September 21, 2022

CareerSource Brevard $3 Million to Strengthen Brevard's Talent Pipeline (Source: CareerSource Brevard)
Nearly $30 million in strategic investments are being made in Florida to develop a sustainable pipeline of job-ready candidates in aviation, aerospace, defense manufacturing and IT/cybersecurity. The geographic focus for these efforts includes the state’s Eastern seaboard from Flagler to Martin counties through creation of the Florida Atlantic Workforce Alliance.

The Alliance unites and aligns workforce development, education, economic development, and employers to collectively boost the technical workforce to meet growing industry demands in and near the Space Coast. This group of stakeholders includes three local workforce development boards — CareerSource Brevard, CareerSource Flagler Volusia and CareerSource Research Coast — as well as CareerSource Florida, the Florida Department of Education, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Enterprise Florida, Space Florida and education partners including Eastern Florida State College, Daytona State College and Indian River State College.

At Eastern Florida State College in Brevard County, opportunities will focus on aviation and aerospace. The college plans to transition and improve its aviation maintenance programs, add composite training and avionics, and embed new forms of advanced manufacturing, IT and skills training into its aerospace technology programs. (9/20)

With New Official Anthem, the Space Force Hopes to Land on Your Radar (Source: Washington Post)
On Tuesday, the United States Space Force entered its anthem era, announcing the release of its own official song at the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor in Maryland. The song, “Semper Supra” (“Always Above”), joins the ranks of “The Marine’s Hymn,” “The Army Goes Rolling Along” and other staples of the American military anthem repertoire. Click here. (9/20)

OneWeb Satellites Arriving in India (Source: OneWeb)
OneWeb today announced the arrival of 36 satellites at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC- SHAR) in advance of a planned launch from Sriharikota, India. With this launch, OneWeb will have more than 70% of its planned Gen 1 low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation in orbit as it progresses to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity services around the world.

OneWeb has partnered with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) - to facilitate this launch. The launch will be the company’s 14th overall and the satellites will be put into orbit by the heaviest ISRO rocket, the GSLV-MkIII, from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. One additional launch will take place this year and three more are targeted for early next year to complete the constellation. (9/20)

Super-Earths are Bigger, More Common and More Habitable Than Earth Itself (Source: The Conversation)
Astronomers now routinely discover planets orbiting stars outside of the solar system – they’re called exoplanets. But in summer 2022, teams working on NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite found a few particularly interesting planets orbiting in the habitable zones of their parent stars. One planet is 30% larger than Earth and orbits its star in less than three days. The other is 70% larger than the Earth and might host a deep ocean. These two exoplanets are super-Earths – more massive than the Earth but smaller than ice giants like Uranus and Neptune.

Most super-Earths orbit cool dwarf stars, which are lower in mass and live much longer than the Sun. There are hundreds of cool dwarf stars for every star like the Sun, and scientists have found super-Earths orbiting 40% of cool dwarfs they have looked at. Using that number, astronomers estimate that there are tens of billions of super-Earths in habitable zones where liquid water can exist in the Milky Way alone. Since all life on Earth uses water, water is thought to be critical for habitability.

Based on current projections, about a third of all exoplanets are super-Earths, making them the most common type of exoplanet in the Milky Way. The nearest is only six light-years away from Earth. You might even say that our solar system is unusual since it does not have a planet with a mass between that of Earth and Neptune. (9/19)

Arianespace Unveils 'Susie' - Reusable Spacecraft for Crew and Cargo Missions (Source: Arianespace)
The Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration (Susie) is a reusable spacecraft that can "function as an automated freighter and carry out crewed mission," according to Arianespace.  It has been designed to launch an Ariane 6 rocket and future Ariane 64 variant. Click here. (9/19) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oFgGXlHi8Q

More Space Insurers Head for the Exit: Allianz, Aspen Re and Dale Underwriting (Source: Seradata)
While recent space insurance market results have, after a series of losing or very flat years, been more profitable, nevertheless, several long time space insurers are reported to be heading for the exit. Seradata understands that the Munich-headquartered underwriting firm Allianz has decided to leave the Space Insurance market after a long involvement via their French operation. It operated with a medium size US$15 million capacity line. Allianz has not responded to a request to confirm or comment on the report.

Earlier this year Bermuda-based Aspen Re decided to leave both Aviation and Space which were mainly handed by its London office. Aspen Re, via its US$20-25 million of available capacity (the amount of insurance available to insure a specific space risk – launch or in orbit), was mainly a supporter via its participation in insurance consortia and via its reinsurance activities. Its decision to leave was thought to be partly driven more by its related aviation exposure which is likely to suffer large losses related to aircraft confiscated by Russia in retaliation for Western sanctions implemented because of its invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to the above, Dale Underwriting Syndicate at Lloyds of London has similarly withdrawn from space, albeit that its capacity was much smaller at circa US$5 million.  Nevertheless, given that overall market capacity is circa US$650-700 million, these recent defections when added up are not insignificant and underline the trend of major and long term players in the space class deciding to leave. (9/21)

