August 13, 2024

Fresh Approach Needed for Space Arms Control (Source: Space News)
A fresh approach to space arms control is needed, a new report concludes. The study by the Aerospace Corporation's Center for Space Policy and Strategy noted space arms control faces problems trying to verify compliance with any agreements as well as the dual-use nature of many space technologies. The report argues that recent technological advancements have improved the capabilities of the United States and its allies to monitor space activities, potentially making verification more feasible than in the past. It also recommends more robust information-sharing on space activities among nations. (8/13)

Airbus Expands Partnership with Astroscale (Source: Space News)
Airbus is expanding its partnership with in-orbit servicing venture Astroscale. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding Monday to focus on U.K.-based in-orbit servicing and manufacturing opportunities. Astroscale's U.K. subsidiary is already looking into using robotic arm technology from Airbus for future debris removal and satellite refueling missions. The agreement also covers maintaining, repairing and upgrading in-orbit satellites; constructing and assembling spacecraft components directly in space; and technologies for enhancing rendezvous and proximity operations. (8/13)

NASA Decision on Starliner Punted to NET Next Week (Source: NASASpaceOps)
NASA won't make a decision this week on whether astronauts will return from the International Space Station on Starliner. In a social media post Monday, NASA said it was now planning "decisional meetings" no earlier than next week on whether NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return on Starliner on remain on the ISS, returning with the Crew-9 mission in early 2025. NASA said last week it expected to make a decision by mid-August suggesting that it could come late this week. NASA plans to hold a media briefing Wednesday to provide an update on those deliberations. (8/13)

Underground Water Reservoirs on Mars (Source: AP)
Mars may have large volumes of water well below its surface. A study published Monday reached that conclusion based on analysis of seismic data of the planet's interior from NASA's InSight lander. The liquid water is believed to be located 10 to 20 kilometers below the surface, making it largely inaccessible for future robotic and human missions. However, those subsurface reservoirs could be potentially habitable, scientists said. (8/13)

Astonishing Evidence of Life Discovered on Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover (Source: SciTech Daily)
A vein-filled rock is catching the eye of the science team of NASA’s Perseverance rover. Nicknamed “Cheyava Falls” by the team, the arrowhead-shaped rock contains fascinating traits that may bear on the question of whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past. Analysis by instruments aboard the rover indicates the rock possesses qualities that fit the definition of a possible indicator of ancient life. The rock exhibits chemical signatures and structures that could possibly have been formed by life billions of years ago when the area being explored by the rover contained running water. (8/12)

Lompoc CA (Finally) Seeing a Space Tourism Boom Thanks to SpaceX (Source: SF Gate)
A California town is enjoying a surge in tourism, thanks to SpaceX. Businesses in the town of Lompoc, the closest to Vandenberg Space Force Base, said they are seeing an increase in customers attracted to the steady cadence of Falcon 9 launches there. Some are involved with the launches themselves, but many are tourists who come just for the opportunity to see a launch — provided the infamous thick fog that rolls in from the ocean allows it. (8/13)

Sidus Space Contracts with Xiomas for FeatherEdge Computing System for Infrared Fire Detection (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announces the sale of its FeatherEdge onboard computing system to Xiomas Technologies as part of a groundbreaking project aimed at revolutionizing fire detection. This collaborative effort, involving Sidus Space, Xiomas Technologies, NASA, and Harvard University, will demonstrate rapid fire detection capabilities using a stratospheric balloon platform. (8/13)

SpaceX Could Become Rocket Lab's Neighbor (Source: Nasdaq)
New Zealand's Rocket Lab decided to build a launch pad on Wallops Island, Virginia. But it turns out two can play that game. As we just learned, SpaceX may be planning to move into Rocket Lab's backyard, too. As Reuters reported last week, SpaceX is seeking permission to land a Starship rocket off the Australian coast, and this could be a "first step toward a bigger presence for Elon Musk's company in the region." Reuters notes the plan could also be a first step toward setting up a point-to-point system for using Starship to rapidly deliver cargo and passengers around the globe. (8/11)

TerraBuilder Shares New Previews of Kennedy Space Center for MSFS (Source: FSElite)
The TerraBuilder team recently took to the MSFS forum to share new screenshots of their upcoming Kennedy Space Center scenery for MSFS. Since opening in the early 1960s, the Kennedy Space Center has been the launch point for many historic space missions, including the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. To this day, the space center still serves as NASA’s primary hub for launching spacecraft. The sprawling 144,000-acre campus houses 700 facilities, including the Shuttle Landing Facility and Visitor Complex.

