November 10, 2021

SpinLaunch Tests Suborbital Accelerator at Spaceport America (Source: CNBC)
SpinLaunch, which is building an alternative method of launching spacecraft to orbit, last month conducted its first test flight of a prototype in New Mexico. The company is developing a launch system that uses kinetic energy as its primary method to get off the ground – with a vacuum-sealed centrifuge spinning the rocket at several times the speed of sound before releasing.

The vacuum chamber holds a rotating arm, which Jonathan Yaney said accelerates the projectile to high speed and then, “in less than a millisecond,” releases the vehicle for launch. The suborbital projectile is about 10 feet long, but “goes as fast as the orbital system needs, which is many thousands of miles an hour,” Yaney added. “We can essentially validate our aerodynamic models for what our orbital launch vehicles are going to be like and it allows us to try out new technologies when it comes to release mechanisms,” Yaney said.

SpinLaunch’s first suborbital flight utilized about 20% of the accelerator’s full power capacity for the launch, and reached a test altitude “in the tens of thousands of feet,” according to Yaney. The current SpinLaunch test schedule has the company conducting about 30 suborbital test flights over the next six to eight months from Spaceport America. The SpinLaunch design for its orbital vehicle would be able to carry about 200 kilograms of payload to orbit, equivalent to a few small satellites. (11/9)

Off-World Colony Simulation Reveals Challenges for Crew Communications, Emotional Well Being (Source: Space Daily)
With little chance of conducting a trial run in space, scientists have resorted to terrestrial experiments to see how astronauts cope with challenges of isolation from Earth, including lag times for communication. Researchers have published a paper revealing how the crews' communication with the outside world in these experiments not only diminished over time, but caused friction initially, and eventually resulted in cohesion.

"The crews in such missions tend to reduce their communication with mission control during isolation, sharing their needs and problems less and less," said Dr. Dmitry Shved, of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "The rare bursts of contacts were seen during important mission events. Also, there was a convergence of communication styles of all SIRIUS crew members, and an increase in crew cohesion in the course of their mission. This happened even though the crew composition was diverse by gender and also cultural background, with pronounced individual differences."

Among the different ways the crews' behavior was measured included the tracking of facial expressions and speech acoustic characteristics (intensity, frequency and variability of speech) from video recordings. Over the course of four months, the number of video messages sent to mission control decreased from 200 in the first week of isolation to between 115 and 120. The duration of these videos also decreased significantly. Under these conditions, the researchers also noted differences in communication between men and women participants. In women, there were more manifestations of joy and sadness emotions, while, men were more likely demonstrated anger. (11/9)

Momentus Working to Meet National Security Conditions for Space Tug Operations (Source: Space News)
Momentus says it is in the process of implementing a national security agreement that could clear the way for its first space tug launch next year. The company said it has implemented a majority of the conditions of the agreement, established between the federal government and the company to address national security concerns the Defense Department raised earlier this year. Momentus said it's making progress on the remaining conditions, and hopes to have that work completed before next June, when it's scheduled to launch its first Vigoride tug on a SpaceX rideshare mission. That first tug will largely be a technology demonstration but will carry some customer payloads.(11/10)
 
ULA Delays November Launch to December (Source: ULA)
United Launch Alliance is delaying its next Atlas 5 launch. The company said Tuesday that "a space vehicle processing issue" prompted the delay in the launch of the Space Test Program 3 mission from Nov. 22 to Dec. 4. The mission is carrying a set of technology demonstration and other payloads for the Defense Department and NASA. (11/10)

Capella Plans Optical Terminals on SAR Satellites (Source: Space News)
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging company Capella plans to install optical terminals on future satellites. The CONDOR Mk3 optical communications terminals from Mynaric will enable the satellites to transmit data from its own satellites in low Earth orbit to government satellites and to military ground stations. The terminals will allow Capella satellites to transmit imagery quickly through the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer constellation. Capella is the undisclosed customer that Mynaric said in August had ordered up to 20 units. (11/10)

