July 13, 2021

Chile Will Be the First Country in Latin America With starlink Satellite Internet Services (Source: BN Americas)
Starlink will begin its pioneering satellite internet operations in Chile, making the country the first in Latin America on the list of this giant of technological innovation. The arrival of Starlink arises after the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications (MTT), through the Undersecretariat of Telecommunications (SUBTEL), explored with the company the technical feasibility of conducting pilot tests of a social nature in rural and / or isolated communities with digital connectivity problems. SUBTEL delivered an experimental permit to the company for the non-commercial use of the service. (7/5)

Thailand Delays Auction of Orbital Slots,Wants More Bidders (Source: Bangkok Post)
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board is postponing the auction of four satellite orbital slot packages after Thaicom emerged as its sole bidder. The auction was originally slated for July 24 and will be delayed by almost a month in what is seen as an attempt to draw more potential bidders to the auction. The auction will now take place on Aug 21. (7/8)

Ad Astra Shatters Power and Endurance Record for Plasma Engine (Source: Ad Astra)
Ad Astra Rocket Company has shattered another major record for long-duration/high-power firing of its VASIMR VX-200SS plasma engine, and in doing so, further advancing the technology of powerful and fuel-efficient electric rockets. Electric rockets operating above 50 kW/thruster are considered “high-power.” The company completed a record-breaking test of the engine, operating at a power level of 82.5 kW for 28 hours, far longer than any other high-power firing to date.

Ad Astra has been steadily approaching the 100-kW/100-hours milestone set by NASA without detracting from the company’s main objective: the demonstration of thermal steady-state control of the engine at high power. This condition calls for all the temperatures of the engine’s critical components to be successfully controlled by the engine’s thermal management system. According to Ars Technica, NASA set a goal of for Ad Astra to achieve 100 hours by 2018. (7/9)

NASA Announces Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Reactor Concept Awards (Source: NASA)
NASA is leading an effort, working with the Department of Energy (DOE), to advance space nuclear technologies. The government team has selected three reactor design concept proposals for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The reactor is a critical component of a nuclear thermal engine, which would utilize high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.

The contracts, to be awarded through the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), are each valued at approximately $5 million. They fund the development of various design strategies for the specified performance requirements that could aid in deep space exploration. Nuclear propulsion provides greater propellant efficiency as compared with chemical rockets. It’s a potential technology for crew and cargo missions to Mars and science missions to the outer solar system, enabling faster and more robust missions in many cases. (7/13)

Heinrich Touts New Space Industry Hub For New Mexico (Source: The Paper)
Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) was in attendance on Thursday to announce NewSpace New Mexico’s launch of its Unite and Ignite Space. The space will serve as a co-innovation hub that will aim to bring together resources to support the space industry in New Mexico. Heinrich secured $11 million in funding through the FY20 and FY21 National Defense Authorization Acts to create this small satellite innovation hub based in Albuquerque.

The project has the support of community leaders who were also in attendance at the press conference, who hope that the innovation hub will attract further investment in New Mexico’s expanding space industry. New Mexico is already home to Spaceport America, the first spaceport dedicated to commercial use. Albuquerque’s Unite and Ignite Space seeks to capitalize on New Mexico’s growing prominence within the US space industry. (7/12)

Cape Canaveral-Based Aerodyne, KBR Win NASA Engineering Contract Worth Up To $531 Million (Source: Florida Today)
Cape Canaveral-based Aerodyne Industries LLC has won a NASA contract for engineering services worth as much as $531 million, in a joint venture with KBR Inc. The project will provide engineering services for spaceflight and ground systems, including the development and validation of new technologies for future space and science missions. The contract — referred to by NASA as Mechanical Integrated Services and Technology II or MIST II — has a base period of five years, with one option for a six-month extension.

Houston-based KBR performed similar work under the previous MIST I contract. The joint venture will provide a wide range of engineering services, the companies said. These include design, analysis and verification services; technical support for development of spaceflight, airborne and ground-based instruments and equipment; and research and technology development support services for new NASA missions. As part of this effort, the joint venture will provide flight operations activities; contamination control and thermal coatings; and optics and optical systems design and analysis. (7/13)

NASA Launches Entrepreneurs Challenge to Identify Innovative Ideas (Source: NASA)
NASA is announcing its 2021 Entrepreneurs Challenge to invite fresh ideas and new participants that will lead to new instruments and technologies with the potential to advance the agency’s science mission goals. The agency’s Science Mission Directorate is seeking novel ideas that focus on priority areas for the commercial sector. The Entrepreneurs Challenge aligns with NASA’s goal to foster innovation and develop new technologies at lower costs while sourcing ideas from across the country with an emphasis on reaching out to underserved communities.

“NASA relies on innovative technology to advance our crucial science goals,” said Nicole Rayl, the acting chief technologist for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Today’s novel ideas enable tomorrow’s cutting-edge research – and we sponsor and support such technology development through every step of that process. We’re always so excited to see the creativity launched by challenges like this.”

