November 22, 2022

Gravitics Raises $20M in Bid to Build Next-Generation Space Station Modules (Source: Space Daily)
Gravitics, Inc., an aerospace component manufacturing firm, announced raising $20 million to build large, next-generation space station modules. The seed round was led by Type One Ventures, and included Tim Draper from Draper Associates, FJ Labs, The Venture Collective, Helios Capital, Giant Step Capital (Chicago based), Gaingels, Spectre, Manhattan West, and Mana Ventures.

"The case for Gravitics is simple," said Tarek Waked of Type One Ventures, who has joined the Gravitics Board of Directors. "Having scalable space infrastructure that is 100% made in the United States is good for the space industry, good for the country, and is just the beginning of an effort that the whole world will benefit from as space becomes more and more accessible."

Gravitics is developing the StarMax, a flexible-use space station module. The StarMax module provides up to 400 cubic meters of usable habitable volume - nearly half the volume of the International Space Station in one module. StarMax's family of modules is compatible to launch on any of the next-generation launch vehicles, including SpaceX's Starship, ULA's Vulcan, and Blue Origin's New Glenn. (11/22)

AFRL Breaks Ground on New Fortress Space Lab in New Mexico (Source: Space Daily)
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, held a ground-breaking ceremony, Nov. 16, beginning construction on the Facility for Radiation Tolerance Research on Electronics for Space and Strategic Systems, or FORTRESS, a 6,200-square-foot, $4.5 million facility, located adjacent to the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate Deployable Structures Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico.

The facility is designed to enable AFRL researchers to investigate and develop solutions for trusted, high-performance electronic components with necessary space and strategic-hardening to ensure the survivability of key U.S. Space Force and Air Force systems in harsh, natural and man-made environments. (11/21)

Advanced Space Awarded Contract to Deliver AFRL's Mission to the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
Advanced Space LLC., a leading space tech solutions company, announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate, as part of a collaborative effort with AFRL's Transformational Capabilities Office, has awarded the company a $72 million contract to deliver AFRL's Oracle spacecraft program, previously called the Cislunar Highway Patrol System, or CHPS.

Oracle will demonstrate space situational awareness, object detection and tracking in the regions around the Moon. Advanced Space is the prime contractor for Oracle, and is designing the mission approach, along with advanced navigation, tracking, and communication solutions for this challenging mission. (11/21)

Department the Air Force Preps for AFWERX 3.0 Transition (Source: GovCon Daily)
AFWERX, the Department of the Air Force's innovation arm, is set to release a series of efforts representing its updated priorities aimed at expanding technology, workforce and capabilities across the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. Col. Elliott Leigh, the incoming commander of AFWERX, said the unit's new approach will support innovation within DAF and industry commercialization by building on the foundation set by the current AFWERX team. (11/22)

Remarkable Pivot Happening in the National Security Space Business (Source: Space News)
Over the last year, policymakers in Washington have awakened from a deep slumber. The abrupt ending of the Cold War in the 1980’s and the subsequent misguided industry consolidation in the 90’s lulled the nation into believing that the status quo was all we could really hope for. Very little innovation or improvements were envisioned or deemed necessary. Parts obsolescence was seen as the most existential threat.

But that’s all changed. In unclassified forums and publications, the DNI has reported increasing threats to our space systems, the very same systems which our modern, 21st century economy is entirely dependent on.

One of their subordinate agencies, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, declared last year that the United States is no longer the consistent gold medal winner in commercial space that it had always been. Meanwhile, the Space Force, in cooperation with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in Silicon Valley, has been tracking this issue from an industrial base perspective.  Their annual report makes it clear that speed is the element that everyone recognizes is needed.  Its conclusion is that the sense of urgency is just not universally shared within the larger and deeper layers of the bureaucracy. (11/22)

The Pentagon Fails its Fifth Audit in a Row (Source: Responsible Statecraft)
Last week, the Department of Defense revealed that it had failed its fifth consecutive audit. “I would not say that we flunked,” said DoD Comptroller Mike McCord, although his office did note that the Pentagon only managed to account for 39 percent of its $3.5 trillion in assets. “The process is important for us to do, and it is making us get better. It is not making us get better as fast as we want.”

