June 15, 2021

JAXA, Honda to Begin a Feasibility Study on Circulative Renewable Energy System for Lunar Outposts, Rovers (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Honda announced the plan to begin a joint feasibility study on a “circulative renewable energy system” in space, which is designed to supply oxygen, hydrogen, and electricity for human outposts and rovers. JAXA and Honda have been conducting a joint research on this system to create an environment in space where people can stay and conduct activities over an extended period of time.

In addition to water and food, people need oxygen, as well as hydrogen for fuel and electricity for various activities for life in space. One of the solutions to obtain them in space without resupply from Earth is creating a circulative renewable energy system, which combines a high differential pressure water electrolysis system that produces oxygen and hydrogen using solar energy to electrolyze water and a fuel cell system that generates electricity and water from oxygen and hydrogen. (6/15)

Rocket Lab Awarded NASA Contract to Design Twin Spacecraft for Mars (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Rocket Lab has been awarded a contract to design two Photon spacecraft for a scientific mission to Mars. The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission is a twin-spacecraft science mission that will orbit two spacecraft around Mars to understand the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere.

ESCAPADE is one of three missions selected in 2019 by NASA’s SIMPLEx program to conduct compelling planetary science and provide more opportunities for flight experience to the science community. ESCAPADE will undergo a NASA preliminary design review in June and a confirmation review in July determining whether the mission proceeds to implementation and flight. (6/15)

Phantom Space Corporation Names Mark Lester New Vice President of Launch Operations (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Phantom Space Corporation, the space transportation technology development and manufacturing company, today announced the hiring of Mark Lester. He will be fulfilling the role of Vice President of Launch Operations. This comes alongside the news of Phantom’s latest expansion: a new 32,000 square foot facility in Arizona that will serve as Phantom’s first rocket factory. Previously, Lester was the CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corp., where he provided comprehensive space launch capabilities, including operating the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska.

The first of Phantom’s rockets will be built at a newly acquired 32,000 square foot facility in Tucson, Arizona. This site will host the build of the Daytona rocket, several satellite programs, as well as several other space related classified and unclassified projects. Launch operations are currently being established at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (6/15)

Russia, Once a Space Superpower, Turns to China for Missions (Source: New York Times)
Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia remained a reliable space power, joining with the United States to build and operate the International Space Station for the last two decades. Now, the future of the Russian space program rests with the world’s new space power, China. After years of promises and some limited cooperation, Russia and China have begun to draw up ambitious plans for missions that would directly compete with those of the United States and its partners, ushering in a new era of space competition that could be as intense as the first.

They have teamed up for a robotic mission to an asteroid in 2024. They are coordinating a series of lunar missions intended to build a permanent research base on the south pole of the moon by 2030. The first of those missions, a Russian spacecraft with the revived Soviet-era name Luna, is scheduled to launch as soon as October, aiming to locate ice that could provide water to future human visits. The budding new partnership reflects the geopolitics of the world today.

China and Russia have grown increasingly close under their current leaders, Xi Jinping and Vladimir V. Putin, smoothing decades of mistrust between the countries and creating a potent, though unofficial, alliance against what they perceive as the hegemonic behavior of the United States. Russia, for all its experience in space, has struggled to sustain a storied program that has been fighting obsolescence and corruption, and is starved of resources in Russia’s stagnant economy. China, a relative latecomer to space exploration, has by contrast leaped to the top ranks of space powers. (6/15)

NASA Might Put a Huge Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon (Source: WIRED)
Observing the secrets of the universe’s “Dark Ages” will require capturing ultra-long radio wavelengths—and we can’t do that on Earth. NASA is in the early stages of planning what it would take to build an automated research telescope on the far side of the moon. One of the most ambitious proposals would build the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope, the largest (by a lot) filled-aperture radio telescope dish in the universe.

Another duo of projects, called FarSide and FarView, would connect a vast array of antennas—eventually over 100,000, many built on the moon itself and made out of its surface material—to pick up the signals. The projects are all part of NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. While they are still hypothetical, and years away from reality, the findings from these projects could reshape our cosmological model of the universe. “With our telescopes on the moon, we can reverse-engineer the radio spectra that we record, and infer for the first time the properties of the very first stars,” said Jack Burns. (6/15)

NASA Designs New Spacesuits for Next Lunar Mission in 2024 (Source: CNN)
A spacesuit is made up of nearly a half dozen different components and can have up to 16 layers, according to NASA. The astronauts on the Artemis missions, NASA's next program to send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon, will wear the latest spacesuit, called the exploration extravehicular mobility unit, also known as xEMU. Before the spacesuits make it to the moon, parts of them will be tested on the International Space Station.

