February 10, 2022

Meet the Women Behind NASA’s Return to the Moon (Source: Today)
NASA’s effort to bring Americans back to the moon is underway as they create a powerful new rocket for a history-making team that would include the first woman and first person of color. The Artemis Program aims to build a place to live and work on the moon where they can learn more about the moon and how to live on another surface outside of Earth. Click here. (2/2)

IHMC to Bring $20M Research Facility to Pensacola, Will Focus on New Pillar of Research (Source: Pensacola News Journal)
Downtown Pensacola is set to get a $20 million research facility on what's currently a dilapidated parking lot. The venture is an expansion of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition campus, which will bring a third pillar focusing on Healthspan, Resilience and Performance Research in addition to the company's existing artificial intelligence and robotics-focused health research.

The four-story, 44,000-square-foot facility is expected to be complete in 2024 if design work and groundbreaking can happen by the summer as planned. IHMC was founded in 1990 and has grown its campus since 2016, in a time when founder and CEO Ken Ford said much of downtown was underdeveloped and "boarded up." Adding the new building will bring new collaboration for the institute, he said, and it will allow top talent to be recruited to Pensacola, rather than outsourcing work to other cities that have those high-level research labs. (2/4)

UCF Lands New Project to Study Effect of Rain on Hypersonic Travel (Source: Space Daily)
University of Central Florida researchers are part of a new $1 million project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to better understand and predict how and why raindrops are affected when they cross a hypersonic shock wave.

Hypersonic speeds are those at Mach 5 and higher, or five times greater than the speed of sound. The U.S. is currently working on developing hypersonic systems for defense and travel. The new project is important because colliding with something as light as a single raindrop could cause a lot of damage at hypersonic speeds. The work will inform researchers as to whether or not the raindrop maintains its single droplet form or breaks up into tens of much smaller droplets. (2/7)

Indian Space Agency Decommissions Communication Satellite (Source: Sputnik)
Space debris has become a real concern for space exploration agencies worldwide. According to estimates, there are 7,200 artificial satellites in total orbiting Earth and 27,000 pieces of man-made debris caught in orbit. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully decommissioned a 14-year-old communication satellite, INSAT-4B, which provided services in the Ku and C frequency bands. Before starting the process, the bandwidth payload services such as DTH were migrated to other geostationary satellites. (2/9)

Nanoracks is Building Our “Jetsons” Future (Source: Space Channel)
NASA has awarded $160 million to Nanoracks, Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin to build the Starlab commercial space station. Starlab, planned to be operational by 2027, will support people in a large inflatable habitat, which will be built by Lockheed Martin. It will also feature a metallic docking node, a 60kW power and propulsion element, and a large robotic arm for servicing cargo and external payloads.

An onboard laboratory system will host research, science, and a manufacturing capability. The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Starlab is part of NASA’s efforts to commercialize space through its LEO Development Program. It will also provide science and crew capabilities prior to the retirement of the International Space Station (ISS)

Starlab is planned to reach initial operating capability in 2027, which ensures a continuous US presence in LEO. “Starlab is the confluence of Lockheed Martin’s rich space expertise and history, Nanoracks’ innovation, and Voyager’s financial savvy. This team is equipped to aid NASA on its mission to expand access to LEO and to enable a transformative commercial space economy,” said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager, Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. (2/10)

Destinus Plans Hydrogen-Powered, Hypersonic Cargo Craft (Source: Tech Crunch)
A new venture from space infrastructure company Momentus founder and former CEO Mikhail Kokorich aims to build a hypersonic aircraft for autonomous cargo delivery around the world. While the craft is far from completion, let alone testing and certification, a $29 million seed round should help things along. The stated plan is to build a hypersonic vehicle (i.e. multiples of the speed of sound) powered by liquid hydrogen and with only water as exhaust, which would enable point to point delivery nearly anywhere on the planet. Ambitious, yes. Expensive, yes. Difficult to engineer, also yes.

