May 30, 2020

Intelsat Asks Bankruptcy to Clear Roadblock for Spaceflight Launch Business Sale (Source: Space News)
Intelsat is asking its bankruptcy court for authorization to modify a $50 million loan to Spaceflight Industries’ Earth-observation business BlackSky that could become a snag in Spaceflight’s sale of its launch rideshare business. Intelsat signed the BlackSky loan Oct. 31, about two weeks before it was publicly announced, according to a bankruptcy document. That same day Mitsui & Co. loaned Spaceflight Industries a separate $26 million with an eye toward acquiring its launch rideshare business. In February Mitsui announced it was buying that business with Yamasa Co., Ltd., who will own it in a 50/50 joint venture.

Intelsat and Mitsui signed an intercreditor agreement where each company used part of Spaceflight Industries as collateral — Spaceflight’s launch and mission control business by Mitsui and Spaceflight’s BlackSky business by Intelsat. That agreement and others between the three companies made Mitsui’s acquisition of Spaceflight’s launch business contingent upon Intelsat relinquishing its liens on Mitsui’s collateral. Prior to Intelsat’s bankruptcy, Spaceflight said it expected the sale to close in the second quarter of 2020. (5/29)

Trump Space Speech in Florida Likely to Test Apolitical Nature of NASA (Source: Ars Technica)
After President Trump appointed a conservative Republican congressman from Oklahoma named Jim Bridenstine to become NASA's administrator, the legislator faced hard questions. During a Senate confirmation hearing in late 2017, Bridenstine was asked repeatedly whether he would honor NASA's tradition of remaining a bipartisan, apolitical agency. "I want to make sure that NASA remains, as you said, apolitical, and I will do that to the best of my ability should I be confirmed," he said at the time. Bridenstine this week commented favorably on the support NASA's commercial cargo and crew programs received from prior administrations.

But there are now signs that this bipartisan approach is ending. President Trump said of the commercial crew program, "Jim, you took it over from its infancy. And I was saying before, they had grass growing in the runways between the cracks, and now we have the best—the best of the best." This is a reference to the fact that the last space shuttle landed on Kennedy Space Center's runway in 2011. Sources said the White House has recognized the potential role that returning humans to spaceflight from Florida could play in the 2020 election for the swing state. This means the Crew Dragon mission and post-launch speech may be used to politicize space, which will test Bridenstine's bipartisan approach.

Editor's Note: Former Florida governor, now Republican US senator, Rick Scott tweeted this inaccurate statement after the launch: "After President Obama tried to kill the space program, my administration worked to bring the private sector space industry to Florida. Now the space industry is revitalized and making history once again - straight from Florida!" And Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, tweeted "Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for launching America back into space!" (5/30)

Another Trump Trip To The Cape, At Least $1.1 Million More In Costs For Taxpayers (Source: Huffington Post)
Taxpayers spent at least $2.5 million to get President Trump to this launch, between the two trips--but it will almost certainly give Trump some cool video footage for campaign ads. Trump already attended Wednesday’s initial launch attempt for SpaceX’s very first flight of its Crew Dragon capsule. In almost six decades of human spaceflight, presidents have attended launches only twice: In 1998, when Bill Clinton was on hand for a space shuttle launch that included former Mercury astronaut John Glenn, and in 1969, when Richard Nixon attended the launch of Apollo 12 (that flight nearly ended in disaster when the Saturn 5 rocket was struck by lightning triggered by its own ionized exhaust).

Jordan Libowitz, with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington watchdog group, said Trump is not the first president to use footage from official events in campaign ads, and it does not appear to be illegal. “The presence of top campaign surrogates and quick turnaround for an ad certainly could make people question whether the trip was done for the purpose of the ad, which is not what official business is for,” he said.

Each hour that the modified 747 jetliner that Trump normally uses as Air Force One is in the air costs $273,063, according to a General Accountability Office analysis, meaning a round trip to Kennedy Space Center runs $1.1 million. That figure does not include the $58,000 that his helicopter trip from the White House to Joint Base Andrews and back costs, nor the several hundreds of thousands of dollars that ferrying his motorcade aboard C-17 cargo planes costs. That amount varies with the starting location of the planes and the cars and vans, which differs with each trip. (5/29)

History Made with SpaceX Crew Launch (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
History was made and a nine-year drought ended. SpaceX has successfully launched its first crewed mission, marking the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight. The SpaceX Crew Dragon is now officially on her way to the ISS for the first time with humans on board. On Saturday, the crew’s day began at around 10:00 a.m. with the first weather briefing of the day, painting out an era of uncertainty surrounding building thunderstorms throughout the day. Nevertheless, the count continued, and the crew were transported to the launchpad at approximately 1:00 p.m.

Falcon 9 performed perfectly as it jumped off Pad 39A. The rocket passed through Max-Q approximately a minute after liftoff, with the second stage throttling up to full thrust shortly after. About two minutes after liftoff, the nine Merlin first stage engines shutoff, and the second and first stages parted ways. The booster completed its signature flip maneuver and boost back burn to align itself on a trajectory to rendezvous with the autonomous drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You.” High winds and rough seas made for a challenging booster recovery, but luckily SpaceX was able to stick the landing and save what is sure to be a historic monument of a booster featuring the classic NASA “worm logo.”

While the first stage booster completed its landing, the Falcon 9 second stage with Dragon and her crew continued to orbit. At approximately eight and a half minutes after leaving earth, the second stage engine shutoff, and Dragon departed the upper stage three and a half minutes later; taking aim at the International outpost. (5/30)