January 16, 2023

Colorado Land Board Transfers Property for Schriever Space Force Base (Source: The Gazette)
The State Land Board recently celebrated the transfer of 640 acres at Schriever Space Force Base to the Department of Defense, ending a yearlong process. The Air Force requested a reassessment of the lease of the property that is now home to more than $1 billion in facilities. The military has leased the property since the 1980s before taking ownership through the transfer. “Given the critically important nature of the mission at Schriever Space Force Base, it’s imperative that the Department of Defense has full control over lands that house mission-critical military infrastructure," said Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera.

The State Land Board started leasing the land to the military in 1982 for a one-time payment of $48,000, approximately $150,000 in today’s dollars, according to a State Land Board document. Since then, the Department of Defense has invested approximately $1.1 billion into facilities on the land, the document states. (1/15)

Ohio, Still a Space Pioneer (Source: The Blade)
Having two NASA installations in northern Ohio is a plum for the state and the greater Toledo region. Ohio, whose 20th century history boasts three of the greatest names in space exploration — John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Eugene Kranz — is playing its part in the 21st century as well. That fact was underscored by the visit of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland last week. Glenn is researching tires made of flexible metal for the lunar surface, among other things.

Mr. Nelson talked there about the role that NASA Glenn is playing in NASA’s plans for trips to the moon and to Mars. Mr. Nelson’s visit included the unveiling of a doglike robot called Astro. We are told this robot will inspect parts of NASA Glenn that are too loud for humans to enter. We trust it has been programmed not to bite. (1/16)

How the US and Its Allies Should Respond to Evolving Space Threats (Source: Atlantic Council)
Technological developments are transforming the military’s use of the space domain. Formerly reliant on large, expensive space systems, militaries are now harnessing megaconstellations of small satellites to protect national security, while reusable launch vehicles are making space exploration cheaper. Moreover, as demonstrated by Ukraine’s use of commercial satellite services throughout the war with Russia, countries do not necessarily need to own space assets themselves to reap their benefits.

Now, adversaries aiming to disrupt or destroy US and allied space operations are moving away from physical attacks and toward cyber attacks, electronic warfare, and jamming. Below, the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense experts give their sense of the latest challenges to space security and how the United States must face the future. Click here. (1/12)

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck and the Reasons for His Space Search (Source: Stuff)
Since 2006, Beck has grown Rocket Lab into a global organisation that develops and launches advanced rockets, satellites and spacecraft. And behind him are a string of doubters. From the time he was growing up in Invercargill, he was told he was on the wrong track, his ambitions were unachievable, he should get a real job. But young Beck didn’t listen then, and he’s not listening now.

He knew what he wanted: to build rockets, so he did a tool and die apprenticeship at appliance manufacturer Fisher & Paykel. What, you may well ask, do washing machines have to do with rockets? Engineering, is what. “I wanted to be able to build the rockets, because there was no way I could go to university and learn how to build rockets, and the engine bolting systems and construction systems and all those kinds of things,” he says. “I figured the best way would be to have the hand skills to do that first. So that's what I went and did."

From there he went on a rocket pilgrimage to the United States, came back and quit his job to start Rocket Lab in 2006. It would be fair to say shooting for the stars was all consuming. “I had my day job and had my night job, right? And it's probably a strength and a weakness that once I focus on a thing that I'm really passionate about, it's all in,” Beck says. “Engineering is cool, but the thing I like about space the most is just the sheer impact you can have on so many people. (1/15)

Space Force: Still Expecting Hundreds of Florida Launches in the Coming Years (Source: Florida Today)
If Space Force projections pan out, last year's record 57 Florida launches are just the start of what could become a science fiction-like cadence of "multiple hundreds" of missions flying from Space Coast pads.

Speaking to a packed National Space Club Florida Committee luncheon in Cape Canaveral this week, Space Force Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy said Florida can expect a roughly 60% surge in the number of missions taking flight from the Eastern Range, which encompasses Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Purdy, recently promoted to major general, is commander of Space Launch Delta 45 and serves in three other space-related leadership roles.

