May 18, 2023

Canadian Nuclear Agency Partners with Space Agency to Bring High-Tech Shielding for Astronauts (Source: Mugglehead)
Canada’s nuclear division Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) will integrate its advanced materials and technologies to astronauts after it signed a partnership with the Canadian Space Agency. The firm announced the deal on Wednesday, propelling astronaut safety to another level by protecting from cosmic radiation, which is a common concern in the field.

CNL has been researching nanocomposite materials in radiation environments in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada. The project is backed by CSA’s Space Technology Development Program (STDP) with a $1 million budget. Through the STDP initiative, they are seeking innovative methods to improve the properties of these nanomaterials, rendering them appropriate for use in space applications. (5/17)

India On Track for July Lunar Lander Mission (Source: Times of India)
The Indian space agency ISRO says its second lunar lander mission remains on track to launch in July. Final assembly of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft and its payloads is underway at an ISRO center, and project officials say they are holding to a schedule for a mid-July launch. Chandrayaan-3 will carry four payloads, with two more on a rover it will deploy if it successfully lands. India failed in its first landing attempt on the moon during the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019. (5/18)

Earth-Sized Exoplanet Likely is Very Volcanic (Source: Space.com)
An Earth-sized exoplanet could be covered with volcanoes. The exoplanet, LP 791-18 d, orbits a red dwarf star 90 light-years away. Observations by several spacecraft showed that the planet is influenced gravitationally by another planet orbiting the star. Those interactions deform the planet and heat its interior. That makes it likely that the planet, slightly larger and heavier than Earth, has major volcanic activity much like that seen on Io, the moon of Jupiter that is subjected to tidal heating from interactions with other moons. (5/18)

Space Force: Lack of Communications with China Increases Space Risk (Source: Space News)
A Space Force general says a lack of communications with China increases the risk of mishaps in orbit. Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt said a lack of communication between the U.S. and China hurts efforts to manage space traffic and prevent mishaps as each side can misinterpret the other’s intentions. She noted that, when she led U.S. Space Command's space-tracking organization, she would notify Chinese officials of potential close approaches of objects to China's space station, but would never get a response. A breakdown in communication and an underlying distrust that goes both ways could lead to miscalculations and even conflict, Burt noted. (5/18)

UK Will Not Offer to Take Stake in Virgin Orbit (Source: Space News)
The British government, which helped buy OneWeb out of bankruptcy three years ago, doesn't plan to do the same with Virgin Orbit. George Freeman, the U.K. minister whose portfolio includes space, said at a Parliament hearing Wednesday that while the government had "taken a close interest" in Virgin Orbit, it had no plans to bid on the company as it goes through a bankruptcy sale process this month. Virgin Orbit conducted the first orbital launch attempt from U.K. soil in January, but the LauncherOne rocket failed to reach orbit. Bids on Virgin Orbit or its assets are due on Friday, with an auction scheduled for Monday. (5/18)

Parsons to Develop Missile-Warning Ground System (Source: Space News)
Parsons has won a contract from the Space Force to develop a ground system for missile-warning satellites. The $55 million contract is for a ground system supporting a constellation of six satellites, called Epoch 1, that the Space Force plans to field in medium Earth orbit in 2026 to detect and track hypersonic missiles. Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon Technologies are developing the satellites. Parsons has previously developed several ground systems for U.S. military satellites. (5/18)

Starlink Introduces Another Massive Hardware Discount (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX has announced a massive 70% discount on hardware for Starlink customers in select regions. As Starlink has achieved record growth metrics in recent months, it has introduced a growing number of discounts to only further its subscriber growth. Now, SpaceX has announced yet another Starlink discount, this time knocking 70% off of the price of hardware for customers in rural sections of the United Kingdom, following a similar discount structure introduced in other parts of the world. (5/17)

Amini Raises $2 Million for Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
A climate-focused startup has raised $2 million to start planning for a satellite constellation. Amini raised the pre-seed round from investors led by European climate technology fund Pale Blue Dot. Amini currently uses public satellite data to provide intelligence for smallholder farmers in Africa, but plans to augment that with its own satellites. Those satellites would be designed to provide data optimized for much smaller farms in Africa with multiple crop varieties and different topologies. The company is not ready to discuss details about this proposed constellation, including when it could deploy its first satellite. (5/18)

Scepter, ExxonMobil, and AWS Partner for Space-Based Methane Emissions Monitoring (Source: Space Daily)
Scepter, Inc. and ExxonMobil are working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to develop a data analytics platform to characterize and quantify methane emissions initially in the U.S. Permian Basin from various monitoring platforms that operate from the ground, in the air and from space, with potential for global deployment in the near future.

