June 26, 2020

Dream Chaser Receives Thermal Protection System, On Track for 2021 Debut (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The Sierra Nevada Corporation has announced its Louisville, Colorado production center has received the Thermal Protection System tiles for Tenacity, the first space-worthy Dream Chaser, and has started bonding them to the vehicle. This is another major milestone Tenacity has reached as she walks down the path to her first launch to the International Space Station — which is right now slated to occur in 2021 with a launch on ULA’s Vulcan rocket. (6/26)

Pale Blue Dot Plans California Space Academy Near Vandenberg Spaceport (Source: PBDV)
Energized by the popular success of private space companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, the public has shown a renewed fascination with space exploration. Global box office receipts from “space reality” films like The Martian, Gravity, Arrival and Interstellar exceeded $2 billion, while “space fantasy” including well-known titles like The Expanse, Mars,  Avatar and Star Wars added another $8.4 billion.  We have a singular destination entertainment opportunity that can profitably engage this proven audience.  

Pale Blue Dot Ventures (PBDV) has completed its experience design brief, creating the initial conceptualization for the project, a portfolio of possible elements, and early ideation for site planning. The design brief was developed by Pale Blue Dot’s creative team at IDEAS and shared informally with local stakeholders.

PBVD believes it has an exceptional opportunity to convey the science and story for the future of space exploration. In mid-July 2019, PBDV agreed to an 18-month exclusive period of negotiation with the City of Lompoc, California (recently extended to 22 months by the City Council in a 5-0 vote due to COVID-19) to complete a concept and feasibility program for an educational and entertainment venue. The California Space Academy would be located on 82+ acres of land on Pacific Coast Highway, just 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB). (6/26)

ICEYE Now Contributing to the International Disaster Charter (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Finnish New Space company ICEYE is now providing radar imaging data from its commercial synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation to the International Charter Space and Major Disasters for use in monitoring and response activities. ICEYE provides these images at no cost to the Charter’s Authorised Users to enable wider and more timely information access for disaster events worldwide.

The International Charter provides Earth observation data for use in monitoring and response activities, acquired by the satellites of its 17 members, contributing partners, and data contributors, to support disaster response worldwide. ICEYE is building and operating its own satellite constellation of radar imaging satellites and adds SAR data collected from its commercially available satellites to the Charter’s portfolio. Since 2019, and through a procedure managed by ESA, the company has become an approved Charter data contributor. (6/25)

Intelligence Agency Signs with Capella for SAR Imagery R&D (Source: Space News)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has signed an agreement with Capella to support research and development for the company's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation. The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement will allow Capella and NGA to work on "mutually interesting" research. The NGA has established relationships with commercial geospatial data providers in recent years to help satisfy growing demand for timely and frequently updated imagery and data from U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. Capella previously signed contracts with the NRO and the U.S. Navy. (6/26)

Maxar Buying 3D Geospatial Company Vricon (Source: Space News)
Maxar is spending $140 million to take full ownership of geospatial technology company Vricon. Maxar already owned 50% of Vricon, a joint venture formed by one of its predecessor companies, DigitalGlobe, and Swedish defense company Saab in 2015. Maxar is spending $140 million to buy Saab's stake in a deal slated to close in July. Vricon uses satellite imagery from Maxar and intellectual property from Saab to make 3D mapping products. Maxar is funding the Vricon acquisition by refinancing $150 million in debt, but argues the deal won't affect its efforts to decrease its debt burden because of the additional revenue that Vricon will generate. (6/26)

Virgin Galactic Completes Another Glide Test Flight at Spaceport America (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic says it's ready to resume powered test flights of SpaceShipTwo after a successful glide test Thursday. The flight was the second of the vehicle at Spaceport America in New Mexico, and the suborbital vehicle flew at a higher speed during its descent to test how the vehicle handles at conditions closer to that during powered flight. The company said after the test that, pending a review of data, it should be ready to move into powered flights of the vehicle. SpaceShipTwo last conducted a powered flight in February 2019, when its hybrid rocket motor boosted it to an altitude of more than 80 kilometers. Since then the company focused on outfitting the cabin and making other vehicle modifications. Virgin Galactic reiterated its goal this year is to get ready for commercial flights. (6/26)

Ball Wins NOAA Satellite Contract (Source: Space News)
Ball Aerospace has won a contract to build a NOAA space weather spacecraft. The $96.9 million contract announced Thursday covers the design, assembly, testing and operations of the Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) L1 spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2024. SWFO-L1 will operate at the Earth-sun L-1 Lagrange point to monitor space weather and provide warning of solar storms, replacing several existing but aging spacecraft. (6/26)

Dish Wants Starlink Spectrum for 5G (Source: Bloomberg)
Dish Network is seeking to use spectrum allocated to SpaceX's Starlink system for a terrestrial 5G network. Dish is opposing SpaceX's request to the FCC to allow it to operate its Starlink satellites in a lower orbit and wants to open a rulemaking proceeding on a 12-gigahertz band so that it can be used for both satellite and terrestrial 5G services. SpaceX opposes that effort, arguing that satellite and terrestrial 5G can't coexist in the band and that satellite broadband is a more effective use of that spectrum. (6/26)

NASA, JAXA and ESA Unveil Coronavirus Data Dashboard (Source: Space.com)
Three space agencies unveiled a "dashboard" Thursday with data showing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the environment. NASA, ESA and JAXA jointly developed the COVID-19 Earth Observation Dashboard using data from their Earth science missions. The dashboard helps researchers track how lockdowns and other economic responses to the pandemic have affected the environment, such as reduced air and water pollution. (6/26)

