October 19, 2021

Group of Texas Engineer Friends Turns Rocketry Passion Into Multimillion Dollar Aerospace Company (Source: Spectrum News)
With the emergence of SpaceX and Blue Origin, Texas has become a hotbed for companies eyeing space exploration. According to a PwC 2020 report, Texas ranks as the fourth-best state for aerospace manufacturing. Some companies have relocated their headquarters to the Lone Star State thanks to a pool of engineering talent and the ample amount of land available for research and development. Before Starbase, Texas, existed and the Blue Origin company was established, a group of North Texas friends who had a passion for rocketry began conducting experiments of their own beginning in the 1990s.

"These guys were literally doing what a small team [does], very much like a Skunkworks project," said John Quinn, the CEO of Exos Aerospace. Before the 2015 inception of Exos Aerospace, a group of less than a dozen men formed a brotherhood out of an airport hangar at the Caddo Mills Airport. Between the 1990s and early 2000s, the group of engineers would compete in rocketry contests and construct rockets that could burst through gravity, hover and descend back to the ground without malfunctioning.

Fast forward here to 2021, the original group of men are still doing what they love, but on a massive scale. Their multimillion dollar company is now winning over contracts with the U.S. military and even ally countries. Project Jaguar is their next big mission. The company is eyeing to send a 1,000 pounds payload to space within the next three years. ​(10/15)

Senate Panel Outlines $24B Defense Budget Increase (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Senate Appropriations Committee wants to increase the 2022 Pentagon budget by $24 billion for programs that include advancing missile tracking in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China's capabilities and establishing a $100 million Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve. The proposal also includes a $500 million increase for the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. It would provide the still nascent Space Force with $17.9 billion for military personnel, operations and acquisition accounts, a 16% increase over last year’s enacted budget. (10/18)

Senators Want NASA to Select Second HLS, Without Large Budget Bump (Source: Space News)
Senate appropriators want NASA to select a second Human Landing System (HLS) company, but offered only a small increase to the program's budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee released drafts of several fiscal year 2022 spending bills Monday, including one that funds NASA. In the report accompanying the bill, appropriators said NASA's claims that it doesn't have funding to support two companies "rings hollow" since the agency itself requested only a small fraction of what it previously projected it needs for HLS in 2022.

The bill would add $100 million to the $1.195 billion requested for HLS, but require NASA to support at least two companies. The bill overall would provide NASA with $24.83 billion, a slight increase over the request of $24.8 billion. The Senate bill is a starting point for negotiations with the House on a final 2022 spending bill. (10/19)

Investigations of Space Command HQ Decision Could Stretch Into 2022 (Source: Space News)
Investigations into the decision to move the headquarters of U.S. Space Command to Alabama will likely stretch into next year. Two members of Colorado's congressional delegation said Monday they've been told investigations by the GAO and the Pentagon's inspector general won't wrap up until next spring. Those members, who believe the decision to move the headquarters from Colorado was politically influenced by the Trump administration, said they want those investigations accelerated. For now, lawmakers are trying to stop the relocation by denying funding. (10/19)

European Space Startups Have Fewer Financing Options (Source: Space News)
A lack of accessible financing options is holding European space startups back, an industry group warns. A paper by the Access Space Alliance, a smallsat industry group, concluded that European space startups face many challenges in securing public and private investments, which are still larger in the U.S. and other markets outside Europe. One solution it suggested is for government agencies to be early customers of such startups, providing an essential bridge between research and sales. The group said that supply shortages and price rises risk derailing the industry's post-pandemic recovery. (10/19)

Intelsat Plans Post-Bankruptcy Transformation (Source: Space News)
Intelsat is devising a transformational business plan for its operations after it emerges from bankruptcy restructuring later this year. A company executive said in an interview that software-defined satellites will be essential to its long-term strategy. The company issued an RFP at the end of July for 10 satellites that could be reconfigured in-orbit for changing mission needs. Intelsat expects to select multiple manufacturers for those satellites by the first quarter of next year. (10/19)

Space Force Wants Cooperation with South Korea (Source: Space News)
The head of the U.S. Space Force says he supports greater cooperation with South Korea. Gen. Jay Raymond, speaking by video at a conference in Seoul, said a "deeper partnership" is critical to ensure stable and peaceful use of the increasingly contested space domain. The Space Force signed an agreement with South Korea's air force in August to cooperate on military space activities. While speakers from the U.S. at the conference largely focused their presentations on how to strengthen the Space Force's capabilities, Korean speakers discussed policies and regulations that will help bolster the nation's space power and industry. (10/19)

