February 15, 2022

SpaceX’s Falling Starlink Satellites Highlight Concerns About the Future of Orbital Traffic (Source: GeekWire)
SpaceX says that most of the satellites it launched last week for its Starlink broadband internet constellation are doomed to fall from orbit due to a solar storm. Based on the company’s analysis, as many as 40 of the 49 satellites — which were built at SpaceX’s facility in Redmond, Wash. — will plunge through the atmosphere and burn up. Some have already made the plunge.

In an update, SpaceX stressed that the falling satellites “pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric re-entry — meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground.” Nevertheless, the satellite failures draw attention to the challenges raised by the rise of satellite mega-constellations, even as the Federal Communications Commission considers SpaceX’s proposal to launch nearly 30,000 second-generation Starlink satellites into new orbital configurations.

“The likelihood of conjunction increases substantially when hundreds or thousands of satellites from different constellations are operating at close altitudes,” Amazon lead counsel C. Andrew Keisner wrote. To reduce the risk of collision or interference, Keisner urged the FCC to require that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites fly no higher than 580 kilometers, and that certain types of operational data should be shared. (2/9)

EU Takes on SpaceX and Amazon With its Own Satellite Internet Constellation (Sources: BollyInside)
The Secured Communications initiative has been put forward by Thierry Breton, the internal market commissioner, who wants the EU to build a third satellite system in low earth orbit (LEO) for secured communications and access to the internet. The EU already has Galileo, a global navigation system, and Copernicus, which is used for earth observation. The signal from the new system would be encrypted and offered to Europe and Africa to give that continent an alternative to Chinese-built infrastructure. It would also provide a back-up in case of cyber attacks.

Breton told French TV channel BFM on Monday that the EU needed a sovereign system with encryption that governments and companies could use. It is rare for a project to be rebuffed twice from the commission’s own watchdog and a scheme would usually be blocked unless Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the commission for interinstitutional relations, agreed to take it forward. The commission declined to comment on internal procedures.

The EU conceived the idea after the UK bought a stake in OneWeb, the satellite operator, in 2020. Last year Eutelsat, in which the French government has a stake, invested in OneWeb, causing Breton to question whether Eutelsat could take part in the EU project. The commission contracted companies including Airbus, SES and Eutelsat to carry out a technical study for the project. The running costs are significant, with LEO satellites needing replacement roughly every five to seven years. (2/15)

LeoLabs Announces Operational Agreement with OneWeb (Source: Seraphim)
Exciting news for LeoLabs, Inc. Announcing their partnership with OneWeb entering into a multi-year agreement providing LeoLabs Collision Avoidance to support operational safety of flight for OneWeb’s growing fleet of spacecraft!

This collaboration strengthens responsible and sustainable operations in space. Cementing their mission to create a safer and more sustainable operating environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). One of the most direct ways to achieve this goal is to provide satellite owner-operators with accurate, timely location data on thousands of other satellites and pieces of space debris. By having access to actionable, real-time conjunction risk information, operators can make informed decisions on whether a collision avoidance maneuver is necessary. (2/2)

Vatican Observatory Astronomer Finds New Member of the Solar System (Source: Aleteia)
An astronomer at the Vatican Observatory (www.VaticanObservatory.org), together with his colleagues, has found a new member of the solar system orbiting beyond the planet Neptune. This “trans-Neptunian object,” or “TNO,” is currently is designated “2021 XD7.” It was first observed by Fr. Richard Boyle, S.J. on Dec. 3 2021, using the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mt. Graham in Arizona (USA). (2/10)

Raytheon Reveals It's Being Targeted By DOJ Antitrust Probe (Source: Law360)
Raytheon Technologies Corp. revealed the company is being targeted by a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into alleged agreements between aerospace outfits to not hire workers from one another after a string of criminal indictments late last year. (2/14)

Yuri's Night Celebration Planned Apr. 16 at KSC Visitor Complex (Source: Yuri's Night)
We Are Excited to Welcome You Back to Yuri’s Night Space Coast Sat April 16, 2022! Come join us as we celebrate the power of space to bring the world together with an interplanetary celebration of science, art, and music near the anniversary of humanity’s first spaceflight! Click here. (2/15)

Space Force Wrestling With ‘Digital First’ Culture (Source: Air Force Magazine)
The U.S. Space Force—the only military branch born in the information age—has declared itself a “digital first” service. But its leaders are still wrestling with the challenges of digital transformation and working to build a 21st century service culture, they recently told attendees at an industry conference.

