October 21, 2021

Artemis 1 Orion Joins SLS to Complete Vehicle Stack (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The Orion spacecraft that will fly to the Moon on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was lifted atop its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on October 20, completing major assembly of the full vehicle stack. Integrated operations team members from the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program and prime launch processing contractor Jacobs received the spacecraft in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) early the day before on October 19, hooked up a heavy lift crane, and moved Orion up and over from High Bay 4 to High Bay 3, where the SLS stands on its Mobile Launcher. (10/21)

Rover Images Confirm Jezero Crater is an Ancient Martian Lake (Source: Big Think)
The first scientific analysis of images taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover has now confirmed that Mars’ Jezero crater — which today is a dry, wind-eroded depression — was once a quiet lake, fed steadily by a small river some 3.7 billion years ago. The images also reveal evidence that the crater endured flash floods. This flooding was energetic enough to sweep up large boulders from tens of miles upstream and deposit them into the lakebed, where the massive rocks lie today. (10/21)

NASA Gets a Third Proposal for a New Private Space Station (Source: Bloomberg)
The commercial real estate market in low-Earth orbit is heating up as Voyager Space Holdings Inc.’s Nanoracks plans a new private space station to help replace NASA’s existing orbital laboratory. The planned Starlab station from Nanoracks will serve government and private customers. It’s at least the third such project announced to date, following commercial station plans by Axiom Space Inc. and Sierra Space. (10/21)

Astra Gets Approval to Expand California Rocket Manufacturing (Source: Alameda Sun)
On Oct. 11, the Planning Board approved Astra Space Inc.’s application for an approximately 14-acre conditional-use permit for rocket research and development, light manufacturing, and indoor rocket engine testing at the former site of the U.S. Naval Air Station. The permit will allow Astra to bring hundreds of new jobs to Alameda, including engineering, technology, and skilled labor employment. City staff believes that Astra could attract similar high-technology businesses to invest in Alameda Point and help the City grow its employment base. (10/19)

Former Astra Chief Engineer Joins Phantom Space (Source: Quartz)
Despite dozens of companies spending hundreds of millions of dollars to develop small satellite launchers in recent years, only two—Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit—have put any birds on orbit. In recent months, we’ve seen launch attempts by strongly backed companies like Astra and Firefly go awry. Other competitors, like Relativity Space and ABL Space Systems, have yet to make it to the launch pad.

Chris Thompson knows more about building rockets than most people; after fifteen years at Boeing’s space division, he was one of the earliest employees at SpaceX, where he helped develop the company’s rockets, and later worked at Virgin Galactic. After three years as Astra’s chief engineer, Thompson left the company last month. Now he will be the chief technical officer at Phantom Space, a firm founded to build small rockets, and a direct competitor of Astra. (10/21)

Phantom Space Outsources Propulsion (Source: Quartz)
Phantom Space has its own unusual history. It was founded by Jim Cantrell, another veteran of the private space world who was an early advisor to Elon Musk. Cantrell founded his own rocket firm, Vector, but it went bankrupt in 2019 after its key backer, the venture fund Sequoia, pulled out following test and production delays. Now, Cantrell says his new firm has raised enough money to build four demonstration rockets that it will launch by 2023. And, he says, the bruises of his previous failure have taught him important lessons about cost discipline.

Cantrell says that he sees his company mainly competing with Virgin Orbit and Astra, and that firms like Rocket Lab, Firefly, and Relativity Space, which aim to build larger rockets for bigger payloads, face more pressure from SpaceX, the leading private rocket builder. “The only secret to being successful in a small vehicle is production rate and flight rate,” he says. For Thompson, that means starting with a simple design and optimizing over time.

One key difference between Vector and Phantom Space is that the new firm has outsourced the production of its propulsion system, the most expensive and difficult part of any rocket. Vector foundered when its in-house rocket engine failed to deliver on time. Instead, Phantom is buying a propulsion system from Ursa Major, a company specializing in rocket engines. Astra, too, has found in-house propulsion work a challenge, and is reportedly purchasing rocket engines from its competitor, Firefly. (10/21)

Morgan Stanley Suggests SpaceX Can Make Musk the First Trillionaire (Source: Bloomberg)
A Wall Street firm thinks SpaceX will turn Elon Musk into the first trillionaire. A research note by Morgan Stanley this week argued that SpaceX's value will soar because of the combination of its space transportation business and its Starlink constellation. Musk is currently the world's wealthiest person, with an estimated net worth of $241 billion, but his stake in SpaceX accounts for only about one-sixth of that. The majority of his net worth comes from his shares in Tesla. (10/21)

Blue Origin Wants Piece of DoD Rocket Cargo Program (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin says it's interested in participating in a U.S. military "rocket cargo" program alongside SpaceX. A Blue Origin executive said the company is in discussions with U.S. Transportation Command for a cooperative agreement to study the use of rockets for rapid transportation of cargo around the world. The command issued an agreement to SpaceX last year to study such services. The agreements will inform a rocket cargo program established by the Space Force and Air Force Research Lab. The Air Force in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2022 is seeking $47.9 million to conduct studies and rocket cargo demonstrations. (10/21)

Branson Trails Bezos in Space Tourism, While Musk’s SpaceX is in a League of its Own (Source: CNBC)
2021 has been a whirlwind for private space tourism, with this week especially crucial for the ventures founded by Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson. While Bezos’ Blue Origin took a step forward in flying people on suborbital space trips, Branson’s Virgin Galactic took a step back – putting the latter company at least a year behind the former in the niche market. Elon Musk’s SpaceX also launched four non-professional astronauts on the private Inspiration4 mission in September, although that mission notably spent three days in orbit, rather than just flying to the edge of space.

