January 2, 2022

New Mexico Should Make Space Industry its Economy Moonshot (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
It was a swing and a miss to get U.S. Space Command’s headquarters in Albuquerque nearly a year ago. As disappointing as that was, New Mexico remains a premier location to build a thriving ecosystem of commerce related to space innovation — the nation’s newest gold rush. All the things that made New Mexico a merit-based leader for Space Command are still in place — as are the issues that likely held it back.

It’s no small irony that a state with massive brain power — perennially top-ranked in such high-tech resources as Ph.D. scientists and federal research dollars per capita — struggles with such basics as public safety and education. The challenge today is to keep the state’s historic role as a key player in the space industry moving forward despite peripheral challenges and setbacks that diminish the state’s standing as an innovation leader.

Last month’s aborted mission of 1,000 new jobs researching and designing satellites at the planned Orion Center offers an important lesson. Without pointing fingers at the vetting process or questioning if the deal ever really had legs, you have to wonder what other space-related opportunities were lost because the city put a lot of eggs in one basket. Fortunately, there are many others here with an eye on what’s becoming a formidable prize. (12/29)

2022 Is Full of First Steps to the Moon (Source: New York Times)
Robotic missions to Mars and advances in space tourism dominated the space activities of 2021. But in 2022, the moon is likely to stand out, as companies and governments launch various moon-bound spacecraft. Most of those missions revolve around Artemis, NASA’s multibillion dollar effort to return astronauts to the moon later in the decade and conduct routine science missions on its surface in preparation for farther treks to Mars (a far more ambitious endeavor that will likely not happen in this decade).

But before astronauts make the moonshot, a series of rocket tests and science missions without humans will need to be completed. 2022 is the year for those initial steps toward the moon. Two new rockets central to NASA’s lunar plans will launch to space for the first time, each with more power than the Saturn 5 rocket from the Apollo program. And other countries are expected to join the march to the moon as well. Click here. (1/1)

2021: The Year of Space Tourism (Source: CNN)
When future generations write about the history of space travel, 2021 may well get its own chapter. "The year of the billionaires," it might be called. Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson each took supersonic joy rides to the edge of space, finally bringing their competing private-sector spacecraft into operation after around two decades of promises. Celebrities such as 90-year-old "Star Trek" actor William Shatner and "Good Morning America" co-host Michael Strahan followed soon after.

Another billionaire self-funded a historic, three-day mission aboard a SpaceX orbital capsule that flew higher than any human has traveled in decades. And all that promises to just be the beginning. The trio of space billionaires — Branson, Bezos and Elon Musk — have their eyes set squarely on the future. Over the past year, their visions continued to bump up against one another, stirring up plenty of controversy and one-upmanship. Here's a look back at some of the most memorable moments the commercial space industry had to offer in the last year. (1/1)

Space Force Enlists UT Austin to Help with Cutting-Edge Research (Source: Alcalde)
The U.S. Space Force draws on decades of military experience in orbit from the Army, Air Force, U.S. Space Command, the National Reconnaissance Organization, and other Department of Defense programs. Yet it also realized that collaboration with industry and academia would be key to its success. So, earlier this summer, the nation’s newest military branch signed a memorandum of understanding with UT Austin to help secure America’s future in space through cutting edge research and training of the next generation of Space Force recruits, known as Guardians. (1/1)

SpaceX Creating the Noise of Progress in McGregor (Source: Waco Tribune-Herald)
McGregor City Council Member Steven Dutschmann remembers a Sunday morning in November when, aggravated by SpaceX’s rocket testing, he vainly searched for a phone number, email address or company contact. He wanted someone to explain why SpaceX had obliterated his sound barrier. “If I had a neighbor making this much noise, I’d call the police. Here, I didn’t have anyone to call,” Dutschmann said. “I get it. They have a business to run. But that does not give them the right to disturb the peace.”

McGregor and SpaceX have developed a symbiotic relationship. Elon Musk’s company leases nearly 4,300 acres in the city’s industrial park, where it tests the rocket engines it uses to haul satellites and other payloads into orbit. Under development nearby is a second plant, a $150 million facility to build nearly a thousand Raptor 2 rocket engines annually. Musk first broached the subject of McGregor landing a rocket production plant in July, tweeting it would champion volume production of Raptor 2 rocket engines, while a factory in California would focus on Raptor Vacuum rockets. (1/1)

Shetland Spaceport Set for Liftoff with Plan for £4bn Share of Global Market (Source: The National)
A Shetland spaceport is set for takeoff this year, the UK Space Agency has confirmed. It will make the site the first in Europe to launch small satellites into orbit and is expected to propel Scotland’s burgeoning space sector into the stratosphere. The number of space businesses in Scotland has already increased by more than 65% since 2016, with a sustained annual growth rate of 12%.

More than twice as many people are employed in the industry in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. A new Scottish Space Strategy aims to create 20,000 jobs in the sector by securing a £4 billion share of the global space market by 2030. As well as hosting the largest launch capability in Europe, the aim is also to develop a world-leading environmental strategy for the industry by reducing emissions and supporting the use of satellite data for environmental monitoring.

