July 3, 2022

US Military’s Mysterious X-37B Space Plane Eyes Orbital Record (Source: WION)
X-37B robotic space plane belonging to the US military is all set to create a new record of remaining aloft for 780 days. The reusable space plane has currently completed 773 days. According to the US Air Force, it is a premier reusable and unmanned spacecraft that allows scientists to recover experiments in space. They added, that the spacecraft “performs risk reduction, experimentation, and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies”.

The unique spacecraft tests new systems in space as the US seeks to maintain space superiority. It also conducts experiments for America’s future space exploration. The X-37B’s mission 4 had stayed in orbit for 718 days. The mission was launched into orbit on May 17, 2020. (7/1)

$28.1M Energy Efficiency Project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (Source: Constellation Energy)
Constellation and NASA announced today that work is underway on a $28.1 million energy efficiency project at 15 buildings on the campus of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. This project helps NASA GSFC achieve its sustainability goals and focuses on reducing energy and water consumption across the campus. These upgrades are expected to help NASA GSFC reduce its energy consumption by more than 38 million kilowatt hours and avoid nearly 27,000 metric tons in carbon emissions annually, the greenhouse gas equivalent of removing nearly 6,000 cars off the road in one year according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates. (6/28)

MDA Supports Global Fishing Sustainability with Radarsat Data (Source: MDA)
MDA announced a major new contribution to international efforts to monitor, track and intercept illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities using satellite technology. MDA is providing Global Fishing Watch (GFW) – an international non-governmental organization committed to advancing the sustainability of our oceans through increased transparency – with access to the company’s RADARSAT-2 satellite radar archive.

The RADARSAT-2 archive represents a 14-year historical record of the Earth and includes more than 970,000 images, including over 26 billion square kilometers of oceanic synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. GFW intends to utilize the archive to map IUU fishing patterns using science-based analytics that will be used by international policymakers, conservationists and researchers to more effectively fight these illegal practices. (6/28)

Maine-Based bluShift Plans Spaceport Near Fishing Village (Source: Times Record)
Eco-friendly rocket startup bluShift Aerospace announced Wednesday that it will build a base of operations in the Washington County fishing village of Steuben, but the company’s founder and CEO said its engineering team will continue to work primarily out of Brunswick. “A lot of effort and time has been put in to build up (our Brunswick) infrastructure,” bluShift CEO Sascha Deri said. “I don’t think we want to move it any time soon, if ever.”

Based at Brunswick Landing’s TechPlace, bluShift plans to carry research payloads and small satellites sub orbitally and into low orbit with its biofuel-powered rockets. It hopes to conduct its first commercial launch in 2023. The team initially planned to build rockets in Brunswick but now expects those operations to move to a facility in Steuben, Deri said. The company estimates that the manufacturing facility could produce 150-200 new jobs in the next 5-7 years, a major selling point for Steuben residents worried about the economic future of the town.

Editor's Note: In March, bluShift announced it no longer planned to pursue developing a launch site in Jonesport, Maine, and instead wanted to launch from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. In December 2021, Jonesport residents approved a six-month ban on commercial rocket launches after bluShift proposed plans for its roughly $2 million launch site that November. Local fishermen cited concerns that launches would interfere with fishing and that gear could become damaged or tangled with parachutes used to slow a rocket’s descent. (6/30)

Florida LG Leads Delegation to Washington in Support of DoD Opportunities (Source: SPACErePORT)
Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez led a delegation of Florida leaders to Washington DC to promote Florida as a site for the Space Force's STARCOM education and training organization, advocate for creation of a Space National Guard, and promote some of the innovative financing mechanisms Florida's space agency (Space Florida) can apply to support the development of military facilities and infrastructure to minimize the need for up-front DoD budget outlays. (6/30)

Florida Promotes Aerospace Apprenticeships, Accelerated Security Clearances (Source: SPACErePORT)
Florida is providing $9 million to supplement other funding that has gone to Central Florida academic institutions  to develop robust apprenticeship programs aimed at better meeting the needs of the state's aerospace employers. A remaining challenge with these programs is recruiting companies to provide their skilled workers to serve as instructors for the programs.

Meanwhile, in an effort to tackle the industry-wide need for recruiting/developing personnel with security clearances, the University of West Florida is piloting a project to award provisional college degrees to qualified juniors, allowing them to receive contingent job offers and thereby accelerate the process for these students to obtain security clearances required for their employment. (6/30)

Yes, Boeing’s Starliner Spacecraft Really Could Fly Astronauts This Year (Source: Ars Technica)
Five weeks have passed since Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned from a largely successful test flight to the International Space Station, and the company continues to review data from the mission alongside engineers from NASA. So far, there have been no showstoppers. In fact, sources say, the relatively clean performance of Starliner has increased the possibility that the vehicle could make its first crewed flight this year in December.

This mission, called the Crew Flight Test, will likely carry two astronauts to the space station. If successful, it would clear the way for long-duration, operational missions to the space station in 2023 and give NASA a much-coveted second means of getting astronauts into space. (7/1)

Significant Progress in NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Solar Array Deployment Efforts (Source: Parabolic Arc)
From May 6 to June 16, NASA’s Lucy mission team carried out a multi-stage effort intended to further deploy the spacecraft’s unlatched solar array. The team commanded the spacecraft to operate the array’s deployment motor for limited periods of time, allowing them to closely monitor the response of the spacecraft. As a result of this effort, the mission succeeded in further deploying the array and now estimates that the solar array is between 353 degrees and 357 degrees open (out of 360 total degrees for a fully deployed array).

Additionally, the array is under substantially more tension, giving it significantly more stabilization. The mission team is increasingly confident the solar array will successfully meet the mission’s needs in its current tensioned and stabilized state. Further deployment attempts will be paused as the Lucy spacecraft enters a planned period of limited communications. (7/2)