March 3, 2021

SpaceX Aims to Expand its Starlink Satellite Operation to Texas (Source: GeekWire)
SpaceX is planning to break ground on a “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” in Austin, Texas, to support a satellite operation that got its start in Redmond, Washington. The company’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, set up the Starlink satellite operation in Redmond five years ago. It’s now said to turn out six satellites per day for SpaceX’s broadband internet constellation, which is in the midst of an expanding beta test. More than 1,000 of the satellites have already been deployed in low Earth orbit, and SpaceX continues to launch them in batches of as many as 60 at a time.

In contrast to SpaceX’s Redmond facility, the Austin factory would build “millions of consumer-facing devices that we ship directly to customers (Starlink dishes, Wi-Fi routers, mounting hardware, etc.),” SpaceX said in a job posting. That part of the operation has been managed from SpaceX’s headquarters in the Los Angeles area. (3/2)

Musk Warms to Texas, Plans "Starbase" Municipality (Source: GeekWire)
California has served as the home base for SpaceX since Elon Musk founded the company in 2020, and Musk’s other major corporate concern, Tesla, is based in the Golden State as well. Musk has soured on California over the past year, however, in part due to restrictions put in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Last December, he announced that he’s relocating to the Lone Star State.

Texas is already the main locale for SpaceX’s other grand project, the Starship super-rocket and its Super Heavy booster. Starship prototypes are being tested at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch facility on the South Texas coast. Eventually, SpaceX aims to use the Starship system for purposes ranging from satellite deployment and point-to-point terrestrial travel to trips to the moon and Mars.

Today Musk signaled that he has big plans for that area, reporting in a tweet that he’ll be “creating the city of Starbase, Texas.” In a Twitter exchange, he said his plans for incorporating a city would extend to “an area much larger than Boca Chica.” ... “From thence to Mars, and hence the stars,” he wrote. (3/2)

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Completes Final Functional Tests to Prepare for Launch (Source: NASA)
February marked significant progress for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which completed its final functional performance tests at Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, California. Testing teams successfully completed two important milestones that confirmed the observatory’s internal electronics are all functioning as intended, and that the spacecraft and its four scientific instruments can send and receive data properly through the same network they will use in space. These milestones move Webb closer to being ready to launch in October. (3/1)

Spaceflight Inc. Signs Smallsat Launch Agreements (Source: Spaceflight Inc.)
Spaceflight Inc. has started the year by signing several significant launch agreements with a wide range of organizations, including growing constellations needing routine and reliable launch schedules, smaller payloads requiring affordable bus-like options to popular orbits, firms needing regulatory and logistical guidance, as well as those seeking a personalized taxi service from loading dock to final orbital destination. Organizations signing launch deals with Spaceflight recently include Lynk, Astro Digital, Kleos, BlackSky, Umbra, Orbit Fab and several undisclosed U.S. government payloads. (3/3)

Eastern Range Looks for Ways to Support Additional Launches (Source: Space News)
The Eastern Range and launch providers like SpaceX are looking for ways to increase launch capacity. The range, which includes Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center, hosted 32 launches in the last 12 months, but those came from 297 requested launch opportunities, officials said at a recent conference. Innovations like automated flight safety systems allow the range to support more launches since those launches can be scheduled more closely together, but other efforts are in progress, such as adjusting weather rules to decrease the risk of a scrub and automating the process for evaluating launch requests. (3/3)

NGA Seeks to Speed and Improve Services (Source: Space News)
The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) is looking for ways to provide faster and better products and services. Stacey Dixon, deputy director of NGA, said the "great power competition" the U.S. is in requires her agency to expand its supplier base and bring more entrepreneurs and academics into the fold. NGA provides satellite imagery and other geospatial data to the U.S. military, allies and homeland security agencies. The NGA is looking for new approaches for handling big data, for delivering information to customers faster, and changing how it develops and acquires software. (3/3)

Australia's Q-Ctrl Developing Sensors for Lunar Water (Source: Space News)
An Australian company is developing "quantum sensors" for space applications. Q-Ctrl said it is working with Fleet Space Technologies, another Australian company, to install sensors on a proposed group of nanosatellites that would look for water on the moon. The company said its sensors can also detect mineral deposits as well as provide quantum-enhanced precision navigation and timing systems, but provided few details about how such sensors would work and how they differ from more conventional technologies. (3/3)

Spaceport’s Interim Chief Named Executive Director (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
New Mexico's Spaceport America has named a new executive director. The state-run spaceport said Tuesday that Scott McLaughlin, who had been interim executive director since the summer, will take the job permanently. He had been director of business development for the spaceport when the previous executive director, Dan Hicks, was placed on leave and later fired because of violations of state laws and regulations regarding travel and procurement. State officials said McLaughlin had been doing a "fantastic job" on an acting basis, and thus decided he should take the job permanently. (3/3)

Florida Force the Public to Turn In Fallen Spacecraft Parts or Face Jail Time (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
"Finders, keepers" will no longer apply to space hardware under a proposed Florida law. A bill approved by a state senate committee would require people who find space hardware from launches or landings to report the discoveries. Failure to do so would be a misdemeanor with fines of up to $1,000 and one year in jail. Lawmakers said the bill is intended to protect trade secrets of launch companies and thus encourage them to operate from Florida. (3/3)

Biden Administration Has Set Out to Dismantle Trump’s Legacy, Except in One Area: Space (Source: Washington Post)
President Biden wasted no time dismantling wide swaths of Donald Trump’s legacy, revoking more than 30 orders signed by his predecessor while rejoining the Paris climate accord, ending the ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries and halting construction on a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. But there is one area of the former president’s policy that Biden has embraced: space. The White House has announced support for two of Trump’s signature initiatives — the Artemis program, and the Space Force.