Throughout the summer, TerraBuilder has shared various updates on the scenery’s progress. In this latest update, we get to see the early work being done on Launch Pad 39B, the launch pad that is supporting the Artemis missions. Overall, much to the flight simulator community’s delight, TerraBuilder continues to make steady progress on their Kennedy Space Center scenery. (8/12)

$3M Hypercar Going 250 mph Crashed on the Runway of Kennedy Space Center (Source: WKMG)
Only July 1, a very particular car crashed in a very particular way, in a very particular place. Through a public records request fulfilled by Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, News 6 learned the car that crashed was Hennessey Venom F5 – one of the fastest cars in the world under development to attempt to break 300 mph.

The Venom F5 is the latest creation from legendary vehicle tuner John Hennessey, CEO and founder of Hennessey Special Vehicles. It’s not even a supercar – it’s a $3 million hypercar. It crashed doing “straight line testing” on the old Space Shuttle runway, now known as the Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), which, through Space Florida, has been opened to the public for vehicle testing. The hypercar landed upside down on the LLF, hitting the concrete hard enough to cause minor damage and a small repair bill to Team Hennessey. The driver walked away from the crash. (8/12)

Dawn Advances Spaceplane Speed and Altitude in Tests (Source: New Atlas)
Aerospace startup Dawn Aerospace has made a major advance in its push to create a highly reusable spaceplane. The latest test flight reached transonic speeds of Mach 0.92 and an altitude of 50,000 ft (15,000 m), or 3 times and 5 times, respectively, better than before. When Campaign 2-3 begins in September, the goal is to go supersonic for the first time, with the eventual plan to climb faster than an F-15, reach greater speeds than an SR-71 Blackbird, and to become the first vehicle to fly above an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) twice in a single day. (8/11)

Futuristic GE Aerospace Ramjet Engine Tests Even Better Than Expected (Source: WKRC)
GE Aerospace’s futuristic hypersonic engine has exceeded the company’s expectations in a breakthrough round of new tests. The dual-mode ramjet engine, which has gone from design to testing in just 11 months, is undergoing evaluation on a rig at GE Aerospace’s global headquarters. The company is putting the bleeding-edge technology through its paces, hoping to demonstrate the engine can transition successfully between subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds, a feat that requires solving complex problems of engineering and physics. (8/12)

Good Thing We Found This Earth-Sized Planet Now—it's About to be Destroyed (Source: Phys.org)
Astronomers have confirmed the existence of exoplanets with extremely small orbits around their stars. But what about exoplanets that get close enough to be devoured by their star, and what if it's an Earth-sized exoplanet? This is what a recent study hopes to address. An international team of more than 50 researchers investigated an Earth-sized exoplanet with an orbital period of only 5.7 hours, known as "ultra-short-period" (USP) exoplanets, that could eventually experience what's known as tidal disruption, resulting in its devourment by its star. (8/12)

Northrop Grumman Completes Static Test of Digitally Engineered Rocket Motor (Source: Space Daily)
Northrop Grumman's digitally engineered large solid rocket motor has successfully undergone a static fire test at the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex. The test met all objectives, with performance data affirming the digital model and confirming the motor's capabilities. This accomplishment underscores the company's proficiency in meeting design requirements through a fully digital environment. (8/10)

A Judge with Tesla Stock Keeps Hearing Musk's Cases (Source: NPR)
Billionaire Elon Musk seems to have found a new favorite federal judge: Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas. Musk’s social media company X has filed two major lawsuits against groups he sees as antagonists, and O’Connor is presiding over both of them, even though none of the parties is based in Texas. So far, O’Connor has delivered stunningly pro-Musk decisions, which have gained widespread attention.

What has garnered less attention: O’Connor’s investment in Tesla, between “$15,001 and $50,000” of Tesla stock, according to his most recent publicly available financial disclosure filing. That investment has fueled questions over O’Connor’s fairness as a judge, since the outcome of the suits filed by Musk’s X could impact his business empire.

