June 3, 2023

Biden Talks Future of Space Command with Colorado Springs Mayor (Source: KKTV)
In just a short time with President Joe Biden, Mayor John Suthers tells 11 News one of the things discussed, the future of Space Command in Southern Colorado. “As a result of that conversation, I was very optimistic. That space command will remain in colorado springs,” Suthers said. Suthers also told 11 News they discussed the decision to move space command to Huntsville, Alabama, in 2021 under the Trump administration.

“He said that was very much on the review, and that they are focused on national defense specifically when space command could most quickly be in full operational capability,” Suthers said. Senator Michael Bennet tweeted he had a moment to emphasize the importance of keeping space command in Colorado during the conversation. We reached out to his office for further comment but he was unavailable. Mayor Suthers says he believes we can expect a more official announcement regarding the future of Space Force in the coming months. (6/2)

Shatner Reveals Why He Won’t Return to Space (Source: Fox News)
He has boldly gone where few people have gone before, and William Shatner likely will not go back. After earning a once-in-a-lifetime ticket on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spacecraft in 2021, Shatner returned to Earth consumed with feelings of "grief." He compared going back on a galactic journey to "revisiting a love affair" and told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that he should probably "let it alone." (6/1)

Virgin Galactic Still Has a Big Hurdle to Clear for Commercial Service (Source: CNBC)
For years, it’s been months away. After Virgin Galactic last week flew its final developmental spaceflight, which it crowned successful, it’d be easy to think the space tourism company is at a turning point. It’s finally going to begin commercial flights, aspiring to fly its first ticketed passengers. But the Virgin Galactic story is not about its first operational spaceflight, as long-awaited as that may be. It’s about cadence – how quickly the company can safely ramp up the rate it launches commercial spaceflights.

For now Virgin Galactic has one spacecraft, VSS Unity. CEO Michael Colglazier believes it will take a couple flights before the company hits a monthly cadence with that vehicle. Its second spacecraft, VSS Imagine, was effectively sidelined late last year, so it’s unclear when, or if, that will enter service. So, the math. Virgin Galactic sold about 600 tickets at $250,000 or less, representing the majority of its total reservations. Virgin Galactic has at most flown three passengers at a time, in addition to its chief astronaut trainer, Beth Moses, on its Unity test flights.

Flying without Moses or another company guide would free up an additional seat, but still leaves Virgin Galactic with anywhere from 150 to 200 Unity flights-worth of customers to strap in before it gets to those paying its higher rate of $450,000-plus-per-seat. Even in an optimistic scenario where Virgin Galactic gets Unity to a monthly flight cadence with four passengers each by the end of this year, that’s roughly 25 or so flights, or $25 million, by the time a Delta spacecraft enters service. That’s leaps and bounds more than the company has generated since its founding in 2004. But it won’t do much to dent the more than $100 million a quarter the company is losing in the meantime. (6/1)

Manber Joins Board of Maritime Launch Services (Source: Maritime Launch Services)
Jeffrey Manber, a celebrated author, co-founder of Nanoracks and now President of International and Space Stations for Voyager Space, joins the Maritime Launch Board of Advisors. Manber previously served as the CEO of Nanoracks from 2009 until 2021, where he broke barriers for access to space, oversaw the growth of numerous commercial International Space Station programs, including the development of the first and only commercial Airlock on the space station. At Voyager Space, he is leading the development of Starlab, a continuously crewed, free-flying, commercial space station to serve NASA, space agencies, and commercial users around the globe. (6/1)

Air Force Picks Colorado for More Space Force Missions as Politics Loom Over Headquarters Decision (Source: FNN)
The Air Force announced the permanent location for many more U.S. Space Force units Wednesday — and none of them are in Huntsville, Alabama, suggesting the service may be moving ahead with at least part of the design it originally sought for the new force before it became entangled in politics. Four more Space Force missions will now be based in Colorado Springs, a notable choice during a larger and now politicized battle over where to locate the permanent headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Colorado Springs, which is housing Space Command’s temporary headquarters, was the Air Force’s preferred location, but Donald Trump, in the final days of his presidency, selected Alabama instead.

