March 8, 2022

The Moral Equivalent of War: a New Metaphor for Space Resource Utilization (Source: Space Review)
If using the resources of the solar system is the only way to save humanity, as some argue, why aren’t we pursuing this field with more urgency? Jack Reid examines if a better argument is needed. Cick here. (3/7)
 
A FAB Approach to Mars Exploration (Source: Space Review)
Planetary scientists are anxiously awaiting the latest decadal survey and its implications for future missions. Jeff Foust reports on how some, looking to preserve future Mars missions within limited budgets, see potential for a new line of low-cost landers that make use of new technologies and new partnerships. Cick here. (3/7)
 
Guarding Gateway’s Goodness: Protecting a Steppingstone’s Genuine Utility (Source: Space Review)
Many consider NASA’s planned lunar Gateway as ineffective and a waste of resources. Bob Mahoney explains how the Gateway, at least as originally envisioned more than two decades ago, can be essential to exploration of the Moon and beyond. Cick here. (3/7)

Intelsat Hires Raytheon Exec as CEO (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has hired a former Raytheon executive to be its next CEO. The company announced Monday that David Wajsgras, former president of Raytheon's intelligence, information and services business unit, will take over as CEO April 4. He succeeds Stephen Spengler, who announced plans to retire in October after more than 18 years at Intelsat, including the last seven as CEO. Intelsat last month successfully emerged from financial restructuring after securing $7 billion in new financing. (3/8)

Irain Claims Satellite Launch Success (Source: RFE/RL)
The Iranian government said Tuesday it successfully launched a small satellite. The Noor-2 satellite was placed into a 500-kilometer orbit for unspecified military applications, Iran's official news agency reported, but did not disclose when the launch occurred. About a week earlier, another apparent launch attempt ended with the explosion of a vehicle on the pad during launch preparations. (3/8)

Is a Global Cyber Alliance the Right Response to Russia's Aggression? (Source: Jerusalem Post)
At the annual Cybertech conference in Tel Aviv, former Knesset member Erel Margalit, who served as head of the Subcommittee for Cyber Defense, called for the creation of a global cyber alliance in response to the Russian-Ukrainian War and the economic sanctions that NATO has imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

“The current war has proven that the NATO alliance on its own isn’t sufficient,” said Margalit, founder and chair of Jerusalem Venture Partners and Margalit Startup City. “Leadership is required to establish a democratic cyber alliance, including NATO and other free countries, in order to lead values-based cyber that will support democracies and people, and will say ‘enough!’ to dictators and to those who support them.” (3/8)

Shotwell: Starlink Ukraine Work Predated Russian Invasion (Source: Space News)
SpaceX had been working for weeks to provide Starlink services in Ukraine before a government minister tweeted a request for Starlink terminals. In a talk Monday, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company had been working for about a month and a half to secure landing rights for Starlink in Ukraine but had yet to get formal approval before Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, tweeted at Elon Musk last month seeking Starlink terminals. "They tweeted at Elon and so we turned it on," she said. "That was our permission." (3/8)

Beames Joins SpiderOak, Offers Potential Blockchain Solution for Satellite Cybersecurity (Source: Space News)
The head of a smallsat industry group is taking a new job as chairman of a cybersecurity company. Chuck Beames, the new chairman of SpiderOak, said he met executives of that company through his work as chairman of the SmallSat Alliance. That company is developing technologies to encrypt data through private blockchain networks, an approach he said could address cybersecurity issues for space systems. Beames will retain his executive chairmanship of smallsat manufacturer York Space Systems. (3/8)

Tomorrow.io Cancels SPAC Plans (Source: Boston Globe)
Tomorrow.io has called off plans to merge with a SPAC. The company, which plans to deploy a constellation of satellites equipped with weather radars, announced Monday it had terminated an agreement announced in December to merge with Pine Technology Acquisition Corp., a SPAC. Tomorrow.io's CEO cited "both our strategic initiatives and overall market conditions" as a reason for staying private. It will pay Pine Technology a $1.5 million termination fee. (3/8)

