May 2, 2021

How Starlink, Project Kuiper and Other Satellite Broadband Providers Could Change Society (Source: GeekWire)
Imagine a world where high-speed internet blankets every corner of the globe, transforming the way people access health care, education and entertainment. That’s the promise of up-and-coming satellite broadband — an ambitious and controversial plan to connect far reaches of the planet. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are attacking the opportunity with vigor and billions of dollars, hoping they can solve an elusive problem of getting Internet connectivity to the masses no matter where they live.

”What gets me the most excited is that we’re getting to the point where we can start to build new businesses on top of space infrastructure developed by others. So having global broadband will bring economic development to many areas of the world and raise economies and opportunities like remote education and tele telehealth are just a few. And I believe there’s going to be many more opportunities in areas like earth science, time and location service, and then applications of IOT, the internet of things.” (5/1)

Will Virgin Galactic Ever Lift Off? (Source: The Guardian)
Richard Branson had expanded Virgin’s business empire into banking, hotels, gyms, wedding dresses and more. But he was staking his legacy on Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company he formed in 2004. The idea was to build a rocketship with seats for eight – two pilots, six passengers – that would be carried aloft by a mothership. He was charging $200,000 a seat. It did not initially seem like such a crazy idea. That year, a boutique aviation firm in Mojave had built a prototype mothership and rocketship that a pair of test pilots flew to space three times, becoming the first privately built space craft.

Branson hired the firm to design, build and test him a bigger version of the craft. But the undertaking was proving far more difficult than Branson anticipated. An accidental explosion in 2007 killed three engineers. A mid-air accident in 2014 destroyed the ship and killed a test pilot, forcing Virgin Galactic to more or less start over.

Amid the tragedies and setbacks, Branson remained optimistic of the prospect of imminent success. In 2004: “It is envisaged that Virgin Galactic will open for business by the beginning of 2005 and, subject to the necessary safety and regulatory approvals, begin operating flights from 2007.” Then, in 2009: “I’m very confident that we should be able to meet 2011.” Later, in 2017: “We are hopefully about three months before we are in space, maybe six months before I’m in space.” (5/2)

Take a Look Inside Astra’s Rocket Factory, as the Company Prepares to Go Public (Source: CNBC)
Rocket builder Astra wants to simplify the launch business, with the soon-to-be-public company on a quest to cut manufacturing costs and dramatically increase the number of launches. CNBC toured Astra’s growing facility earlier this month, a visit which was joined by CEO Chris Kemp and other company leadership. Astra’s facility uses infrastructure left over from the U.S. Navy’s former Air Station Alameda on the edge of the San Francisco Bay. Click here. (5/2)

White House Says Vice President Kamala Harris Will Chair the Space Council (Source: Ars Technica)
The National Space Council will continue operations under the Biden administration, and Vice President Kamala Harris will chair the organization. Senior administration officials confirmed this on a call with reporters on Saturday and said the White House process to hire an executive secretary to manage the council is "well underway."

The National Space Council oversees the three main areas of US space activities—national security, civil space, and commercial space. After it was dormant from 1993 to 2017, President Donald Trump reconstituted the body to advise his administration on space policy. Vice President Mike Pence chaired the council, and Scott Pace served as executive secretary.

The ongoing nature of the space council represents another way in which the Biden administration has continued policies set forth by the Trump administration in space. Already, the Biden White House has said it will support the Space Force for national security, as well as NASA's Artemis Program to return humans to the Moon. However, officials stressed that Harris will "put her stamp" on the organization. (5/1)

SpaceX Flies Astronauts Home with Florida Coastal Splashdown, Capping First Regular NASA Mission (Source: Bloomberg)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX returned four astronauts to Earth to conclude its first regular crew mission to the International Space Station, cementing its status as NASA’s only commercial partner so far capable of carrying people. The company’s Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico west of Florida shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, according to video streamed by NASA/SpaceX.

A SpaceX vessel was to collect the capsule carrying astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi and return them to shore for medical checks. The crew’s return after more than five months capped SpaceX’s debut regular mission under a NASA contract to ferry people to the space station -- and marked the first time four astronauts visited the orbiting lab on a U.S. vehicle since the space shuttle program ended in 2011. SpaceX carried two astronauts to the station and back last year in a test mission, racing ahead of NASA’s other commercial partner, Boeing Co.

For the latest trip home from the space station, the crew undocked the Dragon, which they dubbed “Resilience,” around 9 p.m., a time that was selected based on the weather forecast on Earth. The Coast Guard imposed a two-mile safety zone around the splashdown area. In the return of the August test flight, a flotilla of weekend boaters sailed up to gawk at the spacecraft. NASA said the close proximity was a safety hazard because of the toxic propellants carried by the capsule. (5/2)

Space Industry in Midst of Transformation Following Record Private and Public Investments (Source: Space News)
The space market is at a watershed moment as private and public investments continue to surge. Boutique research and advisory firm Quilty Analytics recorded $5.7 billion in investments for the first quarter of 2021, a 356% increase from $1.2 billion in the same period last year. Growing investor appetite in the public markets is mainly behind this eye-watering figure, bringing a paradigm shift for the industry.