This collaboration has the potential to redefine methane detection and mitigation efforts and will contribute to broader satellite-based emission reduction efforts across a dozen industries, including energy, agriculture, manufacturing and transportation. Rapidly reducing methane emissions is regarded as the single most effective strategy to reduce global warming in the near term and keep the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. (5/17)

Germany's Reflex Aerospace Gears Up For First Commercial Mission And Expands Investor Base (Source: SpaceRef)
Just on time for the company’s second anniversary, Reflex Aerospace is gearing up for its first commercial space mission: The Berlin and Munich-based space start-up has secured a fixed slot for the rocket launch of its demo satellite. The launch is set to take place in fall 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. The goal of this mission is to validate new technologies in space for the first time. The demo satellite, which weighs around 120 kilograms, is currently under development and will be assembled in Munich. The local ‘micro factory’ for the production of customer-specific satellites is scheduled to open later this year. (5/18)

NASA Funds 5 Lunar Science Projects (Source: Forbes)
NASA has chosen five research teams to work on lunar science and sample analysis projects to advance future moon exploration with the Artemis program and Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The teams from Brown University, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of New Mexico and Southwest Research Institute's Solar System Science and Exploration Division will each receive around $7.5 million in funding over five years. (5/16)

Republican Budget Plan Would Cut NASA to 2019 Levels (Source: Quartz)
NASA spending is just 1.5% of discretionary spending (and less than half a percent of total federal outlays). But Republicans are pushing for major cuts, using the leverage of a potential default on US debt to force president Joe Biden to sign off. Talks are ongoing in Washington, but the differences are stark. Republicans want to cap discretionary spending, the annual appropriations that fund NASA and many other government programs. The cap is ostensibly set at 2022 levels, but Republicans have indicated they will exempt funds for defense and veterans care from these limits. Assuming the cuts are spread evenly, NASA spending would be roughly at 2019 levels.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson outlined what that worst-case scenario would mean for the agency in a March letter to lawmakers: Many delayed or canceled science missions, including an ambitious plan to use robots to return samples of Martian soil to Earth. It also would mean delays to the Artemis program’s plan to land astronauts on the Moon again sometime around 2026, and the cancelation of subsequent lunar missions and infrastructure—the features of the program that make it more than a re-creation of the Apollo Moon landings. (5/18)

Gilmour Space Technologies Hosts Australian Prime Minister at Rocket Factory (Source: Space Daily)
Gilmour Space Technologies, a leading Australian aerospace company, was honored to welcome Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to their state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. The visit marked the official unveiling and 'launch' of the Eris rocket, Australia's inaugural domestically developed orbital launch vehicle. (5/17)

Japanese Space Agency to Launch From Shetland in Major Boost to Britain (Source: The Telegraph)
The Japanese space agency wants to launch from Britain, the science minister George Freeman has said. Britain licensed its first spaceport in Cornwall last November and is due to begin vertical space launches this year from Shetland. The first horizontal launch from Spaceport Cornwall in January ended in failure when Virgin Orbit suffered a fueling issue. Mr Freeman said there were several companies and even space agencies keen to use the British sites, including Japan's JAXA.

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) was granted exclusive rights to one of SaxaVord’s three launch pads, with the first lift-off scheduled before the end of the year. British micro launch startup Orbex is also in the running to be the first flight out of Scotland. (5/17)

Stratolaunch Makes Play for Virgin Orbit (Source: The Telegraph)
A company that has built the world’s largest aeroplane has emerged as a key bidder for the assets of Sir Richard Branson’s bankrupt space company, Virgin Orbit. Stratolaunch, which has developed a plane with a 385ft wingspan designed to carry rockets to high altitude, has made a $17 million offer for the assets of the failed rocket company. The deal values the remains of the business at just a fraction of the $3 billion Virgin Orbit was worth when it went public in 2021.

