November 13, 2021

SpaceX Successfully Launches Additional Starlink Satellites Into Orbit From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: MyNews 13)
SpaceX successfully launched the next batch of Starlink satellites into orbit Saturday morning. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:19 a.m. from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The mission was scrubbed Friday because of poor weather. After the stage separation, the first stage booster of the Falcon 9 successfully land on the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The satellites onboard will become part of a constellation of thousands of mini-satellites that will eventually provide internet access around the world. (11/13)

SpaceX Test Starship Engines (Source: Space Policy Online)
SpaceX took another step forward in the development of its Starship system to take people and cargo to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars and beyond. A static fire test on Friday of the Starship second stage with all six engines was successful according to SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Starship is being built and tested at SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, near Brownsville. (11/12)

Spaced Ventures Offers Crowdfunding for Space Investors (Source: SPACErePORT)
There is a growing variety of options for investors interested in the space industry. Spaced Ventures brings a crowdfunding approach to the market, with a focus on early-stage companies operating across many different sectors of the emerging space economy. Companies listed on Spaced Ventures have agreed to issue part of their shares to the general public through equity crowdfunding. Spaced Ventures is a FINRA and SEC registered Funding Portal, currently open to US resident investors. The service is currently in Beta mode and is accessible here. (11/12)

Suit Filed Against United Launch Alliance on Behalf of Workers (Source: WAFF)
Workers upsat about ULA's stance on federal Covid-19 vaccine requirements are suing the company in a class-action lawsuit filed in Alabama. Five workers, three on administrative leave and two who have resigned say they’ve been discriminated against. Alabama is an at-will employment state, meaning you can be fired or quit at any time. But an unemployment attorney tells us federal law trumps that state law, so these employees do have a chance of winning in court.

ULA issued a statement on the issue. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health and safety of the ULA team and everyone in our buildings have been at the forefront of our COVID-19 response. Following the implementation of our vaccine policy to align with the multiple contract modifications we have received from our customer that require all ULA employees to become vaccinated, we have only seen a 1 percent impact to our workforce of those employees that did not comply with the policy and become vaccinated." (11/13)

Vandenberg Commander Gears Up for More Launches: ‘SpaceX is Going to Keep Us Hopping’ (Source: The Tribune)
A missile test on a Sunday morning and a rocket launch on Monday night helped Vandenberg Space Force Base set a record and move another step toward realizing the future. Col. Robert “Rob” Long, commander of Space Launch Delta 30, recently spoke about the dramatic changes ahead for the 100,000-acre installation near Lompoc, which serves as the nation’s western spaceport.

Vandenberg hosted two launches in about 34 hours — the missile-defense test on Sept. 12 followed by the Falcon rocket launch Sep. 13. “If we want to be a range of the future, and consequently a range of choice, we have to be able to offer that kind of flexibility because that’s what commercial companies are going to demand,” Long said. Defense Department customers also might demand that type of flexibility in the future, he added. (11/12)

Net Zero Space Initiative Calls for Protecting Earth's Orbital Environment (Sources: Space Policy Online, Space News)
Almost a dozen space stakeholders signed the Net Zero Space Declaration today, agreeing to take action to avoid the creation of new hazardous space debris and remediate what is already there.  This initial group includes actors from across the space ecosystem including a launch company, satellite operators, companies offering tracking/servicing/debris removal services, a space agency, and a university.

French satellite fleet operator Eutelsat, launch service provider Arianespace and U.S.-based Earth imagery venture Planet are among signatories of the Net Zero Space charter. The Paris Peace Forum formulated the declaration, which calls on satellite operators, launch companies, space agencies, academia and civil society to commit to achieving “sustainable use of outer space for the benefit of humankind by 2030.” The Paris Peace Forum will serve as the secretariat and report annually on progress. (11/12)

Space Force, Georgia Tech Partner on STEM Education, Innovation (Source: USSF)
The U.S. Space Force established an agreement with the Georgia Institute of Technology Nov, 11, making Georgia Tech the latest entrant into the Space Force’s University Partnership Program. Lt. General Nina M. Armagno, U.S. Space Force director of staff, joined Georgia Tech Provost Steven W. McLaughlin and Executive Vice President for Research Chaouki T. Abdallah to sign the agreement. The signing ceremony, which fell on Veterans Day, took place on Georgia Tech’s campus.

Georgia Tech joins 11 universities selected for the U.S. Space Force University Partnership Program in fiscal year 2021. They include Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Purdue University, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of North Dakota, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Texas at El Paso. (11/12)

Mynaric Starts Trading on Nasdaq (Source: Space News)
German laser communications company Mynaric performed an initial public offering of shares on the Nasdaq exchange Nov. 12, raising up to $75.9 million to fund its growth. The company, which already trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany, sold four million “American Depository Shares,” which represent one million ordinary shares of stock, at $16.50 per share. With an overallotment option of up to 600,000 additional shares, Mynaric expects to raise up to $75.9 million. (11/12)

NASA Awards Challenge Prizes to Startup Companies (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded $90,000 each to seven entrepreneurial startup companies under its Entrepreneur’s Challenge program. The awards will advance new technology concepts ranging from novel materials with properties not found in nature to innovative technologies that will enable small satellite (SmallSat) science missions.

