September 24, 2022

0-G Launch and SpaceLand Announce Partnership for International Zero-Gravity Flight Services in Switzerland, Italy, and Mauritius (Source: SpaceLand)
0-G Launch, a Washington DC-based provider of the innovative Space Jet horizontal rocket air-launch and high-precision microgravity services aircraft, and SpaceLand, the 1st non-governmental weightless R&D agency offering space-related educational and training programs, announced their signed agreement to initiate exclusive zero-gravity parabolic flights from Switzerland, Italy, and Mauritius serving STEM user communities and tourists in respective continents, at unprecedented quality vs. cost ratios.

The agreement was announced on 20 September during his speech at the Business Innovation Symposium of the International Astronautical Congress in Paris by Dr. Carlo Viberti, ESA Zero-G Flight Veteran proposed by MIR Corp back in 2000 as history-first private cosmonaut nominee, now President of SpaceLand. As first part of this exclusive agreement, 0-G Launch plans to fly its specially-modified Boeing 757 Space Jet to SpaceLand training centers to provide 0-G parabolic flight experiences to consumers and researchers on a yearly recurring basis. SpaceLand will organize all ground-based programs, training and facilities, and 0-G Launch will provide all aircraft-based flight operations. (9/20)

Starlink is Getting a Lot Slower as More People Use It, Speed Tests Show (Source: Ars Technica)
Starlink's median download speeds in the US dropped from 90.6Mbps to 62.5Mbps between the first and second quarters of 2022, according to Ookla speed tests. Starlink's median upload speeds in the US dropped from 9.3Mbps to 7.2Mbps in the same timeframe. Median latency also got a little worse for Starlink's US customers, rising from 43 ms to 48 ms. The Q2 report notes significant year-over-year decreases in Starlink speeds in numerous countries, while pointing out that overall performance is still pretty good. (9/23)

NASA Refines Its Strategy for Getting Humans to Mars (Source: Gizmodo)
NASA’s upcoming Artemis Moon program is serving as a stepping stone for an eventual crewed mission to Mars. A revised list of planning objectives details a strategy for accomplishing this daunting feat. The document serves as a blueprint for how we’ll eventually send humans to Mars. NASA has chosen to employ a “Moon to Mars” strategy, in which the space agency, with the assistance of commercial and international partners, will acquire the technology and skills needed work on the Moon, and then use those learnings to mount a crewed mission to Mars, tentatively scheduled for the late 2030s or early 2040s.

Smartly, the revised strategy remains closely aligned with NASA’s Artemis program, which seeks to return humans to the Moon, this time for good. The 63 high-level objectives listed in the new document are therefore a mix of lunar- and Martian-specific requirements. The new objectives were broken down into five categories: recurring tenets, science, infrastructure, transportation and habitation, and operations. Click here. (9/22)

As DoD Grows More Reliant on Space Industry, it Needs to Define the Relationship (Source: Space News)
The conflict in Ukraine has shed light on the value of commercial satellites for national security, but there are still open questions on how the military will work with private space companies in wartime, said Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt, special assistant to the chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force. “Now we need to codify our relationships with commercial [industry] to best bring those capabilities to bear in a fight,” Burt said Sep. 21.

Burt, who was recently commander of U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component, led the command’s “commercial integration cell,” a group of 10 companies that share classified information about potential threats in orbit. The cell started as a pilot program in 2015 to facilitate data sharing between the U.S. military and commercial satellite operators. The member companies sign cooperative agreements with the government but are not paid.

Three CIC members — SpaceX, Viasat and Maxar — have supported Ukraine and allies, providing services like communications and satellite imagery, Burt noted. “All three of those companies were very much engaged in their own business, working with Ukraine, but we tried very hard to make sure, where we could, that we could talk with them and integrate with them,” she said. (9/22)

Aerospace Startup Astra is Growing Fast. Can the City of Alameda Keep Up? (Source: San Francisco Business Times
There’s now just one thing standing between aerospace company Astra Space and a long-term lease at Alameda Point: labor. Alameda City Council voted unanimously in the early hours of Wednesday morning to approve a 59-month lease for Astra at its nearly 180,000-square-foot headquarters at 1900 Skyhawk St. But the council then followed that vote with a contingency: Terms of the lease will not be made official until Astra enters into an agreement with local unions.

City policy requires labor agreements for construction on city-owned land. Astra and the unions, which have been negotiating for the better part of this year, have not reached an agreement. Dani Gomes, director of real estate development for Astra, said Wednesday that the Sep. 20 council meeting had ended in the “best possible outcome,” and said Astra believes it will reach an agreement with the trades in the next two to four weeks.

