September 10, 2021

Rocket Flight to Sharpen NASA's Study of the Sun (Source: NASA)
Exposure to the Sun degrades light sensors of all kinds, from the retinas in the human eye to instruments aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, or SDO. Fortunately, with periodic calibrations, the latter can continue transmitting high-quality data to researchers on Earth. SDO’s Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE, uses sounding rockets for calibration.

During roughly 15-minute flights, these suborbital rockets carry a duplicate of the EVE instrument about 180 miles above Earth, where it records measurements to keep its twin instrument aboard SDO in tune. Tom Woods, a solar physicist at the University of Colorado Boulder, is the principal investigator of the EVE instrument. The 30-minute launch window for the next EVE calibration flight opens at 11:25 a.m. MT on Sept. 9, 2021, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (9/7)

Pandemic Delaying Rocket Lab Launches (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab says lockdowns in New Zealand caused by the latest surge of the coronavirus pandemic will postpone launches to at least October and cut its projected revenues for the year. In a Sep. 8 earnings call, the first since the company went public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), company executives said they did not anticipate performing their next Electron launch before the end of September because of restrictions in New Zealand caused by the delta variant of the pandemic.

“Operations have experienced disruptions due to some of the most restrictive COVID-19 measures globally, including current stay-at-home orders which prevent launch operations from taking place,” said Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, of New Zealand’s current restrictions. “Indications are that the current lockdown restrictions may ease by the end of September with the delta cases dropping in New Zealand, but this, of course, is subject to change.” (9/9)

Launch Companies Optimistic About Future Demand (Source: Space News)
Launch companies that have suffered from flat or declining traditional markets in recent years say they believe a surge of demand, primarily from satellite megaconstellations, will boost their businesses later this decade. During a panel session at the Satellite 2021 conference, executives pointed to constellations ranging from Amazon’s Project Kuiper to the second-generation OneWeb system slated to start deployment later this decade as part of a surge of demand they expect to serve.

“There is a wave coming from ’24 to ’28. There is another wave of constellation deployment that is coming. We’re going to see a huge rush for launch capacity in that time period,” said Clay Mowry, vice president of global sales at Blue Origin. Not all megaconstellations are addressable to the launch industry, noted Tory Bruno, chief executive of United Launch Alliance, referring to SpaceX’s Starlink system that is captive to that company’s own launch vehicles. “But there is still opportunity for the rest of us,” he said. (9/9)

Space Force Expects $1 Billion in Contracts in First Year of Space Enterprise Consortium Reloaded (Source: Defense News)
The U.S. Space Force has ramped up use of its Space Enterprise Consortium, pushing out $1 billion in contracts for prototyping efforts in its first year under new management. That marks a significant increase. From 2017 through about the end of 2020, the consortium issued a total of just $856 million in contracts. For context, the Space Force requested $17.4 billion for the entire service for fiscal 2022.

Initially established in 2017, the Space Enterprise Consortium was set up as an Other Transaction Authority, a contracting tool that enables faster contracting, connects the government with nontraditional vendors and speeds up system development with rapid prototyping. OTAs have been used to develop new ground systems, a Link 16-enabled space vehicle and more. (9/8)

Robotic Arms, Tiny Helper Satellites: Military Explores How to Upgrade, Repair Assets in Space (Source: C4ISRnet)
Satellites are notoriously hard to upgrade. Located anywhere from hundreds of miles to tens of thousands of miles above the Earth’s surface, the machines are difficult to reach physically. For years, engineers have designed satellites with the expectation that the hardware and software they put on orbit with a satellite is all they’d get. That incentivized exquisite satellite designs, built to last many years in space before finally being replaced by a satellite with upgraded technologies.

That mindset has started to change in recent years. Companies including Northrop Grumman and Astroscale are pioneering new on-orbit services that could enable everything from supplemental fuel for maneuvering to satellite repairs using mechanical arms. On the software side, companies are embracing software-defined payloads that the military can reconfigure for new uses using the hardware on orbit.

The U.S. Space Force is investing in those efforts. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is investing in robotic arms that could revolutionize the ability to repair satellites in space. On the software side, the GPS III satellites, the latest generation launched by the military, feature a 70 percent digital mission data unit, the main piece of the navigation system. GPS IIIF — which will follow after the GPS III series — satellites will feature fully digital navigation payloads built by L3Harris, give operators on the ground more flexibility in how they use the satellites. (9/8)

Space Manufacturing Could Yield Next Realm of Innovations (Source: Industry Week)
For decades, space has captured imaginations, prompting many to wonder what's possible. For industry, the fixation on space has resulted in numerous innovations, many of which have become a part of most people’s daily lives. However, the reality is, when analyzing space based innovations, industry has barely scratched the surface. The potential of manufacturing within space could result in truly meaning solutions to the many challenges facing earth today.

