June 23, 2020

Shares of Virgin Galactic Surge After Announcement That It Will Train Astronauts for NASA (Source: CNBC)
Virgin Galactic signed an agreement with NASA that will allow the space tourism venture to train astronauts for trips to the International Space Station. Under the agreement, it will develop a “private orbital astronaut readiness program,” similar to the one it has to prepare tourists for its own flights. Shares of Virgin Galactic rose 15.9% in trading to close at $17.39 a share. (6/23)

Redwire Acquires Made In Space, the Leader in On-orbit Space Manufacturing Technologies (Source: Redwire)
Redwire, a new leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, announced today that it has acquired Made In Space, Inc. (“MIS”), an innovative provider of industry-leading on-orbit space manufacturing technologies. The acquisition also includes Made In Space Europe, based in Luxembourg and a sister company to the U.S. organization, which provides space-capable robotic systems to the global space industry. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2010, MIS was the first company to perform additive manufacturing in space and specializes in on-orbit manufacturing and assembly, zero gravity materials development, and human space exploration manufacturing solutions. Over the last 10 years, MIS has teamed with NASA on several space manufacturing projects including the Archinaut program, an in-space robotic manufacturing and assembly capability that builds large scale space assets on-orbit. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, MIS has additional offices in California, Alabama, and Ohio. (6/23)

China Launches Final Beidou Navigation Satellite (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
China launched the capstone satellite for the Beidou navigation constellation Tuesday, adding the final piece to a global network to rival the U.S. military’s GPS fleet providing positioning, timing, and search and rescue services. The final Beidou satellite took off at 9:43 p.m. EDT Monday) aboard a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang launch center. (6/23)

Chinese Rocket Stage Crashes Into Hill Near Reservoir (Source: Golden Wheel News)
This morning, Beidou III was successfully launched! Rocket wreckage fell on the hill across the river from Yuqing’s Fangzhu Reservoir...Yellow smoke is blowing on the hill. At first glance, the smoke produced by the impact of heavy objects is not caused by fire. White smoke or black smoke. Editor's Note: This smoke is from rocket propellant and is poisonous. Such crashes are now a common occurence downrange of China's inland spaceports. They fall on populated areas. (6/23)

Final Frontier Design Awarded Multiple NASA Lunar xEMU Space Suit Contracts (Source: Space Daily)
Final Frontier Design (FFD) is pleased to announce the award of multiple contracts for components of NASA's next generation xEMU Lunar space suit. The xEMU Lunar space suit will be used in the Artemis mission, the first US planetary space mission since Apollo. The development awards include the Lunar xEMU space suit boot, hip, and waist joints, and will culminate with hardware deliveries to NASA in 2020. Lower body motion for walking and thermal insulation in the extremely cold regions of the Lunar south pole will be critical performance elements in the Lunar xEMU space suit. (6/22)

Stability and Certainty for NASA’s Exploration Efforts (Source: Space Review)
Earlier this month NASA selected Kathy Lueders as its new associate administrator for human exploration and operations, the fourth person to hold that position on a permanent or acting basis within the last year. Jeff Foust reports that, now more than ever, leadership stability is needed to keep NASA’s exploration ambitions on track. Click here. (6/22)
 
DOD Official's Emails Dispute Ligado Interference Concerns (Source: Law360)
A Pentagon deputy chief information officer — who is an expert on federal spectrum usage — disagrees with the U.S. Department of Defense's official assessment that satellite operator Ligado's planned 5G network will wreak havoc on GPS technology, documents obtained by Law360 show. The documents, which Ligado shared with House and Senate committees, indicate that the Dept. of Defense is not united in opposing regulatory approval for Ligado's 5G network. (6/19)

Small Satellite Operators Criticize FCC's C-Band Defense (Source: Law360)
A trio of small satellite companies seeking to eviscerate the Federal Communications Commission's C-Band spectrum reorganization plan told the D.C. Circuit on Friday that the agency hasn't justified its slate of drastic changes. The operators -- ABS Global, Empresa Argetina de Soluciones Satelitales, and Hispamar Satellites SA -- asserted that the agency overstepped its authority when it decided to redistribute the majority of the band to mobile companies in a forthcoming auction. (6/19)

Orbital Use Fees Won’t Solve the Space Debris Problem (Source: Space Review)
One proposal for mitigating the growth of orbital debris is to require satellite operators to pay a “use fee” if they want to launch new satellites. Ruth Stilwell argues this approach addresses the wrong part of the orbital debris problem. Click here. (6/22)
 
Spaceflight After the Pandemic (Source: Space Review)
The coronavirus pandemic will have effects on the space industry long after the pandemic itself is over. Eric Hedman discusses what some implications for the space industry will be, from human spaceflight to doing biomedical research in space. Click here. (6/22)
 
Distributors Should Unplug the Earth Imagery Bottleneck (Source: Space Review)
Commercial Earth observation, and applications of such data, have shown considerable growth in recent years. Nicholas Borroz says that, for that growth to continue, there’s a need for improved distribution of usable data. Click here. (6/22)

Boeing to Shift Civil Space Management Amid NASA Controversy (Source: Space News)
Boeing is reshuffling the management of some of its major civil space programs. Mark Mulqueen, manager of Boeing's work on the International Space Station program, will retire from the company July 2. He will be replaced by John Mulholland, who currently manages Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew program. Mulholland will be replaced by John Vollmer, a former Boeing chief engineer on the ISS program who joined the Starliner program earlier this year to help implement recommendations from an independent review after a first uncrewed test flight of the spacecraft suffered problems. (6/22)

