May 29, 2020

Earth-Sized Planet Confirmed Around Proxima Centauri (Source: Science Daily)
The existence of a planet the size of Earth around the closest star in the solar system, Proxima Centauri, has been confirmed by an international team of scientists. The results reveal that the planet in question, Proxima b, has a mass of 1.17 earth masses and is located in the habitable zone of its star, which it orbits in 11.2 days. This breakthrough has been possible thanks to radial velocity measurements of unprecedented precision using ESPRESSO, the Swiss-manufactured spectrograph -- the most accurate currently in operation -- which is installed on the Very Large Telescope in Chile. (5/28)

Watch the Space Force’s New Stargazing Recruiting Ad (Source: Air Force Times)
The Space Force just dropped a new recruiting ad — one designed to stoke the sci-fi dreams of people thinking about joining the nascent service. The ad, titled “Make History,” leans hard into imagery of space exploration, with shots of an observatory, the X-37B spaceplane, a rocket blasting off into outer space, a space-suited astronaut, a space station, and a colorful nebula. (Even though Space Force members aren’t actually going into space anytime soon, but that’s neither here nor there.) There’s also images of service members in a hyper-advanced, holographic mission control center that looks a lot more Starship Enterprise than Cape Canaveral. Click here. (5/28)

Shooting Tom Cruise Space Movie May Almost Be Impossible (Source: CNET)
While Cruise's new blockbuster will no doubt be the biggest film shot in space, it won't be the first. That's an honor that belongs to video game developer and space tourist Richard Garriott. In 2008, Garriott (who's also the son of NASA Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott) paid $30 million for a ticket on the Soyuz to spend two weeks on the International Space Station as a private citizen. In between controlling the power systems on the Soyuz and adjusting to life on the ISS, he also shot and edited the 5-minute short film Apogee of Fear while he was in space.

Garriott's main takeaway? Shooting in space is way harder (and slower) than you think. "If you think about a movie, the pre-production is really critical," he tells me via a Zoom call. "You plan out every shot, so once you have a large expensive crew onsite, you can be as efficient as possible in recording it. In space, that's going to be far worse. Because not only is every moment of the crew far more expensive, but also every shot is far harder to get." (5/28)

Swamp Watch: Eric Trump's Brother-in-Law Now NASA's Deputy Chief Of Staff (Sources: NASA Watch, E&E News)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Kyle Yunaska as the agency’s Deputy Chief of Staff.  Yunaska's sister, Lara, is married to President Trump's son Eric Trump. Yunaska has joined NASA after holding various positions at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Most recently, he served as Director of the National Laboratory Operations Board -- a group organized to strengthen and enhance the partnership between DOE and the National Laboratories. In this role, Yunaska joined the DOE Space Coordination Group. Yunaska landed the job at DOE in 2017 after serving as part of DOE's "beachhead" team of temporary political appointees. (5/28)

Viasat Proposes 300 Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
Viasat is proposing to build a 300-satellite low Earth orbit constellation, bolstered by the prospect of rural broadband subsidies. Viasat's LEO constellation, according to an FCC filing this week, would operate at 1,300 kilometers using the same Ka- and V-band frequencies recently authorized for a 20-satellite medium Earth orbit constellation. The LEO system would provide 27 terabits of internet connectivity between 60 degrees north and south of the equator. Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said Wednesday that the company still believes that geostationary orbit is the best location form which to provide satellite broadband, but the possibility of government funding makes LEO worth pursuing anyway. The FCC's Rural Digital Opportunities Fund is offering $20.4 billion in broadband subsidies, but satellites in GEO have latencies too high to be eligible. (5/29)

Viasat Lays Off 300 Employees (Source: Space News)
Viasat laid off 300 employees earlier this year after a sharp drop in demand for in-flight connectivity. The layoffs, which account for about 5% of its workforce, were part of efforts by the company to cut its costs by $100 million over the next year. In-flight connectivity accounts for 10% of the company's revenue, and that service has been hit hard enough by the pandemic to threaten spending on the company's next satellite, Viasat-3 Americas. (5/29)

Space Force Increases Pentagon Footprint (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is increasing its presence inside the Pentagon. The Space Force headquarters offices at the Pentagon will begin a gradual expansion over the next year as new positions are filled and officers from the former Air Force Space Command transfer into the new service. The Colorado Springs headquarters of the former Air Force Space Command, which became the Space Force last December, will close over the next year as personnel move to the Pentagon. The headquarters of the Space Force will be separate from that of the U.S. Space Command, a combatant command whose headquarters will be selected as part of a new competition. (5/29)

FAA Licenses SpaceX for (Unlimited) Boca Chica Starship Flights (Source: Space News)
The FAA has granted SpaceX a license to begin flight tests of its Starship vehicle. The launch license, released Thursday, gives SpaceX the ability to perform suborbital flights of its Starship prototypes from its South Texas test site. The license doesn't set limits on the number of flights or their altitudes, unlike a previous permit for the company's Starhopper vehicle, but does require they take off and land at the Boca Chica site. SpaceX has not announced when it will begin initial flight tests of the vehicle, although airspace restrictions suggest they could begin as soon as Monday. (5/29)