One of the main components is the cooling garment, said Richard Rhodes, the deputy lead for xEMU pressure garment development at NASA. The garment is made of tubes that circulate water around the astronaut, regulating body temperature and removing excess heat as they completes their work. Each spacesuit has a portable life support system, which includes a water tank for the cooling garment, carbon dioxide removal system and more, according to NASA. This component also includes a two-way radio system so the astronauts can communicate. (6/8)

SpaceX Likely Won't Hit July Target for Orbital Test of Mars Rocket (Source: CNN)
SpaceX has been targeting July for the first orbital flight of its gargantuan Starship system, which will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever created -- and, the company hopes, will eventually take humans to Mars. But the company is not likely to hit that goal, CNN Business has learned.

SpaceX's Starship launch operations are the subject of an ongoing environmental assessment. Depending on the outcome of that assessment it may also be required to go through a more detailed review culminating in an updated Environmental Impact Statement. Only after that process is complete can the FAA move on to licensing a possible orbital Starship launch. Those reviews and approvals will not be done in time for an early July launch, according to a source familiar with the licensing process. (6/15)

SpaceX Ignored Last-Minute Warnings From the FAA Before December Starship Launch (Source: The Verge)
Minutes before liftoff, SpaceX ignored at least two warnings from the FAA that launching its first high-altitude Starship prototype last December would violate the company’s launch license, confidential documents and letters show. And while SpaceX was under investigation, it told the FAA that the agency’s software was a “source of frustration” that has been “shown to be inaccurate at times or overly conservative,” according to the documents. SpaceX’s violation of its launch license was “inconsistent with a strong safety culture,” the FAA’s space division chief Wayne Monteith said.

“Although the report states that all SpaceX parties believed that such risk was sufficiently low to comply with regulatory criteria, SpaceX used analytical methods that appeared to be hastily developed to meet a launch window,” Monteith went on, in a letter to SpaceX. The documents  show how SpaceX prioritized speed over safety when launching on its own private rocket playground. Ultimately, the FAA didn’t sanction SpaceX, and less than two months later, SpaceX resumed flights in Boca Chica, Texas.

The FAA’s models showed that if the rocket exploded, its shockwave could be strengthened by various weather conditions like wind speed and endanger nearby homes. As a new launch countdown clock was ticking, SpaceX asked the FAA to waive this safety threshold at 1:42PM, but the FAA rejected the request an hour later. SpaceX paused the countdown clock. SpaceX’s director of launch operations, whose name wasn’t provided in the report, restarted the launch countdown clock shortly after. The report said the director had “the impression that” SpaceX’s data was sufficient. But that wasn’t the case. (6/15)

Is a Billionaire Space Race Good for the Industry? (Source: Space Review)
Jeff Bezos revealed last week that he’ll go on the first crewed New Shepard flight next month, helping skyrocket bids for a seat on the flight. Jeff Foust reports on how a new competition between Bezos and Richard Branson to be the first to go to space may be brewing, one that has both benefits and risks for the industry. Click here. (6/14)
 
Giant Ferocious Steps From Jeff Bezos (Source: Space Review)
Blue Origin’s motto, in English, is “step by step ferociously.” Sam Dinkin argues that the company’s steps in both suborbital spaceflight and lobbying Congress for the Human Landing System have become more ferocious. Click here. (6/14)
 
Sword and Shield: Defending Against an American Anti-Satellite Weapon During the Cold War (Source: Space Review)
In the early 1980s, the CIA studied potential Soviet responses to an air-launched ASAT weapon the US was then developing. Dwayne Day examines what that newly declassified report revealed about the CIA’s thinking, some of which remains applicable nearly 40 years later. Click here. (6/14)

Earth's Core is Growing 'Lopsided' and Scientists Don't Know Why (Source: Space.com)
There's a mystery brewing at the center of the Earth. Scientists can only see it when they study the seismic waves passing through the planet's solid iron inner core. For some reason, waves move through the core significantly faster when they're traveling between the north and south poles than when they're traveling across the equator.

