September 30, 2021

FAA Delays Georgia Spaceport Decision (Source: FAA)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will issue the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Spaceport Camden project by November 3, 2021. The FAA planned to issue the ROD on September 30, 2021, however, due to ongoing consultation efforts the FAA now plans to issue the ROD at a later date. The FAA prepared the Final EIS to evaluate the potential impacts of the FAA issuing a Launch Site Operator License that would allow the Camden County Board of Commissioners (the County) to operate a commercial space launch site called Spaceport Camden.

The issuance of a Launch Site Operator License would allow the County to offer Spaceport Camden to commercial launch operators to conduct launches of liquid-fueled, small orbital vertical launch vehicles. [From Spaceport Facts: The FAA is having great difficulty licensing a spaceport for an imaginary rocket and a fictitious trajectory. No real rocket launched from Spaceport Camden can meet the legal standards for human and environmental safety. Hopefully, they are also looking at how they allowed their office to be talked out of requiring the environmental review of the Bayer CropScience property that is collaterally necessary for the spaceport.] (9/29)

Space Force Issues $47.5 Million for Prototype Data Transport Service (Source: Defense News)
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Sev1Tech a $47.5 million contract to demonstrate a prototype data transport capability that will help connect its space operators with war fighters across the globe. The demonstration will be part of the Advanced Battle Management System, the Air Force’s contribution to Joint All-Domain Command and Control — a Department of Defense-wide initiative to connect sensors and shooters all over the world in real-time. (9/28)

Florida Hopes to Land a Space Force Training Site (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Florida’s space agency has been working to bring a Space Force training site to the state after the command headquarters for the fledgling military branch landed in Alabama. Earlier this month, Mark Bontrager, vice president of spaceport operations for Space Florida, told members of the Florida Senate Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security Committee his agency is learning from the headquarters-selection process to prepare for when bidding gets underway for training locations.

Space Florida President and CEO Frank DiBello said Florida is well-positioned among states that could compete for the training locations because of a workforce that has decades of experience with the space industry. “We have such a locus of space activity here, and therefore we have trained warfighters already,” DiBello said. “We are also looking carefully at the fact that we have a very, very strong modeling-simulation and digital-domain capability throughout the state, but certainly in Central Florida that is an essential element of training the warfighter of the future.”

Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., is already serving as one of the locations for the Space Training Readiness Command, or STARCOM, program. Bontrager said it’s important for Florida to land part of the training process, as Space Florida leaders will have to repeatedly return to the facilities throughout their careers. (9/29)

Current and Former Blue Origin Employees Say Workplace Culture and Safety Practices Lacking (Source: CBS)
A group of 21 current and former Blue Origin employees are making serious allegations in an essay about the company's safety practices and workplace culture. In an interview you'll see only on “CBS Mornings,” Laurie Segall interviews one of the authors of the essay about her experiences at the Jeff Bezos-led company. Click here. (9/30) https://www.cbsnews.com/video/current-and-former-blue-origin-employees-say-workplace-culture-and-safety-practices-lacking/#x

Blue Origin 'Gambled' with its Moon Lander Pricing, NASA Says in Legal Documents (Source: The Verge)
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin “gambled” with its Moon lander proposal last year by hoping NASA would be willing to negotiate its $5.9 billion price tag, agency attorneys argued in blunt legal filings. But NASA, cash-strapped with a tight budget from Congress, declined to negotiate and picked SpaceX’s bid instead, sparking ongoing protests from Bezos’ space company. In NASA’s main response to Blue Origin’s protest, agency attorneys accused the company of employing a sort of door-in-the-face bidding tactic with its $5.9 billion proposal.

Blue Origin was “able and willing” to offer NASA a lower price for its lunar lander but chose not to because it expected NASA to ask and negotiate for a lower price first, the attorneys allege. Attorneys said companies were instructed to submit their best proposal first. The GAO ultimately sided with the agency, saying that showing examples of prejudice “is an essential element of any viable protest,” and that Blue Origin failed to do so.

If the court ultimately agrees with Blue Origin and finds NASA messed up, the agency would likely have to cancel SpaceX’s contract, as Blue Origin requests, and reopen the competition to allow the companies to submit new proposals — a significant setback for the agency’s Moon program. If Blue Origin loses, the monthslong hold on SpaceX’s contract would disappear, allowing work with NASA on Starship to begin, and Blue Origin would be invited to pitch its lander for a future Moon lander competition. (9/29)

Can We Backhaul Our Way to Space? (Source: Space News)
Trade. It enables, disseminates, and helps pay for new technologies and skills. It encourages sciences, the arts, and communications across oceans and cultures. It is a requirement for the evolution and supply of settlements and cities. So, how do we get trade, and all of its ancillary benefits, started on the new frontier of space? After finding things to trade – like lunar or Martian scientific knowledge or lunar water – trade is most likely encouraged by making both the upfront and ongoing costs of space transportation and operations as low as possible.

