May 4, 2021

Crist Seeks Return to Florida Governor's Mansion (Source: SPACErePORT)
Congressman Charlie Crist, a former Republican Florida governor now serving as a Democrat in Congress, has announced plans to campaign for a return to the top job in Tallahassee. Crist is one of three Floridian members assigned to the House Space Subcommittee. In both Washington and Tallahassee, Crist has a history of support for the state's space enterprise. (5/4)

Israeli Startups Can Disrupt the Global Space Industry (Source: CTech)
Israel, as the innovation center that it is, is now slowly looking to do to space what it did to the cyber industry in the early 2000s. For similar reasons, it is positioning itself as a space-technologies hub. It’s not only space-savvy entrepreneurs, but it’s also an entire supportive ecosystem born from the needs of the security industry that have long expanded into the commercial space.

There are dedicated accelerators (starburst, aws, Space-nest), VC funds increasingly interested in Space-Tech investments (Awz Ventures, Grove Ventures, Type5), massive academic research, and of course the Ramon Foundation and the activity of SpaceIL, most known for its collaboration with the Israeli Aerospace Industries and the Israel Space Agency to launch Beresheet, the first Israeli spacecraft to (almost) reach the moon. In a culture based on breaking boundaries, what can be more challenging than, well, crossing Earth’s boundaries?
 
While the reality is still that the number of Space-Tech startups is relatively low (based on Startup Nation Central data, 62 space-tech companies are active in Israel, 40 of which were established between 2000-2021), the supportive infrastructure laid out today is a fertile ground for more and more innovation in this exciting field. (5/2)

EU Space Regulation Ready to Take Off with Creation of the EUSPA (Source: Space Daily)
The Agency welcomes the European Parliament's position expressed today, confirming the political agreement on the Space Regulation reached in December 2020 and the creation of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme. The EU Space Program, with the largest budget ever for Space - euro 14.88 billion, encompasses all EU space activities under one roof and will allow for an effective and efficient contribution to the priorities of the European agenda.

The EU Space Program will ensure the continuity and evolution of the existing flagships Galileo/EGNOS and Copernicus. It will also support new initiatives, in particular the European Union Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM), SSA (Space Situational Awareness), and potentially others follow. The regulation gives the means to the European Union to maintain its position as a global space power and lay the foundation for EU's new Space ambition. (5/4)

Lessons Learnt from Simulated Asteroid Strike (Source: ESA)
In an alternate reality playing out at this year’s international Planetary Defense Conference, a fictional asteroid crashes over Europe, 'destroying' a region about 100 km wide near the Czech Republic and German border. The scenario was imagined, but the people who took part are very real, and the lessons learnt will shape our ability to respond to dangerous asteroids for years to come.

The good news is, when it comes to giant, dinosaur-extinction-sized asteroids, we are pretty sure we’ve found every one out there. Because of their sheer size, they are easy to detect. But the smaller they get, the more we still have to find, which is why the impact of this year’s asteroid, 2021 PDC, provided such an important lesson: we can only prevent what we can predict. Click here. (4/30)

Small Launchers - Big Market (Source: Space Daily)
Many new satellites are smaller and lighter than ever before. They are usually launched as 'co-passengers' together with other, larger satellites whose operators define the launch conditions. But a distinct class of launcher systems have now established themselves as a means to deliver small satellites into their target orbits as a primary payload - the microlauncher. In the USA and China, the market for these small launch vehicles is growing very rapidly.

To ensure that German start-ups also benefit from this global 'New Space' development, the German Space Agency at DLR launched its microlauncher competition on 15 May 2020. The microlauncher competition is supporting three German start-ups in the development and commercial operation of small launch systems, with a total of 25 million euro from the German contribution to ESA's launcher programme. The competition criteria include not only the technical design of a launcher service, but also business and financial factors - the goal is the development and implementation of viable business models.

