May 3, 2022

SpaceX Starbase Expansion Plans Will Harm Endangered Species, According to Fish and Wildlife Service (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX must take steps to track and mitigate its impact on endangered species and their habitat in order to gain approvals for testing and commercial launches of its Starship Super Heavy lift-launch vehicle in Boca Chica, Texas, according to documents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The documents, released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, show that recent declines in an endangered bird species, the piping plover, have already been correlated with SpaceX activity at the South Texas facility.

The documents also reveal that SpaceX is, for now at least, reducing the amount of energy it plans to generate at a utility-sized natural gas power plant on the 47.4-acre launch site there. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the documents. (5/3)

Space Force Selects 125 Teams for Orbital Prime (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has selected 125 industry teams for the initial phase of the Orbital Prime program for debris cleanup and other services. The teams will each receive a $250,000 contract through SpaceWERX, the Space Force organization that supports development of innovative technologies, to flesh out their concepts and do early design work. Each team will have about 150 days to deliver a product or study.

Later this year they will have an opportunity to compete for second-phase awards of up to $1.5 million to continue development and prototyping. The long-term goal is to select one or more teams two years from now to conduct an in-space demonstration of technologies for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing. (5/3)

BlackSky Adjusts Satellite Orbits to View Ukraine (Source: Breaking Defense)
BlackSky adjusted the orbits of its newest satellites to provide better coverage of Ukraine. The company said it placed two satellites launched last month on an Electron into an orbit with a slightly higher inclination than previously planned to maximize their coverage of Ukraine and Russia. That effort required working both with Rocket Lab on the launch as well as NOAA to revise its commercial remote sensing license. BlackSky currently has 14 satellites in orbit. (5/3)

NASA Psyche Spacecraft Arrives at Cape Canaveral Spaceport for Falcon Heavy Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A NASA asteroid mission has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for launch this summer. A cargo aircraft transported the Psyche spacecraft to KSC last week for final preparations for a launch scheduled for Aug. 1 on a Falcon Heavy. Psyche will travel to the main belt asteroid of the same name, a large, metallic body that may be the remnant of the core of a protoplanet that broke up during formation of the solar system. (5/3)

ULA Finalizes Contract with Union (Source: ULA)
United Launch Alliance has completed a new contract with a major union. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratified a three-year contract with the company Sunday after a short round of negotiations last month. The contract covers more than 600 workers at ULA's Alabama factory and at launch sites in California and Florida. That union briefly went on strike four years earlier when negotiations on a contract broke down. (5/3)

China's Mars Rover Traveled Two Kilometers in First Year (Source: Xinhua)
China's first Mars rover has traveled nearly two kilometers in its first year on the planet. Chinese officials said the Zhurong rover has traveled more than 1.9 kilometers since landing in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars in mid-May 2021. That region is heading into winter, and officials said they believe the rover can withstand the reduced temperatures and sunlight and increased risk of dust storms. (5/3)

Viasat Seeks FCC Review of Starlink (Source: Space News)
Viasat is asking the FCC to perform a detailed environmental review of SpaceX's second-generation Starlink system. Viasat, in a letter to the FCC Monday, said that unresolved light pollution issues with the proposed constellation of nearly 30,000 satellites would have "significant" effects on the environment that require a formal review. Viasat noted a recent paper by astronomers concluded that the only way to mitigate the effects of the constellation is by "launching significantly fewer satellites." (5/3)

Cavelli Confirmed for Key USAF Space Post (Source: Space News)
Frank Calvelli is expected to be sworn in this week as assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration. Calvelli was confirmed by the Senate last week in a voice vote and will assume duties as soon as Thursday. Calvelli was most recently senior vice president of national security programs at Booz Allen Hamilton, and before that was principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office. (5/3)

Germany's Vyoma Partners with Atos for Space Situational Awareness (Source: Space News)
German startup Vyoma is partnering with a European information technology company, Atos, on space situational awareness data. Vyoma said it will work with Atos to develop solutions for delivering SSA data to satellite operators to help them avoid costly collisions and unnecessary spacecraft maneuvers.