"Two years ago, I started making the circuits saying we plan on 100, 200, 300 launches in several years. And I got lots and lots of eyebrows," Purdy said. "We still plan on that multiple-hundred launches in a few years. So now we're trying to re-architect all our processes, our business processes, our technology processes, and all the data flows in order to support that." (1/15)

Space Force Considers On-Ramps for New Launchers to Join NSSL Contract (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is considering on-ramps for emerging companies in its next national security launch contract. A Space Force official said the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 competition is considering a "dual-lane contracting approach" that would award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts to multiple providers, allowing the government to purchase launch services on an as-needed basis without committing to a specific amount. That would be used for less demanding missions, while a more conventional approach, like the NSSL Phase 2 awards to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, would be used for more demanding missions. The Space Force plans to release a draft solicitation for NSSL Phase 3 in the spring. (1/16)

Lasers Could Protect Structures [Like Launch Pads] Lightning Strikes (Source: Daily Beast)
For all the technological innovation the modern industrial age has afforded us, protection against lightning is not on the list. To guard our homes and buildings from lightning strikes and subsequent fires, we still rely on the lightning rod, a technology invented by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. “Its main limitation is related to its size, and to the fact that you cannot install lightning rods everywhere, while lightning strikes can fall almost everywhere,” said physicist Aurélien Houard.

Creating ways to protect more than just buildings from lightning’s damage—or better yet, devising a single method to attract lightning bolts and discharge them safely—would represent the biggest breakthrough in centuries for this area of study. Improbably enough, scientists have managed to do just that. A team led by Houard and Swiss physicist Jean-Pierre Wolf have presented results that provide evidence that intense, short laser pulses can guide and potentially even trigger lightning to strike a single source. Their findings were published on Jan. 16 in the journal Nature Photonics.

“The laser creates a virtual extension of the metallic rod,” Houard explained, noting that a rod is typically only a few meters tall and can only protect as many meters far as it is tall. Lasers produce narrow beams of light, heating and detaching electrons from the air molecules in its path that can then conduct electricity. Lightning prefers to travel down a conductive path (which is why lightning rods work in the first place), so a giant laser beam will naturally guide it to the smaller metal rod underneath. (1/16)

US and Japan Plan Further Space Exploration Cooperation (Source: Space News)
The United States and Japan signed a agreement establishing a framework for future cooperation in space exploration. At a ceremony Friday at NASA Headquarters attended by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other top officials, the countries signed a "framework agreement" intended to enhance cooperation between the two countries on a wide range of space topics. It comes on the heels of an agreement in November finalizing Japan's role in the lunar Gateway and participation on the International Space Station through 2030. Officials did not announce any additional new cooperative projects at the event, but NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he will visit Japan next month. (1/16)

NASA Selects New Artemis Ground Systems Chief at KSC (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected a new leader of the program responsible for Artemis ground systems. The agency said Friday it selected Shawn Quinn as the new manager of the Exploration Ground Systems program at the Kennedy Space Center. Quinn has more than 35 years of experience at NASA, most recently as director of engineering for KSC spaceport operations. He succeeds Mike Bolger, who retired from NASA last month after the conclusion of the Artemis 1 mission. (1/16)

Russian-Belarusian Satellite to be Launched in 2028 (Source: TASS)
A Russian-Belarusian Earth remote sensing satellite is planned to be launched in 2028, Sergey Zolotoy, director of the Geoinformation Systems company of Belarus’ National Academy of Sciences, sad on Sunday. "The current plan is to launch it in 2028, but the task is to do it earlier," he said in an interview with the STV television channel. (1/15)

Saudia Arabia Withdraws From Moon Treaty (Source: Substack)
Saudi Arabia, a recent signatory to the Artemis Accords, has withdrawn from the Moon Treaty. The Saudi government informed the United Nations earlier this month that it would withdraw from the treaty, formally known at the Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, in one year. Saudi Arabia did not declare why it was withdrawing from the Moon Treaty, which it ratified in 2012, but one possibility is that language in the treaty regarding rights to space resources conflicted with that in the Artemis Accords and the country's long-term space ambitions. (1/16)

How UAE Will Reach New Milestones in Space Exploration This Year (Source: Gulf News)
More milestones in space exploration are expected in 2023 for the UAE, following the successful launch of Moon-bound Rashid Rover in December 2022. UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi is headed to the ISS in mid-February to conduct scientific experiments for six months; Rashid Rover is expected to land on the Moon’s Atlas Crater by April; and MBZ-SAT, touted as the region’s biggest and most powerful satellite, will be launched before the year ends.

