NASA’s Office of Inspector General has identified a staffing shortage in the agency’s astronaut corps. In a recent audit, the OIG said that the corps is projected to fall below its targeted size in fiscal 2022. The report contains several recommendations, including expanding diversity among astronauts and for NASA offices to centralize their astronaut data. This comes as NASA’s need for astronauts increases as it plans to return to the moon by 2024. (1/13)
Orbital Assembly Corp. Extends Investment Round (Source: OAC)
We continue to receive interest from investors so we have decided to keep this round open to get closer to our $4 million goal. We believe that our unique industry focus on providing artificial gravity environments for habitation, research and space commercialization is essential medically, physically and for the non astronaut to participate. None of the current NASA funded projects will incorporate gravity. So we will. Click here. (1/12)
Magenta Networks Raises $33 Million for Multi-Orbit Constellation (Source: Space News)
Mangata Networks has raised $33 million from an international mix of investors for its multi-orbit connectivity constellation plans. Playground Global led the Series A round for the company that included participation from several other venture capital firms, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, the Scottish national economic development agency and South Korean operator KTSat. Mangata intends to use the proceeds to support plans for a constellation of 791 satellites spread across medium Earth orbit and highly elliptical orbits (HEO), starting with a set of eight satellites to HEO in 2024. (1/13)
Congressional Budget CR Forces Space Force to Delay Procurements (Source: Space News)
The lack of a fiscal year 2022 spending bill has put major Space Force procurements on hold, the head of the service said Wednesday. Gen. John Raymond told House appropriators that since the government is operating on a continuing resolution (CR) that funds the service at 2021 levels, the Space Force has delayed military satellite procurements and contracts for launch services. The CR also means that new programs cannot start and unneeded ones cannot be terminated. Raymond warned that since the Space Force is new, it "would be particularly impacted by limits on new starts" if that CR is extended through the rest of the fiscal 2022, which ends on 30 Sep. (1/13)
SDA On Track for Transfer to Space Force (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) is on track to be transferred to the Space Force later this year. Derek Tournear, director of the SDA, said Wednesday that SDA will be moved to the Space Force in October, as directed by a 2020 defense authorization bill, but will not be merged under the large Space Force procurement bureaucracy, the Space Systems Command. Tournear said many of the details of the reorganization are still being negotiated, but that it would not interfere with SDA's plans to launch its first batch of Transport Layer satellites this fall and to procure additional satellites. (1/13)
NASA Hopes for March Launch of First Artemis SLS (Source: Space News)
NASA officials remain hopeful the first SLS launch could take place in March despite a delay in an upcoming key test. NASA said last week the rollout of the SLS to its launch pad for a fueling test and practice countdown, called a wet dress rehearsal, is now scheduled for mid-February. At a conference this week, agency officials said they were hopeful that would still allow a first launch of the SLS on the Artemis 1 mission in March, a schedule some in industry believe too optimistic. Bob Cabana, NASA associate administrator, acknowledged in a speech Tuesday that a March launch "might be tight." (1/13)
Companies Formed to Develop China's Proposed LEO Megaconstellation (Source: Space News)
A group leading China's national low Earth orbit communications megaconstellation has founded two new firms to help develop the project. China Satellite Network Application Co., Ltd. and Chongqing Satellite Network System Research Institute Co., Ltd. were established in late December to jointly construct a satellite internet industry system in the city of Chongqing. The development marks another step in China’s national plan to establish a LEO satellite internet constellation consisting of nearly 13,000 satellites. Many details about the planned system, though, remain unclear. (1/13)
NASA Prepares SLS Moon Rockets for First Crewed Artemis Missions (Source: Parabolic Arc)
As teams continue to prepare NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for its debut flight with the launch of Artemis I, NASA and its partners across the country have made great progress building the rocket for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission. The team is also manufacturing and testing major parts for Artemis missions III, IV and V.
The first piece of rocket hardware – the ICPS – for Artemis II arrived in Florida July 28, 2021. It is undergoing final preparations at lead contractors Boeing and United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) facilities and will soon be delivered nearby to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The ICPS fires its RL10 engine, provided by Aerojet Rocketdyne, to send the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon. ULA is already building the Artemis III ICPS in its factory in Decatur, Alabama. (1/13)
India's ISRO Gets New Chairman (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian government has selected a new head of its space agency, ISRO. S. Somanath will take over as chairman of ISRO on Friday, succeeding K. Sivan, whose original three-year term in 2018 was extended by one year. Somanath is director of ISRO's Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, which specializes in launch vehicle development. Somanath said a priority as ISRO chairman will be to continue reforms intended to help grow private sector space capabilities. (1/13)
Indian Space Agency Tests Cryogenic Engine for its First-Ever Manned Mission (Source: Sputnik)
India's flagship human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, has completed the design and testing phases. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch two uncrewed missions ahead of the final mission in 2023. India's space exploration agency ISRO achieved a significant milestone with the successful long-duration cryogenic engine test for the Gaganyaan project on Wednesday. The engine was tested for 720 seconds at the ISRO propulsion complex. (1/13)
NASA Seeks Proposals for 'Probe Class' Astrophysics Missions (Source: Space News)
NASA is starting a new line of astrophysics missions. NASA announced this week its intent to seek proposals for probe-class missions, designed to fill a gap between large flagship missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and small Explorer-class missions. Probe missions will have a cost cap of $1 billion, with the first competition limited to far-infrared and X-ray space telescopes. The astrophysics decadal survey recommended NASA implement a program of probe missions. NASA is also starting initial science and technology planning for future flagship missions, although the first such mission, a large space telescope, is unlikely to launch before the early 2040s. (1/13)
Atomos Raises $5 Million for Space Tugs (Source: Space News)