That requires the most efficient possible use of whatever transportation is available. One way to increase efficiency is to employ a concept the trucking industry calls‚“backhaul.” Since the empty vehicles produce no value beyond returning for reuse, anything that allows space on them to be used or sold is a net gain for the transportation provider. In the trucking industry, goods “backhauled” in this way often pay extraordinarily low rates, subsidized by the primary purpose of moving the outbound goods. Crucially, the outbound cargo can be totally unrelated to the inbound backhaul.

If second-generation lunar crew transportation vehicles were reusable, backhaul opportunities become much more attractive. After dropping crew and supplies off at a lunar base, cislunar supply vehicles would return empty, or with smaller return cargoes, to low Earth orbit or elsewhere in cislunar space. At that time, backhaul might become a real market. (9/25)

Honda Plans to Launch a Reusable Small Rocket During the 2020s (Source: MyNavi)
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. has released its latest research, including a reusable small rocket will be launched in the 2020s. The reusable small rocket will launch a 1000 kg class payload into low earth orbit. Its position within the company is to realize "dreams" and "potentials." Furthermore, the company's "Avatar Robot" is positioned within the mainstream of its ASIMO humanoid robot development, but it aims to be able to handle things as if they were there, no matter how far away they are. Of course, it is also expected to be used on the moon. (9/30)

Dragon Capsule Departs ISS for Florida Coastal Splashdown (Source: NASA)
A Dragon cargo spacecraft is departing the International Space Station today. The CRS-23 Dragon spacecraft undocked from the station at about 9:12 a.m. Eastern, and will splash down off the Florida coast about 12 hours later. The Dragon is returning experiments and other cargo from the station, a month after its launch. (9/30)
 
Satellite Servicing: Different Services for Different Orbits (Source: Space News)
Interest in satellite servicing capabilities depends on which orbit satellites are in. Representatives of satellite servicing companies and others in the field said that, in LEO, the demand will be from satellite constellation operators seeking to remove old satellites, keeping their orbits clear for new ones. Those companies are unlikely to seek refueling or life extension services for their constellations since it would be easier to simply launch new satellites. In GEO, the interest is in life extension and refueling, capabilities that could also be useful in cislunar space. (9/30)
 
Slingshot Aerospace Offers Interactive Space Simulation for Training (Source: Space News)
Slingshot Aerospace is now offering commercially an interactive simulation of the space environment it developed for military satellite operators. The Slingshot Laboratory is intended to support industry and academia in astrodynamics training. The web-based tool helps students who are interested in space more easily understand complex methodologies through visual and collaborative learning. (9/30)
 
Ingenuity Anomaly Puts Next Mars Flight on Hold (Source: Space.com)
The next flight of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter is on hold. NASA said this week that Ingenuity suffered an anomaly in its motors during a preflight checkout earlier this month and aborted its planned flight. Engineers were investigating the problem but didn't wrap up the work before a "solar conjunction" period where Mars goes behind the sun as seen from Earth, interfering with communications. Communications are scheduled to resume in mid-October. (9/30)

Space Command Will Rely on Private Sector for Key Capabilities (Source: Space News)
A U.S. Space Command general says the military is looking to the private sector for key capabilities. Maj. Gen. David Miller. director of operations, training and force development at U.S. Space Command, said Wednesday the U.S. needs better capabilities to monitor adversaries' activities in space and has to quickly deploy satellite constellations that can survive in an armed conflict, and is counting on the space industry to deliver these capabilities quickly. A stronger U.S. posture in space will help deter adversaries from attacking U.S. satellites, he said. (9/30)

Lawmakers Ask Air Force Secretary to ‘Pause All Actions’ on Space Command Relocation (Source: Space News)
Members of Congress are asking the Pentagon to halt any work to relocate Space Command to Alabama. A letter Thursday signed by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and several other Colorado lawmakers asked Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to "pause all actions related to moving U.S. Space Command" until reviews by the Pentagon's inspector general and the GAO are complete. Members of the state’s congressional delegation have been fighting back since the announcement in January that Space Command would be based in Huntsville, claiming the decision was purely political and not based on objective criteria. (9/30)

