July 24, 2022

Cosmonaut to Fly Aboard SpaceX Crew-5 Dragon in September (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
SpaceX is targeting late September for the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station, which will see the first Russian cosmonaut fly aboard a commercial crew vehicle. Currently set for Sep. 29, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is slated to launch Crew-5 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. This is a delay of a few weeks to allow the company to complete hardware processing for the rocket, which will be a new booster. Aboard Crew Dragon Endurance will be NASA astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, as well as Japanese astronaut Koichi Waikato and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Kikina is currently the only female cosmonaut active for the Russia space agency. (7/22)

Study Suggests Digging Down to Uncover Evidence of Life on Mars (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
A study conducted by NASA suggests that in order to find evidence of life on Mars, exploration missions might have to start looking deep below the surface. In a recent experiment performed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, scientists concluded that amino acids — some of the basic building blocks for organic life — might lie as deep as almost 7 feet (about 2 meters) below the Martian surface. This would mean that future robotic and potential human exploration missions to Mars might have to dig deeper than ever before in order to discover what might be clues to the existence of life. (7/23)

China Launches New Laboratory Module to Space Station (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
A new laboratory cabin module called Wentian was launched by China to add to the country’s fledgling Tiangong space station. Wentian was launched atop a Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang spaceport in South China. It was placed into a parking orbit roughly 240 miles, inclined by about 41.5 degrees. Wentian is about 13.8 feet wide by about 59 feet long. It has a mass of about 22 metric tons and is powered by two massive deployable solar arrays. On the outside of the module are locations for external payloads and experiments. It also has a 17-foot long robotic arm, which is about half the size of the main robotic arm on the core module. (7/24)

New NASA Webb Space Telescope Data Has Astronomers Buzzing on Twitter (Source: CNET)
Though it's been more than a week since NASA revealed its first exquisite set of James Webb Space Telescope images, exhilaration following that July 12 broadcast hasn't died down. And at the rate the JWST has been collecting cosmic data, I wouldn't expect it to anytime soon. Already, tons of astronomers have been eagerly sifting through public JWST datasets, trying their best to make sense of the priceless information this $10 billion machine has captured while anchored in space a million miles from Earth. (7/22)

SpaceX Clutches Second Starlink Mission in Three Days (Source: Florida Today)
One week after its record-tying 31st launch of the year, SpaceX lifted another batch of 53 internet-beaming Starlink satellites to orbit from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Sunday. The liftoff followed the company's Friday flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It marked the company's 33rd mission in just seven months from its launch locations in Florida and California. Its previous record was 31 missions completed in 2021.

After successfully launching on its eighth mission, the Falcon 9 first stage booster flipped around and landed on one of the company's drone ships stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It is expected to be returned to Port Canaveral in a few days time for refurbishment and reflight on a future mission. The uptick in rocket launches this year is due to the company's effort to populate its massive in-orbit network of Starlink internet satellites which has reached close to 3,000 after Sunday's 53rd Starlink mission. (7/24)

The World Might Soon Know Space Command's Final Destiny (Source: Denver Gazette)
Insiders say the country might have a final decision on the permanent location of Space Command in late July or early August. For the sake of the country’s safety and security, Americans — even those in the great state of Alabama — should hope it remains in Colorado Springs. Among the informed, everyone knows former President Donald Trump awarded Space Command to Huntsville, Ala., for purely political reasons. Colorado voters trounced him and senatorial ally Cory Gardner in the 2020 election. Alabama chose Trump by 62%, and the state’s delegation fought harder than any other to overturn Biden’s election.

For that reason and more, it is hard to imagine why this nonsensical decision has stood for so long. President Joe Biden clearly despises Trump, as do most people who voted Trump out of office. Most members of the liberal-Democratic establishment despise Trump and talk about it incessantly. It is easy to understand the anti-Trump sentiment, even among those who supported most of his policies. It is the way he talks and tweets and generally works to make enemies. Trump does not care much about anything his enemies say. He’s impervious to insults, converting them to personal motivation.

