May 6, 2020

Amergint Acquires Tethers Unlimited to Focus on Satellite Communications and Space Services (Source: GeekWire)
Colorado-based Amergint Technology Holdings says it has acquired Tethers Unlimited, a Bothell, Wash.-based space venture that’s working on a wide range of government-funded projects. In a news release, Amergint said the deal will bring together the two companies’ teams to provide integrated end-to-end solutions for satellite communications and in-space services.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Tethers Unlimited was founded in 1994 by Rob Hoyt and the late science-fiction author Robert L. Forward, initially with the idea of developing tethers as power-generating and orbit-changing tools for spacecraft. Since then, the company has widened its focus to encompass other space technologies including software-defined radios, satellite propulsion systems and robotic systems for in-space manufacturing and servicing. (5/6)

OneWeb Bankruptcy Attracts Multiple Potential Buyers (Source: Space Intel Report)
With OneWeb's business effectively shut down and in bankruptcy, Space Intel Report reports that multiple bidders are interested in buying the company, including two Chinese companies, Eutelsat, SpaceX, Amazon (Blue Origin), and the hedge fund Cerberus. (5/6)

Rethinking What Space Activities Are Essential (Source: Space News)
Not everything done by a space business classified as essential is, in fact, essential. The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on the American economy. More than 17 million Americans filed for unemployment over a three-week period in late March and early April, a surge unprecedented in the history of employment records by the Labor Department. Whole sectors of the economy, from travel and tourism to restaurants and retail, are ghosts of their former selves as the public is instructed to stay at home.

The space industry, though, has been largely sheltered from those pains. There have been companies that said they laid off staff because of the coronavirus, but often there were underlying problems. OneWeb blamed the pandemic for its Chapter 11 filing, but the company faced major hurdles even in the best of economic times to raise its required funding. With OneWeb bankrupt, there is no demand for the spacecraft OneWeb Satellites, the Airbus/OneWeb joint venture, has been building in Florida. Bigelow Aerospace said it laid off its staff to comply with a stay-at-home order in Nevada, but the company’s future had been in question before the pandemic given a lack of customers for its commercial space stations.

One reason space companies have weathered the pandemic so far is that the federal government considers it an essential industry. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified 16 “critical infrastructure sectors,” one of which is critical manufacturing, a sector that includes “aerospace products and parts manufacturing.” Most local and state orders to close businesses have exempted those on the DHS list. (5/2)

Experimental Chinese Re-Entry Craft Lost in Long March 5B Launch (Source: Xinhua)
An experimental Chinese spacecraft launched Tuesday was apparently lost on re-entry. Chinese media reported that the "flexible and inflatable cargo return capsule" that was a payload on Tuesday's Long March 5B launch "operated abnormally" during re-entry Wednesday. The spacecraft was designed to test an inflatable heat shield that could be used for future spacecraft returning cargo from China's space station or other applications. That vehicle was a secondary payload on the launch, whose primary payload is a prototype of a next-generation crewed spacecraft. That spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday. (5/6)

Bridenstine Envisions 'Norms of Behavior' to Allow International Artemis Participation (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday that international participation in the Artemis program could be tied to accepting "norms of behavior" in space. Bridenstine said that he wants NASA to play a bigger role in projecting national power through diplomacy and other peaceful means. As one example, he said countries asking to cooperate on the Artemis program might be expected to sign on to norms or behavior, and those who "damage space" might not be asked to participate. Bridenstine said NASA has been working with the State Department on such efforts, amid reports the government is developing "Artemis Accords" regarding space resource rights. (5/6)

Major Intelsat Shareholder Wants to Avoid Bankruptcy (Source: Space News)
A major Intelsat shareholder wants the company to avoid filing for bankruptcy. Cyrus Capital Partners, which owns 7.6% of Intelsat, said Tuesday it's worried that the company is considering a Chapter 11 filing after it skipped a $125 million interest payment due April 15, triggering a 30-day grace period. Cyrus Capital said an Intelsat bankruptcy could severely jeopardize the satellite operator's ability to collect up to $4.86 billion in FCC incentive payments for clearing C-band spectrum. Intelsat has until May 29 to decide whether it will participate in the FCC's accelerated spectrum clearing program. (5/6)

