August 1, 2024

CACI Wins $450 Million Space Command Contract (Source: Space News)
CACI International won a $450 million contract from U.S. Space Command for a navigation warfare center. The professional services and information technology company said Wednesday it won the 10-year, $450 million contract to support the Joint Navigation Warfare Center (JNWC) for Space Command. The JNWC, a subordinate organization of U.S. Space Command’s Combined Force Space Component Command, supports U.S. Space Command and plays a vital role in maintaining positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) superiority for the Defense Department and its partners. CACI will assist combatant commanders in enhancing their ability to operate in PNT-disrupted, denied and degraded areas. (8/1)

Boeing Takes $125 Million Hit on Starliner (Source: Space News)
Boeing has taken another loss on the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew program. The company said Wednesday it recorded a $125 million loss in the second quarter, citing delays in the ongoing Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission. Boeing has reported about $1.6 billion in losses on Starliner over the course of the program. The company separately said Wednesday that it is making preparations to conclude the CFT mission and bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home. NASA and Boeing have yet to set a date for that return, though. (8/1)

Boeing Hires Former Rockwell Collins Executive as New CEO (Source: New York Times)
Boeing has hired a former Rockwell Collins executive as its next CEO. Boeing said Wednesday that Kelly Ortberg will start as CEO on Aug. 8, succeeding Dave Calhoun. He is the former CEO of aerospace electronics company Rockwell Collins who left the company after it was acquired by United Technologies, now RTX. Analysts largely praised the selection of Ortberg as someone who can help guide the company through various problems. (8/1)

Vast Offers Lab Space on Haven-1 Space Station (Source: Space News)
Vast is offering microgravity lab space on its Haven-1 commercial space station. The company said Thursday that Haven-1, a single-module station scheduled to launch next year, will have 10 middeck lockers for experiments. Vast is working with Redwire Space and Yuri, a European space biotech company, on the Haven-1 Lab, with those companies providing experiment facilities for it based on what has flown on the ISS. The lab will provide the ability to do research that can't be accommodated on the ISS or which would run into regulatory or other obstacles there, and will inform Vast's planning for a future larger station. (8/1)

Dawn Aerospace Unveils Docking/Refueling Port (Source: Space News)
Dawn Aerospace has unveiled a docking and refueling port for its satellite propulsion systems. The Docking and Fluid Transfer port will help Dawn customers gain access to future in-space refueling services. The port replaces standard manual fill and drain valves used for propellant loading on the ground. The company acknowledged that when in-space satellite refueling services will become available is uncertain, but adding the port can help ensure there is a customer base for those services when they do emerge. (8/1)

China's Space Pioneer Readying First Launch After Disastrous Test (Source: Space News)
Chinese launch company Space Pioneer is moving towards a first flight of a new rocket despite an infamous static-fire test that wasn't static. In a June 30 test, the first stage of the company's Tianlong-3 rocket broke free and ascended, crashing back to Earth near inhabited areas. That incident drew widespread criticism, but the company appears to be moving ahead with work on the rocket, erecting a pathfinder version of the full rocket at an undisclosed location. The company may still face regulatory hurdles for a launch of the rocket, intended to be similar in performance to the Falcon 9. (8/1)

Space Organizations Continuing to Identify AI Applications (Source: Space News)
Space organizations are continuing to identify promising AI applications despite challenges. At the AIAA ASCEND conference Tuesday, NASA discussed how it is using AI for analyzing large Earth science data sets, while Slingshot Aerospace is combining AI with physics-based models to simulate evasive maneuvers satellites could perform in response to a threat. They cautioned, though that AI models are only as good as the training data that feeds them, and information on various satellites and their capabilities is often proprietary or classified. (8/1)

Creating a Lunar Biorepository to Protect Earth's Biodiversity (Source: Science)
Some scientists think the moon would make a great place to store a "doomsday vault" of seeds and cells. In a paper published this week, researchers said that permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles would be an ideal place for a biorepository that could preserve seeds and animal cells at cryogenic temperatures. That repository would be a backup for terrestrial ones in the event they are lost from localized catastrophes like hurricanes, rather than a "massive apocalypse" that would make it impossible to get to the moon. (8/1)

Hera Mission Sparks New Discoveries About Target Asteroids (Source: Space Daily)
As ESA's Hera mission for planetary defense completes its pre-launch testing, its target asteroids have been revealed as intriguing small worlds. A special issue of Nature Communications this week features studies on the Didymos asteroid and its moon Dimorphos, based on close-range footage from NASA's DART spacecraft and images from the Italian Space Agency's LICIACube.

On September 26, 2022, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos at 6.1 km/s. This first test of the kinetic impact method successfully shortened Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by over half an hour, which was observed from Earth and by LICIACube. (8/1)

NASA Partners with Universities for Soil-Monitoring and Optical Comms CubeSats (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative is set to send two CubeSats to the ISS as part of the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply mission. CySat-1, developed by students from Iowa State University, will measure Earth's soil moisture from low Earth orbit. Arizona State University students and NASA JPL created DORA (Deployable Optical Receiver Aperture) to demonstrate optical communications without precision pointing. (8/1)

The Life of Two Boeing Starliner Astronauts Stuck Indefinitely in Space (Source: Washington Post)
Since arriving at the station, they have used an ultrasound machine to scan their veins to collect data on how space affects the human body. Williams worked on studies that examined the “use of microgravity to manufacture higher-quality optical fibers” than can be made on Earth. She also worked on a study using “fluid physics, such as surface tension, to overcome the lack of gravity when nourishing and watering plants grown in space.”

