December 10, 2022

The National Defense Space Architecture: Inside Space Force’s Splashy New Initiative (Source: Fast Company)
Over the last few years, the space industry has grown by leaps and bounds, pushing our space capabilities forward at an unprecedented rate. While its weapons systems may be fast, the Pentagon’s procurement process isn’t exactly known for its speed. Acquisition of new technology platforms is notoriously lengthy and complicated, and in the past, it’s been difficult for top brass to equip the warfighter with cutting-edge commercial technology as it’s developed and ready to be deployed.

Still, the DoD is actively seeking ways that it can take advantage of the strides being made by the domestic space industry. “The traditional ways of doing space acquisition must be reformed in order to add speed to our acquisitions to meet our priorities,” Frank Calvelli, U.S. Air Force acquisition lead, said in a recent memorandum. “Former approaches of developing a small amount of large satellites, along with large monolithic ground systems taking many years to develop, can no longer be the norm.”

“A national security space architecture that provides the persistent, resilient, global, low-latency surveillance needed to deter or, if deterrence fails, defeat adversary action is a prerequisite to maintaining our long-term competitive advantage,” then-Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan wrote in a 2019 memorandum establishing the agency. “We cannot achieve these goals, and we cannot match the pace our adversaries are setting, if we remain bound by legacy methods and culture.” Click here. (12/9)

Space Development Agency’s First Launch Slips to March Due to Satellite Glitch (Source: Space News)
The first launch of the Space Development Agency’s constellation planned for mid-December will slip to March 2023 due to an anomaly in York Space’s satellites that was identified during tests, the agency’s director Derek Tournear said. The Space Development Agency, a procurement organization under the U.S. Space Force, is working with multiple vendors to build a mesh network in low Earth orbit that includes data-transport communications satellites and infrared sensor satellites that detect and track missiles in flight.

York Space Systems, based in Denver, Colorado, won a $94 million contract in August 2020 to build 10 satellites for SDA’s Transport Layer Tranche 0. The first Tranche 0 launch was originally planned for September and pushed to December due to supply chain problems across all vendors in the program. (12/9)

Sidus Space Selects Exolaunch for LizzieSat Deployment During LizzieSat Rideshare Missions with SpaceX (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space signed an agreement with Exolaunch to use their CarboNIX separation system to deploy LizzieSatTM satellites during the LizzieSat rideshare missions with SpaceX in 2023 and 2024. Earlier this year, Sidus signed a multi-launch agreement with SpaceX for five LizzieSat rideshare missions beginning in 2023. As a follow-on to the SpaceX agreement, Sidus chose Exolaunch’s CarboNIX deployment system for LizzieSat separation from the launch vehicle for those five missions. This agreement includes technical support that ensures safe, reliable LizzieSat microsatellite deployment. (12/9)

Florida Presses to Host STARCOM HQ and Delta 13 (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida Board of Directors Chair, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez and the entire Florida Defense Support Task Force (FDSTF) sent letters to the Secretary of the Air Force urging him to select Florida as the home for the Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) headquarters and Space Delta 13, the education and training facility. Florida is one of only two states being considered for both STARCOM headquarters and a Delta facility. The state already serves as a hub for military space operations, as evidenced by the recent announcement of Tampa being activated as Space Force’s second regional headquarters under the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Space Florida worked in partnership with Florida Defense Support Task Force, and Enterprise Florida on this letter initiative. Space Florida’s recent efforts complement the work already done by the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida High Tech Corridor, Florida Institute of Technology, National Center for Simulation, Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, and University of Central Florida on the campaign to bring STARCOM and Space Delta 13 to the state.

Exec Plans Overhaul of Space Force Purchasing Process (Source: C4ISRnet)
Frank Calvelli, appointed as the first Department of the Air Force service acquisition executive focused exclusively on space, says "the traditional ways of space acquisition must be reformed to add speed and meet our priorities." Plans to make the purchasing process faster and better integrated across other domains of warfare will be put into action from next year, Calvelli notes. (12/8)

Chinese Commercial Methane-Fueled Rocket Set for First Launch (Source: Space News)
China's Landspace is in the final stages of preparation for the first launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket. The launch from Jiuquan is scheduled for as soon as early Saturday, according to airspace closure notifications. Zhuque-2 is the first commercially developed Chinese liquid rocket, much larger than anything attempted by its domestic rivals. If successful, it will be the first rocket worldwide to reach orbit using methane fuel. (12/9)