Whatever the politics might be, reliable sources tell us Biden has turned the decision over to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. This final call, we’re told, is one our commander in chief has chosen to delegate. A retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and graduate of West Point, Kendall has no apparent connection or allegiance to Colorado Springs. This is no time to move Space Command — which directly depends on the nearby Air Force Academy and an assortment of other Springs-based space assets. (7/24)

Starlink is Now Available in 36 Countries (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently shared that Starlink internet is available in 36 countries. “I think Starlink will have a really positive effect on improving people’s income and stuff and improving the standard of living," Musk said. "A large portion of the world does not have internet connectivity or if they do, it’s very bad and extremely expensive.” Here's a map of where Starlink service is available. (7/23)

Why Everyone’s Wearing NASA-Branded Clothes (Source: CNN)
On any given day, a thirty minute walk around New York City can yield at least a few NASA logo sightings. They’re on backpacks, t-shirts, sneakers, hats, sweatshirts, phone cases, tote bags and jackets. Once you start noticing them, it’s hard to stop. There have been several trend pieces about the phenomenon in recent years. And NASA’s multimedia liaison, Bert Ulrich — who oversees the use of NASA logos in film, TV and on apparel — confirms the demand for NASA branded apparel is far from petering out, at least based on the number of logo deals he’s been approving. Some of the latest sales boom can be traced back to a surprising place: American luxury fashion house Coach, which debuted a line of NASA-branded apparel in 2017. (7/23)

NASA Wants to Turn Satellites Into Alien Hunters (Source: The Telegraph)
Last month, the US space agency announced it was launching an eight-month inquiry to investigate hundreds of unexplained UFO sightings. The inquiry is being led by Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, who has begun investigating whether satellites in space could be repurposed to give another view on strange aerial phenomena reported from Earth. Pam Melroy, NASA's deputy administrator, said: “This team is going to be looking at questions like: ‘do we have sensors that can see things, you know, take another look at the evidence?’...I mean, before you build a rover that’s going to Mars, you ask yourself, ‘What’s the sensor I have to build to detect the most interesting thing?’ So they’re going to really focus on that." (7/23)

Wave Motion Developing Jet Gun Orbital Launcher (Source: Spaced Ventures)
Wave Motion Launch Corporation is providing a cheaper and faster way of getting payloads to supersonic speeds without requiring a barrel, track, or significant onboard propellant... basically a rocket-less launcher. Their Jet Gun is a new type of impulsive launcher can transmit kinetic energy from the ground to vehicles, launching them at orbital speeds. With no physical structure or barrel surrounding the projectile, it has the potential to be up to 50x-100x more compact than a rocket or regular cannon of equivalent power.

The launcher’s ability to accelerate payloads to nearly orbital speeds makes the Jet-Gun uniquely suited for cost-efficient space launch. Wave Motion’s patented technology will allow for orbit-bound vehicles to work around the rocket equation, drastically reducing the amount of onboard propellant needed for a payload to reach its destination.

In addition to breaking the propellant dependence, the high-speed launcher will allow for on-demand launches regardless of intense weather conditions, a major shift from current launch systems. We envision that the Jet-Gun can be used to launch payloads into Earth orbit and beyond every day for less than $100 per pound, enabling billions in spaced-based industrial activity. Click here. (7/22)

FTC Turns Up the Heat on Trump-Era Defense Northrop-Orbital Merger (Source: Politico)
The Federal Trade Commission is weighing whether to bring legal action against defense giant Northrop Grumman for alleged violations of a 2018 settlement that greenlit its purchase of the rocket, missile and satellite motor manufacturer Orbital ATK, according to two people familiar with the matter. The FTC’s scrutiny of Northrop, which has intensified this year, raises the specter that the agency could seek to toughen the terms of the deal or even sue to unwind the merger.

