May 8, 2020

Chinese Crew Craft Lands After Test Flight (Source Space News)
A next-generation Chinese crewed spacecraft landed early today after a nearly three-day test flight. The spacecraft, launched without a crew Tuesday on a Long March 5B, reentered and landed in the desert Dongfeng landing area at 1:49 a.m. Eastern. The spacecraft performed several maneuvers during the mission, raising the apogee of its orbit to about 8,000 kilometers in order to test a high-speed reentry like that for a return from a mission beyond Earth orbit. While a fully-functional version of the spacecraft can support missions to deep space, China's crewed lunar plans are vague, with such missions potentially taking place in the mid-2030s. (5/8)

Long March 5B Launch Clears Path for Chinese Space Station Project (Source: Space News)
A Long March 5B rocket launched a prototype crewed spacecraft Tuesday, demonstrating the launcher’s capability to carry space station modules to low Earth orbit. Liftoff took place at 6:00 a.m. Eastern from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan island. Separation of four side boosters occurred around three minutes into the flight. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) confirmed launch success around 20 minutes after launch. The prototype new-generation spacecraft entered its predetermined orbit 488 seconds after liftoff. (5/8)

European Parliament Considers Support for Space Industry (Source: Space News)
Members of the European Parliament are asking for government support for Europe's space industry because of the pandemic. Seven members of the parliament, the legislative branch of the European Union, wrote recently to Thierry Breton, a commissioner overseeing space in the European Commission, warning that the industry could lose a billion euros this year. The members of parliament are asking the commission to support a budget for EU space activities of 16 billion euros from 2021 through 2027, after earlier reports that the EU was considering a smaller budget that supports its work on the Galileo and Copernicus programs. (5/8)

Virgin Orbit Prepares for Guam Launch From Air Force Base (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit has an agreement to perform launches from a U.S. Air Force base in Guam. VOX Space, the government services subsidiary of Virgin Orbit, said Thursday it signed an agreement to allow it to use Andersen Air Force Base in Guam for operations of its air-launched LauncherOne system. The first mission from that base will be one for the Air Force called STP-27VP, carrying several experimental cubesats. Virgin Orbit has not set a date for that mission, and its first launch of the LauncherOne system, flying out of California, is expected to take place in the near future. (5/8)

Aerojet: New NASA Contract Allows Lower Cost Engines (Source: Space News)
Aerojet Rocketdyne says a new contract for RS-25 engines for NASA's Space Launch System will enable it to lower the engine's cost. The company received a contract last week for 18 RS-25 engines valued at $1.79 billion. The company is not disclosing the per-engine cost but says that it is less than $100 million per engine one might calculate from the total value of the contract, since that contract also includes testing, overhead and other costs. Aerojet expects to reduce the RS-25 engine's cost by 30% over the contract through the use of additive manufacturing and revised manufacturing practices. (5/8)

Iceye Offers Interferometry (Source: Space News)
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite company Iceye has added interferometry to its offerings. The Finnish company says its fleet of SAR smallsats will be able to detect millimeter-scale vertical differences by comparing images of the same location. Iceye says that technique can detect minute changes caused by soil subsidence, underground exploration, earthquakes or even microquakes. Iceye plans to begin selling interferometric data products later this year. (5/8)

FAA Licenses Another Florida Spaceport, Opens New Spaceports Office (Source: Space News)
The FAA has opened a new office devoted to commercial spaceports. The Office of Spaceports, which Congress directed the FAA to establish in a 2018 reauthorization bill, will take on spaceport regulatory and promotion activities and support future spaceport infrastructure grant programs. The FAA recently issued a spaceport license to an airport in Titusville, Florida, making it the 12th active FAA-licensed spaceport. (5/8)

Russia's Energia Loses Angola Satellite Contract to Other Russian Firm (Source: TASS)
Russian company Energia has lost a contract to build a replacement communications satellite for Angola to another Russian company. Energia built the Angosat-1 satellite, which malfunctioned shortly after launch in late 2017. Energia was originally expected to build a replacement satellite, Angosat-2, but the company disclosed that satellite will instead be built by Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company, which has built other communications satellites as well as Glonass navigation satellites. The change in manufacturers, Energia said in financial documents, was made at the request of the customer. (5/8)