A startup has raised $5 million to start work on a line of space tugs. Atomos Space will use the funding to support development of Quark, a reusable orbital transfer vehicle able to tow tens of customers to their orbital destinations over a five-year lifetime. Atomos Space has plans to develop nuclear-powered tugs, but said the initial Quark tugs will be solar powered. (1/13)
DirecTV and Dish Considering Merger Again (Source: New York Post)
Direct-to-home satellite TV companies DirecTV and Dish Network are again eyeing a merger. The two companies tried to merge in the early 2000s but were blocked by the Justice Department over antitrust concerns. The companies now think a merger could win approval given the rise of streaming services that have reduced the market power of cable and satellite TV. TPG Capital, a private equity firm that bought a stake in DirecTV from AT&T, is reportedly pushing for a merger as a means to gain a return on its investment. (1/13)
Astra Testing Underway for Potential 18 January Launch From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Astra is gearing up for its first launch from Cape Canaveral as soon as next week. The company has been testing its Rocket 3.3 vehicle at Space Launch Complex 46, with a launch possible as soon as the afternoon of Jan. 18. The rocket will be carrying a set of cubesats under a NASA Venture Class Launch Services contract. Astra’s rocket, in its current configuration, stands 43 feet (13.1 meters) tall and measures 4.3 feet (1.3 meters) wide. That’s somewhat narrower than — and about the same height as — the payload fairing on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. As soon as this week, Astra plans a test-firing of the rocket’s five kerosene-fueled main engines. (1/12)
Engineers Troubleshooting Problem with Lucy Spacecraft Solar Arrays (Source: NASA)
Engineers are continuing to examine a solar array issue with the Lucy spacecraft. One of the two circular solar arrays on that spacecraft failed to lock into place after launch in October. NASA said in an update Wednesday that all systems on the spacecraft are normal other than the latch issue and that the arrays are producing sufficient power. Ground tests are underway on latching the array into place, but an effort to do so is not expected until at least late April. Engineers are also studying keeping the array in its current configuration. (1/13)
Rocket Lab Stock Rises with Analyst Assessment (Sources: Barron's, Investing.com)
Rocket Lab shares climbed after a positive assessment from a Wall Street analyst. Morgan Stanley issued a "buy" rating and a $17 price target for the company, concluding it would benefit from increased demand for low-cost launch services. Shares in the company closed up more than 5% at $11.45 Wednesday. Separately, Goldman Sachs issued a "buy" rating for Planet with a $11 price target, concluding that the company has a large addressable market for its Earth imaging services and potential for high profit margins. Planet shares closed up more than 10% Wednesday at $6.23. (1/12)
Virgin Galactic Stock Falls as Space Tourism Company Plans to Raise up to $500 Million in Debt (Source: CNBC)
Shares of Virgin Galactic fell in trading on Thursday after the company announced plans to raise up to $500 million in debt. The company intends to raise $425 million from the sale of 2027 convertible senior notes through a private offering, with an additional $75 million option also expected to be granted to buyers. Delays have pushed Virgin Galactic’s beginning of commercial service to late this year at the earliest. (1/13)
North Korean Hypersonic Missile Warning Prompted FAA Air Traffic Halt (Source: The Drive)
Two days after the FAA issued a highly peculiar ground-stop order to aircraft operating across the western US and Hawaii, and after the release of a remarkably murky official statement from the agency, we were no closer to understanding exactly what prompted the order than we were initially. While U.S. Strategic Command would not comment on the incident and NORAD denied it had any hand in it, information from sources with knowledge of the events clearly paints a different picture—one that points directly to the North Korean hypersonic weapon test that occurred at nearly the exact same time as the culprit.
While it has been up for debate if the ground stop order was some sort of blatant mistake, hack, or misunderstanding on the FAA's part unrelated to the North Korean test of a hypersonic maneuvering reentry vehicle (MaRV) that occurred just before 2:30 PM PST on 10 January, that doesn't seem to be the case. We have heard multiple pilot reports and radio communications that mention a national security issue being the impetus for the ground stop, which included some airplanes in the air being told to land immediately.
The FAA's official statement, which
was released 20 hours after the order was issued, didn't help quench
curiosity surrounding the incident. According to the Pentagon: "Some decisions were made that probably didn't need to get made." (1/13)
Biden Imposes First Sanctions Over North Korea Weapons Program After Missile Tests (Source: Reuters)
The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed its first sanctions over North Korea's weapons programs following a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. The sanctions targeted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm Washington said were responsible for procuring goods for the programs from Russia and China. The U.S. Treasury said the steps aimed both to prevent the advancement of North Korea's programs and to impede its attempts to proliferate weapons technologies.
The United States also proposed that five of those individuals also be blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council, which would need consensus agreement by the body's 15-member North Korea sanctions committee. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has sought unsuccessfully to engage Pyongyang in dialogue to persuade it to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles since taking office in January last year. (1/12)
Air Force Makes New AFWERX Investment in Boom Supersonic Airliner Research (Source: Aviation Today)
Boom Supersonic, developing a supersonic airliner capable of flying at Mach 1.7, announced a new contract award from the U.S. Air Force valued at up to $60 million. The Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract, issued to Boom through the Air Force's innovation arm, AFWERX, and its AFVentures division, will be used to accelerate research and development of military applications for Overture—the supersonic commercial airliner currently under development.
According to Boom's Jan. 11 announcement of the new contract, potential defense users and applications for a military variant of Overture could include "executive transport; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance; Special Operations Forces; and the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)." (1/12)
Astrophysicists Release the Biggest Map of the Universe Yet (Source: WIRED)
After just seven months, a huge team of scientists who work with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument have already mapped a larger swath of the cosmos than all other 3D surveys combined. And since they’re only 10 percent of the way through their five-year mission, there’s much more to come.
