March 4, 2022

SpaceX Should License Falcon-9 and Dragon to Other Operators (Source: SPACErePORT)
The world's legacy expendable launch systems are moving toward retirement while their operators rush to design reusable systems that compete more effectively against SpaceX and its well-proven Falcon 9 reusable rockets. Nations and corporate players are also increasingly interested in building their own human orbital spaceflight programs. Meanwhile, SpaceX has longstanding plans to ultimately replace the Falcon family of launchers (and its Dragon capsules) with its Starship/Super Heavy system.

So what will SpaceX do with its venerable Falcon and Dragon systems? How about licensing the technology to other companies, including in Europe where they can be produced for to support ESA's ambitions for human spaceflight and reusable launchers. Operating like a Boeing or Airbus as airline suppliers, SpaceX could also continue to produce these systems at their California factory and sell them off to other companies to operate (like Northrop Grumman, which may soon have supplier issues for Antares). SpaceX could even spin off a launch services subsidiary to continue operating the Falcon/Dragon while SpaceX also supplies them to other operators. (2/27)

SNL's Pete Davidson Could Fly with Blue Origin (Source: Daily Beast)
Does Jeff Bezos tune into SNL? If so, what sources say is his latest scheme—sending Pete Davidson to space—might have been born out of jealousy after watching an episode where his nemesis Elon Musk did it first. It was reported Thursday by Page Six that the King of Staten Island himself is in the latter stages of closing a deal to join the Amazon founder on an upcoming Blue Origin space flight. “Pete is excited,” a source close to the actor said. “They haven’t signed a contract yet, but it looks like it’s going to happen. The details are being finalized.” (3/3)

Russia Space Agency Head Says Satellite Hacking Would Justify War (Source: Reuters)
Russia will treat any hacking of its satellites as a justification for war, the head of the country's space agency was quoted as saying in a news report on Wednesday. Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin denied media reports that Russian satellite control centres have already been hacked amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, while warning against any attempts to do so. "Offlining the satellites of any country is actually a casus belli, a cause for war," he said. (3/2)

SECAF: Space Conflict Concerns Driving Budget Priorities (Source: Space News)
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said the possibility of conflict in space is driving budget priorities. Speaking at a conference Thursday, Kendall said he has directed the Space Force to focus on how to make U.S. space systems "resilient enough to endure while under attack." He said a top priority is developing a "resilient space order of battle," or plan for how a force is structured, organized and equipped for combat. At Kendall's direction, the Space Force last month issued a request for information to industry on how constellations could be better protected and made more resilient. (3/4)

SECAF Not Worried About Russian Rocket Engines (Source: Space News)
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall said he is not worried about Russia's announcement it will cut off exports of Russian rocket engines. He said he was unaware of "any major launch concerns" associated with that export ban, as United Launch Alliance has already received all the RD-180 engines it needs for its remaining Atlas 5 missions. Kendall ran Defense Department acquisition programs during the Obama administration when a threat of losing access to the RD-180 after Russia's annexation of Crimea led to a revised national security space launch program to end dependence on that engine.

China poses a greater strategic threat to the U.S. than Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine, Kendall argued. He said in his conference speech Thursday that China was the main competitor to the United States in space and that China's advances in anti-satellite weapons threaten the security of U.S. and allied space systems. That concern will be reflected in the Biden administration's forthcoming national security and national defense strategies. "When you look at it objectively, China is a much greater strategic threat than Russia is," he said. (3/4)

Wozniak's Wayfinder Visualization Tool Combines Data From Multiple Sources (Source Space News)
A startup has emerged from stealth to unveil its space situational awareness technology. Privateer, a company whose founders include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, released this week Wayfinder, a visualization tool that combines space situational awareness data from several sources to track satellites and debris in orbit. Wayfinder is a demonstration of an underlying platform that can also be used for applications like conjunction warnings. Privateer is considering augmenting the existing data with its own space-based sensors, starting with a cubesat demonstration mission launching later this year. (3/4)

JPL Assembling Europa Clipper (Source: NASA)
NASA has started assembly of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The spacecraft is taking shape in clean rooms at JPL, with most of the major instruments and other components in place by the end of the year. Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024 to travel to Jupiter, performing a series of close flybys of its icy moon Europa to characterize its subsurface ocean and look for plumes of material that may be venting from its surface. (3/4)

NASA and Maxar Complete Review for Satellite Servicing Mission (Source: NASA)
NASA has completed a key review of a satellite servicing technology demonstration mission. NASA and Maxar Technologies completed the critical design review for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) spacecraft, which will test the ability to refuel another spacecraft and assemble a communications antenna in space. OSAM-1 is scheduled for launch no earlier than 2025. (3/4)

Sidus Space Partners With Aitech Systems to Support the LizzieSat Constellation (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space, a Space-as-a-Service satellite company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch, and data collection, announced a partnership with Aitech Systems to support the LizzieSat constellation. Aitech Systems is developing custom LizzieSat Command and Data Handling (C&DH) flight computers and peripherals. LizzieSats are 3D manufactured microsatellites focused on rapid development and testing of innovative spacecraft technologies for multiple customers. (3/4)

What’s Next for Space Force Uniforms: Tweaked Collars, Less Baggy Pants, Supply Chain Problems (Source: Air Force Magazine)
It’s been more than five months since Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond unveiled the Space Force’s first prototype service dress uniforms to the world. Since then, members of the Air Force Uniform Office have been busy entering what director Tracy Roan called a “true development cycle,” making subtle tweaks, correcting fits, and incorporating Guardians’ feedback.

