July 20, 2022

SASC Version of NDAA Goes $45B Over Budget Request (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act totals $847 billion, $45 billion above the Biden administration's request. It includes $158 billion for procurement and $137.7 billion for research, development, test and evaluation. (7/18)

How Elon Musk Sped Up the Future (Source: Politico)
After decades of “space” being an arena where only governments could afford to play, a handful of private companies have reshaped the field by building reusable, capable rockets and launching record numbers of satellites into orbit. Along the way, they’ve helped rewrite the deal between federal money and private enterprise.

Having a very clearly articulated vision and a leader who is driving that visibly is important for many organizations. In SpaceX’s case, because Elon Musk has a technical background, he is able to make decisions quickly. Time and time again, things that came up that typically would take an organization weeks or months to work through that SpaceX could do in hours or days. Click here. (7/19)

UK Spaceport to Accelerate Launch Hub Plans at Farnborough (Source: Astro Agency)
Representatives from Prestwick Spaceport are set to meet with stakeholders from across the global space industry, commerce, academia and government at this week’s Farnborough International Airshow, to accelerate plans to become Europe’s premier space launch location. Prestwick Spaceport has a major presence alongside partners with Space Scotland as part of a dedicated Space Zone at the world’s biggest airshow at Farnborough 18-22 July.

The spaceport, which this week welcomed senior representatives from Houston Spaceport and Rice University in the United States, has secured more funding than any other UK spaceport development with a long-established aerospace cluster at the forefront of technology and innovation, featuring companies such as BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace, GE Caledonian and Spirit AeroSystems. The project is currently focused on leveraging its transport links and proximity to key satellite manufacturers in Glasgow in order to create more than 4,000 new jobs in Ayrshire. (718)

A Mysterious Radio Signal Has Been Detected from a Distant Galaxy (Source: Boston Globe)
Astronomers using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope in British Columbia have detected an unusual radio signal from a far-off galaxy, according to MIT officials. The signal is a fast radio burst, an intensely strong burst of radio waves, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in a statement. Usually, the mysterious signals last for a few milliseconds at most. But this one lasted up to three seconds and included bursts of radio waves every 0.2 seconds, in a clear periodic pattern.

CHIME is designed to pick up radio waves emitted by hydrogen in the earliest stages of the universe. It also can detect fast radio bursts, or FRBs, and it has found hundreds of them, MIT said. CHIME picked up a signal of a potential FRB on Dec. 21, 2019, and it immediately drew the attention of Michilli, who was scanning the data, the university said. “Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second — boom, boom, boom — like a heartbeat.” The burst, designated FRB 20191221A, is the longest-lasting FRB, with the clearest periodic pattern, detected to date, MIT said. (7/18)

NASA Picks SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket to Launch Latest Space Telescope (Source: Space News)
NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX Tuesday for the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. NASA announced SpaceX will launch the mission on its Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2026, a contract worth $255 million. That is significantly more than many other Falcon Heavy contracts, such as the Europa Clipper mission; the commercial list price of the Falcon Heavy is less than $100 million. With a total cost of $4.3 billion, Roman features a 2.4-meter telescope with a wide-field instrument and coronagraph to perform research in fields ranging from cosmology to exoplanets. (7/20)

ESA Picks Thales Alenia to Develop Very-Low-Orbit Skimsat (Source: Space News)
ESA has awarded funds to develop a demonstrator for Skimsat, a small satellite platform designed to operate in very low Earth orbit. Thales Alenia Space said Tuesday it had secured $2.4 million in ESA funding to advance its design of a satellite capable of operating in orbit below 300 kilometers. The spacecraft would use electric propulsion to compensate for atmospheric drag at those altitudes. Operating at such low altitudes would allow a spacecraft to provide higher resolution imagery. No launch date has been set yet for Skimsat. (7/20)

Microsoft Expands Azure Space Services (Source: Space News)
Microsoft is expanding its relationships with space companies through the Azure Space Partner Community. That community features about 20 space companies, including satellite manufacturers, operators and ground station providers. They will have access to Microsoft sales and engineering specialists, go-to-market scale and support, and guidance related to marketing and community involvement. (7/20)