The teams from HyImpulse Technologies GmbH based in Neuenstadt am Kocher, Isar Aerospace Technologies from Munich and Rocket Factory Augsburg qualified for the main round of the competition in July 2020. On 3 November 2020, ESA awarded the first three contracts for 500,000 euros each to the three SMEs from Germany. (5/1)

US Climate Focus Opens Opportunities for Earth Observation (Source: Space News)
Renewed interest in climate change by the U.S. government and companies is creating new opportunities for Earth observation companies. Geospatial monitoring is key for tracking, understanding and ultimately cutting greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to what is increasingly seen as an environmental emergency.

Methane monitoring is one area of interest, as governments and even industry groups support regulations on methane emissions that can best be tracked by satellites. It remains to be seen whether the U.S. will participate in a methane strategy the European Union announced in October for the International Methane Emissions Observatory, which will aggregate and analyze multiple methane emissions data streams, with satellites a core part of that mission. (5/4)

Will Biden's NASA Win the Space Race with China? (Source: The Hill)
At NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and several of her colleagues asked for his total commitment to tackling the pressing threat of China’s space policy. That speaks volumes about where America stands in the new space race with China.   

For years, China’s government has stolen countless innovations in an attempt to close the gap in military superiority between itself and the United States. Much of this theft has revolved around space technology, which China sees as a critical component of future warfighting. America does still lead in space, and the development of the U.S. Space Force is an important step, but the concern expressed by some members of Congress at Nelson’s confirmation hearing highlights the troubling signs that NASA may be tilting off the mark. (5/2)

Megaconstellations May Worsen Environment Upon Reentry (Source: Space News)
However, some worry that satellites themselves could be adversely affecting the environment. Satellites inject a complex mix of chemicals into the atmosphere when their computers, fuel tanks and other onboard materials vaporize upon reentry. The growth of satellite megaconstellations has heightened interest in understanding the environmental effects of reentering satellites. The Aerospace Corporation is in the early stages of researching the potential environmental impacts of reentry dust from satellites and rockets. (5/4)

ESA Mission Would Study Orbital Debris From Space (Source: Space.com)
ESA is proposing a mission to study orbital debris from space. The spacecraft would operate in low Earth orbit and carry a 20-centimeter telescope to look for debris too small to be tracked from the ground. The purpose of the mission will be to validate models for the population of debris one centimeter in size or smaller. The mission could launch in 2025 if approved by ESA members at the 2022 ministerial meeting. (5/4)

Are Antimatter Stars Firing Bullets of Antihelium at Earth? (Source: Physics World)
Fourteen possible antimatter stars (“antistars”) have been flagged up by astronomers searching for the origin of puzzling amounts of antihelium nuclei detected coming from deep space by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) on the International Space Station. While antistars are highly speculative, if they are real, then they may be revealed by their production of weak gamma-ray emission peaking at 70 MeV, when particles of normal matter from the interstellar medium fall onto them and are annihilated.

Antihelium-4 was created for the first time in 2011, in particle collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. At the time, scientists stated that if antihelium-4 were detected coming from space, then it would definitely have to come from the fusion process inside an antistar. (5/2)

JSC Director Stepping Down for Health Reasons (Source: Space News)
The head of the Johnson Space Center is stepping down for health reasons. Mark Geyer said Monday that he has been undergoing treatment for cancer for the last year, and that he concluded that he needed to focus full-time on that treatment. Geyer had been JSC director for the last three years, and previously was the longtime program manager for Orion. Geyer will remain with the agency, moving into a role as a senior adviser to the NASA associate administrator. Vanessa Wyche, JSC deputy director, will serve as the center's acting director. (5/4)

For Lunar Cargo delivery, NASA Accepts Risk in Return for Low Prices (Source: Ars Technica)
Under terms of this Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS, NASA pays a fixed price for a delivery service. After a company bids for and then wins a contract, it provides the lander and finds a rocket to launch upon. In May 2019, Intuitive Machines won its first CLPS contract, worth $77 million, to carry five NASA payloads to a location near the Sea of Tranquility.

