from $5.595 billion for 2017. That translates into an increase of 1.3%. However, it should be noted that inflation for 2018 was 2.24% according to the Bank of Canada. That’s the second year in a row where inflation was higher than the increase in revenues. So while revenues are up, the costs associated in creating the additional revenue were also higher. (4/3)

With Virgin Galactic Stock, No One Can Hear You Scream (Source: Investor Place)
By now, both professional explorers and thrill-seeking adventurers have covered much of the world. Even considering the vast depths of the ocean, the well heeled can buy a ride in a submersible. The only remaining frontier where most of humanity has not surveyed is space. However, Virgin Galactic would like to change that narrative. As a pure space play, SPCE stock intrigues but oh, is the timing ever so awful! Up until Feb. 19, SPCE stock was aptly named — it launched so strongly, you’d have thought the initial public offering occurred in Cape Canaveral.

Shortly thereafter, global coronavirus cases worsened significantly. After it became apparent that the U.S. would also suffer badly from the rapid spread of Covid-19, Virgin Galactic shares plummeted back down toward earth. While SPCE stock has picked up some momentum after its March 19 low, it faces a new crisis — an economic one. Two weeks ago, a record 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. Last week, a staggering 6.6 million made jobless claims. In this situation, no one is thinking about traveling to space. Heck, no one is thinking about traveling anywhere. (4/3)

Taiwan Moon Exploration Petition Gains Support (Source: Taiwan News)
A petition calling for Taiwan to accelerate its moon exploration plans is gaining signatures on the government's online platform and it will respond once the threshold of 5,000 signatures is reached. Taiwan's National Space Organization (NSPO) launched its 3rd National Space Technology Development Long-term Program in 2019. This entailed the island nation investing an estimated NT$25.1 billion (US$710.39 million) over the next decade to launch 10 satellites into space.

The satellites will take high-resolution images of Earth. Even though the newly mooted program includes the idea of sending a satellite to orbit the moon, it is not the main focus because Taiwan lacks experience and needs to rely on international cooperation to succeed, according to the NSPO. Under the program, Taiwan's space exploration will begin in 2023 and after six years enter the "critical design review" stage. The petition states the NSPO does not need to fully commit to space exploration because of a limited budget and resources. (4/3)

Blue Origin is Hiring, Despite Report of Possible Layoffs (Source: CNBC)
Blue Origin management was quoted by The Verge as saying workers in Texas may “lose their jobs … because of our actions” if employees didn’t come to the facility for a test launch of the company’s New Shepard rocket. But CEO Bob Smith said Friday in an email seen by CNBC that the company would not be letting employees go if New Shepard’s next flight is postponed. “We will not be having layoffs, but in fact, we will be hiring. We will not be making budget, payroll or benefit cuts based on this crisis,” Smith said. (4/3)

NASA’s Mars Helicopter is Ready for Launch (Source: Teslarati)
NASA’s next Mars rover, recently dubbed Perseverance, is currently undergoing launch preparations at its launch site, the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To that end, a key piece of hardware — the Mars helicopter — was just tested for the last time on Earth. Weighing in at just under 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), the helicopter’s fuselage is about the same size as a softball, and its dual blades will slice through the tenuous Martian atmosphere, rotating at nearly 3,000 rpm — roughly ten times that of its terrestrial counterparts. The small rotorcraft, which will soon be attached to the rover’s belly, is designed to demonstrate if this technology can be used off-world. (A similar type of craft is scheduled to explore Titan, Saturn’s largest moon in the next decade.) (4/3)