The new company, Destinus, is Kokorich’s first big move since he exited Momentus shortly before the latter’s SPAC. He left under something of a cloud, as there were allegations of the company having misled investors and soft-pedaled security issues relating to his ownership (Kokorich being Russian). These troubles (and subsequent $7 million settlement with the SEC) do not seem to have affected the confidence of Destinus’s investors. The 26.8 million Swiss franc (about $29 million) round suggests they see a market and a way to capture it. (2/8)

Orbital Assembly Corporation Exceeds $1 Million Raised (Source: OAC)
Orbital Assembly Corporation (OAC) the leader in providing artificial gravity technologies enabling humanity to work, play and thrive in the space ecosystem has raised an additional $1 million to advance its space station facility development. The company raised the funds on the Netcapital crowdfunding site after its first successful funding round in 2021. This round is scheduled to close at the end of February. (2/10)

Wyler's Proposed Constellation Raises Questions (Source: Quartz)
Greg Wyler's proposed E-Space satellite constellation features spacecraft designed to absorb impact, rather than break into hundreds or thousands of pieces. In future iterations his satellites will collect debris they encounter. Space engineers Quartz spoke to were skeptical about these ideas but unable to comment without more detail.

Tim Farrar, a satellite industry consultant, speculated the specific radio frequencies E-Space plans to use might lend themselves to a network that also uses radio spectrum reserved for terrestrial purposes. That jibes with job postings on E-Space’s website seeking engineers familiar with 5G, the mobile communications protocol. Wyler says he hopes to offer bespoke constellations to corporate and government customers. Such an architecture might be best applied to Internet of Things applications, with utility companies monitoring their infrastructure or cities tracking activity in the streets. (2/10)

NASA Appeals to FCC with Concerns About SpaceX Starlink Constellation (Source: Space News)
NASA said it had several concerns, from space traffic management to interference with science missions, with SpaceX's plan to deploy an additional 30,000 Starlink satellites. In a letter to the FCC this week, NASA said the proposed Starlink Gen 2 system would greatly increase the risk of collisions, and that claims that Starlink's autonomous collision avoidance system created a "zero risk" of collisions with large spacecraft needed to be verified. Those satellites, NASA added, could interfere with observations by Earth science satellites and the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as groundbased observations of near-Earth asteroids. NASA said it did not oppose Starlink Gen 2 but instead raised issues it believed SpaceX needed to first address. (2/10)

NASA Puts its Back Into Next Artemis Moon Mission as Rocket Assembly Continues (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
While NASA aims to send its first-ever Space Launch System rocket to the moon in just a few months, things are coming together for rocket No. 2. While the combined hardware of the SLS core stage and solid rocket boosters along with the Orion capsule await launch from Kennedy Space Center for Artemis I, the core stage for Artemis II, the mission that will send humans back to orbit the moon targeting 2024, is begin assembled at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

The largest part of the core stage, a 130-foot-tall liquid hydrogen tank, was moved into the vertical assembly area at Michoud on Jan. 30, preparing to be mated to a 66-foot-long forward assembly, which combines the forward skirt, intertank and liquid oxygen tank, and arrived earlier in January to the facility. The core stage’s main contractor Boeing will join the two with only the engine section to come. That section, which includes four RS-25 engines developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne from existing engines used in the Space Shuttle program, combined with the rest of the core stage will see it stand at 212 feet tall. (2/9)

China Plans to Launch 140 Satellites on 50 Rockets in 2022 (Source: Space News)
China's main space contractor aims to launch at least 140 spacecraft across more than 50 launches in 2022, following its busiest year in space so far. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation revealed those plans Wednesday, which include six launches to complete the construction phase of the Tiangong space station. The updated target, coupled with the launch plans of other Chinese state-owned enterprises and new private firms, means China could potentially exceed 60 launches in 2022 after conducting 55 launches in 2021. (2/10)

Space Force RFI Seeks New Competitors for DoD Launch Services (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is polling the space launch industry as it tries to identify what companies might challenge United Launch Alliance and SpaceX in a future launch competition. The Space Systems Command said in an RFI last month it was looking for companies capable of performing launches for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program starting in 2025. Potential new entrants include Blue Origin's New Glenn and Rocket Lab's Neutron rockets. SpaceX and ULA split the NSSL Phase 2 contracts in 2020, covering up to 34 missions through 2024. The Space Force has to start the market research now for the next NSSL competition, given the long lead time needed for national security launches. (2/10)

