April 9, 2021

Taking Out the Trash (Source: Politico)
The space industry is working in a “combat zone” of debris, says Charity Weeden, vice president of global space policy at Astroscale. It’s as simple as this, Weeden said: All of the talk about a trillion dollar space economy, or people living on the moon, won’t happen if there is trash whizzing around threatening to destroy satellites or kill people. She shared with us some ideas for how the White House can address the problem and who should lead the effort:

There are a couple big things the Biden administration should be doing. It should commit to actually managing the space environment … and it should establish logistical infrastructure in space. No one is in charge of space environmental management. There are lots of agencies operating in space, but no one puts it all together and manages the process. … The Biden administration should look across the board and determine who needs to be the grand organizers of space environment management. Who should that be? If the National Space Council is continuing, that could be a place where this is debated and decided. (4/9)

Biden Requests $24.7 Billion Budget for NASA, an Increase Over 2021 (Source: Space News)
The White House released a first look at its budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 that includes an increase in funding for NASA, particularly Earth science and space technology programs. The 58-page budget document, released April 9, outlines the Biden administration discretionary spending priorities. It provides only high-level details, though, with a full budget proposal expected later in the spring.

For NASA, the White House is proposing an overall budget of approximately $24.7 billion in fiscal year 2022, an increase of about 6.3% from the $23.271 billion the agency received in the final fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill. The document does not provide a full breakout of NASA spending across its various programs, but does highlight increases in several areas. NASA’s Earth science program, which received $2 billion in 2021, would get $2.3 billion in 2022, a 15% increase. The funding would be used to “initiate the next generation of Earth-observing satellites to study pressing climate science questions.” NASA’s space technology program, which received $1.1 billion in 2021, would get $1.4 billion in 2022, a 27% increase. (4/9)

Biden Requests Modest DoD Budget Increase (Source: Politico)
The Biden administration plans to request $715 billion for the Pentagon this coming year, a modest increase from the current level but below the level projected by the Trump administration in its final budget, according to three people familiar with the proposal.

That planned fiscal 2022 budget topline is up from the more than $704 billion allocated by lawmakers for this fiscal year. But it’s unlikely to satisfy factions of Republican defense hawks seeking to continue major increases in military spending, and progressive Democrats who want to enact steep cuts to the defense budget. (4/8)

Russia Delivers New Crew to ISS (Source: Space News)
A Soyuz spacecraft delivered a new crew to the International Space Station early this morning. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:42 a.m. Eastern and placed the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft into orbit. That spacecraft docked with the ISS at 7:05 a.m. Eastern. The spacecraft carried Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei to the station. Dubrov and Vande Hei could remain on the station for up to a year, depending on Russian plans to fly spaceflight participants on the next Soyuz mission in October. (4/9)

China Rising: More Space Partners, More Space Capabilities (Source: Space News)
A new report projects that, by 2040, China will be the most significant rival to the United States in space. Global Trends 2040, a quadrennial unclassified forecast written by an advisory board for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, predicted that China will have more foreign partners for its space activities, and more users of its Beidou navigation service. The report also predicts governments by 2040 will routinely conduct on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing activities, enabled by advanced autonomy and additive manufacturing, with similar services offered commercially. (4/9)

Following Space Force Creation, Air Force Releases New Mission Statement Focused on Airpower (Source: UPI)
The Air Force released its new mission statement -- "To fly, fight, and win ... airpower anytime, anywhere." The statement is meant to emphasize the "primary advantage and capabilities airpower provides to the nation and joint operations." Currently, the 'mission' section of the branch's website reads, "The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace." Thursday's announcement notes that with the creation of the Space Force at the end of 2019, the Air Force can now focus on airpower and "core air domain missions." (4/8)

OneWeb Continues Planning for Navigation Services (Source: Space News)
OneWeb is continuing to study the possibility of offering navigation services as part of its broadband satellite constellation. In a presentation this week, OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson said the company expects to test "a demo capability" later this year using its first generation of satellites currently being launched, working in cooperation with "certain bodies in the U.K.

However, he said a full-fledged navigation service would likely have to wait until the second generation of the system. Masterson didn't elaborate on how that navigation service would work, given OneWeb satellites operate in different orbits and at different frequencies than existing navigation satellite systems. The company is also working to raise the $1 billion in additional funding needed to complete the first-generation constellation. (4/9)

Orbcomm Sale to Accelerate Growth (Source: Space News)
Orbcomm says its sale to a private equity firm will allow it to accelerate its growth. GI Partners will acquire Orbcomm for about $1.1 billion, including net debt, in a deal announced Thursday. Orbcomm said it is free to seek an alternative buyer in a "go-shop" period that ends May 7. If the deal does go through, company CEO Marc Eisenberg said it will allow the company to "rapidly advance our long-term strategy" in the industrial internet-of-things market. (4/9)

China Launches "Space Environment" Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a space environment satellite Thursday. A Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 7:01 p.m. Eastern. It carried a Shiyian-6 satellite, which Chinese media said will be used for space environment surveys, although it disclosed no additional details about it. (4/9)

Phase Four Wins Air Force Contract for Novel Thrusters (Source: Space News)
Electric propulsion developer Phase Four has won an Air Force contract to test its thrusters using a new fuel. The company will use a $750,000 Phase 2 SBIR from the Air Force's AFWERX program to test using iodine propellant on its Maxwell thruster. Iodine offers several advantages over conventional electric thruster propellants xenon and krypton, such as reduced volume and cost, but iodine corrodes cathodes. Maxwell does not use cathodes in its design, and thus the company believes it could be a viable alternative, particularly for small satellites. (4/9)

