March 29, 2022

How Do Georgia's Spaceport "Experts" Get It So Wrong? (Source: Spaceport Facts)
Less than 4 weeks ago, many of us received a fancy mailer urging us to “Vote No” to build Spaceport Camden. The full-color flyer claimed that "Cape Canaveral is Out of Room - The Space Force is rapidly running out of room for other commercial companies wishing to work on the Cape." Now, just four weeks later, there is this far more detailed story about launch potential being realized right now at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, with a variety of new users actively modifying old launch pads on 'ICBM Row' along the spaceport's coastline.

Every week brings a new revelation about how NO Rocket Company wants or needs Spaceport Camden which will be the most constrained and expensive launch site in the world. Meanwhile, Florida's pads present no risk to US citizens, private property, and a visitor-active National Seashore. The FAA knows that there is no rocket "in the foreseeable future" for Georgia's spaceport project. (3/29)

Launch Failures: Fairings (Source: Space Review)
An Astra launch in February failed when the rocket’s payload fairing did not separate properly. Wayne Eleazer discusses how such failures, while rare over the years, are not unprecedented. Click here. (3/28)

The Launch Market Squeeze (Source: Space Review)
For all the talk of a glut of small launch vehicles, supply of larger launch vehicles is now very constrained, thanks in part to the withdrawal of the Soyuz from the commercial market. Jeff Foust reports on what companies and organizations are doing to cope, including, in one case, turning to a competitor for help launching its satellites. Click here. (3/28)

Ariane 6, Vega-C, Microlaunchers: ESA Looks to Full Range of Launch Options for European Institutional Missions (Source: Parabolic Arc)
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher today underscored the Agency’s determination to ensure that ESA’s work in space is not derailed by the tragic events in Ukraine. Mr Aschbacher stresses that work continues to assess the impact on each ongoing programme, including on missions affected by Roscosmos’ withdrawal of Soyuz launch operations from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

In addition, ESA is preparing proposals that, if endorsed by its Member States, will further support European microlauncher services to complement the Ariane and Vega programmes, which form the backbone of Europe’s space transportation capability. “ESA’s strength is in the deep and enduring international cooperation which has made Europe a leader in the global space community,” he says. “Today we face unparalleled challenges, but I am confident that together our Member States can build for Europe a stronger and even more robust capability.”

First, says Mr Aschbacher, ESA continues to implement the sanctions on Russia decided by its Member States and to assess their impact on ongoing programmes. This work continues in close coordination with industrial and international partners. ESA is assessing the Ariane 6 and Vega-C launch services, and will propose a baseline and back-up option for each of these missions. And work continues on mitigation measures to secure the continuity of Vega-C launch services and on ensuring the maximum Ariane 6 launch services for institutional missions in the period 2023/2024. (3/29)

Dark Clouds: The Secret Meteorological Satellite Program (Source: Space Review)
Since before the launch of Sputnik, the US military considered the role satellites could play in “weather reconnaissance”. In the first installment of a multi-part examination of that effort, Dwayne Day explores early studies of military weather satellites. Click here. (3/28)
 
Red Heaven: China Sets its Sights on the Stars (Source: Space Review)
In the conclusion of his three-part analysis of China’s space program, Jason Szeftel examines if China can revamp its space program to more effectively compete with the US and, specifically, SpaceX. Click here. (3/28)
 
Pluto’s Ancient Ice Volcanoes Might Tease the Possibility of Alien Life (Source: Daily Beast)
On some planets, volcanoes are icy, prone to ejecting a mixture of water, ammonia, methane, and chlorinated chemical compounds out into their below-freezing surroundings, topped off with icy versions of these compounds. In a new study, an international group of astronomers discovered Pluto has ice volcanoes that may have been more recently active than initially believed. It’s not just a fun geological discovery that sheds more light on the faraway dwarf planet’s internal temperatures. The new findings may even open the door to us finding evidence of distant alien life.

Scientists have known about Pluto’s ice volcanoes, or cryovolcanoes, since 2015. And Pluto is far from the only body in our solar system to boast such phenomena: They’ve also been found on Saturn’s moon Titan, Jupiter’s moon Europa, and fellow dwarf planet Ceres (the largest rock in the asteroid belt).

