August 11, 2021

13 Valves Failed to Open on Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft, a More Widespread Problem Than Previously Reported (Source: Washington Post)
Boeing said Monday that the problem that scrubbed the launch of its Starliner spacecraft last week was caused when 13 valves in its propulsion system failed to properly open during a preflight test, a more widespread issue than was previously known. Over the weekend, engineers were able to open seven of those valves and restore them to working order, the company said, and it is still hopeful that it could launch the test flight by the end of the month. But Boeing still does not know what caused the problem, which forced yet another delay in a program that has been plagued by serious issues for years. (8/9)

Space Force Wind Turbines Propel Environmental, Efficiency Standards at Cape Cod (Source: USSF)
With the rising energy requirements across the U.S. Space Force, Space Delta 4 team members are developing ways to efficiently save money and create a self-sustaining power source. The 6th Space Warning Squadron at Cape Cod Space Force Station, Massachusetts,was able to install wind turbines to save a tremendous amount each month in electric cost. Operational since 2014, they have generated enough electricity to repay the initial investment more than four years ahead of schedule.

The wind turbines do not directly generate electricity for use on Cape Cod SFS. The electricity produced by the wind turbines is connected to the local utility company’s transmission lines. Using a net metering agreement with the utility company, they receive a credit on their electric bill each month that reimburses them for the electricity produced. (8/11)

Rocket Lab and Space Factories Start-Up Varda Sign Deal for Three Spacecraft (Source: CNBC)
Rocket Lab announced a deal with Varda Space Industries on Wednesday, to provide three Photon spacecraft to support the start-up’s first in-space manufacturing missions. “In simple terms, we are the real estate and the utilities for the space factory,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said. Varda co-founder Delian Asparouhov told CNBC that purchasing “Photon lets us have the most aggressive schedule and the tightest budget.”

Rocket Lab will deliver the first Photon spacecraft for Varda in the first quarter of 2023. The company is expected to deliver the next two spacecraft the year after, and there will be an option for Varda to buy a fourth Photon. The Varda Photon missions won’t launch on a Rocket Lab rocket, and instead are planned to fly as a secondary, or “rideshare,” payload on another company’s vehicle.

While manufacturing in space is not a novel concept, Varda wants to take the process to the next level – to launch and return space-made products more quickly. The start-up plans to manufacture materials that are more lucrative when made in zero-gravity, such as fiber optic cables, pharmaceuticals, or semiconductors. (8/11)

Rocket Lab to Launch Three Sets of BlackSky Satellites (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab will conduct three launches of satellites for Earth observation company BlackSky in about one month, the fastest launch cadence the company had demonstrated to date. Rocket Lab said Aug. 10 it will perform the three launches between late August and the end of September from New Zealand as part of a multi-launch agreement Rocket Lab reached with BlackSky and arranged by launch services provider Spaceflight earlier this year. Each launch will carry two Gen-2 BlackSky imaging satellites. (8/10)

New SpaceX-Owned Ships Prepped for Florida Rocket Recovery (Source: Space Explored)
A photo was shared in a Facebook Group that appears to show 2 vessels in the midst of being outfitted. The post shared a tip that SpaceX purchased these two ships for operations on the east coast. One of the vessels clearly brands a SpaceX logo, while the other is being worked on and sharing the same color scheme. So we looked into it…

The picture that was shared shows one of the vessels with the name of ‘Doug’ and the individual who shared the picture stated the other is named ‘Bob’. What is clear is that Doug sports a slick white and black color scheme, fairly standard for SpaceX. Doug also has a crane mounted to the deck, similar to those found on Shelia Bordelon and Hos Briarwood, former contracted vessels. This leads us to suspect these ships will be used to fish fairings out of the water.