Spaceports Working Together on Environmental Solutions (Source: Space News)
Spaceports are working together to address environmental concerns and share solutions. During a conference panel this week, officials representing spaceports in Australia and England said they are paying close attention to environmental issues, with England's Spaceport Cornwall preparing to release a carbon impact report. The head of the FAA's spaceport office says her agency is willing to work with spaceports in other countries to address those concerns as well as other issues to ensure interoperability for launch systems seeking to fly from more than one country. (11/10)

Rocket Lab Hires ULA Exec for Government Relations (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab has hired a ULA executive to lead its government relations activities. The company said Tuesday it hired Andrew Bunker as vice president of government operations and business strategy, leading its Washington office. Bunker was previously director of government operations at ULA. (11/10)

Astronomers Develop Gravitational Wave Catalog (Source: Nature)
Astronomers have released a new catalog of gravitational wave detections. The new set of 35 events found by the LIGO observatories in the U.S. and Virgo in Italy bring the total number of detections of gravitational waves to 90, after the first was discovered only in 2015. Two of the new events involve collisions of black holes more than 60 times as massive as the sun. The total number of events is now large enough for astronomers to begin to see patterns in them, such as more black hole mergers earlier in the history of the universe. (11/10)

Helping Connect NASA With Small Business (Source: FNN)
The growth in the space industry hasn’t been limited to the big companies everyone’s heard of. Small businesses have also seen a growth in their bottom lines. A lot of the credit for that goes to people like Glenn Delgado. He’s the head of NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs. Delgado was recently recognized by the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce for his commitment to supporting women-owned small businesses. Since he will be retiring soon, I wanted to make sure we had the chance to speak with him about his career and what he’s seen in the industry. Click here. (11/9)

Australian University to Lead Innovation Hub (Source: Unmanned Systems)
Swinburne University of Technology is launching an Australian-first Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub (AIR Hub) with the support of $12 million in funding from the Victorian Government’s Higher Education State Investment Fund.AIR Hub will bring together the best of Victoria’s aerospace research, design and manufacturing leaders to work with industry on real world design and manufacturing problems, including for the space industry. (11/9)

Astrophysicist Says Scientists Need to Stop Searching for Alien Civilizations (Source: Futurism)
It may be time for alien-enthusiastic scientists to call a spade a spade. So says SUNY Stony Brook astrophysicist Paul Sutter, who in a new column for Space.com insists that the search for intelligent life among the stars has run its course — though, he argues, that doesn’t mean we’re alone in the universe either.

“Humans have scanned and searched the heavens for signs of other advanced civilizations in the universe,” Sutter wrote. “And we’ve found nothing. Absolutely nothing. So maybe we shouldn’t be so focused on intelligent life, but on any sort of life whatsoever.” ... “Either intelligent life isn’t as common as we might have hoped, or it’s not as detectable as we might have hoped. Either way, it doesn’t look like SETI will bear fruit anytime soon.” (11/9)

Biden Administration Plans Orbital Debris Policy (Source: Space News)
The Biden administration plans to update an existing R&D plan to address orbital debris. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said in a Federal Register notice last week that the orbital debris interagency group is drafting a plan to be released in 2022 and is soliciting public input through Dec. 31. That effort seeks to update a plan issued by the Trump administration in January. That document noted that a lack of coordination among U.S. departments and agencies makes it difficult to "advance a common national vision for orbital debris risk management." (11/10)

An Easy Fix to Space Force’s Most Glaring Vulnerability (Source: Breaking Defense)
If America requires an operationally relevant Space Force to deter or immediately respond to attacks, it must acquire and train today with a rapid response inventory and infrastructure. Each of our military services maintains a ready inventory of the gear necessary to respond quickly to national crises. As part of the 10 US Code to equip for operations, everything from bullets and rifles to drones, airplanes and even nuclear weapons are part of the planning and inventory process.

When our enemies eventually attack our satellites, only a ready inventory of quick reaction satellites and agile launchers would enable us to respond with a counterpunch and reconstitute at least a partial capability within a day. Today, we could respond in about three years best-case, which provides no deterrent at all. Ironically, the systems necessary to assemble this capability are not available from the traditional defense industry but do exist in the commercial sector. Having successfully navigated this burgeoning market, these companies together could enable a rapid response capability — as soon as today.