Eutelsat Rejects Buyout Offer (Source: Reuters)
Eutelsat has rejected, for now, a buyout offer from the founder of telecommunications company Altice Group. Patrick Drahi made an offer to acquire Eutelsat that the satellite operator turned down because it was too low. The deal valued Eutelsat at €12.10 per share; the company's stock closed at €10.35 per share yesterday. Drahi has held discussions with Eutelsat's top investors and with the French government about a deal. He reportedly would keep Eutelsat separate from other Altice Group assets, suggesting he might make other deals in the satellite sector. (9/30)

China Developing Lunar Plans, Prototypes (Source: Space News)
China is showing off designs of vehicles it could use to send humans to the moon. Two super heavy-lift rockets, the return capsule from a prototype new-generation crew spacecraft, its parachutes and a Chang'e-5 spacecraft are on display at the 13th Zhuhai Airshow this week. One of the rockets is the so-called new-generation crewed launch vehicle, capable of sending 27 tons into lunar transfer orbit. Also on display is the Long March 9, a super heavy-lift launcher comparable in performance to NASA's SLS. Those vehicles could provide China with the capabilities to land astronauts on the moon by around 2030. (9/30)

Pandemic Forces Delay of New Space Telescope (Source: Space News)
The pandemic has delayed the launch of a future NASA space telescope. NASA said Wednesday it completed a critical design review for the Roman Space Telescope, allowing it to go into full-scale assembly and testing. The 2.4-meter telescope is now scheduled to launch no later than May 2027, seven months later than previously planned. NASA officials said at a meeting this week the pandemic, and related supply chain issues, caused the delay as well as an unspecified increase in its cost.

Those officials also said at the meeting that the James Webb Space Telescope is now on its way to French Guiana for its launch there in December. The agency said a historical review into allegations into its namesake, former NASA Administrator James Webb, revealed no evidence that would support changing the telescope's name. (9/30)

Soyuz Switches Positions at ISS (Source: Space.com)
A Soyuz spacecraft switching docking ports at the International Space Station Tuesday. The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft undocked from a port on the Rassvet module at 8:21 a.m. Eastern and maneuvered to the new Nauka module, docking there 43 minutes later. It's the first time that the docking port on Nauka, which arrived at the station in July, was used by a Soyuz or Progress spacecraft. The maneuver frees up the Rassvet port for the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, launching to the station next week with a Russian cosmonaut along with a director and actress who will spend nearly two weeks on the station filming scenes for a movie. (9/29)

MIT Students Show Record Interest in Space Careers (Source: Space News)
Interest in space careers is at an all-time high for students at one university. Daniel Hastings, head of MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said at a conference Tuesday his department's graduate programs saw a record number of applicants, most of whom want to pursue work in the space industry. He credited both NASA and SpaceX for the growing interest in the field. Hastings added that while technical training remains important, students in the field also need business skills and "start thinking entrepreneurially." (9/29)

Spire and SpaceChain to Demonstrate Blockchain in Space (Source: Space News)
Spire Global is working with SpaceChain to demonstrate blockchain technology in space. The two companies announced a partnership Tuesday where Spire will upload SpaceChain software onto a satellite in Spire's existing constellation, and then launch a SpaceChain payload on a new satellite later this year. While blockchain gained prominence as a cryptocurrency tool, organizations also are exploring its benefits for supply chain management, cybersecurity and other tasks. (9/29)

This May Be the First Planet Found Orbiting 3 Stars at Once (Source: New York Times)
GW Ori is a star system 1,300 light years from Earth in the constellation of Orion. It is surrounded by a huge disk of dust and gas, a common feature of young star systems that are forming planets. But fascinatingly, it is a system with not one star, but three. As if that were not intriguing enough, GW Ori’s disk is split in two, almost like Saturn’s rings if they had a massive gap in between. And to make it even more bizarre, the outer ring is tilted at about 38 degrees.

Scientists have been trying to explain what is going on there. Some hypothesized that the gap in the disk could be the result of one or more planets forming in the system. If so, this would be the first known planet that orbits three stars at once, also known as a circumtriple planet. Now the GW Ori system has been modeled in greater detail, and researchers say a planet — a gassy world as massive as Jupiter — is the best explanation for the gap in the dust cloud. Although the planet itself cannot be seen, astronomers may be witnessing it carve out its orbit in its first million years of its existence. (9/28)

Ariane 6 Launch Complex Inaugurated at Europe's Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
The new launch complex built for Europe's upcoming Ariane 6 rocket is inaugurated at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. With this, ESA celebrates another important milestone in the Ariane 6 roadmap as it forges ahead with combined tests between launch vehicle and launch base and preparations towards the first launch campaign.