These two ships are named after the first two astronauts SpaceX flew in their Dragon spacecraft, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. They flew on SpaceX’s DM-2 mission back in May of 2020. This mission validated the Dragon spacecraft for operational use for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The purchase of Bob and Doug to the fleet differs from their previous method where SpaceX contracts their ship fleet to outside companies. Other than SpaceX’s sea fairing spaceports, Phobos and Deimos, and their three droneships, it appears these are SpaceX’s first owned and operated vessels. (8/10)

Spacesuits Could Delay NASA’s Return to the Moon, Audit Finds (Source: Click Orlando)
NASA’s goal of landing astronauts back on the moon by 2024 is unlikely and could face further delay because astronauts won’t have spacesuits ready to wear, according to a new audit by the NASA Office of Inspector General. The current spacesuits, known as EMUs, used for spacewalks outside the ISS were first developed over 45 years ago for the space shuttle program and have undergone minor technical changes since. These suits are also not up to the job of moonwalking, which requires more mobility to conduct research.

The NASA OIG last reviewed NASA’s spacesuit development in 2017 and released its latest findings Tuesday in a 41-page report. In 2017, the U.S. space program had already invested $200 million over nine years to develop the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Units (xEMUs), the next-generation spacesuit. The new audit found that the price tag has more than doubled, with more than $420 million spent by NASA in spacesuit development, however, the agency is nowhere near a final product ready for flight.

The OIG estimates NASA will spend over $1 billion on design, testing and qualification before it has two flight-ready suits. The Artemis program will require 16 flight-ready lunar spacesuits, according to auditors. The independent office notes that the spacesuits under development, known as xEMUs, are “by no means the only factor” which could delay NASA’s timeline. Delays with developing the human lunar landing system, a global pandemic and other factors are also likely to delay the return to the moon. (8/10)

SpaceX Offers to Make NASA Spacesuits, Aafter NASA IG Says Program to Cost $1 Billion (Source: CNBC)
Elon Musk offered SpaceX’s services to help NASA make its next-generation spacesuits. His proposal came in response to a report by NASA’s inspector general on the work being done to develop a new line of Extravehicular Mobility Units, which are informally called spacesuits. NASA has spent more than $420 million on spacesuit development since 2007 but, even with another $625 million in spending planned, the inspector general report found that the spacesuits for the agency’s lunar missions will “not be ready for flight until April 2025 at the earliest.”

The spacesuits have a multitude of different components, which the inspector general noted are supplied by 27 different companies. That’s a point Musk also highlighted, saying in a tweet that it “seems like too many cooks in the kitchen.” SpaceX did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on whether the company has begun work on its own spacesuits. While the company hasn’t publicly disclosed spacesuit plans, it is one of nearly 50 companies that expressed interest in NASA’s program to purchase privately developed spacesuits and spacewalk services. (8/10)

Russia Also Needs New Space Suits (Source: TASS)
Roscosmos is dismissing claims that it's run into problems developing new spacesuits for ISS spacewalks. Russian media reported that the head of Zvezda NPO, the Russian company that makes suits, said that while cosmonauts need new suits, there is no contract in place to produce them. Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, said alternative plans for spacesuit production are in development and that cosmonauts "will not have to perform spacewalks in their underwear." (8/10)

Mission Critical AEPS Thruster Completes Development Testing for NASA’s Lunar Gateway (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) thruster that will be employed on the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) for NASA’s international lunar Gateway recently completed development testing. The next milestone for the program will be the PPE Preliminary Design Review in October. Three 12 kilowatt (kW) AEPS thrusters will serve as the primary source of propulsion on the PPE to enable orbit transfer and in-space maneuvering.

An important element of NASA’s Artemis program, the Gateway, will serve as a staging point for human exploration operations in the lunar vicinity and deep space. The AEPS thrusters will propel the integrated PPE and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) in a 10-12 month lunar transfer orbit, which will eventually insert the spacecraft into a near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. (8/10)

Interoperability, Sustainability and Cybersecurity Pose Challenges for Small Satellite Sector (Source: Space News)
 Ensuring that small satellites can communicate not only within their own constellations but within a broader ecosystem is one of the primary challenges cited by Lt. Gen. John Shaw, U.S. Space Command deputy commander, in an Aug. 9 keynote at the 35th Small Satellite conference. “If small satellites are talking with each other, it’s not much of a jump to say hey it needs to talk into a broader architecture,” Shaw said.