SpaceX Test Fires Starship With Raptor Engine (Source: Ars Technica)
A prototype of SpaceX's Starship vehicle performed a static-fire test Tuesday night. The Starship SN4 vehicle fired its single Raptor engine for about four seconds around 10 p.m. Eastern at SpaceX's South Texas facility. The test firing was the first for a Starship prototype since tests of the smaller Starhopper vehicle last year, and came after three previous Starship prototypes were destroyed in pressurization tests. SpaceX will likely attempt a short free flight of this prototype, to an altitude of 150 meters, in the coming weeks. (5/6)

Georgia County Has To Redo Part Of Regulatory Process For Spaceport (Source: WABE)
A proposed Georgia spaceport will have to redo part of its license application. Officials involved with Spaceport Camden said this week that the FAA informed them they will have to revise parts of an environmental review of the facility, which will require another public comment period. Officials said in December that they were revising the license application to focus only on small launch vehicles, which necessitated the revised review. The environmental review is one of the longest parts of the overall licensing process. (5/6)

NASA Supporting Tom Cruise Film Project on ISS (Source: Deadline)
NASA is working with Tom Cruise on a film at the International Space Station, although it's not clear if that involves the actor actually going to space. A report Monday claimed that Cruise was working with both SpaceX and NASA to shoot an action adventure movie on the station. In a tweet Tuesday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that NASA was excited to work with Cruise "on a film aboard @Space_Station." That statement, though, could also be interpreted to mean that Cruise was involved in a film project and not necessarily that Cruise himself would go to the station. NASA declined to provide additional details, and the original report notes that the proposal was still early in development, with no studio attached. (5/6)

Lockheed Martin Confirms the SR-72 – Son of Blackbird Will Reach Anywhere in the World in One Hour (Source: Rebellion Research)
Lockheed Martin is about to redefine spy planes. In 2013, the company reported that they were working on the SR-72, a successor of the unparalleled SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. The SR-71, originally developed in the 1960s, reaches speeds over 2,200 mph and redefined the aviation universe as the fastest plane on the planet while also setting the record for sustained altitude. The SR-72 is expected to reach speeds over 14,500 mph. Considering Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947 by hitting 1,650 mph in the Bell X-1, we have progressed almost tenfold in 80 years. But, should we have gotten here faster? Did the US government lose focus on supersonic technological progress? (4/14)

X-37B Spaceplane to Carry DoD and NASA Experiments in Upcoming Mission (Source: Space News)
The sixth mission of the U.S. Air Force’s reusable X-37B spaceplane is scheduled to launch May 16 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The X-37B Operational Test Vehicle 6 will be launched to low Earth orbit on a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office owns the Boeing-made spaceplane, which flies and lands autonomously. The U.S. Space Force is responsible for the launch, on-orbit operations and landing of the vehicle.

OTV 6 will carry more experiments than any of the previous X-37B missions, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said. Randy Walden, director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said the upcoming X-37B mission will be the first to use a service module to host experiments. The service module is an attachment to the aft of the vehicle and “enables us to continue to expand the capabilities of the spacecraft and host more experiments than any of the previous missions,” he said in a statement.

One of the experimental payloads is FalconSat-8, a small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy and funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory. The FalconSat-8 will carry five science payloads. There are also two NASA experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on a materials sample plate and seeds used to grow food. A U.S. Naval Research Laboratory experiment will transform solar power into radio frequency microwave energy which could then be transmitted to the ground. There are also two NASA experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on a materials sample plate and seeds used to grow food. (5/6)

Firefly Aerospace Achieves AS9100 Quality Certification (Source: Firefly)
Firefly Aerospace has secured AS9100 quality certification as it advances from developmental to production phase ahead of the inaugural flight of its Alpha launch vehicle later this year. Firefly has passed all quality audit requirements and received its AS9100 certification, the widely adopted and standardized benchmark designed to ensure quality management practices across the aerospace industry. Additionally, Firefly requires all suppliers to be AS9100 certified, which has bolstered its quality assurance program as qualification tests this spring lead to full production capabilities. (5/6)

