September 25, 2021

U.S. Aerospace and Defense CEOs Unite Behind COVID Vaccine Mandate (Source: Reuters)
Leaders of the largest United States aerospace and defense companies are united in their effort to comply with the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccine mandate for U.S. workers and await further government guidance, their industry group said in a statement. Last week major defense contractor Raytheon, the maker of Tomahawk missiles, mandated its 125,000 U.S. employees get vaccinated after President Joe Biden announced policies requiring employers with more than 100 workers to have them inoculated or tested weekly.

The Aerospace Industries Association's board, chaired by Northrop Grumman chief Kathy Warden, includes the CEOs of Lockheed Martin, Leidos, General Dynamics and Raytheon. "America's aerospace and defense industry stands together as we prepare to implement the new federal vaccine requirement, while working with our government partners as they develop detailed guidance," said AIA's Eric Fanning. "Throughout the pandemic, AIA members have expanded benefits and implemented extensive measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as our essential work continued," Fanning said. (9/23)

AI Provides Sharper Images of Lunar Craters That Contain Water Ice (Source: SciTech Daily)
Capturing lunar images within the deep darkness of permanently shadowed regions is exceptionally difficult. Researchers have developed a machine learning algorithm called HORUS (Hyper-effective nOise Removal U-net Software) that “cleans up” noisy images. It uses more than 70,000 LRO calibration images taken on the dark side of the Moon as well as information about camera temperature and the spacecraft’s trajectory to distinguish which structures in the image are artifacts and which are real. This way, the researchers can achieve a resolution of about 1-2 meters per pixel, which is five to ten times higher than the resolution of all previously available images.

Using this method, the researchers have now re-evaluated images of 17 shadowed regions from the lunar south pole region which measure between 0.18 and 54 square kilometers in size. In the resulting images, small geological structures only a few meters across can be discerned much more clearly than before. (9/23)

Project Kraken Announcement Possible on Monday (Source: SPACErePORT)
On Florida's Space Coast, a significant aerospace project rumored to be a spacecraft manufacturing may be announced on Monday, September 27, according to organizations involved in recruiting and incentivizing the project to the region. In March 2021 the project, code-named "Project Kraken" was reported to be a $300 million spacecraft factory that could create 2000 jobs. On Friday, officials hinted that Monday might be the date for a formal announcement, pending final approval by the company involved. (9/24)

Keeping Warmer in the Great Outdoors Using NASA-Developed Technology (Source: SpaceRef)
The first aerogels were invented before NASA even existed. They're made by removing all the moisture from a gel - usually made of silica - while leaving the solid structure intact. The resulting material is almost entirely air, pocketed in tiny chambers. It weighs next to nothing and is nearly impervious to heat. However, until NASA got involved, it was also too fragile to use.

In the 1990s, NASA's Kennedy Space Center was looking for better insulation to maintain the frigid temperatures needed for storing space shuttle fuel. The best cryogenic insulations at the time were layered metallized thin films, invented by NASA in the early days of the space program. These reflected radiated heat and could be placed in a vacuum to prevent heat conduction or convection. But they were relatively expensive and heavy, and their ability to conduct heat along their surfaces caused complications.

A company called Aspen Systems, however, had an idea for incorporating aerogel into flexible insulating blankets. With Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding from KSC, and then from a handful of other NASA field centers, Aspen developed a process to coat insulation fibers with aerogel to trap air while also stopping heat conduction. The process was developed and honed over about 10 years and 10 NASA SBIR contracts. Today the space agency uses aerogel in myriad ways, and Aspen Aerogels has spun off to specialize in what became one of the most successful, widespread spinoffs in NASA's history. (9/23)

The Science of Aliens: How Would They Communicate? (Source: Air & Space)
Current SETI efforts are scanning the skies for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence at radio and optical frequencies, but so far without success. And even when we have a detection, how will we communicate with an alien civilization? Several ideas have been suggested, including mathematical and musical approaches. The problem remains, however: Can we really communicate what humanity is about?

New strategies are still being proposed, such as the one outlined in a seminal study led by Douglas Vakoch, who uses an algorithmic approach to convey the concept of altruism by drawing analogies between social and astrophysical phenomena. For example, the loss of health and life in humans can be algorithmically linked to the well-known astrophysical phenomenon of mass loss in stars during their evolution.

In the 1980s Vilmos Csányi and Györsy Kampis from Eötvös University in Hungary suggested that a direct, meaningful communication with extraterrestrial intelligence is highly improbable—which makes any new ideas like Vakoch’s all the more welcome. Maybe face-to-face communication will be easier when the day comes? Yes, but even that might not be as easy as you’d think. We humans communicate primarily through language, using sound waves in a very narrow range. This doesn’t even apply to all the animals on our own planet, however. (9/13)

Survey Suggests Eager Starlink Users Don't Understand Service Will Have Limited Reach (Source: TechDirt)
While Starlink will be a good thing if you can actually get and afford the service, it's going to have a decidedly small impact on the broadband industry as a whole. Between 20 and 42 million Americans lack access to broadband entirely, 83 million live under a monopoly, and tens of millions more are stuck under a duopoly (usually your local cable company and a regional, apathetic phone company). Starlink is going to reach somewhere between 300,000 to 800,000 subscribers in its first few years, a drop in the overall bucket.