While the Pentagon and White House have said the decisions are not directly linked, Alabama has strict anti-abortion laws, and its Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville earlier this year announced he would hold up all military nominations until the Department of Defense rescinds a new policy that would allow female service members to be reimbursed for travel costs if they have to go out of state for reproductive care. (6/2)

BlackSky Contracted for Advanced Tactical Imagery Services (Source: Space Daily)
BlackSky Technology won a multimillion dollar renewal contract to provide advanced subscription-based tactical imagery and analytics services to an international ministry of defense customer. BlackSky's advanced Spectra AI tasking and analytics platform and high-resolution satellite constellation deliver on-demand, high frequency imagery, monitoring and analytics to customers within 90 minutes. This unique combination of capabilities enable customers to dynamically monitor areas that matter most to them. (6/2)

L3Harris CEO Draws Hard Line Against Fixed-Price Development Contracts (Source: Breaking Defense)
L3Harris is drawing a line in the sand against competing for fixed-price development contracts, the company’s chief executive officer emphasized. “We’re seeing more and more fixed-price development contracts coming out. We decided not to bid on two so far this year under the theory that ‘I’m not going to bid fixed-price on a development/production program, where we have not agreed on on the specs and such,’” L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik said.

The executive predicted that dwindling bids could force the Pentagon to rethink its approach to the contracting scheme, concerns he said were raised directly with the top brass. “We will not be playing that game. I’ve elevated it to what I think is the highest levels within the Pentagon,” he told investors.

Fixed-price contracts are seen by advocates as a boon to the government, because cost increases during program development are largely borne by the contractor instead of the taxpayer. But industry has increasingly balked at the contracting mechanism especially in the wake of pandemic shocks, which have hammered supply chains and generated a tight labor market that has driven up salaries and sapped workers from production lines. (6/1)

Spaceport America Says It Won’t Happen Again (Source: Radio World)
Spaceport America says those unlicensed FM broadcasts that drew a warning from the FCC won’t be heard again without proper authorization. As we reported, the commercial launch complex recently received a notice of illegal pirate broadcasting from the commission about a pirate radio station heard on its property last year. The organization issued a statement from Executive Director Scott McLaughlin: “A past Spaceport America customer used unauthorized frequencies for transmission while operating on-site."

"The low-power FM system (with a range of only a few miles) will not be in use again at the spaceport without proper authorization.” He said the organization is tightening its customer operations screening process “to ensure this does not happen in the future.” According to the FCC the unlicensed signals were heard during the Spaceport America Cup 2022 event, an inter-collegiate rocket engineering conference and competition. The New Mexico State Land Office, owner of the land used by the complex, also received the FCC letter. (5/31)

Space Force Considering Polar-Orbit Weather Satellites (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is considering options to acquire small polar-orbiting weather satellites for launch in the next few years. The Space Force office overseeing development of two prototype weather satellites is doing market research for future satellites that would host weather sensors being developed by Orion Space Solutions and General Atomics. The service has not decided how many satellites it might procure or when, but they will be needed to fill a gap in weather coverage as the remaining Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites run out of stationkeeping propellant by 2026. (6/2)

Google Leads $36 Million Investment in Pixxel (Source: Space News)
Google led a $36 million funding round in hyperspectral startup Pixxel. The Series B round, announced Thursday, will help Pixxel develop a constellation of 24 smallsats that provide hyperspectral imagery, as well as an AI-powered analytics platform called Aurora. Several existing investors also participated in the round, including Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, growx, Sparta and Athera. (6/2)

Fortify Raises $12.5 Million (Source: Space News)
Fortify, a digital composites manufacturing startup, raised $12.5 million. Both Lockheed Martin Ventures and Raytheon Technologies’ RTX Ventures participated in the round, the first time the venture arms of those two aerospace companies made simultaneous investments in the same company. Fortify's technology additively manufactures components for a variety of applications, including satellite components. (6/2)

Space National Guard Approach Would Harm Military Readiness (Source: Beaking Defense)
The head of the National Guard said a proposed "hybrid space component" would harm readiness. National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson told Senate appropriators Thursday that the proposal, which would involving existing Air Force reservists as well as full- and part-time Guardians, would cost $1 billion and take 7 to 10 years to implement. He said a better approach would be to transfer existing Air National Guard units handling space missions to a new Space National Guard, an approach favored by some in Congress. (6/2)