NRO Postpones Rocket Lab Launch (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The National Reconnaissance Office has postponed the launch of a mission on Rocket Lab's Electron. That launch, of a mission designated NROL-199, was scheduled for as soon as Thursday, but the NRO said it was postponing the launch to complete software updates to the classified payload. The agency did not announce a new launch date for the mission, which is the second of two planned to fly this month on Electron rockets. (7/20)

UK Plans Leadership Role in Space Sustainability (Source: Space News)
The United Kingdom is working to become a leader in space sustainability. Alongside investments in startups building businesses to clean up orbital debris, the British government is seeking to shape regulations to improve the future space ecosystem. At a conference last month, Prince Charles called for an "Astro Carta" for space sustainability mirroring the Magna Carta. The focus on space sustainability comes as the U.K. government works to build up the country's overall space industry. Still, some caution that imposing excessive regulations related to sustainability could drive some companies out of the country. (7/20)

UK Companies Develop Deployable SAR Antenna (Source: Space News)
Oxford Space Systems and SSTL have completed development of a deployable antenna for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. The "Wrapped Rib" reflector, three meters in diameter, is designed for use on small satellites such as SSTL's CarbSAR spacecraft, a 140-kilogram satellite with an X-band SAR payload. With funding for the project from the U.K. Space Agency's National Space Technology Programme, the companies have tested the antenna, which could be demonstrated in orbit as early as 2023. (7/20)

UK Fills Payload Bay for Virgin Orbit Launch (Source: UK Space Agency)
The U.K. Space Agency has finalized the manifest of payloads on the first Virgin Orbit launch from the country. The agency said this week a smallsat called Dover, built by Open Cosmos for Rhea Group, will round out the manifest for the LauncherOne mission set to fly from Spaceport Cornwall later this year. That mission will carry six satellites for customers that include the U.S. and U.K. militaries and several companies. (7/20)

Lockheed Martin Space Revenues Fall in Latest Quarter (Source: Lockheed Martin)
Sales and profit fell in Lockheed Martin's space division in the second quarter. In an earnings release Tuesday, Lockheed reported an 11% decrease in net sales in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021, while operating profit dropped 20%. A lower volume of work on the Orion program contributed to a $55 million decline in revenue. The reduced operating profit was linked to national security space programs and reduced earnings from its stake in United Launch Alliance. (7/20)

Chinese Boy Finds Planetarium Inaccuracies, Gets Famous (Source: South China Morning Post)
An eight-year-old boy has become famous in China for criticizing inaccuracies in a space display at a planetarium. The video shows Yan Hongsen pointing out errors, such as calling a Long March 3 rocket a Long March 5, that caused him to storm out. The video went viral in China, with people praising the boy for his knowledge of space. The planetarium acknowledged the errors and said it would correct them as soon as possible. (7/20)

SLS Rocket Finally Has a Believable Launch Date, and It’s Soon (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA officials said Wednesday that the space agency continues to make progress preparing the massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for a launch later this summer. Moreover, they now have enough confidence to set a launch date: August 29. Under the agency's current plans, the stacked SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft will roll out to its launch site at Kennedy Space Center on August 18. Then, there would be three opportunities—August 29, September 2, and September 5—to launch the vehicle before the window closes. (7/20)

Millennium Space Reveals Results of DARPA’s ‘Red-Eye’ Smallsat Experiment (Source: Space News)
Millennium Space executives on July 20 revealed the results of a two-year experiment involving three small satellites launched in 2019 and 2020 from the International Space Station. The so-called Red-Eye experiment, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, included three 70-kilogram satellites made by Millennium Space, a Boeing subsidiary that manufacturers small and medium satellites. The company worked under a DARPA contract awarded in 2016.

The experiment demonstrated capabilities – such as on-board data processing, inter-satellite communications and software-defined radios —  that can now be achieved with low-cost smallsats, Millennium CEO Jason Kim said. An unexpected discovery from the experiment was the ability to control the orbital spacing of the three-satellite constellation using atmospheric drag management techniques since none of the satellites had internal propulsion. (7/20)