Forum shopping accusations have recently come under scrutiny in the northern district of Texas, in part because the district is distinct. In most parts of the country, lawsuits are randomly assigned to judges. But in northern Texas, judges take on suits based on which division of the district they are filed in. That can allow parties to almost cherry-pick a judge, according to Ahearn with the Brennan Center for Justice. (8/9)

US Court Blocks Transfer of SpaceX Lawsuit Against NLRB, For Now (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX's challenge to the structure of the National Labor Relations Board will remain in Texas federal court for now, after a U.S. appeals court overturned a decision that would have transferred the rocket maker's lawsuit to California. A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in a two-sentence order, opens new tab on Friday vacated a July decision by U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera refusing to reconsider an earlier ruling transferring the case from his Brownsville, Texas, court to Los Angeles. (8/12)

Why the ISS is Being Destroyed (Source: Launchpad)
More and more astronauts’ valuable time is being taken up by routine maintenance, then at a certain point, the ISS begins to lose its value. Its purpose, as a research lab. The ISS may also pose a danger to others, if something catastrophic were to happen to it. It cannot stay in orbit on its own. It must frequently be re-boosted to maintain its orbit, and at the end of its scheduled lifespan, will be lowered into a controlled burn. This will minimize any risk the station might pose to people on Earth.

And the station will have its worthy successors. By then, NASA’s lunar Gateway station is expected to be in operation, China will still have the Tiangong, and Russia is planning to build its own new station for the first time in nearly forty years. And that’s not to mention the commercial stations as well, such as Axiom, Voyager Space’s Starlab, and Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef. Even SpaceX has hinted at re-outfitting Starship variants with the ability to serve as low-Earth-orbit stations.

All this, because despite its planned destruction, the ISS has delivered its massive payoff, worthy of that $150 billion dollars; unlocking new science and inspiring new generations to continue to venture into space. (8/13)

Digital Tech Addressing Workforce Skills Gaps in Defense, Aerospace (Source: Aerospace Manufacturing and Design)
Research conducted by the Aerospace Industries Association, EY and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics reveals that the aerospace and defense manufacturing sector faces significant workforce and skills gaps, similar to the broader manufacturing industry. Aerospace and defense companies are using digital technologies to enable human-machine shared tasks and workloads. (8/8)

SpaceX Repeatedly Polluted Waters in Texas This Year, Regulators Found (Source: CNBC)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX violated environmental regulations by repeatedly releasing pollutants into or near bodies of water in Texas, a state agency said in a notice of violation focused on the company’s water deluge system at its Starbase launch facility. The notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 office, which covers Texas and surrounding states, had also informed SpaceX that it violated the Clean Water Act with the same type of activity.

TCEQ said its agency’s office in the South Texas city of Harlingen, near Starbase in Boca Chica, received a complaint on Aug. 6, 2023, alleging that SpaceX “was discharging deluge water without TCEQ authorization.” “In total, the Harlingen region received 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the Facility’s deluge system,” the regulator said in the document.

Aerospace companies, including SpaceX, generally need to be in compliance with state and federal laws to gain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for future launches. SpaceX was seeking permission to conduct up to 25 annual launches and landings of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at its Boca Chica facility. Notices of violation could delay those approvals and result in civil monetary penalties for SpaceX, further probes and criminal charges. (8/12)

Conflicting Assertions at Starbase Could Halt Operations There (Source: SPACErePORT)
The FAA abruptly canceled a series of public meetings this week on the environmental impacts of SpaceX's proposed expansion of operations at the company's Starbase site. This was followed by CNBC's article that SpaceX has repeatedly released industrial wastewater associated with its new (not-yet-fully permitted) water deluge system. SpaceX responded with assertions that it has been operating the deluge system with the approval of state (TCEQ) and federal environmental (EPA) regulatory agencies.

SpaceX contends its use of "potable water" for the system, combined with various other mitigations, avoided any contamination of the water via "industrial processes" and prevented its release into the environment. But in the same response, SpaceX confirmed that "some" water is released (0.004 inches across the area) per deluge system use. SpaceX seemed to avoid admitting that mixing the potable water with rocket exhaust constitutes an "industrial process." that renders that water harmful to the environment.

ESG Hound, a frequent critic of SpaceX's industrial practices, wrote: "The FAA is obligated by law (in NEPA and in 14 CFR 3) to pull SpaceX's existing launch license, as described in the ROD/FONSI since the deluge system is not currently permitted (a requirement *prior* to operations)." The controversy is likely delay or halt SpaceX's Starship/Super Heavy operations at Starbase. (8/12)

SpaceX Plans First Human Spaceflight to Fly Over Earth’s Polar Regions (Launching From Florida) (Source: SpaceX)
As early as this year, Falcon 9 will launch Dragon’s sixth commercial astronaut mission, Fram2, which will be the first human spaceflight mission to explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over the Earth’s polar regions for the first time. Named in honor of the ship that helped explorers first reach Earth’s Arctic and Antarctic regions, Fram2 will be commanded by Chun Wang, an entrepreneur and adventurer from Malta.