Polish Consortium Plans Imaging Nanosatellites (Source: Space News)
A Polish industry consortium will develop three imaging nanosatellites for the Polish armed forces. Poland's leading privately-owned space industry player, Creotech Instruments, was commissioned to build the three nanosats called Polish Imaging Satellites (PIAST) in cooperation with the project's leader, the country’s Military University of Technology. The PIAST satellites will launch in 2024 and provide imagery at a resolution of five meters. (10/19)

NASA Picks Gamma Ray Telescope for SMEX (Source: Space News)
NASA picked a gamma-ray telescope for its next small astrophysics mission. NASA said Monday that it selected the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) spacecraft as its next small Explorer, or SMEX, mission. The $145 million spacecraft, slated to launch in 2025, will observe gamma-ray emissions in the galaxy to study the formation of elements and sources of antimatter. (10/19)

Close Call for ESA Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (Source: ESA)
ESA's Integral observatory was within hours of being lost in September. One of three reaction wheels shut down unexpectedly Sep. 27, causing the gamma-ray space telescope to start spinning. Controllers had three hours to correct the problem before the spacecraft drained its batteries. They were able to first shut down systems to reduce power consumption, buying more time, then used the reaction wheels to stop the spinning. By Oct. 1, science operations of the nearly 20-year-old spacecraft had resumed. (10/19)

Australia Plans Lunar Rover to Help NASA Find Oxygen on Moon (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Australia has agreed to build a 20-kilogram (44-pound) semi-autonomous lunar rover for NASA to take to the moon as early as 2026 in search of oxygen. The rover would collect soil that contains oxides and NASA would use separate equipment to extract oxygen from that soil, a government statement said. Oxygen extracted from the lunar surface would ultimately be used to sustain a human presence on the moon and support future missions to Mars. (10/18)

Scientists Suggest Hitching a Ride on a Centaur to Study Comet Process (Source: Space Daily)
Deep in the solar system, between Jupiter and Neptune, lurk thousands of small chunks of ice and rock. Occasionally, one of them will bump into Jupiter's orbit, get caught and flung into the inner solar system-towards the sun, and us. This is thought to be the source of many of the comets that eventually pass Earth. A new study lays out the dynamics of this little-understood system. Among the findings: it would be doable for a spacecraft to fly to Jupiter, wait in Jupiter's orbit until one of these objects gets caught in the planet's gravity well, and hitch a ride with the object to watch it become a comet in real time.

Between Jupiter and Neptune, there lurks another, lesser-known population of objects called the centaurs (named after the mythical hybrid creatures due to their classification halfway between asteroids and comets). Space agencies, the scientists said, could send a spacecraft to Jupiter and have it sit in orbit until a centaur bumps into Jupiter's orbit. Then the spacecraft could hitch a ride alongside the centaur as it heads toward the sun, taking measurements all the way as it transforms into a comet. This is a beautiful but destructive process: A comet's beautiful tail is produced as its ice burns off as the temperature rises. (10/18)

SpaceX’s First Orbital Starship Launch Slips to March 2022 in NASA Document (Source: Teslarati)
A NASA document discussing a group’s plans to document SpaceX’s first orbital-velocity Starship reentry appears to suggest that the next-generation rocket’s orbital launch debut has slipped several months into 2022. In March 2021, CEO Elon Musk confirmed a report that SpaceX was working towards a target of July 2021 for Starship’s first orbital launch attempt.

SpaceX built five Starship prototypes practically from scratch in roughly eight months and then completed five test flights in less than five months – all of which were largely successful.

Combined with recent developments in the FAA’s Boca Chica environmental review process, the odds of SpaceX attempting the first orbital Starship launch by the end of 2021 have rapidly dropped from decent to near-zero. From a technical perspective, it seems likely that SpaceX could still be ready for an orbital launch attempt just a few months from now. From a regulatory perspective, though, it would be practically unprecedented for the FAA to complete a favorable environmental review and approve even a one-off orbital Starship launch license in ~10 weeks. (10/18)

The Artemis Accords After One Year of International Progress (Source: Space Review)
One year ago, the United States and seven other countries signed the Artemis Accords, outlining principles for space exploration. Paul Stimers and Audrey Jammes review the progress since then getting more countries to sign the Accords and explore the document’s long-term prospects. Click here. (10/18)
 