Pandemic Perseverance: How NASA Has Adapted to the Coronavirus (Source: Space News)
“We’re taking it at this point day by day,” he said. “We have 10 centers across the nation and every single one of them, as this continues to develop, is going to be affected differently.” Click here. (5/1)

NASA Planning to Launch an Integrated Lunar Gateway in 2023, Possibly on Falcon Heavy (Source: Ars Technica)
Last week NASA announced awards to three companies to develop Lunar Landers for Artemis. But the agency did not say much about its "other" major program near the Moon, a Lunar Gateway that will serve as a small space station that could play an integral role for landings. With a goal to land humans on the Moon by 2024, NASA is working through the details of how that will happen. One aspect of the lunar lander awards worth noting is that NASA and its contractors will spend the next 10 months finalizing their plans, and from this process they will collectively determine the fastest, best path to the Moon by 2024.

That may involve staging the first human landing from the Gateway, in high lunar orbit, or it may not. But both NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the space agency's chief of human spaceflight, Doug Loverro, said the Gateway was an essential part of NASA's long-term plans to not only to return humans to the Moon but to do so in a sustainable manner. The agency's current timeline entails launching the nucleus of the Gateway in 2023, Loverro said. He also confirmed that the first two elements of the Gateway will be launched as an integrated unit. This means that the Power and Propulsion Element built by Maxar and the pressurized Habitation and Logistics Outpost built by Northrop Grumman will be assembled together on the ground and then launched on a commercial rocket.

By law, this launch must be competitively bid. But NASA has already studied the combined Gateway to ensure that at least one rocket flying today—SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster—could loft it to lunar orbit. "We assured ourselves that it could be done with the Falcon Heavy," Loverro said. "We haven't selected the launch vehicle yet, but we had to assure ourselves that there would be at least one vehicle for it. And so we know the Falcon Heavy can do it, and we know that because they have to meet an Air Force Department of Defense requirement for an extended fairing. So there could be more than one option, but we had to verify at least one." (5/6)

Virgin Galactic Shares Rise After More Customer Deposits and Losses Stabilize (Source: CNBC)
Virgin Galactic reported first quarter results with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $53 million, just below last quarter’s $55 million loss. The company said it logged more than 400 customer deposits in the past quarter, representing over $100 million in future business. “The COVID-19 outbreak led to an unprecedented situation for companies and individuals across the world, but I am encouraged by the commitment displayed by our team in helping to support relief efforts while making program progress,” Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said. (5/5)

China Launches Long March 5B with Prototype Crew Craft (Source: Space News)
China launched the first Long March 5B rocket Tuesday, a major milestone in its plans to develop a space station. The Long March 5B rocket, a version of the Long March 5 intended for missions to low Earth orbit, lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 6 a.m. Eastern. It placed into orbit a prototype of a next-generation crewed spacecraft. The successful launch allows China to proceed with development of a space station, whose modules will be launched on the Long March 5B. The station's core module, Tianhe, is expected to launch in early 2021. The launch also clears the way for a Long March 5 launch this July of the Tianwen-1 Mars mission. (5/5)

Treasury Dept. Unlikely to Change Rules to Assist Space Startups (Source: Space News)
The Treasury Department is unlikely to change a rule that disqualifies many space startups from coronavirus relief loans. The rule affects startups that have venture funding, since the employees of all of the companies backed by same venture capital firm count against the 500-employee limit on those loans. Industry groups have called for changes in the rules to allow venture-funded startups to qualify, but Treasury has pushed back, arguing that changing the rule for venture-owned startups would subvert the intent of the Small Business Administration's loan program that was created to help independently owned small businesses. (5/5)