As Astra has grown rapidly over the last few years, its space needs have surged. The company, which develops, builds and launches rockets, now employs 300 people, up from 100 in 2020, Gomes said. Growth has long been a goal of Astra’s, which said last year it wanted to triple its footprint at Alameda Point to 350,000 square feet. Last summer Astra signaled it wanted a long-term lease for its space at Alameda Point, which it currently leases on year-long terms. (9/22)

Rocket Lab Seeks to Build ‘an End-to-End Space Company,’ Founder Says (Source:  Yahoo! Finance)
We're trying to get [Neutron] on the pad by 2024, which is a pretty aggressive timeline. But, you know, given that it's a similar kind of time frame that we developed Electron, the rocket that we launch now, and we're leveraging a lot of the things that are on our current launch vehicle that port basically directly across to Neutron. So the avionics and software don't care what size the rocket is. So there's a whole bunch of stuff we move directly across. And, you know, this isn't our first rodeo. We've done this before. So that gives us confidence we can meet those timelines. Click here. (9/22)

Rolls-Royce Taking Steps Toward Space Sector (Source: Engineering News)
Rolls-Royce is signaling that the space sector is a priority with the company's first appearance at the International Astronautical Congress. The company is developing a micro-reactor for space applications under a contract with the UK government. (9/22)

Why Space Force Wants Out Of GEO, Long Development Cycles (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force will get out of putting large satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) following the launch of the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) program, as service leaders are pressing industry to develop satellites for lower orbits faster and be more realistic about their cost and schedule.

Moving away from these satellites to a broader, resilient architecture for missile warning is needed to face a growing threat from China and Russia, and also to be able to move faster in acquisition, says Frank Calvelli, assistant Air Force secretary for Space Force acquisition and integration. “The old approach of the sort of 7-year development contracts that we’re doing, I mean look at next-gen GEO. That should not be that hard ... It’s a 7-year development for a class of spacecraft that we’ve been building as a nation for 30, 40 years,” Calvelli says.

The physics of building these new spacecraft—with new optics, focal planes and the physics of the overall large size—takes too long, in addition to the contractual logistics, he argues. For the Space Force, the model will be the Space Development Agency (SDA), which will become part of the new service on Oct. 1. The SDA’s model of proliferated, small satellites in its Tranche 0 and Tranche 1 architectures provides needed resilience, and “I’m generally excited about their approach to do business,” Calvelli says. (9/22)

Paso Robles Officials Believe a Spaceport is the Ticket to the City's Future (Source: New Times)
Space. Launches. Lift-off. For Paso Robles' residents, those words could sound like something straight from a science fiction movie. But they could become a realistic possibility if the Paso Robles Municipal Airport gets to a place where it could not only launch commercial aircraft, but also space jets. The idea to build a spaceport at the Paso airport was conceived nearly a year and a half ago at a lunch meeting between city Mayor Steve Martin, Economic Development Manager Paul Sloan, and Airport Commissioner and Cal Poly Chief Information Officer Bill Britton.

Britton first suggested the idea of building a spaceport as a way to expand Cal Poly's CubeSat Laboratory program. The program allows students to build miniature satellites, commonly known as cubesats, to be launched into space. The idea grabbed Martin's attention and bloomed into a way to facilitate potential economic development in Paso and provide future jobs for Cal Poly and Cuesta College graduates. Paso Robles' two biggest sources of revenue currently come from the wine and tourism industries. But when the pandemic hit, Martin said he realized how fragile those industries were. (9/22)

Launch of Massive Rocket with Secret Payload Set for California's Central Coast (Source: KCLU)
The launch of a massive rocket with a secret military payload could create a spectacular sight for people in the Tri-Counties this weekend. The United Launch Alliance has targeted a 2:53 p.m. launch Saturday for a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. It's carrying an undisclosed payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. The 233 foot high rocket will carry nearly half a million gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen. People in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo should be able to see the rocket about 90 seconds after liftoff. (9/22)

Marlink Plans to Offer Starlink to Maritime Customers (Source: Teslarati)
Marlink announced that it will provide Starlink internet service to its maritime and enterprise customers according to a report from Smart Maritime Network. The satellite communications service provider plans to partner with SpaceX in an agreement under its OmniAccess subsidiary which will act as “authorized Starlink integrators” on a global basis for its maritime and enterprise customers. Under the agreement, Marlink will integrate Starlink alongside its existing services such as VSAT, LTE (4G/5G), and terrestrial connectivity systems for onboard installations. This will form a single central integrated vessel communications network. (9/22)

Investing in Space: An Eyebrow-Raising SPAC (Source: CNBC)
Lunar tech-focused Intuitive Machines announced a SPAC deal last Friday at a near $1 billion valuation. It plays up both the civil and national security reasons for why everything from rovers to people are going back to the moon en masse this decade. Granted, NASA is pouring billions into returning to the lunar surface, and the Pentagon has issued repeated warnings about China’s ambitions. But concern about Intuitive Machines going public traces back to the market appetite for such deals, and the lofty projections the company would need to hit.

It’s worth understanding the broader factors at play: The SPAC frenzy ended even faster this year than it started last year. The companies that went public have, for the most part, seen their stock slammed by investors’ flight from risky and speculative assets – like capital-intensive and often pre-revenue space companies. Additionally, the SPAC market dried up this summer and even the “SPAC king” (who took Virgin Galactic public) this week decided to unwind two of his special purpose companies and return money to shareholders.