Since ice volcanoes need a sustainable internal heat source to keep things flowing, it was never entirely clear how much heat the deathly cold Pluto was once packing and whether this activity was still occuring. In the new study, astronomers analyzed images from NASA’s probe New Horizons, which launched in 2006 and arrived at Pluto in 2015. They noticed an ice-covered basin called Sputnik Planitia, where there appeared to be relatively recent ice volcano activity with volcanic domes jutting out as far as four miles high and anywhere from six to nearly 100 miles in diameter. (3/29)

Sidus Space Announces the Upcoming Launch of LizzieSat Aboard NASA Resupply Services Rocket (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space plans to launch its LizzieSat satellite to the International Space Station (ISS). This mission is slated to take place later this year. LS is a multi-mission satellite that supports custom payloads and customer needs leveraging space flight-proven communications, power, navigation and computing subsystems to provide domestic and international customers with valuable data from Low Earth Orbit.

LizzieSat is expected to be delivered to the ISS through NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract (wherein SpaceX and Northrop Grumman are contracted to launch to the orbiting laboratory) and deployed from a Japanese Experimentation Module (JEM) Airlock using the Space Station Integrated Kinetic Launcher for Orbital Payloads (SSIKLOPS) managed by Sidus Space. (3/29)

Omnispace and Nelco Announce Strategic Partnership (Source: Space Daily)
Omnispace and Nelco Limited, a TATA Group company, have announced a strategic cooperation agreement to enable and distribute 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN), direct-to-device satellite services. The collaborative effort will expand the reach of 5G using satellite communication throughout India and South Asia.

Nelco provides satcom services to enterprise customers for business-critical applications across many industry segments, including Aero IFC and Maritime communication. This strategic agreement with Omnispace will focus on enabling the use of 5G direct-to-device communications using, Omnispace's global NGSO satellite network across various market segments. The Omnispace network will deliver IoT-based solutions and a seamless mobile connectivity experience beyond the boundaries of existing mobile networks. (3/29)

Surface Simulation Lab Launches New Chapter in Australian Space Research (Source: Space Daily)
The University of Adelaide launched its new Extraterrestrial Environmental Simulation (Exterres) Laboratory, the first of its kind in Australia. It is an off-Earth surface testing environment for space technologies like rovers. In this new lab, researchers can simulate and test equipment in both lunar and Martian surface environments using a highly controlled and monitored experimental setting, the lab will help experts develop technology that can withstand the harsh effects of regolith and how best to tackle the engineering challenges of constructing long-term dwellings on other planets. (3/29)

Neuraspace Raises Funding to Prevent Ssatellite Collisions (Source: Space Daily)
Neuraspace, the developer of an advanced AI-powered Space debris monitoring and satellite collision avoidance platform, has raised euro 2.5 million from Armilar Venture Partners. The company will use these funds to accelerate the commercialization of its platform. Neuraspace's proprietary AI technology enables more accurate satellite collision risk prediction and, by applying a data fusion strategy, offers increased robustness and resilience.

The platform also automates many of the current manual processes and communications and delivers an end-to-end solution, providing operators with actionable orbital maneuver recommendations to avoid collisions, while delivering valuable insights to various other stakeholders including regulators, insurers and other Space-asset dependent businesses. (3/29)

NASA Would Get 8% Increase in Biden's Proposed Budget (Source: Space News)
NASA is requesting nearly $26 billion for 2023 to support continued work in exploration, science and technology programs. The budget, released Monday, represents an 8% increase over what the agency received for 2022. The budget proposal contained little in the way of new initiatives, instead providing funding for elements of the Artemis lunar exploration effort and the previously announced Earth System Observatory series of Earth science missions. NASA did announce it will seek to terminate funding for the SOFIA airborne observatory and Mars Ice Mapper, a proposed international Mars orbiter mission, and will delay development of the NEO Surveyor space telescope to look for near-Earth asteroids. (3/29)

Space Force Would Get ~$5 Billion Increase in Biden's Proposed Budget (Source: Space News)
The Space Force and Space Development Agency would get about $5 billion more in the proposed 2023 budget. The budget included additional funding for missile-warning satellites, the SDA's Tracking Layer Tranche 1 and the classified Evolved Strategic Satcom program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the antisatellite capabilities of adversaries like Russia and China require DoD to invest in advanced space systems. The Defense Department said its overall budget request recognizes China as "our key strategic competitor" and Russia as "an acute threat" to the U.S. and allies. (3/29)

Commerce Department Would Get Huge Increase for Space in Biden's Proposed Budget (Source: Space Poicy Online)
The Department of Commerce section of President Biden's proposed 2023 budget reveals a "bold investment" of $2.3 billion for next-generation weather satellites, and $88 million for the Office of Space Commerce for space situational awareness and other space activities, plus $2 million in space funding for the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (3/28)

