September 11, 2022

Firefly Set to Launch Small Satellites From California (Source: Everyday Astronaut)
Firefly Aerospace is the next private rocket company that aims to achieve orbit with its second launch attempt of their brand new Alpha launch vehicle. Alpha will lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday evening, and targets a 300 km low Earth orbit (LEO), in which it will deploy multiple payloads. On board of the FLTA002 To The Black mission will be multiple CubeSats and PicoSats, with most of them being copies of satellites that were lost during the failure of Firefly’s FLTA001 DREAM launch. (9/11)

GAO Cites Chronic Problems With NASA’s Artemis Program, Including Workforce (Source: NASA Watch)
“NASA, however, does not yet have guidance for creating or managing Artemis mission schedules that will help integrate the individual programs required for launch. NASA is using existing schedule management guidance developed for individual programs, not multi-program missions. Without guidance specifically for multi-program missions, NASA lacks reasonable assurance it has consistent schedule management practices in place for the Artemis schedules. Schedule management guidance would also assist coordination, which will be increasingly necessary as the Artemis missions will involve more programs over time and therefore become more complex."

"NASA conducts workforce planning through the programs that comprise the Artemis missions across the next 5 budget years. NASA faces uncertainties beyond that horizon that have hindered longer-term planning. However, NASA is committing billions of dollars in development and production contracts for future Artemis missions that extend into the 2030s. This will require an extensive workforce to execute. Prior GAO work found that other agencies facing uncertainty assessed a range of future options, known as scenario planning, which provided flexibility to determine future workforce needs."

"In May 2022, NASA officials said they were examining the use of scenario planning to help future workforce planning efforts. But they have not yet completed or implemented guidance to do so. As NASA begins to execute the first of many Artemis missions, it has the opportunity to use scenario planning to inform future workforce environments it may face and address broader workforce challenges.” (9/8)

Virgin Galactic Has Been Grounded (Source: Real Money)
Virgin Galactic Holdings ( SPCE) has lofty goals but the charts are looking like they will be stuck on the ground for the foreseeable future. Let's check.
In this daily bar chart of SPCE, below, we have trouble finding technical inspiration for the bulls. Prices has been moving sideways to lower since the beginning of the calendar year. SPCE is trading below the flat 50-day moving average line and below the declining 200-day line.
 
The On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line has turned lower from early August and tells me that sellers of SPCE have turned more aggressive with heavier trading volume on days when SPCE closes lower on the day. The trend-following Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator is below the zero line in sell territory. Traders should consider booking a vacation trip to the Caribbean this winter and take a pass on SPCE. (9/9)

SpaceX Ramps Hiring for T-Mobile Starlink Cell Service Partnership (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX is ramping hiring efforts for its T-Mobile Starlink cell service partnership. Last month, SpaceX and T-Mobile announced their new partnership to end mobile dead zones. According to a post from SpaceX’s senior director of satellite engineering, there are three new positions that SpaceX is currently hiring for. The job postings each mention SpaceX’s development of its Direct to Cell satellite network which will end the dead zones. In each of the job postings, SpaceX highlighted the importance of its new Direct to Cell satellite network. (9/10)

VP Harris Asks Agencies for Proposals for Novel Commercial Space Regulations (Source: Space Policy Online)
At her second meeting of the White House National Space Council, Vice President Kamala Harris asked all Council members to submit proposals on how to regulate “novel” commercial space activities — those not already regulated. Last month Harris highlighted the need to create a clear, consistent, and flexible regulatory environment to attract investors and ensure U.S. leadership. The question of which agency should be in charge of overseeing these new types of space businesses has been debated for years without resolution. (9/10)

Life Is an Accident of Space and Time (Source: The Atlantic)
Recent scientific research suggests that life in the universe is rare. A few years ago, using results from the Kepler satellite to estimate the fraction of stars with possibly habitable planets, I calculated that, even if all potentially habitable planets do in fact harbor life, the fraction of matter in the universe in living form is exceedingly small: about one-billionth of one-billionth. That’s like a few grains of sand on the Gobi Desert. Evidently, we living things are a very special arrangement of atoms and molecules.

