July 15, 2020

Designing Better Asteroid Explorers (Source: Space Daily)
Recent NASA missions to asteroids have gathered important data about the early evolution of our Solar System, planet formation, and how life may have originated on Earth. These missions also provide crucial information to deflect asteroids that could hit Earth. Missions like the OSIRIS-REx mission to Asteroid Bennu and the Hyabusa II mission to Ryugu, are often conducted by robotic explorers that send images back to Earth showing complex asteroid surfaces with cracked, perched boulders and rubble fields.

In order to better understand the behavior of asteroid material and design successful robotic explorers, researchers must first understand exactly how these explorers impact the surface of asteroids during their touchdown. Researchers at the University of Rochester conducted lab experiments to determine what happens when explorers and other objects touch down on complex, granular surfaces in low gravity environments. Their research provides important information in improving the accuracy of data collection on asteroids. (7/15)

Pocket-Sized German Satellite maker Shoots for Stars (Source: Space Daily)
Holding its own against aerospace giants like pan-European Airbus Space or French-Italian Thales Alenia, German minnow OHB has carved out a space as a national champion in satellite building. Its latest coup was claiming a hefty slice of business from contracts signed in early July by the European Space Agency (ESA) as it builds up its Earth observation program known as Copernicus. Among the six new satellites, an OHB-built orbiter will keep an eye on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions stemming from human activity over the coming decades. (7/15)

Satellite Images Show Europe Facing Droughts (Source: Space Daily)
Last months have been ones of the driest in the history of rainfall measurements in Europe. Recent storms, even the ones that caused local flooding, have not affected much deeper soil layers which continue to remain very dry. Large volumes of the heavy rainfall flow directly into rivers and drainage ditches and moisten only the surface layer.

The UK has observed the driest May in the last 124 years. Fires resulting from droughts digest forests, meadows and fields. Many rivers have a record low water level. We can see the scale of the problem and the seriousness of the situation on satellite images. The current events of the pandemic have overshadowed the picture of giant flames that swept through southeastern Australia just a few months ago. (7/13)

Israel Frets Over Security Risk From US Rule Change for Remote Sensing Photos (Source: Sputnik)
The Israeli government is trying to stop commercial satellite photography companies from disseminating high-resolution images of the country over fears Hezbollah or Hamas could use them to more accurately plot attacks. Israeli officials are fuming over an apparent change to a US policy that prohibits sharper images of Israel from being posted on the internet. Amnon Harari, head of the Israeli Defense Ministry's Space and Satellite Administration, said on Israeli public radio station Kan on Monday that the sharper the photograph, the more dangerous it is to Israeli security. (7/13)

Germany Funds Small Launcher Competition (Source: DLR)
Three German companies have received 500,000-euro awards from the German space agency DLR as part of a competition to foster small launch vehicles. Startups Isar Aerospace and HyImpulse Technologies, alongside OHB company Rocket Factory Augsburg will use the funds to further develop their launch vehicles ahead of a follow-on competition in the spring of 2021. DLR, the European Space Agency and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, are supporting the microlauncher competition, which aims to provide 25 million euros to German startups developing vehicles for commercial launch services. The competition calls for two demonstration flights in the 2022 to 2023 time frame. (7/15)

Minotaur IV Sucessfully Sends NROL-129 Into Blue, Virginia Skies (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Virginia based Northrop Grumman launched classified mission NROL-129 for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) aboard a Minotaur IV rocket from launchpad 0B at The Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), on NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. The countdown clock was held at T-minus 16 minutes for 46 minutes, allowing for multiple boats to be cleared from the downrange hazard area. (7/15)

Imagine Docs, Procter & Gamble Launch Major Content Deal With Scripted Mars Feature (Source: Variety)
Imagine Documentaries and advertising juggernaut Procter & Gamble have brokered a significant co-financing deal for a slate of film and streaming projects, Variety can report exclusively. The deal represents the latest foray into scripted for P&G, the 182-year-old consumer goods producer. The company is credited as the architect of the soap opera, which built narrative stories around its products in the age of radio.

