October 20, 2021

Disappointment With Commerce and NOAA at Lack of Space Traffic Management Progress (Source: Space News)
Senate appropriators, frustrated with the lack of progress on civil space traffic management, are threatening to withhold funding from part of NOAA. In a report accompanying its commerce, justice and science spending bill for fiscal year 2022, appropriators offered $20 million for the Office of Space Commerce, double its 2021 budget, primarily to work on civil STM. Appropriators said they were "extremely disappointed" with the progress made by the Office of Space Commerce, located within NOAA, with the funds allocated for 2021.

The report calls for NOAA to submit a five-year plan for the office, withholding a quarter of the funding allocated for "executive leadership" at NOAA until the report is delivered. Those provisions will have to be negotiated with the House version of the spending bill, which provides $10 million for the office and does not include the threat to withhold funding. (10/20)

Humidity Caused Corrosion of Starliner Capsule Valves, Boeing, NASA Say (Source: Space Daily)
Humid Florida air may have caused valves to stick in Boeing's Starliner space capsule during preparation for a test launch Aug. 3, causing further delay in NASA's astronaut launch program, the company and NASA announced Tuesday. A nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer interacted with humidity to corrode at least 13 of 24 valves, said Michelle Parker, Boeing chief engineer for space and launch systems.

"It was a humid time of year, in August," Parker said. "We had looked at the humidity, and we've physically seen some evidence of condensation within the service module." Tests after the Aug. 3 scrub managed to free nine of those stuck valves using electric pulses or heat, Parker said. But the company still isn't certain of the root cause, and has sent two valves to NASA facilities for further tests. The capsule, already four years behind schedule at a development cost of $4.6 billion. (10/20)

NASA Confident Boeing Will Persevere with CST-100 (Source: Space News)
NASA says it remains confident in Boeing's ability to complete its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle despite lengthy delays. NASA and Boeing officials said Tuesday they're continuing to study the stuck valve issue that delayed the uncrewed OFT-2 test flight in August, with that mission now expected to launch some time in the first half of next year. The leading explanation for the valve problem is humidity interacting with nitrogen tetroxide propellant to create nitric acid that corroded the valves. NASA's commercial crew program manager said he had "every confidence that Boeing will be flying crew soon" and Boeing executives said they were "100% committed" to completing their NASA contract. (10/20)

Space Systems Overlooked as 'Critical Infrastructure' by DHS (Source: Space News)
Space systems are not as protected as they should be from cyberattacks because they are not considered "critical infrastructure." The Department of Homeland Security identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors, such as chemical industries, healthcare, defense and financial services, but space is not among them. Industry officials said at a conference Tuesday that space should be designated as critical infrastructure in order to provide it with more resources for cybersecurity. Even once that designation is made, though, a lot of work will be needed to coordinate government and private sector cybersecurity efforts as all networks are interconnected. (10/20)

LeoLabs Adds Satellite/Debris Tracking Radars in Australia (Source: Space News)
LeoLabs will build two tracking radars in western Australia. The company announced Tuesday that it will build the phased-array radars, used to track satellites and debris in low Earth orbit, to improve its coverage in the Southern Hemisphere as well as coverage of launches from Asia. The company currently operates radars in Alaska, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Texas, and announced plans this summer to place radars in the Azores. LeoLabs expects to eventually deploy radars at 24 locations around the world. (10/20)

Kleos Orders Four RF Reconnaissance Satellites From Innovative Solutions (Source: Space News)
Kleos Space has ordered four more radio-frequency (RF) reconnaissance satellites. The Luxembourg-based startup said it ordered the satellites from Dutch company Innovative Solutions in Space, which will be launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission in mid-2022 brokered by Spaceflight. Kleos Space has plans for as many as 20 clusters of satellites, designed to detect and geolocate RF transmissions for applications ranging from combating piracy and people smuggling to illegal fishing. (10/20)
 