“One of our biggest challenges is getting all of our folks’ heads around a new way of doing business,” said Brig. Gen. Kevin G. Whale, a Royal Canadian Air Force officer on assignment to Space Operations Command, or SpOC, to serve as deputy commanding general for transformation. Whale spoke alongside other Space Force and U.S. Space Command leaders during AFCEA’s Space Force IT Day on Feb 10 as part of a panel discussion titled “Focus and Priorities from the Field.”

SpOC is the pointy end of the Space Force spear, the service’s field command—occupying the equivalent organizational rung of a major command in the Air Force—that provides capabilities to U.S. Space Command, the unified combatant command for the battlefield beyond the atmosphere. (2/14)

Las Cruces Space Festival Includes Film Screenings, Spaceport Open House (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The 2022 Las Cruces Space Festival returns in-person April 7-10 in locations across the city and at Spaceport America. The Las Cruces Space Festival is an annual celebration of space-related activity and interest in southern New Mexico and beyond. The mission is "Making Space for Everyone."  The festival is free to participate in, and open to all, with the cost of activities, presentations, displays, and exhibits all covered by sponsors.

 The festival works with partner organizations across the community — from the public schools, local universities and colleges, space industry, arts, and cultural groups, and others — to provide an event for people of all ages and interests. The aim is to raise awareness and celebrate space-related activity and achievements in the region — past, present, and future — and for people to have fun, learn about new possibilities, and get inspired and excited by the various elements of the festival and associated activities in the region. (2/14)

‘Space Anemia’— Just One Of The Many Impacts of Space Travel On The The Human Body (Source: Forbes)
A recent research study supported by the Canadian Space Agency and The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine found yet another noteworthy space travel phenomenon: “space anemia.” Anemia is “a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal. Haemoglobin is needed to carry oxygen and if you have too few or abnormal red blood cells, or not enough haemoglobin, there will be a decreased capacity of the blood to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues.”

Accordingly, the effects of anemia are quite serious. As the WHO explains, anemia may result “in symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness and shortness of breath, among others.” The new research study found that “the destruction of red blood cells, termed hemolysis, is a primary effect of microgravity in space flight and support the hypothesis that the anemia associated with space flight is a hemolytic condition that should be considered in the screening and monitoring of both astronauts and space tourists.”

"Our study shows that upon arriving in space, more red blood cells are destroyed, and this continues for the entire duration of the astronaut’s mission... “Thankfully, having fewer red blood cells in space isn’t a problem when your body is weightless…But when landing on Earth and potentially on other planets or moons, anemia affecting your energy, endurance, and strength can threaten mission objectives. (2/14)

Maybe—Just Maybe—Sending Billionaires Into Space Isn’t Such a Bad Thing (Source: Ars Technica)
One of the most visually appealing Super Bowl advertisements on Sunday night starred Matthew McConaughey dressed as an astronaut. The advertisement begins with suggestive images of McConaughey in space only to find him in a hot air balloon. "It's not time to escape, it's time to engage," McConaughey says as his balloon traverses green countryside, cityscapes, and a wedding. "So while the others look to the Metaverse and Mars, let's stay here and restore ours. The new frontier, it ain't rocket science. It's right here."