The endorsement of the Artemis program means it will become the first major deep-space human exploration effort with funding to survive a change in presidents since Apollo, after several fitful efforts to send astronauts back to the moon and beyond ultimately went nowhere. Though many in the space community thought the Trump administration’s goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2024 was impossible and politically motivated, it gave the program momentum. (3/2)

NASA Investigates Landing Problem of SpaceX Rocket Ahead of Crewed Launch (Source: WESH)
NASA’s taking steps to make sure a landing problem after a recent SpaceX rocket launch does not endanger astronauts who’ll also be flying on a SpaceX rocket. Training is almost finished for four astronauts who are next to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

It’ll be the first time an astronaut capsule will be reused. The capsule flew last year when Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley brought back astronaut flights to the Space Coast. Although space shuttles were reused, it’ll also be the first time astronauts have launched on a used rocket: Their Falcon 9 launched four astronauts in November. (3/1)

Delta IV Heavy Rocket Takes Trek to Launch Pad at Vandenberg AFB Ahead of Spring Liftoff (Source: Noozhawk)
A short trip for a Delta IV Heavy rocket served as the prelude for a much longer trek this spring at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Stretched out on its transporter trailer equipped with 36 wheels, the United Launch Alliance booster recently traveled from the Horizontal Integration Facility to its stand at Space Launch Complex-6 on South Base.

Upon arrival, the hulking rocket was raised into a standing position in anticipation of its blastoff later this spring. The Delta IV Heavy employs three common booster cores side by side to give the rocket more power for carrying monstrous-sized payloads into space. The trip to the launch pad was one of many key milestones before the rocket’s countdown to zero and its longer trip to place a top-secret payload in space for the National Reconnaissance Office for a mission dubbed NROL-82. (3/1)

Australian Engineers Complete Successful Test of New Rocket Engine (Source: Cosmos)
As Australia’s space industry gears up, a team of Australian researchers has successfully tested a new type of engine that could be used in rocket launches. Typical rocket engines burn fuel at a constant pressure in a chamber called a combustor. This engine has a ring-shaped combustor, and it detonates propellant rapidly around the ring.

Once started, there is a self-sustaining cycle of detonation waves travelling around the combustor at very high speeds, exceeding 2.5 kilometres per second. It’s called a rotating detonation engine, or RDE. Once perfected, it could be more fuel efficient and more compact than typical rocket engines, meaning it could be cheaper and launch heavier items. The engine was designed by engineers from RMIT University, and is being developed by a group of researchers from DefendTex, RMIT, University of Sydney and Universität der Bundeswehr in Germany. (3/1)

New Design for Russian Super-Heavy Methane-Powered Launch Vehicle Completed (Source: Sputnik)
The new design of a Russian carrier rocket powered by liquefied natural gas (methane) has been put together, a space industry source told Sputnik. "It is planned to create a super-heavy launch vehicle … [with] six side blocks around the central one - all with the RD-182 engine [operating on methane], and the upper stage using the RD-0169 [engine]", the source said.

The Russian SRC (space rocket center) Progress has not been releasing much detail on the new Russian carrier rocket powered by methane in order to protect the developers, SRC Progress General Director Dmitry Baranov told Sputnik in October of last year. In January, a 407 million-ruble ($5.2 million) contract was signed on the development of a rough design of the Amur-SPG rocket. (3/2)

Space Force Should Embrace the Natural Inclusivity of Space Nerds (Source: Defense One)
The first black-white kiss on U.S. television occurred between Lt. Uhura and Captain Kirk, a controversial-for-1968 decision that reflected Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s broader philosophical commitment to addressing race in his science fiction. This bold approach to diversity and inclusion is a fundamental element of the self-selecting group of space nerds that comprise the Space Force. As the newest service branch finds its feet, it should embrace this ethos — a proven aid to recruitment, readiness, and mission success — as fundamental to its identity.

Much of science fiction, from Jules Verne to Nnedi Okorafor, is predicated on a broad definition of diversity and inclusion. To be a space nerd, you have to extend diversity and inclusion considerations beyond intrinsic human demographic metrics – otherness is not just about race, age, sex, religion, and sexual orientation. Otherness in outer space is about different life forms, fundamental communication abilities, and competing values. I have been warned against proselytizing about science fiction when discussing Space Force matters because the general public may misunderstand the intent. But as a community of space nerds, we should acknowledge that our calling to space-related pursuits may also provide us a foundational advantage. (2/28)