Germany's ExoLaunch Expands in US (Source: Space News)
German launch services provider Exolaunch is expanding to the United States. The company has opened a U.S. headquarters in Denver as well as a Washington office for government affairs. Exolaunch has booked satellites on the three to four Transporter missions SpaceX has scheduled for 2022, and also plans to use Soyuz rockets and emerging small launch vehicles in Germany. Opening a U.S. office gives the company an opportunity to secure U.S. government customers, as well as broaden its potential investor base and funding options. (10/20)

Rocket Lab Ready for First Stage Recovery (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab says it will attempt to recover the Electron first stage on its next launch. The recovery will be the third time the company has retrieved the stage after splashing down in the ocean as part of its efforts to make the first stage reusable. On this launch, scheduled for no earlier than Nov. 11, a helicopter will observe the recovery. Rocket Lab ultimately plans to have the helicopter capture the descending stage in mid-air, but will not attempt to do so on this mission. (10/20)

NASA Plans Lucy Solar Array Fix (Source: NASA)
NASA says it will make another attempt as soon as late next week to fully deploy a solar panel on the Lucy spacecraft. In an update late Tuesday, the agency said one of the two arrays appears to be partially deployed but is generating nearly all its expected power. The other array is fully deployed and latched in place. A second attempt to fully deploy the array is scheduled for no earlier than late next week. Other systems on the spacecraft are working well, but controllers have postponed the deployment of its instrument platform to focus on the solar array issue. (10/20)

Israel and UAE to Cooperate in Space (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to cooperate on space missions. The two countries signed a cooperative agreement that will include a role for the UAE on the Beresheet 2 lunar lander being developed in Israel. The two countries will also work together on data analysis from an Earth science satellite called Venus launched in 2017 as a joint project of France and Israel. (10/20)

UN Space Chief Supports Space Tourism (Source: The National)
The director of the UN's Office of Outer Space Affairs says she supports space tourism. Simonetta Di Pippo, attending Expo 2020 Dubai, said that space tourism flights that give more people the opportunity to experience space "can also help in policy and decision-making processes towards supporting space." Her comments stand in contrast to UN Secretary General António Guterres, who criticized "billionaires joyriding to space" in a speech last month. (10/20)

NASA Renames Ellington Spaceport Hangar to Honor John Young (Source: CollectSpace)
NASA has renamed a hangar in Houston after the late astronaut John Young. The Capt. John Young Hangar at Ellington Airport, near the Johnson Space Center, is where NASA maintains its fleet of T-38 aircraft used for training by NASA astronauts. NASA renamed the former Hangar 276 after Young in a ceremony Tuesday. Young, who died in 2018, flew on Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle missions, including walking on the moon on Apollo 16 and commanding the first Shuttle mission. (10/20)

Scottish Space Strategy Launched (Source: AstroAgency)
A new strategy to secure a £4 billion share of the global space market for the Scottish economy has been published. The Scottish Space Strategy sets out plans to develop a network of satellite launch sites, pursue green technologies and build on existing strengths in data analysis and research. A collaboration between the Scottish Government and its enterprise agencies, industry group Space Scotland and the Scottish Space Academic Forum, its main aims include:

1) Positioning Scotland as a global leader for commercial space developments; 2) Establishing a range of managed launch and orbital services, supporting the largest launch capability in Europe; 3) Developing a world-leading environmental strategy for Scotland’s space industry, from reducing emissions to supporting the use of satellite data for environmental monitoring; and 4) Building Scotland’s international economic opportunities through increased exports and target inward investment to plug critical gaps in capability. (10/20)

Morgan Stanley Says SpaceX’s Starship May ‘Transform Investor Expectations’ About Space (Source: CNBC)
The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX has hit $100 billion, and Morgan Stanley believes the Starship rockets the venture is developing will have wide-reaching implications. “This technological development has the potential to transform investor expectations around the space industry,” the firm said. In Morgan Stanley’s view, Musk’s company has created a “double flywheel” of technology with its reusable rockets and Starlink internet satellites. (10/19)

Fashion, Media, Business Career Options in Space are Limitless (Source: Gulf News)
Did you know? We have baby food thanks to space technology. Apparently supplements and formulated food, all come from space. Shelli Brunswick, Chief Operation Officer of Space Foundation’s gentle reminder to take vitamins is more than trivia – it is the future of a burgeoning space economy that has brought us our Zoom calls, remote schooling, virtual doctor’s appointment and card transactions. We certainly don’t think about the 24 GPS satellites in orbit when we fire up our navigation app before a drive.

