July 14, 2021

NASA Predicts a "Wobble" in the Moon's Orbit May Lead to Record Flooding on Earth (Source: CBS News)
Every coast in the U.S. is facing rapidly increasing high tide floods thanks to a "wobble" in the moon's orbit working in tandem with climate change-fueled rising sea levels. A new study warns that upcoming changes in the moon's orbit could lead to record flooding on Earth in the next decade. Through mapping the NOAA sea-level rise scenarios, flooding thresholds and astronomical cycles, researchers found flooding in American coastal cities could be several multiples worse in the 2030s, when the next moon "wobble" is expected to begin.

The lunar wobble is actually a natural occurrence, first reported in 1728. The moon's orbit is responsible for periods of both higher and lower tides about every 18.6 years, and they aren't dangerous in their own right. But this time around, scientists are more concerned. With sea-level rise due to climate change, the next high tide floods are expected to be more intense and more frequent than ever before, exacerbating already grim predictions. Researchers expect the flooding to significantly damage infrastructure and displace communities. (7/13)

SEC Fines Momentus After False Claims (Source: Space News)
The Securities and Exchange Commission said Tuesday it's reached a settlement with Momentus and the SPAC it is merging with regarding false claims. The SEC said that Momentus misled investors about the state of its in-space propulsion technology, claiming an experimental cubesat launched in 2019 successfully demonstrated water plasma thrusters when the satellite in fact failed to meet the company's own definition of success. The company also withheld information regarding national security concerns about its co-founder and former CEO, Mikhail Kokorich.

Stable Road Acquisition Corporation failed to perform proper due diligence on Momentus's claims, the SEC concluded. Momentus, Stable Road and Stable Road CEO Brian Kabot were fined more than $8 million under the terms of the settlement. The SEC says it's continuing to pursue charges against Kokorich, who is not part of the settlement agreement. (7/14)

NASA and ESA Agree on Climate Science Collaboration (Source: Space News)
NASA and ESA have agreed to work together more closely on climate science. The leaders of the two agencies signed a joint statement of intent in a virtual meeting Tuesday regarding cooperation in Earth science missions and research activities. NASA and ESA currently work together on some individual missions, like the Sentinel-6 spacecraft launched last year to measure sea level rise, but this agreement is intended to create a more overarching strategic partnership. (7/14)

NASA Awards Contracts to Avance Nuclear Propulsion (Source: Space News)
NASA awarded three contracts Tuesday to begin concept studies of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) systems. The contracts, each worth $5 million, went to teams led by BWX Technologies, General Atomics and Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies. The yearlong studies will refine concepts for nuclear reactors that would be part of NTP systems, which promise much higher efficiencies and shorter travel times than conventional chemical propulsion systems. NASA says it's cooperating on NTP technology development with DARPA, which has its own NTP technology program. (7/14)

Chinese Startup Plans Hop Tests for Reusable Launcher (Source: Space News)
Chinese launch startups are preparing to perform "hop" tests of future reusable vehicles. Beijing Deep Blue Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd., said Tuesday it carried out a 10-second static fire test of its Nebula-M test vehicle, ahead of hop tests to altitudes of between 1 and 100 meters. The test is one of a number of efforts by Chinese companies to develop reusable launch vehicles that are, in part, a reaction to changes in the launch sector initiated in the United States. (7/14)
 
Amazon and Facebook Strike Deal for Kuiper Megaconstellation Support (Source: GeekWire)
A team at Facebook working on wireless broadband technologies has moved to Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite effort. The two companies struck a deal to transfer more than a dozen Facebook employees to Amazon to support its satellite project, but did not disclose the terms of the agreement. A Facebook subsidiary, PointView, launched a satellite called Athena last year to test laser communications, but Facebook is not planning its own satellite system and testing of Athena has been suspended. (7/14)

LEOcloud Partners With Ramon for Satellite Cloud Computing (Source: Space News)
Satellite communications startup LEOcloud is partnering with a supercomputer firm to work on satellite-based cloud computing. LEOCloud said it will work with Ramon. Space to develop advanced computing systems for use on satellites. LEOCloud plans to initially place edge computing systems at ground stations operated by partners, then launch satellites with those computing systems on board. (7/14)

SpaceX Close to Super Heavy Static Fire Test (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
SpaceX appears to be getting close to the first static-fire test of its Super Heavy booster. A booster prototype is on a test stand at the company's Boca Chica, Texas, test site, and workers have installed Raptor engines in it. The company has performed only tanking tests of the booster so far, but a static-fire test could take place as soon as Wednesday. (7/14)

FAA Warns SpaceX That Massive Starship Launch Tower in Texas is Unapproved (Source: CNBC)
The FAA has warned Elon Musk’s SpaceX that work on a massive launch tower will be included in the agency’s ongoing environmental review of the Starship facility in Boca Chica, Texas. “The company is building the tower at its own risk,” an FAA spokesperson told CNBC on Wednesday, noting that the environmental review could recommend taking down the launch tower.