SpaceX Expanding Seattle Presence to Support Starink (Source: GeekWire)
SpaceX is expanding its facilities in Seattle. The company is leasing a 125,000-square-foot office complex under construction in the suburb of Redmond a block from its existing offices. Those facilities serve as the headquarters for its Starlink program, including manufacturing of the satellites for that broadband constellation. (4/9)

Rocket Lab to Attempt Another Stage Recovery (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab will attempt to recover the first stage on its next Electron launch. The company announced Thursday that it will bring back the first stage from that launch, scheduled for May, splashing it down in the ocean for recovery by a boat. Rocket Lab recovered the first stage from an Electron launch last November, and has made a number of upgrades based on its examination of the stage. Rocket Lab ultimately plans to recover returning stages in midair with a helicopter for later reuse. (4/9)

Canada's MDA Goes Public with IPO (Source: MDA)
Canadian space technology company MDA went public this week. The company completed its initial public offering of stock and started trading Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company raised about $400 million Canadian ($320 million) in the IPO, plans for which it announced last month. The proceeds will support future initiatives by the company, including a new synthetic aperture radar satellite. The stock, which sold for $14 a share in the IPO, closed trading Thursday at $16.45 a share. (4/9)

The Fiery Chief of Russia's Troubled Space Program (Source: Space Daily)
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's troubled space agency Roscosmos, is hardly your typical bureaucrat. Brash and brazen, the former diplomat has made his name with provocative tweets and boisterous claims. But he is equally well-known for leading the once-prized Soviet space program during years of corruption scandals and technological stagnation.

Now "the fig leaf has fallen off," said Andrei Ionin of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. Russia is losing its market share in satellite launches, its new Vostochny Cosmodrome is underused and scandalised by corruption. Rogozin is not solely responsible for the setbacks, with many problems dating back long before his arrival. But the 57-year-old has struggled to return the space program to the glory days of 1961 when the Soviet Union launched the first man into space -- Yuri Gagarin. The 60th anniversary of Gagarin's flight is on Monday.

After suffering humiliations at the hands of NASA and Space X, Rogozin has begun boasting of Russia's grand plans to catch up, including a mission to Venus and a rocket capable of 100 round-trip flights to space. But many observers are sceptical. "Russia doesn't have any new spacecraft," a former Roscosmos official said on condition of anonymity. "There is only a model." Experts believe the real goal of Rogozin's grand pronouncements is to convince the Kremlin to inject larger sums of money into the Roscosmos budget. (4/9)

NASA Certifies New Launch Control System for Artemis I (Source: Space Daily)
When NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft lift off from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the Artemis I mission, the amount of data generated by the rocket, spacecraft, and ground support equipment will be about 100 megabytes per second. The volume and speed of this information demands an equally complex and robust computer system to process and deliver that data to the launch team and corresponding mission systems in real time.

That computer software and hardware - called the spacecraft command and control system (SCCS) - is now certified for use on Artemis I. Shawn Quinn, director of NASA Engineering at Kennedy, and the KSC Engineering Design Certification Review Board signed off on the system at the conclusion of a recent design certification review for SCCS. (4/9)

NASA Selects Innovative, Early-Stage Tech Concepts for Continued Study (Source: NASA)
NASA encourages researchers to develop and study unexpected approaches for traveling through, understanding, and exploring space. To further these goals, the agency has selected seven studies for additional funding – totaling $5 million – from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The researchers previously received at least one NIAC award related to their proposals.

NASA selected the proposals through a peer-review process that evaluates innovation and technical viability. All projects are still in the early stages of development, with most requiring a decade or more of technology maturation. They are not considered official NASA missions.

Among the studies is a neutrino-detecting mission concept that will receive a $2 million Phase III NIAC grant to mature related technology over two years. Neutrinos are one of the most abundant particles in the universe but are challenging to study since they rarely interact with matter. Therefore, large and sensitive Earth-based detectors are best suited to detect them. Nikolas Solomey from Wichita State University in Kansas proposes something different: a space-based neutrino detector. Click here. (4/8)

Evangelical Prediction: Asteroid Will Strike Earth in 2029, Unleashing an ‘Alien Virus’ That Will Give Rise to the Antichrist (Source: Right Wing Watch)
While televangelist Jim Bakker’s daily television program has always been a repository for misinformation, baseless conspiracy theories, and End Times fearmongering, his show has gotten decidedly stranger in recent days.

Earlier this week, Bakker interviewed right-wing conspiracy theorist Steve Quayle, who spent two programs warning about aliens, demons, trans-dimensional beings, and “diseases that are designed to initiate cannibalism in human beings” and turn them into literal zombies. On the heels of those programs, Bakker interviewed End Times conspiracy theorist Tom Horn, who warned that an asteroid will strike the Earth in 2029, unleashing an alien virus that will give rise to the Antichrist.

Horn discussed his recent book, “The Wormwood Prophecy,” which claims that the government is covering up the fact that an asteroid known as Apophis will strike the Earth in 2029. While scientists say that Apophis will simply pass by our planet in 2029, Horn insists that it will actually strike the Earth and fulfill the prophecy. (4/8)

Ambulance Co. Loses Challenge To $5M Space Force Contract (Source: Law360)
A federal judge has shut down a Colorado ambulance service provider's efforts to tear up a nearly $5.3 million contract between the U.S. Space Force and a rival ambulance company over concerns that the agency failed to complete a fair awarding process, according to a March 18 opinion that was unsealed Tuesday. (4/7)