With this program NASA will pay far less for these services than it would have in the past, and in return it has accepted the possibility that some missions will fail. It has also relinquished control of the spacecraft design and given the companies more freedom to innovate. "It’s absolutely a different way of conducting missions to the lunar surface," said NASA's acting administrator, Steve Jurczyk. Click here. (5/3)

Ursa Major Developing Engines for Range of Vehicles (Source: Space News)
Ursa Major Technologies believes there's a role for its rocket engines in a growing launch industry. The company's business model is based on the idea that while many launch providers make their own propulsion systems, others will choose outsourcing so they don't have to invest money and time in risky engine development. The company offers a 5,000-pounds-force engine for small launch vehicles and is working a 35,000-pounds-force engine for larger vehicles. The company has raised $40 million in private funds but is also looking to win government contracts to increase its cash flow. (5/4)

Advanced Weapons Able to 'Destroy US Satellites' Warns Space Force Chief (Source: Sputnik)
Previously, the annual threat assessment report of the US Intelligence community released on 13 April cited a diverse array of threats, magnified by rapidly evolving technology, and warned of the broad national security challenges posed by China and Russia. A United States Space Force general has warned that space has become a "warfighting domain", just like air, land, and sea, with the newly-created branch of the military facing new challenges and evolving threats.

General John William "Jay" Raymond, who is the Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force, appeared on Washington Post's "The Path Forward" to claim that China, which was earlier designated a "pacing threat", and Russia have developed "weapons that can either disrupt our satellites or destroy our satellites, from on the ground or in space, or in cyber". (5/1)

GSA Commissions RUAG to Study More Accurate Satellite Navigation (Source: Space Daily)
Satellites provide crucial data on climate and environmental changes every day. The European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency GSA has now commissioned RUAG Space to conduct a study to increase the accuracy of real-time satellite navigation. For climate and environmental research, satellites provide extremely important data every day, such as how high sea levels are rising or what effects global warming is having on glacier ice shrinkage in the Alps.

A new study aims to further increase the accuracy of this space data from climate and environmental satellites. The European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency (GSA) awarded a one-million-euro research contract to RUAG Space. RUAG Space is developing a software update for navigation receivers of the current PODRIX receiver generation already in space, such as those used for Sentinel-6. This will enable these receivers to increase the accuracy of satellite positioning from the current level of about one meter to 20 centimeters. (5/1)

Setting Sail for Sustainable Space (Source: Space Daily)
Space is getting crowded. Old satellites, rocket bodies and fragments of both are leaving little space for new satellites to reside in that is free from debris. The risk of collision with debris and even functioning satellites is increasing, especially in low-Earth orbit, putting many of Earth's climate, ocean and land monitoring missions in harm's way.

ESA is working alongside private business to clean up space by developing new missions and technologies that will remove debris from orbit. No space agency or business could solve the debris problem alone, but if it becomes technologically feasible - and profitable - to take care of our space environment, it will be much easier to do so. ESA's General Support Technology Programme and the space technology company HPS GmbH are working together to do just this, by developing 'drag sails' known as the Drag Augmentation Deorbiting Subsystem (ADEO). (4/29)

Hawaiian Lava Tubes Mimic Mars for HI-SEAS (Source: Space Daily)
Imagine trying to pick up a pebble or scrape microbes off a cave wall in a bulky spacesuit with puffy gloves on, under a time constraint because you don't want to run out of oxygen. That's what the analog astronauts do daily at the HI-SEAS moonbase habitat in Hawaii as they prepare for future missions to the moon and Mars, says Michaela Musilova of the International MoonBase Alliance (IMA) and director of HI-SEAS, the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation.