But we should, insists Brunswick in an interview with Gulf News at Expo 2020 Dubai’s Space Week – because in the next 10 years, the global space industry will be valued at $1 trillion. Currently 80 per cent of that economy in the US is commercial, inclusive of Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX. If the space-developed GPS had not been opened to the public in the 1980s, we would be missing out on life’s most convenient inventions and jobs.

Career options in space are as limitless and diverse as the interstellar expanse itself. Think SpaceX and its one-piece white space suits reminiscent of superhero franchises. Musk hired Hollywood costume designer Jose Fernandez to bring some of that coolness beyond Earth, giving astronauts a refreshing makeover even in zero gravity. (10/20)

The Hyper-Costly Space Race (Source: GCAC)
It’s a space race that escapes the attention of many, but one that involves the Gulf Coast thanks to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The race is not only between countries, but also between companies as well as separate programs. And it’s also a program that needs to find a way to lower costs, according to the Pentagon. The goal is the creation and deployment of hypersonic missiles that are far more capable than the current mature systems.

In the new arms race for hypersonic weapons, China and Russia have already deployed several types of hypersonic missiles and the U.S. is testing several. But the significance of testing an air-breathing hypersonic weapon, as the U.S. is doing, represents a much more advanced capability than that offered by most existing hypersonic weapons.

The high cost was obvious last month when Future Hypersonics at Eglin Air Force Base awarded nearly $95 million in contracts to Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE). SCIFiRE seeks to develop full-size prototype scramjet hypersonic missiles, which may involve coproduction in Australia and the US. They have been collaborating on hypersonics for 15 years through the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) program. (10/20)

Stennis Testing Helps Commercial Space Companies (Source: GCAC)
The recent completion of a thrust chamber test at Stennis Space Center is the latest example of the Gulf Coast’s crucial role in commercial space efforts. In late August, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based satellite launch company Launcher completed a thrust chamber assembly hot fire test. For two years the company has partnered with Stennis Space Center to conduct testing for its 3D-printed Engine-2 (E-2).

Launcher is developing the 22,000-pound-thrust engine. The company is just one startup competing in the small satellite launcher class of rockets. With information collected from its SSC tests, the company is seeking to develop the world’s most efficient rocket capable of delivering small satellites to orbit. Virgin Orbit has also used the thrust chamber assembly. The Virgin Orbit thrust chamber assembly had a 75,000-pound force. The objective with the Virgin Orbit was to test different propellant injector configurations to determine which will maximize performance and efficiency.

Another company benefiting from the valuable test facilities at SSC is Relativity Space, a Los Angeles-based startup developing small launch vehicles using additive manufacturing technologies. It entered an agreement with SSC that authorizes the startup to use one of SSC's test stands exclusively. (10/20)

Satellite Control Hackathon Planned at Space Tech Expo (Source: Leanspace)
Leanspace, ClearSpace, the International Astronautical Federation and International Space University announced a hackathon at the Space Tech Expo Europe. Participants will be tasked with building a satellite control center with Leanspace for the Cleaspace-1 debris-capture mission. Prizes include scholarships, internships and a trip to see progress on Clearspace-1. (10/20)

L3Harris Wins NASA Contract for Satellite Forecasting Project for Hurricanes, Other Weather (Source: Florida Today)
L3Harris Technologies Inc. has been selected by NASA to work on new technology designed to significantly improve the accuracy and timeliness of U.S. forecasting of hurricanes and other severe weather. The Melbourne-based company will test and evaluate an advanced concept for satellite weather sensors ­— called "sounders" — that measure temperature and water vapor for NOAA. The weather prediction modeling study begins this month.