The fact that this advertisement ran during the Super Bowl and chose space exploration as its target should tell us something about the present public temperament toward rockets and billionaires. The rising tide of billionaire angst has peaked during the last year—a watershed moment for private spaceflight. During the last half-century, more than 95 percent of human flights into space have been undertaken by government astronauts on government-designed and funded vehicles. From this point forward, it seems likely that 95 percent of human spaceflights over the next half-century, if not more, will take place on privately built vehicles by private citizens.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, funder of the recent Inspiration4 mission, is well aware of this frustration. On Monday, Isaacman announced that he is purchasing three more orbital flights. The first flight will launch no earlier than November 2022. The mission will allow the astronauts to test a higher-radiation environment, including a spacewalk with suits linked by umbilicals to the Crew Dragon spacecraft. These suits will be an upgraded version of the current pressure suits that astronauts wear during ascent and entry of Crew Dragon missions. "If we can figure out a way to expedite the EVA process, that will have real value," Isaacman said. (2/14)

Starship Status Check (Source: Space Review)
Elon Musk gave an update last week on the status of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, the first such presentation in more than two years. Jeff Foust reports on the issues the company has to overcome before that vehicle is finally ready to head to orbit. Click here. (2/14)
 
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion is Key to Keeping Peace in Space (Source: Space Review)
Both NASA and DARPA are working on nuclear thermal propulsion technologies for tests as soon as the middle of the decade. Alex Gilbert explains why this technology is essential not just to space exploration but also security. Click here. (2/14)
 
America’s Moral Oobligation to Develop Astroelectricity (Source: Space Review)
Arguments for developing space-based solar power have been based on topics ranging from geopolitics to climate change. Mike Snead describes how there is also a moral imperative to develop such energy sources to uplift society. Click here. (2/14)

"Space Dogs" Opens Off-Broadway (Source: New York Times)
The story of the first dog to go to space is now a musical. "Space Dogs," which opened this week off-Broadway, is an unconventional account of Laika, who flew to space on the second Sputnik launch in 1957 and died in orbit. A stuffed animal fills the role of Laika, and the musical is described as "informative, in a slipshod way, but also hopelessly cheesy." The musical runs through March 13. (2/15)

Russian Progress Cargo Craft Launched to ISS (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Progress cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after a launch Monday night. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:25 p.m. Eastern and placed the Progress MS-19 spacecraft into orbit nine minutes later. The Progress, carrying about 2,500 kilograms of cargo, is scheduled to dock with the station's Poisk module early Thursday. (2/15)

Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Joins Satellogic Board (Source: Space News)
A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has joined the board of Earth-imaging company Satellogic. Joseph Dunford, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general and senior managing director of Liberty Strategic Capital, joined the board of Satellogic Monday as part of Liberty's $150 million investment in the company. Dunford was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2015 until 2019 and is on the board of Lockheed Martin. (2/15)

House Committee Considering Update to Satellite Licensing (Source: Space News)
The bipartisan leadership of a House committee is drafting legislation to update satellite licensing rules. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and its ranking member, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), released drafts of two bills Friday they say will better equip the FCC for regulating a surge of non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites.

The Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act seeks to accelerate the FCC's satellite licensing procedures while requiring the regulator to create new performance requirements for space safety and orbital debris. The Secure Space Act would bar the FCC from granting licenses to foreign entities that the U.S. government deems a threat to the country's supply chain or national security. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said she welcomed the bipartisan legislation. (2/15)

China Open to Space Safety Hotline with US (Source: Space News)
The Chinese government says it is open to formal lines of communication with the U.S. on space safety issues after two alleged close approaches of Starlink satellites to its space station. A foreign ministry spokesman said last week that China "stands ready to establish a long-term communication mechanism with the U.S. side" on space safety after reiterating that two Starlink satellites passed close to its space station last year. The spokesman said China complained to the U.N. after receiving no responses from U.S. officials. However, in its own notice to the U.N., the U.S. said it never heard from China about the close approaches and that U.S. Space Command had determined that the Starlink satellites did not pass close enough to the station to warrant a notification. (2/15)

Is Project Blackjack Still Relevant? (Source: C4ISRnet)
DARPA's Project Blackjack started as a bold idea. Instead of relying on a small handful of satellites operating 20,000 miles above Earth, what if the U.S. military could get the same, if not improved, capabilities by using hundreds of small satellites operating less than 1,000 miles up and connected by an orbital mesh network? Since then, however, the situation has rapidly changed. Without waiting to see DARPA’s demonstration, DoD bought into the proliferated LEO concept and established the Space Development Agency to set one up.