Commerce Department Looks to Report to Resolve Space Traffic Management Assignment (Source: Space News)
The Commerce Department hopes an upcoming report will resolve any remaining objections to its taking on civil space traffic management (STM) responsibilities. In an interview Friday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he expects to receive a report in the next two months from the National Academy of Public Administration on what agency is best suited to take on STM work. Congress mandated that report in its 2020 spending bill because of skepticism that Commerce is the right agency to handle those activities. Space Policy Directive 3, signed two years ago, directed Commerce to take over civil STM from the Defense Department. Ross said he hopes the report will provide "budgetary relief" for the agency and allow it to move ahead more quickly on various aspects of space traffic management. (6/22)

NRO Set to Award Contracts for Commercial Imagery (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office expects to award "multiple" contracts for commercial imagery by the end of the year. NRO took over the job of acquiring commercial satellite imagery from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) in 2018. Since then NRO has surveyed the capabilities of the rapidly expanding commercial satellite industry, including awarding several study contracts. An NRO official said the agency doesn't expect to rely on a single provider of commercial imagery, instead using a variety of companies and building its own systems only for its "unique tailored needs." (6/22)

UK Considers OneWeb to Develop SatNav System (Source: Reuters)
The British government is considering using OneWeb to support development of its own satellite navigation system. That proposal would depend on the government providing financial support to the company, currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and moving satellite production from the United States to Britain. That proposal is one option the government is considering as it considera scaling back initial plans for a separate satellite navigation system rather than reach an agreement with the European Union for continued participation on the Galileo system. (6/22)

Virgin Galactic to Support Astronaut Training (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to support commercial astronaut missions to the ISS. The agreement, announced early Monday, covers development of what the company calls a "private orbital astronaut readiness program" that could include identifying potential customers, handling training, and arranging for transportation to the station. Those flights would not be carried out on Virgin Galactic vehicles, which are capable of suborbital flight only, but the company could work with developers of commercial crew vehicles. However, private astronauts may train at Virgin Galactic facilities, including on SpaceShipTwo suborbital flights. The company didn't disclose the cost it anticipated for such flights or a schedule for them. (6/22)

GomSpace to Liquidate Constellation Spinoff (Source: Space News)
European smallsat builder GomSpace is liquidating a constellation spinoff. GomSpace announced last week a settlement agreement with Aerial & Maritime, a company it helped start and for which it had already built eight satellites yet to launch. Aerial & Maritime, which planned to operate the satellites for tracking ships and planes, will be liquidated, and GomSpace will retain ownership of the satellites. GomSpace chief executive Niels Buus said the coronavirus pandemic wiped out hope that Aerial & Maritime, which was struggling to raise funds, could find investors. (6/22)

Space Force Sees Promise in AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is looking to leverage the capabilities of the Air Force Research Lab's Space Vehicles Directorate. That directorate, which is one of 23 organizations identified for transfer from the Air Force to the Space Force, is being directed to develop a research-and-development "pipeline" to support the Space Force and ensure it has a technological advantage over adversaries. Its projects range from an experiment to test beaming power from space to a next-generation experimental navigation satellite. (6/22)

NASA’s First Planetary Defense Mission Target Gets a New Name (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Nearly two decades ago, a near-Earth asteroid was discovered to have a moon and the binary system was given the name “Didymos”—Greek for “twin,” a loose description of the larger main body and the smaller orbiting moon, which became unofficially known as Didymos B. In 2022, that moon will be the target of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the first full-scale demonstration of an asteroid deflection technology for planetary defense. The DART spacecraft will execute a kinetic impact, deliberately crashing into the asteroid to change its motion in space. To mark this historic mission, Didymos B is getting an official name of its own: Dimorphos. (6/23)

Space Mission Launches That Will Carry Experiment Aimed at Solving Antibiotic Resistance (Source: Space Daily)
Israel's Sheba Medical Center, Tel HaShomer made history on June 18 as one of the world's first hospitals to launch a bio-medical experiment in space. To help solve the worsening global problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, on this space mission Sheba will test its theory that microgravity in space affects antibiotic resistance acquisition by bacteria. The success of this experiment will help to understand the risks of infectious diseases in humans traveling to space and has the potential to find new approaches to fight the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance infections, which are responsible for the death of 700,000 people annually worldwide. (6/18)

NASA Developing a Plan to Fly Personnel on Suborbital Spacecraft (Source: NASA)
For the first time in the agency’s history, NASA has initiated a new effort to enable NASA personnel to fly on future commercial suborbital spaceflights. NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has successfully worked with emerging commercial suborbital transportation systems to fly research payloads to space for short periods of microgravity time. In addition, the Flight Opportunities program recently released a call that allows those non-NASA researchers to propose accompanying their payloads in suborbital space.

Now the Suborbital Crew (SubC) office within NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will lay the groundwork for flying NASA personnel on commercial suborbital space transportation systems. The goal of the SubC office is to perform a system qualification, or safety assessment, to enable NASA astronauts, principal investigators and other NASA personnel to take advantage of these unique capabilities. Following the qualification, NASA plans to purchase seats on commercial suborbital space transportation systems for NASA use. (6/18)