March 8, 2021

SpaceX Plans for Texas Site Expansion (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX's Boca Chica site is increasingly busy with Starship fabrication, processing, launches, landings, and explosions. SpaceX has mapped out plans for expanding the site. Click here. (3/8)

How the Rocket Business Launched a Wave of Blank Check Acquisitions (Source: Quartz)
In 2019, Virgin Galactic took a small step for a space company—and a giant leap for global finance. It became a publicly traded company through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The transaction kicked off a trend, with risky private ventures of all stripes arriving on public markets through the same mechanism. In 2019, there were 87 SPAC transactions, with an average value of about $390 million, according to the financial data firm Refinitiv. In 2020, there were 163, with an average value of $965 million. And in the first two months of 2021, there have been 72 SPAC transactions, with average value of over $2 billion.

Companies in the space sector are taking advantage. We’re still waiting for the first traditional space IPO, but seven SPACs have made deals to bring space firms public at a cumulative value of more than $20 billion, driven by investor lust for anything akin to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, one of the largest and fastest-growing private companies in the world. Two years later, Virgin hasn’t hit any of the revenue projections that justified its public value. But public markets have an unusual craving for risky bets. And with large private firms experimenting with other alternatives to the traditional public offering, like direct stock listings, blank check companies are seen as a route to give investors what they want.

Because the deal is technically an acquisition, securities regulators allow SPACs to include projected future revenues in their investor pitches, shifting focus away from actual business results. The SPAC’s sponsor and the company it is acquiring can publicly hype their stock in ways not allowed during a typical IPO. And the deals typically include a large investment of private capital that allows management teams to be more selective about which big investors they bring into their company. (3/8)

The Age of Human Space Flight is Over (Source: Washington Post)
The question is not can we, but should we send humans to Mars. If you want to do science, the answer is no. Think how many robots we could send to Mars for the cost of one crewed mission. Think how much more sophisticated those robots will become in the time it takes to get a human mission to Mars. And we have the technology right now to do it. No need to spend billions on a heavy-lift rocket. The age of crewed space flight is over. The International Space Station is an orbiting white elephant, sucking money out of true space exploration. Sell it for $1 to Elon Musk and let him pay to ferry crews up. (3/5)

Space Launch from British Soil One Step Closer (Source: Parabolic Arc)
A giant leap in British spaceflight history is being made today (5 March 2021) as the government publishes its commercial spaceflight consultation response, paving the way for space launches from UK soil. Over the past few months, the government has been inviting industry, stakeholders and the public to have their say on the rules that will govern our spaceflight program – and the consultation has captured the imagination of people across the UK, including schoolchildren.

The resulting legislation will help to propel the development of commercial spaceflight technologies, from traditional rockets launched vertically into space to high-altitude balloons and spaceplanes, with launches potentially taking place within the next few years. Spaceports could also be built in south-west England, Scotland and Wales, inspiring and exciting a new generation of scientists and engineers, creating high-skilled jobs and cementing the government’s aim for the UK to be the location of the first launches of this type in Europe. (3/5)

SpaceX's New FCC Filing Requests To Operate Starlink 'In Moving Vehicles, Vessels & Aircraft' (Source: Tesmanian)
SpaceX is already providing Starlink satellite broadband internet in the United States and abroad. With approximately 1,205 satellites in orbit the company is accepting service pre-orders via Starlink.com. Starlink customers use a phased-array dish antenna and Wi-Fi router to receive high-speed internet service from the satellites. The service is currently limited to a specific region and address, the dish antenna cannot be moved far from the specific user location to receive connection.

“Your Starlink is assigned to a single cell,” the company says, “If you move your Starlink outside of its assigned cell, a satellite will not be scheduled to serve your Starlink and you will not receive internet.” SpaceX has plans to make Starlink service available on the move, according to a new FCC filing published. It requests to operate Starlink terminals ‘in moving vehicles, vessels, and aircraft.’