Spire to Provide Satellites to to Sierra Nevada (Source: Spire)
Spire will provide Sierra Nevada Corporation with a set of radio-frequency geolocation satellites. The companies announced a strategic partnership Monday that includes Spire building four 6U cubesats to support efforts by SNC to identify and locate sources of radio-frequency emissions. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. (3/8)

Rogozin and Kelly Exchange Testy Tweets (Source: CBS)
The head of Roscosmos has been feuding on Twitter with a former NASA astronaut. Scott Kelly has sharply criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine, pointing some of that criticism, in Russian, at Dmitry Rogozin. "You needlessly provoke me," Rogozin responded in English Monday, saying he "will not allow you to behave like that with me." Kelly, in an interview, said Rogozin has "always been a clown," and his tweets now make that clear. "It's just a lot of people didn't realize it, because they never gave him much attention. But you know, this highlights how big of a clown he really is." (3/8)

Florida Ranks 2nd for Most UFO Sightings, Research Says (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Florida ranked No. 2 in states with the most UFO sightings, losing out to California, according to Outforia, a website dedicated to coverage of the outdoors. Documented sightings include reports of unexplained bright lights in the sky or fast-moving shapes not resembling planes or helicopters. Florida has a total of 7,513 documented cases. The No. 1 listed California has a little more than 15,000. (3/8)

Chinese Scientists Say They Have Developed New Type of Rocket Engine Driven by Explosive Shock Waves (Source: South China Morning Post)
A research team in Beijing says they have built a new type of rocket engine powered by explosions. The continuous rotating detonation combustion engine, developed by Professor Wang Bing and colleagues from the school of aerospace engineering in Tsinghua University in Beijing, is driven by explosive shock waves spinning like a tornado faster than the speed of sound.

The idea of an engine powered by explosion was proposed by Soviet scientists as early as the 1950s to launch rockets into orbit. This type of engine would be more efficient than a normal rocket engine and many prototypes have been built over the years, but most had a cylindrical combustion chamber that made the engine too heavy for real-life applications. (3/8)

Satellite Images Show the Amazon Rainforest is Hurtling Toward a ‘Tipping Point’ (Source: Washington Post)
Viewed from space, the Amazon rainforest doesn’t look like an ecosystem on the brink. Clouds still coalesce from the breath of some 390 billion trees. Rivers snake their way through what appears to be a sea of endless green. Yet satellite images taken over the past several decades reveal that more than 75 percent of the rainforest is losing resilience, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The vegetation is drier and takes longer to regenerate after a disturbance. Even the most densely forested tracts struggle to bounce back. This widespread weakness offers an early warning sign that the Amazon is nearing its “tipping point,” the study’s authors say. Amid rising temperatures and other human pressures, the ecosystem could suffer sudden and irreversible dieback. More than half of the rainforest could be converted into savanna in a matter of decades — a transition that would imperil biodiversity, shift regional weather patterns and dramatically accelerate climate change. (3/7)

Space Insurance in the Black for 2021 (Source: Space News)
The space insurance market made about $140 million in profit for 2021, according to research firm Seradata, after barely breaking even in 2020 and a heavy loss in 2019. Seradata’s data shows the market pulled in $500 million in gross premium income for the year versus about $360 million in projected losses.

A $225 million payout for the SXM-7 communications satellite, which ran into issues after launching in December 2019 marked the biggest loss for 2021, although Seradata said some underwriters might count that as a 2019 failure. The amount insurers must pay for some failed satellites, including Measat-3 that started drifting in geostationary orbit in the middle of 2021, is also yet to be determined. (3/7)

After a Week of Disastrous Actions for International Collaborations, Russia Seeks to Boost Domestic Space Projects (Source: Roscosmos)
Russia's space chief, Dmitri Rogozin, posted the following [translated] tweet: "Roskosmos will provide unprecedented support to private Russian space companies. They will be given access to new domestic developments in the field of space instrumentation, as well as the possibility of practically free delivery into orbit of spacecraft created by private design bureaus." (3/8)