Clearly visible from space, the facilities feature remarkable complex structures above and below ground specially designed to support Ariane 6 launches into the next decade. It is the proud achievement of the French space agency, CNES - prime contractor to ESA for the development of the launch base, and its European industry partners. (9/29)

Starfish Space Raises $7 Million to Develop Space Tug (Source: Space Daily)
Starfish Space, a satellite servicing company founded by former Blue Origin engineers, has raised a $7M funding round co-led by NFX and MaC Venture Capital, with participation from PSL Ventures, Boost VC, Liquid2 Ventures, and Hypothesis. Up until now, missions to service existing satellites on-orbit, like the Hubble Space Telescope, have been too large and expensive to be commercially viable.

But with the exciting and rapid evolution of the space industry increasing demand for on-orbit satellite servicing, missions such as debris removal and satellite life extension will become a necessity as we push toward on-orbit manufacturing and assembly. Starfish Space is developing the Otter space tug, an efficient and versatile satellite servicing vehicle. The Otter is a small satellite capable of capturing and moving objects in orbit. It is targeted at two primary missions: extending the life of large geostationary spacecraft and disposing of space debris in low-earth orbit. (9/29)

SpaceX In Talks to Launch Large Space Telescope on Starship (Source: GeekWire)
During this week's Code Conference, Elon Musk referred to the possibility of using SpaceX’s Starship to deploy super space telescopes that could have “10 times the resolution of the Hubble [Space Telescope], which would be great for science.” He said SpaceX was working with Berkeley astronomer Saul Perlmutter on a space telescope project. (We’ve reached out to Perlmutter and will update this report with anything we hear back.) (9/28)

The Largest Space Telescope in History is About to Blow Our Minds (Source: Vox)
Exploring strange new worlds. Understanding the origins of the universe. Searching for life in the galaxy. These are not the plot of a new scifi movie, but the mission objectives of the James Webb Space Telescope, the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA is building and launching it in partnership with ESA and Canada. The launch, which will propel the Webb to nearly a million miles away, is now scheduled for December 18, 2021.

When it fully deploys in space, the Webb will usher in a new age of astronomy, scientists say, and show humanity things it has never seen before. The Webb will surpass the Hubble in several ways. It will allow astronomers to look not only farther out in space but also further back in time: It will search for the first stars and galaxies of the universe. It will allow scientists to make careful studies of numerous exoplanets — planets that orbit stars other than our sun — and even embark on a search for signs of life there. (9/28)

Intelligence Agencies Pushed to Use More Commercial Satellites (Source: New York Times)
With Congress pushing the Biden administration to make more use of commercial satellites, intelligence officials are starting to award new contracts to show they can augment the capabilities of highly classified spy satellites with the increasingly sophisticated services available from the private sector. On Monday, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced that it had awarded a $10 million contract to HawkEye 360 to track and map radio frequency emissions around the world, information the company says will help identify weapons trafficking, foreign military activity and drug smuggling.

The contract follows a study contract awarded to the company by the National Reconnaissance Office in 2019. David Gauthier, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s commercial group, said collecting radio frequency data would help “tip and cue” imagery satellites, in essence telling officials where to look. The commercial data is also unclassified, allowing intelligence agencies to more easily share the data with allies and partners.

The expansion of commercial satellites with greater abilities to peer down at Earth worries some civil liberties experts. The ever-growing number of commercial satellites has eroded privacy, said Steven Aftergood, of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. But the government contracts with commercial satellite companies themselves have not yet drawn much criticism, Mr. Aftergood said, because government satellites are far more powerful, at least for now, than commercial satellites. (9/27)

NASA Releases Graphic Novel About the First (Fictional) Woman to Walk on the Moon (Source: Florida Today)
NASA has landed men on the moon and sent robotic spacecraft into deep space. Now it is trying something new: Graphic novels. The space agency has released it first graphic novel — or comic book as an older generation might call it. "First Woman," is the story of Callie Rodriguez, the (fictional) first woman to explore the moon. Issue 1, "Dream to Reality," is now available on NASA's website. (9/27)

Government Shutdown Could Delay Lucy Launch (Source: Space News)
Plans to launch a NASA asteroid mission next month could be disrupted by a potential government shutdown. At a briefing Tuesday, NASA said its Lucy mission was on schedule for launch Oct. 16 at the opening of a three-week launch window, with preparations for the launch proceeding smoothly. However, the mission is facing the threat of delays should Congress not pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Agency officials said they have applied for an exception to allow launch preparations to continue if there is a government shutdown, but have not gotten approval for it yet. The narrow launch window for Lucy is based on its complex, unique trajectory that will allow it to visit several Trojan asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. Those asteroids may be relics from the formation of the solar system. (9/29)