Life may be even rarer than that. In the mid-1970s, the Australian physicist Brandon Carter pointed out that our universe seems particularly fine-tuned for the emergence of life. For example, if the nuclear force holding the centers of atoms together were a little weaker, then the complex atoms needed for life could never form. If it were a little stronger, all of the hydrogen in the infant universe would have fused to become helium. Without hydrogen, water (H2O) would not exist, and most biologists believe that water is necessary for life.

As another example of fine-tuning: If the observed “dark energy” that fills the cosmos, discovered in 1998, were a little larger than it actually is, the universe would have expanded so rapidly that matter could never have pulled itself together to make stars, the essential nursery for all the complex atoms thought necessary for life. But with a slightly smaller value of dark energy, the universe would have expanded and recollapsed so quickly that stars wouldn’t have had time to form. (9/8)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites and AST Test Satellite, Recovers Booster (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday night launched another batch of 34 Starlink internet satellites. The BlueWalker 3 test satellite for AST SpaceMobile’s planned space-based cellular broadband network was a rideshare payload on this mission. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (9/10)

A Month on 'Mars': Traveling to the Red Planet (Source: Space.com)
After a bumpy ride down the gravel runway on the Otter's balloon tires, the plane came to a halt and we climbed out onto Devon Island. As we unloaded our baggage and a small mountain of supplies, we took in the view. As I had been told by Pascal over many a late-night conversation, the site really is a dead ringer for Mars — a barren, bleak, ruddy expanse of rock and earth, stretching as far as one can see in any direction. If a person could stand on Mars without a pressure suit and breathe the air, this would be it. While barren and somewhat forbidding, it is absolutely spectacular in visage, and was one of the few times such a view has truly taken my breath away.

As the plane flew on to its next destination, shortly to return with the rest of our crew, we made our way to the base to unpack and prepare for our stay. Many hours of cleaning, repairing, and rehabilitating the compound lay ahead — in this environment, mold and mildew are a huge problem, and it would take liberal doses of Lysol and lots of elbow grease to make our home for the next three weeks livable. But we had arrived, and our summer field season had begun. At last, we were at Mars on Earth, and a month of adventure lay before us. (9/9)

Huge Satellite Could Outshine All Stars and Planets in the Night Sky (Source: New Scientist)
A large satellite launching to space with SpaceX on Saturday could become brighter than any other object in the night sky except the moon, raising concerns about its impact on astronomy. The BlueWalker 3 satellite, built by Texas-based firm AST SpaceMobile, is set to be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 10 September. The satellite is designed to test the company’s technology to beam a cellular connection, including 4G or 5G internet, directly from a satellite to mobile phones, enabling users to receive mobile coverage in remote areas. (9/9)

Space Companies Put Up a Mixed Second Quarter. Here’s Who Outperformed and Who Faltered (Source: CNBC)
The second quarter was a mixed bag for space companies, with some firms posting steady progress while others faced setbacks. Most space stocks, many of which went public last year through SPAC deals, are struggling despite the industry’s growth, off 50% or more since their market debut. The shifting market environment and climbing interest rates have hit technology and growth stocks hard, weighing on space stocks.

CNBC breaks down the most recent quarterly reports for Aerojet Rocketdyne, AST SpaceMobile, Astra, BlackSky, Iridium, Maxar, Momentus, Mynaric, Redwire, Rocket Lab, Satellogic, Spire Global, Telesat, Terran Orbital, ViaSat, Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit. Click here. (9/9)

HawkEye 360 Plans New Funding Round as it Positions to Go Public (Source: Space News)
Following a surge in demand for the company’s services during the war in Ukraine, HawkEye 360 is looking at a new round of funding, and possibly going public in a couple of years, CEO John Serafini said Sep. 8. Earth observation company HawkEye 360 uses satellites to monitor radio frequency (RF) signals emitted by electronic devices and analyzes the data to draw conclusions.