This is where Axiom Space, a privately funded space station manufacturer and orbital services provider, is hoping to make a significant difference. Axiom is currently building the world’s first commercial space station to serve as a home to human-tended microgravity research, product development and in-space manufacturing, as well as critical space-environment materials testing.

As part of Axiom’s roadmap to create massive opportunity to innovate in space, the company is gearing up for its first (and the first-ever) private mission to the International Space Station, Ax-1, in January 2022, where its crew of trained private astronauts will conduct extensive research. Concurrently, Axiom is working to send its first privately developed space station modules to the ISS, where they will attach as part of a contract the company has with NASA before later separating to operate independently. (9/7)

Korean Consortium Invested $50 Million in US Launch Startup Relativity Space (Source: Space News)
A consortium of three South Korean companies invested $50 million in American 3D-printed rocket startup Relativity Space. The three are Hanwha Aerospace, NH Investment & Securities and Consus Asset Management. While Hanwha contributed $10 million, NH and Consus did the rest. Long Beach, California-based Relativity Space aims to be the world’s first company to 3D print an entire space launch vehicle.

The company uses massive metal 3D printers that it designs and builds in-house. It claims the printers can create a single rocket from raw materials in 60 days, cutting down on time and labor costs. Relativity has two models — Terran 1 and Terran R — in its product lineup. Neither rocket has seen orbit yet. Terran R, under development, is a heavy-lift, fully-reusable, two-stage rocket, capable of launching over 20,000 kilograms to LEO in reusable configuration. Terran R will launch from Cape Canaveral, starting in 2024, according to the website. (9/9)

Astronauts Smell Smoke, Burning on Russia's ISS Module (Source: Space Daily)
A smoke alarm sounded Thursday in Russia's Zvezda segment of the ISS and astronauts smelled "burning" on board, Russia's space agency and NASA said. The incident, which the Russian space agency Roscosmos said happened at 01:55 GMT ahead of a scheduled spacewalk, is the latest in a string of problems to spur safety concerns over conditions on the Russian segment. The Russian crew turned on a filter and after the air was cleaned up the astronauts went back to sleep, Roscosmos said. (9/9)

Safeguarding Clean Water for Spaceflight Missions (Source: Space Daily)
Researchers have characterized different bacterial populations isolated over time from potable water from the ISS. While historical monitoring of the ISS potable water system has focused on identifying microbial species that are present, it is challenging for microbial identification approaches alone to faithfully predict the function of microbial communities. The study by investigated key functional properties of waterborne bacterial isolates from the ISS potable water system that were collected over the course of many years.

The aim was to expand our knowledge of how microbial characteristics that are important for astronaut health and space habitat integrity may change during long duration exposure to the microgravity environment. Microbial adaptations to microgravity have been shown to dramatically alter bacterial characteristics, including their ability to form dense bacterial aggregates known as biofilms in the ISS potable water system that could threaten mission success.

The results indicated that the ISS waterborne bacterial isolates exhibited resistance to multiple antimicrobial compounds, including antibiotics, as well as distinct patterns of biofilm formation and carbon utilization. In addition, one of the bacterial isolates, known as Burkholderia, displayed hemolytic activity of potential concern for astronaut health. The findings from this study will help overcome the formidable challenges of ensuring safe drinking water for long-duration spaceflight missions. (9/9)

Kennedy Space Center to Launch Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan (Source: Talk of Tituville)
NASA’s recent appointment of Administrator Bill Nelson, Associate Administrator Robert Cabana, and Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro may prove very beneficial to the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary. Bill Nelson, former State Representative and U.S. Senator, grew up in Melbourne, Florida and graduated from Melbourne High School.

Robert Cabana, NASA Astronaut Corps member, lived in Indian Harbour Beach from 2008 to 2021 during his tenure as KSC Director. Janet Petro, KSC Associate Director 2008 – 2021, grew up in Satellite Beach and graduated from Satellite High School. All three newly appointed NASA executives have been Brevard County residents; have seen the demise of the Indian River Lagoon; now have the authority to improve the Kennedy Space Center environment. And it appears that the countdown to restoration has already begun.

In an effort to open a more transparent discourse with KSC management, local environmental groups Indian River Lagoon Roundtable and Sierra Club Florida sent introductory letters to Director Petro. Both environmental groups received responses that reveal a new “KSC Indian River Lagoon Health Initiative Plan” coming this fall. (9/8)