If Russia or China decided to render some of our hundreds of orbiting satellites inoperable, we could reconstitute within 24 hours by launching stored, low-cost, commercial, near-equivalents to replace them, but only if we inventory a few low-cost systems, like small commercial rockets and satellites. If we secure that deterrent by baking in an active inventory with the requisite training and tactics of our operators, Russia and China would think twice before carrying out such actions again. (11/9)

Emission Reductions From Pandemic Had Unexpected Effects on Atmosphere (Source: NASA)
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting limitations on travel and other economic sectors by countries around the globe drastically decreased air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions within just a few weeks. That sudden change gave scientists an unprecedented view of results that would take regulations years to achieve.

A comprehensive new survey of the effects of the pandemic on the atmosphere, using satellite data from NASA and other international space agencies, reveals some unexpected findings. The study also offers insights into addressing the dual threats of climate warming and air pollution. “We’re past the point where we can think of these as two separate problems,” said Joshua Laughner, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech in Pasadena, California. “To understand what is driving changes to the atmosphere, we must consider how air quality and climate influence each other.” (11/9)

How Satellites Could Help Hold Countries to Emissions Promises Made at COP26 Summit (Source: Washington Post)
On a recent day inside the sprawling conference center where United Nations climate talks are taking place, a small crowd gathered to hear a panel with an intriguing title: “The Space Race to Save the Planet.” The event was about satellites and the promising ways that scientists are using them to track greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Previously, scientists were forced to rely largely on estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, based on formulas that take into account the burning of fossil fuel and industrial and agricultural activities, among other contributors. But the proliferation of satellites is further enabling measurements of greenhouse gases in the air, around the globe. That’s helping to pinpoint emissions sources and to hold countries and corporations accountable for their climate promises. But both here and outside in the real world, satellites are increasingly seen as a critical tool to locate, measure and disclose the extent of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Governments have launched them and have plans to launch more. Private companies and advocacy groups are pursuing the new frontier, too, as are data analytics firms focused on interpreting vast amounts of atmospheric information. At its pavilion inside the summit, Japan has a display on the half-dozen satellites its space agency maintains to observe land, ocean and atmospheric changes. ESA also used the summit as a chance to showcase the “unprecedented” insights its satellites are already providing about the planet, including reams of data about greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. (11/9)

China's Mars Orbiter Enters Remote-Sensing Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
China's Mars orbiter entered its remote-sensing orbit around Mars on Monday, starting the global remote-sensing exploration of the planet, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. The CNSA said the orbit was set according to the needs of the orbiter in conducting global detection and relaying communications between the Mars rover and Earth. (11/10)

NASA’s Orion Recovery Team is Certified for Artemis 1 (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NASA’s Landing and Recovery team recently completed its ninth recovery test at sea and is certified to recover the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission next year. According to NASA, a weeklong test in early November 2021 in the Pacific Ocean aboard the USS John P. Murtha was performed by NASA and Department of Defense teams in order to ensure they are ready to recover the Orion capsule following its splashdown at the conclusion of its roughly month-long uncrewed test flight.

Artemis 1 is currently expected to launch atop the inaugural flight of the Space Launch System no earlier than Feb. 12, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA said once the spacecraft splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, a team of divers, engineers and technicians are expected to depart the ship on small boats to reach the capsule in order to secure it and tow it to the back of the recovery ship. (11/10)

Roscosmos Worried About Parachute Problems on Dragon Capsule (Source: RIA Novosti)
Before it makes a decision about the flight of Russian cosmonaut on SpaceX Dragon capsules, Roscosmos says it will request information from NASA about a potential problem with its parachute system. Earlier it became known that when the crew members returned from the ISS , one of the four parachutes of the Crew Dragon spacecraft opened with a delay. For a safe landing, as reported by the developers, three out of four serviceable parachutes are required. Earlier, Russia and the US began negotiations on mutual cross flights on each other's spaceships. The first Russian cosmonaut can fly on the Crew Dragon spacecraft at the end of next year. (11/9)

Spaceflight Inc. Readies 13 Payloads and Chemical Propulsion OTV for First Multi-Destination Rideshare Mission (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Spaceflight Inc. will be launching 13 customer payloads, including four microsatellites and nine CubeSats to Sun Synchronous orbit (SSO) aboard the SpaceX Transporter-3 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than January 2022 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. This mission will deploy customer spacecraft to two distinct orbits for the first time using its chemical propulsion orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-LTC1. Capping a momentous year for Spaceflight, this mission will be the third debut of a new class of Sherpa vehicles within 12 months. (11/9)