Scotland is already a global hub for satellite manufacturing but companies then have to ship them overseas to countries like the US, India or Kazakhstan to be launched. Having the capability to launch from Scotland will make it easier – and cheaper – for Scottish companies to move from building to launching. (1/2)

China Lifts Cooperation in Space Exploration (Source: South China Morning Post)
China has revealed an acceleration of its program to put a base on the moon, apparently prompted in part by concerns over American-led moves to set the rules for future lunar activities. What was once science fiction is now real. Meanwhile American strategic advantage is fast eroding. In a break with the steady pace of China’s moon program until now, space authorities have told state media it will set up an unmanned lunar research station, being jointly built with Russia, by 2027 – eight years earlier than planned.

At the same time it has been reported that China and Russia expect to sign a new deal for space cooperation, as competition with the United States intensifies. There are concerns that US agency NASA’s Artemis moon-landing program involves territorial claims. The US aims to return men to the moon by 2024 and base them there in new facilities, and put a space station in a lunar orbit. A US-sponsored accord, already signed by 12 allies, would allow governments or private companies to protect facilities by setting up safety zones barring entry to others.

China and Russia are opposed because it violates existing protocols including the UN moon agreement. Zhang Chongfeng, deputy chief designer of the manned space program, said in a recent published paper that China would have to “take some forward-looking measures and deploy them ahead of schedule.” (1/1)

NASA’s Retiring Top Scientist Says We Can Terraform Mars and Maybe Venus, Too (Source: New York Times)
Since joining NASA in 1980, Jim Green has seen it all. He has helped the space agency understand Earth’s magnetic field, explore the outer solar system and search for life on Mars. As the new year arrived on Saturday, he bade farewell to the agency. Over the past four decades, which includes 12 years as the director of NASA’s planetary science division and the last three years as its chief scientist, he has shaped much of NASA’s scientific inquiry, overseeing missions across the solar system and contributing to more than 100 scientific papers across a range of topics.

While specializing in Earth’s magnetic field and plasma waves early in his career, he went on to diversify his research portfolio. One of Dr. Green’s most recent significant proposals has been a scale for verifying the detection of alien life, called the “confidence of life detection,” or CoLD, scale. He has published work suggesting we could terraform Mars, or making it habitable for humans, using a giant magnetic shield to stop the sun from stripping the red planet’s atmosphere, raising the temperature on the surface. Click here. (1/2)

Big Rockets, Massive Asteroids and More Space Highlights for 2022 (Source: New York Times)
Sometime this coming year, two rockets that have never been to space — the NASA Space Launch System and the SpaceX Starship — are expected to lift off. They’re both very big and about as different as two rockets can be.

The Space Launch System, or SLS, is NASA’s interplanetary launch vehicle. It is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Built by traditional aerospace contractors, each launch costs about $2 billion and each rocket can be used only once. NASA says its Artemis program can’t get astronauts back to the moon without the giant rocket. Its first test flight, with no people aboard, will lift a capsule called Orion around the moon and back to Earth. The launch, known as Artemis 1, is scheduled for March or April. Click here. (1/1)

China Heads List of Space Rockets (Source: Space Daily)
China launched a Long March 3B carrier rocket at Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province early on Thursday, marking the completion of the country's annual launch schedule. The rocket blasted off at 0:43 am and transported the Communication Technology Demonstrator 9 experimental satellite into a geosynchronous orbit, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor, said in a statement.

Developed by the company's China Academy of Space Technology, the satellite is tasked with verifying multiband, high-speed satellite communication technologies, the statement said. The mission was the 48th flight of the Long March rocket family this year.

Five-and-a-half hours earlier, a Long March 2D rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and put the Tianhui 4 satellite into orbit. The satellite will be used to conduct scientific experiments and land surveys and collect geological information. Long March rockets have carried out more orbital launches this year than any other rocket family in the world, and all were successful. Earlier this month, the Long March family reached its 400th flight mission with a Long March 4B rocket lifting off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (1/1)

NASA Research Boosts LED Lamps for Home and Garden (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's exploration requires research into how light affects both humans and plants: John Glenn's first trip into Earth orbit lasted just under five hours, but today, astronauts regularly stay six months or longer on the International Space Station. Experiencing over a dozen sunrises and sunsets each day means an astronaut's biological clock tends to be in the wrong time zone. And for longer deep space missions, NASA needs to develop ways to grow food without relying on sunlight.

NASA's lighting research, however, has had benefits far beyond space. It has helped develop biologically oriented LED technology for everyday life on Earth - giving people better rest and helping plants grow. Click here. (12/30)

Cape Canaveral's Sidus Space Soars in Early Days of Public Stock Trading (Source: Florida Today)
Cape Canaveral's Sidus Space is now a publicly traded company worth nearly $200 million. And it is one of the few publicly traded companies started by a woman. Sidus Space was formerly known as Craig Technologies Aerospace Solutions, a  division of Craig Technologies. It trades on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol "SIDU."