The FAA last year began an environmental review of SpaceX’s Starship development facility, as Musk’s company said it planned to apply for licenses to launch the next-generation rocket prototypes from Boca Chica. While the FAA completed an environmental assessment of the area in 2014, that review was specific to SpaceX’s much-smaller Falcon series of rockets. (7/14)

Training an AI Eye on the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
A Moon-scanning method that can automatically classify important lunar features from telescope images could significantly improve the efficiency of selecting sites for exploration. There is more than meets the eye to picking a landing or exploration site on the Moon. The visible area of the lunar surface is larger than Russia and is pockmarked by thousands of craters and crisscrossed by canyon-like rilles.

The choice of future landing and exploration sites may come down to the most promising prospective locations for construction, minerals or potential energy resources. However, scanning by eye across such a large area, looking for features perhaps a few hundred meters across, is laborious and often inaccurate, which makes it difficult to pick optimal areas for exploration. (7/14)

ESA Funds New Kick Stage for Ariane 6 (Source: ESA)
ESA awarded Ariane Group a contract to build a new kick stage for the Ariane 6. The contract, worth 90 million euros ($106 million), covers development of Astris, a kick stage that will be an optional addition to the Ariane 6 upper stage. Astris will handle in-space maneuvers for payloads, such as transporting satellites to geostationary orbit. Astris will first be used to send ESA's Hera mission to the asteroid Didymos in 2024. (7/14)

Blue Origin’s Foundation, Club for the Future, Selects 19 Space-Focused Charities to Each Receive a $1 Million Grant (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, announced 19 non-profit charitable organizations will each be offered a $1 million grant to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. The funds are made possible by the recent auction for the first paid seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. 

Each of the organizations selected have demonstrated a commitment to promote the future of living and working in space to inspire the next generation to explore space careers. They enhance Club for the Future’s ability to reach students, teachers, and communities, and to engage them in the excitement and adventure of innovation and space exploration. Click here to see the grantees. (7/14)

German Start-Up Wins Tender for Innovative Test Satellite (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The German Space Agency is committed to promoting start-ups with ESA. German space start-up S4 GmbH (Smart Small Satellite Systems) was awarded a contract to build and operate an innovative test satellite for broadband internet in very low Earth orbit. The test satellite “LoLaSat” (Low Latency Communication Satellite) is intended, among other things, to significantly shorten the transit times of the signals and pave the way for Internet via satellite, also for virtual reality or augmented reality and certain applications in autonomous driving. (7/13)

Nanosatellites Could Play Pivotal Role in Defense Against Enemy Missiles (Source: DoD)
Two Missile Defense Agency nanosatellites — known as CubeSats — that launched June 30 into low-earth orbit from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California could play a large role in the future of U.S. missile defense. The CubeSat Networked Communications Experiment Block 1 — part of MDA's Nanosat Testbed Initiative — uses small, low-cost satellites to demonstrate networked radio communications between nanosatellites while in orbit. MDA will conduct a 90-day demonstration, with a mission extension of up to one year, to ensure the two CubeSats can navigate properly, receive and send signals to radios and networks and operate as intended. (7/12)

World's Largest Astronomy Museum Set to Open in Shanghai (Source: CNN)
The world's largest astronomy museum is opening in Shangha. With no straight lines or right angles used throughout, the structure is instead formed from three overlapping arcs that allude to the orbits of celestial bodies. Opening Friday, the 420,000-square-foot Shanghai Astronomy Museum will house exhibitions, a planetarium, an observatory and a 78-foot-tall solar telescope. It was conceived by US firm Ennead Architects, which in 2014 won an international competition to design the building. (7/12)

NASA, Northrop Grumman Designing New Solid Rocket Boosters for SLS (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program and booster element prime contractor Northrop Grumman are developing an upgrade to the current Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs). The SLS Booster Obsolescence and Life Extension (BOLE) program is in the detailed design phase prior to firing its first ground-test development motor in 2024, followed by a preliminary design review for the boosters that will inaugurate the SLS Block 2 vehicle.

The new solid rocket motor design retains the form and fit of the current motor, but incorporates modern production technology, composite cases, and a new solid propellant formula. NASA SLS and Northrop Grumman are working to integrate the new design with the SLS vehicle and increase performance to Congressionally-mandated levels while minimizing impacts to the design and operations of other flight hardware and launch processing infrastructure. (7/12)

Gr@vity Space Marketing Engages Orbital Transports as Strategic Partner (Source: Orbital Transports)
Gr@vity, Inc., a global marketing agency launching the world’s first-ever space marketing campaign, has announced a strategic partnership with Orbital Transports. Orbital Transports will aid in the delivery and operations of Gr@vity’s space marketing and content activations. Gr@vity is currently in discussions with a number of global brands across different sectors to lay claim to the title of “First Space Marketing Campaign.” “While there have been marketing stunts in space and near space, there has never been a cohesive and continuous global space marketing campaign.” (7/13)

Why Biden’s Competition Order Bolsters The Case For A Lockheed-Aerojet Merger (Source: Forbes)
President Biden’s executive order launching a whole-of-government campaign to promote competition in the U.S. economy is long overdue. There are some sectors of the nation’s industrial economy where mergers may be the most expeditious way of assuring competition continues, rather than giving way to monopoly. A case in point is the solid rocket motor industry. This sector has become highly concentrated with only two major producers: Aerojet Rocketdyne and the rocket motor unit of Northrop Grumman formerly known as Orbital-ATK.