House Approves Military Spending Bill (Source: Reuters)
The House has passed the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act by a majority of 350-80. The $858 billion bill, which represents an 8% increase from fiscal 2022, features increased aid for Ukraine and Taiwan, while shelving earlier proposals for provisions that would have complicated arms transfers to some countries. (12/8)

Artemis I Landing Spot Abandoned Over Weather; Mission Remains On Schedule (Source: Space Daily)
Unsuitable weather is forcing NASA to abandon its primary landing site for the Orion spacecraft, although the mission otherwise remains on schedule, officials confirmed. NASA officials recently chose the landing sight, taking into account a looming cold front off the California coast. "Our landing site would normally be in the San Diego area. We also have an northern alternate site that we could have chosen, that is just north of our nominal site, Artemis 1 Flight Director Judd Frieling said Thursday.

But both of those are forecast to be a no-go due for weather constraints due to a cold front that will be moving in right around the time that we have splashdown. So, as a consequence, we have decided to move up range of this track by 300 nautical miles. So we'd be landing right of the Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja." The capsule is expected to remain in the water for two hours as NASA recovery crews complete a bevy of further tests. Those crews left from San Diego on Wednesday and are at sea to await the capsule's splashdown. (12/8)

Orbital Assembly Announces Hosted Payload Services With Variable Gravity on Pioneer Space Station (Source: Orbital Assembly)
Orbital Assembly is announcing a new program and mission design as well as planning services for station-class hosted payloads“ on the company’s micro and artificial gravity space stations. OA’s Pioneer-classTM station business parks offer a framework for access and utilization of space that will streamline an affordable path to hosting the first payload and enabling subsequent missions to achieve on-orbit program goals.

"The International Space Station has a multi-year backlog of companies and institutions seeking to conduct paid research projects in space and the demand is increasing," says Rhonda Stevenson, CEO of Orbital Assembly. "We're now providing space program and mission support services for the utilization of a new class of private space platforms that are coming online to supplement the ISS and capture the demand.”

The Pioneer-class stations are the world’s first and largest hybrid space stations and are scheduled to be the first free-flying, habitable, privately-operated facilities in orbit. OA’s station configuration will offer orders of magnitude more volume than is currently available for hosted payloads. And as additional modules are added to Pioneer stations customers can continue to affordably expand their footprint significantly. (12/9)

Freeze-Drying Algae Can Awaken From Cryostasis, Could Help Spaceflights Go Farther (Source: Space Daily)
Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys contain some of Earth's coldest and driest deserts. The environment there is so extreme that the Dry Valleys have been used as Mars analogs to test prototype equipment for future Mars exploration. To survive these harsh conditions, layers of algae and bacteria in the Dry Valleys overwinter in a freeze-dried state, coming back to life in the summer.

The algae are so hardy that some scientists think they could be well suited to the harsh conditions of space flight, where they could scrub carbon dioxide from the air, produce oxygen and provide food for astronauts. The algae's cycle of stasis and renewed growth caught the attention of Emily Matula, who was a bioastronautics doctoral student at the University of Colorado when the research was conducted. This sparked a collaboration with Antarctic researcher Diane McKnight. The researchers used DNA sequencing to characterize the species of green algae that grow as mats in the McMurdo Dry Valleys' meltwater streams. (12/9)

Fight Over Allowing Part-Time Guardians or Creating a Space Force Guard Punted (Source: Military.com)
Congress is asking for the Space Force to research the idea of allowing Guardians to serve part-time on active duty in the latest defense budget agreement, further delaying a decision on how the service will develop auxiliary forces and delivering a blow to advocates who fought throughout the year for a separate National Guard component. Lawmakers are asking the Space Force to issue Congress a report by March 1, 2023, on how the idea would work in practice.

The request for the report was included in the National Defense Authorization Act agreement brokered between the House and the Senate on Tuesday evening, with the legislation expected to be approved later this month. The report would address how the part-time model would foster "career flexibility for reserve members of the Space Component ... to move back and forth between active and reserve status for prolonged periods of time across a career," according to the NDAA agreement text. (12/7)

GAO: FCC Should Reexamine Its Environmental Review Process for Large Constellations of Satellites (Source: GAO)
GAO found that FCC has not sufficiently documented its decision to apply its categorical exclusion when licensing large constellations of satellites. In 1986, FCC created a categorical exclusion for all actions except those meeting specific conditions. These conditions are largely focused on environmental effects on the Earth’s surface, such as the construction of facilities to be located in an officially designated wildlife preserve.