Iridium Suffers Pandemic Downturn (Source: Space News)
Iridium says the pandemic is making it harder to win new customers. The company said last week it expects to finish 2020 with more revenue than 2019 even though the coronavirus pandemic has made full-year forecasting impossible. There's been a drop in demand in the aviation, maritime and oil markets, all hard-hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic. Iridium executives said that bankruptcy filings by OneWeb and Speedcast should not affect its business. (5/5)

Japan's Infostellar Raises $3.5 Million (Source: Space News)
Japanese ground station startup Infostellar has raised more funds as it adjusts to the pandemic. The company said last week it raised $3.5 million in new funds from Airbus Ventures and other investors, and is looking to raise $1.2 million more by June. Infostellar plans to use the funding to step up its sales efforts as it contends with the dual challenge of a global economic slowdown and robust competition from other ground station companies. (5/5)

Japan's Interstellar Suborbital Launch Canceled Amid Pandemic Concerns (Source: Nikkei)
Other Japanese space companies are feeling the effects of the pandemic on their operations. Interstellar Technologies had planned to launch a sounding rocket last weekend, but local officials blocked the launch last week after residents raised concerns about large crowds attending the launch. The company said it started a crowdfunding campaign to cover its expenses since it is uncertain when it will be able to perform the launch. The pause in operations comes at what executives say is a "critical juncture" in the startup's efforts to develop a low-cost launch vehicle. (5/5)

Virgin Orbit Plans First Launch This Month (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Virgin Orbit hopes to carry out the first launch of its LauncherOne rocket later this month. The company completed a captive-carry test flight of the air-launched system last month and, more recently, a wet dress rehearsal of ground operations, some of the final steps before being ready for the flight. The company has made changes to its operations to ensure the safety of the staff involved in the launch because of the pandemic, which delayed launch preparations by about three weeks. The launch itself won't be livestreamed, the company said, because it added a level of complexity that it wanted to avoid for the first flight. (5/5)

Former NRO Official Joins LinQuest Board (Source: Space News)
A former director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Martin Faga, is joining the board of directors of LinQuest. Faga led the NRO during the George H.W. Bush administration and was also president and CEO of MITRE Corp. LinQuest is a Defense Department contractor that provides space technology and services to the U.S. military, NASA and intelligence agencies, and last month received a $14 million contract for support services to U.S. Space Command. (5/5)

ManTech Offers Virtual Satellite Command/Control (Source: Space News)
ManTech has launched a new service aimed at government agencies and satellite operators looking to protect their networks. The Space Range is a virtual satellite command and control center with hardware in the loop that the company created to protect government and commercial space assets from cyberattacks. The Space Range is a spinoff from a "Cyber Range" it developed for the Defense Department in 2009 for more general cybersecurity applications. (5/5)

Nickelodeon Slimes Space Station (Source: CollectSpace)
Nickelodeon's famous slime has made it to space. The cable network used its annual Kids Choice Awards show over the weekend to show footage of astronauts Christina Koch and Luca Parmitano playing with a container of the green slime (or "non-Newtonian fluid," according to a CASIS description) last year. The two astronauts showed off how the slime behaved in weightlessness, including Parmitano squirting Koch with it. "Playing with slime in space is way more fun than I thought it would be — and way more unpredictable," Koch said. (5/5)

Virgin Galactic Enters Space Act Agreement with NASA To Advance High Mach Technologies (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiary, The Spaceship Company, announced today the signing of a Space Act Agreement with NASA to facilitate the development of high speed technologies. The Space Act Agreement (“SAA”), is set to enable and foster collaboration between NASA, Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company in order to advance the United States’ efforts to produce technically feasible, high Mach vehicles for potential civil applications.

Virgin Galactic believes that it is able to leverage its robust platform of advanced technologies, significant vertically integrated design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, and thousands of hours of flight testing to develop additional aerospace applications. Together with its industry partners, Virgin Galactic is seeking to develop a vehicle for the next-generation of safe and efficient high speed air travel, with a focus on customer experience and environmental responsibility.

