January 8, 2022

Space Force Plans Multiple Hosted Payloads for GEO Belt Monitoring (Source: Breaking Defense)
While Space Force has chosen Tucson-based GEOST to build a first prototype, the service envisions future competitions for stand-alone sensors that could be carried on military, commercial or potentially even foreign satellites to monitor Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), according to a senior official. Jack Barnett, chief of Space Systems Command’s Space-Based Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Branch, said that the plan is to eventually develop a “diverse offering of SDA capabilities.”

In particular, the Space Force is looking for cheap, light-weight electro-optical cameras to keep tabs on spacecraft in the high-value GEO belt (some 36,000 kilometers in altitude) that could fly as so-called hosted payloads on any number of satellites. GEO is where most communications satellites, military and commercial, currently operate. (1/6)

Coast Guard Seeks Changes to Downrange Safety Zone Off Cape Canaveral Spaceport for Launch Operations (Source: Federal Register)
In September 2021 the Coast Guard published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to replace the existing safety zone off the coast of Cape Canaveral with a regulated navigation area (RNA). Changes in the type and size of launch vehicles, rocket component recovery methods, and the increased frequency of launches now pose variable risks to marine traffic and require a more flexible regulatory tool. After considering comments received from the public, the Coast Guard is making modifications to the regulated area in the proposed rule.

The existing safety zone established in 2009 is composed of four large regulated areas and was established in 2009 with the intent of protecting marine traffic from the hazards associated with the launching of space vehicles, to expedite notification to the public, and to reduce the administrative workload of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard seeks to expand the zone westward to include additional missions which are expected to be conducted (including operations by Blue Origin), and to include the Captain of the Port's (COTP) consideration of analysis from (SLD 45) when activating a zone. Click here. (1/7)

China Aims to Complete Space Station in Another Huge Year in Space (Source: Space News)
This year, China’s main space contractor will target more than 40 orbital launches, including completion of the Tiangong space station, following 48 successful launches in 2021. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) stated on social media that it is targeting more than 40 launches, including six missions to complete the construction of the country’s space station.

The Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft will launch on a Long March 7 from Wenchang to dock with the orbiting Tianhe core module around March or April, following the end of the ongoing, six-month Shenzhou-13 crewed mission. The station’s third crewed mission, Shenzhou-14, will follow Tianzhou-4. The mission’s three astronauts will be aboard Tianhe for the arrival of the 20-metric-ton-plus Wentian and Mengtian modules, expected to launch around June and August, respectively. (1/3)

Boeing Keeps Giving Big Money to Lawmakers Who Voted to Overturn the Election, After Others Stopped (Source: Seattle Times)
Washington’s largest companies, with long histories of political donations to both parties, have taken different approaches to their giving in the year since the attack on the United States Capitol. In the hours and days following the 2021 insurrection, there was near unanimity among the corporate giants: The horror at the Capitol was unacceptable and they would pause and reassess their political giving.

In the year since, Washington’s twin tech giants, Amazon and Microsoft, have continued to donate generously to both parties. But neither company has made a single donation to any of the 147 Republican members of Congress who voted, after the attack on the Capitol, to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Boeing, after a brief pause, has shown no hesitation in supporting the Republican legislators who voted against certifying the presidential election of Joe Biden.

In 2021, Boeing donated $190,000 to 61 members of Congress who voted to overturn the election results, according to federal campaign finance data. Boeing actually gave more money to Republican candidates who voted to overturn the results than it did to Republican candidates who voted to accept the results of a free and fair election. (1/7)

Virgin Galactic Stock Briefly Falls Below Debut Price (Source: The Street)
For the first time in two years, Virgin Galactic shares have dipped below what the company was worth when it went public in October 2019. On Thursday, stock of the space tourism company fell to as low as $11.30 before rising back to $11.90 by the afternoon. When the company merged with a special purpose acquisition company to go public in 2019, its debut price was $11.75. (1/6)

Government Officials Expect New Zealand Moon Launch to Create Huge Opportunities in Space Sector (Source: Stuff)
The New Zealand Space Agency believes its participation in the Artemis Accords – an international agreement to send people back to the moon – will significantly boost the space sector. The Government signed up to the NASA accords last year, and New Zealand will play an important role in the project when Rocket Lab launches the CAPSTONE satellite to lunar orbit from Mahia Peninsula, likely in March.

NASA’s CAPSTONE, or Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment satellite, will test the orbit planned to be used by a small space station that would act as a lunar gateway. In documents obtained from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the Space Agency said New Zealand’s participation would have “several intangible benefits”. (1/6)

Planning Application Submitted for UK'S Prestwick Spaceport (Source: Insider)
A planning application has been officially submitted by South Ayrshire Council that could see satellites launched from Prestwick Airport. The Proposal of Application Notice is the first step in the planning process for Prestwick Spaceport and signals the intent to apply for planning permission in early 2022. It follows the council’s submission of an environmental impact assessment last year which confirmed the spaceport “will not result in any significant adverse effects to the environment”.

If the planning permission is given the green light by councilors it will see horizontal launches taking place from Prestwick, which will be the only location in Europe to be able to do so by the end of 2023. The spaceport signed a Memorandum of Understanding with satellite delivery company Astraius. Astraius will launch rockets from standard transport aircraft and will be able to place small satellites, such as shoebox sized CubeSats, into a variety of orbits. These small satellites can be used for a host of applications, such as monitoring climate change or tracking food supply chains. (1/7)

Study: 1960 Ramjet Design for Interstellar Travel is Unfeasible (Source: Ars Technica)
In Poul Anderson's 1970 novel Tau Zero, a starship crew seeks to travel to the star Beta Virginis in hopes of colonizing a new planet. The ship's mode of propulsion was a so-called "Bussard ramjet," an actual (though hypothetical) means of propulsion which had been proposed by physicist Robert W. Bussard just a decade earlier. Now, physicists have revisited this unusual mechanism for interstellar travel in a new paper published in the journal Acta Astronautica, and alas, they have found the ramjet wanting. It's feasible from a pure physics standpoint, but the associated engineering challenges are currently insurmountable, the authors concluded.

A ramjet is basically a jet engine that "breathes" air. The best analog for the fundamental mechanism is that it exploits the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air without the need for compressors, making ramjet engines lighter and simpler than their turbojet counterparts. A French inventor named Rene Lorin received a patent in 1913 for his concept of ramjet (aka, a flying stovepipe), although he failed to build a viable prototype. Two years later, Albert Fonó proposed a ramjet propulsion unit to increase the range of gun-launched projectiles and eventually was granted a German patent in 1932. (1/6)