DESI has revealed a spectacular cosmic web of more than 7.5 million galaxies, and it will scan up to 40 million. The instrument is funded by the US Department of Energy at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. It measures the precise distances of galaxies from Earth and their emitted light at a range of wavelengths, achieving quantity and quality at the same time. It will eventually cover some 8,000 square degrees, about 20 percent of the sky. The science gained from parsing the data is yet to come, but it will especially aid astrophysicists as they investigate how the universe is expanding.
In a few years, DESI won’t be the only sweeping galactic atlas in town. Starting next year, the National Science Foundation-funded Vera Rubin Observatory, which is being built on a dry mountain of northern Chile, will catalog billions of galaxies, but with less precision. Astrophysicists are also preparing for the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft, with a planned 2023 launch date, and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, slated to blast off in 2027. (1/13)
A Review of Russia’s Space Startup Sector (Source: Parabolic Arc)
What Russian space startups were buzzing around in 2021? What ups and downs has the private astronautics market experienced? The most interesting and important things were collected by the editor of ” Russian Space ” Igor Afanasyev. Click here. (1/13)
Space Coast Employers Having Difficulty Filling Open Positions (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard County's unemployment rate had soared as high as 13.2% in April 2020, after many employers laid off staff as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has since steadily decreased, dropping to 3.4% by November, the latest-available figure. "That's super-low. It is a job seeker's market," said Marci Murphy, president of CareerSource Brevard, a nonprofit, regional public/private partnership that operates the workforce development system within Brevard County. CareerSource Brevard works with both employers and job seekers.
Compounding the problem is what's known as "the Great Resignation," largely triggered by the pandemic. The pandemic resulted in many people in their late-50s and early-60s deciding to retire early. Additionally, for various reasons, members of some two-income families opted to become one-income families, with the other worker leaving the labor market. (1/12)
Blue Origin Leases Washington Warehouse Space for Further Expansion (Source: Kent Reporter)
Kent-based Blue Origin keeps on growing its aerospace business in town as well as other companies. “I do not have a lot of details but Puget Sound Business Journal recently reported they are leasing 210,000 square feet of warehouse space,” said Bill Ellis, city economic development manager, about Blue Origin. Ellis said the warehouses will be at the Pannatoni Business Center, property formerly owned by Boeing near its Space Center in Kent.
Pannatoni plans to eventually build an industrial park comprised of six separate warehouse and manufacturing buildings totaling approximately 807,897 square feet in floor area, with associated parking, landscaping, utilities, stormwater facilities and street improvements, according to city of Kent documents. (1/11)
Virgin Orbit Plots U.K. and Japan Launches in International Push (Source: Bloomberg)
Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. is targeting mid-2022 for two rocket launches from the U.K. and plans a broader international expansion that will include flights from Japan. The company plans six launches this year, including one this week from the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Dan Hart said Tuesday on a briefing call with reporters. He expects to reach an output of 20 rockets from Virgin’s Long Beach, California, factory in 2023. (1/11)
SpaceX Working on Several Starship, Super Heavy Upgrades and Design Changes (Source: Teslarati)
Not long after Elon Musk confirmed plans to add three more Raptor engines to Starship and stretch the upper stage’s propellant tanks, the SpaceX CEO has confirmed one of several smaller design changes planned in the interim.
On January 3rd, Musk confirmed that SpaceX is entirely relocating one of two secondary ‘header’ tanks that Starships use to store landing propellant. A graphic sketched on the side of future Starship rings further revealed plans to tweak most of the subsections that SpaceX stacks to form a Starship, complementing an upgraded nosecone design. Finally, another design change was spotted on hardware that will eventually become part of the first full-thrust Super Heavy booster. (1/11)
Iron Maiden Singer Bruce Dickinson Takes Aim at Privatized Space Travel (Source: Far Out)
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has decided to take the opportunity to voice his opinion on space travel. Highlighting the resources that can be found on the planet, Dickinson feels too much time is being devoted to an exercise in decadence.
“The space tourism element of it is the least important thing for mankind in the world,” Dickinson says in an interview with Loudwire. “Honestly, people say, ‘Oh, wouldn’t you want to go up on the top of a firework and spend a quarter million or half a million dollars,’ whatever people pay for it? Well, no, because you’re basically just kind of self-loading freight. You just sort of floating around going, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s cool’, — that’s not doing anything.” (1/12)
Increased Space Missions Risk Extraterrestrial Contamination (Source: McGill Tribune)
Though it may seem like we are entering an exciting and fast-paced moment in the history of space exploration, invasion biologists and other scientists who study the environments of foreign planets have voiced concerns that this period of expansion carries the risk of unintended repercussions. What exactly is at stake? Anthony Ricciardi, a researcher from McGill’s Department of Biology, alongside a team of scientists well-versed in the fields of invasion biology, biosecurity, and astrobiology, recently released a paper detailing the concerns of cross-contamination of life forms between planets during space missions.
“In the face of increasing space missions […], it is crucial to reduce the risks of biological contamination in both directions,” Ricciardi wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “The most plausible life forms would be microbial [….] We have no information [yet] to anticipate whether they could survive on Earth and what effect, if any, they might have.”
According to the team’s paper published in BioScience, contamination of extraterrestrial bodies through space missions transporting organisms from Earth—termed “forward contamination”— and the introduction of foreign planetary organisms to Earth—“back contamination”—have very different scientific ramifications. Yet, both stem from the difficulty of ensuring complete control over what enters and exits NASA clean rooms. (1/11)
Advances in Space Transportation Systems Transforming Space Coast (Source: Voice of America)
From a seaside perch overlooking the hustle and bustle of ships coming and going at Port Canaveral on Florida’s east coast, Dale Ketcham reflects on decades of history with nostalgia. “I moved here and learned how to walk on Cocoa Beach three years before NASA was created” in 1958, he said.