In partnership with NASA, Virgin Galactic believes there are significant opportunities to apply higher speeds to drive technological development to allow industries to adapt to the changing economic and ecological environment. The collaboration will aim to inform the development of national strategies using economic and technical foundations with a focus on sustainability. (5/5)

Virgin Galactic Announces First Quarter 2020 Financial Results (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Strong cash position, with cash and cash equivalents of $419 million as of March 31, 2020. Revenue of $238,000, generated by providing engineering services. Net loss of $60 million, narrowed from a $73 million net loss in fourth quarter of 2019. GAAP selling, general, and administrative expenses of $27 million, compared to $37 million in fourth quarter of 2019. Non-GAAP selling, general and administrative expenses of $23 million in the first quarter of 2020. GAAP research and development expenses of $34 million, compared to $37 million in fourth quarter of 2019. Non-GAAP research and development expenses of $33 million in first quarter of 2020. (5/5)

Blue Origin Preparing to Enter the Orbital Arena (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Blue Origin has been making significant progress on the structures, systems, propulsion, and infrastructure supporting their New Glenn heavy lift rocket. Though the company is traditionally quite secretive about most of their operations, they have recently been revealing more and more information as they work towards a first flight date of no earlier than 2021. They also won through as part of the Human Landing System (HLS) award winners as its goals move from the suborbital, through to Low Earth Orbit and beyond.

At their facility in West Texas, Blue Origin has been conducting test fires of both its BE-4 first stage engine and BE-3U upper stage engine. BE-3U is a variant of the BE-3PM engine that has powered the suborbital, reusable New Shepard vehicle on 12 flights. Unlike the tap-off cycle PM variant, BE-3U operates on an open expander cycle, which in turn with a vacuum optimized nozzle creates higher thrust, efficiency, and provides for multiple restarts in space.

As well as adding to the company’s capabilities and improving the reliability of their engines, stand 4670 and the engine production facility are both conveniently located near Decatur, Alabama, where United Launch Alliance produces their Atlas, Delta, and Vulcan rocket families. Blue Origin is in the unique position of not only developing BE-4 for New Glenn, but also for another launch vehicle: ULA’s Vulcan. (5/5)

Launcher Signs Contract with Stennis Space Center to Test Rocket Engines (Source: Rep. Steve Palazzo)
Hancock County is forging a relationship with a second startup space company.  Launcher is working to develop the world’s most efficient rocket to deliver small satellites to orbit – and they’re planning to test their engines at Stennis Space Center.  Launcher recently announced an agreement with NASA allowing them to test the full-scale E-2 engine at the Stennis Space Center E complex facility. “Very soon, I hope we’ll have a permanent team with local employees” said Max Haot, Founder and CEO of Launcher. 

Sometime in the future, Launcher is “open to consider manufacturing in the area” he said. Launcher began as a startup company in March 2017 with the goal of creating a 5-engine rocket that can launch into low orbit while holding hundreds of standard small satellites.  The company is building their rockets by 3D printing the engine out of Copper Alloy – meaning their goal is to create a high-performance engine with a 22,000 lbf thrust.  This will allow Launcher to carry more satellites per launch at a lower cost to their customers. Haot explained that Launcher has 10 employees currently working out of an incubator in Brooklyn, New York. (5/5)

Trump Administration Drafting 'Artemis Accords' Pact for Moon Mining (Source: Reuters)
The Trump administration is drafting a legal blueprint for mining on the moon under a new U.S.-sponsored international agreement called the Artemis Accords, people familiar with the proposed pact told Reuters. The agreement would be the latest effort to cultivate allies around NASA’s plan to put humans and space stations on the moon within the next decade, and comes as the civilian space agency plays a growing role in implementing American foreign policy. The draft pact has not been formally shared with U.S. allies yet.

The Trump administration and other spacefaring countries see the moon as a key strategic asset in outer space. The moon also has value for long-term scientific research that could enable future missions to Mars - activities that fall under a regime of international space law widely viewed as outdated. The Artemis Accords, named after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s new Artemis moon program, propose “safety zones” that would surround future moon bases to prevent damage or interference from rival countries or companies operating in close proximity. (5/5)