X-Bow Systems Unveils 3D Printed Solid Rocket Motors, Launch Services (Source: Space Daily)
X-Bow Launch Systems has exited stealth mode. X-Bow (pronounced "cross-bow") brings to market its solid fuel rocket motors, along with a suite of small launch vehicles for both orbital and suborbital launch services. Customers already include the U.S. Air Force Research Labs and AFWERX, Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, as well as the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Since its founding in 2016, X-Bow has focused on the design and development of 3D printed solid rocket motors that are more efficient and considerably more cost effective than traditional motors. X-Bow's new class of highly flexible, reliable and ultra-responsive solid rocket motors introduces new products to a market that has not seen significant technological change for decades. The company's product line includes propellants, motors, and turnkey launch services that are available to both government and commercial space customers. The company is excited to be growing with over 60 employees strategically located across the country. (3/29)

SES Seeks to "Future Proof" its Satellite Fleet (Source: Space News)
The latest GEO satellite ordered by SES is part of the operator's effort at "future-proofing" its fleet. SES announced Monday it is buying the SES-26 satellite from Thales Alenia Space for launch in 2024 or 2025 to replace the existing NSS-12 satellite at 57 degrees east. The satellite has a software-defined payload. An SES executive said it would consider ordering such payloads on future satellites "whenever the business case calls for it" to adapt to changing markets and demand. (3/29)

Japan's Synspective Raieses $100 Million for SAR Constellation (Source: Space News)
Japanese synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite company Synspective has raised $100 million. The company raised the Series B round from several investors in Japan and Singapore. Synspective has raised $200 million to date and will use the new funding to accelerate deployment of a constellation of 30 SAR satellites it seeks to have in orbit by 2026. The company has launched two satellites to date, including one a month ago on an Electron rocket. (3/29)

Boeing's Defense and Space Unit Changes Leadership (Source: Breaking Defense)
The head of Boeing's defense and business unit is retiring. Boeing announced Monday that Leanne Caret would retire after nearly 35 years at the company. Ted Colbert, head of Boeing's global services business, will take over as head of Boeing Defense and Space effective Friday. Caret will remain at Boeing as an executive vice president and senior adviser to CEO Dave Calhoun until her retirement later this year. (3/29)

China Launches First Long March 6A Rocket (Source: Space News)
China launched the first Long March 6A Tuesday. The rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 5:50 a.m. Eastern and placed two satellites into sun-synchronous orbits. The Long March 6A is a more powerful version of the Long March 6, with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters and two engines in its first stage. The two satellites, Pujiang 2 and Tiankun 2, will conduct Earth imaging and space environment missions. (3/29)

Weather Delays New Shepard Launch (Source: Space.com)
Blue Origin's next New Shepard launch has slipped because of weather. The company said Monday it was delaying the NS-20 launch from Tuesday to Thursday because forecasts call for high winds at its West Texas test site. The launch will send six people on a brief suborbital flight. Separately, the launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on the commercial Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station has been rescheduled to no earlier than April 6. The launch was previously scheduled for April 3, but NASA is moving ahead with a Space Launch System dress rehearsal that day, forcing the delay. (3/29)

Terran Orbital Stock Shows Volatility on First Trading Day (Source: CNBC)
Terran Orbital had a volatile first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company, which went public through a SPAC merger, saw its stock price initially rise 15%, then fall by 19%. Shares closed up 7.6% at the end of trading Monday. Terran Orbital raised $255 million from the SPAC deal to fund its satellite manufacturing efforts, although only a small fraction came from the proceeds of the SPAC itself. (3/29)

Israeli Company Plans Brain Wave Measurements on ISS (Source: Tech Crunch)
An Israeli startup, brain.space, plans to test a new system for measuring brain waves on the ISS. The company has developed an electroencephalography, or EEG, system that can be worn as a helmet to measure brain activity. It's flying the helmet to the ISS on the Ax-1 mission next week, the first public demonstration of the technology. (3/29)

SES Adds Satellite to Extend Services Across Europe, Africa and Asia (Source: Space Daily)
SES has ordered SES-26 a fully software-defined geostationary (GEO) satellite from Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %). SES-26 will maintain and expand the wide range of content delivery and connectivity services to broadcasters, media companies, telco operators, internet service providers and governmental organisations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

The digital satellite with both Ku-band and C-band frequencies will replace SES's NSS-12 satellite at 57 degrees East, one of SES's longest-held and most valuable orbital positions. From this key location at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, SES will continue to deliver content and connectivity solutions to some of the world's fastest-growing markets. (3/29)