Rob Mitrevski, vice president and general manager of spectral solutions for L3Harris Space and Airborne Systems, said the technology L3Harris is working on is important in helping improve the accuracy of weather forecasting. "Sounders help get ahead of that severe weather," Mitrevski said. Mitrevski said the current sounder development contract is valued at $8 million, and the production contract will be valued at "much more" than that. (10/18)

Senate Appropriations Proposes $500 Million Extra for Space Force in 2022 (Source: Air Force Magazine)
The Senate Appropriations Committee released its version of the 2022 Department of Defense Appropriations Act on Oct. 18, as lawmakers look to provide the Pentagon with its annual budget before the current continuing resolution funding the government expires Dec. 3. The $725.8 billion bill would raise DOD spending above the total proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration back in May and put it in line with similar increases included in the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the full House.

While the NDAA authorizes the funds for the Defense Department, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act actually appropriates the money. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee reported its version of the bill, which kept spending in line with the administration’s request, back in July, but the entire chamber has not proceeded with a vote on it. The Senate panel’s version, meanwhile, adds spending across four main priorities. (10/18)

DOD, NASA, GSA Consider Adding Climate Factors to Acquisition Rules (Sourcde: GovConWire)
The Pentagon, General Services Administration and NASA are seeking input on how the Federal Acquisition Regulation could quantitatively and qualitatively contemplate greenhouse gas emissions during the procurement decision-making process. The goal is to reduce climate-related financial risk when developing solutions. (10/18)

SpaceX Uses Robot Dog to iInspect Starship After First Engine Test in Months (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX’s first orbital-class Starship prototype has survived the first of several expected Raptor tests, kicking off an engine test campaign that could mark a number of new milestones. With just 20 minutes left in a seven-hour test window, Starship prototype S20 (Ship 20) appeared to either unsuccessfully attempt its first Raptor static fire test or complete its first intentional Raptor preburner test on Monday. Rather than a violent jolt and roar kicking up a cloud of dust, Ship 20 came to life with a (relatively) gentle fireball that lasted for several seconds.

SpaceX took advantage of one of at least two Boston Dynamics Spot robots on-site to physically walk a camera up to the active pad and inspect several secondary fires. Ultimately, SpaceX appears to have successfully safed Starship with no damage to the vehicle itself, but odds are good that the sources of those secondary fires will need to be fixed and any pad damage repaired before Ship 20 proceeds into static fire testing. (10/19)

India's Skyroot Plans to Raise $40 Million, Double Workforce to 180 Next Year (Source: Free Press Journal)
Skyroot Aerospace is gearing up to raise $40 million next year to support its growth and satellite launch solutions in 2022. Founded in 2018 by former ISRO rocket scientists, the company is planning to double its workforce by next year and has started hiring people for middle to senior-level positions.

''We are providing the lowest cost solution per kilogram for small launches. We are seeing a good amount of interest and hence building a solution to align with satellite launches planned in 2022. Our target is to raise $40 million next year to support our growth and launches,'' Skyroot CEO and co-founder Pawan Kumar Chandana told PTI. (10/19)

Resignation Follows NASA Rejection of James Webb Space Telescope Renaming (Source: AL.com)
A NASA adviser has resigned after the space agency denied their request to rename the James Webb Space Telescope. Lucianne Walkowick, a member of NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee who identifies as non-binary, wrote in an open letter the agency’s handling of the matter “made a farce” of the committee and its work.

Walkowick was one of more than a thousand people – including two professors at the University of Alabama – who signed a petition to rename the $10 billion space telescope over concerns regarding Webb’s tenure as U.S. Undersecretary of State during the dismissal of gay and lesbian federal employees in the 1940s and ‘50s. Webb served as NASA Secretary from February 1961 to October 1968 and is credited with being instrumental in the Apollo moon program. (10/18)

Black Holes Belch Out Intergalactic Smoke (Source: Cosmos)
Astronomers have just watched the evolution of streamers of gas around an active black hole – and they look a bit like the smoke produced by a volcanic eruption. The team used the ultra-sensitive Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) in the Netherlands, as well as the Spektr-RG space observatory, to study a system of 20 galaxies called Nest200047, 200 million light-years away. One of these galaxies has an active black hole at its heart, which produces radio jets that in turn create bubbles and other structures in the surrounding gas. (10/19)

