February 21, 2022

Space Florida's DiBello Among Inductees to Space & Satellite Hall of Fame (Source: SSPI)
Space & Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) announced today that, on March 15, it will induct six new members into the prestigious Space & Satellite Hall of Fame. The 2022 honorees are Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida; Dr. Christopher R. Boshuizen, Dr. William S. Marshall and Robbie Schingler, co-founders of Planet; Steve Spengler, President and CEO of Intelsat; and Prof. Robert Twiggs, Professor Emeritus at Morehead State University.

They will join the leaders who created, sustained and expanded the industry over the past 60 years, including Dr. Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Harold Rosen, Rene Anselmo, Takuya Yoshida, David Thompson, Greg Wyler, Mary Cotton, Romain Bausch, Pradman Kaul, Sidney Topol, Gwynne Shotwell, John Celli, Giuliano Berretta, Dr. Gladys West, Mark Dankberg, James Monroe III, Steve Collar, Peter Jackson and Jean-Yves Le Gall. (2/197)

Astreia Developing Mars-Suitable Housing on Earth (Source: Astreia)
Astreia is founded with the goal of enabling sustainable human life in space, by developing self-sufficient habitation structures that can be built anywhere, even on another planet. We begin on Earth, deploying our technology to build sustainable housing across the globe, beginning with communities in South Texas. By aiming for Mars, we also solve for the global housing and climate crises on Earth. Click here. (2/18)

Beijing to Dubai in One Hour? Introducing the Hypersonic Suborbital Spaceplane (Source: The National)
A Chinese start-up is developing a hypersonic spaceplane that will ferry passengers from one country to another with suborbital flights. The ambitious project is called Space Transportation and is being developed by Beijing Lingkong Tianxing Technology. It will transform the travel industry if successful. For example, it would allow passengers from Beijing to reach Dubai in an hour, instead of the nine hours it takes on a regular aircraft.

Last year, the company managed to secure $62 million in funding for its projects through a Shanghai-level industrial investment fund, the Silk Road Golden Bridge and Tianqi Venture Capital. “The product of Lingkong Tianxing is a high-speed aircraft. Imagine, in less than two hours, we can fly from the eastern hemisphere to the western hemisphere,” said Zuo Lingye, partner at Jingwei China, one of the investment partners of the start-up. “This may be the next generation of aircraft that will have a major impact on global passenger transport and logistics.” (2/18)

Shetland Spaceport Hit by Further Planning Delay (Source: The Press and Journal)
It had been anticipated that the application would go before the council’s planning committee on Monday (21 February) after Historic Environment Scotland withdrew its objection to the development on the site of Second World War radar station at Lamba Ness. However, when the planning papers for Monday’s meeting were published earlier this week the Saxa Vord item did not appear on the agenda.

A spokesperson for SaxaVord UK Spaceport said the SIC has now confirmed to them that the application will not be on the agenda on Monday, and has given no clear indication when it will be discussed. The proposed space port at Saxa Vord is seen as a key development for the UK’s space ambitions, while US defence company Lockheed Martin, a partner in the project, is required to deliver the UK government’s Pathfinder project in 2022. (2/17)

A Headlong Rush Into Space Investing Should Be Met with Caution (Source: Financial Times)
Space investing in both private and public markets reached dizzying heights last year. In the private domain, Elon Musk’s SpaceX lead the way — and the headlines — with a valuation that reportedly crossed $100bn following secondary market share sales. More broadly, space infrastructure companies received over $14.5bn of private investments in 2021, up more than 50 per cent from the year before. And investments were not limited to private markets. Last year, a record nine space companies moved from private to public markets via Spac investment vehicles.

It is no surprise that investors are scrambling to get access to space momentum stocks. Those who cannot access sought-after private market deals can now get a slice of the action through exchange traded funds targeting the excitement around SpaceX, including the prolific momentum stock investor Cathie Wood’s Ark Space Exploration and Innovation fund. But there’s a problem: with a couple of exceptions, pure space stocks, which derive more than half their revenues from space-related businesses or services, are not momentum stocks and the businesses involved are often not even profitable.

Today, there are two types of space company: legacy ones such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, and so-called “New Space” companies such as Rocket Lab, Virgin Galactic and Spire. Investing in a single legacy space company stock is a bit like investing in a mini-ETF. For example, Boeing’s stock price is driven by multi-sector exposure to commercial aircraft, defence, national security and professional services as well as space. During the Covid-19 pandemic, as the world slowed down and a collapse in commercial air transportation hit Boeing’s stock, US defence budgets also increased, thereby hedging the share price. (2/16)

Large-Scale Crop Production for the Moon and Mars: Current Gaps and Future Perspectives (Source: Frontiers In Astronomy & Space Science)
In this perspectives paper, we identify major challenges for space crop production: altered convection in the microgravity environment, scheduling and logistics, crew time and the need for advanced automation, robotics, modeling, and machine learning. We provide an overview of the existing space crop production gaps identified by the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) space crop production team and discuss efforts in current development in NASA projects to address these gaps. Click here. (2/4) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.733944/full

Russian 3D Printer to be Tested on ISS in 2022 (Source: Parabolic Arc)
It is planned to conduct a 3D printing experiment on the Russian segment of the International Space Station, dedicated to the development of additive technologies for the production of products from polymer materials in space conditions. To do this, in June 2022, a 3D printer will be brought to the ISS on the Progress MS-20 cargo ship.

The director of the scientific experiment is the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia named after S.P. Korolev (part of the State Corporation Roscosmos), the developer of the printer is Tomsk Polytechnic University. Currently, the creation of a 3D printer is being completed, which will be able to print samples and parts from thermoplastic polymers by layer-by-layer application of a molten polymer thread. (2/19)