Of particular interest to military and intelligence agencies is the use of RF detection to locate sources of GPS jamming or other activities that disrupt satellite-based navigation. HawkEye 360 in March reported its satellites over Ukraine detected extensive GPS interference activity. Serafini said HawkEye 360 is planning a new funding round and perhaps an IPO, depending on market conditions. An almost exclusive focus on U.S. and international military and intelligence customers makes the company less vulnerable to the swings of the commercial markets, he said. (9/9)

Northrop Grumman CEO: Space is the Most Exciting Part of Our Business Now (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
"Space is the most exciting area of our portfolio at the moment because the expansion of opportunity in space has been significant. And I foresee that continuing into the future. And as you noted, it's in every domain, clearly supporting national security, but also in space exploration, like the work that we recently launched the James Webb Space Telescope and brought back just fantastic images of the origins of our universe that will help to rewrite science textbooks and help, I hope, a new generation of people to get really excited about what may be happening in space in generations to come.

"And many of the companies that we work with and partner with are equally excited about that. Jeff's work is clearly driving for better exploration of space, as well as the opportunities to commercialize space. And we partner with them. And we also do work that at times is competitive with them. We are, as the nature of our work being so broad, the largest space company in the world. And we're proud of that and want to continue to do our part, both in supporting governments as well as space exploration and commercial interests." (9/9)

Kelvin Coleman Appointed to Lead FAA Space Transportation Office (Source: Space Policy Online)
The FAA has appointed Kelvin Coleman as the new Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation, succeeding Wayne Monteith. Coleman has a long history at the office, most recently serving as Acting Associate Administrator since Monteith’s departure in March. An engineer by training, Coleman joined the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or FAA/AST, more than 25 years ago. Since then he has served in a number of positions including Program Lead for Space and Air Traffic Integration, Senior Technical Advisor for Operations Integration, Chief of Staff, and Deputy Associate Administrator. (9/9)

Vice President Kamala Harris Visits NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston (Source: Fox 26)
Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up her two-day trip to Houston on Friday after visiting NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Harris serves as the Chair of the National Space Council. "The Artemis program will return American astronauts to the lunar surface," said Harris. "It will include the first woman and person of color."

Harris announced Friday that she’s calling on companies to create a coalition designed to increase jobs within the space industry. In addition, the Vice President says the administration will work to establish new rules for space. "These rules will be flexible enough to cover space activities that have not yet even been imagined," said Harris. "They will help ensure that our nation remains a global role model for the responsible use of space." (9/9)

Defense and Commerce Departments Partner on Space Traffic Management (Source: C4ISRnet)
The U.S. Department of Defense has signed a memorandum of agreement to begin shifting responsibilities for managing space traffic to the Department of Commerce. Don Graves, deputy secretary of commerce, announced the agreement Friday during a National Space Council meeting in Houston. The document formalizes the partnership between both agencies on the space monitoring mission, according to a press release.

The memorandum follows the release of Space Policy Directive-3, a 2018 instruction from then-President Donald Trump that called on the organizations to collaborate on advancing space domain awareness and space traffic management technology, make the associated data publicly available and improve interoperability. It also directed the Commerce Department to take responsibility for managing space object warning and tracking, meant to free up the Defense Department to focus on the threat environment. (9/9)

Blue Origin to Help Find Future Space Workforce (Source: Kent Reporter)
Blue Origin will be one of several companies that will work with the National Space Council to help support space-related STEM initiatives to inspire, prepare and employ the next generation of the space workforce. “Honored to collaborate with the National Space Council, chaired by the vice president, on STEM and workforce development to build the space industry talent pipeline for the benefit of Earth,” Blue Origin said in a statement.

At the second convening Sep. 9 of the National Space Council, Vice President Kamala Harris announced new commitments from the U.S. government, private sector companies, education and training providers and philanthropic organizations. The new coalition’s work will kick off in October 2022 and be anchored by Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Other industry partners will include Amazon, Jacobs, L3Harris, Planet Labs PBC, Rocket Lab, Sierra Space, Space X and Virgin Orbit, and will be joined by the Florida Space Coast Consortium Apprenticeship Program and its sponsors, SpaceTEC, Airbus OneWeb Satellites, Vaya Space and Morf3D. (9/9)