NASA partnered with Starburst Aerospace in San Francisco, California, to launch the Entrepreneur’s Challenge, which aims to engage U.S.-based entrepreneurs. The program seeks fresh ideas in technology that could advance the agency’s science goals to explore and understand the solar system and beyond. The challenge also seeks to increase the number of entrepreneurial companies participating in the agency’s technology portfolio. Click here. (11/12)

Mogul Who Flew to Space With Bezos and Shatner Dies in Plane Crash (Source: Daily Beast)
Entrepreneur Glen de Vries, who blasted into space alongside Star Trek’s William Shatner last month with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, was killed in a plane crash on Thursday, New Jersey State Police said. The single-engine Cessna 172 crashed in New Jersey. De Vries, 49, and Thomas P. Fischer, 54, were killed. Rescue crews found the wreckage about an hour later. De Vries, a private pilot, marathoner, and ballroom dancer during his off-hours, was a molecular biologist who cofounded Medidata Solutions, a clinical research platform that was acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 1999 for $5.8 billion. (11/12)

Government Contracts Lift BlackSky’s Financial Performance (Source: Space News)
U.S. government contracts are boosting the financial performance of Earth observation company BlackSky, executives said Nov. 12 during the company’s first earnings call since going public. BlackSky released its third-quarter financial results, showing a revenue jump of $7.9 million, up 49% from a year ago. The company generated an operating loss of $48.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $12.5 million in the prior year period. It ended the third quarter with $198 million of cash on its balance sheet. (11/12)

Hypersonic Missile Tracking Prototypes on Point for 2023 Launch (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Missile Defense Agency’s race to develop new sensors capable of tracking hypersonic missiles from space is close to ticking off a key milestone, with both contractors expected to begin “bending the metal” at the end of this month, according to agency and company officials. “We are on track for on-orbit prototype demonstrations with two space vehicles in 2023,” Mark Wright, agency spokesperson, told Breaking Defense Wednesday.

The Hypersonic and Ballistic Space Sensor (HBTSS) program is aimed at building a constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (between about 100 kilometers and 2,000 kilometers up) that can keep tabs on maneuvering hypersonic missiles flying below the range of today’s ballistic missile detection satellites and above the radar of terminal-phase targeting systems. (11/11)

FAA Invites Public Input on Review to Operate Huntsville International Airport as Commercial Space Reentry Site (Source: FAA)
The FAA invites the public to comment on a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Huntsville International Airport to serve as a reentry site for horizontally landed commercial reentry vehicles. The Draft EA also addresses a proposal by Sierra Space Corporation to land its Dream Chaser vehicle at the site up to eight times between 2023 and 2027. The FAA plans to hold a virtual public hearing for the draft review on Dec. 9 at 5 p.m. Central Time as part of the 40-day public comment period that ends on Dec. 22. (11/12)

FAA Seeks University Support for Historical Space Event Data Collection and Analysis (Source: FAA)
The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) issues this market survey to solicit statements of interest and capabilities from potential university teams (referred to as an “alliance”) to conduct research activities of historical event data collection and analysis (including single-case and cross-case studies) for specific space industry segments. Click here. (11/9)

Hidden Black Hole Found in Extragalactic Star Cluster (Source: Cosmos)
Astronomers have just unveiled a black hole from another galaxy, hiding deep within a bright cluster of a thousand stars. The black hole doesn’t emit any light visible to telescopes; its presence was betrayed by its gravitational influence on the nearby stars. This marks the first time that a black hole has been spotted outside of the Milky Way using this detection method. (11/11)

EGS, Jacobs Begin Artemis 1 Pre-Launch Testing and Checkout Push (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission are assembled, the Mobile Launcher is reconnected to the vehicle, and the processing team at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is resuming pre-launch testing and checkouts in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) ahead of the first rollout to the pad.

The agency’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program and prime launch processing contractor Jacobs started the final stretch of integrated testing and checkout (ITCO) in early November and are aiming to complete the remaining work in the VAB to enable the first trip to the pad around the end of the year.

The upcoming stretch of tests conducted between the launch control center and the VAB at Launch Complex 39 will verify all the connections between the vehicle and ground systems, followed by final functional checks of spacecraft and rocket machinery. After final closeouts, the integrated Artemis 1 vehicle will be rolled to Pad 39B for the first time for its last big pre-launch test, the Wet Dress Rehearsal, currently projected to occur in January. (11/11)