Court filings said Stratolaunch’s offer represented a “stalking horse” bid for the assets of the company, effectively a reserve price for others to beat. The filings said the offer had the support of Sir Richard’s Virgin Investments. (5/17)

Safeguarding Space Infrastructure (Source: Space Daily)
Space traffic is a pressing issue. With over 20.000 satellites expected to be launched in the next decade, various orbits are becoming increasingly congested. The situation is especially pronounced in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The abundance of satellites is not only responsible for "an unprecedented space traffic jam". It is also the cause of a large amount of space debris, or 'junk', which is increasing at an alarming rate. According to the Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), over 1 million debris items larger than 1cm are currently orbiting the Earth.

As both space debris and congestion jeopardise the operation and security of the EU's and Member States' space assets, such as Galileo, Copernicus and EGNOS, the European Commission recently proposed an EU integrated approach to Space Traffic Management (EU STM). This holistic approach will secure long-term viability of space activities by ensuring that space remains a sustainable, safe and secure environment encompassing the means and the rules to access, conduct activities in, and return from outer space safely, sustainably and securely. (5/18)

Florida Bill Would Prevent Musk and Bezos Being Sued if Their Mega-Rockets Kill or Injure People Aboard (Source: Business Insider)
The Spaceflight Entity Liability bill, which was sent to Governor Ron DeSantis and passed the Florida Senate and House with little opposition, was adjusted to reflect "the evolution of spaceflight," said Republican Sen. Tom Wright, the bill's sponsor. "Astronauts are no longer government astronauts. These are commercial crew," said Republican Rep. Tyler Sirois at a March 9 hearing, per Florida Politics. The bill doesn't protect the companies in case of "gross negligence."

The new bill states that space flight remains "an extraordinarily dangerous condition" and people should take responsibility for the risks before boarding the rocket, the Senate bill analysis states. Florida lawmakers have every motivation to protect the spaceflight industry, which contributes $17.7 billion in revenues to Florida's economy, per Space Florida. SpaceX and Blue Origin have their primary launch sites in Florida. Jeff Sharkey, a lobbyist representing SpaceX, also stood in support of the bill at a March 26 hearing, per Florida Politics. (5/17)

A Black Astronaut From California Feels the Weight of Injustice on Earth (Source: LA Times)
NASA astronaut Victor Glover Jr. will travel farther into space than any Black person before him when he pilots the Artemis II lunar mission in 2024. But he’s already embarked on a personal mission that hits closer to home on Earth. He wants to take his fellow Americans to school and guide them deep into the nation’s psyche, to help them reflect on the paradox of a nation that has a track record of oppressing Black people sending him on a trailblazing trip around the moon.

Because of that legacy of racism, Glover says it’s his duty to impress upon people that his voyage will represent more than a scientific triumph. During a conversation over Zoom about the beauty of space flight and the contradictions of American life, the 47-year-old Pomona native says he recommends to audiences at his public speeches and his co-workers at NASA a choice set of reading, listening and viewing materials. He starts with the U.S. Constitution, whose words resound with the false promise of equality that has led to so much racial upheaval. (5/17)

Victus Nox: What to Know About Space Force's Rapid-Launch Satellite Mission (Source: Gizmodo)
What happens when a satellite gets destroyed in orbit? Typically, weeks, months, or even years of planning and logistics precede the launch of a replacement. However, Space Force has hatched a plan to ambitiously cut that time down to a mere 24 hours, and the latest test of that plan could happen any minute.

According to the Space Force FAQ, the newest military branch exists to organize, train, and equip space forces “in order to protect U.S. and allied interests in space and to provide space capabilities to the joint force.” Key to these goals is the acquisition of military space assets, but the potential for U.S. adversaries to knock out these assets has Space Force thinking about a concept known as “tactically responsive space.” Click here. (5/16)

Weather Intelligence Company Aims to Revolutionize Forecasting with Satellite Constellation (Source: CNBC)
Boston-based Tomorrow.io began as a software company that offered hyper-precise, street-level weather forecasting. Now it has set its sights on space. The company recently launched Tomorrow-R1, what it claims is the world’s first commercially built weather-radar satellite, via SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. There are very few atmospheric radars orbiting the earth currently, and all were built by government agencies. The U.S. has one, operated by NASA.

Tomorrow.io used proprietary software not just to predict but also to help companies plan for severe weather. The information it used came from government radar, data satellites, weather stations, cellular signal attenuation, and even connected vehicles with wiper and temperature sensors — what its CEO and co-founder, Shimon Elkabetz, called the “weather of things.” The new radar satellite, however, will offer a much broader scope of data.