FCC officials told GAO that the agency invokes its categorical exclusion when licensing large constellations of satellites. The Council on Environmental Quality, which oversees agencies’ implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, recommends that agencies periodically review categorical exclusions to ensure they remain current. (11/30)

China Launches Rocket From Ocean Platform (Source: Space News)
China launched its new Jielong-3 rocket from a mobile sea platform in the Yellow Sea Friday. The rocket, also called Smart Dragon-3, lifted off at 1:35 a.m. Eastern from the Tai Rui modified barge off in the Yellow Sea and placed 14 satellites into orbit. Eight satellites were developed by commercial remote sensing firm Changguang Satellite Technology, designated Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D 44-50, with the other six coming from other customers. The four-stage rocket can carry 1,500 kilograms of payload into a 500-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit and was developed by China Rocket Co. Ltd. It is very similar to the ZK-1A rocket developed and recently launched by a group under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (12/9)

China Launches Remote Sensing Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
A Long March 2D rocket launched a remote-sensing satellite Thursday. The rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 1:31 p.m. Eastern and placed the Gaofen-5 01A satellite into orbit. Chinese officials said that the satellite carries a hyperspectral payload for civil remote sensing applications. (12/9)

SES Unit to Focus on US Government Business (Source: Space News)
Satellite operator SES has rebranded its unit that does business with the U.S. government. The company said SES Government Solutions will begin operating next week under the new name SES Space & Defense. The renaming follows SES' recent $450 million acquisition of DRS Global Enterprise Solutions, a business unit of defense contractor Leonardo DRS, which provided satellite communications services to the Defense Department and other military and intelligence agencies. (12/9)

Space Command Chief Warns of "Pacing Challenge" with China (Source: Space News)
The head of U.S. Space Command said China is putting U.S. space assets at risk with its capabilities. In a briefing with Asian reporters, Gen. James Dickinson called China his "pacing challenge" as it develops capabilities he says threaten U.S. satellites. He also warned of increasing debris, including from ASAT tests, that threaten space activities in general. (12/9)

NASA Picks Collins to Develop New ISS Space Suit (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected Collins Aerospace to develop a new spacesuit for the International Space Station. NASA said Thursday it awarded at $97.2 million task order to Collins to develop and test on the ground a spacesuit that would replace the aging suits currently used for ISS spacewalks. A later option would allow NASA to test the suit on the ISS. Collins, partnered with ILC Dover and Oceaneering, was one of two companies that won contracts in June to develop suits that would later to be supplied to NASA as a service. The other company, Axiom Space, won a task order in September to develop a spacesuit for Artemis moonwalks. (12/9)

Terran Orbital Unit to Focus non Imaging Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital has formed a new business unit that will produce electro-optical imaging satellites. The unit, called Optical Solutions Group, plans to sell both off-the-shelf and custom-made imaging satellites. Terran Orbital plans to unveil early next year an electro-optical satellite product line that customers can order from a catalog. Terran Orbital says its satellites are aimed at national governments around the world that don't have sovereign constellations and are looking for lower cost options. (12/9)

Dawn Raises $20M for Propulsion Systems and Spaceplane Development (Source: Space News)
Dawn Aerospace has raised $20 million to expand its line of in-space propulsion products and to extend spaceplane development. The company, with offices in the Netherlands, New Zealand and the U.S., said New Zealand's Icehouse Ventures led the investment round with several other investors participating. The company plans to use the funding to support work on spacecraft propulsion systems as well as its Aurora spaceplane. (12/9)

ABL Scrubs Another Alaska Launch Attempt (Source: ABL)
ABL Space Systems scrubbed its latest attempt to launch its RS1 rocket Thursday. The company said it halted the countdown six minutes before the scheduled 6:49 p.m. liftoff from Kodiak Island, Alaska, after unspecified "off-nominal data." The company did not state when it will next attempt the launch, the inaugural flight of the RS1 small launch vehicle. The company scrubbed three launch attempts last month for various technical issues. (12/9)

SOFIA Retires to Arizona Museum (Source: NASA)
SOFIA, like many other retirees, is moving to Arizona. NASA announced Thursday that the Boeing 747 that served as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will be given to the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona. The plane will fly to the museum next week. NASA ended the SOFIA program in September, citing high costs to operate the airborne observatory and limited scientific production. The museum is developing plans for how to display the aircraft. (12/9)