Poem Rides to Europa (Source: CollectSpace)
A poem is hitching a ride on a NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. NASA and the Library of Congress unveiled Thursday the poem, written by Poet Laureate of the United States Ada Limón. The poem, about Europa, will be etched on a metal plate on the Europa Clipper spacecraft launching in October 2024. People can also fly their names on the spacecraft buy submitting them through a NASA website by the end of the year; the names will be engraved on microchips on the spacecraft. (6/2)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Creating Jobs in Arkansas (Source: TB&P)
Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to expand its workforce in Arkansas, adding about 200 jobs. This expansion is supported by a $215.6 million investment from DoD's Office of Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization, with funds also used to expand and modernize the company’s facilities in Camden and Huntsville, Alabama, and Orange County, Virginia. The Arkansas site currently employs over 1,100 workers and manufactures 75,000-plus solid rocket motors annually.

In December, Florida-based L3Harris Technologies announced it was attempting to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion. It expects the deal to close this year. The move comes after the Federal Trade Commission blocked an attempt by Lockheed Martin to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 billion. (5/30)

Sidus Space Subcontracted to Dynetics for SLS Umbilical Hardware (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announces the award of an additional hardware manufacturing subcontract to support NASA’s Artemis Program and the SLS launch vehicle. Under the terms of the subcontract between Sidus Space and Craig Technologies, Sidus will be responsible for the fabrication of the Umbilical Quick Disconnects on the Universal Stage Adapter for the SLS. Dynetics is the prime contractor building the Universal Stage Adapter for NASA’s SLS. (6/2)

Novel Docking System to be Tested on the International Space Station (Source: Space Daily)
A team of engineering students from the University of Southern California is using the ISS Astrobee robots to test a new autonomous spacecraft docking system called CLINGERS. This will be the first investigation to use the space station to test a docking system that uses integrated sensing. The team's project will test an adaptor for docking and close approach sensing as a means of connecting both active and passive objects in space. This type of technology is essential for applications such as satellite servicing, orbital refueling, and in-orbit manufacturing processes. (6/1)

NASA Grant Funds Aeroacoustic Research to Develop Quieter Vertical Lift Air Vehicles (Source: Space Daily)
Drone delivery is rapidly taking off in major cities, with rotor-powered rideshares not far behind. The convenience promised by electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles generates a substantial buzz - not just from excitement but from all the noise generated by rotors filling the sky. To address key challenges facing the future of air transport, NASA has awarded $5.7 million to a multi-university partnership as part of the agency's University Leadership Initiative. The project, led by Boston University over the next three years, will include Virginia Tech, Embry-Riddle University, Tuskegee University, and industry partner Joby Aviation. (6/2)

280 Seconds! RFA Completes Full Duration (Source: RFA)
Launch service provider Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) has successfully hot fired its upper stage for a full duration of 280 seconds. This marks the successful completion of the Integrated System Test (IST) campaign, in which a staged-combustion Helix engine was integrated into an upper stage tank system and hot fired several times up to full duration in the final test. This is the 1st time in Europe that a privately developed staged combustion upper stage has been successfully hot fired. (6/2)

Scientists Discover Mysterious Cosmic Threads in Milky Way (Source: The Guardian)
Astronomers have discovered hundreds of mysterious cosmic threads that point towards the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, after a survey of the galaxy. The strange filaments, each of which stretches five to 10 light years through space, resemble the dots and dashes of morse code on a vast scale. They spread out from the galactic centre 25,000 light years from Earth like fragmented spokes on an enormous wheel. (6/2)

NASA Enters Stretch in Critical Moon Rocket Engine Test Series (Source: NASA)
NASA entered the stretch run of a key RS-25 certification engine test series with a successful hot fire June 1, continuing to set the stage for future Artemis missions to the Moon. The hot fire on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, marked the ninth in a critical 12 test series. The remaining three tests are scheduled throughout June. The series is designed to certify production of new RS-25 engines by lead contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne for future deep space missions, beginning with Artemis V. (6/1)

Fixed-Price Starliner: Boeing Must Make Some Hard Choices (Source: Ars Technica)
Thursday's disquieting announcement from Boeing within weeks of its first crewed flight raises questions anew about the viability of the program. To date, Boeing has taken nearly $900 million in charges against its earnings for setbacks in Starliner's development, and this latest delay, which is likely to take at least six months to resolve, if not much longer, will undoubtedly push those charges higher. It is difficult to see Boeing ever making money on Starliner after nearly 14 years of involvement in commercial crew.

