The owner of a large industrial site on the Georgia coast said Thursday that it has ended a longstanding agreement to sell the property to a county government whose officials worked for years on a plan to build a launch pad for commercial rockets there. Opponents who fear the proposed Spaceport Camden would pose serious safety and environmental risks hailed the development as a potential deal breaker for the project, which Camden County officials have spent a decade and more than $10 million pursuing.
Union Carbide Corporation owns 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) in the county where commissioners have pursued the spaceport for launching satellites into orbit. The county government in 2015 entered into an option agreement with the company to buy the land once the county obtained a spaceport operator license from the Federal Aviation Administration. (7/21)
Northrop Grumman and NASA Test SLS Booster (Source: Space Daily)
Northrop Grumman and NASA have conducted a full-scale static fire of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster-2. The five-segment solid rocket booster is the world's largest solid rocket motor and will provide more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket's initial thrust during launch. Over 300 measurement channels assessed the 154-foot-long solid rocket booster as it fired for just over two minutes producing upwards of 3.6 million pounds of thrust. (7/22)
Falcon Booster Damaged in Transport to Florida, Delaying ISS Crew Mission to Late September (Sources: Space News, NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA said the next SpaceX commercial crew mission to the ISS will slip by nearly a month after its booster was damaged during transport. NASA said the Crew-5 mission, previously scheduled for early September, is now expected to launch no earlier than Sep. 29. The mission will use a new Falcon 9, but the boosters' interstage section and some instrumentation were damaged when the vehicle was shipped from California to Texas for testing. The damage may have occurred when the rocket struck a bridge in Texas. (7/22)
Senators Seek Independent Review of Space Force Acquisition (Source: Space News)
Senators are seeking an independent review of how the Space Force acquires new technologies. Language in the Senate's version of the National Defense Authorization Act calls for a joint review by the Defense Business Board and the Defense Innovation Board of the acquisition process for space programs, and specifically whether the current approach is "agile enough for the rapid development of space acquisition systems to keep pace with today's space industry." Congress has directed changes in space acquisition in recent defense authorization bills, but the committee suggests that it's not clear that these congressional efforts have made space acquisitions any more agile or more efficient. (7/22)
China Considers Fully Reusable Heavy-Lift Rocket (Source: Space News)
SpaceX's Starship could prompt China to revise its plans for future heavy-lift launch systems. A new concept for the Long March 9, a heavy-lift rocket slated to enter service by 2030, features a fully reusable two-stage vehicle using methane and liquid oxygen propellants. That reusable vehicle, capable of placing up to 150 tons into low Earth orbit, may be developed in parallel with the current expendable Long March 9 design and be ready by 2035. The concept, presented in a public lecture, suggests that China is looking to make significant changes to its space transportation plans. (7/22)
UK's Satellite Vu Orders SSTL Satellite (Source: Space News)
British Earth observation startup Satellite Vu has ordered a second satellite from Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL). Satellite Vu said the second satellite is identical to the first one it ordered from SSTL last year, both carrying payloads to perform thermal imaging. The second satellite would double the data the company can collect to identify buildings that are wasting heat and other climate change applications. The first satellite is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2023 and the second about a year later. Satellite Vu plans a constellation of up to seven satellites. (7/22)
NASA Warned of "Precarious" Plan for Transition From ISS to Commercial Stations (Source: Space News)
NASA's safety advisers warned Thursday that the agency's plans to transition from the International Space Station to commercial stations are on a "precarious trajectory." At a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, members said they were concerned that NASA's current schedule would not support having commercial stations ready, including having passed NASA human-rating standards, before the ISS is set to retire in 2030. They also said NASA may need to make a greater investment in commercial stations to bridge the gap to fully commercial operations. (7/22)
Russian and European Crew Perform Joint ISS Spacewalk (Source: Space.com)
Two ISS crew members performed a seven-hour spacewalk Thursday. Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti spent seven hours and five minutes outside the Russian segment of the station during a spacewalk that started at 10:50 a.m. Eastern, working to set up a European robotic arm attached to the Nauka module. The two completed most of the goals of the spacewalk, which also included the deployment of 10 smallsats, but ran out of time before completing the final task of extending a boom to support future spacewalks. (7/22)