Digantara and OrbAstro Announce Service Agreement for Space DebrisTracking Mission on 6U Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
Digantara Research and Technologies has signed a contract with Orbital Astronautics Ltd to fly its SCOT (Space-based space Climate and Object Tracker) payload onboard an ORB-6 satellite platform launching towards the end of 2022. The mission will focus on demonstration of a novel LiDAR-based technology developed by Digantara, and will serve as the pilot for their LEO constellation providing a space situational awareness service. (11/9)

NASA Human Moon Landing Now No Earlier Than 2025 (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NASA officials updated the agency’s projected timeline for the early phase of its Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon. Following the dismissal of Blue Origin’s lawsuit against NASA over the agency’s decision to select SpaceX to develop a Starship-based Human Landing System to send astronauts to the surface of the Moon for the Artemis 3 mission, a new timeline is starting to become more clear.

According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Artemis 1 — an uncrewed test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft around the Moon — is targeting mid-February 2022 for launch. Artemis 2, now slated for no earlier than May 2024, would be the first crewed flight of the SLS/Orion system and involve sending four astronauts on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. However, the main delay was the postponement of the Artemis 3 crewed Moon landing from no earlier than 2024 to likely sometime in 2025.

This is the first time NASA has officially acknowledged the 2024 Moon landing date, which was set by the Trump administration in 2019, is no longer feasible. “Prior to fiscal year 2022, previous Congresses did not appropriate enough dollars for development of the Human Landing System,” Nelson said during the Nov. 9, 2021, teleconference. “The Trump administration’s target of a 2024 human landing was not grounded in technical feasibility.” Other delays include those from development challenges, natural disasters as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. (11/9)

Artemis Program Has Big Problems And Few Solutions (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson gave an Artemis update today. Everything is delayed and it will cost billions more than it was going to cost yesterday. Surprise. Mostly Nelson blamed lack of NASA progress on Artemis on unrealistic schedules set by the Trump Administration (2024 etc.); the Blue Origin lawsuits; Congressional meddling; and of course COVID. And, for good measure Nelson threw in a Chinese threat he has been creating out of thin air saying that China may be landing humans on the Moon sooner than expected - without a single reference to substantiate his claim.

At no point did Nelson or anyone else from NASA accept any blame for things being years late and billions over budget either by NASA or its contractors. Instead there was a lot of happy talk from people reading words that someone else wrote in a monotone, disinterested tone of voice - not exactly the best way to inspire confidence among NASA employees and all of those stakeholder types that they "get it" at NASA.

The solution is to split HEOMD into two new directorates since that will make everyone more efficient and happier. And NASA will somehow consolidate all SLS activities into a new single contract that sounds a lot like United Space Alliance from the Shuttle era. (11/9)

After Years of Futility, NASA Turns to Private Sector for Spacesuit Help (Source: Ars Technica)
This week NASA's Johnson Space Center issued a call to industry for new spacesuits. The space agency's existing suits are decades old, and new ones are needed both for the International Space Station as well as Artemis missions to the lunar surface later this decade. This is significant for two reasons. First, with this RFP NASA may finally solve the problem of finding its next-generation spacesuits, which has vexed the agency for the last 14 years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Additionally, with this new approach to buying spacesuits, NASA is further signaling its intent in a more commercial procurement process. It will be essentially renting the suits from industry, not building them in-house at a far greater expense. Until earlier this year, NASA's plan was to build six "xEMU" suits with contractor and vendor support and then issue a contract for the production of additional suits. But all of that changed in April, when NASA announced that it was considering simply buying spacesuits from private industry.

With the new RFP, bidders can use the technology NASA developed for xEMU in its proposals, or they can use their own designs. The suits must be able to meet a variety of requirements, including up to six spacewalks on the lunar surface. They must also be made of materials such that less than 100 grams of lunar regolith is brought back into the "cabin environment" after each use on the Moon. NASA plans to award a contract by next April. (11/9)