There are multiple projects in various stages of development included in the deal, the first of which is “Mars 2080,” a future-set feature that will follow a family’s commute from Earth to the red planet and the adjustment to their new habitat. The film is being developed for theaters and is eyeing a late 2021 release date, though attached talent has not yet been announced. (7/14)

FAA's Supersonic Proposal Draws Praise and Protest (Source: AIN)
The FAA’s notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to develop a certification pathway for supersonic aircraft has drawn a mixed bag of responses from industry, community, regulators, and environmentalists, with many offering strong support, others calling the effort premature, and still others expressing absolute opposition.

Released in April, the NPRM would for the first time establish subsonic landing and takeoff cycle noise standards for supersonic airplanes other than the Concorde. The lack of standards has been a main stumbling block to development of supersonic aircraft. Initially, the proposal would address aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight no greater than 150,000 pounds and a maximum operating cruise speed of Mach 1.8. This category of aircraft would constitute “Supersonic Level 1,” accommodating most of the current development activity, the agency said.

Environmental organizations coalesced in their opposition, with more than 60 of the groups calling for the withdrawal of the proposal and charging that it would enable such aircraft “to be noisier at takeoff and landing than new conventional jets.” The European Union also expressed reservation with the FAA moving forward independently on a rulemaking, saying, “Priority should be given to the development of international standards within ICAO over any initiative taken by a state,” and adding, “Tthe EU considers the notified standard as premature as it would give a leeway for supersonics standards to depart from existing subsonic aircraft standards, thus potentially distorting the market by unfairly competing with subsonic aircraft.” (7/14)

Sierra Nevada Selected by DoD to Develop Uncrewed Orbital Outpost Prototype (Source: SNC)
Sierra Nevada was awarded a contract to repurpose SNC’s Shooting Star transport vehicle as a proposed commercial solution for an Unmanned Orbital Outpost – essentially a scalable, autonomous space station for experiments and logistics demonstrations – by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). SNC’s Shooting Star transport vehicle serves as the core structure for the proposed design.

The versatility of the Dream Chaser spaceplane and Shooting Star technologies and subsystems allow for greater flexibility and modularity both internally and externally for orbital outpost mission requirements. For DIU, this design leverages commercial programs and private investment at a fraction of the cost and schedule of building government-owned and operated systems. Repurposing space hardware reduces the time to achieve a minimal operating capability, orbital debris and the cost of launching dedicated buses to support subsequent mission requirements. (7/14)

DoD Canceled Small Launcher Contracts Due to Funding Shift, Hopes to Re-Fund (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department said it canceled plans to award contracts to six small launch vehicle companies because of a lack of funding. Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said Tuesday that the $116 million it had allocated for small launch vehicle contracts was shifted to small business loan programs that were considered a more urgent priority. The Pentagon announced in June its intent to award contracts for two launches each to six companies, using Defense Production Act authorities, but withdrew them a couple weeks later amid criticism from industry about how the six companies were selected. Roper said that if the Pentagon gets new "Title 3" funding, small launch contracts will be the first in line for it. (7/15)

OneWeb Gets Go-Ahead to Resume Satellite Production, Florida Facility's Fate Uncertain (Source: Space News)
OneWeb received permission from a bankruptcy court to make payments that will allow satellite production to resume. OneWeb told the court that making prepayments to OneWeb Satellites will allow it to "preserve its supply chain and resume constructing the satellites, as envisioned and required" under the terms of OneWeb's acquisition by a venture led by the British government and Bharti Global.

OneWeb Satellites is a joint venture of OneWeb and Airbus, and opened a factory in Florida last year for producing OneWeb's satellite constellation. However, it's unclear the extent of manufacturing that will stay in Florida given the British government’s desire to see the U.K. play a more meaningful role in building the constellation. As of January, OneWeb Satellites was producing two satellites per day at its Florida factory. (7/15)

House Rejects Commerce Department Space Merger in Spending Bill (Source: Space News)
A House spending bill rejects a Commerce Department proposal to combine two space offices and increase their budgets. The bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday, provides $1.8 million each to the Office of Space Commerce and the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) office that licenses commercial Earth imaging satellites. The department proposed combining the two offices and requested $15 million for it, arguing the increase was needed for handling space traffic management activities. The report accompanying the House bill said it was awaiting an independent report, requested by last year's spending bill and due in the near future, about what agency should have responsibility for civil space traffic management. (7/15)