NASA Selects SiFive and Makes RISC-V the Go-to Ecosystem for Future Space Missions (Source: SiFive)
SiFive been selected by NASA to provide the core CPU for NASA’s next generation High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor. HPSC is expected to be used in virtually every future space mission, from planetary exploration to lunar and Mars surface missions. HPSC will utilize an 8-core, SiFive Intelligence X280 RISC-V vector core, as well as four additional SiFive RISC-V cores, to deliver 100x the computational capability of today’s space computers. This massive increase in computing performance will help usher in new possibilities for a variety of mission elements such as autonomous rovers, vision processing, space flight, guidance systems, communications, and other applications. (9/6)

NASA Selects Microchip Technology to Develop Spaceflight Processor (Source: Military Aerospace Electronics)
NASA has selected Microchip Technology Inc. of Arizona, to develop a High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor. Microchip's HPSC will provide at least 100 times the computational capacity of current spaceflight computers. This capability aims to advance all types of future space missions, including surface missions. Microchip will architect, design, and deliver the HPSC processor over three years, with the goal of employing the processor on future lunar and planetary exploration missions. (8/17)

SpaceX Fire Burns 68 Acres of Protected Refuge (Source: KRGV)
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is reporting that Thursday’s grass fire at the SpaceX Boca Chica launch site burned 68 acres of brush at a protected refuge. The grass fire lasted about five hours as part of a static fire test of Starship 24. A wildlife biologist with the Coastal Best Bays and Estuaries Program was at the refuge and said she found several dead crabs and destroyed vegetation as a result of the fire. “It is a concern and I do think SpaceX has some mitigation in regard to this to make sure that this isn't a regularly occurring thing because small fires out there can very quickly turn into large fires," wildlife biologist Stephanie Bilodeau said. (9/9)

SpaceX Appeals FCC Decision to Reverse $885.5 Million Starlink Subsidies (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX appealed the Federal Communications Commission’s reversal of Starlink’s infrastructure award of $885.5 million. The appeal was filed electronically and hand-delivered to FCC Secretary Marlene Dortch. In the executive summary, it said that the decision to exclude Starlink from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) was flawed in both matters of law and policy. According to the document,

“It fails legally because it contradicts the record—including SpaceX’s and Starlink’s proven capabilities—it contradicts the Commission’s stated rules for the program, and it rests on unsupported conjecture and outside-the-record information apparently cherry-picked from somewhere on the Internet.”

“Worse, it fails the RDOF’s very purpose: closing the digital divide. As the last few years have highlighted, it is critical to connect all Americans as quickly as possible, whether to enable kids to do their homework, empower parents to work from home, help doctors provide telehealth services, or assist first responders with emergency situations. The Bureau’s decision undermines this goal, leaving the very Americans that RDOF was supposed to connect stranded indefinitely on the wrong side of the digital divide.” (9/9)

Musk Says SpaceX, Apple Have Had 'Some Promising Conversations' About Starlink Connectivity (Source: Fox Business)
Elon Musk said Thursday that SpaceX and Apple have had "some promising conversations" about Starlink connectivity. "iPhone team is [obviously] super smart," Musk tweeted. "For sure, closing link from space to phone will work best if phone software & hardware adapt to space-based signals vs Starlink purely emulating cell tower." The tweet came in reply to a user who suggested that Apple should partner with SpaceX on the iPhone 14's emergency SOS via satellite feature. (9/9)

Report: Ligado’s Wireless Network will Interfere with Iridium and Some GPS Services (Source: Space News)
An independent review of Ligado’s planned deployment of a terrestrial wireless network concluded that it will likely interfere with some GPS signals and with space-based communications services provided by Iridium. The review, conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), was mandated by Congress in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. A committee of experts who worked on the review for over a year released its findings Sept. 9 in a 78-page report. (9/9)

OneWeb and HD Hyundai Avikus to Advance Marine Technology by Unlocking the Potential of LEO Connectivity (Source: OneWeb)
OneWeb and HD Hyundai Avikus, a world leader in advanced autonomous ships, announced the signing of an agreement to explore opportunities for advanced LEO satellite technology to support the next generation of marine expertise and autonomous shipping. The partnership will test and review the use of OneWeb’s high-speed, low-latency LEO service to provide the necessary connectivity for facilitating and strengthening the operations of Avikus’ innovative systems. (9/8)