The Normalization of Space Tourism (Source: Space Review)
Blue Origin’s latest suborbital spaceflight, with Star Trek’s William Shatner and three others on board, was the fifth mission with private astronauts in three months. Jeff Foust reports that space tourism is starting to shift from exceptional even in the space community to something a little more normal. Click here. (10/18)
 
Black Uugliness and the Covering of Blue: William Shatner’s Suborbital Flight to “Death” (Source: Space Review)
When William Shatner returned from his brief suborbital spaceflight, he described the experience in a way few others have. Deana Weibel discusses how his comments differ from what we’ve come to expect from professional astronauts. Click here. (10/18)
 
The Indian Space Association Seeks to Broaden Commercial Interests (Source: Space Review)
Last week, Indian government and business leaders announced the formation of a new space industry group. Ajey Lele examines how it can support India’s push to commercialize the field. Click here. (10/18)
 
Grimes and Space Communes (Source: Space Review)
When Elon Musk talks about human settlement of Mars, people take him seriously. Layla Martin wonders why we shouldn’t take his former partner seriously when she offers her own vision of space. Click here. (10/18)

How a Nuclear Bomb Could Save Earth From a Stealthy Asteroid (Source: New York Times)
An atomic blast is not the preferred solution for planetary defense, but 3-D models are helping scientists prepare for a worst-case scenario. But would it work? Their focus is on relatively small asteroids, those about the size of football stadiums, notable for their abundance as well as their ability to evade asteroid-hunting observatories. “Those are the ones that we tend to worry more about because they could come out of nowhere,” said Megan Bruck Syal, a planetary defense researcher at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Such a diminutive asteroid may not sound like much of a danger compared to the 6.2-mile colossus that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago with apocalyptic results. But a meteor that exploded over Siberia back in 1908 was only about 200 feet across — and the blast’s shock wave leveled 800 square miles of forest. “That’s the size of the whole Washington D.C. metro area,” said Dr. Bruck Syal.

Using high-fidelity simulations, scientists reported in a study published earlier this month that a stealthy asteroid as long as 330 feet could be annihilated by a one-megaton nuclear device, with 99.9 percent of its mass being blasted out of Earth’s way, if the asteroid is attacked at least two months before impact. Using a nuclear blast to obliterate an interplanetary interloper “will always be the last resort,” said Patrick Michel. But if we are short on time, it may be our only hope. (10/18)

A Chinese-Russian Moon Base? Not So Fast (Source: Foreign Policy)
In June, China and Russia unveiled a road map for a plan for a joint moon base dubbed the International Lunar Research Station, the latest example of burgeoning Sino-Russian cooperation and a direct challenge to the United States’ own plan for a moon base. “More than six decades ago, brave men began their exploration of the moon.” the Chinese-Russian announcement video said. “This time we come with greater courage, stronger determination, and more ambitious goals.”

The plan is stunning in its ambition—a multidecade, multilateral effort consisting of 14 missions and culminating in a potential manned base—making it the largest cooperative project between China and Russia in space. This effort follows a trend of increased Sino-Russian cooperation in economic, military, and diplomatic spheres. To Americans, it is a challenge: The two primary U.S. adversaries are collaborating on a high-tech endeavor in an attempt to outmatch NASA’s lunar base plans—part of the Artemis program—and wrest leadership in space exploration away from the United States.

The Sino-Russian lunar base and the Artemis program both aim to recruit a global coalition of states to construct a lunar research base on the moon’s south pole. Beyond science and exploration, these efforts are about national prestige, spurring new technologies and industry, experimenting with resource extraction, and setting the groundwork for other missions to the moon and to Mars. (10/17)

China Claims Purported Hypersonic Missile Test Was a Reusable Space Vehicle (Source: BBC)
China has denied reports that it tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile earlier this year, insisting instead that it was a routine spacecraft check. The initial report prompted concern in Washington, where US intelligence was reportedly caught by surprise. On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing that a routine test had been carried out in July to verify different types of reusable spacecraft technology. "This was not a missile, this was a spacecraft," he said. "This is of great significance for reducing the cost of spacecraft use." (10/18)

New Zealand Law Review Sparks More Debate About Military Payloads (Source: Stuff)
A review of the Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities Act that regulates launches and payloads received only 17 responses last month, but consultation on the “peaceful, sustainable and responsible” use of space, delayed until next year because of Covid-19, is likely to get a much more heated reception. Peace groups, the Green Party and members of the Māhia community have already been vocal about their opposition to Rocket Lab’s military work in the wake of the controversial Gunsmoke-J satellite it launched for the United States Army Space and Missile Defence Command.