Today’s reality does not match the perception of the space tourism race presented just a few months ago, when Branson in July flew successfully to space with Virgin Galactic just nine days before Bezos launched with Blue Origin. At the time, the dueling spaceflights made it seem like the companies were neck-and-neck. Yet, three months later, Blue Origin has flown its second and third customers on its New Shepard rocket, while Virgin Galactic has yet to launch one of the about 600 people who have reservations for tickets on future flights. (10/20)

South Korea Launches Own Space Rocket for the First Time (Source: Space Daily)
South Korea launched its first domestically developed space rocket on Thursday, carrying a 1.5-tonne payload into orbit it seeks to join the ranks of advanced space-faring nations. The Korea Space Launch Vehicle II, informally called Nuri, rose upwards from the launch site in Goheung trailing a column of flame. The three-stage rocket was to deploy a dummy satellite cargo. (10/21)

South Korean Rocket Fails to Deposit Dummy Payload (Source: Space News)
South Korea's first KSLV-2 rocket failed to place its payload int orbit after launch Thursday. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the payload failed to reach orbit, calling the launch nonetheless a "great achievement." The rocket's third stage shut down 46 seconds early, preventing the payload from reaching orbital velocity. South Korea will make a second launch of the KSLV-2, capable of placing 1.5 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit, next May. (10/21)

NASA has Selected New Space Telescope Project to Study Milky Way's Evolution (Source: Space.com)
NASA has picked a new telescope to head into space, where it will peer out in search of the most powerful light emissions made in the universe. Radio, visible light and X-rays are all part of the electromagnetic spectrum. These waves vary in intensity, with gamma rays being the most energetic. The most violent and powerful events in the universe, like supernovas and neutron star mergers, produce gamma-ray bursts.

After several decades of scientific planning and several tiers of NASA concept reviews, the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) telescope is finally making its way to space. The $145 million mission is slated to launch sometime in 2025, according to the space agency's announcement on Monday. (10/20)

Crowded Orbits Pose New Security Threats (Source: Space News)
Cybersecurity threats are a growing concern for day-to-day life on Earth. As thousands of satellites are launched to orbit, are there new risks to consider in the skies above? The vast majority of smallsats crowding low Earth orbit are ill-prepared for increasingly sophisticated security threats, according to Rob Spicer of TriSept. TriSept moved into software development a couple years ago to address this, creating an operating system it plans to roll out in December to protect small and large satellites from known and emerging vulnerabilities.

Spicer said hackers could theoretically seize control of a spacecraft’s propulsion system and cause mayhem in a congested LEO environment. Just one satellite collision could be disastrous for the space industry, and the daily life it underpins on Earth. “Satellites are just as susceptible to ransomware and cyberattacks as Colonial Pipeline was earlier this year — when nearly half of the fuel supply was disrupted across the Southeastern U.S.,” Spicer warned.

Current satellite security solutions are prohibitively expensive for smallsat business models, Spicer said. Its TriSept Secure Embedded Linux (TSEL) software, currently in advanced lab tests and functional trials, aims to provide a low-cost solution for wider market adoption. Spicer said TSEL is coming to the market as improving in-orbit security becomes increasingly critical for the space industry and governments worldwide. (10/20)

NASA RFI Seeks More US Capabilities for ISS Crew Transport (Source: NASA)
NASA released a request for information from American industry capable of providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective human space transportation services to and from the ISS to ensure a continuous human presence aboard the microgravity laboratory. NASA is considering the acquisition of commercial crew space transportation services from one or more U.S. providers through commercial services contracts as the agency works to extend the life of the space station beyond 2024.

This would allow for a seamless transition to commercially operated, low-Earth orbit destinations and allow NASA to continue its vital scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to benefit life on Earth. “NASA has a need for additional crew rotation flights to the space station beyond the twelve missions the agency has awarded Boeing and SpaceX under the current contracts,” said Phil McAlister at NASA. “We want to maintain competition, provide assured access to space on U.S. human launch systems and continue to enable a low-Earth orbit economy.”

With the continued advancement on U.S. human spaceflight, NASA is soliciting information on the availability of existing agency certified crew systems and estimated timelines on the availability of future systems capable of accomplishing certification no later than 2027. Depending on mission requirements, NASA may purchase single seats, multiple seats within one mission, or an entire mission. (10/20)

U.S. Needs Nuclear Spacecraft to Compete with China, NASA Official Says (Source: Space Daily)
NASA and U.S. aerospace experts urged Congress on Wednesday to invest more quickly and heavily in development of nuclear-powered spacecraft Wednesday to stay ahead of such competitors as China. The space agency believes spacecraft powered by a nuclear thermal rocket reach Mars in just three to four months, which is about half the time required by traditional, liquid propellant rockets.

