August 7, 2021

NASA shares Incredible Video of 'Quiet' Supersonic Jet with 925mph Speeds (Source: Express)
Watch NASA assemble the "son of Concorde" - an incredible jet that is set to revolutionize the commercial flight industry once again - but this time with quiet, supersonic flight. Click here. (8/6)

Don't Risk Britain's Position! UK Space Regulatory Package Ditches Liability Cap (Source: Express)
Boris Johnson has been warned by David Morris, the Chair of the Parliamentary Space Committee, that an "anomaly" in recently passed legislation could see the UK lose its stake in the £400billion space industry. On July 29, the Space Industry Regulations 2021 came into force to "support safe, sustainable spaceflight activities". Announcing the update, the Government said it would "drive research, innovation and entrepreneurship" in the cosmos.

It was jointly developed by the Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). But Mr Morris says it is fundamentally flawed: "The 2018 Space Act, which I worked on, had a clear framework set up for a new industry regulator... Now the CAA is in control of it and that's fine, but the anomaly here is that they have lifted the cap from €60million (£51million) to unlimited.

"If you want to send anything up from the UK and you have an unlimited liability, the operators – like OneWeb – would have to go to an insurance broker – but they wouldn't know how much to insure it for." The Space Industry Act was introduced by Chris Grayling when he was Transport Secretary to extend and improve the regulatory framework for commercial spaceflight activities to be carried out from spaceports in the UK and launches and other activities overseas by UK entities. (8/7)

NASA Subcontractor Guilty Of Faking Woman-Owned Status (Source: Law360)
A federal jury in Virginia has convicted the former general manager of a NASA subcontractor for obtaining $6 million worth of work by saying that his business was woman-owned when it wasn't. The jury convicted Florida resident Kevin Neal Smith of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of substantive wire fraud with regard to subcontract work for two NASA prime contactors, Jacobs Technology and Vencore, which are not accused of any wrongdoing. (8/5)

California Town Considers  Turning its Airport Into a Spaceport (Source: New Times)
Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin believes that the city airport's future could be in the space industry. "For 40 years now we've been saying we have an airport that's a diamond in the rough and looking for a way to polish that diamond up," he said. "We actually have a chance to apply that polish." The polish would be turning the Paso Robles Municipal Airport into a commercial spaceport, but not necessarily for vertical rocket launches. Paso Airport Commissioner Bill Britton said it could be a number of things—including a horizontal launch platform, an area for research and development, or a manufacturing facility.

Martin asked city Economic Development Manger Paul Sloan to work with Britton to look into what it would take to capitalize on the potential that might come with Vandenberg Air Force Base's transition into a space hub. Recently, the Regional Economic Action Coalition (REACH), Cal Poly, Vandenberg, and state officials announced a commitment to developing the base into a thriving spaceport. Britton said that Martin was wondering what that effort would mean for North SLO County. (8/5)

Rocket Lab to Launch New Zealand's First Lunar Mission (Source: RNZ)
It will be the space company's first mission beyond low Earth orbit and the first lunar mission to be launched from New Zealand. Rocket Lab will be launching a satellite for NASA, which is working on plans to send astronauts to the Moon again. Dubbed the Artemis program, NASA wants to land the first woman and first person of colour on the Moon, and establish a long-term presence there. Rocket Lab spokesperson Morgan Bailey said the Capstone satellite that it would launch was a small pathfinding satellite.

A small launch vehicle, as used by Rocket Lab, has never been used to launch a mission to the Moon. "This is not just significant for Rocket Lab but this is significant internationally," Bailey said. The contract is valued at just under $10 million, which Rocket Lab said made it one of the most affordable lunar launches undertaken. Editor's Note: NASA's Lunar Prospector was launched to the moon on a small launch vehicle (Athena II) from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in 1998. (8/7)

SpaceX Briefly Stacks Largest Rocket in History at Texas Base (Source: UPI)
SpaceX briefly constructed the largest rocket ever made Friday, attaching the U.S. aerospace company's Starship spacecraft to the Super Heavy booster at its facility in Texas. The combined height of the structure was 400 feet, nearly 40 feet taller than the next largest Saturn V rocket built by NASA. The SpaceX rocket, though, will have about twice as much thrust as Saturn V, 70 meganewtons compared to 25 meganewtons. [And it is designed to be fully reusable.] (8/6)

Ontario’s Government Invests in Lightspeed Constellation (Source: Space News)
Telesat has struck a deal with Ontario’s government to partly fund its Lightspeed constellation, which will dedicate some of its satellite capacity to improving connectivity in the Canadian province. The Ottawa, Ontario-headquartered satellite operator said the five-year agreement is worth 109 million Canadian dollars ($87 million), and focuses on extending high-speed internet and cellular networks to unserved and underserved communities.

Lightspeed, the low Earth orbit broadband constellation that Telesat aims to bring into service in 2023, will offer internet service providers and cellular operators substantially reduced rates for part of its capacity under the plan. (8/6)

Georgia County Officials Say DoD Study Validates Spaceport Effort (Source: Brunswick News)
A report commissioned by the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit says spaceport access is vital if the nation plans to continue to lead the world in space exploration. The study concludes most of the spaceports in the country fail to meet launch needs because they conduct horizontal launches instead of vertical ones such is planned at a proposed spaceport in Camden County. The report acknowledges the challenges in establishing a vertical launch site.

The study helps confirm the importance of establishing a spaceport in Camden County, said Gary Blount, chairman of the Camden County Commission. "Opponents of Spaceport Camden have tried to sell a tale that Spaceport Camden isn't necessary," Blount said. "That's a myth that has now been fully debunked by this Pentagon study." Editor's Note: Spaceport Camden opponents point out that the Pentagon study does no such thing. (8/7)

Democratize Space? Not Oppressive Virgin Galactic (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
Virgin Galactic, a company that’s promised to democratize space, corraled the media throughout the event and turned this historic opportunity for public discovery and education into a marketing campaign that fed carefully scripted images and thoughts to the public. It restricted the press’ access to our state’s own elected officials and industry leaders, as well as numerous other dignitaries and professionals who aren’t their employees. And they did all that at Spaceport America – a state-of-the-art facility that New Mexico taxpayers have paid more than $225 million to build and operate.

From the moment local, national and international reporters descended from the caravan of buses that carried us from Las Cruces to the spaceport, we were herded into a specially designated area separated from almost everything. A dividing gate kept us from the visitors’ area, where hundreds of invited guests excitedly co-mingled throughout the morning.

Among them were dozens of future space tourists who each paid $250,000 for seats on upcoming Unity flights. Many local and state officials were there, as were space industry movers and shakers from New Mexico and beyond. Students from Las Cruces Public Schools were also bused in to share in the historic event. But reporters were kept from interviewing them. From the start, every journalist who tried to cross into the guest space was inexplicably ushered back to the press area by security guards hired by Virgin Galactic. (8/6)