Not only can Ketcham trace his life alongside the U.S. space program, he’s had a firsthand view of the transformation of the economies of communities surrounding NASA’s Kennedy Space Center several times since the 1950s. “The space program continued to progress, but it was always government-focused,” said Ketcham, adding that the configuration did not bring long-term stability to the local workforce. Click here. (1/11)
Court Hearing Held to Decide if Commissioners Can Move Forward with Spaceport in Georgia County (Source: WTOC)
Courts in Camden County must decide if commissioners can move forward with a planned spaceport. County administrators say it would attract aeronautics companies and have rockets launch from the Georgia coast. But some citizens want more say in what could be coming. Both sides spent the day making their case why the judge should, or should not, allow the development to continue while signatures on a repeal petition get counted.
Paul Harris took the stand and testified on why he and others filed to block Camden County’s plan to buy land to develop the proposed Spaceport. “After being here a couple of years and learning more about it, I became convinced that it wasn’t the best path for Camden County,” Harris said. Attorneys outlined a petition that’s been circulating for as many years as the county has discussed the project. Last month, they presented the county with thousands of signatures, asking to stop the development and put it to a public vote.
“Talking to my friends and gathering information, I thought this was important. This is probably the most important decision the county will make in decades,” said Jackie Eichhorn who signed the petition. The county’s attorney questioned her and several other signees to point out multiple duplicate signatures. Those numbers could call into question if the petition has enough signatures to earn a repeal. County leaders asked Judge Stephen Scarlett to let them move forward because the option to buy property could end this week. The plaintiffs argued the county could extend those negotiations. The judge said he’ll have a decision in the case by January 23. (1/12)
Time for a Unilateral US Moratorium on Debris-Generating ASAT Tests? (Source: Space Policy Online)
On the 15th anniversary of the Chinese antisatellite test that cluttered Earth orbit with debris, a group of national security space experts is proposing that the United States unilaterally declare a moratorium on such testing. Narrowly tailored to limit only debris-generating kinetic-energy tests against space objects, the goal is to ensure the sustainability of Earth orbit, not arms control in space.
“The United States – as both a global superpower and a nation with strong civil, commercial, and military stake in the future of the space environment – must take a leadership role in solving this problem. The United States should immediately declare a unilateral moratorium on debris-producing kinetic-energy anti-satellite (KE-ASAT) testing against orbital objects, and actively promote international agreement(s) prohibiting such tests.” (1/11)
Did a Large Impact Remix the Moon’s Interior? (Source: Ars Technica)
As the Moon coalesced from the debris of an impact early in the Solar System's history, the steady stream of orbital impacts is thought to have formed a magma ocean, leaving the body liquid. That should have allowed its components to mix evenly, creating a roughly uniform body. But with the onset of space exploration, we were finally able to get our first good look at the far side of the Moon. It turned out to look quite different from the side we were familiar with, with very little in the way of the dark regions, called mare, that dominate the side facing Earth.
These differences are also reflected in the chemical composition of the rocks on the different sides. If the whole Moon was once a well-mixed blob of magma, how did it end up with such a major difference between two of its faces? A new study links this difference to the Moon's largest impact crater. The South Pole-Aitken Basin is one of the largest impact craters in the Solar System, but again, we didn't realize it was there until after we put a craft in orbit around the Moon. All we can see from Earth are some of the ridges that are part of the outer crater wall. Most of the 2,500 kilometers of the crater itself extend into the far side of the Moon.
The model shows that the heat derived from the impact does indeed restart convection within the interior of the Moon. But it doesn't restart evenly. That's because the body that created the crater also injects a lot of material into the interior of the Moon, and that material gradually spreads out from the site of impact in all directions. For a large portion of the Moon's interior, this disrupts organized convection. (1/11)
UAE Astronauts Start Training at NASA (Source: Khaleej Times)
The UAE's second batch of astronauts has started their training alongside NASA's 10-member Astronaut Candidate Class of 2021 at the Johnson Space Center. Astronauts Mohammad AlMulla and Nora AlMatrooshi will train in five major categories over the next two years of the program. This includes operating and maintaining the International Space Station's (ISS) complex systems, training for spacewalks, developing complex robotics skills, safely operating a T-38 training jet, and Russian language skills. (1/11)
Powerful European Earth-Observation Satellite Suffers Anomaly in Orbit (Source: Space.com)
One of humanity's most powerful Earth-observing satellites is having some problems in orbit. The Sentinel-1B radar satellite, part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program, hasn't beamed home any data since suffering an anomaly on Dec. 23. And the problem appears to be relatively serious. "Following the previous news on the Sentinel-1B anomaly that occurred on 23 December 2021, the resuming of the operations was carefully prepared, including the onboard configuration changes preventing the anomaly to occur again," Copernicus team members wrote in an update Monday. (1/11)
KSC Director Janet Petro Remarks at 48th Spaceport Summit (Source: NASA)
“In the next few weeks, we are planning to conduct the wet dress rehearsal of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System, the world’s most powerful rocket. When Artemis I launches later this year, Orion will make its way around the Moon and back – a critical step as NASA prepares to send the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface. ... Kennedy is poised to support more crewed missions, commercial resupply, and test flight missions to the International Space Station through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. That’s on top of the many launches managed by our Launch Services Program – missions that will advance Earth-facing science, validate technologies for future lunar missions, and further the exploration of our solar system and beyond.
“As early as the 1970s, Kennedy Space Center was known as America’s Spaceport, and we didn’t get there by accident. Decades of transformation from a government-only launching facility to a multiuser spaceport have far exceeded the vision of times past. Today, Kennedy has more than 90 private sector partners and nearly 250 partnership agreements, which are critical to the future of space exploration and commercialization of low-Earth orbit.