“We’re putting our own designed and manufactured radar on a dedicated satellite, and we’re putting many of these out there in a combination with another sensor microwave sounder that is going to put be put on another satellite.” Major clients now include several airlines, such as Delta, United, and JetBlue. In a case study done in 2021, JetBlue found that Tomorrow.io let it understand when a storm would stop, helping it limit unnecessary delays and cancellations, saving its operations team as much as $50,000 per month per hub. (5/16)

China Calls for Space Station Commercial Cargo Proposals (Source: Space News)
China’s human spaceflight agency is seeking to foster a commercial, low-cost transportation system to deliver cargo to and from its Tiangong space station. The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) is seeking to reduce the cost and enhance the flexibility of sending supplies to Tiangong through exploring the development of commercial space models. The program echoes NASA’s own Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program.

Requirements stated in the CMSEO call include being capable of sending not less than 1,800 kilograms to low Earth orbit, with a pressurized volume of at least seven cubic meters. The spacecraft should be capable of remaining docked in orbit for at least three months, while offering a price of no more than 120 million yuan (US$17.2 million) per 1,000 kilograms delivered. The spacecraft also needs to be capable of controlled reentry and be able to dispose of more than 2,000 kilograms of waste on reentry. (5/16)

Axiom Crews to Use Custom Fisher Space Pens on Private Missions (Source: CollectSpace)
When former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson lifts off on her first commercial space mission, she will have a familiar tool along with her. Fisher Space Pen has partnered with Axiom Space, the Houston-based space services company that Whitson now flies for, such that she and her crewmates on the upcoming Ax-2 mission will be the first to use Axiom-branded Fisher space pens. Whitson used NASA-issued Fisher space pens on her three previous flights to the International Space Station. (5/16)

ULA Testing Vulcan While Awaiting Outcome of Centaur Anomaly Investigation (Source: Space News)
United Launch Alliance hopes to conduct a static-fire test of its Vulcan Centaur rocket in the coming days. If that test is successful, the final step before launch will be to complete an investigation into a Centaur anomaly during tests of the stage in March. If that investigation concludes there are no modifications needed to flight hardware, the rocket could launch in early summer, but may stretch later in the year if more work is needed. (5/17)

Congressional Push for Space National Guard Faces White House Opposition (Source: Space News)
Members of Congress plan to once again try to establish a Space National Guard. The bipartisan legislative push, led by lawmakers from Colorado, California and Florida, has encountered stern opposition from the White House Office of Management and Budget, which argues that a Space National Guard will introduce additional costs and unnecessary bureaucracy into the system. A new version of the bill will try to address those criticisms by establishing the Space National Guard in only seven states plus Guam. That would cover about 1,000 current Air National Guard members who support the Space Force. (5/17)

UK's Arqit Looks to Sell Space Unit (Source: Space News)
British cybersecurity software developer Arqit is planning to sell its space division. The company has hired a financial adviser to determine interest in that division, which had planned to deploy satellites to provide quantum-encrypted communications. Arqit pivoted to terrestrial solutions to provide similar services. Arqit has one satellite under construction by Redwire that was to be launched by Virgin Orbit, who had invested in Arqit. (5/17)

Colorado Officials Confident Space Command Decision Hinges on National Security, Not Abortion Politics (Source: Colorado Politics)
Members of Colorado's congressional delegation and the mayor of Colorado Springs said on Tuesday that they expect Space Command's permanent location will be decided based on national security considerations, not abortion politics. It's the latest wrinkle in an argument that has been raging for more than two years, since former President Donald Trump announced in the waning days of his administration that the command's headquarters would move from its temporary home in Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

The Colorado officials were pushing back on an NBC News report published late Monday that quoted unnamed sources who suggested the Biden administration was considering reversing the move due to Alabama's restrictive abortion laws, though the White House told the news outlet that access to reproductive health care wasn't a factor in the pending basing decision. (5/16)

India’s New Space Policy Allows Full Private Sector Involvement (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Long dominated almost exclusively by the government, the Indian space industry is set for potentially explosive growth under a new national policy issued last month that opens the door for private companies to pursue virtually any business related to space. According to the newly-released policy, Non-government entities (NGEs) “shall be allowed to undertake end-to-end activities in space sector through establishment and operation of space objects, ground-based assets and related services, such as communication, remote sensing, navigation, etc.” (5/16)

NASA Looking Forward to Next Starship Test, HLS Integration (Source: NSF)
NASA managers tasked with humanity’s next journey into deep space spoke positively about Starship’s recent test flight, the data gathered, and the resulting design changes that will be incorporated into the next test launch. While launch site repairs continue at Starbase ahead of the continuation of the test campaign that is targeting an orbital success this year, SpaceX is expected to launch a large number of Starships before entering the human landing system (HLS) contract, involving numerous tanker vehicles and a crewed lander.