Satellite Servicers Now Focus on Standards and Best Practices (Source: Space News)
Companies that have demonstrated satellite servicing capabilities are now working on other, related issues. An executive with SpaceLogistics said at a conference this month that its demonstration of its first two Mission Extension Vehicles was a "Kitty Hawk moment" for the industry, proving that servicing was technically possible. Companies say they still face other challenges, from regulation to the development of standards and best practices for satellite servicing. Those issues and others will be discussed at this week's Global Satellite Servicing Forum by the industry consortium CONFERS. (9/29)

Capella Hire's Hopkins From Boeing Phantom Works (Source: Space News)
Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite operator Capella Space named Amy Hopkins, former Boeing Phantom Works Strategy Director, as its first vice president and general manager of U.S. Government Services. Over the last two decades, Hopkins has worked for Northrop Grumman, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Pacific Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency. (9/29)

These 2 Astronauts Forever Blazed Trails for Hispanic People in Space (Source: KSAT)
In the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, two trailblazing astronauts come to mind. The first is Franklin Chang-Diaz, who in 1980 became the first Hispanic astronaut elected by NASA. Born in Costa Rica and raised, Chang-Diaz moved to Connecticut and aspired to be an astronaut, studying mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut and eventually becoming a U.S. citizen. In 1986, he made the first of his seven spaceflights. and he eventually logged more than 1,500 hours in space.

The other Hispanic astronaut who blazed a trail was Ellen Ochoa, who in 1993 became the first Hispanic woman to go into space when she was a crew member on the shuttle Discovery, a nine-day mission. Ochoa was flown into space on three other missions and later went on to become the first Hispanic director of the Johnson Space Center. (9/28)

Virgin Galactic Cleared by FAA to Return to Flight (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic has been cleared to fly FAA-licenced spaceflights following the conclusion of an FAA inquiry that focused on air traffic control clearance and real-time mission notification related to the Unity 22 flight in July. The FAA advised Virgin Galactic that the corrective actions proposed by the company have been accepted and conclude the FAA inquiry. They include: 1) updated calculations to expand the protected airspace for future flights; and 2) additional steps into the company’s flight procedures to ensure real-time mission notifications to FAA Air Traffic Control.

Designating a larger area will ensure that Virgin Galactic has ample protected airspace for a variety of possible flight trajectories during spaceflight missions. [The FAA inquiry followed Unity 22's departure from its pre-approved flight plan, putting the spacecraft outside of the airspace set aside for its safe return to Spaceport America.] Virgin Galactic continues to focus on its pre-flight readiness for Unity 23. (9/29)

Amazon Sent Us a 13-Page PDF to Prove Elon Musk is as Litigious as Jeff Bezos (Source: The Verge)
On Tuesday, Elon Musk accused Jeff Bezos and his companies of using the legal system to slow SpaceX’s progress during a talk at the 2021 Code Conference. Just a few hours later, Amazon — which is working on a competing satellite-based internet project — sent The Verge an unsolicited 13-page list of lawsuits, government petitions, and other legal actions that SpaceX has taken over the years.

“Attached is a list of some of the times SpaceX has sued the U.S. government on procurement matters and protested various governmental decisions,” a spokesperson for Amazon’s satellite division, Project Kuiper, wrote. “It is difficult to reconcile their own historical record with their recent position on others filing similar actions.” The list contains a number of lawsuits filed by SpaceX, including some dating as far back as 2004, when Musk was still literally trying to get the startup off the ground.

But it also includes more procedural actions, like times when SpaceX has filed opinions on how the government should allocate certain bands of spectrum for satellite communications — advocacy that has increased as SpaceX began building its Starlink satellite network. All told, there are 39 actions documented in the list, split into three categories: litigation, protests with the Government Accountability Office, and oppositions filed with the FCC. (9/29)

Software Aims to Make Your Flight Smoother—and Help the Planet (Source: WIRED)
Flying in an airplane is already one of the most emissions-intensive things you can do. Globally, aviation produced over 1 billion tons of carbon emissions in 2019, more than 2 percent of all human-generated emissions—more than either shipping or rail. Aircraft engines also emit nitrogen oxides, soot particles, and water vapor, which also contribute to warming the planet.

Taking off and landing is usually just a short part of a flight, but accounts for a quarter of its emissions, according to NASA. Unnecessary plane stops during that process increase fuel use. It would be better for everyone—passengers included—if airplanes smoothly exited and entered airports. Now the Federal Aviation Administration and NASA have created a system to smooth the takeoffs and landings, wringing out delays and unnecessary emissions in the process. Real rocket scientists were involved—the system grew out of NASA’s work to help spaceships establish steady trajectories into space. (9/28)