It seems like the Pentagon has already adopted DARPA’s revolutionary concept and left its demonstration in the dust. Faced with duplication and delays, is Project Blackjack still relevant? “That’s a question we wrestle with everyday, right? We always are evaluating — are we still relevant? — just like at every DARPA program. Are we hitting our technical milestones? Are the technical milestones still making an impact?” DARPA Project Manager Stephen Forbes said. “I think honestly the answer is ‘yes.’ ”

Project Blackjack may not have a direct impact on the first few batches of satellites launched by the Space Development Agency, but Forbes is confident his program will inform the military’s future proliferated LEO efforts. DARPA has partnered with the SDA and others to launch a handful of experimental satellites to reduce risk for Project Blackjack and other proliferated LEO constellations. Those satellites are testing out some of the core technologies needed to make an on-orbit mesh network work. (2/13)

SpaceX’s Plans to Send Thousands More Satellites Into Orbit Worry NASA (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk’s satellite internet venture is fueling concerns from one of SpaceX’s most important customers—NASA—about traffic congestion and potential collisions hundreds of miles above Earth. SpaceX has been ramping up satellite deployments to power Starlink, the high-speed internet service the company has been rolling out in markets around the world. In January, SpaceX asked the Federal Communications Commission to authorize the company to use a particular setup for 30,000 additional satellites it would send up over time. Those satellites represent the bulk of the 42,000-satellite fleet that SpaceX hopes to ultimately deploy for Starlink. (2/15)

Virgin Galactic Stock Rises as Spaceflight Ticket Sales Open with $150,000 Deposit (Source: CNBC)
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced Tuesday that it will open ticket sales to the public on Wednesday, requiring a $150,000 deposit. Virgin Galactic ticket prices start at $450,000 each, as the company revealed last year, with three different sales offerings: a single seat purchase, packaged seats for couples, friends or family, or opportunities to book entire flights. The company has said previously that — of the $150,000 deposit — $25,000 is not refundable.

Shares of Virgin Galactic rose 18% in trading from their previous close of $8.14. The stock has been battered over the past 12 months, dropping 85%, with the company having delayed the beginning of commercial spaceflights to late this year. For much of the last decade, Virgin Galactic has had about 600 reservations for tickets on future flights, with those tickets sold largely between $200,000 and $250,000 each. The company reopened ticket sales at the $450,000 price in August and had sold about 100 additional tickets as of November. (2/15)

Blue Origin Staffing New Phoenix Office Focused on Avionics, Systems Engineering (Source: AZinno)
Blue Origin, the spaceflight company founded by Jeff Bezos, is looking to hire scores of people to staff up a new office in Phoenix. The company’s hiring website had 178 job openings listed for Phoenix on Feb. 8, including positions in software engineering and data sciences as well as avionics, guidance, navigation and control (GNC) and electronics.

Several of these jobs are hiring in multiple locations, including Phoenix, so it's unclear how exactly many people the company expects to employ in its Valley office. The company has other offices in Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Denver, Huntsville, Alabama as well as in West Texas and along Florida's Space Coast. “Our Phoenix office focuses on avionics, systems engineering and integrated supply chain and is centrally located in downtown Phoenix,” the firm’s careers page says. (2/8)

China Hits Back at US After Satellite Near-Misses (Source: Space Daily)
China has stated the United States is in no position to unilaterally set thresholds for emergency collision after the US rejected the charge its Starlink satellites endangered China's space station. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing on Thursday, saying such rhetoric by the US did not show a responsible attitude as a major country strong in aerospace.