“Moving into the future, Kennedy expects continued growth of launch capacity and, very likely, an associated increase in jobs. The single-unit tenancies of the past are making way for campus-like arrangements, such as those seen in Exploration Park, which allow companies to consolidate manufacturing, integration, testing, and launch services in a single area to enable more efficient operations. And we remain committed to ensuring this growth occurs in an environmentally responsible way." (1/12)
Roscosmos’ Oxana Wolf: “We Want Private Companies to Succeed” (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Q: Oksana Valerievna, have you managed to bring clarity this year with regard to the normative and legal documents governing cooperation between Roscosmos and private business? A: Business is progressing, but not as fast as we would like. During this time we did not sit idly by, but the volume of tasks is very large! During the year, research work was carried out on the analysis of existing documents on ... the formation of a list of open documentation for use by private companies in the development of space technology and its certification at all stages of the life cycle.
In total, about four thousand documents were analyzed. Most of them are the GOST standards that Roscosmos and the Ministry of Defense use as customers of rocket and space technology. Fundamental documents have a stamp, since when creating and operating space technology, one has to take into account the mandatory requirements for the list of regulatory documents, which, in addition to publicly available acts, include closed regulatory and technical documentation. The composition of these documents presupposes admission to state secrets, which significantly complicates the process of creating and operating space technology by private companies.
Based on the results of the work, it was concluded which documents should be prepared for open use. Now about 100 such documents have been proposed for development. It is also necessary to analyze whether space technology should be created according to different standards – “state” and “commercial”. (1/12)
Rogue Space Systems Corporation Receives First Payment in the Industry for In-Space Services from Orbital Assembly Corp. (Source: Digital Journal)
Rogue Space Systems has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Orbital Assembly Corp. (OAC), the world’s first large-scale space construction company, to lease Orbital Robot (Orbots) for its gravity-enabled platforms. Rogue has also received OAC’s initial payment for the services covered under the agreement, a major milestone for the industry. Rogue is the first US-based space startup to secure a paying commercial customer for this type of orbital services.
This also accelerates OAC’s efforts to deliver critical service resources for upcoming missions. This mission will demonstrate the construction of gravity-enabled structures Success will clearly demonstrate Orbital Assembly’s construction capabilities facilitated with Rogue Orbots. The agreement is to provide observation and inspection services to OAC. Rogue’s Orbots will be launched along with the components of the OAC structure. Once the launch vehicle reaches the deployment location, the Orbots will take position to monitor and potentially assist structure deployment. After deployment, the Orbots will perch in various stand-off locations around to record the complete demonstration. (1/12)
Manufacturing Revenues for Earth Observation to Grow to $76.1 Billion by 2030 (Source: Euroconsult)
The advent of commercial satellite constellations has led to satellite platform miniaturization and a strong diversification of commercial payloads, in particular with SAR, Hyperspectral, ELINT/RF and GNSS-RO. While most of the 2,600 satellites to be launched in number will be commercial ones, the bulk of the generated $65.8 billion in manufacturing revenues between 2011-2020 will keep being driven by civil and military government programs over the next decade to reach $76.1 billion by 2030.
Over 2011-2020, the commercial satellite constellations accounted for 65% of EO satellite launches but captured a negligible 4% of the market value, as opposed to government-funded programs which secured over 80% of satellite value. This discrepancy between volume and value is a salient result of the boom in commercial constellations, turning to Commercial-off-the-shelf components and low CAPEX per satellite business models. This trend is projected to be further ingrained over the next decade, growing from 1,080 launches between 2011 and 2020 to no less than 2,600 by 2030, with as many as 90 constellations accounting for 78% of EO satellites to be built and launched. (1/12)
Maybe Steer Clear of Certain Orbits to Avoid Collisions (Source: Space News)
After analyzing the probability of collisions in low Earth orbit and the consequences in terms of debris produced, space mapping startup LeoLabs is warning spacecraft operators to steer clear of certain altitudes. "Don't buy condos in the 780 to 850-kilometer range," Darren McKnight, LeoLabs senior technical fellow, said Jan. 6 during a University of Washington Space Policy and Research Center webcast.
That altitude is home to debris from a Chinese ASAT event, abandoned Russian rocket bodies and discarded U.S. payloads and debris. "It's a uniquely ironic, collaborative effort by the three major spacefaring countries to muck up this altitude significantly," McKnight said. "We've done a great job of cooperating on messing up a very important part of low Earth orbit."
Case in point, the Chinese satellite Yunhai 1-02 meteorological satellite collided in March with debris from a Russian Zenit-2 rocket at an altitude of about 783 kilometers. For more information on that collision, see the December issue of the NASA Orbital Debris Quarterly News. P.S. McKnight also warned of trouble at 1,400 kilometers, where debris created hangs around for centuries. (1/12)
Magnata Raises $33 Million for Satellite Megaconstellation (Source: Space News)
Mangata Networks raised $33 million for a satellite communications constellation. Phoenix-based Magnata intends to establish a constellation of 791 satellites in highly elliptical and medium Earth orbit to offer global connectivity. (1/12)
Biden Imposes First Sanctions Over North Korea Weapons Program After Missile Tests (Source: Reuters)
The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed its first sanctions over North Korea's weapons programs following a series of North Korean missile launches, including two since last week. The sanctions targeted six North Koreans, one Russian and a Russian firm Washington said were responsible for procuring goods for the programs from Russia and China. The U.S. Treasury said the steps aimed both to prevent the advancement of North Korea's programs and to impede its attempts to proliferate weapons technologies.
The United States also proposed that five of those individuals also be blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council, which would need consensus agreement by the body's 15-member North Korea sanctions committee. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has sought unsuccessfully to engage Pyongyang in dialogue to persuade it to give up its nuclear bombs and missiles since taking office in January last year. (1/12)
Air Force Makes New AFWERX Investment in Boom Supersonic Airliner Research (Source: Aviation Today)
Boom Supersonic, developing a supersonic airliner capable of flying at Mach 1.7, announced a new contract award from the U.S. Air Force valued at up to $60 million. The Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) contract, issued to Boom through the Air Force's innovation arm, AFWERX, and its AFVentures division, will be used to accelerate research and development of military applications for Overture—the supersonic commercial airliner currently under development.