SpaceX was awarded the HLS Option A contract in 2021, which calls for a demonstration of the various elements of the system. This includes docking the lander to the Orion spacecraft, transferring the crew from Orion to the lander in lunar orbit, conducting an extravehicular activity after landing on the lunar surface, and returning the crew and other materials from the surface. Option A included both uncrewed and crewed demonstration missions.

This contract was followed by SpaceX winning HLS Option B in late 2022, which covers the Artemis IV mission to the Moon. NASA is set to announce a second HLS lander option “to develop a sustainable human landing system for the Artemis V Moon mission,” on Friday. The current NASA schedule calls for the uncrewed lunar demo mission to be launched in 2024, ahead of 2025’s Artemis III mission. (5/16)

NASA’s Artemis Program May Face a Budget Crunch as Costs Continue to Rise (Source: Ars Technica)
The Artemis program to return humans to the Moon has an aura of inevitability now, with broad political support, robust international participation, and a successful first mission—Artemis I—under its belt. Perhaps most critically, for Artemis, is that in a rare show of bipartisanship, both Republicans and Democrats support NASA's plan to send humans to the Moon later this decade, at least once a year, reaching a point at which astronauts stay for 30 days at a time.

Crafted during the Trump administration, the Biden White House reaffirmed these Artemis plans within days of taking office. Biden diplomats have also continued to add nations to the "Artemis Accords," with two dozen countries now participating. For all of this support, however, there is one worrying sign. The Artemis program's budget is ballooning, and it is not at all clear when humans will start flying to the Moon. These concerns were highlighted this week at a meeting of NASA's Advisory Committee for Human Spaceflight.

The space agency's chief official for human spaceflight in deep space, Jim Free, discussed the budget from fiscal year 2024 through fiscal year 2028. During this five-year period, the space agency will spend at least $41.5 billion on the Artemis program, when there is likely to be a single human landing at most. This includes some staggering sums for the Space Launch System rocket, $11 billion, which has already been developed for this mission. This $11 billion is approximately the same amount of money that NASA proposes spending on not one, but two lunar landers for humans, which are arguably as complex as the SLS rocket. (5/17)

UK Regulator Approves Space Sector Licenses to Accelerate Space Enterprise (Source; CAA)
Nearly 350 licenses have been granted to companies in the UK space sector since July 2021, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has announced. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is helping to develop a safe and thriving UK space industry as part of its work as the space regulator. Some 343 licenses have been issued, with the regulator also monitoring more than 750 UK satellites in space. The UK Civil Aviation Authority also issued the very first UK spaceport and launch licences last year and supported the deployment and sustainability of the OneWeb satellite constellation - one of the largest constellations in the world. (5/17)

Britain Leaves European Rivals Trailing in the Space Race (Source: This is Money)
Britain is second only to the US in the modern space race – despite its Virgin Orbit setback earlier this year. The UK has secured 17 per cent of private investment in space since 2015, making it the leading destination in Europe, according to a report from the Space Agency and auditor PwC. The only country to attract more investment in space projects is the US. With earth observation, manufacturing and satellites the key areas of investment in the UK, the report reckons that private investors have pumped as much as £7billion into the UK in the last eight years alone. (5/16)

Report Confirms Economic Potential of Maritime Launch Services, Canadian Spaceport (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
The Conference Board of Canada (CBOC) expects significant and lasting economic benefits for Nova Scotians and all Canadians as a direct result of investment and innovation in the global space sector. Specifically, the CBOC’s recently released Economic Impact Study of Maritime Launch Services’ Spaceport Nova Scotia initiative expects North America’s first commercial spaceport will benefit multiple sectors across Canada including: construction, transportation, tourism, and professional, scientific, and technical services. Spaceport Nova Scotia is currently under construction near Canso, Nova Scotia.

