July 18, 2021

17 Years in the Making, Flights From Spaceport America Now a Turning Point for New Mexico Economy (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
Except for a slight weather delay, it was a seemingly flawless flight into history with the world watching. Virgin Galactic’s mothership VMS Eve, with VSS Unity attached, took off from Spaceport America last Sunday with company founder Richard Branson, two pilots and three other crew members strapped into Unity’s cabin.

That involved more than $225 million from the state’s coffers to build the futuristic spaceport and find money to keep it operating even as Branson’s company struggled to master the technology for Sunday’s epic flight. As Richardson put it, Branson did his part after their famous handshake deal in the desert. Virgin Galactic invested more than $1 billion and overcame a tragic test flight accident in 2014. It took 17 long years from a sales call in London by Richardson’s economic development director, Rick Homans, to reach the point of Sunday’s flight.

Richardson and Homans both said that now is the time to ramp up New Mexico’s efforts for space tourism. “New Mexico is going to have to be even more aggressive and more visionary to stay out front,” Homans said. Alicia Keyes, the state’s current economic development secretary, is on board. “We’ve been preparing for this for more than 16 years, and now it’s time to focus on the future of space tourism, which can be a magnet for many more companies to operate out of the spaceport,” she said. “It’s all about diversifying our economy.” If things go according to plan, that’s not far off. (7/18)

Shuttle Firing Room Veterans Preparing to Help Launch Artemis 1 (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The final mission in the Space Shuttle Program, STS-135, was launched ten years ago on July 8, 2011, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Several members of the immediate and extended launch team that gave Shuttle Atlantis and her four-person crew a final space send-off gathered again on the tenth anniversary of the STS-135 launch to practice the choreography necessary to launch the Artemis 1 Orion/Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle for the first time.

A few of the veterans of hundreds of countdowns in the KSC Launch Control Center spoke with NASASpaceflight about some of their Shuttle history and how they’ll bring their Firing Room experience launching Shuttles to a new generation of team members as Artemis 1 approaches. The “Day of Launch” simulation conducted on July 8, 2021 was the first integrated simulation of major launch day activities from the “go for tanking” of vehicle propellants, through terminal countdown, liftoff, ascent, and the Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) of Orion to the Moon. (7/17)

Biden to Nominate CSIS’ Andrew Hunter as Top Air Force Acquisition Executive (Source: Space News)
The White House announced July 16 that President Biden intends to nominate defense procurement expert Andrew Hunter to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. Hunter, director of the defense industrial initiatives group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, would be the Department of the Air Force’s top acquisition executive, overseeing both Air Force and Space Force research, development and acquisition programs. (7/16)

If Jeff Bezos' Rocket Fails During Launch, an Emergency System Should Jettison Him to Safety (Source: Business Insider)
It's about 10,000 times more dangerous than flying on a commercial airliner," George Nield, a former associate administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, previously told Insider. "In order to learn how to do this safer, more reliably, and more cost effectively, many people believe we need to keep gaining experience by having more and more of these flights."

Like many other launch systems, though, New Shepard comes with an escape system. If the rocket starts to fail, the capsule that carries the passengers is programmed to detach itself from the rocket and jettison away from impending doom. It's designed to "get the astronauts away, and get them to safety," Gary Lai, senior director of New Shepard's design, said in a Blue Origin video about safety, posted in April. The company has tested the capsule's escape system three times — once on the launchpad, once in mid-air, and once in space. (7/16)

China’s Space Program Is More Military Than You Might Think (Source: Defense One)
China's remarkable space growth has led to a spate of recent international cooperation programs, including European Space Agency and taikonauts training together and a reported 42 applications of interest for joint research programs. Some are urging the U.S. and China to collaborate in space as a means to dampen great power tension, though the Wolf Amendment has since 2011 effectively barred NASA from such cooperation.

The militarized tilt of the Chinese space program complicates these plans. Space planning and directing organizations, the ground infrastructure supporting its space programs, and the taikonauts themselves are all under the purview of the People’s Liberation Army. Understanding these connections is important for any plans to cooperate with China in space, whether governmental or commercial.

On the organizational side, China’s equivalent to NASA has a focus on the space program’s international exchanges. It falls under the State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which handles defense-related science and technology, including China’s state-owned defense conglomerates. However, unlike NASA, the CNSA doesn’t oversee China’s astronauts. The organization in charge of China’s manned space program is the China Manned Space Engineering Office, which is under China’s Central Military Commission Equipment Development Department. (7/16)

Space Coast Astronaut Rescue Unit Changes Designation, Commander (Source: MyNews13)
The women and men tasked with keeping NASA’s astronauts safe going to and from space now have a new commander and designation within the military. On Thursday, Detachment 3 went through a pair of ceremonies, ushering in new changes for the unit that was first chartered back in 1958 as the DoD Mercury Support Office. More than 60 years later, the organization is still supports all current and future NASA crewed missions.

“It’s an amazing organization that spans across the DoD, making sure that we’re not only there to rescue the astronauts if they need us, but also for the nominal end-of-mission for the Artemis Program when they land off the coast of California,” said Lt. Col. Chris Hearne of Det. 3. Back in March 2021, U.S. Army Gen. James Dickinson, the U.S. Space Command commander, named 1st Air Force as the future air component to U.S. Space Command.