"Strategic competitors including China are aggressively investing in a wide range of space technologies, including nuclear power and propulsion," Bhavya Lal, NASA's senior advisor for budget and finance, said during a congressional committee hearing Wednesday morning. "The United States needs to move at a fast pace to stay competitive and to remain a leader in the global space community," Lal said. (10/20)

NASA Picks Winners of Deep Space Food Challenge (Source: Space Daily)
Variety, nutrition, and taste are some considerations when developing food for astronauts. For NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, students, chefs, small businesses, and others whipped up novel food technology designs to bring new solutions to the table. NASA has selected 18 U.S. teams to receive a total of $450,000 for ideas that could feed astronauts on future missions. Each team will receive $25,000. Additionally, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) jointly recognized 10 international submissions.

Editor's Note: Two Florida firms are among the 18 winners: Space Bread of Hawthorne (near Gainesville), and Kemel Deltech USA in Cape Canaveral. Click here for the full list. (10/21)

Rhea Space Activity Receives USAF Contract to Enhance Domain Awareness in Cislunar Space (Source: Space Daily)
Rhea Space Activity (RSA) has been selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) AFWERX program for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award to continue its effort in the development of an enhanced Lunar Intelligence (LUNINT) Dashboard in support of Space Domain Awareness (SDA).

The award marks an essential next-step for RSA's SDA program. During its recently completed Phase I effort, RSA worked directly with the United States Space Force (USSF) to identify potential national security issues emerging from hard-to-predict cislunar trajectories entering the Earth's geostationary belt. Throughout this next Phase II effort, RSA will further develop critical capabilities that will directly inform operational SDA needs. (10/21)

NASA Challenges Students to Design Moon-Digging Robots (Source: Space Daily)
NASA seeks young engineers to help design a new robot concept for an excavation mission on the Moon. The Lunabotics Junior Contest is open to K-12 students in U.S. public and private schools, as well as home-schoolers. The competition, which is a collaboration between NASA and Future Engineers, asks students to design a robot that digs and moves lunar soil, called regolith, from an area of the lunar South Pole to a holding container near where Artemis astronauts may explore in the future. (10/21)

NASA Defends Keeping JWST Name (Source: Space News)
NASA officials are defending a decision to keep former administrator James Webb's name attached to a space telescope. The agency said in a once-sentence statement last month that it found no evidence that Webb, either as NASA administrator in the 1960s or his earlier time at the State Department, was directly involved with purges or other discriminatory actions against LGBTQ employees. Some astronomers protested that decision because of a lack of details, and one member of the agency's Astrophysics Advisory Committee resigned in protest.

NASA's acting chief historian said at a meeting of that committee that the historical review found no evidence of any actions by Webb, but that the research would continue when historical archives, closed by the pandemic, reopen. The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch Dec. 18. (10/21)

Russian Progress Capsule Temporarily Disconnects From ISS (Source: NASA)
A Progress cargo spacecraft undocked from the ISS Wednesday evening, but will soon return. The Progress MS-17 spacecraft undocked from the station's Poisk module at 7:42 p.m. Eastern Wednesday and moved about 200 kilometers away from the station. It will approach the station and dock with the Nauka module at 12:23 a.m. Eastern Friday. The maneuver is intended to allow controllers to perform leak checks of propellant lines for Nauka's thrusters. (10/21)

Russian Military Launch Fails to Reach Proper Orbit, Satellite Reenters Over USA (Source: Space.com)
A Russian military satellite that apparently failed after launch reentered early Wednesday over the United States. The Cosmos 2551 spacecraft launched Sep. 9 but did not maneuver to raise its orbit, suggesting it suffered an unrecoverable malfunction. The spacecraft's orbit decayed, leading to a reentry around 12:43 a.m. Wednesday. A fireball seen by many from Tennessee to Michigan at that time corresponds to the last known orbit of the spacecraft. (10/21)

ESA Gets New Directors (Source: ESA)
ESA has selected three new directors. The agency said Thursday it named Simonetta Cheli as its new director of Earth observation, effective Jan. 1, and Francisco-Javier Benedicto Ruiz as its new director of navigation, effective Feb. 16. Cheli succeeds Josef Aschbacher, who became director general of ESA earlier this year, while Ruiz will succeed Paul Verhoef. ESA also named Géraldine Naja as its first director of commercialization, industry and procurement. She had been holding that post on an acting basis since it was established in May. (10/21)

Eutelsat Leader Steps Down (Source: Space News)
Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat, is stepping down. The company announced Wednesday that Belmer will resign at the beginning of 2022. He will become CEO of Atos, a French information technology and consulting company. Belmer has been at Eutelsat's helm since March 2016, spearheading its expansion into the connectivity market amid a gradual decline in broadcast revenues for the satellite industry. Eutelsat has not announced a successor to Belmer. (10/21)