“The Commission has granted a blanket license for operation of up to one million end-user customer Earth stations [dish antennas]. SpaceX Services seeks a blanket license authorizing operation of such end-user earth stations for deployment as Vehicle-Mounted Earth Stations (“VMESs”), Earth Stations on Vessels (“ESVs”), and Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft (“ESAAs”) (collectively, Earth Stations in Motion (“ESIMs”)),” SpaceX wrote. (3/5)

NASA's New Race to Put a Woman on the Moon (Source: CBS News)
The new push to the moon has been plagued by doubts, cost overruns, and delays. But we found something else interesting when we visited NASA: the Artemis program isn't just named for a woman, it's largely being run by women. And the pool of 18 Artemis astronauts has already been chosen. Nine women, nine men. Six of whom are test pilots, four have Ph.D.'s, three are medical doctors. It's not known yet which of them will fly to the moon, but two are in space right now on the International Space Station. (3/8)

Garver Points to Irony of NASA's SLS Approach (Source: CBS News)
The most powerful rocket ever is called the Space Launch System, or SLS. In development for a decade, it has yet to fly; and has only fired its four main engines once, in a test. The SLS, the Space Launch System, is mockingly referred to as the Senate Launch System. The industry said they would do it for $6 billion in six years. That was the rocket. It's been $20 billion in 11 years. "I would not have recommended the government build a $27 billion rocket, when the private sector is building rockets nearly as large for no cost to the taxpayer," said Lori Garver.

The Space Launch System has work that's over 45 states and over 1,100 vendors. So the Space Launch System is a national vehicle. That means jobs. That means that, across the nation, for the SLS alone, there's over 25,000 people that have jobs. Garver points to the irony: "NASA, the very symbol of a democratic and capitalist society-- has done a lot of its human spaceflight programs in more of a socialist way." The top-down approach, Garver says, has produced a NASA SLS rocket that'll cost more than $2 billion for every launch, while SpaceX flies its Falcon Heavy for a fraction of that. (3/8)

Air Force Maintains Medical Mission Supporting Space Force (Source: USAF)
The U.S. Space Force was established in December 2019 as a lean, mission-focused branch of military service and is supported by a medical team charged with maintaining readiness for both the Guardians who operate and protect U.S. space capabilities and the Airmen assigned to Space Force units. Support functions of the Space Force, including medical care, are provided by the Air Force.

Medical care for Guardians is built upon the established structure that provided care to the former Air Force Space Command, and falls under the responsibility of the Air Force and Space Force Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Dorothy Hogg. In this capacity for the Space Force, Hogg advises the Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Force Chief of Staff, the Chief of Space Operations, and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs on the unique medical aspects of conducting space operations and the health of Guardians and the Airmen assigned to Space Force units. (3/3)

India Plans Geostationary Launch in March (Source: PTI)
India will launch a geostationary orbit Earth observation satellite later this month. The Indian space agency ISRO said it's preparing to launch the GISAT-1 satellite on March 28 on a GSLV rocket. The satellite will provide continuous imaging of the Indian subcontinent from geostationary orbit. The satellite was to launch a year ago, but was postponed for unidentified technical reasons. (3/8)

Perseverance Starts Driving (Source: Space News)
NASA's Mars Perseverance rover has started driving on Mars. Project officials said Friday the rover made its first drive a day earlier, two weeks after landing on the planet. Checkouts of the rover's systems and instruments are going well, and mission planners are planning routes for the rover to follow to reach the remnants of the river delta that is of interest to scientists. Engineers are also preparing to test the Ingenuity helicopter attached to Perseverance, with those flight tests expected some time in the spring. (3/8)

Republican Members Want Space Policy Updates From Biden (Source: Space News)
Two Republican members of the House Science Committee are asking the Biden administration to keep them in the loop on space policy issues. Reps. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Brian Babin (R-TX), ranking members of the full committee and space subcommittee respectively, released letters Friday they sent to the Commerce, Defense and State Departments asking for details on their plans to propose rules and protocols for space activities. That includes concepts for codes of conduct for space activities as well as work on space traffic management. (3/8)

LinQuest to Support Space Force Analytics (Source: Space News)
LinQuest won a $500 million contract to provide analysis support for the U.S. Space Force. The contract, announced Friday but awarded two months earlier, covers "tradespace analysis support" for the service over five years. That work had been done by The Perduco Group, a provider of data analytics, modeling and simulation services for military and intelligence agencies that was acquired by LinQuest in 2019. (3/8)

Hubble Enters Safe Mode After Software Glitch (Source: NASA)
The Hubble Space Telescope went into safe mode Sunday because of a software glitch. NASA said an "onboard software error" triggered the safe mode around 4 a.m. Eastern Sunday. The spacecraft is "safe and stable," NASA said, and engineers are working to return the orbiting observatory to normal operations. NASA didn't state when that work will be completed. (3/8)

NSF Estimates $50 Million for Arecibo Cleanup (Source: Space News)
The National Science Foundation estimates it will cost up to $50 million to clean up debris from the collapsed Arecibo radio telescope. In a report to Congress released Friday, the NSF said that work to clean up the site after the 305-meter telescope's observing platform collapsed in December will cost $30 million to $50 million, spread out over the current and next fiscal years.