The Secretary of the Air Force decided to re-designate Det. 3 from Patrick Space Force Base to 1st Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base. “Det. 3, is undoubtedly first and foremost an Air Force rescue unit," Betts said during Thursday's ceremony. "So, it made perfect sense to bring them home and transfer Detachment 3 from USSPACECOM to First Air Force under Air Combat Command." Lt. Col. Richard Bolton took over command from Lt. Col. Michael Thompson, who, as the Det. 3 commander, was also the commander of Task Force 3, the global contingency rescue operation during the SpaceX Crew-2 launch and Crew-1 landing. (7/15)

SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic Hubs Could Help Boost Local Real Estate Prices (Source: Fox Business)
The job growth and presumably high incomes at aerospace giants like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have the potential to boost average median real estate prices around their hub locations in the South and West regions over the long term, according to the National Association of Realtors.

"If say a large tech company decided to open another headquarters with high-income jobs, then the local area will experience a sizable growth in home prices," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told FOX Business. "Given that SpaceX and Blue Origin employees have sophisticated high-tech skills with presumably high income, the impacted small community real estate market will clearly benefit." (7/16)

Virgin Galactic, Aerojet Rocketdyne: How Are Space Stocks Doing? (Source: Forbes)
Our Space Stocks Theme has underperformed this year, rising by just about 8% year-to-date, compared to a return of over 17% for the S&P 500. That said, things could look up for these stocks. July is turning out to be an eventful month for the space industry. High-profile space trips are likely to create a lot of buzz for the space industry, turning the focus on publicly listed space stocks in the near term.

The longer-term outlook for the sector also looks promising, given the shift from government-driven space programs toward enterprise-backed programs and the emergence of a host of space-related opportunities including reusable rockets, satellite-based Internet, and point-to-point transport. Virgin Galactic has been the strongest performer within our theme, rising by about 39% year-to-date. On the other side, Aerojet Rocketdyne was the worst performer, with its stock down by roughly 11% year-to-date. (7/16)

First Woman to Lead NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is a BU Alum (Source: BU.edu)
“More and more meetings, I’m not the only woman in the room,” says Janet Petro. Some women shatter the glass ceiling. Janet Petro (MET’88) has broken Earth’s glass atmosphere, becoming the first woman to lead NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center. Petro, the 11th director, is a 14-year Kennedy veteran who had already historically reshaped its mission. Previously, as the deputy director, she helped steer the Center’s transformation into a launch pad for private space vehicles as well as government craft. Petro, who graduated from West Point in 1981, earned a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University’s Metropolitan College. Click here. (7/16)

An Alabama Lawmaker Just Wants NASA to Fly SLS, Doesn’t Care About Payloads (Source: Ars Technica)
The US House Appropriations Committee passed a NASA budget bill that provides $25.04 billion, and funds most of NASA's top spaceflight priorities, including the Artemis program. Notably, the bill appropriates $1.345 billion for a Human Landing System as part of the Artemis Program. And although some House members grumbled about NASA's decision in April to select SpaceX as the sole provider of the first demonstration landing, the legislation does not block NASA from moving forward with the contract.

Some members of Congress tried to buttress the SLS program, which is based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-AL, proposed an amendment that modified the Human Landing System program and supported upgrades of the SLS rocket. Ultimately, the amendment was withdrawn, but it illustrates the lengths to which politicians such as Aderholt are willing to go to save the SLS rocket from obsolescence.

All of the HLS bidders could choose whatever rockets they preferred to launch on. (In 2019 NASA and Boeing actually pitched a "commercial" version of the SLS for lunar landers.) None of the main three bidders chose the SLS rocket, of course. It was too expensive, and there was no guarantee NASA or Boeing could build them at a high enough rate. In addition to mandating lunar lander flights, Aderholt's provision says that NASA must have a plan for an SLS cargo launch once a year by 2032. Imagine how this would have hamstrung NASA: Congress basically telling the agency, "More than a decade from now, you have to use this super-expensive rocket every year, whether you need it or not. And to make sure you do so, we're writing it into law." (7/16)

US Wants Giant Radar in UK to Track Space Objects (Source: BBC)
The US wants to locate a giant new radar system in the UK to track objects in deep space. The US Space Force is developing the global system to identify potential "targets" up to 36,000km away, in areas of deep space where a lot of military satellites are positioned. Other sites would include Texas and Australia. The Ministry of Defence said the new radar capability has the potential to make space "safer and more secure". (7/16)

Trailblazing Astronaut Doug Hurley Retires from NASA (Source: NASA)
NASA astronaut and former U.S. Marine Col. Doug Hurley is retiring from NASA after 21 years of service. His last day with the agency is July 16. “Doug Hurley is an exceptional astronaut whose leadership and expertise have been invaluable to NASA’s space program,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “His impact on the agency transcends his impressive work in spaceflight, inspiring us to take on bold endeavors. I extend my deepest gratitude to Doug and wish him success in his next adventure.”

Hurley’s career highlights include 93 days in space on missions that include the final space shuttle flight and the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. (7/16)

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