September 20, 2021

CesiumAstro Evolves to Satellite Development (Source: Space News)
CesiumAstro expects to be building satellites mostly by itself in two years to house the active phased arrays it has been developing. The Texas company bought parts from small satellite manufacturers for the first two satellites featuring its antenna technology that will launch as secondary payloads on an Atlas 5 late this month. The company believes its technology will meet growing demand for faster and more secure connectivity that will underpin emerging markets such as autonomous vehicles and transportation. (9/20)

Which Satellites Have the Right of Way? (Source: Space News)
Satellite operators need to cooperate to develop rules about which satellites have the right of way in orbit. At a panel at the AMOS Conference last week, experts said there's no formal regulatory framework in place and suggested that a "self-organized network" of cooperation among satellite operators is likely to be more effective. There's no consensus yet on the criteria to be used to determine which satellite should move if two have a close approach. However, even a national regulatory regime that applies only to satellites of one country could help reduce the risks of collisions. (9/20)

Space Force to Consider Debris Consequences When Responding to Space Attacks (Source: Space News)
The Space Force says it will take space sustainability into account when planning responses to any attacks on space assets. At the AMOS Conference last week, a Space Force official decried the 2007 Chinese ASAT test as having a "catastrophic" effect on the space environment. If U.S. satellites are attacked in a future conflict, the Space Force will take into account space sustainability in both how it responds and potential reactions from adversaries to those responses. That could include responding in domains other than space. (9/20)

Space Force's Aging Infrastructure a Challenge for Satellite Operations (Source: Space News)
On the ground, the Space Force is grappling with aging infrastructure to operate satellites. Many ground stations of the Satellite Control Network (SCN) are decades old and short of the capacity needed to keep up with the projected growth in space activities. Space Force operators are figuring out ways to not overtax the system as the service weighs a mix of new hardware procurements and commercial services augmentation to modernize the SCN. (9/20)

SpaceX Starlink to Exit Beta Testing (Source: The Verge)
SpaceX now expects the beta test of the Starlink broadband network to wrap up next month. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, responding to a tweet about when the beta test would end, responded simply "next month." In June, Musk said the service would end its beta test in August. The company has shipped 100,000 Starlink terminals and is working on a new version that will be cheaper and faster to build. (9/20)

China Launches Cargo to Space Station (Source: Space.com)
China launched a robotic cargo ship to its fledgling space station Monday carrying supplies for a new crew expected to arrive in mid-October. A Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou 3 cargo ship lifted off at 3:10 a.m. Eastern from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in China's Hainan Province. The cargo ship, laden with supplies, scientific equipment and propellant, is due to dock with the Tianhe core module around 10:16 a.m. Eastern Monday. The launch comes just days after three astronauts landed their Shenzhou-12 capsule in Inner Mongolia on Friday, concluding a three-month visit to the space station. (9/20)

NASA Chief Scientist to Retire (Source: NASA)
NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green will retire next year. NASA said Friday that  Green will retire from the agency in early 2022 after more than 40 years at NASA. Green became chief scientist in 2018 after more than a decade as director of the agency's planetary science division. Green joined NASA in 1980 supporting space science research at the Marshall Space Flight Center. (9/20)

Turkey Picks SpaceX to Launch Satellite in 2023 (Source: Space News)
The Turkish government selected SpaceX to launch its first domestically produced communications satellite. A government ministry announced Friday it will launch its Turksat 6A satellite on a Falcon 9 in the first quarter of 2023. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SpaceX launched Turksat 5A in January and is scheduled to launch Turksat 5B later this year. It is the second time in as many weeks that SpaceX won a contract from a regional GEO satellite operator. (9/20)

Navy Sub Tests Unarmed Trident II Missiles Off Cape Canaveral (Source: Florida Today)
The U.S. Navy test-fired two unarmed Trident II missiles off the coast of Cape Canaveral on Friday, dubbing the launches a successful test of the operational readiness of the weapons system. The missiles were fired from the USS Wyoming, an Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine homeported at Kings Bay, Ga., as the 134-member crew prepares for deployment.

The area off Cape Canaveral, along with the Space Coast, has seen occasional seaborne missile launches and other military testing offshore, supported by the Eastern Range. The Navy did not say just how far out to sea the launches took place Friday. (9/19)

NASA Awards Regional Architect, Engineering Services Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected nine companies to provide architect and engineering services for the agency’s facilities in the southeastern United States. The Architect-Engineer Services for the Design and Other Professional Services Necessary to Rehabilitate, Modernize, and Develop New or Existing Infrastructure and Facilities contract is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum potential value not to exceed $300 million.

The performance period begins Friday, Sept. 10, and lasts five years. Five of the companies are from Florida, including: AECOM Technical Services, BPRH Architects-Engineers, Jones Edmunds & Associates, Nelson Engineering, and RS&H. The companies will perform a variety of civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering services as well as architectural services for the design and other professional services necessary to rehabilitate, modernize, and develop new systems for facilities, utilities, and ground support systems.

Work may be performed at several NASA facilities, including the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Johnson Space Center in Houston (including the Sonny Carter Training Facility and Ellington Field); White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico; Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans; Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; and other NASA assets, launch, and landing sites worldwide. (9/13)

Humanity's Next Giant Leap: Space Exploration, Use, or Both? (Source: LinkedIn)
In terms of what should be the next giant leap for human spaceflight, many space policy debates currently exist. Governmental vs. commercial, transportation vehicles vs. destination systems, robotic vs. human missions and of course, the granddaddy of them all, the Moon vs. Mars.  These binary-focused debates can evoke passionate opinions and arguments.

This underlying debate contextualizes a contrast between (1) aspirational and romantic notions of human space exploration and (2) practical, economic, and national security interests in support of increased space use (aka utilization). Aspirational and romantic notions of space exploration generally evoke flags-and-footprints and search-for-life arguments. In contrast, space use and utilization arguments encapsulate practicality in an infrastructure-and-implementation response with an intentional goal of enabling the commercial use of space. Click here. (9/19)