HI-SEAS is an analog lunar and Martian habitat and research station located high on the volcano Mauna Loa, on Hawaii's Big Island. There, researchers live and work for days to months at a time, only going outside to perform experiments or clamber about in lava tubes, and only in their hefty Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) analog spacesuits just as they would if they were on the moon or Mars. The 110-square-metre (1,200-square-foot) habitat is the astronauts' home, gym, lab - and everything else - while they're on a "mission." (4/29)

Firefly Aerospace Raises Millions for Development, Growth (Source: Firefly Aerospace)
Firefly Aerospace today announced the successful completion of its Series A financing. The $75 million Series A, which valued the company at greater than $1 billion, was led by DADA Holdings. Interest in the Series A round far exceeded the $75 million equity being offered. In an effort to satisfy the overwhelming demand in the Series A round, Firefly’s seed investor, Noosphere Ventures, sold approximately $100 million of its holdings of Firefly equity to certain Series A participants and other investors through secondary transactions. Following the forthcoming launch of its flagship Alpha small launch vehicle, Firefly intends to raise an additional $300 million later in 2021 to fund its ambitious growth plans through 2025. (5/4)

SpaceX's Elon Musk Has Become the Coolest Capitalist of Them All (Source: The Hill)
In Boca Chica, Texas, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing another test flight of the Starship, a new and improved prototype called SN15. By the time you read this, the massive rocket ship may well have taken flight in the skies over South Texas. It may even have landed intact this time. Since NASA has chosen a version of the Starship as the first lunar lander since 1972, the test has taken on a greater significance.

However, Musk guest hosting Saturday Night Live suggests that he has transformed from just another billionaire, albeit one who builds rocket ships and electric cars, into a bona fide celebrity. Donald Trump was the last billionaire to have headlined the venerable sketch comedy show. Whatever happened to him? The real reason that Musk has become the coolest, more controversial capitalist of them all stems from the fact that NASA has made SpaceX a full partner in the Artemis return to the moon program. (5/2)

Opposition to Renaming Space Coast High School to Honor Astronaut Joseph Acaba (Source: Florida Today)
At a tense meeting Monday evening, parents, alumni and community members expressed disapproval of a proposal to rename Melbourne High School after a Hispanic astronaut. Although United Third Bridge, Hispanic advocacy organization that initially petitioned for the name change, has called for the application to be rescinded, Brevard Public Schools held the second of three scheduled public meetings to gather community feedback on the proposal to rename Melbourne High School “Astronaut Joseph M. Acaba Melbourne High School.”

Acaba taught science for one year at Melbourne High School and four years at Dunnellon High School in Marion County. He was the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to be named a NASA astronaut candidate in 2004, and has gone on to visit the International Space Station on three missions, spending a total of 306 days in space. Several speaking against the name change said they believed Acaba did not teach at Melbourne High School long enough to warrant naming the entire school after him.

Brevard County School Board Vice Chair Matt Susin has called for the School Board to end the name change process. If it does not, another meeting will be held in fall 2021 to discuss the change again. Both Melbourne High School and the School Board would have to approve the name change. (5/3)

Concerns About Nuclear Weapons Vulnerability (Source: Space News)
One senator warns that the U.S. military's nuclear command and control system is vulnerable to cyberattacks. Sen. Angus King (I-ME), chair of the strategic forces subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that discussion of modernizing the nuclear "triad" of bombers, ICBMs and sub-launched ballistic missiles is not complete without including the communications systems, such as satellites, used to command them. Any future attack, he said, likely will start with a cyberattack to disrupt communications networks, including those for commanding nuclear weapons. Without a robust command and control system, King said, "none of the rest of it works." (5/3)

Virgin Galactic Delays Earnings Report (Sources: Virgin Galactic, CNBC)
Virgin Galactic is delaying its earnings call that was scheduled for this week because of an SEC accounting change. The company said Friday that it will release its first quarter earnings on May 10, nearly a week later than originally announced. The company said the SEC accounting change, which requires companies to treat stock warrants as liabilities rather than equity instruments, will require the company to restate past earnings. Virgin Galactic went public in 2019 when it merged with a SPAC, Social Capital Hedosophia.