Hope Probe, meanwhile, is constantly sending new pictures and data of the Martian atmosphere, and the UAE has also announced future exploration of other planetary objects as part of its Mars 2117 program. This year, the UAE is also expected to launch the region’s biggest and most powerful satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket. Named after the President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, MBZ-Sat, is designed to be three times more efficient than KhalifaSat — the first UAE-made satellite launched in 2018. (1/16)

Stratolaunch Conducts Captive-Carry Test for Hypersonic Demonstrator (Source: GeekWire)
Stratolaunch conducted another captive-carry test flight of a hypersonic demonstrator Friday. The six-hour flight by the company's giant aircraft carried a prototype of its Talon-A hypersonic flight vehicle attached to its wing. The flight moves the company a step closer to a drop test of that prototype before beginning powered flight tests of the Talon-A. (1/16)

US Pageant Queen Sports USA Moon Costume at Miss Universe Competition (Source: Space.com)
R'Bonney Gabriel is over the moon, thanks to a costume featuring the moon. Gabriel, representing the United States at the Miss Universe competition this weekend, took the stage in a costume that featured a model of the moon over her head along with stars, lights and an American flag. She said the costume was designed to honor her hometown of Houston, home of NASA's Johnson Space Center. It worked: she was crowned Miss Universe Saturday night. (1/16)

Astroscale Japan Appoints Eddie Kato as President and Managing Director (Soure: Astroscale)
Astroscale Japan, a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings, the market leader in satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability across all orbits, announces Eddie Kato as President and Managing Director. Eddie has more than 35 years of experience in the space industry and has worked extensively internationally. Most recently, he founded the consulting firm HISe, Inc. in Washington, D.C., in 2015. He led the company for seven years as founder and president, providing strategic advice and market development support for the space and telecommunications sectors.

Prior to HISe, he spent seven years at Thales Alenia Space, where he managed the Asia region, headed the sales division in the French headquarters, and served as president of the North American subsidiary. He also worked for Orbital Sciences, Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Mitsubishi Electric in their space sectors. As President and Managing Director of Astroscale Japan, Eddie will work closely with the management teams of Astroscale Holdings Inc. and its U.S. and U.K. subsidiaries to drive the company’s growth. (1/16)

Space Industry Seeks India Tax Incentives (Source: NewsTrack)
India's emerging private space sector has presented a wishlist of tax incentives and a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme in the forthcoming Union Budget to boost local manufacturing and spur research and development. Awais Ahmed, co-founder of Bangalore-based Pixxel, a space firm, said, "We would want to request a space-based production linked incentive (PLI) plan for space tech entrepreneurs in the 2023–24 budget to help increase local manufacturing and foster capability creation within the country." (1/16)

India Should Waive or Reduce Taxes on Satellite Components (Source: ET Satcom)
“...When you don't get the components here, and when you're getting the components here, and when you're getting the components from abroad, on top of it if you have to pay so much. It is very exorbitant. It's a killer for anybody,” Srimathy Kesan, Founder of the Chennai-based aerospace startup, told ETSatcom in an interview. (1/16)

Chinese, European Mars Probes Help Examine Atmosphere Near Sun (Source: Xinhua)
In an "almost-out-of-service" period in 2021, China's Tianwen-1 orbiter, along with Mars Express of the European Space Agency, helped solar scientists know more about what happens near the sun. During the late September to mid-October stretch in 2021, China's Mars orbiter experienced its first sun transit, when its communication with Earth was significantly disturbed by solar radiation. The Mars Sun Transit is a phenomenon in which Earth and Mars move to opposite sides of the sun, and the three are almost in a straight line. During the transit, Tianwen-1 and Mars Express sent out frequent signals, allowing radio telescopes on Earth to examine how those signals were affected. (1/16)

Why Hasn't ET Phoned Earth? Maybe Aliens are Waiting for the Exact Right Moment (Source: Space.com)
Aliens may be waiting until a cosmic version of "high noon" to send out their signals to us, scientists have suggested. In a new study, researchers hunted for technological signs of E.T. during the moments when exoplanets pass directly in front of their suns, from Earth's point of view. These exact moments could be the perfect chance for an alien world to beam out a signal to Earthlings in an attempt to make contact.