According to Boom's Jan. 11 announcement of the new contract, potential defense users and applications for a military variant of Overture could include "executive transport; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance; Special Operations Forces; and the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)." (1/12)
Astrophysicists Release the Biggest Map of the Universe Yet (Source: WIRED)
After just seven months, a huge team of scientists who work with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument have already mapped a larger swath of the cosmos than all other 3D surveys combined. And since they’re only 10 percent of the way through their five-year mission, there’s much more to come.
DESI has revealed a spectacular cosmic web of more than 7.5 million galaxies, and it will scan up to 40 million. The instrument is funded by the US Department of Energy at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. It measures the precise distances of galaxies from Earth and their emitted light at a range of wavelengths, achieving quantity and quality at the same time. It will eventually cover some 8,000 square degrees, about 20 percent of the sky. The science gained from parsing the data is yet to come, but it will especially aid astrophysicists as they investigate how the universe is expanding.
In a few years, DESI won’t be the only sweeping galactic atlas in town. Starting next year, the National Science Foundation-funded Vera Rubin Observatory, which is being built on a dry mountain of northern Chile, will catalog billions of galaxies, but with less precision. Astrophysicists are also preparing for the European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft, with a planned 2023 launch date, and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, slated to blast off in 2027. (1/13)
A Review of Russia’s Space Startup Sector (Source: Parabolic Arc)
What Russian space startups were buzzing around in 2021? What ups and downs has the private astronautics market experienced? The most interesting and important things were collected by the editor of ” Russian Space ” Igor Afanasyev. Click here. (1/13)
Space Coast Employers Having Difficulty Filling Open Positions (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard County's unemployment rate had soared as high as 13.2% in April 2020, after many employers laid off staff as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has since steadily decreased, dropping to 3.4% by November, the latest-available figure. "That's super-low. It is a job seeker's market," said Marci Murphy, president of CareerSource Brevard, a nonprofit, regional public/private partnership that operates the workforce development system within Brevard County. CareerSource Brevard works with both employers and job seekers.
Compounding the problem is what's known as "the Great Resignation," largely triggered by the pandemic. The pandemic resulted in many people in their late-50s and early-60s deciding to retire early. Additionally, for various reasons, members of some two-income families opted to become one-income families, with the other worker leaving the labor market. (1/12)
Blue Origin Leases Washington Warehouse Space for Further Expansion (Source: Kent Reporter)
Kent-based Blue Origin keeps on growing its aerospace business in town as well as other companies. “I do not have a lot of details but Puget Sound Business Journal recently reported they are leasing 210,000 square feet of warehouse space,” said Bill Ellis, city economic development manager, about Blue Origin. Ellis said the warehouses will be at the Pannatoni Business Center, property formerly owned by Boeing near its Space Center in Kent.
Pannatoni plans to eventually build an industrial park comprised of six separate warehouse and manufacturing buildings totaling approximately 807,897 square feet in floor area, with associated parking, landscaping, utilities, stormwater facilities and street improvements, according to city of Kent documents. (1/11)
Virgin Orbit Plots U.K. and Japan Launches in International Push (Source: Bloomberg)
Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. is targeting mid-2022 for two rocket launches from the U.K. and plans a broader international expansion that will include flights from Japan. The company plans six launches this year, including one this week from the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Dan Hart said Tuesday on a briefing call with reporters. He expects to reach an output of 20 rockets from Virgin’s Long Beach, California, factory in 2023. (1/11)
SpaceX Working on Several Starship, Super Heavy Upgrades and Design Changes (Source: Teslarati)
Not long after Elon Musk confirmed plans to add three more Raptor engines to Starship and stretch the upper stage’s propellant tanks, the SpaceX CEO has confirmed one of several smaller design changes planned in the interim.
On January 3rd, Musk confirmed that SpaceX is entirely relocating one of two secondary ‘header’ tanks that Starships use to store landing propellant. A graphic sketched on the side of future Starship rings further revealed plans to tweak most of the subsections that SpaceX stacks to form a Starship, complementing an upgraded nosecone design. Finally, another design change was spotted on hardware that will eventually become part of the first full-thrust Super Heavy booster. (1/11)
Iron Maiden Singer Bruce Dickinson Takes Aim at Privatized Space Travel (Source: Far Out)
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has decided to take the opportunity to voice his opinion on space travel. Highlighting the resources that can be found on the planet, Dickinson feels too much time is being devoted to an exercise in decadence.
“The space tourism element of it is the least important thing for mankind in the world,” Dickinson says in an interview with Loudwire. “Honestly, people say, ‘Oh, wouldn’t you want to go up on the top of a firework and spend a quarter million or half a million dollars,’ whatever people pay for it? Well, no, because you’re basically just kind of self-loading freight. You just sort of floating around going, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s cool’, — that’s not doing anything.” (1/12)
Increased Space Missions Risk Extraterrestrial Contamination (Source: McGill Tribune)
Though it may seem like we are entering an exciting and fast-paced moment in the history of space exploration, invasion biologists and other scientists who study the environments of foreign planets have voiced concerns that this period of expansion carries the risk of unintended repercussions. What exactly is at stake? Anthony Ricciardi, a researcher from McGill’s Department of Biology, alongside a team of scientists well-versed in the fields of invasion biology, biosecurity, and astrobiology, recently released a paper detailing the concerns of cross-contamination of life forms between planets during space missions.
“In the face of increasing space missions […], it is crucial to reduce the risks of biological contamination in both directions,” Ricciardi wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “The most plausible life forms would be microbial [….] We have no information [yet] to anticipate whether they could survive on Earth and what effect, if any, they might have.”