Boeing for a long time "nickel-and-dimed" the time engineers spent working on Starliner. This was partly due to congressional underfunding of the commercial crew program but also because Boeing did not want to put skin in the game. This has been a poor decision in retrospect because, due to the fixed-price nature of its contract with NASA, Boeing is largely responsible for cost overruns and losses due to ongoing delays. The company now essentially has three options, none of which is particularly appealing.

The first option would be for the company to stick to its present course, spending internal funding on Starliner to complete a test flight. A second option is for Boeing to pull the plug on Starliner. The final option for Boeing is to double down on its investment in Starliner. It could put the kinds of resources into the program it should have five to 10 years ago and produce a safe, robust vehicle. Moreover, it must invest now to ensure Starliner has a future beyond six operational missions for NASA. For this, Boeing needs to build more crew capsules—there are just two human-rated Starliners—and find an alternative launch vehicle once the Atlas V rocket retires. (6/2)

Westinghouse and Astrobotic Team to Power Outer Space with eVinci Microreactor Technology (Source: Westinghouse)
Westinghouse Electric Company and Astrobotic today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to explore collaboration on space technology programs for NASA and the Department of Defense. The collaboration will focus on the development of space nuclear technology and delivery systems. The joint effort will also include strengthening the space nuclear supply chain and workforce in the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia region.

Westinghouse is developing a scaled-down version of the 5-MWe eVinci microreactor to power spacecraft in orbit or for deployment on the surface of planetary bodies such as the Moon or Mars, providing continuous power for space research and other applications. The inherent simplicity of the eVinci technology supports these critical space missions by providing a reliable, resilient, low-mass power generation system that can be operated autonomously. The technology is ideal for electricity generation for the lunar surface, satellites and electric propulsion. (6/1)

Branson Made Around $1.4 Billion by Selling Virgin Galactic Shares (Source: AeroTime)
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, sold more than 10 million shares in the company in August 2021, before the price of shares tumbled down shortly after. According to Virgin Galactic’s SEC filings, Branson sold more than 10.4 million shares at an average price of $29.2 between August 10 and August 12, 2021, reducing his shareholding from 55.2 million to 46.3 million following the sales, taking home more than $304.2 million from these transactions alone.

The insider trading transactions were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, adding that in total, Branson sold nearly 75% of his shares in Virgin Galactic for a total of $1.4 billion. According to the WSJ report, the funds were used in other Virgin Group companies, including Virgin Atlantic. The shares were sold by Virgin Investments, a company owned by Virgin Group Investments, the only managing member of which is Corvina Holdings, in turn, owned by Virgin Group Holdings, with Branson being the sole shareholder of the latter. (6/2)

The Elusive Aerospike Engine Could Finally Be Ready to Fly (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Since at least the 1950s, rocket engineers have wondered whether another nozzle design, known as the aerospike, could be a more efficient way to send humans to the stars. Nearly 70 years after its initial inception, many, many, many aerospace startups have toyed with the idea of resurrecting the aerospike in recent years. The latest of these companies is the startup Polaris, which was awarded a German military contract in April to investigate the potential of using a linear aerospike (LAS) rocket engine in a spaceplane demonstrator.

Polaris’s LAS engine will fly in its spaceplane demonstrator, and will hopefully provide all the propulsion benefits of aerospike engines while also being a better fit for the flat-shaped spaceplane (i.e. avoiding tail strikes during takeoff and landing). In addition, the company believes it can overcome some of the engine’s design challenges—specifically, how to cool the thing—with recent advancements in 3D printing. (6/2)

Hawking's Most Famous Prediction Could Mean That Everything in the Universe is Doomed to Evaporate (Source: Live Science)
In 1974, Hawking proposed that black holes eventually evaporate by losing what's now known as Hawking radiation — a gradual draining of energy in the form of light particles that spring up around black holes' immensely powerful gravitational fields. Now, a new update to the theory has suggested that Hawking radiation isn't just created by stealing energy from black holes, but from all objects with enough mass. If the theory is true, it means that everything in the universe will eventually disappear, its energy slowly bled from it in the form of light. (6/2)