June 18, 2020

DoD Space Strategy Tags China and Russia and "Serious Threats" (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department released a new space strategy Wednesday that describes China and Russia as the "most immediate and serious threats" to U.S. space assets. The Defense Space Strategy, which updates a similar document from 2011, builds on the Trump administration's 2018 national defense strategy that calls for the U.S. military to prepare to compete with rising military powers such as China and Russia. The new strategy says those countries have developed "more advanced weapons designed to target U.S. military satellites."

The Defense Department will work to maintain space superiority, provide space capabilities to U.S. and allied forces, and ensure stability in space, the strategy says. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Steve Kitay said at a briefing about the report that the growth of commercial space capabilities have drastically changed the space domain. While they have created new opportunities for economic growth, he said, they "also create challenges in protecting critical technology, ensuring operational security, and maintaining strategic advantages." (6/18)

Space Force Official Impressed with US Launch Vehicle Developments (Source: Space News)
The head of the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) says he is impressed by the progress companies are making on new launch vehicles. Lt. Gen. John "JT" Thompson said Wednesday that he has been tracking the technical maturity of the vehicles proposed for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 procurement, including new vehicles from Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and ULA. All the Phase 2 competitors "continue to make progress maturing their vehicles and I'm confident that they're going to get it across the finish line," he said. The Phase 2 competition will select two launch providers who need to be certified in time to begin launches under those contracts in 2022. (6/18)

Commerce Secretary Visits AGI (Source: AGI)
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will visit a company involved in space traffic management today. Ross is scheduled to visit the offices of AGI as part of a trip to Pennsylvania to discuss the economic recovery from the pandemic. AGI offers space traffic management services to satellite operators through its Commercial Space Operations Center. Space Policy Directive 3, signed two years ago, gives the Commerce Department responsibility for civilian space traffic management, but the department has struggled to get the funding needed to ramp up those activities. (6/18)

Spaceflight Inc. Plans Multiple Rideshare Missions with SpaceX (Source: GeekWire)
Spaceflight has signed a contract with SpaceX for slots on multiple rideshare missions. Spaceflight said Wednesday it secured capacity on "multiple" SpaceX through the end of next year. Spaceflight will use those slots for its customers looking for launches of their satellites. SpaceX, which has been aggressively expanding its smallsat rideshare program over the last year, says more than 100 satellites have signed up to fly as Falcon 9 secondary payloads. (6/18)

Xplore Wins NOAA Space Weather Study (Source: Space News)
Xplore has won a NOAA contract to study a space weather mission. The $670,000 contract covers a six-month design study of a commercial solar observatory at Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1. Xplore proposes hosting NOAA solar sensors on Xcraft, the company’s multi-mission ESPA-class small spacecraft. Xplore has won contracts from the U.S. Air Force and NASA for other mission concepts involving small spacecraft. (6/18)

Flying Cubesats From Home: Pandemic Accelerates Trend Toward Remote Operations (Source: Space News)
Cubesat operators are embracing remote operations of their spacecraft. The pandemic has prompted cubesat operators across the country to abandon mission operations centers in favor of living rooms and kitchen tables. This has included a number of NASA missions operated by universities and research labs than ordinarily would have someone at a control center at all times. Operators said they've had to address issues ranging from ensuring secure connections between their laptops at home and servers at control centers to remote training of new satellite operators. (6/17)

Italian-Made Vega Rocke Faces Big Test (Source: Ars Technica)
Nearly a year has gone by since an Italian-made Vega rocket launched a 1.2-ton satellite from French Guiana only to subsequently fail at reaching orbit. Now, the Vega rocket is set for its return-to-flight mission on Thursday. This is an important mission for more than just getting the Vega rocket back on track. It also is the first launch of a rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana since February, after which the facility closed down due to COVID-19 precautions. Additionally, with this mission, the small Vega booster seeks to prove its bona fides as a booster capable of flying rideshare missions. On this launch, the rocket will debut the "Small Spacecraft Mission Service" dispenser to deploy payloads of varying sizes into multiple orbits. (6/17)

Swamp Watch: Senators Press FCC Chairman Pai on C-Band Accelerated Relocation Payments (Source: Via Satellite)
Senator John Kennedy, R-La., questioned the validity of the FCC’s accelerated relocation payments to incentivize satellite operators to clear C-band spectrum as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday. Sen. Kennedy pushed Pai as to why $9.7 billion in accelerated relocation payments that the FCC has set are necessary. Kennedy also called out Intelsat in a veiled reference, saying that the operator has gone into bankruptcy to leverage the FCC for more money.