"Exoplanetary transits are special because they can be calculated by both us on Earth, as the observers, and also any potential technological species in the exoplanetary system itself, as the transmitters," said study leader Sofia Sheikh(opens in new tab), a postdoctoral researcher in radio astronomy at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute. These transits, then, are a predictable and repetitive time during which aliens might think to send messages and Earthlings might look to receive them. (1/15)

SpaceX Launches Falcon Heavy for DoD, Lands Two Boosters at Florida Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX performed a sundown launch of a DoD Falcon Heavy mission from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The USSF-67 mission carried multiple military payloads, with the center core stage proceeding toward GEO while the two side boosters successfully returned to the spaceport for refurbishment and reuse. (1/15)

China Launches 14 New Satellites (Source: Xinhua)
China successfully launched a Long March-2D rocket on Sunday, sending 14 new satellites into space. The rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province at 11:14 a.m. (Beijing Time). The satellites, including Qilu-2 and Qilu-3, have entered their planned orbits. Qilu-2 and Qilu-3 are a high-resolution optical satellite and a wide-swath optical satellite, respectively, with payloads of optical-imaging devices for Earth observation. (1/15)

Europe’s Space Ambitions are Hobbled by Funding Structures (Source: Financial Times)
As each year passes, calls for European space sovereignty — for space launches on European soil by European rockets or Earth-observation data from European satellites — grow louder. But at the same time the distance between US and Chinese aerospace and defence innovation and the European market gets ever larger. Josef Aschbacher, director-general of the European Space Agency is right, therefore, to demand change. However, the change he is calling for — a NASA-style model in which the ESA buys defined services instead of managing the development of systems that are then marketed by the private sector — is incompatible with current European funding structures.

Outsourcing innovation to the private sector worked for Nasa for two reasons. First, in the US there are large and mature private capital markets to outsource to. In Europe, the private capital market landscape is very different, in terms of maturity, size and, importantly, the willingness to move in such a direction. Second, the US government is able to act as a large and reliable customer-of-first-resort for start-ups funded by private markets. In Europe, this is less often the case.

People frequently ask why Europe doesn’t have its own SpaceX. Consider the following. To date, Elon Musk has raised more than $10bn for the space launch start-up, while US investors ploughed $330bn into industries including the space sector in 2021 alone, according to a BryceTech report. Outside America, and including the heavy spender that is China, the total for the sector is just $9bn. The problem constraining European venture capital spending is twofold. First, the venture funds are too small to offer meaningful backing for large infrastructure projects such as space launch companies. Second, European venture funds are often unable to take on such large, risky defence bets in their portfolios. (1/11)

The Power Center in Space Moves to the Moon (Source: Axios)
Companies and countries are doubling down on their efforts to establish themselves on and around the Moon, where geopolitical lines are being drawn. The ISS has been at the center of geopolitical power in space for decades, but that is changing as the station winds down and the Moon emerges as a high-stakes destination for nations and companies. Operating on the Moon is technically challenging and expensive — but the payoff in national prestige and potential economic benefits for companies and countries that can establish themselves on the lunar surface could make it worth it.

China and Russia are planning to build a research station on the Moon in the coming years as NASA's Artemis program works to send astronauts back to the lunar surface as soon as 2025. More than 20 nations have now signed on to the Artemis Accords governing exploration of the Moon with NASA, but China and Russia are not among them and are creating a parallel track to exploration and stoking competition. (1/10)

Goofy Mars Rock Spotted by NASA Rover Might Be a Meteorite (Source: CNET)
It's always a delight when a NASA rover finds something that doesn't fit in on the Martian surface. Sometimes, it's landing debris. Sometimes it's a rock that wandered over from somewhere else. Sometimes it's a meteorite from space. The Curiosity rover team is puzzling over a funky little gray rock that stands out from its surroundings. It might be a meteorite. "We have analyzed a few meteorites over the past 10 years, but they are not so abundant that we fail to get excited at the thought of a new one," planetary geologist Catherine O'Connell-Cooper wrote. (1/14)

NASA and Roscosmos Implement More Soyuz Contingency Plans (Source: Space Policy Online)
NASA and Roscosmos have agreed to temporarily move the custom-made seat liner for NASA astronaut Frank Rubio from Soyuz MS-22 to Crew Dragon Endurance. Soyuz MS-22’s thermal control system is compromised and cannot safely support the three crew members, including Rubio, it delivered to ISS, but might be able to handle two. In the unlikely event an emergency requires evacuating ISS between now and when a replacement Soyuz arrives, Rubio would come home with four other crew members in Endurance, while his two Russian colleagues use Soyuz MS-22.