Rocket Lab Readies for Re-Start of Launch Plans (Source: Gisborne Herald)
Rocket Lab hopes to soon resume launches from New Zealand. The company completed this week a wet dress rehearsal for its next Electron launch, carrying satellites for the NRO and other customers. The launch was scheduled for late March but postponed when the New Zealand government imposed a strict lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. The government has eased that lockdown as the number of cases has dropped, and Rocket Lab said it plans to set a new launch date soon. (5/8)

NASA's Mars 2020 Spacecraft Readied for July Launch (Source NASA JPL)
The Mars 2020 spacecraft is continuing preparations for a launch in July. The rover, named Perseverance, has been attached to the descent stage that will lower it to the surface, with a cone-shaped backshell then installed over that. Preparations for the rover mission, part of an effort to collect samples for later return to Earth, remain on schedule for a launch in July. (5/8)

Large Chunk of Mercury May Have Been Blown Away By the Sun (Source: New Scientist)
A giant impact four billion years ago could have caused Mercury to lose most of its mantle to deep space, potentially explaining one of the planet’s key mysteries. Mercury is unusual compared with other rocky planets in the solar system, as its iron core accounts for more than 80 per cent of its radius. Earth’s core, by comparison, makes up just 50 percent of the planet’s radius. This makes it very dense, with just a thin mantle around 500 kilometers thick above the core. (5/7)

Video Shows Hayabusa2 Pogo-Bouncing Off Asteroid (Source: Ars Technica)
The following series of events is not fiction: fly a probe to an asteroid, bounce off that asteroid while grabbing a piece of it, and fling that sample back to Earth. This series of activities is exactly what JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission is in the middle of doing. (And by the way, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is working on the exact same thing, just on a timeline a year behind Hayabusa2.)

Hayabusa2 grabbed its first sample from the surface of a near-Earth asteroid named Ryugu in February 2019. (A second sample was collected in July after it blasted a small crater to expose sub-surface material.) A new study published by the team this week details what the probe saw at the sampling site—including remarkable video of the touchdown itself. Click here. (5/8)

Florida Tech's Aldrin Institute Accepting Applications for Graduate Program (Source: Aldrin Space Institute)
Enroll today for the hybrid online summer 2020 cohort of the Commercial Space Programs graduate certificate, a partnership of Florida Tech (an accredited university) and the International Space University. The only graduate-level certificate program of its kind in the U.S., this intensive program is offered online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and features 4 fully transferrable graduate level courses in commercial space policy, markets, technology, and entrepreneurship. Students will complete reading, online quizzes, and participate in live video lectures and group discussions with guest speakers. Click here. (5/8)

How low-Earth Orbit Satellites Will Enable Connectivity Across All Domains of Warfare (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Space Development Agency will provide the unifying element in the Defense Department’s future Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept, pulling together tactical networks developed by the services with a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. With the JADC2 concept, the department envisions an overarching network capable of connecting sensors to shooters regardless of where they are located. That means U.S. Air Force sensors could feed data to U.S. Army shooters, or even National Reconnaissance Office sensors could send information to U.S. Air Force shooters.

“Each of the services have their own way to incorporate [tactical networks], and JADC2 is just a way to make sure they all have the same networking infrastructure to talk to one another, essentially,” SDA Director Derek Tournear said at the C4ISRNET Conference on May 6. “We plug directly into [JADC2] as the space layer to pull all of that communication together.” Click here. (5/7)

Here Are a Few of the Experiments Hitching a Ride on the Air Force’s Secret Space Plane (Source: C4ISRnet)
The military has been elusive about what the Boeing-built space plane has been doing on its various missions, beyond noting that it has been used for a number of on orbit experiments. The vehicle has spent a cumulative 2,865 days on orbit, with its last flight being the longest at a record breaking 780 days. In a May 6 press release, the Space Force opened up about some of the experiments aboard the X-37B, most notably one that will deliver solar power to the ground from space via radio frequency microwave energy.

That experiment is likely related to AFRL’s Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR), an effort to collect solar energy with high-efficiency solar cells, convert it to radio frequency, and then beam it to earth. That technology could provide an uninterrupted energy source to expeditionary forces at forward operating bases that have limited access to traditional power sources. “SSPIDR is part of AFRL’s ‘big idea pipeline’ to ensure we continue to develop game-changing technologies for our Air Force, DoD, nation, and world.”