Thanks to massive frustration with broadband market failure (and the high prices, dubious quality, and poor customer service that results), users are decidedly excited about something new. But not only are there limited slots due to limited capacity and physics, a lot of those slots are going to get gobbled up by die-hard Elon Musk fans excited to affix Starlink dishes to their boats, RVs, and Cybertrucks. As a result it will be extremely unlikely that most users who truly need the improved option will absolutely be able to get it.

A new PC Magazine survey continues to make it clear that most consumers don't quite understand they'll never actually have the option (especially if they live in a major metro market). Starlink is expected to come out of beta next month for a broader commercial launch, and has seen 600,000 orders so far. But many of the customers who have signed up say getting a status update from Starlink customer service is effectively impossible. While major Wall Street analysts like Craig Moffett estimate the service may be able to scale to 6 million users over a period of many years, he also notes that guess is extremely optimistic, and will require a significantly updated fleet of 42,000 satellites to achieve. (9/23)

Shhhh. SpaceX Wants to Build a Gas Pipeline for Boca Chica (Source: ESG Hound)
FAA’s jurisdiction is airports and launchpads, but because they are the funding agency, they take lead on the NEPA effort (and they’re currently messing up badly). FERC and Land Management agencies are much more capable at handling these types of operations. The NEPA mandated EIA must include ALL activities related to the proposed action, so if SpaceX intends to power their spaceport with a power plant and fill the fuel tank up with a gas plant, those related processes MUST be included in the scope. It’s literally the law.

The gas will come in a pipeline. Because that is how gas is transported. But there’s just a wee little problem: There is no pipeline to the facility. The closest pipeline is 8 miles away, and as I explained last time, they have zero capacity. The SpaceX gas plant is spec’d for field gas. Ergo, Elon needs to build a pipeline. But SpaceX doesn’t want to tell you that. Construction of a pipeline required to run this facility is apparently not an environmental impact, per the spaceport project's Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA). (9/24)

OMB Tells Agencies to Start Planning for Possible Government Shutdown (Source: Federal News Network)
With the threat of a government shutdown just seven days away, the White House is formally urging federal agencies to prepare for the possibility of a lapse in appropriations next week. It is customary for OMB to meet with agencies about government shutdown planning seven days before a lapse in appropriations, regardless of the year or the particular circumstances in Congress.

The House on Tuesday cleared a nine-week continuing resolution that would keep agencies running through Dec. 3, but the legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate. Republicans have said they won’t support a continuing resolution that includes a debt limit suspension, which the House proposal does. Congressional leaders from both parties have said they have no interest in a government shutdown, but it’s still unclear what path they’ll pursue to avoid a lapse in appropriations before next Thursday’s deadline. (9/23)

Astranis Picks Falcon Heavy for Rideshare Mission (Source: Space News)
Astranis will launch its first small GEO communications satellite on a Falcon Heavy. The company announced Thursday its Arcturus satellite will fly as a secondary payload on a Falcon Heavy launching in the spring of 2022. The company previously planned to launch as a secondary on a Falcon 9, but switching to the more powerful Falcon Heavy will allow the satellite to reach GEO within days of launch. The satellite will be used by Pacific Dataport Inc. to provide broadband services in Alaska. (9/24)

With More Customers, Northrop Grumman Upgrades Satellite Servicing System (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman today has two Mission Extension Vehicles in orbit providing station-keeping services for two Intelsat geostationary satellites that were running low on fuel. The company meanwhile is preparing to launch a new servicing vehicle equipped with a robotic arm that will install propulsion jet packs on dying satellites. Six still-undisclosed customers have signed up to get their satellites serviced by the Mission Robotic Vehicle, projected to launch in 2024. (9/24)

NASA Urged to Avoid Post-ISS Gap (Source: Space News)
Industry officials, as well as a NASA advisory group, are urging the agency to avoid a space station gap. At a House hearing this week, officials said NASA needs to ensure its support of commercial space stations will allow those stations to enter service before the International Space Station is retired. Otherwise, they warn a gap could have geopolitical consequences, as China takes advantage with its own space station to attract new partners. NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, at a meeting Thursday, also urged there be an overlap between ISS and commercial stations. Current NASA planning anticipates a two-year transition period, but that is dependent on funding and the progress commercial partners make. (9/24)