'Nearby' Exoplanets Close Enough for Atmosphere Study (Source: New Scientist)
Astronomers have discovered two, and potentially three, exoplanets close enough to Earth that their atmospheres could be studied. Observations of the star GJ 887, a red dwarf 11 light-years away, revealed the star has two planets and hinted at the existence of a third. The planets are close enough to our solar system to allow astronomers to study them in detail, including looking for any atmosphere they have. While the two confirmed planets are too close to the star to be habitable, the potential third planet is likely within the star's habitable zone. (6/26)

NASA Studying Practice Rendezvous Options for Artemis 2 Orion (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA is studying the addition of an Orion rendezvous demonstration to the Artemis 2 test flight to reduce overall mission risks to the subsequent Artemis 3 lunar landing from first-time operations. The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) is working with its Artemis Programs to evaluate some of the trade-offs from a range of options for an early rendezvous test for the spacecraft on its first crewed mission, such as what the rendezvous target would be and where in the mission the demonstration would take place.

Taking another look at Artemis 2 mission objectives is a part of a recent re-examination of how to meet the goal of landing of U.S. astronauts on the Moon again by the end of 2024. No decisions have been made yet, but favored options would stage the demonstrations early in Artemis 2 with minimal impact to existing, baselined objectives.

Early concepts for the Artemis 3 lunar landing mission included a complex sequence of Gateway, Human Landing System (HLS), and Orion launches and dockings, with multiple mission-critical activities being executed for the first time. HEOMD is looking to reduce mission dependencies, spacecraft complexities, and first-flight operations from Artemis 3. Moving rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) development up to be tested on Artemis 2 would provide additional opportunities to test the system and to incorporate lessons learned from the demonstration before it is essential to mission success on Artemis 3. (6/25)

Japan Demonstrates 7 Technologies on Satellite Built by Startup Company (Source: Parabolic Arc)
JAXA has announced the completion of its Rapid Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-1 (RAPIS-1) mission during which seven technologies were successfully demonstrated in Earth orbit. Launched aboard an Epsilon rocket on Jan. 18, 2019 , the RAPIS-1 satellite demonstrated a X-band communications system, lightweight solar paddles, green propellant reaction control system, space particle monitor and three other technologies supplied by government, industry and academia. (6/25)

NASA is Crowdsourcing Lunar Loo Ideas (Source: Techspot)
A generally straightforward task here on Earth, using the restroom becomes an incredibly complex matter in space when in microgravity. And it’s an entirely different experience on the Moon where the gravity is about 1/6 that of what we experience on Earth. NASA’s Lunar Loo Challenge is offering up to $35,000 that will be shared among teams submitting the top three designs. There’s even a junior category for those under 18 to contribute. Those interested in submitting an idea need to do so before August 17. Winners will be selected over the following month and announced on September 30, 2020. Full design specifications and guidelines can be found over on the challenge website. (6/25)

Orbital Transports Announces "Get Spaceborne" Service for In-Orbit Demonstration and Space Qualification (Source: Orbital Transports)
 Orbital Transports, Inc. announced its new service Get Spaceborne, a resource for small satellite component manufacturers. Rather than requiring an expensive, dedicated mission for in-orbit testing and qualification, products being qualified will share a spacecraft bus with other hosted payloads.

The spacecraft bus provides the hosted payload with power, two-way communications and propulsion. Payload slots are available in standard CubeSat form factors ranging from 1U to 6U, accommodating a range of products. A standard payload management API simplifies integration of the product with the spacecraft bus. Several launch opportunities to Sun-synchronous orbit and potentially other orbits are now available starting in Q2 2021. (6/25)

Florida and Jacksonville Have Big Opportunities for the New Generation of Space Exploration (Source: Florida Times-Union)
With a revived space program, illustrated by the first use of an American-made rocket to ferry astronauts in nearly a decade, there are great opportunities for Florida and Jacksonville. On May 30, two American astronauts zoomed to the Space Station on the Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket that has been used for unmanned payloads since 2010. Private companies will be used for near-Earth orbits while NASA focuses on deep-space travel. NASA is collaborating with private businesses like Boeing and SpaceX.

But this is just the tip of the rocket on a series of space projects planned by NASA. And with Cecil Airport qualified as one of America’s space ports, there are opportunities for business-friendly Jacksonville to take part. NASA plans to nurture the work of the International Space Station as an economic driver. New technologies will be developed to improve air transport. And scientific experiments will continue. (6/25)

Yes, NASA Would Be Happy to Have You Aboard the Space Station. But It’ll Cost Some $50 Million (Source: Washington Post)
A year after NASA announced that it would allow companies to market products on orbit as well as open the International Space Station to private citizens, the space agency said Monday it is well on its way to transforming the orbiting lab into a commercial hub. NASA has five proposals from companies for commercial and marketing opportunities on the station. One of those is there, the agency said in a news release Monday.

Also on Monday, Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s space tourism company, announced that it has signed an agreement with NASA to identify people who might want to fly to the space station as well as prepare them for the mission, joining others that are trying to help promote private flights there. In January, NASA signed an agreement with KBR to help train private astronauts at NASA facilities.

And NASA has an agreement with another company, Axiom Space, which has already booked a crew of four to the station in a flight that could happen as soon as the second half of next year. Separately, SpaceX has signed an agreement to send a private citizen to space. NASA has said it would charge $35,000 a day for passengers to stay aboard the station. And the rides there could cost some $50 million, officials have estimated, though that would be determined by the two companies NASA has hired to fly astronauts to the station, SpaceX and Boeing. (6/22)