Russia's MTKS Developing Reusable Cargo Spacecraft (Source: TASS)
A Russian company is working on prototypes of a reusable cargo spacecraft. MTKS says it is working on four prototypes of Argo, which will cost $136 million to build. The spacecraft is designed to transport two tons of cargo to a space station in low Earth orbit and bring back one ton. The company did not disclose the schedule for developing Argo or how it will be funded. (7/15)

Skyrora Opens Test Engine Facility in Scotland (Source: The Herald)
A launch vehicle startup in Scotland has opened a new engine test complex. Skyrora plans to test engines for its small suborbital and orbital launch vehicles at the new facility in Fife. The company is working on its Skyrora XL orbital rocket, with a first launch planned for 2023 from a vertical launch site in the U.K. (7/15)

New-Style Vulcan-Centaur Payload Fairing Arrives in Florida for Test Flight (Source: AmericaSpace)
With just one year to go before the greatly-anticipated maiden voyage of its Vulcan-Centaur heavylifter, ULA recently welcomed a new-style payload fairing to Cape Canaveral, targeting flights aboard upcoming Atlas V vehicles. The fairing—known as “Out-of-Autoclave” (OoA)—was fabricated by ULA’s strategic partner, RUAG Space USA, in Decatur, Ala., and was transported to the Space Coast aboard the RocketShip vessel. It is expected that the OoA method will make the fabrication of future payload fairings for Vulcan-Centaur missions more affordable and easier to build. By flying on an Atlas V, ULA hopes to gain valuable “real-world”, risk-reduction experience before committing it to the new launcher. (7/15)

Canadian Student Contest Will Fly Experiment on Blue Origin Rocket (Source: SpaceQ)
Shad Canada is taking its programming virtual and has partnered with Blue Origin for a 20-day program that includes a spaceflight competition. Shad Canada is a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) and entrepreneurship not-for-profit registered charity for students in grade 10 and 11. Shad Canada programs are usually month-long where students work on issues including food security, water management and waste. Part of the goal is to prepare them to tackle social and economic challenges. One winning team will build and fly their experiment on a future flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket.

This year COVID-19 has forced them to rethink their program. The end result is that 600 high school students are participating in synchronous online sessions which started on July 6. Programming also includes asynchronous sessions allowing for participation from different time zones and home life responsibilities. (7/14)

NASA Announces Mini Payload Challenge Winners (Source: NASA JPL)
NASA's next giant leap may be aided by tiny lunar robots. These miniature robots would help scout the lunar surface, collecting key information about the Moon, its resources, and the environment. Such data would be helpful for the agency's future lunar endeavors and NASA's Artemis program. In April, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California ran a public prize competition for miniature payload designs for future Moon missions. The "Honey, I Shrunk the NASA Payload" challenge garnered the interest of hundreds of innovators. Now, the winners have been announced.

Existing payloads are often big, heavy, and require a lot of power. Tiny payloads allow for the development of technologies that can do more prospecting and science on smaller, more mobile platforms. This challenge sought designs for payloads not much larger than a bar of soap - 3.9 inches by 3.9 inches by 1.9 inches (10 centimeters by 10 centimeters by 5 centimeters) - and weighing no more than 0.8 pounds (0.4 kilograms). Submissions were divided among two categories: lunar resource potential and lunar environment. A total of $160,000 in prizes was awarded. Click here. (7/14)

30 People with COVID-19 Die at Baikonur (Source: AKI Press)
30 people died from coronavirus in Baikonur in Kazakhstan, Deputy Director of Russian Federal Biomedical Agency Vladimir Romanov told Interfax. He stated during briefing of operative team in Baikonur that 24 new coronavirus cases and 30 lethal cases are registered there as of July 14. “The epidemiological process is stable. FBA controls the situation in Baikonur. We’ll introduce quarantine restrictions to stop growth of people who need treatment at hospitals,” Romanov said.

It was reported in June that one person died from coronavirus. Russia rents Baikonur complex and spaceport in Kazakhstan. More than 76,500 people live in city, 60% of them are Kazakh nationals, 37% are Russian nationals. (7/15)