According to the team’s paper published in BioScience, contamination of extraterrestrial bodies through space missions transporting organisms from Earth—termed “forward contamination”— and the introduction of foreign planetary organisms to Earth—“back contamination”—have very different scientific ramifications. Yet, both stem from the difficulty of ensuring complete control over what enters and exits NASA clean rooms. (1/11)
Advances in Space Transportation Systems Transforming Space Coast (Source: Voice of America)
From a seaside perch overlooking the hustle and bustle of ships coming and going at Port Canaveral on Florida’s east coast, Dale Ketcham reflects on decades of history with nostalgia. “I moved here and learned how to walk on Cocoa Beach three years before NASA was created” in 1958, he said.
Not only can Ketcham trace his life alongside the U.S. space program, he’s had a firsthand view of the transformation of the economies of communities surrounding NASA’s Kennedy Space Center several times since the 1950s. “The space program continued to progress, but it was always government-focused,” said Ketcham, adding that the configuration did not bring long-term stability to the local workforce. Click here. (1/11)
Court Hearing Held to Decide if Commissioners Can Move Forward with Spaceport in Georgia County (Source: WTOC)
Courts in Camden County must decide if commissioners can move forward with a planned spaceport. County administrators say it would attract aeronautics companies and have rockets launch from the Georgia coast. But some citizens want more say in what could be coming. Both sides spent the day making their case why the judge should, or should not, allow the development to continue while signatures on a repeal petition get counted.
Paul Harris took the stand and testified on why he and others filed to block Camden County’s plan to buy land to develop the proposed Spaceport. “After being here a couple of years and learning more about it, I became convinced that it wasn’t the best path for Camden County,” Harris said. Attorneys outlined a petition that’s been circulating for as many years as the county has discussed the project. Last month, they presented the county with thousands of signatures, asking to stop the development and put it to a public vote.
“Talking to my friends and gathering information, I thought this was important. This is probably the most important decision the county will make in decades,” said Jackie Eichhorn who signed the petition. The county’s attorney questioned her and several other signees to point out multiple duplicate signatures. Those numbers could call into question if the petition has enough signatures to earn a repeal. County leaders asked Judge Stephen Scarlett to let them move forward because the option to buy property could end this week. The plaintiffs argued the county could extend those negotiations. The judge said he’ll have a decision in the case by January 23. (1/12)
Time for a Unilateral US Moratorium on Debris-Generating ASAT Tests? (Source: Space Policy Online)
On the 15th anniversary of the Chinese antisatellite test that cluttered Earth orbit with debris, a group of national security space experts is proposing that the United States unilaterally declare a moratorium on such testing. Narrowly tailored to limit only debris-generating kinetic-energy tests against space objects, the goal is to ensure the sustainability of Earth orbit, not arms control in space.
“The United States – as both a global superpower and a nation with strong civil, commercial, and military stake in the future of the space environment – must take a leadership role in solving this problem. The United States should immediately declare a unilateral moratorium on debris-producing kinetic-energy anti-satellite (KE-ASAT) testing against orbital objects, and actively promote international agreement(s) prohibiting such tests.” (1/11)
Did a Large Impact Remix the Moon’s Interior? (Source: Ars Technica)
As the Moon coalesced from the debris of an impact early in the Solar System's history, the steady stream of orbital impacts is thought to have formed a magma ocean, leaving the body liquid. That should have allowed its components to mix evenly, creating a roughly uniform body. But with the onset of space exploration, we were finally able to get our first good look at the far side of the Moon. It turned out to look quite different from the side we were familiar with, with very little in the way of the dark regions, called mare, that dominate the side facing Earth.
These differences are also reflected in the chemical composition of the rocks on the different sides. If the whole Moon was once a well-mixed blob of magma, how did it end up with such a major difference between two of its faces? A new study links this difference to the Moon's largest impact crater. The South Pole-Aitken Basin is one of the largest impact craters in the Solar System, but again, we didn't realize it was there until after we put a craft in orbit around the Moon. All we can see from Earth are some of the ridges that are part of the outer crater wall. Most of the 2,500 kilometers of the crater itself extend into the far side of the Moon.
The model shows that the heat derived from the impact does indeed restart convection within the interior of the Moon. But it doesn't restart evenly. That's because the body that created the crater also injects a lot of material into the interior of the Moon, and that material gradually spreads out from the site of impact in all directions. For a large portion of the Moon's interior, this disrupts organized convection. (1/11)
UAE Astronauts Start Training at NASA (Source: Khaleej Times)
The UAE's second batch of astronauts has started their training alongside NASA's 10-member Astronaut Candidate Class of 2021 at the Johnson Space Center. Astronauts Mohammad AlMulla and Nora AlMatrooshi will train in five major categories over the next two years of the program. This includes operating and maintaining the International Space Station's (ISS) complex systems, training for spacewalks, developing complex robotics skills, safely operating a T-38 training jet, and Russian language skills. (1/11)
Powerful European Earth-Observation Satellite Suffers Anomaly in Orbit (Source: Space.com)
One of humanity's most powerful Earth-observing satellites is having some problems in orbit. The Sentinel-1B radar satellite, part of the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation program, hasn't beamed home any data since suffering an anomaly on Dec. 23. And the problem appears to be relatively serious. "Following the previous news on the Sentinel-1B anomaly that occurred on 23 December 2021, the resuming of the operations was carefully prepared, including the onboard configuration changes preventing the anomaly to occur again," Copernicus team members wrote in an update Monday. (1/11)
KSC Director Janet Petro Remarks at 48th Spaceport Summit (Source: NASA)
“In the next few weeks, we are planning to conduct the wet dress rehearsal of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System, the world’s most powerful rocket. When Artemis I launches later this year, Orion will make its way around the Moon and back – a critical step as NASA prepares to send the first woman and person of color to the lunar surface. ... Kennedy is poised to support more crewed missions, commercial resupply, and test flight missions to the International Space Station through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. That’s on top of the many launches managed by our Launch Services Program – missions that will advance Earth-facing science, validate technologies for future lunar missions, and further the exploration of our solar system and beyond.