Researchers have known about this discrepancy — known as seismic anisotropy — for decades, but have been unable to come up with an explanation that's consistent with the available data. Now, using computer simulations of the core's growth over the last billion years, a new study in the June 3 issue of Nature Geoscience offers a solution that finally seems to fit: Every year, little by little, Earth's inner core is growing in a "lopsided" pattern, with new iron crystals forming faster on the east side of the core than on the west side.

To visualize this lopsided growth in the core, imagine a tree trunk with growth rings radiating out from a central point — but "the center of the rings is offset from the center of the tree," so that rings are spaced further apart on the east side of the tree and closer together on the west side. A cross section of Earth's inner core might look similar to that. However, this asymmetric growth doesn't mean that the inner core itself is misshapen or at risk of becoming imbalanced, the researchers said. (6/13)

Space Force Successfully Launches First Tactically Responsive Launch Mission (Source: USSF)
The U. S. Space Force successfully launched the Tactically Responsive Launch-2 (TacRL-2) mission on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 13, delivering a technology demonstration satellite to Low Earth Orbit. Pegasus, the world’s first privately-developed commercial space launch vehicle, is an air-launched three staged rocket carried aloft by Northrop Grumman’s specially modified “Stargazer” L-1011 aircraft.

Tactically responsive launch, as a concept, seeks to introduce speed, agility, and flexibility into the launch enterprise in order to respond to dynamic changes in the space domain or an operational theater and insert or replace assets on orbit much faster than standard timelines to meet emerging combatant command requirements. (6/13)

Boeing Restarts Donations to Members of the So-Called ‘Sedition Caucus’ (Source: Daily Beast)
After briefly swearing off political donations in the wake of the Capitol riot, Boeing is now throwing cash at officials who fought to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In a recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, the defense contractor’s political action committee reported major contributions to three Republican members of Congress who voted to challenge the results of the Electoral College: Rep. Steve Scalise; Rep. Vicky Hartzler; and Rep. Jack Bergman.

The report, Boeing’s first to show political contributions after the assault on the Capitol, also disclosed a $25,000 gift to the Republican Attorneys General Association, whose fundraising arm helped promote the Jan. 6 rally to “stop the steal.” Boeing contributed less than half that amount to the organization’s Democratic counterpart. Boeing gave Scalise and Hartzler each a $5,000 donation, the maximum limit for an election. Bergman, a Michigan conservative who in December pushed erroneous claims of election fraud in his home state, got half that amount. (6/14)

Citizen Scientists Discover Two Gaseous Planets around a Bright Sun-Like Star (Source: NASA)
At night, seven-year-old Miguel likes talking to his father Cesar Rubio about planets and stars. “I try to nurture that,” says Rubio, a machinist in Pomona, California, who makes parts for mining and power generation equipment. Now, the boy can claim his father helped discover planets, too. Cesar Rubio is one of thousands of volunteers participating in Planet Hunters TESS, a NASA-funded citizen science project that looks for evidence of planets beyond our solar system, or exoplanets.

Citizen science is a way for members of the public to collaborate with scientists. More than 29,000 people worldwide have joined the Planet Hunters TESS effort to help scientists find exoplanets. Planet Hunters TESS has now announced the discovery of two exoplanets in a study published online in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, listing Rubio and more than a dozen other citizen scientists as co-authors. (6/10)

Canada's SkyWatch Raises $17.2 Million for Earth Observation Data Management (Source: Space News)
SkyWatch Space Applications, a startup developing tools for Earth observation companies, has raised $17.2 million. The Canadian company announced the Series B round Tuesday, led by Drive Capital. SkyWatch says it's seeing strong demand for TerraStream, a data management and distribution platform it offers to Earth observation companies. SkyWatch said that strong demand led to to accelerate the new funding round to ramp up operations. (6/15)

Launcher Developing Orbital Transfer Vehicle (Source: Space News)
Small launch vehicle company Launcher is developing an orbital transfer vehicle. The company said it's working on Orbiter, a vehicle that can transport up to 150 kilograms of smallsat payloads. Orbiter is designed to launch on both the company's own Launcher Light vehicle as well as Falcon 9 dedicated rideshare missions. The first Orbiter mission will be on a Falcon 9 in October 2022. (6/15)

South Korean Companies to Share Spacecraft Know-How (Source: Space News)
Three South Korean companies will participate in a spacecraft technology transfer program. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, a state-funded university that has developed several satellites, has agreed to share its spacecraft manufacturing technologies and know-how with Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Industries and LIG Nex1. Each company will pay up to $9 million in exchange for the technology, part of an initiative by the government to have a domestic satellite industry that is driven by the private sector. (6/15)