In addition to science, there are chores to do, such as “maintenance that has been waiting for a little while — stuff that’s been on the books for a little bit,” Williams said.

So they’ve been assigned, like a pair of hands on the crew of a ship at sea, to take inventory of the station’s food supplies. They’ve swapped out a urine processing pump. Wilmore, a bit of a handyman who builds tables and sheds for his church, was tasked with servicing a pair of freezers used to hold research samples as well as refilling the coolant loops in one of the station’s water pumps. (7/26)

The Sacknoff Prize for Space History (Source: Space 3.0)
Attention undergrad and grad students: the 2024 Sacknoff Prize for Space History is now open for submissions. Awarded since 2011, the Sacknoff Prize is designed to encourage original research by university students in space history. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit their original manuscripts for consideration! Click here. (7/31)

L3Harris Highlights Performance Progress One Year After Acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne (Source: L3Harris)
L3Harris has marked the one-year anniversary of its acquisition of power and propulsion provider Aerojet Rocketdyne with significant performance progress. “The high demand for missiles and the solid rocket motors that propel them makes our investment in Aerojet Rocketdyne even more crucial to our national security. We remain focused on helping meet that demand while strengthening the U.S. defense industrial base,” said Chris Kubasik.

L3Harris increased internal investments in Aerojet Rocketdyne by 40% year-over-year, including the expansion and modernization of manufacturing to enhance production across its product lines. The company also provided sub-tier suppliers with more than $25 million in funding and qualified additional suppliers to bolster the solid rocket motor subcomponent supply chain. Further, the company is leveraging government investments to expand solid rocket motor facilities for key missile programs.

Performance improvements since the acquisition include record-setting months of deliveries for five programs and reducing late deliveries by nearly half. L3Harris propulsion systems over the past year have enabled key missile defense tests and supported the historic launches of Vulcan and Starliner and the final Delta IV Heavy rocket. While being selected to support hypersonics and critical defense programs like Next Generation Interceptor, the company also demonstrated advanced solid rocket motors in hot-fire tests. (7/29)

Northrop Grumman Rocket Motors Power Atlas 5 (Source: Northrop Grumman)
Five Northrop Grumman 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motor (GEM 63) solid rocket boosters helped successfully launch the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-51 mission for the USSF Space Systems Command aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. The boosters provided approximately 2 million pounds of thrust at launch. In addition, Northrop Grumman provided the propellant tanks for the Centaur Upper Stage reaction control system as well as large composite structures for the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle including the heat shield, the Centaur interstage adapter and the boattail. (7/30)

Texas Judge Enjoins NLRB From Proceeding Against SpaceX, Casting Further Doubt on NLRB’s Constitutionality (Source: National Law Review)
A federal judge in Texas recently cast new doubt on the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) ability to oversee labor disputes, agreeing with SpaceX that the agency’s Board Members and Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are likely serving unconstitutionally.

SpaceX filed a complaint in the Western District in Texas in April 2024, seeking preliminary injunction to block an administrative unfair labor practice charge from proceeding against SpaceX. SpaceX argued that it was likely to succeed in establishing that NLRB Members and ALJs are unconstitutionally protected from removal. On July 10, 2024, the Court granted SpaceX’s motion, blocking the charge from proceeding and on July 24, 2024, the Court issued a written order enjoining the Board and ALJ proceeding against SpaceX. (7/30)

Hypersonic Testing Facility to Land at Jacksonville’s Cecil Airport/Spaceport (Source: Florida Politics)
The latest hypersonic research facility adds to Cecil Field growing reputation as center for advanced aerospace development. Hypersonic engine testing will be the latest addition to the portfolio of research projects being added to the Cecil Airport/Spaceport facilities in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) board this week gave approval to a lease agreement for an engine testing facility that is designed to test hypersonic aircraft engines for transatlantic travel. The five-year deal is with Hermeus Corp., a company based in Atlanta. (7/30)

With a Landmark Launch, the Pentagon is Finally Free of Russian Rocket Engines (Source: Ars Technica)
A ULA Atlas 5 delivered a classified US military payload to orbit Tuesday, ending the Pentagon's use of Russian rocket engines as national security missions transition to all-American launchers.

The Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, propelled by a Russian-made RD-180 engine and five strap-on solid-fueled boosters in its most powerful configuration. This was the 101st launch of an Atlas V rocket since its debut in 2002, and the 58th and final Atlas V mission with a US national security payload since 2007. In the 1990s when US government policy allowed Lockheed Martin, the original developer of the Atlas V, to use Russian rocket engines during its first stage.

There was a widespread sentiment in the first decade after the fall of the Soviet Union that the United States and other Western nations should partner with Russia to keep the country's aerospace workers employed and prevent "rogue states" like Iran or North Korea from hiring them. Energomash exported the final batch of RD-180s to the US in 2021, bringing the total number of deliveries to 122 engines. In the initial bulk order, each RD-180 engine was priced at approximately $10 million per unit. (7/30)

Japan: Land of the Rising Space Startups (Source: Space News)
Companies like Astroscale and lunar lander developer ispace, whose roots date back more than a decade, are achieving key technical and financial milestones that include launching spacecraft and going public. More companies are following in areas ranging from small launch vehicles to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites. That interest attracted a record crowd to Spacetide, an annual commercial space conference in Tokyo in July where Okada and others spoke.

The Japanese government is taking notice. It is preparing to put billions of dollars into the Japanese space industry to support work on key technologies. That is intended to foster the development of emerging space companies in the country, helping them advance and to be more competitive with those in the United States, Europe and elsewhere, even as those companies try to determine how much they should emphasize the Japanese market versus other parts of the world. (7/31)