Rocket Lab Ready to Resume Launches As New Zealand Eases Pandemic Lockdown (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab will resume Electron launches next month as New Zealand eases its pandemic lockdown. The company said Thursday that it has rescheduled an Electron launch called "Don't Stop Me Now" for June 11 local time from its New Zealand launch site. That launch, which is carrying three NRO payloads as well as two student-built cubesats, was scheduled for late March but postponed when the New Zealand government imposed severe restrictions on business and other activities to limit the spread of COVID-19. The government is now rolling back those restrictions as there have been few reported new cases of the disease in the country in recent weeks. (5/29)

China Plans 11 Missions to Assemble New Space Station (Source: Space News)
China is planning 11 missions over the next two years to assemble its space station. The first module for the Chinese space station will launch next year, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's human spaceflight program, at a political conference this week. This will be followed by a crewed Shenzhou flight and a Tianzhou cargo mission. The first of two experiment modules will then launch for docking with Tianhe. China is preparing to select a new class of astronauts to support those space station missions that will include as many as 18 people, both military pilots as well as civilian scientists and engineers. The new selection round follows two previous astronaut classes in the 1990s and 2010. (5/29)

Australia's EOS Completes Audacy Acquisition (Source: Space News)
An Australian company has completed its acquisition of a Silicon Valley startup as it plans a satellite communications constellation. Electro Optic Systems (EOS) Holdings Ltd. of Australia completed its acquisition of Audacy, a startup that planned a satellite system to provide data relay services for other satellites. EOS plans to invest $800 million to create the EOSLink satellite communications constellation, and will award manufacturing and launch contracts for the initial four satellites by early next year. (5/29)

KSC Visitor Complex Reopens (Source: Florida Today)
The Kennedy Space Center's visitor center has partially reopened. The center, which closed in mid-March because of the pandemic, has reopened some of its attractions and is offering discounted tickets. The center has sold out for the Demo-2 launch attempt Saturday, although visitors will only be able to see the launch from the complex's grounds, rather than viewing sites closer to the launch pad. (5/28)

What’s a Space Weapon? The Answer Can Be Complicated (Source: Air Force Magazine)
The Pentagon has declared space a warfighting domain. A new Space Force is preparing to defend its assets from attack, and hit others if needed. But what, exactly, is a space weapon? A new report tries to answer that question. “Nations use phrases such as space weapons, the militarization of space, and the weaponization of space to mean different things at different times, often to suit their own geopolitical agendas,” the report said.

“A common framework for discussion [of ]space weapons could be useful to establish and clarify thresholds among like-minded nations for what constitutes conflict and escalation in space.” Todd Harrison, director of CSIS’s Aerospace Security Project and the report’s author, puts space weapons into six categories: Kinetic and non-kinetic Earth-to-space weapons like projectiles or jammers, dazzlers, and cyberattacks; Kinetic and non-kinetic space-to-space weapons like on-orbit projectiles or microwaves; and Kinetic and non-kinetic space-to-Earth weapons like jammers, lasers, or projectiles that come down from orbit. (5/28)

Tesla Sent 20 Staffers to SpaceX (Source: CNBC)
Tesla said on Thursday that it temporarily assigned 20 of its employees to SpaceX to handle unspecified technical projects. Elon Musk is CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, and the companies currently share three other board members. In April, Tesla revealed that it has been selling car components and working on other special projects for SpaceX. (5/28)

SpaceX Starship Prototype Destroyed After Static-Fire Test (Source: Space News)
A SpaceX Starship prototype was destroyed in an explosion May 29 shortly after what initially appeared to be a successful static-fire test. The Starship SN4 vehicle had just completed a static-fire test at SpaceX’s test site at Boca Chica, Texas, when it was enveloped in a fireball that appeared to emanate from the base of the vehicle at 2:49 p.m. Eastern. The vehicle was destroyed in the test, but there were no reports of injuries. The area around the launch site is evacuated before such tests. (5/29)

NASA Awards $3M to Develop Lunar LASVEGAS (Source: Space.com)
NASA has awarded Southwest Research Institute $3 million to develop a lunar version of its Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Volatiles and Evolved Gas (LASVEGAS) instrument. This spectrometer can precisely measure the volatile compounds present in planetary atmospheres and surfaces - critical information for space science and exploration. "LASVEGAS is about half the size of a paper towel roll. It's extremely compact, low mass, low volume and low power - all important characteristics for spaceflight," said SwRI's Dr. Scot Rafkin. "It can be deployed on the smallest of rovers or landers as well as carried in a single hand by an astronaut sauntering across the lunar surface in search of water ice, methane and other useful resources." (5/28)

Will US Attempt to Introduce New Moon Mining Rules Trigger New Space Race? (Source: Sputnik)
Scientist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mayank Vahia, says the Artemis Accords will propell the race for the moon resources. "The repercussions will be severe. All countries including India will try and claim parts of the moon for mining. Similar situation had arisen with respect to Antarctica where an international treaty was eventually formed before any harm is done".

Whether India will be joining the Artemis Accord or not, Vahia says: "I think the countries will wait until we know who will replace Trump latest by 2024 but will start technology development. This is true of Space Force also". Talking about the US space policy of recent years, Indian space expert Ajey Lele says  the "US is trying to dominate the global space policies from a very narrow nationalistic point of view," adding that "outer space and planets should be viewed as Common Heritage to Mankind (CHM)". (5/29)