Artemis Accords Signatories Hold First Meeting (Source: Space News)
The countries that have signed the U.S.-led Artemis Accords met for the first time this week. Representatives from the 21 countries that signed the Accords met on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress on Monday, discussing plans to organize later work on addressing technical and other aspects of the Accords. The Artemis Accords outline best practices for sustainable space exploration. While the Accords are non-binding, some countries have expressed interest in eventually making them binding in some way, perhaps through the U.N. The meeting was primarily an organizational one, with no major announcements or other findings emerging from it. (9/21)

SpinLaunch Raises $71M (Source: Space News)
SpinLaunch raised $71 million to continue development of its alternative launch system. ATW Partners led the Series B funding round announced Tuesday, with a number of other funds and individuals participating. The company has raised $150 million to date to work on a launch system that uses a giant centrifuge as a first stage, hurling vehicles at hypersonic speeds. The company built a suborbital prototype at Spaceport America and has conducted several tests since last October. SpinLaunch anticipates having an orbital system ready no earlier than 2026, although a company official recently said an "intermediate service" using some of its technologies could be ready in 2024. (9/21)

Space Force Finalizing Solicitation for New National Security Launch Providers (Source: Space News)
A draft request for industry proposals for the next phase of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program could be released as soon as next February. The U.S. Space Force is working to finalize a procurement strategy for the next national security launch services contract, NSSL Phase 3, expected to be awarded in 2024, the general in charge of the program said Tuesday.

Completing that strategy is a key milestone before releasing the draft RFP. Officials have previously said they would consider changing the NSSL program to take advantage of new launch providers entering the market. Another potential twist in Phase 3 is that the Space Force might consider buying not only traditional launch services from Earth to orbit but also in-space transportation services. (9/21)

Space Force Procurement Chief Looking at Alternatives and Incentives for Space System Development (Source: Space News)
The new Space Force procurement chief is taking aim at the old way of doing business. Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said Tuesday that the military is taking billions of dollars and seven years to develop new satellites while China is fielding constellations must faster. To produce satellites faster and at lower cost, the Space Force needs to move away from cost-plus contracts that incentivize contractors to redesign and over-engineer systems, he said, endorsing the approach used by the Space Development Agency. (9/21)

China Launches Environmental Monitoring Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched an environmental monitoring satellite Tuesday. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:15 p.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the Yunhai-1 03 satellite. Chinese media described the satellite as carrying out monitoring of the atmospheric, marine and space environments. (9/21)

Saudi Astronauts to Fly on Axiom Mission to ISS (Source: Reuters)
Two Saudis will reportedly fly on Axiom Space's next private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The Saudis would go to the ISS on the Ax-2 mission launching in the first half of next year, joining mission commander Peggy Whitson and another customer, John Shoffner. Neither Axiom Space nor Saudi Arabia's space agency commented on the report. (9/21)

NASA Investigating Problem with JWST Instrument (Source: NASA)
NASA is investigating a problem with one of the instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope. The agency said Tuesday that a mechanism that supports one of four observing modes on the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) "exhibited what appears to be increased friction" while setting up for an observation last month. An anomaly board has been working since early September to study the problem. The other three observing modes on MIRI are unaffected by the problem and continue to be used for observations. (9/21)

NASA’s Former Webb Telescope Director Receives Top Federal Award (Source: NASA)
NASA’s former program director of the James Webb Space Telescope, Gregory L. Robinson, was honored with the 2022 Federal Employee of the Year medal, a preeminent career federal employee award, for his leadership of the JWST project. (9/21)

Michiganders Concerned About Lack of Spaceport Progress (Source: Bridge Michigan)
Some people in Michigan are concerned about a lack of progress on spaceport development after spending $2.5 million on it. Michigan Launch Initiative, a project of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association, received state funding in 2019 to study potential launch sites in the state. However, the state government is still waiting for the final report. The initiative identified two potential sites for vertical and horizontal launches, and a third for a control center, but local officials have seen little sign of progress and, in some cases, raised objections to launches on environmental grounds. (9/21)

New Evidence for Habitability in Enceladus' Ocean (Source: SwRI)
The search for extraterrestrial life just got more interesting as a team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence for a key building block for life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. New modeling indicates that Enceladus’s ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for life. The Cassini spacecraft discovered Enceladus’s subsurface liquid water and analyzed samples as plumes of ice grains and water vapor erupted into space from cracks in the moon’s icy surface. 

“Enceladus is one of the prime targets in humanity’s search for life in our solar system,” said Glein, a leading expert in extraterrestrial oceanography. He is a co-author of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) describing this research. “In the years since NASA’s Cassini spacecraft visited the Saturn system, we have been repeatedly blown away by the discoveries made possible by the collected data.” (9/19)

Safeguarding Space (Source: Aviation Week)
As private launches become more common and the vehicles become larger, the possibility of accidents increases. If tragedy strikes, whom do we trust to provide an unbiased and knowledgeable investigation that will minimize the possibility of recurrences? It must be an agency that has no financial or regulatory interest in the flight but does have the technical expertise, commitment to excellence and credibility that comes from independence to find out what happened and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. There is only one US agency that fits the bill -- the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NTSB recently proposed a rulemaking that unambiguously establishes its authority to assume leadership following certain commercial spacflight mishaps. Predictably, most major players in the industry have objected, stating in essence that they can best assest causes of their own accidents. But history has shown that no private company or government agency should investigate itself. Congress realized that in 1974 when it moved the NTS from the Transportation Department. The NTSB is the world's gold standard for accident investigation. (9/12)