Sidus Space Announces Over $1.5M New Purchase Orders Received in January 2022 for Space Hardware and Services (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space has received over $1.5 million in purchase orders for space hardware and services supporting four customers. The purchase orders received consist of both new orders and a modification to a previous purchase order. “We are off to an excellent start for 2022. As a true space-as-a-service company, our space hardware manufacturing capability is an integral part of our full-stack offerings. Space hardware is a critical component and need within the space ecosystem,” said Carol Craig, Sidus Space Founder and CEO. (2/10)

Senators Seek Passage of Delayed NASA Authorization (Source: Space News)
Senators used a NASA oversight hearing Wednesday to call for passage of a NASA authorization bill. Leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee and its space subcommittee said they hoped to secure passage of an authorization bill this year. The Senate included a NASA authorization in a competitiveness bill it passed last year, but the House version passed last week did not include it. Senators argued that they need the authorization to provide effective oversight and to make the case for increased funding for the agency. (2/10)

Constellation Developers Opting for In-House Manufacture (Source: Space News)
More satellite constellation developers are deciding to build their satellites in-house. A study presented at the SmallSat Symposium Wednesday found that 43% of constellation developers are building their own satellites, up from 32% just a year ago. Satellite manufacturers, in a conference panel, said they're working to be more flexible and responsive for constellation developers, adding that some companies that start out manufacturing their own satellites later regret the decision because of the need to update costly production capabilities. (2/10)

Relativity Space “Closer and Closer” to First Launch of a Fully 3D-Printed Rocket (Source: Teslarati)
Relativity Space, a Long Beach, California-based aerospace startup, aims to alter the manufacturing process of rockets forever by 3D-printing almost every piece of their orbital-class Terran rockets. The company was co-founded in 2015 by CEO Tim Ellis (departing Blue Origin) and Jordan Noone (departing SpaceX), with both engineers leaving their positions at these industry giants with one goal in mind: build and launch the world’s first 3D-printed orbital rocket.

In the last two and a half years, the startup has managed to raise nearly $1.3 billion through private investors including Baillie Gifford, Blackrock, BOND, Fidelity, General Catalyst, and Mark Cuban. That amount of investment makes Relativity one of the most valuable and best-funded private aerospace companies in recent history – second only to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has raised more than $7.7 billion in about a decade.

Relativity is growing quickly and has expanded to nearly 600 employees in just a few years. Aside from their headquarters and manufacturing facility in Long Beach, CA, Relativity has planted their flag at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), where it’s developing Launch Complex 16 (LC-16) for Terran 1 and Terran R. There, a team of infrastructure engineers and technicians are currently building the launch facilities that will support Terran 1’s launch debut. A separate team at Mississippi’s NASA Stennis Space Center is continually testing the startup’s engines and rocket stages. (2/6)

RS-25 Engine for SLS Tested Again at Stennis (Source: NASA)
NASA conducted its second RS-25 engine hot fire test of the year Feb. 8 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at Stennis Space Center, the third hot fire in the latest test series that began in mid-December. NASA is testing RS-25 engines to help power the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) on future deep-space missions. Four RS-25 engines will generate a combined 2 million pounds of thrust to power SLS’s ascent. Each test in the current series is providing operational data to NASA's lead contractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne. (2/8)

UN Delays Space Norms Meeting for Russia (Source: Politico)
The United Nations has delayed the first meeting of a new working group on norms of space behavior. The meeting of the "open-ended working group" was scheduled to begin next week but has been delayed until May because Russian officials said they were not prepared to participate. The working group, established by a General Assembly resolution in December, is designed to discuss norms of behavior intended to reduce the risks of collisions or other activities that threaten the space environment. (2/10)

Satellite IoT Companies Don’t See Broadband Systems as Competitors (Source: Space News)
Companies developing internet-of-things satellite systems say they're not worried about competition from broadband constellations. Leaders of several companies working on IoT constellations said at the SmallSat Symposium this week that their systems are optimized differently to meet the needs of their customers, including low power requirements and small form factors. However, they said connectivity, in general, is becoming commoditized, requiring them to offer complete solutions to customers in order to remain competitive. (2/10)