FAA's Nolen Chosen as Agency's Acting Administrator (Source: Reuters)
Billy Nolen has been named acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration until a permanent replacement is found for Steve Dickson, who is resigning at the end of the month. Nolen has served as the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety since December, overseeing a team of more than 7,600 employees. (3/26)

Moon Dust Collected By Neil Armstrong On Apollo 11 Heads To Auction – After NASA Lost Legal Battle To Keep It (Source: Forbes)
Moon dust that astronaut Neil Armstrong collected during 1969’s Apollo 11 mission that was man’s first visit to the moon could sell for a seven-figure sum at auction in April – years after the space agency fought in court to keep the dust out of private hands. Armstrong collected the dust as a contingency sample shortly after he took his first steps on the lunar surface and uttered his now-famous line, “that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” auction house Bonhams said.

The dust is expected to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million, according to Bonhams. The lunar bag that contained it – and included only particles of lunar material left in the bag – was auctioned off in 2017 for $1.8 million. The lunar dust will be sold April 13 as part of a space-themed auction that also includes a fragment of Sputnik 1, the first space satellite ever launched. NASA has confirmed the authenticity of the lunar dust up for auction, but the space agency never meant for the sample to end up in private hands.

The dust’s seller, Nancy Lee Carlson, purchased what was labeled only as a “flown zippered lunar sample return bag with lunar dust” for $995 in 2015 at a U.S. Marshal's auction. When Carlson sent the bag to NASA to learn more, the space agency realized it had Apollo 11 ties and refused to return it, saying the bag belonged to “the American people'' and should be put on public display. It’s unclear when NASA lost track of the bag of dust but by 2002, it was in the possession of Max Ary, a space museum co-founder in Kansas who was convicted of selling stolen artifacts. (3/26)

Biden Proposes Billion Dollar NASA Budget Increase (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
As NASA readies its first major Artemis program mission, President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget requests nearly an additional billion dollars over 2022’s enacted amount for deep space human exploration.

Overall, the White House is requesting $26 billion for NASA, which includes the Artemis program, International Space Station operations, space technology development, Earth and planetary science, astrophysics, heliophysics, aeronautics research and much more. This is included in the roughly $5.8 trillion budget proposal for 2023 released March 28, 2022, which is still less than a half of a percent of all federal spending.

The bulk of the spending is on deep space exploration systems — $7.5 billion. This includes $1.3 billion for Orion, $2.6 billion for the Space Launch System rocket, $779 million for the Lunar Gateway and $750 million for Exploration Ground Systems. It also includes nearly $1.5 billion for the Human Landing System program, which as of last week is now expected to include the development of two commercial human-rated lunar landers. (3/28)

NASA Awards Balloon Operations Follow-On Contract (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has awarded a follow-on contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. for support of the agency's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, located in Palestine, Texas. The NASA Balloon Operations Contract II has a total potential contract value of $339.1 million. (3/28)

How Astronaut Sian Proctor Overcame ‘Imposter Syndrome’ After Being Rejected by NASA (Source: CNBC)
Sian Proctor became the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft last year, but despite her success the astronaut says she’s suffered with imposter syndrome her “entire life.” One example of when Proctor said she suffered from this self-doubt was after she failed to get all the way through NASA’s astronaut selection process in 2009.

Speaking at the Credit Suisse 2022 Asian Investment Conference on Monday, Proctor recalled feeling “devastated” when she got that rejection phone call from NASA. Proctor said she could hear her inner “imposter syndrome voice saying ‘see, you’re not good enough, you never should have applied and all of these things. How are you going to make yourself better? Because clearly, you’re not as good as you could be’.”

Instead of listening to those self-doubts, Proctor said she decided to reframe the rejection in her head, looking at the positive aspects of going through that selection process: “I went further than thousands of people in the selection process, I should be celebrating that, the fact that I was almost an astronaut, almost an astronaut was worth celebrating.” (3/28)

L3Harris Testing Supported Successful JWST Mirror Alignment (Source: L3Harris)
L3Harris engineers integrated a complex system of mirrors on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, then simulated the harsh conditions of space to rigorously test the functions, ensuring the successful capture of ancient light providing insights into the universe’s origins.

More than a decade of careful, methodical work by L3Harris, dating back to 2003, led to the successful 18-mirror alignment just announced by NASA, confirming Webb’s ‘eye’ is working as designed, resulting in a “fully focused image of a single star.”

After integrating the complex system of mirrors, a team of L3Harris engineers performed a series of optical tests using a cryogenic vacuum chamber at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to assess the telescope’s ability to operate in harsh space conditions. The recent successful image capture proves the L3Harris integration and testing paid off, paving the way for this scientific progress. (3/22)