Still, it will likely be quite some time before the uniform is officially rolled out, Roan told Air Force Magazine in an interview. Supply chain issues have hit multiple branches of the military hard, leading to uniform shortages for the Air Force and Coast Guard. And they have “definitely hindered” Roan’s office as it tries to move forward with the Space Force uniform, she said, noting her team isn’t even slated to receive fabric for test assets until “late summer.” (3/1)

Virginia Delegation Seeks DOT Funding for Spaceport (Source: Shore Daily News)
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) are seeking a resolution on a determination from the Department of Transportation (DOT) that could provide additional federal funding for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority’s (VCSFA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.

In a letter to Secretary Pete Buttigieg last week, the lawmakers asked DOT to clarify its determination that deemed VCSFA ineligible for RAISE grant funding to enhance the Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) airfield with a water port. The DOT deemed VCSFA ineligible for RAISE funding after dismissing NASA’s explanation that the Commonwealth of Virginia would retain long-term ownership of any improvements made through a grant award. (3/2)

$160 Million Rocket Manufacturing Facility Coming to Eastern Shore, Creating 250 Jobs (Source: Virginian-Pilot)
A commercial aerospace company with ambitions of human spaceflight plans to construct a $160 million rocket manufacturing and operations center on the Eastern Shore. California-based Rocket Lab has selected Wallops Island as the location for a 250,000-square-foot facility for building and launching 131-foot-tall rockets into space, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. The project is expected to create 250 jobs in Accomack County. (3/1)

Russian Move to Hold up OneWeb Launch May Affect Entire Space Industry (Source: Space Daily)
Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit the space industry harder Wednesday after Russian space agency Roscosmos said it would hold up a satellite launch for a British company - which experts say may completely shift the industry away from Russia. The moves by Roscosmos, as it becomes increasingly isolated, could cripple the space agency even more, Todd Harrison, a director with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an interview.

"Russia's space industry was already in a tailspin with the loss of business from the U.S.," Harrison said. "The response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine will exacerbate problems within Russia's space sector and could ultimately cause it to implode...We haven't seen this kind of rapid reshuffling of the space industry since the end of the Cold War, if ever." Space companies like OneWeb now clearly see the "risk of doing business with a nation like Russia ... or nations with potentially aggressive aspirations, like China," Harrison said.

"The big winners out of this will be low-cost launch providers outside of Russia - with SpaceX being at the front of the pack," Harrison said. The dissolution of space ties between Russia and the West is shocking for its pace, but not unthinkable after the U.S. response to Russia's so-called "annexation" of the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014, said space analyst Chris Quilty, owner of St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Quilty Analytics. (3/3)

Fleet Space Technologies Wins Australian Government Grant to Build Space Manufacturing Hub (Source: Space Daily)
Fleet Space Technologies is delighted to announce that the Australian Government has committed $20 million (USD) to the development of the Space Manufacturing Hub in Adelaide. This adds to funds already committed by The Government of South Australia ($20 million AUS) and a consortium of leading space, aerospace and advanced air mobility companies. That total value of the project is therefore $66million (AUS).

This state-of-the-art facility will enable the further growth of Fleet Space Technologies in line with Australia's ambitions to create one of the world's leading space industries. In total 221 jobs are expected to be created in the sector across Fleet Space Technologies and its partners. A further 1,104 indirect jobs can also be created in the supply chain and associated businesses. (3/3)

Canberra Well Placed to Play a Role in Global Asteroid Detection (Source: Space Daily)
A UNSW researcher says we can improve our ability to detect dangerous asteroids from the Southern Hemisphere. NASA's Near-Earth Object Observation Program painstakingly documents all asteroid sightings that could pose a potential threat to our planet. However, geographical constraints mean that somewhere between 2 per cent and 7 per cent of asteroids are not detected.

Former director of the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex (CDSCC) and recently appointed UNSW Canberra Professor of Practice, Ed Kruzins, believes Canberra could help fill that important gap. "We could create a capability here in Australia - because of our unique geographic location - to plug that gap and to provide a service to NASA and the global community," Professor Kruzins said. (3/1)

China Eyes Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Site for New Radio Astronomy Observatory (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese astronomers plan to build a new submillimeter-wave observatory on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as "the roof of the world." Proposed by the Nanjing-based Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the observatory project includes a new submillimeter-wave telescope with a diameter of 15 meters, larger than China's current most advanced 13.7-meter radio telescope.

After two years of monitoring, researchers selected the site in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the main body of which is the Qaidam Basin in the northwestern province of Qinghai, with an average altitude of 3,000 meters. The Purple Mountain Observatory established the country's first millimeter-wave telescope in the 1990s in its Qinghai observation station. The planned submillimeter-wave telescope will boost China to build an advanced astronomical observation base and make more important discoveries, said the observatory in a statement. (3/1)

Shetland Spaceport Lands Third Rocket Launcher After Winning Green Light to Fly (Source: Press and Journal)
Venture Orbital Systems (VOS), a developer of micro launchers and rocket engines based in Reims, France, plans to use the site at Unst as part of its aim to reach 15 launches of its Zephyr rocket by 2026 and 40 by 2030. The agreement, struck in the form of a memorandum of understanding, comes as the £43 million spaceport development finally won planning permission to be built from Shetlands Islands Council (SIC). (3/1)