"The report’s findings state that the construction phase of Spaceport Nova Scotia alone will generate a total economic benefit impact for the Nova Scotia economy of $143 million," said Stephen Matier President and CEO, Maritime Launch Services, adding, "For Canada, the construction phase of Spaceport Nova Scotia will contribute $171 million to the federal GDP, while boosting federal employment with over of 1,600 year-round jobs, including nearly 750 of which would be in Nova Scotia." (5/16)

Stratolaunch Wants Virgin Orbit's 747 (Source: Reuters)
Stratolaunch has submitted a bid to buy Virgin Orbit's Boeing 747 aircraft out of bankruptcy. Virgin Orbit said in bankruptcy court filings Tuesday it designated the $17 million bid for the plane the "stalking horse" bid for the bankruptcy auction, setting a floor for any future bids. That bid does not prevent others from submitting higher bids for the plane or the entire company. Stratolaunch operates a much larger custom-developed aircraft called Roc originally built to conduct air-launch services, like Virgin Orbit, but is now used for hypersonics testing. (5/17)

Republicans Condemn NASA Attention to Climate Change, Diversity (Source: Space News)
Some Republican members of the Senate Commerce Committee argued NASA is being distracted by issues like climate change and diversity initiatives. At a hearing Tuesday on NASA's fiscal year 2024 budget, the senators claimed that such initiatives are being forced on NASA by the Biden administration and risked politicizing the agency. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson reiterated his desire to keep NASA "nonpartisan" and suggested he disagreed with the senators about their criticisms. Senators in general raised few specific concerns about the proposed $27.2 billion budget. (5/17)

May 25 Set for Next Virgin Galactic Flight (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic will conduct first suborbital spaceflight in nearly two years on May 25. The company announced early Wednesday it set that date for a SpaceShipTwo flight from Spaceport America. Virgin Galactic disclosed last week the six people — two pilots and four company mission specialists — who will fly on a mission called "Unity 25" by the company. The flight will be the first powered flight by the suborbital spaceplane since a July 2021 launch that took company founder Richard Branson to space. (5/17)

China Launches Beidou Navsat (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a Beidou navigation satellite late Tuesday. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 10:49 p.m. Eastern and placed the navigation satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit. The satellite will enhance the overall Beidou network for satellite navigation services. (5/17)

Mark Hopkins Passes Away (Source: NSS)
Mark Hopkins, a space activist for half a century, has died. Hopkins joined the inaugural board of directors of the L5 Society, an organization founded to promote space settlement, in 1975, and later negotiated the merger of that organization with the National Space Institute to create the National Space Society (NSS). He later served as CEO of that organization. He was also an economist at the RAND Corporation for many years that worked on space topics, among others. (5/17)

AFRL, NASA Partner with 8 Universities (Incliding Florida Tech and USF) for New Mission Concept Program (Source: Space Daily)
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, and NASA announced their collaboration with eight universities for a new Mission Concept Program, or MCP, from Jan. 5 to Feb. 3, 2024. The program, sponsored by AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate, is held under the University Nanosatellite Program, or UNP, which started in 1999 and has collaborated with over 40 universities since its inception.

The program will partner with NASA's CubeSat Launch initiative with joint efforts to alleviate typical high barriers to entry including full satellite development, aggressive cycles or schedules and competitive proposals, which will also prepare the participants for the next UNP nanosatellite cycle in 2024. Click here. (5/17)

DoD Looks to Offset the Cost of Growing Commercial Launch Demand at Government Spaceports (Source: Via Satellite)
The U.S. Department of Defense in April proposed new legislative authorities that would allow it to begin charging commercial launch providers additional costs for the use of its spaceports to help the U.S. Space Force finance operations to keep pace with surging commercial demand for its facilities.

The increasing commercial demand for the spaceports at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, is putting “tremendous demand on our infrastructure” for things such as roads, power stations and grids, launch pad services, the manpower needed to secure a safety zone during a launch event, the related administrative burdens, and commodities like nitrogen, helium and liquid hydrogen, Col. Jim Horne, deputy director of Assured Access to Space for Space Systems Command, told Defense Daily.

One new authority sought by DoD is to be able to charge commercial launch providers indirect costs that are part of routine operations at a spaceport, he said during a virtual interview on May 12. These costs would include things like general security and day-to-day personnel costs. (5/16)