Scientists Want Space-Based Telescope for Asteroid Detection (Source: Space News)
Scientists say a space-based telescope is essential to meeting the goals of finding potentially hazardous near Earth asteroids. Researchers have developed new computational tools to analyze images and detect asteroids, and are looking forward to applying those techniques to images taken by the Vera Rubin Observatory nearing completion in Chile. But they also argue that a space-based telescope is needed to achieve a congressional goal of finding 90% of near Earth objects at least 140 meters across. NASA is pursuing such a mission, NEO Surveyor, but proposed in its fiscal year 2023 budget request delaying the mission by two years because of cost overruns on other programs. (7/22)
Georgia County Officials Still Expect Access to Spaceport Property Purchase (Source: AP)
The company that owns the land intended for a Georgia spaceport says it no longer plans to sell the property. Union Carbide had an agreement to sell property previously the site of a company factory to Camden County, Georgia, to host Spaceport Camden. The company cited a March referendum where a majority voted to block the deal as its reason Thursday for cancelling the purchase agreement. County officials said that, despite the company's statement, they still have an agreement to purchase the property and "expect Union Carbide to honor its contractual commitments." (7/22)
SOFIA Aircraft Damaged in New Zealand (Source: Space.com)
The final deployment to the southern hemisphere by NASA's SOFIA airborne observatory has come to an early end. A storm Monday in Christchurch, New Zealand, blew a set of mobile stairs into the plane, damaging both the stairs and the plane. NASA first said that additional flights by SOFIA were on hold while performing repairs and getting a new set of stairs. However, NASA said Thursday it was cancelling the remainder of the flights planned for New Zealand because of the time needed to complete repairs. NASA plans to end SOFIA flights by the end of September as it winds down the project. (7/22)
Surprise Asteroid Mystery Unraveled – Barreling Toward Earth From Blind Spot (Source: SciTech Daily)
When asteroid 2019 OK suddenly appeared barreling toward Earth on July 25, 2019, Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin and the team of astronomers at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico quickly sprang into action. After receiving an alert, the radar scientists zoned in on the asteroid, which was approaching from Earth’s blind spot — solar opposition. Zambrano-Marin and the team had just 30 minutes to collect as many radar readings as they could.
The asteroid was traveling so fast, that’s all the time she’d have it in Arecibo’s sights. University of Central Florida (UCF) manages the Arecibo Observatory for the U.S. National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement. Because the asteroid appeared to come out of nowhere and was traveling so fast, it made headline news. Zambrano-Marin’s findings were published on June 10 in the Planetary Science Journal, just a few weeks before the world observed Asteroid Day, which is June 30, and promotes global awareness to help educate the public about these potential threats.
“It was a real challenge,” says Zambrano-Marin, a UCF planetary scientist. “No one saw it until it was practically passing by, so when we got the alert, we had very little time to act. Even so, we were able to capture a lot of valuable information.” It turns out the asteroid was between .04 and .08 miles in diameter and was moving fast. It was rotating at 3 to 5 minutes, which means it is part of only 4.2 percent of the known fast rotating asteroids. This is a growing group that scientists say needs more attention. (7/21)
“Black Hole Police” Discover Needle in a Haystack: A Dormant Black Hole Outside Our Galaxy (Source: SciTech Daily)
A stellar-mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy to our own, has been found by a team of international experts, renowned for debunking several black hole discoveries. “For the first time, our team got together to report on a black hole discovery, instead of rejecting one,” says project leader Tomer Shenar. Furthermore, they discovered that the star that gave rise to the black hole vanished with no trace of a massive explosion. Six years of observations with the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) resulted in the finding. (7/18)
Scientists Discover Blueprint for Life Forms on Mars (Source: SciTech Daily)
Genomic analyses of microbes from Canada’s Arctic provide insight into life forms that could survive on Mars. Under the permafrost of Lost Hammer Spring in Canada’s High Arctic is an extremely salty, very cold, and almost oxygen-free environment that is most similar to certain regions on Mars. So, if you want to understand more about the types of life forms that could once have existed – or may still exist – on Mars, this is a fantastic place to look.