Eventually, small satellites could offer a clear picture of what’s happening in space like Google Maps or Waze provide by fusing data from myriad sensors reporting their own positions. Interoperable small satellites could provide similarly valuable information on the overall space environment, Shaw said. In addition, Shaw said the U.S. military is interested in exploring the benefits of small satellite operations beyond low Earth orbit.

Whether in small numbers or large constellations, small satellites are likely to operate both in geostationary orbit and even lunar orbit, Shaw said. “What does that look like?” Shaw asked. “How do we get there?” Moving small satellites beyond low Earth orbit raises the issue of disposal. Satellite operators will need to ensure their satellites do not become “a navigational hazard as they reach their end of life,” Shaw said. Sustainability is a growing concern since the number of satellites and the amount of debris in low Earth orbit increase rapidly. (8/10)

Alternatives Pursued for Missile Sensing Satellites (Source: C4ISRnet)
For decades, the US has used the same approach to detecting ballistic missiles from space: Put a handful of satellites with infrared sensors high in orbit and spread them out to achieve 24/7 coverage of the Earth’s surface. And it’s largely worked. The Space Force tracks thousands of missiles a year, and in one high-profile case in 2020, America’s premier missile detection satellite system was credited with giving a last-minute warning to war fighters in Iraq who were able to seek shelter from incoming missiles launched from Iran.

But that constellation structure is no longer sustainable. The proliferation of anti-satellite weapons is challenging the approach. It no longer makes sense, U.S. military leaders have said, to put all of their billion-dollar eggs in one basket.

What the Space Force wants is a distributed architecture, meaning more satellites for each capability that are layered in different orbits. Instead of just having a few missile warning satellites in geostationary orbit at 22,236 miles above the Earth’s surface, the service wants to place some in medium Earth orbit — the area from 1,243 miles above Earth up to geostationary orbit. (8/10)

Lockheed Martin Takes Aim at Satellite Servicing Market (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin plans to launch two cubesats later this year to demonstrate how small satellites can service other satellites in orbit, the company said Aug. 10. A pair of 12U cubesats have completed environmental testing and will launch as early as this fall to perform a demonstration in geosynchronous Earth orbit called LINUSS, short for Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System, the company said. The intent is to show how small satellites can be used to upgrade constellations or provide life-extension services like refueling. (8/10)

Mars Via the Nuclear Option (Source: Planetary Society)
Can nuclear propulsion fundamentally transform our ability to send humans to Mars? Bhavya Lal, a policy and nuclear engineering expert now working at NASA, helped write a new report on the topic for the National Academies of Sciences. She joins the show to talk about the advantages of various types of nuclear propulsion, the engineering and policy challenges that face them, and the role of government versus the private sector in developing and deploying transformational technologies. Click here. (8/6)

Northrop Grumman Launches Cygnus Cargo Craft to ISS From Virginia Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A Cygnus cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after a launch Tuesday afternoon. A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia, at 6:01 p.m. Eastern and placed the NG-16 Cygnus spacecraft into orbit. The Cygnus, carrying more than 3,700 kilograms of supplies, hardware and experiments, is scheduled to arrive at the station Thursday morning. (8/11)

Lockheed Martin Cubesats to Test In-Space Servicing, Fueling (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin plans to use a pair of cubesats to test satellite servicing technologies. The Lockheed Martin In-space Upgrade Satellite System, or LINUSS, is a pair of 12U cubesats that will launch later this year to test how smallsats can refuel or upgrade satellites. The company's near-term goal is to service the next generation GPS 3F satellites that use Lockheed Martin’s LM 2100 bus. (8/11)