Such a move would send shockwaves through the defense sector, and mark a major milestone for President Joe Biden’s antitrust agenda, sowing doubt about both proposed and existing mergers across the economy. “It would not just be a big deal; it would be a tremendous deal,” said Roman Schweizer, managing director at financial services company Cowen Washington Research Group, when asked about undoing the nearly four-year-old merger. “I would imagine this would be a highly contested decision both politically and legally.” (7/22)

Space Command Moving to Alabama: 4 Steps Remain; What’s Next? (Source: AL.com)
The U.S. Space Command’s proposed move to Huntsville passed a big test July 13 when the Pentagon released a draft environmental assessment finding “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment” if the headquarters is built on the Redstone Arsenal site. Although there remain four steps ahead of the move, Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said the environmental assessment should be the last major hurdle for the plan to move the command from startup headquarters in Colorado to a permanent site. The move would bring 1,800 headquarters staff and their families to north Alabama. Click here. (7/22)

Will the Ukraine War Force ESA to Pass on Arianespace, Use SpaceX? (Source: Ars Technica)
The European Space Agency had been on the verge of launching the billion-euro Euclid satellite, which is designed to address the most pressing unsolved questions in astronomy: What are the true natures of dark matter and energy? ESA had scheduled a March 2023 launch for Euclid from French Guiana—but it was on a Soyuz rocket. The war in Ukraine brought an end to Soyuz operations from Guiana and started a period of uncertainty for Euclid’s team.

Keeping Euclid in storage could cost 100 million euros per year and put its entire scientific team and infrastructure in standby mode, potentially compromising European leadership in space-based observational cosmology. The partner ESA has used for almost all its launches, Arianespace, is building what should be a good backup launcher, the Ariane 62. But that rocket has not flown yet, and with each passing month, its test flight date slips further. Once it’s ready, Euclid would not even be the first Ariane 62 launch: at least four other satellites are in the queue before it.

Although all these options look bad, there is one company with a rocket that has spare launch capacity: SpaceX. Would ESA really drop its partner and send a flagship European science mission to space on a Falcon 9 from Arianespace’s biggest competitor? (7/21)

Billions Behind a Lunar Dream: Why NASA's Artemis I Moon Rocket May Prove 'Unsustainable' (Source: CNET)
The planning, toil and money it takes to put together a moon mission often doesn't get enough attention. Lunar travel inspires us because the difficult middle steps feel like a means to a deserving end. Let's talk about the toil, the planning and moreover -- the money. NASA's Artemis I moon mission is still a go, having slowly but surely waddled through its final testing phase. But pretty much all the money funding this lunar dream comes from taxpayer pockets -- a fact that inevitably calls into question whether moon missions are really worth the thrill, and even the scientific advancement, they give us.

NASA's Artemis moon rocket, slated to touch space for the very first time in 2022, was supposed to launch in 2017. It was supposed to encompass four missions, each with a price tag estimated a decade ago at $500 million -- but a 2021 audit now projects a cost of $4.1 billion per launch. That's a difference of about $3.6 billion for every mission. This might explain why the same audit and NASA's inspector general bluntly label the endeavor "unsustainable."

According to the audit, those four launches at a projected $4.1 billion a pop would be on top of the about $40 billion already spent to build Artemis equipment -- items like the rocket itself, known as the Space Launch System, and the Orion spacecraft, which will hold important devices for science exploration. (7/22)

A ‘Multi-User Spaceport’: Kennedy Space Center Officials Give Update on Launch Tower Construction (Source: WFTV)
A new launch tower is rising at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A. It will hold the launch pad for its new Starship and Super Heavy Booster which are expected to take humans back to the moon and beyond. “We retired the space shuttle January 2011, and we had a vision to create this multi-user space port, and you’re seeing that come to fruition today,” Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Kelvin Manning said.