Successful participants will contribute ideas that advance the state of the art in three broadly defined science technology focus areas: small satellite capabilities to enable science; metamaterials-based sensor technologies; sample handling and processing technology for the detection of biomarkers in highly dilute samples; and to encourage entrepreneurs to participate in the challenge, the Science Mission Directorate will award finalists as much as $90,000 through a two-stage process. (7/12)

NASA Awards Contract for Test Evaluation, Support (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a five-year contract to Sierra Lobo Inc. of Fremont, Ohio, for test and operations support at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Test Evaluation and Support Team 3 (TEST3) is a hybrid indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-award-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders. The period of performance is from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2026. The maximum value is $400 million.

Under TEST3, Sierra Lobo will maintain and operate infrastructure to support testing of propulsion hardware, propellants, aerospace fluids, materials and various components, as well as provide expertise. The contract also supports hypervelocity impact testing and flight hardware processing, and provides technical services, training, safety and quality assurance, facility maintenance and operations, construction management, and emergency services. Sierra Lobo will perform its work at the White Sands Test Facility and other locations. (7/12)

Government Backs Australia’s First Space Incubator Moonshot (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Moonshot, Australia’s first space-focused incubator, has today received a half a million-dollar [US $374,043] matched grant from the federal government’s Incubator Support Scheme to cultivate new space technology businesses across the country. Led by a consortium of international space tech leaders, Moonshot’s latest financial boost involves matched contributions from the federal government and investors alike.

Moonshot is Australia’s first line of support for ambitious space tech startups, offering tailored accelerator programs and investment opportunities via a recently established fund. Moonshot has accelerated 25 space startups, including Swoop Aero, and has made 10 investments so far. The latest injection of federal funding will enable Moonshot to expand operations, launch new accelerator programs and amplify support for local space startups. (7/12)

FAA Approves Blue Origin's License for Bezos Flight (Source: Reuters)
The FAA said on Monday it approved a Blue Origin license to carry humans on the New Shepard launch system into space. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is set to fly to the edge of space on Blue Origin's maiden crewed voyage on July 20. Blue Origin is authorized to carry humans while its FAA license is valid through August and is approved to conduct these missions from its Launch Site One facility in Texas, the agency confirmed. Blue Origin was required to verify its launch vehicle's hardware and software worked safely during a test flight and the FAA confirmed it met regulatory requirements. (7/12)

House Appropriations Bill Supports Increase to NASA’s Budget (Source: Space News)
A House appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill July 12 that would provide NASA with a small increase over what the administration proposed for fiscal year 2022, but does not address some key areas of concern. The commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee favorably reported a spending bill that provides $25.04 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2022. That would be 7.6% higher than what NASA received in 2021, but just 1% above the administration’s request of $24.8 billion released in May. (7/12)

The Suborbital Spaceflight Race Isn’t Over (Source: Space Review)
For many people, Richard Branson’s successful flight on SpaceShipTwo Sunday marked the end of a billionaire space race with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. Jeff Foust reports that the real competition between the companies, and the race to win customers, is just beginning. Click here. (7/12)
 
China is Using Mythology and Sci-Fi to Sell its Space Program to the World (Source: Space Review)
China shares few details about its space missions, often waiting until after launches or other events happen to announce them. Molly Silk explains how China is marketing its space ambitions using both an imagined past and imagined potential futures. Click here. (7/12)
 
When it Comes to Spacewalks, Size Matters (Source: Space Review)
The spacesuits NASA uses for spacewalks date back decades and are long past their design life. Steven Moore explains that means, in some cases, a key factor in selecting astronauts for spacewalks is whether they fit in the remaining suits. Click here. (7/12)

Space Florida, Israel Innovation Authority Announce Eighth-Round Winners of Innovation Partner Funding (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida and the Israel Innovation Authority announce the eighth-round winners of industrial research and development funding tied to the Space Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership Program. In 2013, Florida and Israel established a $2 million recurring joint fund to support research, development, and commercialization of aerospace and technology projects that benefit both Israel and Florida. For this Call for Projects, 20 joint proposals were submitted by teams of for-profit companies in Florida and Israel.

Four teams have been selected for this eighth round of awards. The Florida-side team members include Craig Technologies, Everiz Optical Filters, Redwire Space, and LightPath Technologies. Click here for information on their projects and Israel-side partners (7/13)

Trump Takes Credit for Billionaires Race to Space, ‘I Made it Possible for Them to Do This’ (Source: Political Flare)
It’s pretty funny – and obvious – that Trump took credit for Branson’s crew reaching space today. ‘I made it possible for them to do this,’ Trump told Fox News as he took credit for the revival of space programs and the private sector investment in forward movement. ‘I actually said to my people: Let the private sector do it,’ he told host Maria Bartiromo. ‘These guys want to come in with billions of dollars. Let’s lease them facilities because you need certain facilities to send up rockets, and we have those facilities.’ (7/12)

Virgin Galactic Flight lifts New Mexico Town to New Heights (Source: KOB4)
The town of Truth or Consequences basked in the limelight as the space flight of Virgin Galactic sends the locals looking to new heights. All the years of set-backs, scandals, and disappointment in southern New Mexico has led to this at Spaceport America. "The community is just primed for this event we've waited a number of years, and it's finally come to fruition,” said Truth or Consequences City manager, Bruce Swingle. (7/12)

Station Research Today Benefitting Astronauts and Earthlings (Source: NASA)
Nanoparticles, time perception and peppers topped the science schedule aboard the International Space Station on Monday. Life support maintenance and cargo operations rounded out the day for the Expedition 65 crew aboard the orbiting lab. NASA Flight Engineer Megan McArthur began her day swapping oxygen and fuel bottles inside the Combustion Integrated Rack that supports safe research into fuels, flames and soot in microgravity. She also set up a camera pointing outside a window inside the Harmony module to support the EarthKAM student-controlled experiment.