After extensive searching under exceedingly difficult conditions, McGill University scientists have discovered microbes that have never been identified before. Furthermore, they have obtained insight into their metabolisms by using cutting-edge genomic techniques. he researchers show for the first time, that microbial communities discovered living in Canada’s High Arctic, in conditions corresponding to those on Mars, can survive by eating and breathing simple inorganic compounds of the type that have been detected on Mars (such as methane, sulfate, sulfide, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide). (7/19)
NASA Selects Draper to Fly Research to Far Side of Moon (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts a contract to deliver Artemis science investigations to the Moon in 2025. The commercial delivery is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under Artemis. Draper will receive $73 million for the contract, and is responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, delivery from Earth to the surface of the Moon, and payload operations. This award is the eighth surface delivery task award issued to a CLPS vendor.
The experiments riding on Draper’s SERIES-2 lander are headed to Schrödinger Basin, a large lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, close to the lunar South Pole. This interesting geological site is about 200 miles in diameter. The outer ring of the basin is made up of impact melt meteorites and the inner ring is known for its smooth floor deposits that may be a combination of both impact melt and volcanic material. (7/21)
Space Force Leader Backs Soft Biden Agenda (Source: Washington Times)
Air Force Gen. John Raymond, chief of the newly created Space Force, says he supports efforts by the Biden administration to reach a U.N.-sponsored agreement on military activity in space, something past administrations have rejected as an arms control ploy by China and Russia to limit the American power in space. The four-star general also endorsed the Biden administration’s recent unilateral declaration of a ban on anti-satellite tests that create debris in space. Gen. Raymond said he backs the idea of trying to deter conflict in space through arms agreements to establish international “norms” for military space operations.
Critics say both China and Russia have regularly violated such international norms by building multiple space weapons and conducting destructive anti-satellite (ASAT) tests. Gen. Raymond acknowledged that enforcing military space rules would be difficult. Gen. Raymond also praised the Pentagon’s newly announced but vaguely defined strategy called “integrated deterrence,” which seeks to prevent war through more than military power by adding additional means and international allies. (7/20)
How Commercial Spaceflight Is Transforming Exploration (Source: CNET)
Over the last several years, we've seen commercial spaceflight go from beyond reach to somewhat of a passion project among some of the world's richest people. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invited Star Trek's William Shatner to blast into space aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard spacecraft last year. Virgin Galactic, headed by billionaire Richard Branson, plans to launch the first mass-commercial space flight in 2022. And Elon Musk's SpaceX is hard at work on Starship, an interplanetary rocket that could be the first spacecraft to take humans to Mars. These endeavors signal the space industry's shift from the government to the private sector. Click here. (7/20)
The Advanced Materials That Can Help Take Us to Mars (Source: Newsweek)
Mars has long occupied our imagination as a site of wonder and possibility in film — from the high-tech invasion portrayed in The War of the Worlds to Andy Weir's perhaps more accurate depiction The Martian. Today, reality is closer than ever to the dreams of science fiction. As early as the 2030s, humans will be able to visit Earth's planetary neighbor in the most ambitious aerospace mission yet. The key to becoming an interplanetary species? Cutting-edge materials. Click here. (7/20)
Legoland Florida Opens New Immersive Space Experience (Source: WKMG)
Legoland Florida is taking guests to the lunar surface with the opening of its new Lego City Space, the company announced Wednesday. This immersive experience — which is opening on Space Exploration Day — allows families to create their own lunar adventure as part of NASA’s Artemis mission. “Guests will arrive at the lunar base for the mission brief before venturing through the airlock onto the surface of the moon,” Legoland said.