According to Manning, the structure will sit inside the same perimeter as the existing Falcon 9 launch pad. NASA and SpaceX are also looking into hardening the existing structure. “We want to make sure that before SpaceX is allowed to launch that Starship rocket inside of 39A, that it’s safe for the facility, the personnel, and we have our programs and projects teamed closely with SpaceX to do evaluations, the analysis, to make sure it’s safe,” Manning said.

SpaceX is also looking to build up its existing operation on Roberts Road by the current Hangar X site. The Hangar X facility is used primarily for processing and storage of the company’s Falcon boosters and payload fairings. They’re also looking to expand office space and eventually do production of the Starship Rocket right at the space center. (7/22)

Canadian Air Force Establishes New Division to 'Protect Canadian Interests in Space' (Source: Times Colonist)
The Royal Canadian Air Force's newest division is focused on extraterrestrial matters. A reorganization of the existing space-focused team will now be known as 3 Canadian Space Division, with Brig.-Gen. Mike Adamson in command. But if you're picturing Armed Forces members donning space suits, think again. "Astronauts and space exploration, this really continues to be the purview of the Canadian Space Agency," Adamson said. "They're looking at the science of space." He also said the new division is not Canada's answer to the U.S. Space Force. (7/22)

Space Coast Restauranteur to Fly Blue Origin with First Astronauts From Egypt, Portugal (Source: Florida Today)
When Pineapples owner Steve Young launches skyward aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard "space tourism" rocket, he'll be joined by the first people from Egypt and Portugal to fly into space. Blue Origin officials revealed the six crew members of its upcoming NS-22 mission — including Young — on Friday afternoon. "This mission will be the sixth human flight for the New Shepard program, the third flight this year, and the 22nd in its history. The flight date will be announced soon," a Blue Origin news release said. (7/22)

First Egyptian and Portuguese Astronauts to Join Dude Perfect Cofounder on New Shepard’s 22nd Flight (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin today announced the crew flying on its NS-22 mission will include Dude Perfect cofounder Coby Cotton, Portuguese entrepreneur Mário Ferreira, British-American mountaineer Vanessa O’Brien, technology leader Clint Kelly III, Egyptian engineer Sara Sabry, and telecommunications executive [and restauranteur] Steve Young. Sara will become the first person from Egypt to fly to space; Mário will become the first from Portugal. Vanessa will become the first woman to reach extremes on land, sea, and air, completing the Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta, a Guinness World Record.  (7/22)

UK Satellite Operator OneWeb Said Near Merger With Eutelsat (Source: Bloomberg)
British satellite firm OneWeb is nearing a deal to combine with France’s Eutelsat Communications SA in a transaction that would create a pan-European operator that could better compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink project, according to people familiar with the matter. The UK would retain a stake in the deal valuing OneWeb at over $3 billion. (7/23)

SpaceX Just Broke its Annual Launch Record — and It’s Only July (Source: The Verge)
SpaceX successfully launched its 32nd Falcon 9 mission of 2022, officially breaking the company’s own record for orbital launches conducted in a single year. And since it’s only July, there’s still plenty of year left to push that record even higher. SpaceX has been steadily increasing its launch cadence each year — aside from a dip in 2019. For 2021, the company pulled off 31 launches, the most it had ever done, which also made SpaceX the most prolific American launch provider by far. At the beginning of 2022, SpaceX set an incredibly ambitious goal of launching 52 missions over the course of the year. (7/22)

SpaceX Launches 46 Satellites From Vandenberg Space Force Base (Source: Santa Maria Times)
SpaceX launched 46 Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday after a scrubbed attempt Thursday due to a problem with the position of a valve in one of the rocket's engines. Several minutes after liftoff, the rocket's second-stage vehicle separated as designed and joined with the Starlink constellation — a space-based broadband internet system that provides service to more than 400,000 customers in 36 countries. The Falcon 9's first-stage booster returned from space 8 minutes and 24 seconds later, touching down on the "Of Course I Still Love You" autonomous spaceport droneship located in the Pacific Ocean. (7/22)

Virgin Orbit Focuses on National Security Launch Services. Interview With Jeff Trauberman of Virgin Orbit National Systems (Source: Executive Biz)
We believe this ‘anytime, anywhere, unwarned’ launch capability offers new layers of resilience to the U.S. space architecture, which is so essential to support our nation’s worldwide military operations. In a peer-to-peer conflict, we need to ensure we can mitigate and offset the likely threats to our space systems.  We think our innovative airborne launch system can do just that.