The Northrop unit repeatedly displaced the smaller Aerojet Rocketdyne from legacy franchises on civil, commercial and military rockets. When Northrop Grumman subsequently won the contract to build a next-generation replacement of the Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBM, it appeared Aerojet had lost its last opportunity to remain a player in the large solids business.

This is not a prescription for vigorous competition. Lockheed Martin’s bid to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne presents the most plausible path for preserving Aerojet’s role as a viable player in large solids—and probably the rest of the rocket motor business. Lockheed Martin has sufficient resources to continue Aerojet’s efforts at innovation across a range of propulsion technologies. Obviously, the FTC will have to impose the some constraints on a Lockheed-Aerojet combination. However, the notion that a small company dependent on a narrow slice of the aerospace market can survive over the long run in an environment dominated by behemoths is not believable. (7/12)

Who Owns Spaceport America? (Source: Spaceport America)
Spaceport America was designed, built, and is owned and operated by the State of New Mexico. We cover 18,000 acres and have multiple facilities and four on-site tenants. Click here. (7/13)

Relativity Space Making Progress on Launch Pad at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Relativity Space)
Relativity Space is picking up stellar momentum as they work towards launch, including the completion of the maiden lift of a Strongback at Launch Complex 16 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Launches could begin before the end of 2021. LC-16 was originally developed for Titan i and Titan II orbital rockets, and then repurposed for tests of the Pershing missile system. Click here for a video. (7/13)

Here’s Why Richard Branson’s Flight Matters—and, Yes, it Really Matters (Source: Ars Technica)
If you think Richard Branson’s space flight on Sunday morning was all about the pomp and simply served to feed the ego of a celebrity billionaire, you would not be wrong. Virgin Galactic hired Stephen Colbert to host the livestream, after all. R&B musician Khalid performed onstage following the mission. It was gaudy. It was showtime. It was absolutely a party. But make no mistake, this flight was also historic.

The promise of suborbital tourism is that it could expand space access to many, many more people. Whereas orbital flights required tens of millions of dollars and months of training, suborbital spaceflight costs a few hundred thousand dollars and needs only a few days of training. Making good on this promise has been challenging. For much of the last decade, it seemed like spaceflights such as Branson’s were only a year or two away. But there were always setbacks. From this moment onward, therefore, it’s likely that the majority, and very probably the vast majority, of future flights to suborbital and orbital space will be privately funded.

It is easy, too, to pillory Branson, Bezos, Musk, and other private investors in spaceflight as “boys and their toys.” But this criticism misses the larger picture of why billionaires are going to space. This is the beginning of the journey, not the end. Bezos, in particular, has outlined a vision of moving heavy industry off the planet in order to preserve Earth as a garden. The billionaires see a future in which humanity, constrained for resources such as water, food, and energy, fights ever harder for a more meager share. (7/14)

How More Than 30 Years of China's Meteorological Satellite Data is Used by the World (Source: Space Daily)
With more than 30 years of Earth observational data freely available to international partners, the Fengyun Meteorological Satellite program works as part of Earth's operational observation system, along with the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites and Europe's polar orbiting meteorological satellite series to provide a more complete picture weather events and their global impacts

To highlight the Fengyun satellites' data applications and to encourage further research among domestic and international collaborators, Advances in Atmospheric Sciences published a special issue titled, "Fengyun Meteorological Satellites: Data, Application and Assessment," on 10 July, 2021. It's the first time international communities' evaluation and application of Fengyun satellites are collectively published in a journal. (7/14)

Seraphim’s Investment Trust Gets Firepower for Bigger Space Deals (Source: Space News)
Space startup investor Seraphim Capital’s investment trust started trading on the London Stock Exchange July 14, raising about $250 million for larger international acquisitions. The listing gives the group “the firepower to become really impactful in this market,” Seraphim Capital CEO Mark Boggett told SpaceNews.

Seraphim Space Investment Trust, which now trades under the SSIT.L ticker, is initially taking over Seraphim Capital’s stakes in 15 of the 19 space technology companies it has invested in. It plans to pick up the remaining four — satellite data specialist Spire Global, quantum encryption firm Arqit, Earth imaging operator Iceye and space logistics firm D-orbit — once each firms’ separate, ongoing fundraising activities close this year. (7/14)

NASA Invites Public to Share Excitement of Second Starliner Flight Test (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA invites the public to take part in virtual activities and events ahead of the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station. Targeted to launch at 2:53 p.m. EDT Friday, July 30, OFT-2 is the second uncrewed flight test for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for OFT-2 includes curated launch resources, notifications about interaction opportunities, and a virtual guest passport stamp following a successful launch. Starliner will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft will carry over 700 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the space station and return some critical research samples to Earth. (7/14)