NOAA Urged to Use More Commercial Weather Satellites (Source: Space News)
House members pressed NOAA to make more use of commercial weather data. At a hearing of House Science Committee subcommittee Thursday, members told NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad they were concerned the agency was leaving "valuable data on the table" by limiting the companies it was working with. Spinrad said that while he supported the use of commercial satellite weather data, NOAA needed to ensure such data are accurate and will remain available for the long term. Spinrad also faced questions about space traffic management work by the Office of Space Commerce, which is within NOAA. He said the office was preparing a demonstration of an open architecture data repository in the coming weeks while studying how to best organize the office. (9/24)

OrbAstro Plans First Satellites Next Year (Source: Space News)
Space-as-a-service startup OrbAstro will launch its first satellites next year. The company, founded in 2018, has been keeping a low profile as it bootstraps its space-as-as-service venture by building, testing and selling cubesat-based nanosatellites and smallsat subsystems designed in house. OrbAstro says it has five commercial satellites plus a pilot satellite for an in-house project all scheduled to launch next year, and expects to add one or two more missions to its 2022 roster in the coming months. The company announced this week a contract with Singapore-based satellite propulsion provider Aliena PTE Ltd., to fly its all-electric attitude and orbit control system onboard OrbAstro's first microsatellite launching a year from now. (9/24)

Karman Aquires Systima (Source: GeekWire)
Karman Missile and Space Systems has purchased Systima Technologies as it moves more into space and hypersonic applications. Systima, based near Seattle, integrates energetic and mechanical systems into aerospace structures, including work on the Space Launch System and Orion. Karman, established last year through the combination of several aerospace companies, is looking to expand its role in missile, space and hypersonic supply chains. (9/24)

Texas Abortion Law Raising Space Industry Concerns (Source: Space.com)
A new Texas law severely restricting abortion could affect the space industry. Since the law took effect at the beginning of September, some women have expressed concern about taking jobs with NASA or space companies in the state, or leaving those jobs to move out of the state. One NASA ISS flight controller wrote an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, asking him to protect the rights of employees like her. (9/24)

Mars Lander Detects Quakes (Source: NASA)
NASA's InSight Mars lander has detected one of its strongest quakes to date. The lander's seismometer measured a marsquake of magnitude 4.2, lasting for an hour and a half, on Sept. 18. The lander detected another magnitude 4.2 quake last month, along with a magnitude 4.1 quake; the three are the strongest InSight has measured since its landing in November 2018. The lander, which has suffered diminished power in recent months because of dust accumulation on its solar panels, has seen its power levels rise recently because of efforts to clean the panel, as well as the planet getting closer to the sun in its elliptical orbit. (9/24)

What's Behind Africa's Increasing Drive to Launch Satellites (Source: Sputnik)
Twenty-two years after putting the first African satellite into orbit, the continent's satellite fleet currently stands at 44. With Africa's most recent satellite launch taking place in June 2021, the next few years may see more launches on the continent. The consultancy Space in Africa recently reported that 44 satellites have been sent into orbit by 13 African countries since the launch of the continent's first satellite in 1999. At the time, South Africa had launched its SunSat-1 satellite into space.

According to the Space in Africa report, a further 125 satellites are being developed by 23 countries on the continent, and all of them are expected to be launched before 2025. The survey refers to "new opportunities" that have emerged "around satellite constellations on the continent, with Egypt, South Africa, and Tunisia leading various initiatives" on the matter. (9/24)

Life Support Cooked Up From Lunar Rocks (Source: Space Daily)
Engineers have successfully shown how water and oxygen can be extracted by cooking up lunar soil, in order to support future Moon bases. A laboratory demonstrator is presented this week at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2021. The set-up uses a two-step process, well known in industrial chemistry for terrestrial applications, that has been customised to work with a mineral mixture that mimics the lunar soil.

Around 50% of lunar soil in all regions of the Moon is made up of silicon or iron oxides, and these in turn are around 26% oxygen. This means that a system that efficiently extracts oxygen from the soil could operate at any landing site or installation on the Moon. In the experimental set-up, the soil simulant is vaporized in the presence of hydrogen and methane, then "washed" with hydrogen gas. Heated by a furnace to temperatures of around 1000 degrees Celsius, the minerals turn directly from a solid to a gas, missing out a molten phase, which reduces the complexity of the technology needed. (9/24)

Florida Space Coast Tourism Booming Again (Source: Florida Today)
Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis now is projecting that — when the county's budget year ends on Sep. 30 and all the numbers are compiled — the county will have record revenue from tourism. This comes despite a continuing coronavirus pandemic and a 16½-month cruise industry shutdown at Port Canaveral that didn't end until July 31. The gains in tourism have helped speed up the overall recovery for the Space Coast economy, of which tourism is a major component. Before the pandemic, tourism was estimated to bring $1.8 billion a year into Brevard's economy.

Re-opening the cruise business is one big factor. So is the increased space launch cadence, including more crewed launches from the Space Coast. "I have never not sold out (of hotel rooms) for a launch," Baugher said. The Office of Tourism's fall marketing campaign will continue a focus on recently successful themes of "plus space" and "only here" — telling potential visitors about all they can do on the Space Coast, in addition to seeing rocket launches. (9/24)