China's Lingkong Raises $46 Million for Hypersonic Spaceplanes (Source: Space News)
A Chinese company that says it plans to develop hypersonic spaceplanes has raised $46 million. Beijing Lingkong Tianxing Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Space Transportation, said the funds will be used for development of commercial suborbital and hypersonic vehicles. It aims for a first flight of a suborbital space tourism vehicle prototype in 2023 followed by a first crewed test in 2025, with a "global" hypersonic vehicle to follow by 2030. The company performed a flight of a 3,700-kilogram technology demonstrator named Jiageng-1 in 2019. (8/11)

SpaceX to Launch Lunar Lander in 2024 for Intuitive Machines (Source: Space News)
SpaceX will launch Intuitive Machines' third lunar lander mission in 2024. Intuitive Machines said it selected SpaceX's Falcon 9 for the IM-3 lander mission, which will host up to 130 kilograms of payloads and also as much as 1,000 kilograms of rideshare payloads that would be released in a lunar transfer orbit. Intuitive Machines previously contracted with SpaceX for launches of its first two lander missions, both supporting NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program and launching in 2022. (8/11)

France's Unseenlabs to Launch Maritime Surveillance Satellite on Vega Rocket (Source: Space News)
French startup Unseenlabs will launch its next maritime surveillance nanosatellite on a Vega rocket this month. The BRO-4 satellite will be a secondary payload on the Vega launch of Pléiades Neo 4 optical imaging satellite, currently scheduled for Aug. 16. Unseenlabs launched its first three satellites with Rocket Lab but said it chose Vega for its newest satellite in part to contribute to Europe's launch sovereignty. (8/11)

Japan's IHI Offers Epsilon Rocket for Commercial Missions (Source: Space News)
Japanese company IHI Aerospace will offer the Epsilon small launch vehicle commercially. Epsilon will be available for launches conducted by IHI starting in 2023. The vehicle, developed for the Japanese space agency JAXA, has launched only four times dating back to 2013, although all its launches were successful. A dedicated Epsilon launch, capable of placing at least 600 kilograms into sun-synchronous orbit, will cost $25-30 million, significantly more than many other vehicles in the same payload class. (8/11)

UAE to Participate in Russian Mars Analog Mission (Source: The National)
The United Arab Emirates will participate in an eight-month Mars analog mission. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center will soon announce the two Emiratis that will be part of a six-person crew on the simulated Mars mission in Moscow. That mission is scheduled to begin in November. (8/11)

Volunteers Restoring Shuttle Astronomy Instrument (Source: CollectSpace)
A volunteer group is restoring an astronomy payload flown on two shuttle missions. The Astro Restoration Project is making progress in refurbishing an ultraviolet telescope system flown as Astro-1 on the STS-35 shuttle mission and Astro-2 on STS-67 in 1990 and 1995, respectively. The group, with the support of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and the Smithsonian, has recovered 90% of the hardware and is in the process of restoring it for display at museums. (8/11)

NASA Renews Support of Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (Source: NASA)
NASA is continuing its support of university research into technologies for future helicopters and other vertical lift aircraft in partnership with the U.S. Army and Navy. With their unique ability to take off and land from any spot, as well as hover in place, vertical lift vehicles are increasingly being contemplated for use in providing the public with new air travel options. To that end, the agency has designated academic teams – led by colleges in Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania – as Vertical Lift Research Centers of Excellence (VLRCOE). (8/10)

UCF Planetary Scientists Join Star-Studded MegaCon Guest List (Source: UCF Today)
University of Central Florida researchers will be putting the “sci” in “sci-fi” for the MegaCon science fiction and pop culture convention Aug. 12 through 15 at the Orlando County Convention Center. With a line-up that includes guests like Star Trek’s William Shatner and George Takei, MegaCon is the Southeast’s largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming event.

As part of the convention’s special focus on the interrelation between science and pop culture, UCF researchers Josh Colwell, Addie Dove and Phil Metzger ’00MS ’05PhD will share their real-life experiences helping humans explore the cosmos, with various presentations Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (8/10)