Wang aims to use the mission to highlight the crew’s explorational spirit, bring a sense of wonder and curiosity to the larger public, and highlight how technology can help push the boundaries of exploration of Earth and through the mission’s research. Joining Wang on the mission is a crew of international adventurers: Norway’s Jannicke Mikkelsen, vehicle commander; Australia’s Eric Philips, vehicle pilot; and Germany’s Rabea Rogge, mission specialist. This will be the first spaceflight for each of the crewmembers. Falcon 9 will launch Fram2 to a polar orbit from Florida no earlier than late 2024. (8/12)

SpaceX Fram2 Commander is a Shady Bitcoin Dude (Source: Mark Camilleri)
I got to learn about Chun Wang thanks to a Chinese whistleblower who is revealing details about Wang Dongfeng (a Chinese politician who is the current secretary-general of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference) and his criminal network. Chun Wang is being accused of being part of Wang Dongfeng’s network. Chun Wang runs a large bitcoin mining operation in Russia and in 2023 was granted Maltese citizenship.

Maltese are European Union citizens and can travel visa-free to more than 180 countries, including the UK, USA, and Canada. Malta is known as a haven for tax evasion and has sold passports to various Russian oligarchs and powerful individuals. (8/12)

NASA Shoves 4 Volunteers Into Mars Mission Simulation Space for 45 Days (Source: Chron.com)
NASA once again shoved a group of people into a small receptacle, not to be seen for quite a while, all in the name of exploration. On Saturday, NASA posted a video showing four volunteers walking into its HERA habitat, an environment meant to simulate conditions of isolation that's parked safely within the confines of Johnson Space Center's Building 220. NASA says that these volunteers—Erin Anderson, Sergii Iakymov, Brandon Kent and Sarah Elizabeth McCandless—will stay inside HERA for 45 days to show how confinement affects astronauts on deep-space missions. (8/10)

Mars Society Gains Foothold in AI, Robotics and Biotechnology to Clear a Path to space (Source: Geekwire)
The Mars Society says it’s making progress on launching a startup incubator in the Seattle area, with artificial intelligence and biotech as its first targets. Its long-term goal? To make a profit, yes, but also to support the development of technologies needed to sustain settlements on the Red Planet.

“A successful Mars colony will need to be highly innovative, and it will have the chance to be highly innovative — and because of those facts, it will make inventions that will meet its own needs but also be licensable on Earth,” Mars Society President Robert Zubrin said last week at the nonprofit group’s annual conference at the University of Washington. (8/12)

What Space Policy Could Look Like After the 2024 Election (Source: The Hill)
We should not expect any abrupt changes in the direction of America’s space efforts, especially regarding the Artemis program. Nevertheless, whoever gets sworn in on Jan. 20 is going to face some monumental challenges going forward. Vice President Kamala Harris has been the chair of the National Space Council throughout the Biden administration, though she played less of a role in formulating space policy than Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence. Politico adds that Harris is enthusiastic about the Artemis program to return to the moon.

If former President Donald Trump wins a second term, we can expect more of the same as well, but with perhaps a greater focus on space than that of the Biden administration. The space portion of the 2024 Republican Party platform suggests an emphasis on commercial space and space exploration in a second Trump term. Since personnel determines policy, the person each candidate would appoint as NASA administrator is of keen interest.

Jim Bridenstine, who served as NASA chief during Trump’s first administration, would have to be at the top of the list if the former president wins a second term. Harris would have the option of keeping Bill Nelson on to run NASA, but Sen. Mark Kelly, (D-AZ) would be a good fit. Editor's Note: Space Florida and other Space Coast officials are optimistic they'll space-focused visits to Florida by both campaigns in September. (8/11)

Astronomers Find Unusual Lithium-Rich Star (Source: Cosmos)
A star has been spotted which suggests a stage of star growth exists which astronomers weren’t aware of. Stars’ fuel is the elements in their cores. Lighter elements – like hydrogen, helium and lithium – undergo nuclear fusion to create heavier elements like carbon and oxygen. The new star, however, given the roll-off-the-tongue name J0524-0336, has higher lithium than other stars of a similar age. In fact, it has more lithium than any star of any age. (8/11)

SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 on Monday with 23 Starlink Satellites (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites at sunrise Monday, capping a busy long-weekend for the launch company that saw three launches and two scrubbed countdowns over four days. The Falcon 9, making its 17th flight, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The successful liftoff came after two days of delay for the Starlink 10-7 mission. (8/11)