“As early as the 1970s, Kennedy Space Center was known as America’s Spaceport, and we didn’t get there by accident. Decades of transformation from a government-only launching facility to a multiuser spaceport have far exceeded the vision of times past. Today, Kennedy has more than 90 private sector partners and nearly 250 partnership agreements, which are critical to the future of space exploration and commercialization of low-Earth orbit.
“Moving into the future, Kennedy expects continued growth of launch capacity and, very likely, an associated increase in jobs. The single-unit tenancies of the past are making way for campus-like arrangements, such as those seen in Exploration Park, which allow companies to consolidate manufacturing, integration, testing, and launch services in a single area to enable more efficient operations. And we remain committed to ensuring this growth occurs in an environmentally responsible way." (1/12)
Roscosmos’ Oxana Wolf: “We Want Private Companies to Succeed” (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Q: Oksana Valerievna, have you managed to bring clarity this year with regard to the normative and legal documents governing cooperation between Roscosmos and private business? A: Business is progressing, but not as fast as we would like. During this time we did not sit idly by, but the volume of tasks is very large! During the year, research work was carried out on the analysis of existing documents on ... the formation of a list of open documentation for use by private companies in the development of space technology and its certification at all stages of the life cycle.
In total, about four thousand documents were analyzed. Most of them are the GOST standards that Roscosmos and the Ministry of Defense use as customers of rocket and space technology. Fundamental documents have a stamp, since when creating and operating space technology, one has to take into account the mandatory requirements for the list of regulatory documents, which, in addition to publicly available acts, include closed regulatory and technical documentation. The composition of these documents presupposes admission to state secrets, which significantly complicates the process of creating and operating space technology by private companies.
Based on the results of the work, it was concluded which documents should be prepared for open use. Now about 100 such documents have been proposed for development. It is also necessary to analyze whether space technology should be created according to different standards – “state” and “commercial”. (1/12)
Rogue Space Systems Corporation Receives First Payment in the Industry for In-Space Services from Orbital Assembly Corp. (Source: Digital Journal)
Rogue Space Systems has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Orbital Assembly Corp. (OAC), the world’s first large-scale space construction company, to lease Orbital Robot (Orbots) for its gravity-enabled platforms. Rogue has also received OAC’s initial payment for the services covered under the agreement, a major milestone for the industry. Rogue is the first US-based space startup to secure a paying commercial customer for this type of orbital services.
This also accelerates OAC’s efforts to deliver critical service resources for upcoming missions. This mission will demonstrate the construction of gravity-enabled structures Success will clearly demonstrate Orbital Assembly’s construction capabilities facilitated with Rogue Orbots. The agreement is to provide observation and inspection services to OAC. Rogue’s Orbots will be launched along with the components of the OAC structure. Once the launch vehicle reaches the deployment location, the Orbots will take position to monitor and potentially assist structure deployment. After deployment, the Orbots will perch in various stand-off locations around to record the complete demonstration. (1/12)
Manufacturing Revenues for Earth Observation to Grow to $76.1 Billion by 2030 (Source: Euroconsult)
The advent of commercial satellite constellations has led to satellite platform miniaturization and a strong diversification of commercial payloads, in particular with SAR, Hyperspectral, ELINT/RF and GNSS-RO. While most of the 2,600 satellites to be launched in number will be commercial ones, the bulk of the generated $65.8 billion in manufacturing revenues between 2011-2020 will keep being driven by civil and military government programs over the next decade to reach $76.1 billion by 2030.
Over 2011-2020, the commercial satellite constellations accounted for 65% of EO satellite launches but captured a negligible 4% of the market value, as opposed to government-funded programs which secured over 80% of satellite value. This discrepancy between volume and value is a salient result of the boom in commercial constellations, turning to Commercial-off-the-shelf components and low CAPEX per satellite business models. This trend is projected to be further ingrained over the next decade, growing from 1,080 launches between 2011 and 2020 to no less than 2,600 by 2030, with as many as 90 constellations accounting for 78% of EO satellites to be built and launched. (1/12)
Maybe Steer Clear of Certain Orbits to Avoid Collisions (Source: Space News)
After analyzing the probability of collisions in low Earth orbit and the consequences in terms of debris produced, space mapping startup LeoLabs is warning spacecraft operators to steer clear of certain altitudes. "Don't buy condos in the 780 to 850-kilometer range," Darren McKnight, LeoLabs senior technical fellow, said Jan. 6 during a University of Washington Space Policy and Research Center webcast.
That altitude is home to debris from a Chinese ASAT event, abandoned Russian rocket bodies and discarded U.S. payloads and debris. "It's a uniquely ironic, collaborative effort by the three major spacefaring countries to muck up this altitude significantly," McKnight said. "We've done a great job of cooperating on messing up a very important part of low Earth orbit."
Case in point, the Chinese satellite Yunhai 1-02 meteorological satellite collided in March with debris from a Russian Zenit-2 rocket at an altitude of about 783 kilometers. For more information on that collision, see the December issue of the NASA Orbital Debris Quarterly News. P.S. McKnight also warned of trouble at 1,400 kilometers, where debris created hangs around for centuries. (1/12)
Magnata Raises $33 Million for Satellite Megaconstellation (Source: Space News)
Mangata Networks raised $33 million for a satellite communications constellation. Phoenix-based Magnata intends to establish a constellation of 791 satellites in highly elliptical and medium Earth orbit to offer global connectivity. (1/12)
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