The news came as no surprise to Pentagon watchers. After all, the U.S. military has the distinction of being the only U.S. government agency to have never passed a comprehensive audit. But what did raise some eyebrows was the fact that DoD made almost no progress in this year’s bookkeeping: Of the 27 areas investigated, only seven earned a clean bill of financial health, which McCord described as “basically the same picture as last year.” (11/22)

New Space Force Procurement Shop Subscribes to the Space-as-a-Service Model (Source: Space News)
A new office within the Space Force’s procurement command will buck traditional military programs by only buying technologies that the space industry provides as a service. The command’s Commercial Services Office, known as COMSO, was established earlier this year amid fears that the military is missing out on proven and promising technologies due to procurement bottlenecks and a culture that tilts toward developing government-owned systems. (11/21)

An Argument in Favor of a Space National Guard (Source: FNN)
In 2019, when Congress and the Trump administration enacted the U.S. Space Force, they left out something: A Space National Guard. After all, there are Army and Air Force civilian auxiliaries. There’s even a Navy Militia. Last month, a Biden administration policy statement came out against a space national guard. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke with someone who makes the argument in favor: Col. Michael Bruno, the Chief of Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters in Colorado. Click here. (11/21)

SDA Considers Adding Nav Payloads to Comsats (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA) is considering adding navigation payloads to future communications satellites. The SDA released a request for information-seeking concepts for adding positioning, navigation and timing payloads to its Transport Layer satellites. The SDA said such payloads could complement the GPS and provide redundancy if GPS signals were unavailable. The payloads would be incorporated into Transport Layer satellites no earlier than the Tranche 2 series in the mid-2020s. (11/22)

Space Force Plans Rideshare Services Contract (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is planning a new contract for rideshare services. Space Systems Command is trying to identify industry interest in competing for a multi-year contract to integrate and operate rideshare payloads in national security and other U.S. government missions. This procurement would be the follow-on to the $94 million Launch Manifest Systems Integration contract that Parsons Corp. won in 2019. A new competition would start in 2024. (11/22)

SLS Showed Up, at Last (Source: Space Review)
After years of delays, the Space Launch System finally lifted off for the first time, sending an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to the Moon. Jeff Foust reports on the last-minute challenges leading up to the launch and the focus now on testing Orion. Click here. (11/22)
 
Lessons From a University’s First Cubesat (Source: Space Review)
Universities continue to take their first steps into space by developing cubesats. Fergus Downey discusses the lessons learned from his university’s first cubesat mission, which came to an end last month. Click here. (11/22)
 
Evaluating America’s Green Energy Options Including Astroelectricity (Source: Space Review)
In the second part of his examination of the potential role for space solar power to meet future green energy needs, Mike Snead examines how much energy green options need to provide and whether some terrestrial options are suitable. Click here. (11/22)

Sidus Space Signs MOU with Capital C to Provide Maritime Satellite Design and Surveillance (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space has signed an agreement with Capital C. As part of the agreement, Sidus will assist in developing, delivering, and maintaining surveillance and tracking systems with software that utilizes satellite imagery, sensor data, and data delivery. Sidus will provide continued access to LEO satellite communications systems as well as the design and manufacture of specialized marine parts as a preferred vendor to Capital C. (11/22)

Physicians Perform First Surgery with New Robotics System (Source: USAF)
Physicians with the 96th Medical Group completed the first robotic-assisted surgery at Florida's Eglin Air Force Base on Nov. 2. Using the unit’s new DaVinci Robotics System, the team performed a successful hernia repair operation.  The unit has plans to use the quad-armed robot for most general and even complex procedures in the future.