Vyoma is currently collecting SSA data using a network of third-party ground-based sensors, but raised funding last year to start work on space-based cameras to track objects as small as one centimeter that are not easily tracked today. Two prototype smallsats could launch as soon as 2023 as the company works to raise another funding round. (5/3)

Ukraine War Puts Spy Satellites for Hire in the Spotlight (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Ukrainian forces hunting Russian tanks and tracking troop movement are being aided by imagery from a growing number of commercial spy satellites, giving Kyiv access to intelligence once the domain of only a few governments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on his neighbor has coincided with a boom in the number and sophistication of commercial surveillance satellites, with hundreds now in orbit. Company officials say they are streaming data to the U.S. and allied governments, sometimes directly to Kyiv authorities to aid them in repelling Russia’s invading force, as well as to humanitarian groups to help them map the chaos and evacuate civilians. (5/1)

Amazon Has Bold Ambitions to Take on SpaceX in the Satellite Internet Business (Source: CNBC)
Amazon has a plan to deliver internet from space using 3,236 small satellites in low Earth orbit. It’s called Project Kuiper. SpaceX’s Starlink already has about 2,000 satellites in orbit, serving about 250,000 total subscribers. The Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX to launch a total of 12,000 satellites.

Amazon hasn’t yet launched a single satellite, but it could still be a big player in the game. An estimated 37% of the world’s population has still never used the internet, with 96% of those people living in developing countries, according to data from the ITU, a United Nations organization. And Amazon joins a list of tech giants, along with Facebook and Google, that have invested in developing digital infrastructure to support their own core services. Click here. (5/2)

Amid Tensions on Earth, the United States Claims That ‘Conflict in Space is Not Inevitable’ (Source: The Conversation)
Under international law, “declarations publicly made and manifesting the will to be bound” can create legal obligations. In this case, the U.S. issued a unilateral declaration to halt kinetic ASAT testing, which has both tremendous political impact and legal effect.

The U.S. declaration must be read in light of the ongoing multilateral exchanges on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour, and the upcoming Open-Ended Working Group on reducing Space Threats. It will be of interest to see whether other countries will join the U.S. in making such declarations. (5/2)

Rocket Lab Catches, Then Drops Electron First Stage (Source: Space News)
In a case of launch vehicle catch-and-release, Rocket Lab briefly caught a descending Electron booster after a launch Monday, only to drop it into the ocean moments later. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site on a mission called "There and Back Again" by the company. The rocket's first stage, descending under a parachute, was grabbed by a hook attached to a helicopter about 15 minutes later, but "different load characteristics" than expected led the helicopter pilot to release the booster moments later, which then splashed down in the ocean undamaged.

This test was to be the final demonstration of the system Rocket Lab planned to use to recover and reuse boosters, and the company said the test was still a "huge achievement" despite having to release the booster. The launch itself was successful, placing 34 payloads into orbit, including 24 satellites for Swarm Technologies and the first three prototype satellites for Greg Wyler's E-Space. (5/3)

Rocket Lab to Launch NASA CAPSTONE Cubesat (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab's next launch will carry a NASA lunar cubesat. The company confirmed its next Electron rocket will launch CAPSTONE, a cubesat that will test the stability of the near-rectilinear halo orbit that the lunar Gateway will use as well as conduct navigation experiments.

Neither Rocket Lab nor NASA announced a launch date for it, but Advanced Space, which owns and operates CAPSTONE, said the launch is scheduled for a window that opens May 27. The launch was delayed from early May because of an issue with Rocket Lab's Lunar Photon kick stage that has been resolved. (5/3)

The Fight to Keep U.S. Space Command in Colorado Springs Has Only Begun (Source: The Gazette)
A small step forward in a fight Colorado lawmakers hope will keep the headquarters of U.S. Space Command in Colorado came Wednesday at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee in Washington. For Colorado Springs Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, it was a chance to ask questions to lay the groundwork for “bombshell” GAO investigation revelations.

That report, requested by Lamborn last year and championed by a bevy of Colorado lawmakers, found “significant shortfalls” in the “transparency and credibility” of the process leading up to the January 2021 decision, by the outgoing Trump administration, to award the base to Huntsville. The findings won’t be public for at least another month, but sources with senior-level access and knowledge of what it contains say the conclusions paint a clear picture of a fundamentally flawed process that needs to be revisited, in the name of national security and fiscally sound spending. (5/2)

Biden in Alabama Showing Support for US Defense Industry (Source: AIA)
President Joe Biden's appearance at a Lockheed Martin factory in Alabama exemplifies the administration's support for the defense sector, especially as the war in Ukraine continues. "You speak to the private sector through a contract," said Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. "That's how you send a very clear demand signal." (5/3)

Blasting Out Earth’s Location with the Hope of Reaching Aliens is a Controversial Idea – Two Teams of Scientists are Doing it Anyway (Source: The Conversation)
In the coming months, two teams of astronomers are going to send messages into space in an attempt to communicate with any intelligent aliens who may be out there listening. These efforts are like building a big bonfire in the woods and hoping someone finds you. But some people question whether it is wise to do this at all.