UK Spaceports and Launchers Gearing Up for First Flights (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
In recent months, the United Kingdom’s endeavor to tap into a rapidly-growing market of commercial spaceflight has become a firm prospect. To achieve this, spaceports and aerospace companies are clearing major hurdles in order to begin orbital launches as soon as next year — as several projects are vying to provide an unprecedented orbital launch capability from British soil. Click here. (10/18)

Satellites Reveal the Secrets of Water-Guzzling Farms in California (Source: NPR)
In a new push to stop further depletion of California's shrinking aquifers, state regulators are turning to technology once used to count Soviet missile silos during the Cold War: satellites. Historically, California's farmers could pump as much as they wanted from their wells. But as a consequence of that unrestricted use, the underground water table has sunk by hundreds of feet in some areas, and the state is now trying to stabilize those aquifers.

Regulators need to calculate just how much water each farmer is using across California's vast agricultural lands, and scientists and private companies are now offering a technique that uses images from orbiting satellites. "The days of agricultural anonymity are over," says Joel Kimmelshue, co-founder of the company Land IQ, which is helping to hone the technique. Water surveillance got a big boost when California passed a law in 2014 that aims to protect the state's aquifers. It places limits on the amount of water that farmers are allowed to pump.

Researchers had developed a way to estimate the amount of water used by agricultural crops from satellite images. Land IQ was using that same technique — supplemented with stations on the ground — to collect data on field-by-field water use. Figuring out which crops are growing on each field is one step. The satellite images contain clues: the shade of green, the spacing of vegetation, the time of year the field turns green. Combining those clues produces a fingerprint of each crop. "We have a fingerprint for walnuts and a fingerprint for alfalfa, tomatoes and all these different crops." (10/18)

China's Longest-Yet Crewed Space Mission Impressive, Expert Says (Source: Space Daily)
China's Shenzhou XIII crewed spaceship successfully docked with the port of the space station core module Tianhe on Saturday, a move overseas experts have called another "key step" forward in China's space exploration. Three Chinese astronauts aboard the Shenzhou XIII will stay in orbit for six months, making China's longest yet crewed mission for space station construction. Denis Simon, executive director of the Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law, told Xinhua that China's success in space continues to be impressive. (10/19)

SpaceX Starship Proposal Draws Vocal Public Ssupport, Some Criticism in FAA Hearing (Source: C/Net)
Dozens of people had the chance Monday to let the US government know how they feel about SpaceX's plan to begin orbital flights of Starship from "Starbase," the company's launch site in Boca Chica, Texas. A majority of the public comments given during an online hearing held on Zoom by the FAA were in support of the development of Elon Musk's next-generation space vehicle, which NASA plans to use in its Artemis program to return astronauts to the surface of the moon.

Many spoke not just of admiration for SpaceX, Musk and their rockets but also pointed to the benefits of decades of space exploration up to the present day, including new technologies like GPS and satellite connectivity. "Some piping plovers may have to move but there are always trade-offs," Dan Elton said in his statement supporting SpaceX. The final comment of the night came from Jessica Tetreau, a city commissioner for the neighboring Texas city of Brownsville, who said the company's presence has led to a complete reversal of fortune for a town long beset by poverty and economic stagnation. (10/18)

Brazil, Germany Collaborate on Rocket Project (Source: Space Daily)
On Oct. 1, an S50 solid-propellant rocket motor, which will form the first two stages of the new VLM-1 launch vehicle, successfully completed a static firing test in Brazil. The test was conducted by an engineering team from the Aeronautics and Space Institute, which is headquartered in Sao Jose dos Campos, on behalf of the Brazilian Air Force, and the Brazilian Department of Aerospace Science and Technology.

The S50 is the largest rocket motor ever manufactured in Brazil, with 12 tonnes of solid propellant, and employs innovative technologies such as the use of carbon-fibre-reinforced composites for the engine casing, which makes it lighter and more efficient. The first launch with an S50 is planned for 2023 from the Alcantara Space Center

As part of the long-standing cooperation between Brazil and the German Aerospace Center, the rocket motor that has now been tested will also be used for a new European sounding rocket. This will significantly improve the range of services available in the field of suborbital launchers. (10/18)