During the surgical procedure the robot is placed above the patient and the arms, which have interchangeable tools on them to perform different tasks, are moved into position.  The doctor makes the required patient incisions manually.  Then the arms are inserted into the body.  The physicians sit approximately five feet away in the system console where they can view the inside of the body via the robot’s 3D cameras and manipulate the arms with hand and foot controls. (11/9)

Who Will Become History's First 'Parastronaut'? (Source: Space Daily)
The first astronaut -- or astronauts -- with a physical disability could be announced as soon as Wednesday, according to the European Space Agency. People with physical disabilities have previously been excluded from one of the most exclusive and demanding jobs on Earth -- and beyond -- due to strict selection requirements.

Guillaume Weerts, the ESA's head of space medicine, told AFP that the agency's "parastronaut project" required "a complete change in philosophy" about the concept of medical aptitude, which originally came from the military and the selection of fighter pilots. After carrying out a feasibility study, the ESA said potential candidates could include people who have deficiencies in their lower limbs, whether from amputation or congenital defects.

Shorter people of up to 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) tall or those with different leg lengths were also eligible to apply. The educational and psychological requirements for the candidates remained the same as for any other astronaut. Applications closed in June 2021. The ESA is expected to name between four to six new European astronauts -- without disabilities -- during its ministerial council in Paris on Wednesday. (11/22)

China Launches Yaogan 34 Remote Sensing Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
China successfully sent a new remote sensing satellite of the Yaogan 34 series into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China at 9:38 am (Beijing Time) on Tuesday. The Yaogan 34 03 satellite, carried by a Long March 4C rocket, successfully entered its planned orbit. This remote sensing satellite will be used in areas such as land resources survey, urban planning, crop yield estimation, and disaster prevention and mitigation. (11/17)

"Polluted" White Dwarfs show That Stars and Planets Grow Together (Source: Space Daily)
Observations and simulations of 237 white dwarfs strengthen the evidence that planets and stars rapidly form together and become planetary systems. An international team of astronomers and planetary scientists, including Tim Lichtenberg of the University of Groningen's Kapteyn Institute, published their findings on Monday in Nature Astronomy.

Planets form in a disk of hydrogen, helium and small particles of ice and dust around a young star. The dust particles clump together and grow slowly at first. When enough of them are packed together, so-called planetesimals can form. These can subsequently grow into planets. Any debris is left behind as asteroids or planetesimals. That debris still occasionally slams into the star, providing a kind of fossil imprint of early geological processes. (11/15)

The First Life in Our Solar System May Have Been on Mars (Source: Space Daily)
When Mars was a young planet, it was bombarded by ice asteroids delivering water and organic molecules necessary for life to emerge. According to the professor behind a new study, this means that the first life in our solar system may have been on Mars. Mars is called the red planet. But once, it was actually blue and covered in water, bringing us closer to finding out if Mars had ever harbored life.

Most researchers agree that there has been water on Mars, but just how much water is still debated. Now a study from the University of Copenhagen shows that some 4.5 billion years ago, there was enough water for the entire planet to be covered in a 300-meter-deep ocean.

"At this time, Mars was bombarded with asteroids filled with ice. It happened in the first 100 million years of the planet's evolution. Another interesting angle is that the asteroids also carried organic molecules that are biologically important for life," says Professor Martin Bizzarro from the Centre for Star and Planet Formation. In addition to water, the icy asteroids also brought biologically relevant molecules such as amino acids to the Red Planet. Amino acids are used when DNA and RNA form bases that contain everything a cell needs. (11/21)

Robotic In-Space Mechanic Aces Tests, on Track for Launch (Source: Space Daily)
All component-level tests are complete on DARPA's Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program and the on-orbit demonstration mission is on schedule for launch in 2024. The RSGS goal is to enable inspection and servicing of satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital functions. Currently, no options exist for visual diagnosis, upgrades, or repairs of a malfunctioning satellite's components.