For Intuitive Machines, the money it aims to raise by going public is largely dependent on what the Inflection Point SPAC shareholders think of the deal. Inflection Point has $301 million held in a trust, which is dependent on shareholder redemptions. SPACs closing deals in 2022 have regularly seen requests to redeem much of that money, leaving less than expected on the newly public company’s balance sheet. (9/22)

SES Eagle-1 a Prototype for Quantum Service (Source: Space News)
SES signed a contract with ESA for a quantum cryptography technology demonstration satellite. Eagle-1, scheduled for launch in 2024, will test the ability to conduct quantum key distribution (QKD) via satellite. QKD is touted as the next big leap for delivering secure networks because any attempt to eavesdrop on the communication changes the state of the photons, destroying the keys. It is the latest of several such projects announced in Europe; China flew one such satellite, Micius, in 2016.

Eagle-1 could be a prototype for an SES satellite system. At the signing ceremony for Eagle-1 at the International Astronautical Congress Thursday, SES CEO Steve Collar said the company was considering the "commercialization potential" of quantum key distribution by satellite, and that if the technology and business case pans out, it could lead to "a small constellation" of satellites providing that service globally. The European Commission is also involved in Eagle-1 as it is considering quantum encryption for its secure connectivity constellation. (9/23)

Senate Considers CR to Keep Government Funded (Source: Roll Call)
The Senate is scheduled to take up a continuing resolution (CR) early next week to keep the federal government funded. A cloture vote is scheduled for late Tuesday on a bill that would fund the government from the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year to mid-December, giving appropriators more time to finalize full-year spending bills. The House plans to take up the bill as soon as it passes the Senate using a "same-day rule." (9/23)

ESA's Harmony Mission to Focus on Earth Climate (Source: ESA)
ESA has selected a climate research and risk monitoring mission for development. The agency said Thursday it will proceed with Harmony as its next Earth Explorer mission for launch in 2029. Harmony features a pair of satellites with receive-only synthetic aperture radar and thermal infrared instruments. The spacecraft will study motions on the Earth's surface, ranging from the interaction between the oceans and atmosphere to seismic activity. (9/23)

SpaceX Expects Starship Orbital Launch by November (Source: Teslarati)
Elon Musk says it's "highly likely" SpaceX will attempt the first orbital Starship launch by November. Musk tweeted this week that the first orbital launch could be as soon as late October but that a launch by the end of November was more likely. The company still has considerable ground testing to do of Starship after a static-fire test earlier in the week of seven of 33 engines in the Super Heavy booster. Musk's past estimates for a first orbital Starship launch have not been realized. (9/23)

Good Mars Weather Extending Insight Lander Mission (Source: Space.com)
Good weather is helping to extend the life of a Mars lander. The InSight Mars lander was expected to run out of power by the end of the summer as dust continued to accumulate on its solar panels, but the spacecraft remains operational. Project officials said a lack of dust storms in the region, which would deposit additional dust on the panels, have helped keep the spacecraft alive. The spacecraft could now operate to as late as January, although project leaders cautioned that even one dust storm could spell the mission's demise. (9/23)

Raytheon Receives Hypersonic Development Contract (Source: Defense One)
Raytheon Technologies has been awarded a $985 million contract by the US Air Force to take its Hyersonic Attack Cruise Missile to the manufacturing and testing stage. "Our scramjet propulsion technology is ushering in a new era for faster, more survivable, and highly capable weapons," said Mary Petryszyn, president of Northrop Grumman Defense Systems. (9/22)

Ex-Prof Pleads Guilty To Lying To NASA About China Ties (Source: Science)
Former Texas A&M University, College Station, material scientist Zhengdong Cheng pleaded guilty today to two federal charges of making false statements to NASA that hid his ties to two Chinese universities. Cheng also agreed to repay NASA $86,876, funds awarded for a microgravity experiment to be conducted on the International Space Station.

Despite his conviction, Cheng’s plea represents the latest case to crumble under the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) China Initiative, a controversial law enforcement campaign that has prosecuted two dozen U.S. academic scientists, predominantly of Chinese ancestry. Many were initially charged with trying to defraud the government, often accompanied by statements from DOJ officials that implied they had shared research results that would benefit China and threaten U.S. national security.

Some scientists pleaded guilty and went to prison. But in most cases the government either abandoned the most serious charges, failed to convince a jury the defendants were guilty, or had convictions later overturned by the federal judge. In Cheng’s case, the government initially charged him with nine counts of defrauding the government as well as making false statements. But at today’s hearing, before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Houston, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Lowery announced the government had agreed to accept Cheng’s plea on the two counts of making false statements. (9/22)

Axiom Signs Agreement with Canada's Space Agency (Source: Axiom)
Axiom Space and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities for sustained access to space and build on the country’s legacy in human spaceflight. This MOU is aimed at examining the potential for collaboration between Axiom, the CSA and the Canadian space industry for the development of future space infrastructure; and exploring opportunities for sustained access to space including the potential for Canadian astronauts to fly on future Axiom-sponsored missions. The agreement between Axiom and the CSA was signed on September 21, 2022, at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Paris. (9/21)