The report did not endorse any proposals to rebuild the telescope, saying that it requires extensive study, starting with a community workshop scheduled for this spring. Arecibo Observatory has proposed a concept for a next-generation telescope that would consist of a tightly packed array of smaller dishes with the same diameter as the original telescope, a proposal it estimates would cost about $450 million. (3/8)
 
Astronauts Upgrade ISS Power System with Spacewalks (Source: CBS)
Two astronauts continued work Friday to upgrade the International Space Station's power system. NASA's Kate Rubins and JAXA's Soichi Noguchi spent nearly seven hours outside the station, completing work started on a previous spacewalk to assemble structures that will be used for new solar panels to be installed later this year. The astronauts did not get to other work planned for the spacewalk, such as installing electrical connections for an experiment platform, after Rubins noted a "pinprick hole" in one of her gloves. While there was no loss of pressure, station controllers decided to wrap up the spacewalk rather than perform the additional tasks. (3/8)

Starship Goes Up. Starship Goes Down. But is the Program Moving Forward? (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX engineers must be delighted to have figured out the vexing issues with propellant and Raptor relighting that had scuttled the two previous landing attempts. This was a consistent problem with the Falcon 9 program, and its simpler Merlin engine design, in making a successful landing. For a Starship to land after only its third high-altitude flight is notable. SpaceX, too, will take away a lot of meaningful data from this launch, flight, and landing that it can use to refine both the design of Starship as well as its flight software.

What we don't know is how NASA will see this. Will it be deemed progress? Or as a negative, with the third destruction of a Starship in three flights? This matters as the agency gets closer to a down-select next month for its Human Landing System contract that could see billions of dollars flow to SpaceX for its Starship program—or not. NASA may decide to go with more conventional landers under development by teams led by Blue Origin and Dynetics.

With that said, NASA is not stupid. Starship is undergoing a unique development program, progressing through rapid iterations and taking risks by design. Each failed mission buys down risk for future flights. It's no accident that SpaceX is building a new Starship every two or three weeks in South Texas. Being hardware-rich means you can move fast, try, fail, try again, and ultimately succeed. (3/3)

Inside the Alabama Stop on Blue Origin’s Journey to the Moon (Source: AL.com)
Blue Origin’s rocket engine plant in Huntsville, Ala., is the size of three city blocks. Objects on one side can be larger – much larger - than they appear from the other side. On a recent visit to the year-old plant in Cummings Research Park, Blue Origin moon landing team leader John Couluris pointed across the white factory interior to a gold box on legs. This was what we had come to see.
 
Blue Origin’s team is called the National Team and consists also of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper Technologies. The other two teams in running are led by Dynetics, another Huntsville company, and by SpaceX. All of them will build pathfinders like the one in the Huntsville plant. It’s a traditional development step to assure the final spacecraft can maneuver as intended, fit together with other parts as intended and give crews the sight lines from the inside that they need to operate, among other things.

All of that is technical news about how it’s all done, but standing beside the golden box on legs in Huntsville has more impact. It makes much clearer the size of America’s next journey to the moon. It’s a big lander for a big mission, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville is managing the lander team selection. NASA’s “down-select” to the final contractors is on hold for another two months. Couluris said the team is “refining our design” in the meantime and buying and building equipment for later flight vehicles. The first thing finished will be the flight version of the model on the Huntsville factory floor. (3/8)

Putting the SpaceX-FAA Dispute in Context (Source: Space Review)
A SpaceX Starship prototype launched and landed—and exploded—last week, but without the drama of the regulatory dispute with the FAA seen a month earlier. Wayne Eleazer explains the origins of the rule that led to the battle between SpaceX and the FAA. Click here. (3/8)
 
The New Era of Private Human Orbital Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
It’s been more than a decade since the last private astronaut flew in orbit, but that is set to change later this year. Jeff Foust reports on recent developments from commercial Crew Dragon missions to a proposed Starship flight around the Moon. Click here. (3/8)
 
The Enduring Fantasy of Space Hotels (Source: Space Review)
A proposed rotating space hotel, complete with luxury suites and gourmet restaurants, made headlines last week. A.J. Mackenzie argues it’s just the latest in a long line of space hotel concepts whose visions failed to match reality. Click here. (3/8)