According to CNBC, analysts at Bernstein have warned clients that the Virgin Galactic earnings call on May 10 "could be dominated" by negative Virgin Galactic issues raised in a new book, Test Gods, set for release on May 4. "The book appears to be highly critical ... An increasing emphasis on the potential risks for this venture would likely be damaging for the stock...We see the book release as more important than the SPAC accounting issues." (5/3)

Kleos to Test In-Space Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
Kleos Space will test technology for the in-space manufacturing of large 3D carbon fiber structures that could be used to construct solar arrays. Kleos, best known for developing a constellation of satellites to provide radio-frequency mapping services, has also been quietly working on an in-space manufacturing technology called Futrism to produce a carbon-fiber I-beam with embedded fiber-optic cables that is more than 100 meters long. The company is publicizing its work now because of growing interest among government agencies and companies in manufacturing large structures in space. (5/3)

COVID Slams India's Spaceport (Source: Express News Service)
The new wave of COVID-19 in India is now hitting the country's main launch site. The Satish Dhawan Space Center has reported 350 cases in recent days, including at least two deaths. The Indian space agency ISRO is restricting operations at the center, putting into place a "rotation system" to limit staff on site. The center's director said in a memo that the surge in cases was linked to those who had traveled, as well as "our tiredness in following Covid appropriate behavior at all times." (5/3)

Lithuania Joins ESA (Source: ESA)
Lithuania is now an associate member of the European Space Agency. The Lithuanian government signed a formal association agreement with ESA last week after nearly a decade of cooperative agreements. As an associate member, a step below full membership, Lithuania can participate directly in ESA optional programs with the consent of the other countries taking part in them. It can also attend ESA Council meetings and vote on questions related to the programs it is involved in. Lithuania seeks to bring its expertise in areas ranging from nanosatellites to Earth observation and optical communication technologies to ESA programs. (5/3)

AVS to Develop GSE for Virgin Orbit's UK Launches (Source: Virgin Orbit)
Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson’s responsive space company, announced today that its UK subsidiary, Virgin Orbit UK Ltd., has signed a new manufacturing agreement with AVS Added Value Solutions UK (AVS) to build the Transportable Ground Operating System (TGOS) that will support Virgin Orbit’s launch activities from Spaceport Cornwall. This manufacturing work, which will begin shortly in AVS’ facilities in the UK, represents a major step forward in the journey to bring space launch to Britain.

Virgin Orbit’s unique air-launch system launches satellites to space from a rocket carried beneath the wing of a modified 747 aircraft, giving the system unparalleled flexibility and mobility. To conduct launches, the company requires only a runway, a launch license, and a set of ground support equipment (GSE) such as the one AVS is now building, which are designed to prepare the rocket for flight and to mount it on the wing of the aircraft.

AVS was selected from a large pool of Tier 1 UK suppliers who responded to an open Request for Proposals. The AVS bid emerged as the top pick due to their proven expertise in complex and critical space and scientific equipment (including large space GSE and propulsion), product and quality assurance proposal, and the experience of their EN9100 and ISO9001 list of UK proposed suppliers. Manufacturing and acceptance testing of the new equipment will be completed prior to Virgin Orbit’s first launch from Spaceport Cornwall. (5/3)

Another Step Forward to European Small Launcher Production (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Rocket Factory Portugal LDA Unipessoal, a subsidiary of German launch service provider Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA), successfully concluded the contractual negotiations to develop composite structures of its launch vehicle RFA ONE together with CEiiA, a Portuguese Engineering and Development Center based in Matosinhos, North of Portugal. (5/3)

Army Approves Rapid Development of Tactical Space Layer (Source: C4ISRnet)
The U.S. Army recently approved rapid experimentation and prototyping to develop a new Tactical Space Layer that will enable the service to use overhead satellite imagery for beyond-line-of-sight targets. The Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing/Space Cross-Functional Team is leading the Army’s efforts to develop a new tactical geospatial intelligence capability, leveraging commercial satellite imagery to see farther, extend the battlefield, and target beyond-line-of-sight threats.