Throughout the remainder of this year, engineers will complete testing of the flight robotic hardware and software. Integration of the robotic payload with the spacecraft bus will begin in 2023, followed by testing and verification of the combined system. After launch in 2024, the host vehicle will use highly efficient electric propulsion to climb to GEO. Following a period of checkout and calibration activities, the program anticipates on-orbit satellite servicing activities will begin in 2025. (11/21)

EU Ministers Meet to Determine ESA Budget (Source: Space News)
Ministers from the European Space Agency's member states are meeting in Paris today to fund agency programs for the next three years. ESA is seeking 18.7 billion euros ($19.2 billion) for programs over the next three years, a 25% increase from what its members allocated in 2019. ESA's leaders are optimistic going into the two-day meeting, citing planning that has been smoother than past ministerials. The funding increase is not spread evenly over all ESA programs, with science only getting an increase to cover inflation. (11/22)

ABL Scrubs Again in Alaska, Next Attempt in December (Source: ABL)
ABL Space Systems will wait until next month to try to launch its first RS1 rocket after a scrub Monday. The company said a launch attempt Monday, the third time it's tried to launch the rocket, was scrubbed at T-1.75 seconds for unspecified reasons. The company said the rocket is healthy, but Monday was the last day in a launch period it reserved with the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska on Kodiak Island. ABL said its next launch period there opens Dec. 7. (11/22)

Canadian Startup STELLS Plans Lunar Rover (Source: Space News)
A Canadian startup is working on a rover intended to deliver power to other spacecraft on the lunar surface. STELLS announced Monday its Mobile Power Rover (MPR) project, a lunar rover that would generate power with its solar panels and transfer that to other spacecraft using wireless charging technologies. Its MPR-1, a 30-kilogram demonstration rover, is being developed for launch by 2025 on an Intuitive Machines lander. The company hopes to offer power services for other rovers, such as those operating in permanently shadowed craters. (11/22)

CAPSTONE Operational in Lunar Orbit (Source: NASA)
The CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission is now operational after refining its orbit. NASA said Monday the cubesat had started operations in the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon after performing final maneuvers to settle into its desired orbit. CAPSTONE performed an orbit insertion maneuver last week. The spacecraft, whose full name is Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, will test the stability of the orbit NASA plans to use for the lunar Gateway and demonstrate autonomous positioning technologies. (11/22)

Japanese Lunar Cubesat Glitches (Source: NHK)
A Japanese cubesat that hitched a ride on the Artemis 1 launch won't be able to land on the moon. The Japanese space agency JAXA said communications problems prevented the Omotenashi spacecraft from reaching the moon, where it would have attempted a hard landing. Project officials said it appeared the spacecraft was unable to generate power to operate its communications system. Omotenashi was one of 10 cubesats flown on Artemis 1 as secondary payloads. (11/22)

Space Scientists, Astronauts Launch to Other Platforms Amid Twitter Turmoil (Source: Space.com)
Unless you've been living under a moon rock, you've likely heard that Twitter is going through some drama now that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is at the helm. While Musk maintains that his primary concern for the social media site is to facilitate freedom of speech and expression, others on the platform, particularly users from marginalized communities, have expressed concern that the loosening of moderation rules will lead to an increase in hate speech and misinformation.

In addition to ferrying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, SpaceX is deploying a massive constellation of Starlink satellites to provide broadband internet access on a global scale, but at the unfortunate cost of flooding the night sky with bright, streaking objects that have wreaked havoc on ground-based astronomical observations.