NATO Pact Includes Space Attacks (Source: AP)
NATO members said Monday that their mutual defense clause also applies to attacks in space. In a statement after a summit meeting, NATO said that "attacks to, from, or within space" could be as harmful as conventional attacks, and could be cause to invoke Article 5 for its mutual defense. NATO officials previously declared space a fifth domain of operations, after land, sea, air and cyberspace. (6/15)
 
NASA Moves Next Crewed ISS Launch to NET Oct. 31 (Source: NASA)
NASA has delayed slightly the launch of the next crewed mission to the International Space Station. NASA said Monday that the Crew-3 mission will launch no earlier than Oct. 31, about a week later than previously announced. The Crew-2 mission will return in early to mid-November after a brief handover with the Crew-3 astronauts. The agency said that visiting vehicle traffic was the reason for the revised dates. (6/15)

OneWeb Seeks Indian Operating License (Source: Financial Express)
OneWeb is applying for a license to operate in India. OneWeb, owned in part by Indian telecom company Bharti Global, filed a license application with India's Department of Telecommunications. While a license could be granted at any time, the Indian government is likely to wait until it determines if an auction of frequencies is needed. Both Amazon and SpaceX have expressed interest in providing service in India but have yet to apply for licenses there. (6/15)

Philippines and Japan Agree on Space Cooperation (Source: Rappler)
The Philippines and Japan signed a space cooperation agreement. The memorandum of cooperation between JAXA and the Philippine Space Agency covers potential work between the agencies on a wide range of science, technology and policy topics. The two countries have already been cooperating on space, including JAXA supporting the development and launch of the first Philippine satellites. (6/15)

Trump Chief of Staff: Italian Satellites Used to Steal Election (Source: CNN)
After Donald Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020, prior to leaving office, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows sought to have Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen arrange an FBI meeting with a Rudy Giuliani ally pushing a conspiracy theory that Italy was using military technology and satellites to somehow change votes to Joe Biden. Newly uncovered emails revealed how the top White House aide had urged the Justice Department to take action for Trump's benefit. The emails included a list of complaints about voting procedures in New Mexico, alleged "anomalies" in a Georgia county and the claims about Italian satellites. (6/15)

Deployables Cubed Add Products to SmallSat Catalog (Source: Orbital Transports)
Deployables Cubed GmbH (DcubeD), a NewSpace SmallSat deployable mechanisms company, is making its release actuators and other deployable mechanisms available through the Orbital Transports SmallSat Catalog. DcubeD develops miniature actuators and deployables specifically designed and developed for SmallSat and NanoSat customers.

DcubeD’s mD3PP, nD3PP, and nD3RN resettable release actuators can be used to trigger deployable satellite structures, release a satellite from a CubeSat dispenser, or as a hold-down release mechanism for spacecraft/payload separation, to name just a few applications. The D3S3 space selfie stick puts a camera at the end of a self-extending boom, enabling high-quality promotional images of a satellite to be obtained directly from space and for monitoring of a satellite’s health without relying on on-board sensors. (6/15)

FCC Invites Public Comment on Spectrum Allocation for Non-Federal Space Launch Operations (Source: FCC)
The Federal Communications Commission is taking steps to establish a spectrum allocation and licensing framework that will provide regulatory certainty and improved efficiency and that will promote innovation and investment in the United States commercial space launch industry. In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission seeks comment on the definition of space launch operations, the potential allocation of spectrum for the commercial space launch industry, including the 420-430 MHz, 2025-2110 MHz, and 5650-5925 MHz bands.

In addition, the Commission seeks comment on establishing service rules, including licensing and technical rules and coordination procedures, for the use of spectrum for commercial space launch operations. Finally, the Commission seeks to refresh the record on potential ways to facilitate Federal use of commercial satellite services in what are currently non-Federal satellite bands and enable more robust federal use of the 399.9-400.05 MHz band. Click here. (6/15)

Space Coast Aerospace Workforce Development Effort Continues with June 24 Summit (Source: CareerSource Brevard)
The next Aerospace Workforce Development Strategy Summit is planned online on June 24. This initiative is sponsored by CareerSource Brevard, Space Florida, FloridaMakes, and the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast. Learn about the newest findings and insights gathered from Florida’s workforce needs survey, and newly developed training opportunities and the associated funding available. Click here. (6/15)