July 22, 2021

SpaceWorks to Conduct High-Altitude Drop Test of RED-4U Small Payload Return Capsule (Source: SpaceWorks)
SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc (SEI), along with Earthly Dynamics LLC (EDC) and Aerial Delivery Solutions LLC (ADS), will attempt to autonomously land SEI’s RED-4U Capsule within specified range of a target after release from an altitude of 100k ft. This test will be the latest in a steady progression to advance SpaceWorks’ product line of Reentry Device (RED) capsules, including the RED-25 and RED-4U, that provide on-demand downmass capabilities from Earth orbit. The mission, designated Suborbital Test Vehicle 2 (STV-2), is funded through NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. (7/22)

Virgin Galactic Flight Test Director Departs Company (Source: CNBC)
Mark “Forger” Stucky, Virgin Galactic’s flight test director and pilot, is no longer with the space tourism company. “I am now a former Director of Flight Test and former SpaceShipTwo pilot,” Stucky wrote in a post on LinkedIn. He added in a comment on LinkedIn that he did not leave the space tourism company “on my own timeline.”

Virgin Galactic confirmed to CNBC that Stucky “is no longer employed,” but did not explain further. “We thank him for his 12 years of service on the flight test program,” a Virgin Galactic spokesperson said in a statement. Stucky helped develop Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo system, serving first as the engineering test pilot for Scaled Composites — which built the spacecraft for Virgin Galactic — before spending the last six years as Virgin Galactic’s lead test pilot and director of flight testing. (7/22)

NASA Michoud Signs Lease for 50 Acre Development (Source: GCAC)
Industrial Realty Group, LLC (IRG) announced Tuesday that it signed a long-term ground lease with NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF). The agreement is for a 50-acre development parcel within MAF, one of the largest production facilities in the nation. IRG's future development is expected to be up to 1,000,000 square feet of buildings developed in phases. The target users include light assembly, manufacturing, distribution, and office space. "When we look at property, we are always searching for creative solutions that benefit all parties," said Stuart Lichter, President of IRG.

"In this instance, IRG can provide NASA an excellent long-term plan for its underutilized land in Orleans Parish, while developing a dynamic project resulting in job creation and economic growth." According to Robert Champion, director of MAF, "The agreement with IRG allows MAF to offset some production costs and gives new purpose to this part of the installation." The first phase of development is expected to produce a 400,000 square foot warehouse building. A project timeline will be based on market demand. (7/21)

Russia Launches Long-Delayed ISS Module (Source: Space News)
Russia launched a long-delayed International Space Station module Wednesday, but the module has since run into technical problems. A Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and placed the Nauka module into orbit nearly 10 minutes later. While Roscosmos declared the launch itself and provided no further updates, Russian industry sources say the module has suffered a number of technical problems, including with infrared sensors and thrusters.

It wasn't immediately clear how serious the problems were or if they would affect the scheduled July 29 docking of Nauka with the station. Nauka, whose launch was delayed by years because of a series of problems during its development, will provide crew quarters, a docking port and lab and cargo space for the station's Russian segment. (7/22)

Canada's Exodus Orbitals Plans Reconfigurable Satellite Launch (Source: Space News)
Exodus Orbitals plans to launch its first satellite next year to demonstrate its ability to serve a variety of applications. The Canadian startup says the satellite, planned for launch next March, is designed to be reconfigured from the ground so that different customers can use it in different ways. That first satellite will carry Earth observation instruments. The company tested the software required for its satellites on OPS-SAT, an ESA cubesat launched in 2019. (7/22)

More Colorado Air Force Facilities Transitioning to Space Force (Source: Space News)
Three Air Force facilities in Colorado Springs will become Space Force bases next week. Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station will officially become U.S. Space Force bases in ceremonies scheduled for July 26. The renamings will be the latest in a series that has seen Air Force bases take on Space Force designations as part of establishment of the new service. (7/22)

Perseverance Prepares for Mars Sample Collection (Source: CBS)
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will soon collect its first sample for later return to Earth. Mission scientists said at a briefing Wednesday that they expect to collect the first sample in the next few weeks from the floor of Jezero Crater, which the rover has been exploring since its landing there in February. Scientists are trying to determine if the rocks in the crater floor are primarily igneous or sedimentary; the latter would be further evidence that the crater floor was once a lake bed. Perseverance will collect dozens of samples over the course of its mission to be returned to Earth in the early 2030s by two future missions developed in cooperation with ESA. (7/22)

FAA Revises "Astronaut" Criteria (Source: Space News)
The FAA has revised the criteria it uses for awarding commercial astronaut wings. The FAA first awarded the wings in 2004 to crew members on FAA-licensed launches going above an altitude of 50 miles. The new criteria, contained in an order released Tuesday, also require those individuals to have conducted activities on their flights "essential to public safety, or contributed to human space flight safety." That may restrict the number of people eligible to receive those wings, but the order also allows the FAA to issue "honorary" wings to people who don't meet all the criteria. FAA astronaut wings are ceremonial and don't have any legal significance. (7/22)

China Tests Fairing Recovery (Source: Xinhua)
China confirmed it conducted a test to control the landing of payload fairings on a recent launch. The July 18 launch of a Long March 2C featured the use of parachutes to slow the descent of payload fairing sections, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology stated. The technology is intended to allow for more accurate landings of the fairings, reducing the size of the landing zones by more than 80%. (7/22)

ESA and Avio Proceed with Upgraded Vega Launcher Development (Source: ESA)
ESA and Avio signed a contract for development of a new version of the Vega rocket. The contract, valued at 118.8 million euros, covers work on the Vega-E rocket slated for introduction in the mid-2020s. Vega-E will replace the upper two stages of the Vega and Vega-C with a single upper stage powered by a liquid oxygen/methane engine. The Vega-E is intended to improve the Vega's performance and reduce its cost. (7/22)

Virginia County Rezones Near Spaceport to Accommodate Rocket Lab Manufacturing (Source: Shore Daily News)
Supervisors in a Virginia county have approved rezoning plans for a proposed Rocket Lab launch vehicle factory. The Accomack County Board of Supervisors approved rezoning of 28 acres of land near the Wallops Flight Facility that currently hosts a chicken farm. That rezoning will allow Rocket Lab to build a factory there for its Neutron rocket. Rocket Lab announced plans for Neutron, a medium-class rocket, earlier this year, and said it wanted to build a factory for producing it near the Wallops launch site to make it easy to transport the vehicle. (7/22)