Even putting the SPAC trend aside, Quilty Analytics associate Jeff Thoben said space investment is “reaching near-manic levels” as private equity consolidator activity also ramps up in the market. A low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband “comeback” was a notable theme for the first three months of this year, Thoben said, as operators SpaceX, Telesat and OneWeb all secured sizable funding rounds. Space equity investment soared 152% year-on-year to $3.1 billion when excluding SPACs, according to Quilty Analytics data. (4/30)

Raytheon Gets $228 Million Contract Extension for GPS Ground System (Source: Space News)
Raytheon received a $228 million contract to continue development of a ground system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced April 30. The contract is for work on the operational control system for the newest version of GPS 3 satellites made by Lockheed Martin. The estimated $6 billion ground system known as OCX has been in development since 2012. (5/1)

Not Just for Finding Planets: Exoplanet-Hunter TESS Telescope Spots Bright Gamma-Ray Burst (Source: SMU)
NASA has a long tradition of unexpected discoveries, and the space program’s TESS mission is no different. SMU astrophysicist and her team have discovered a particularly bright gamma-ray burst using a NASA telescope designed to find exoplanets – those occurring outside our solar system – particularly those that might be able to support life. It’s the first time a gamma-ray burst has been found this way.

Gamma-ray bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, typically associated with the collapse of a massive star and the birth of a black hole. They can produce as much radioactive energy as the sun will release during its entire 10-billion-year existence. Krista Lynne Smith, an assistant professor of physics at Southern Methodist University, and her team confirmed the blast – called GRB 191016A – happened on Oct. 16 and also determined its location and duration. A study on the discovery has been published in The Astrophysical Journal. (4/30)

Space is the ‘Wild, Wild West,’ Requiring New Norms for Operating in Orbit (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Space is “pretty much the wild, wild west” with more satellites going into orbit and a large increase in space junk threatening assets, and the growing U.S. Space Force is working to establish operating norms in orbit to avoid increased danger. The Space Force currently tracks about 30,000 pieces of debris, with “probably half a million other objects that are too small for us to track,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond Jr. said April 30 during a virtual Washington Post event.

“What we’re seeing is a significant increase in the numbers of satellites, largely they are commercial satellites, in great numbers in low-Earth orbit. … The reason why that’s happening is the cost of launch has gone down, and satellites that are smaller are more operationally relevant,” Raymond said. “And so, what used to be great power competition between then the Soviet Union and the United States is now students at universities launching satellites.”

Space is a “congested domain,” emphasized Raymond, and the Space Force has taken the role of “space traffic control.” The service does analysis and tracking to ensure objects don’t collide, and “we warn the world if we see that that’s about to happen,” he said. “For example, if there’s a Chinese satellite on orbit and it’s about to potentially collide with a piece of debris that they created when they blew up their satellite, we will warn them and tell them to maneuver.” (4/30)

We Have to Maintain National Security Momentum in Space (Source: The Hill)
In the year since the establishment of the Space Force, we have witnessed the service work to cement its structure, build out its mission, and define its culture. This culture is the most critical and longest lasting element of the Space Force. If its leaders get it right, we will witness a renaissance in space capabilities. If they get it wrong, we will find ourselves stuck with a morass of slow moving bureaucracy, byzantine acquisition processes, and ceding the metaphorical highest ground to China and Russia.

The onus of getting this right is not on the shoulders of the Space Force alone. While it enjoys the preponderance of resources, it cannot secure our interests in space by itself. It needs coordination and collaboration within and across the federal government. It has to work with the State Department to define the new rules of the road for space, to present our positions on issues like space traffic management and debris mitigation, and to coordinate with our allies on space security and diplomacy. It has to work with the Commerce Department to establish sensible procedures to foster commercial space activity. It must work with the Transportation Department to cement safety issues and launch procedures.

Most importantly, the Space Force and the intelligence community must work more closely with the commercial space sector. This is not simply about buying capabilities but about developing critical partnerships with commercial space providers, matching the speed of innovation with the speed of acquisition. It is about developing the culture within the Space Force which strategically plans for next generation capabilities, rapidly ingests emerging technology, and smartly embraces the risks. (4/30)

First Space Tourist Dennis Tito: 'It Was the Greatest Moment of My Life' (Source: CNN)
On April 30, 2001, US millionaire Dennis Tito arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) via a Russian Soyuz rocket, becoming the world's first space tourist. For Tito, then 60, it was the culmination of a dream he'd held since he was a young man, one he'd shelled out a cool $20 million for to make a reality.

Reflecting on the journey two decades on, Tito is gleeful when describing the moment the rocket first went into orbit. "The pencils started floating in the air, and I could see the blackness of space and the curvature of the earth," he said. "I was euphoric. I mean, it was the greatest moment of my life, to achieve a life objective, and I knew then that nothing could ever beat this." (4/30)

Acing its Fourth Flight on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity Will Advance to a New Testing Round (Source: The Verge)
After acing a set of historic test flights on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter will embark on a new, more advanced test mission, engineers said today. Having proved itself capable of flying higher and farther with its fourth flight on Friday, the mini helicopter will get ready to demonstrate how it could help Mars rovers, like Perseverance, scout for new locations and probe areas inaccessible to wheeled robots. (4/30)