“Once on the moon, families can choose between two key missions – to build a rover or create a rocket – and then complete a series of tests to finish the mission. Families can capture the excitement with a zero-gravity photo op giving the illusion they are floating in space.” The space adventure is opening at the same time the resort is running its “AWE-Summer” event, which offers families the chance to see a number of new experiences. (7/20)
Patent Approved for Space Propulsion System Poised to Transform Orbital Space Logistics (Source: Space Daily)
Orbital logistics and space mining leader TransAstra Corporation has been granted a patent on a solar-thermal rocket engine that will revolutionize the rapidly expanding satellite industry, and accelerate the global space economy. The company's Omnivore thruster, which powers its Worker Bee space tugs, marks a significant departure from existing rocket propellant systems because it operates with multiple propellant types, including water, either individually or in combination, and is powered directly by the sun's energy without the need for costly solar panels or electronics. (7/20)
BlackSky to Provide Advanced AI for Space-Based Dynamic Monitoring (Source: Space Daily)
BlackSky Technology received a $4.4 million award from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) to support the second phase of the multi-year Space-based Machine Automated Recognition Technique (SMART) Program. The SMART program aims to automate the quantitative analysis of space-based imagery to perform broad-area searches for natural and man-made events using time-series imagery. Under the program BlackSky has developed both supervised and semi-supervised machine learning algorithms to automatically recognize heavy construction projects such as military bases, stadiums, campuses, dams, and airports. (7/18)
SpaceChain Completes EVM Blockchain Testing in Space (Source: Space Daily)
SpaceChain has announced the completion of the testing of the space node it created for Velas Network AG, which is hosted on an LEO satellite and independent of terrestrial networks. The space node is now capable of delivering the full functionalities designed for Velas, including transaction signatures, smart contract deployment, decentralized finance (Defi) activities and non-fungible token (NFT) minting with the seamless transaction of the Velas Token (VLX).
SpaceChain has assisted numerous blockchain customers to deploy space nodes and realize their space-based business operations through its commitment to utilizing space technology to help blockchain applications gain more application scenarios. SpaceChain will continue to invest in research and development to help reduce the time required for space node testing, expand application scenarios, and enable more blockchain companies to harness space as a platform for business innovation. The space node was installed onto a satellite designed and manufactured by Spire Global, which managed the launch mission on January 13, 2022. (7/20)
Ericsson, Qualcomm and Thales to Take 5G Into Space (Source: Space Daily)
Ericsson, Thales and Qualcomm Technologies, are planning to take 5G out of this world and across a network of Earth-orbiting satellites. After having each conducted detailed research, which included multiple studies and simulations, the parties plan to enter smartphone-use-case-focused testing and validation of 5G non-terrestrial networks (5G NTN).
The result could effectively mean that a future 5G smartphone could use 5G connectivity anywhere on Earth and provide complete global coverage for wideband data services, including places normally only covered by legacy satellite phone systems with limited data connectivity capabilities. The benefits of 5G connectivity via low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are expected to include coverage in extreme geographies or remote areas across seas, oceans and other locations where terrestrial coverage is absent. (7/20)
NASA, GE Complete Historic Hybrid-Electric Aviation Propulsion Tests (Source: Space Daily)
Sustainable aircraft of the future are going to need propulsion systems that can use technology to generate power comparable to the equipment used in today's commercial jets. But creating such a complex system comes with a serious challenge: How do you safely test it under the high-altitude conditions where it would need to operate? One NASA facility, safely on the ground in Ohio, offers that very solution. Located at the agency's Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio, NASA's Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) allows U.S. technology developers from industry, academia, and government to take experimental aircraft power systems through their design, development, assembly, and test phases.
When engineers at GE Aviation sought to test its megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt hybrid electric propulsion system - designed to be powerful enough for a single-aisle commercial airliner - NEAT had the capabilities they needed. NEAT is unique among other aeronautical laboratories because it features the ability to test full-scale propulsion systems at simulated high altitudes. GE's system includes power control systems, electric motors, power converters, and power transmissions.
These components must be tested together at simulated altitude because of issues that can affect electrical system performance in flight, but not at ground level. That's why NEAT's capabilities are so important. GE began its test campaign in 2019 and scaled it up though the addition of megawatt-class motors, generators, and converters. Its final hurdle, the altitude integration testing, launched in 2021. Using NEAT's large altitude chamber, test personnel operated two sets of complete hybrid electric systems representing the right and left engines of an aircraft at a flight level up to 45,000 feet. (7/20)
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