The X-37B will also deploy the FalconSat-8, an educational small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy. Also on board will be two NASA experiments that will study the effects of radiation and the space environment on seeds used for food products. One reason the vehicle will carry more experiments than prior mission is the attachment of a new service module to the aft of the spacecraft, which will host multiple experiments. (5/7)

Georgia Spaceport: More Scrutiny Needed Before Drawing Conclusions on Rep. Carter’s Land Deal (Source: Savannah Now)
As every elected official knows, to enter public service is to invite public scrutiny. U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter was reminded of that this week as details of a 2018 real estate transaction came to light. Rep. Carter purchased property near a proposed spacecraft launch facility, a project requiring federal approval but one Carter was advocating for long before he closed on the nearby land in mid-2018. The dealings have aroused concerns. The situation is full of nuances, and for those looking to pounce on Rep. Carter, it’s an easy leap from suspicion of impropriety to conclusion of such. Judging by the public outcry in recent days, many have rushed to judge this a scandal.

Keep in mind the political nature of this scenario. Carter is increasingly viewed as highly partisan, a persona he himself has propagated through his words and actions in recent years, from storming a closed door deposition hearing during the impeachment process to the overt pro-Trump tone of his campaign literature. Carter’s driven a deep wedge between himself and others who don’t share his partisan views. Those opponents see opportunity in this spaceport flap. Now is the time to slow down and do the due diligence before public scrutiny of the situation is devalued.

The intersection of efforts to build Spaceport Camden, Carter’s property purchase and Carter’s support for the spaceport project begs vetting. At issue: How much, if at all, did the potential for economic growth tied to the spaceport influence Carter’s interest in the nearby property? Further, did his property investment drive his recruitment of other legislators to support the project? Rep. Carter’s 471-acre tract is a natural wilderness approximately seven miles inland along the same road as the proposed spaceport site. He maintains he purchased it as a hunting and fishing camp with no intention of developing it. However, the tract is zoned residential, and as much as 251 acres are not considered wetlands and could be developed. (5/7)

FAA to Take Another Look at Spaceport Camden After Plans Downsized (Source: Georgia Recorder)
The FAA is set to add a new environmental review for a scaled-down proposal to launch rockets off coastal Georgia, creating a new hurdle for Camden County’s eight-year quest to create a Spaceport. The federal agency announced Tuesday it is preparing another draft of an Environmental Impact Statement for the Spaceport Camden, a controversial project Camden County officials say will bring tourism and other economic boosts to the region. Environmental groups and other critics have railed against the potential safety hazards posed by the project.

The revised environmental study comes after the county downsized the rockets it plans to launch in its new license application in December to about the size of a mini-fridge. The project’s scope shrank after the FAA raised concerns about how the county could safeguard people who live near the proposed launch site. The U.S. Navy, which operates Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay about 10 miles away near the Florida border, also expressed national security concerns. (5/6)

Florida Congressmen Introduce Bill Supporting US Space Launch Competitiveness (Source: Rep. Bill Posey)
Florida Congressmen Bill Posey (R) and Charlie Crist (D) have introduced the American Space Commerce Act, intended to "protect American space launch industry from unfair practices by foreign governments." The bill extends existing tax incentives for an additional 10 years for companies launching from the U.S. The congressmen point to unfair practices by China, India, Russia, and Europe. Click here for the "dear colleague" letter inviting other members to co-sponsor the legislation. (5/8)

SpaceX Ship Rescues Boater Fallen Overboard in Atlantic (Source: USCG)
The Coast Guard, partner agencies, and a good Samaritan vessel rescued a boater Friday near Port Canaveral. The good Samaritan vessel "Go Searcher" rescued a 54-year old man who was reported in good condition and wearing a life jacket. Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville received an emergency phone call at 11:20 a.m. from a disabled 27-foot center console boat reporting a boater had been pulled away by the current from the vessel while trying to remove fouling from the props. The Go Searcher vessel is owned by SpaceX and is part of its fleet for recovering space vehicle parts. (5/8)