Craig Technologies founder and CEO Carol Craig also serves as founder of Sidus Space. Federal security regulations prevent her from commenting until after the initial public offering concludes Thursday. The company's initial public offering kicked off Tuesday with Sidus offering 3,000,000 shares at $5 each. But prices quickly soared, climbing as as high as $29.70 before closing the day at $12.19. Sidus closed at $11.86 Wednesday.

According to the company's prospectus Sidus has 16.2 million shares of stock outstanding, with company insiders such as Craig owning the remaining stock. A $12 stock price would value the company at $192.2 million. According to the company's prospectus, Sidus had $885,000 in revenues for the first nine months of the year. But its expenses during the period were $2.3 million and the company recorded a net loss of $1.3 million. (12/15)

Air Force Academy Grad Embraces New NASA Role, Future of Spaceflight (Source: Air Force Academy)
Kelvin Manning has served in several critical roles in his nearly 30 years at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. He was the Florida spaceport’s associate director for more than a decade. He also held multiple key positions within the Space Shuttle Program, was the first division chief for the agency’s Orion spacecraft, and served on the last three NASA astronaut candidate selection boards.

But his recent appointment as Kennedy’s deputy director brings with it perhaps the greatest challenges, opportunities, and excitement yet. “There is a lot more responsibility resting on my shoulders – and I feel that,” Manning said. “But it’s an honor to have that level of responsibility and be able to lead this team in such a critical time in our nation’s history with regard to spaceflight.”

Working in tandem with Kennedy Director Janet Petro, Manning is helping guide the varied programs based at America’s multi-user spaceport into a new era of space exploration. NASA’s Artemis missions, which will launch from Kennedy, will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, preparing the way for long-term lunar exploration and sending the first astronauts to Mars. Gateway Deep Space Logistics will send cargo and supplies for crew to the Gateway outpost in lunar orbit in support of lunar operations in orbit and on the surface. (12/31)

NASA Selects Nine Space Technologies for Commercial Suborbital Flight Tests (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected nine space technologies under the agency’s 2021 TechFlights solicitation for testing aboard parabolic aircraft, high-altitude balloons, and suborbital rocket-powered systems. This $5.5 million investment in technology demonstration activities will support the advancement of a wide range of technologies that address mission needs for both NASA and the commercial space industry.

By exposing these innovations to many of the rigors and characteristics of spaceflight – without the expense of an orbital flight – NASA can more rapidly help ensure these technologies work correctly when they are deployed on future missions. The technologies were selected under the Flight Opportunities program within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), which develops transformative space technologies to enable future missions.

As part of the latest cohort of TechFlights selections, the organizations developing the selected technologies will receive a grant or collaborative agreement allowing them to purchase flights from a U.S. commercial flight vendor that best meets their needs – a process that can help decrease the time needed for bringing innovations from lab-based testing to flight test. This year’s solicitation again included an option for researchers to propose accompanying their payloads on suborbital space flights enabling them to tend to experiments in real time rather than relying on an automated experiment setup. (12/16)

Zero Gravity Conditions in Space May Advance Stem Cell Research, Scientists Say (Source: Space Daily)
The zero-gravity conditions in outer space may hold the key to producing large batches of stem cells for medical research and treatment of various diseases on Earth, according to a paper published Thursday by Stem Cell Reports. Biomanufacturing, a type of stem cell production that uses biological materials such as microbes to produce substances and biomaterials suitable for use in research and treatment, is more efficient in microgravity conditions, the researchers said.

Attendees at the 2020 Biomanufacturing in Space Symposium earlier this month identified more than 50 potential commercial opportunities for conducting biomanufacturing work in space. The most promising include disease modeling, biofabrication and stem-cell-derived products, according to the paper's authors. (12/30)

Satellogic to Build High-Throughput Manufacturing Plant in Netherlands (Source: Space Daily)
Satellogic, a leader in sub-meter resolution satellite imagery collection, announced that it will be constructing a high-throughput satellite manufacturing facility in the Netherlands. This 57,000 square foot new location is expected to accelerate the company's assembly of satellites and accommodate its state-of-the-art manufacturing, integration, and testing equipment. In addition to having logistics capabilities and storage facilities designed for sensitive optic-mechanical and electronic parts, the facility will also host office and meeting space for approximately 80 persons to support hybrid working opportunities. (12/30)

Experiments Show Algae Can Survive in Mars-Like Environment (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese researchers have demonstrated that algae can survive in a Mars-like environment during four experiments since 2019, raising the hope that mankind might be able to turn the barren planet into an earth-like green one in the future. In a seven-hour experiment which took place in September this year, algae were carried by a helium balloon to an altitude of 30,000 meters and survived for four hours in lower than minus 30 degrees Celsius with intense ultraviolet light and oxygen deprivation, according to a report from the Changjiang Daily based in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.

The research team from the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted the four experiments in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The experiments proved that algae are robust. But further experiments are also needed to learn whether the species can grow or even multiply on the surface of Mars, said Wang Gaohong, a researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology. (12/30)