“You say we’re giving them $5 billion to relocate, paying the moving expenses. We’re giving them $10 billion to relocate faster, and it’s going to save us two to four years. Why?” Kennedy pressed. “You have the statutory authority which Congress has given you, to tell [the satellite operators] to move now.”  Pai reiterated arguments he has made in the past that the accelerated relocation payments align the interests of the satellite operators with the public interest to deploy 5G quickly. (6/16)

United Launch Alliance Names New Director of Global Commercial Sales (Source: Via Satellite)
United Launch Alliance (ULA) has named Vernon Thorp its new director of Global Commercial Sales. In this position he will lead all commercial sales activities for Atlas V and the company’s next-generation Vulcan Centaur rocket launching next year. The previous head of Commercial Launch, Tiphaine Louradour, is now the president of International Launch Services (ILS). (6/17)

Space Florida Granted Renewal of FAA License to Operate LC-46 (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida received the renewal of its FAA Launch Site Operator's License for Space Launch Complex 46. The renewed license gives Space Florida another five year term to host small-class launch operations at the facility, which is shared with the US Navy. "We look forward to hosting many future launches from our pad at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport!" said a Space Florida tweet. (6/18)

Space Perspective Balloon to Fly Passengers to Stratosphere From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: GeekWire)
The space entrepreneurs who planned to send passengers ballooning into the stratosphere for astronaut’s-eye views of the Earth below, way back in 2013, have revived the idea for a new venture called Space Perspective. Co-CEOs Taber MacCallum and Jane Poynter unveiled their concept for a balloon-borne capsule called Spaceship Neptune today, and said that uncrewed test flights are due to begin early next year. Seven years ago, he and Poynter had a similar unveiling for World View Enterprises, an Arizona-based venture that aimed to fly people to an altitude of 100,000 feet, at a price of $75,000 a ticket.

That altitude is much lower than the internationally accepted space boundary, which is 100 kilometers or 62 miles, but it’s high enough to gaze at a wide-angle landscape spread out beneath a black velvet sky. Since 2013, World View has pivoted to sending up uncrewed payloads on balloon platforms known as Stratollites. Last year, Poynter and MacCallum brought in a new management team to head World View’s operations, leaving them free to plan their next venture. After commissioning a study of the travel market, they found that stratospheric travel was still the right answer for what they were looking for.

Space Perspective’s initial base of operations would be at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch and Landing Facility. Up to eight passengers and a pilot would climb into a spacious pressurized capsule for a two-hour ascent to the 100,000-foot level, lofted by a huge, hydrogen-filled balloon at the leisurely pace of 12 mph. After a two-hour cruise at that altitude, Spaceship Neptune would take another two hours to descend to a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. A ship would pick up the passengers, capsule and balloon, and return them all to shore. (6/18)

NASA’s Next Giant Leaps (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics have NASA’s trust, but not a lot of time, to meet a 2024 goal for landing on the moon. In about four and a half years, NASA envisions a lunar lander touching down near the south pole of the moon. Two astronauts will exit the lander’s crew module and go down a few steps to be the first humans on the lunar surface since 1972. Or, they’ll make their way down a much longer ladder to the surface. Or maybe just take an elevator. Click here. (6/17)

Aerospace iIndustry Focuses on Increasing Diversity (Source: Politico)
Aerospace Industries Association members are redoubling efforts toward inclusion and recruitment of underrepresented groups. "We remain committed to tapping into the best talent in every community across the country, but it is clear that our efforts have not succeeded in securing the progress we'd like to see throughout the industry," said AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning. (6/17)

Six Small Launch Companies to Receive DoD Contracts Under Defense Production Act (Source: Space News)
Six space launch companies were selected to receive Defense Department contracts funded under the Defense Production Act to shore up domestic industries financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab, Space Vector and VOX Space each will receive noncompetitive contracts to launch two rideshare missions for government customers over the next 24 months, according to a June 18 announcement.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed and President Trump signed on March 27 provided $1 billion for Defense Production Act efforts to ensure the availability of critical technology for national defense and invest in domestic industrial base capabilities. A large share of the Defense Production Act funds are to procure emergency equipment from domestic sources but a portion of the funds are for the Defense Production Act Title 3 program to provide tailored support to defense suppliers. Small launch — along with aircraft manufacturing, and shipbuilding — was one of the sectors that the Pentagon identified as most affected by the financial downturn caused by the pandemic. (6/18)