The Army showed the advances it’s made in that area during Project Convergence 2020, a demonstration that took place last September at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Using artificial intelligence, the service was able to fuse data from commercial imagery satellites to create targeting data, then transport that to the battlefield via communications satellites where soldiers were able to fire on the threat. Army leaders bragged that they were able to cut down the sensor-to-shooter pipeline — the time it takes from satellite data collection to the delivery of targeting data to a weapon system — from 20 minutes to 20 seconds. (5/1)

Let’s Take Down the Menace to Our Space Dreams (Source: Space Review)
Most in the space industry agree that orbital debris is a growing problem, but few agree on the best approach to solving that problem. Alfred Anzaldúa offers concepts for legal and regulatory structures that could provide mechanisms for addressing orbital debris within existing treaties. Click here. (5/3)
 
The Little Mars Helicopter That Could (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has made four successful flights on Mars, and the agency said last week the project will now shift into a new, extended mission. Jeff Foust reports on the achievements of Ingenuity, which have come despite past opposition to including it on Perseverance and uncertainty about when the technology might be used in the future. Click here. (5/3)
 
Don’t Make Space Harder Than it Needs to Be (Source: Space Review)
The Space Force has tried to justify its existence with detailed doctrinal documents. Matthew Jenkins argues that, for the public to understanding the importance of the new service, they need to first understand the importance of space. Click here. (5/3)

Software, Missiles, Testing At Top For Budget, Says DepSecDef Hicks (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon’s second-highest ranking civilian today offered a new, sharper focus on funding software and munitions programs over more traditional large platforms in the upcoming 2022 budget request, marking the start of what could be a significant shift in how Washington views and manages military modernization. “Platforms will always matter, but it’s the software…it’s the munitions, it’s those pieces that make such a critical difference in our capability,” Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said. (4/30)

Artemis, Space Situational Awareness Among Top Priorities for Space Subcommittee Chair (Source: Space Policy Onine)
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) is getting a crash course in the breadth and complexities of issues facing NASA and commercial space as the new chair of the House space subcommittee. With one hearing behind him, he is gearing up for more to educate himself before making up his mind on thorny issues like who should own Human Landing Systems or what agency should be in charge of civil Space Situational Awareness.

Beyer succeeds Kendra Horn as chair of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Although this is his seventh year on the committee, chairing the subcommittee is giving him a more expansive view of the issues facing NASA and the commercial space industry. Beyer listed his top priorities as Artemis, Space Situational Awareness/Space Traffic Management (SSA/STM), and passing a new NASA authorization bill. But he is still in the information-gathering phase and has not firmly made up his own mind on the top space issues of the day. (5/3)

How the Pentagon Started Taking UFOs Seriously (Source: New Yorker)
Leslie Kean is always assiduously polite toward the “U.F.O. people,” although she stands apart from the ufological mainstream. “It’s not necessarily that what Greer was saying was wrong—maybe there have been visits by extraterrestrials since 1947,” she said. “It’s that you have to be strategic about what you say to be taken seriously. You don’t put out someone talking about alien bodies, even if it might be true. Nobody was ready for that; they didn’t even know that U.F.O.s were real.” Kean is certain that U.F.O.s are real. Everything else—what they are, why they’re here, why they never alight on the White House lawn—is speculation.

Not all members of the military were content with this stance. Vice Admiral Roscoe Hillenkoetter, the first director of the C.I.A., told a Times reporter, “Behind the scenes, high-ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about the UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.” Click here. (4/30)