The Outer Space and High-Altitude Activities Act outlaws payloads that contribute to nuclear weapons programmes or capabilities, harm, interfere with or destroy other spacecraft or systems on earth; support or enable specific defence, security or intelligence operations that are contrary to government policy, or are likely to cause serious or irreversible harm to the environment. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash has veto powers, and by the end of June, he had signed off on 79 payload permits after taking expert advice from the New Zealand Space Agency (part of MBIE), other government agencies, and consulting the security minister. (10/17)

Results From Perseverance Mission Show Evidence of Flash Floods on Mars (Source: Los Alamos)
New images from the Perseverance mission show evidence of delta and flood deposits in Jezero Crater on Mars, indicating that there were massive flash floods as well as periods of stability on the Red Planet. The deltas are an ideal place to search for signs of ancient life. “These images show large boulders that have been washed down the river. They could have only been moved by powerful flood waters,” said Roger Wiens. “The location of the boulders also tells us that the lake was not full at the time of the flash floods, indicating fluctuating water levels. This could mean Mars experienced changes in climate over time.” (10/11)

Simmer Down, Sulu, Stop Hatin' on My Spaceflight! (Source: TMZ)
George Takei thinks his good "Star Trek" buddy, William Shatner, is just an old-timer who played lab rat for Jeff Bezos' latest jaunt to space ... but Captain Kirk's not having it. Bill fired back over a reported comment Takei made this week, following his costar's ascent above the Karman Line ... where he hung out in zero gravity for a few minutes before coming back down in Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket ship. (10/16)

Rocket Lab Reschedules BlackSky Mission (Source: LA Business Journal)
Long Beach-based Rocket Lab USA Inc. has scheduled two dedicated launches for Seattle-based BlackSky Global in November, the company announced Oct. 11. A two-week window is planned for the first launch — from Nov. 11 to Nov. 24 —when its Electron rocket will deploy two satellites into low-Earth orbit. The company aims to deploy two more satellites in the second launch for the mission after Nov. 27. Both launches are scheduled to take place at the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula. (10/18)

Collision Risks in Outer Space due to Mega-Constellations (Source: ORF)
Mega-constellations are composed of several hundreds of highly networked satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), and they are fundamental in providing uninterrupted communication through networks across the globe, enabling internet access even in remote areas. The space industry has shown great interest in mega-constellations due to their expected high return on capital invested.

SpaceX, via its Starlink satellite internet constellations, has already launched 60 satellites into low earth orbit  in May 2021. It plans to launch thousands more in the coming years as part of its mega-constellation project. OneWeb, Amazon, and several other private space companies have similar ambitions.

Unregulated launches of mega-constellations, however, make low Earth orbit too crowded to function safely and securely. Such congestion increases the risk of collision, such as with other active satellites, untracked debris, and meteoroids. Even a single collision in outer space can cause significant cascade effects, creating future collisions, as ‘collisions give rise to more debris and lead to more collisions’. (10/18)

A Trip to Space May Be Just the Thing for VP Kamala Harris (Source: Boston Herald)
Vice President Kamala Harris should have boldly rocketed into space with Captain Kirk. That would have shut her critics up. It also would have helped turn her sagging image around. And if a 90-year-old actor can make the flight, so could a 56-year-old vice president. Maybe even a 78-year-old president, although some critics might argue that he is already lost in space.

Upon landing in the West Texas desert, instead of the West Wing of the White House — after her historic flight Wednesday aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket — Harris could have talked about space with real high school students. After all, she would have been the first vice president — let alone the first female vice president — to have rocketed into space. Upon disembarking in her snazzy space suit, she could have said to the press, “America is back, baby, and so am I.” (10/18)

ISRO Chief Says India Will Allow Private Companies To Invest In Space Sector (Source: India Times)
India is taking another look at its existing policies while also framing new ones pertaining to the participation of private players in the Indian space sector. This is according to Dr K Sivan, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization and Secretary Department of Space, Government of India, who revealed this at the Indian Pavilion of Expo 2020 Dubai. According to Sivan, recent changes in the Indian space sector has highlighted how the role of the private sector has transitioned from being just suppliers to actual partners in the overall journey. (10/18)