It remains to be seen whether the Twitter exodus will continue, but given the challenge Musk faces in getting "Twitter 2.0" off the ground, the stars might just be aligning for Twitter alternatives such as Mastodon. The moves are part of a larger trend under the hashtag #TwitterMigration, which is taking off among many in the science Twitter community, including former Google AI ethicist Timnit Gebru, astrophysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and others. (11/20)

New Observations Confirm That a Magnetar has a Solid Surface and No Atmosphere (Source: Universde Today)
Can a star have a solid surface? It might sound counterintuitive. But human intuition is a response to our evolution on Earth, where up is up, down is down, and there are three states of matter. Intuition fails when it confronts the cosmos.

Magnetars are dead stars with intense magnetic fields, the most intense we know of. They’re a type of neutron star, the stellar remnants of a massive star that exploded as a supernova. Magnetars are not only highly magnetized compared to neutron stars, but they also rotate more slowly. While a magnetar might rotate once or twice every ten seconds, a neutron star can rotate as fast as ten times each second.

A new study says that one of these magnetars has a solid surface and no atmosphere. It’s called 4U 0142+61, and it’s about 13,000 light years away from Earth in the Cassiopeia constellation. The study is “Polarized x-rays from a magnetar,” and it’s published in the journal Science. The lead author is Dr. Roberto Taverna, from the University of Padova (Padua), Italy. (11/14)

Top Ukrainian Official Raises Concerns About Elon Musk’s ‘Manipulation’ of Information (Source: Breaking Defense)
Ukrainian officials love SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which has allowed the government and military to maintain internet access even as Russia has laid waste to critical infrastructure and disrupted other means of communication. But the mercurial behavior of SpaceX founder Elon Musk has raised questions about whether Ukraine can depend on having Starlink access for the long haul, as well as whether disinformation about the war in Ukraine could become a “major trend” on Twitter, said Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration. (11/20)

What Was the US Military's Secret Space Plane Doing on its Record-Breaking Mission? (Source: Space.com)
A secret space plane operated by the United States Space Force (USSF) has landed back on Earth after spending a record 908 days in orbit. But what it was doing above our heads remains shrouded in mystery. The uncrewed X-37B space plane touched down at NASA's Kennedy Space Station on Nov. 12 at 5:22 a.m. ET, concluding the sixth mission that it and another identical vehicle have completed since the first flight in 2010.

Details on its activities during the record-smashing trip are sparse, but officials claim it was conducting a number of scientific experiments at around 249 miles above Earth. The United States Space Force has revealed only a few morsels of information(opens in new tab) about the experiments conducted aboard the craft during its most recent flight.

These include a test by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory that successfully harvested light from the sun before beaming it back to Earth as microwaves; and the deployment of an electromagnetically steered training satellite designed by U.S. Air Force cadets. NASA also provided an experiment, called Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS-2), that researched the effects of space on different materials. (11/20)

Australia’s First Rocket is Set to Launch Into Space in April 2023 (Source: New Scientist)
Australian company Gilmour Space has nearly finished building a rocket that it will attempt to launch into space in April 2023. If successful, it will be Australia’s first homegrown orbital spacecraft. “Space [technology] is one of the key enablers of society – it’s good for a nation to have access to space capability if it can,” says Adam Gilmour, a long-time space enthusiast who co-founded the company after working in banking for 20 years.

The rocket, called Eris, will stand 23 meters tall and weigh over 30 tonnes. It will be powered by five hybrid engines that contain a solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer. A final test conducted in early November found that each engine could generate 115 kilonewtons of thrust – “enough to pick up three or four SUVs each”, says Gilmour. (11/20)

The Next and Most Profound Industrial Revolution in Human History is Underway in Low Earth Orbit (Source: Space News)
Riding on the shoulders of the Apollo generation, the Artemis missions will pave the way for humans to return to the moon, begin human exploration of Mars, and someday for humanity to reach the edges of our solar system and beyond.

While the exploration of deep space is critical to advancing our understanding of so many unanswered questions about the universe and our place in it, it is equally as critical that the United States government and private industry work together to lead the commercialization of Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and capture the resulting massive new space economy. Click here. (11/21)