Space is an unforgiving and challenging sector littered with a variety of companies with grand ideas, but many characterized by flawed execution or inadequate delivery of capabilities. Virgin Orbit National Systems is still a relatively new space launch company. We haven’t been without growing pains ourselves, but flawless execution remains our top strategic priority. And on that note, I’m proud to say we just completed our fourth consecutive successful airborne launch just a few weeks ago.

It was also our first launch at night, which was very exciting. We deployed seven Space Test Program satellites for the Department of Defense (DoD), bringing us to a total of thirty-three satellites launched, all successfully. We are very excited to continue delivering mission success to our Space Force customers. The National Reconnaissance Office recently announced a partnership with the United Kingdom on the primary payload for [our Cornwall] mission, so it represents a huge step forward in space collaboration between the United States and one of its closest allies. Sound execution of this new cooperative mission is among our top priorities. (7/22)

Branson Plans 17 Virgin Rocket Launches From Cornwall by 2030 (Source: The Telegraph)
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit is planning to launch up to 17 rockets from Cornwall by the end of the decade as it sets a blast off date for its UK space operations. US company Virgin Orbit, which sends rockets into space from under the wing of a Boeing 747, is hoping to fire its Launcher One rocket from Newquay in Cornwall as soon as September 29, according to filings with regulators.

The company has applied for a launch window of between September 29 and December 28. It said in a filing with marine authorities that a three day window at the end of September was its “primary” launch slot, between 10pm and midnight. Its Boeing 747, named “Cosmic Girl”, would take off from Newquay and fly out over the ocean. Flying to 35,000 feet, it would then drop the unmanned rockets from under its wings, which would fall for five seconds before igniting and blasting into orbit. The rocket would ignite off the south coast of Ireland and accelerate to supersonic speeds. Debris from the launch should scatter off the coast of Portugal. (7/22)

UK Marine Management Organization Opens Consultation on Virgin Orbit Satellite Launch Project (Source: Gov.UK)
The Marine Management Organization (MMO) is consulting on the determination of a marine license application from Virgin Orbit, proposing to launch a satellite from Spaceport Cornwall in Newquay. Virgin Orbit proposes to conduct a maximum of one launch in 2022 and two launches per year over the next 8 years (January 2023 – December 2030). As the material to be deposited will be loaded in the UK, the activity will require a marine license from the MMO, as required by The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, to carry out a deposit into the sea.(7/22)

CAA Launches Consultation on Environmental Effects of First UK Space Launch From Cornwall (Source: CAA.co.UK)
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation for the public and businesses to have their say on the assessment of environmental effects made by both Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall ahead of the proposed launch in Newquay. To launch, Spaceport Cornwall must have a spaceport operator license and Virgin Orbit must be issued a launch operator license by the Civil Aviation Authority. (7/22)

US-European Satellite Will Make World’s First Global Freshwater Survey (Source: NASA JPL)
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission will make measurements of over 95% of Earth’s lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Water is life, but for all its importance, humanity has a surprisingly limited view of Earth’s freshwater bodies. Researchers have reliable water level measurements for only a few thousand lakes around the world, and little to no data on some of the planet’s important river systems.

The upcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite will fill that enormous gap. By helping to provide a better understanding of Earth’s water cycle, it will both aid in better management of water resources and expand knowledge of how climate change affects lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatial (CNES), with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency, SWOT is scheduled to launch in November from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (7/22)

Japanese Startup to Demo Robotic Arm Onboard ISS in 2023 (Source: Space News)
Japanese startup GITAI plans to demonstrate robotic arm capabilities externally on the International Space Station for the first time next year. GITAI said July 11 its autonomous, 1.5-meter-long dual robotic arm system (S2) would be mounted on the Bishop Airlock, a module funded by U.S.-based Nanoracks. The startup aims to achieve NASA’s Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 from the demonstration, confirming its feasibility as a technology that could be used in space. S2 achieved TRL 6 in February after completing tasks inside a thermal vacuum chamber at Tsukuba Space Center, Japanese space agency JAXA’s headquarters in Japan. (7/11)

Michael Pena To Star as Farmworker/Astronaut in Amazon’s ‘A Million Miles Away’ (Source: Latin Heat)
Michael Pena (Moonfall, Narcos: Mexico, End of Watch) has been cast to portray the life of former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez in the upcoming Amazon Prime film currently titled A Million Miles Away. Peña will star as Hernandez, the first migrant farmworker astronaut in space who flew the Space Shuttle mission STS-128 on Space Shuttle Discovery.

A Million Miles Away is based on Hernandez’s autobiography “Reaching For The Stars” which recounts the journey of his life as a farmworker, working alongside his family, traveling from town to town working in the fields of California. Hernandez did not learn English until he was 12 because of the constant moving from school to school. The family finally settled in Stockton when a teacher convinced the family their son had potential but he needed stability. (7/11)

Branson Won the Space Tourism Battle, But His Company Lost the War (Source: Ars Technica)
It has been 12 months to the day since Sir Richard Branson briefly departed this world, only to make a feathery return back to Earth, landing on a hot, dusty runway in rural New Mexico. The flight marked a triumphant moment for Branson. He beat fellow space-obsessed billionaire Jeff Bezos to the punch. The exuberance about his flight—and what it promised for Virgin Galactic—helped push his company's stock above $50 a share.

But it has been a rough ride in the year since. Most crucially, Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity spaceship has yet to fly a single time again, and it may not do so until this winter. In the meantime, Bezos' space tourism company, Blue Origin, has started to regularly fly paying customers into space, higher than Virgin Galactic, on a fully reusable spacecraft. Partly as a result, Virgin Galactic's stock price has crashed, now trading at about $7 a share.

So one year after his historic flight, it's worth asking the question: Is Virgin Galactic a player in the space tourism race anymore? "They've always overpromised and undelivered on their flight schedule, so I never expected their promised flight cadence," said Laura Forczyk. But the long delay between Branson's flight and a successor mission raises red flags, she said. "Going a full year without even setting a date for their next flight is not a good sign," she said. "It leads me to conclude there really were serious structural or operational issues with Virgin Galactic's recent flights, despite their denial." (7/11)

Vaya Space Aims for Fight Operations Next Year with STAR-3D Vortex Hybrid Engine (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Vaya Space, a developing small satellite and technology company (formerly Rocket Crafters), is deep into the development of their STAR-3D vortex hybrid engine that will be used on the company’s Dauntless rocket. The company recently announced a multifaceted agreement with NASA for use of Kennedy Space Center and Stennis Space Center facilities for engine demonstration and testing as well as the signing of an exclusive launch contract with All2Space of Brazil for the launch of their CubeSat constellation as early as 2023.

The missions announced for All2Space will launch on Vaya Space’s Dauntless rocket, a small satellite launcher capable of taking 610 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit or up to 1,000 kg to a 200 km low Earth orbit. Dauntless stands 35 m tall, with stage one being 2.5 m in diameter while stage two is only 2.15 m in diameter. The fairing is likewise 2.15 m in diameter.

Both stages will be powered by Vaya Space’s new vortex hybrid engine, the STAR-3D. This 3D printed solid-liquid propellant engine uses thermoplastics as a solid fuel that is only ignitable/combustible when in the presence of liquid oxygen (LOX) and given an ignition source. The engine has been static fired over 100 times and successfully flew a suborbital demonstration mission in January 2022 from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California. (7/23)