Crew Dragon was designed to carry as many as seven people, but NASA requires only four astronauts to be ferried to and from ISS at a time. Endurance, one of SpaceX’s four operational Crew Dragon spacecraft, is outfitted with four seats. The remaining volume is available for cargo. Crews typically return to Earth on the same spacecraft they took to space, but NASA and Roscosmos have had to develop a contingency plan because Soyuz MS-22 experienced a coolant leak last month. (1/14)

NASA Unveils Plan for Next-Gen Telescope to Search Space for Signs of Life (Source: Fox News)
NASA has reportedly shed light on a new plan to build a successor to the James Webb Space Telescope. The Habitable Worlds Observatory was announced Monday at the latest American Astronomical Society meeting, and its goal is to search for signs of life on habitable exoplanets. The observatory will need a powerful coronograph, which is an instrument that allows scientists to study faint objects. (1/14)

UAE Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi Completes Final Training Ahead of 6-Month ISS Mission (Source: Saisat Daily)
The United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, has completed the final training in the United States (US), for the six-month landmark mission to the ISS in February 2023. In July 2022, among a group of Emirati astronauts at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC), Sultan Al Neyadi was chosen to be the first Arab astronaut who will spend a long six-month mission at the ISS. Al Neyadi will take part in the NASA mission which plans to set off in February 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.  (1/15)

SpaceX Signs Agreement with US National Science Foundation to Prevent Starlink’s Interference with Astronomy (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX signed a new agreement with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to prevent Starlink satellites from interfering with astronomy. SpaceX has long been criticized by astronomers for the brightness of its Starlink satellites. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, said in 2019 that SpaceX would ensure that Starlink has no material effect on discoveries in astronomy. “We care a great deal about science,” he said in a tweet.

The NSF issued a statement noting that it and SpaceX have worked together to mitigate potential interference from its satellite transmission. The organizations finalized a coordination agreement in 2019 to ensure Starlink satellite network meets international radio astronomy protection standards for the 10.6-10.7 GHz band. The NSF added that as the two continue exploring ways to protect ground-based astronomy, a new coordination agreement was signed in 2022. (1/14)

Space Park Opens Up Possibilities for Kerala, India (Source: The Hindu)
The Kerala Space Park project opens up immense opportunities for the State to establish a thriving space industry, Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal said on Saturday. He was inaugurating a seminar ‘Sustainability in Space Science and Technology - Challenges and Possibilities,’ organised by the ISRO Staff Association as part of its golden jubilee celebrations. Mr. Balagopal drew attention to the recent Cabinet nod for transforming the Kerala Space Park into a society under the name ‘K-Space.’ The Left governments in Kerala have always taken care to promote science, technology, sustainable and inclusive development and new ideas, Mr. Balagopal said. (1/14)

Virgin Galactic Completes Aircraft Upgrades at Mojave Spaceport (Source: AV Press)
Virgin Galactic announced, Thursday, that the planned upgrades to its White­Knight­Two carrier aircraft have been completed and it will start ground testing at the company’s facility at the Mojave Air and Space Port, next week. Ground, and eventually flight, testing will be completed as the company prepares to begin commercial spaceflight operations to take place this spring, officials reported. Virgin Galactic operates suborbital spaceflights from Spaceport America in New Mexico using the Mojave-developed Space­Ship­Two and White­Knight­Two aircraft. (1/15)

No Evidence Of Surface Microfossils On Mars, Says NASA Planetary Scientist (Source: Forbes)
Since time immemorial, Mars has tantalized earthlings with the possibility that it harbors life. But like a bad soap opera, its exploration has created astrobiological cliffhangers that have mostly turned out to be dead ends. Today, planetary scientists are confident that for a brief 500-million-year epoch early in its history, Mars had running liquid water on its surface, with rivers, lakes, deltas and maybe even an ocean. The reality at present, however, is that the Martian surface is even more inhospitable than the driest deserts on Earth.

The surface is completely inhospitable, Jennifer Stern, a planetary scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told me. Coupled with the fact that there’s no liquid water at the surface, Mars also suffers from a continual stream of cosmic and solar radiation, she says. It’s really difficult to imagine that some sort of organism could have adapted to these really bad conditions, says Stern. From what we've measured on the surface at least, everything points to abiotic, non-biological processes, says Stern. (1/15)

Sanctions Lead Russian Institute to Switch Over to Russian-Made Equipment for Lunar Mission (Source: TASS)
This year, the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences will start transitioning the scientific equipment for Luna 27, a planned lunar lander mission, to Russian-made components, a senior IKI researcher told TASS. "This year, we will definitely work with" Luna 27, Igor Mitrofanov, who heads the Nuclear Planetology Department at IKI, said. "We will start using Russian-made equipment," he specified.

The researcher said these processes were necessitated by import substitution. "Previously, we designed equipment using foreign components that we could buy from our foreign colleagues. Now that the sanctions have been imposed, we will [be switching to] Russian-made components," Mitrofanov explained. According to him, researchers have to change design solutions amid the Western restrictions. (1/14)