Viasat Plans Sweden Ground Station (Source: Space News)
Viasat plans to deploy an antenna in Sweden in April to give its ground station-as-a-service business polar coverage for the first time. Arctic Space Technologies, a Swedish satellite communications provider, is hosting the ground station in a deal that also co-locates a Viasat Real-Time Earth facility at a data center for the first time to improve operations. That is part of a Viasat network that enables satellite operators to provide low-latency products without investing in a dedicated antenna system. Viasat said it established the polar ground station to meet increasing demand from Earth observation companies deploying satellites to sun-synchronous orbits. (2/10)

KSAT Developing Ground Systems for LunIR Cubesats Planned for SLS Launch (Source: Space News)
KSAT is providing ground network support for the NASA-funded Lunar InfraRed Imaging (LunIR) mission. LunIR, built by Tyvak and Lockheed Martin, is one of the cubesat secondary payloads on the Artemis 1 SLS launch and will perform infrared observations of the moon. KSAT will use a dedicated lunar communications network to provide service for LunIR, using a series of 13-meter dishes. KSAT also is designing a ground network for lunar data relay satellites as part of a consortium led by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for ESA. (2/10)

Rocket Lab Shuffles Launch Manifest (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab is reshuffling its near-term manifest of Electron launches. The company said Wednesday its next launch will be of a StriX radar imaging satellite for Japanese company Synspective, scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 28. Rocket Lab moved up that launch after a launch of two BlackSky imaging satellites, which had been scheduled for as soon as Feb. 14, was delayed "to accommodate shifts in customer timelines." The launch will be the first Electron mission of the year. (2/10)

Space Coast Aerospacce Workforce Development Strategy Summit Planned March 3 (Source: CareerSource Brevard)
An Aerospace Strategy Summit is planned on March 3 for Brevard County’s aerospace industry employers, education advocates, training partners, and other stakeholders. The event will feature a vital discussion for tackling aerospace workforce needs to support the continued growth of the Aerospace Industry. Stakeholder input is critical for promoting local, state, and federal efforts to meet the industry's talent needs.  We need your voice and ideas at the table for real solutions! Click here. (2/10)

Chinese Space Launch Startups Attract a Frenzy of Investment (Source: Space News)
China’s emerging rocket companies have secured major funding in recent weeks as competition to reach orbit intensifies. Space Pioneer (Beijing Tianbing Technology Co.) announced “major strategic funding” on Feb. 8, led by state-owned investment vehicles and is targeting its first orbital launch this year. The undisclosed funding followed at least six other Chinese launch-related companies announcing funding rounds. The most notable is the $200 million announced by Galactic Energy in January.

Galactic Energy will use these for upcoming launches of the Ceres-1 solid rocket and the larger, kerosene-liquid oxygen Pallas-1 launcher, set for a first launch in 2023. Deep Blue Aerospace, another company developing a reusable kerolox launcher, Nebula-1, secured nearly $31.5 million. Its next move will be a kilometer-level, vertical takeoff, vertical landing test using the Nebula M1 test stage, following a successful 100-meter test in October.

Orienspace, founded in 2020, secured nearly $47 million for its Gravity family of reusable launchers. Reusable methane-LOX rocket engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian last month secured at least $15.7 million and will supply startup Rocket Pi with engines to power the Darwin-1 reusable launcher. Meanwhile Expace, a spinoff from state-owned CASIC and operator of Kuiazhou solid rockets, is working towards B round funding. Additionally, Space Trek, which is developing both liquid suborbital rockets and supersonic target missiles, raised tens of millions of yuan (10 million yuan converts to $1.57 million). (2/10)

Space Junk is Making a Dangerous Mess of Our Solar System (Source: WBUR)
Decades of space travel have left space filled with dangerous debris. Some of this space junk — ranging from tiny to the size of a school bus — is orbiting at more than 17,000 miles per hour and causing headaches and near-misses that will only become more of an issue with a huge uptick in space launches and more satellites. (2/9)