Two international teams of astronomers are planning new attempts at alien communication. One of these new messages will be sent from the world’s largest radio telescope, in China, in 2023. The message is called “The Beacon in the Galaxy” and includes prime numbers and mathematical operators, the biochemistry of life, human forms, the Earth’s location and a time stamp. The team is sending the message toward a group of millions of stars near the center of the Milky Way galaxy, about 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth. While this maximizes the pool of potential aliens, it means it will be tens of thousands of years before Earth may get a reply.

The other attempt is targeting only a single star, but with the potential for a much quicker reply. On Oct. 4, 2022, a team from the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in England will beam a message toward the star TRAPPIST-1. This star has seven planets, three of which are Earth-like worlds in the so-called “Goldilocks zone” – meaning they could be home to liquid and potentially life, too. TRAPPIST-1 is just 39 light-years away, so it could take as few as 78 years for intelligent life to receive the message and Earth to get the reply. (4/29)

Prominent Aerojet Cybersecurity FCA Suit Ends In Settlement (Source: Law360)
Aerojet Rocketdyne and a whistleblower have reached a settlement to end a high-profile False Claims Act suit alleging the federal contractor misled the government about its compliance with certain cybersecurity requirements, bringing a trial in the case to an early end. (4/29)

UCF Charges On with ‘Power Suit’ as a New Battery for Electric Cars, Spacecraft (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
University of Central Florida scientists are charging on with an experimental battery capable of reinventing how automobiles and spacecraft are made. By reworking the idea of energy sources, a UCF research group is creating a lightweight battery that would double as the outer shell of a vehicle in what the group is calling its “power suit” project.

Led by UCF College of Engineering Professor Jayan Thomas, the group plans to accomplish this with nanotechnology — supercapacitor composite material involving graphene arranged over carbon fiber in a fan-like structure, Thomas said. The group is working in tandem with NASA scientists in developing the technique for future space travel and satellite development. However, NASA declined to comment on the story explaining it had legal concerns about disclosure. (4/29)

Lessons From a New Era of Destinations (Source: Space Review)
A crew of private astronauts returned from an extended stay on the International Space Station last week. Jeff Foust reports the mission offers lessons for NASA and industry as they move ahead into a new era of commercial space stations, if geopolitics don’t get in the way. Click here. (5/3)
 
Act Now on Contingencies for Russian Non-Participation in ISS (Source: Space Review)
Russia’s threats to exit the International Space Station raise questions about its long-term future. Srikanth Raviprasad and Steve Hoeser argue that NASA needs to be taking steps to prepare for that possibility and ensure a smooth transition to commercial stations. Click here. (5/3)
 
Raising the Flag on the Moon and Mars: Future Human Space Exploration in Japan (Source: Space Review)
Japan, a major partner in the International Space Station program, is gearing up to cooperate on lunar exploration through Artemis. Makusu Tsuizaki examines some of the policy and budgetary issues involving Japan’s space exploration plans. Click here. (5/3)

Seraphim Invests in India's Pixxel (Source: Seraphim)
Pixxel, a leader in cutting-edge earth-imaging technology, announced a $25 million Series A led by Radical Ventures. Seraphim was part of the round alongside Radical and other investors. The new funding enables Pixxel to expedite production of the world’s highest resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation and to offer industry AI-powered insights that discover, solve, and predict climate issues at a fraction of traditional satellite costs. (5/2)

Multi-Energy Electron Device Creates Space Environment in the Lab (Source: Space Daily)
Scientists and engineers from the Air Force Research Laboratory are developing a multi-energy electron source, capable of emitting a beam of electrons, at dozens of energies simultaneously.

In a project funded by the Department of Defense, the multi-energy electron device was invented by Dr. Miles Bengtson during his tenure as a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Following graduation in 2020, Bengtson was offered a postdoctoral position at the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate's Spacecraft Charging and Instrument Calibration Lab, or SCICL, with the goal of bringing the multi-energy electron tool from proof of concept to operational status. (4/27)