McArthur also joined astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Thomas Pesquet and took turns running operations for the InSPACE-4 study throughout the day. The physics experiment investigates ways to harness nanoparticles to fabricate new and advanced materials. Pesquet also partnered with Commander Akihiko Hoshide wearing virtual reality googles and clicking a trackball for the TIME experiment. The study observes how living in space affects an astronaut’s cognitive performance and perception of time. (7/12)

‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ Added to SpaceX’s Rocket Recovery Fleet (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
SpaceX is adding a third autonomous spaceport drone ship to its fleet. “A Shortfall of Gravitas” has left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to begin sea trials before heading to the Space Coast. A Shortfall of Gravitas will join SpaceX’s “Just Read the Instructions” at Cape Canaveral, Florida, restoring the fleet to two rocket-retrieving barges. The drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” recently made its way to the West Coast, California specifically, to support missions for the company launching from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (7/12)

Embry-Riddle Grad Explores Human Side of Spaceflight (Source: ERAU)
Growing up in New Jersey, working at NASA wasn’t always the plan for M.S. in Human Factors (MSHF) alumna Nicole Schoenstein (‘20). However, when she participated in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program, she had an “aha” moment and it became her top career goal. The NCAS program helped her decide on a major and figure out how to apply her education to a position at NASA. From community college, Schoenstein went on to earn a B.S. in Psychology at Stockton University.

While earning her bachelor’s degree, she was also completing her third internship at NASA Johnson Space Center. One day she was asked to interview for a full-time human factors position, and was selected for the role she currently holds as a Human Factors Engineer. Since a master’s degree is often standard within the field, she said that continuing her education would be a long-term benefit to her career. After researching options, she discovered the MSHF offered at Embry-Riddle Worldwide and joined the program.

For her capstone, she decided to research human factors considerations for deep space missions using data from the Mars500 Study, which simulated a mission to, on and from Mars. Through her analysis, she drew conclusions on how factors such as workload, team dynamics, individual dynamics, habitability and food influence crewmembers. (7/12)

RAD Satellite Project Aims to Combat Human Rights Abuses (Source: ERAU)
From the time she was a high school student in Texas, Embry-Riddle aerospace engineering student Terra Gordon has been involved in supporting humanitarian issues. She is now leading a team of Embry-Riddle engineering students who are working to develop a small satellite that collects data remotely to bring awareness of genocide and other crimes against humanity around the world. She hopes to increase transparency in areas that may be remote, dangerous and difficult for people to access.

“My idea is to make a small satellite to eliminate the human aspect, because that is where the danger lies – when people get into the conflict zone,” she says. The RAD Satellite project is also partnering with scientists from NASA JPL to aid in the development of the remote sensing payload.  The RAD Satellite Project will become the team’s senior capstone project this fall.

“Our goal is to develop the entire remote sensing payload – the system and structure – then build and test what we developed,” says Gordon. The team hopes the project will continue beyond their graduation, with the goal to build a prototype spacecraft and eventually launch a full-scale model into low Earth orbit. “We also have another goal to apply to the NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative to have them test and launch it for us,” she says. (6/29)

Can We Explain Dark Matter by Adding More Dimensions to the Universe? (Source: Space.com)
Every attempt to explain dark matter using known physics has come up short, and so Flip Tanedo and his collaborators are developing exotic models that might better match observations. They asked: What if dark matter interacted with itself through a continuum of forces operating in a space with more dimensions than our usual three? It sounds wild, but their model is able to better explain the behavior of stars in small galaxies than traditional, simple dark matter models. So it's worth a shot.

Their new model greatly expands possible models of interacting dark matter, allowing for unknown forces to come into play. Tanedo's approach to dark matter involves two surprising features. One, instead of a single force that connects dark matter particles, the model includes an infinite spectrum of new forces all working together. Two, the model requires an extra dimension to the universe, so a four-dimensional space.

As for adding an extra dimension, Tanedo's team has borrowed a trick used in other theories of high-energy particle physics. Through a remarkable, but not yet fully proven, concept known as the AdS/CFT correspondence (the "AdS" stands for anti-de Sitter, which is a kind of space-time, and "CFT" stands for conformal field theory, which is a category of quantum theories), some physics problems that are extremely difficult to solve in our normal 3D space become much easier to grapple with when extended to a four-dimensional space. (7/12)