Washington, in an official note verbale to the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs in Vienna on Jan 28, asserted the activities of the Starlink satellites "did not meet the threshold of established emergency collision criteria and emergency notifications were not warranted in either case." China's permanent mission to the UN submitted a note verbale to the UN Secretary-General for safety reasons in December, saying Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX, a US company, have had two close encounters with the Chinese space station, which constituted a danger to the life and health of astronauts. (2/11)

NASA's X-59 Calls on Texas for Key Testing (Source: Space Daily)
It appears the road to enabling a future that includes convenient commercial supersonic air travel over land demands a substantial pit stop in Fort Worth, Texas. Aeronautical innovators at NASA and Lockheed Martin have long planned for this milestone in assembling and testing the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) airplane. Although the X-59 QueSST is being built by Lockheed Martin at their Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, the airplane needed to be moved to another Lockheed facility in Texas for a series of important structural tests before returning it to the West Coast.

Construction of the X-59 in California had made enough progress where all the major structural pieces - the wing, main body, tail, and nose - were assembled and power could be turned on to the vehicle for the first time. The next major task was to make sure the airplane structure wouldn't break apart in flight when exposed to stresses small and extreme.

Mike Buonanno, a Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer who is the company's vehicle lead for the X-59, explained why wrapping up the X-59 and shipping it by truck to Texas in late December was the best way to prove that. "Our Texas site has existing facilities to perform the kinds of tests needed. It would have been expensive and time consuming to design and build them from scratch in Palmdale. But in Fort Worth they've got the perfect facility with a full control room and all the support equipment needed to do those tests very efficiently," Buonanno said. (2/11)

Mars Rover Perseverance Notches a Year of Science, Tech Achievements (Source: Space Daily)
The Mars rover Perseverance and its feisty sidekick helicopter Ingenuity have set records and pushed new frontiers for interplanetary space exploration since landing on the Red Planet one year ago this Friday. The flawless landing of the rover in Mars' Jezero Crater, on Feb. 18, 2021, kicked off a year of successes, including the first rock sample drilled on another planet, the first time oxygen has been extracted from Martian air and the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

The single biggest surprise of the mission is that Ingenuity has now flown 19 times and almost nine months longer than intended, Rick Welch, Mars 2020 deputy project manager, told UPI in an interview. As a result, NASA decided to extend the tiny, 4-pound helicopter's mission indefinitely as a scout for the rover in September. (2/14)

ESA's Vega Rocket Marks Ten Years with Countdown to More Powerful Successor (Source: Space Daily)
Ten years ago this week, 13 February 2012, ESA opened a new era of independent access to space with the flawless inaugural flight of its small launcher Vega. Flying from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, Vega has gone on to earn a reputation for precision and versatility in anticipation of a more capable version, Vega-C.

Placing medium-sized satellites into the low Earth polar orbits that are ideal for scientific and Earth observation missions - about 1430 kg to 700 km - is Vega's trademark capability. But the vehicle has also delivered an ESA science mission to deep space - the gravitational wave detector demonstration mission, LISA Pathfinder - and followed the equatorial flight path needed for an experimental IXV 'lifting body' payload that paved the way for a European launchpad-to-runway space transportation service, with ESA's uncrewed Space Rider vehicle. (2/11)

Chinese Rocket Ready for Record-Setting Role (Source: Space Daily)
A modified version of China's Long March 8 carrier rocket is scheduled to make its debut flight in the coming weeks to transport 22 satellites into orbit, a designer said. Chen Xiaofei, from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, said on Wednesday that if the launch mission succeeds, it will set a record for the most spacecraft launched by a single Chinese rocket.

Currently, the domestic record for the most satellites launched by a single rocket is held by the first flight of the Long March 6 model in September 2015, which deployed 20 satellites. The world record is held by SpaceX's Falcon 9, which lifted 143 satellites in January last year. Like the original model, the variant is 50.3 meters long. It will be propelled by four engines-two on the first stage and two on the second-and will have a liftoff weight of 198 metric tons, Chen said. (2/11)