July 27, 2021

Blue Origin Has a Secret Project Named “Jarvis” to Compete with SpaceX (Source: Ars Technica)
In late May, a rumor concerning Blue Origin's large New Glenn rocket broke on several social media sites frequented by spaceflight enthusiasts. According to the rumor, Blue Origin was changing the primary structural material of its new rocket from an aluminum alloy to stainless steel. This implied that the company would mimic a competitor in its choice of materials—SpaceX's Starship and Super Heavy are made primarily from stainless steel. Moreover, such a change also augured further delays in the New Glenn development program, which was already years behind schedule.

At the time, I checked with a source and found the rumor to be false. New Glenn was not swapping its first stage to stainless steel. I discovered a kernel of truth to the rumors of stainless steel and Blue Origin rockets. Three sources confirmed that Blue Origin has started working to develop a fully reusable upper stage for New Glenn, which may potentially use stainless steel propellant tanks. The primary goal of this change is to bring down the overall launch cost of the New Glenn rocket. "This is the difference between taking a profit and a loss on New Glenn launches," said one industry source familiar with the reusable upper-stage plan.

The reusable second-stage program appears to have drawn inspiration from SpaceX for more than just its stainless steel materials. In making both the first and second stages of New Glenn fully reusable, Bezos is emulating Musk's ambitious plan to land and reuse both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. Bezos had been asking his senior staffers about reusable upper stages, but advisers told him such an approach was unlikely to work, sources said. Bezos also seems to have been told the SpaceX "fail forward" method of rapidly prototyping and testing Starships, with few processes and procedures, would be unlikely to succeed. (7/27)

Bezos Offers Billions to Help NASA Cover Costs for Second Lunar Lander (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos offered NASA billions of dollars in incentives when the agency provided his company with a second lunar lander award. In an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said that Blue Origin would waive up to $2 billion in payments in the first three years of a Human Landing System award, as well as cover the cost of a low Earth orbit demonstration mission of the lander's descent stage. Bezos argued in the letter that such contributions could bridge the financial gap that forced NASA to make only a single HLS award to SpaceX. NASA hasn't commented on the proposal, and both Blue Origin and Dynetics are continuing their protest of the HLS award with the Government Accountability Office. (7/27)

DoD's SDA to Use ULA and SpaceX Contracts to Launch Military Constellation (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) will use the existing National Security Space Launch program to launch its satellite constellation. The SDA announced it will use that existing program for a set of 150 communications satellites rather than issue its own launch contracts, as it previously did for an initial set of 28 that will be launched by SpaceX, or allow the prime contractors for the satellites to make their own launch arrangements. SpaceX and United Launch Alliance are the two companies in the National Security Space Launch program. (7/27)

DoD Identifies Tenets of Responsible Space Behavior, Supports Voluntary, Non-Binding Approach (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department's guidelines for responsible space behavior are meant to be part of a wider conversation on the topic. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memo earlier this month stating that the military should operate in space "with due regard to others" and listed five tenets of responsible behavior. John Hill, who is performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said in an interview that while these guidelines are only intended for DoD space operators, they also are meant to contribute to a broader dialogue. He added that "a voluntary, non-binding approach is simply more productive for all space operators" than more formal agreements or treaties. (7/27)

Kendall Confirmed as SECAF (Source: Defense News)
The Senate confirmed Frank Kendall as Air Force secretary Monday. The Senate approved Kendall's nomination for the post as top civilian of the Air Force and Space Force on a voice vote after Michigan's two senators lifted their holds on his and other national security nominations to secure the future of an Air National Guard in their state. Kendall could be sworn in as soon as today. (7/27)

UK Rule Changes Considered to Protect SatComm Systems From Interference (Source: Space News)
British telecom regulator Ofcom is proposing rule changes that would affect Starlink, OneWeb and other low Earth orbit constellations. Ofcom said Monday it is concerned about the potential for interference among these systems, and proposed new checks on interference risks when it considers license applications and more powerful tools to deal with them if they emerge. Ofcom is seeking public comment on the proposal through Sept. 20, after which it will implement licensing changes in a public statement that will be published before the end of 2021. Ofcom said it is not processing any new license applications during the consultation process. (7/27)

FCC Asks Satellite Broadband Providers to Refine Their Plans (Source: Bloomberg)
The FCC is asking SpaceX and other winners of rural broadband subsidies to reconsider some of their bids. The agency said it's asking companies to "clean up" their bids by withdrawing funding from locations that either already have broadband service or appear wasteful, such as parking lots and airports. SpaceX won $886 million in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund auction last year, the most by any satellite company and one of the largest overall. (7/27)

China's Space Pioneer Secures $30 Million For Launch System (Source: Space News)
Chinese commercial rocket company Space Pioneer has secured a large funding round ahead of its first launches. The company, formally known as Beijing Tianbing Technology Co., Ltd., said Tuesday it raised a funding round worth at least $30 million. The funds will be used for the first flight on the Tianlong-1 reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen launch vehicle, although the company did not state when that launch would take place. The company is also building a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing test stage that may be ready for low-altitude "hop" tests in the near future. (7/27)

China Developing Lunar Relay Satellite (Source: Space News)
China is developing a new lunar relay satellite to support future exploration missions to the south pole of the moon. That satellite would enable communications with the Chang'e-7 spacecraft, set to land in the south polar regions in 2024. The spacecraft will have an antenna similar to the one on Queqiao, which China uses for communications with the Chang'e-4 mission on the far side of the moon, but the spacecraft itself will be larger and designed to operate for eight years. (7/27)

Astronomers Consider Tools to Mitigate Interference From Megaconstellations (Source: Space News)
Astronomers are working on technical solutions to mitigate the effect of satellite constellations on their observations given the slow pace of regulatory efforts. At a workshop earlier this month, astronomers announced plans for a virtual center called SatHub that will include tools to allow astronomers to predict when satellites will pass their fields of view, as well as software to help remove some of the effects of satellites in their data. They cautioned, though, that software is not a "magic bullet" that alone can solve their concerns about megaconstellations. (7/27)

India Will Not Fly Crewed Mission This Year (Source: PTI)
The head of the Indian space agency ISRO acknowledged that a first uncrewed test flight of its Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft won't take place this year. ISRO had hoped to perform the test flight in December, but ISRO Chairman K. Sivan said that disruptions caused by the pandemic will cause that launch to shift to some time next year. That will be the first of two uncrewed test flights before India attempts to launch astronauts. The delay will likely mean India will miss the goal of launching its first crewed mission by August 2022, the 75th anniversary of the country's independence. (7/27)

KSC Visitor Complex Opening New Deep-Space Attraction in 2022 (Source: KSCVC)
Experience the collaborative space exploration of tomorrow at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s bold new attraction, Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex. This showcase of NASA and commercial spaceflight and an immersive “journey” through space takes off March 2022. Click here. (7/27)