August 8, 2024

How Spaceports Can Enable the Space Economy (Source: George Nield)
After decades of space operations in which governments and government space agencies led the way, we are now seeing significant changes in how space activities are being conducted, with private industry playing a major role. This new way of doing business is resulting in lower costs, increased innovation, and a significant uptick in the number of launches taking place every year. Because everything that happens in space begins with a launch from Earth, spaceports are becoming more important every day as a key contributor to the global space economy.

But spaceports are not limited to just being the locations from which rocket launches take place. Instead, they can also serve as focal points and technology hubs, with a wide range of aerospace activities that significantly benefit economic growth. With the appropriate changes to law, regulation, and policy, spaceports can enable and even accelerate the ongoing growth in the global space economy. Click here. (7/25)

No Consensus Yet on Starliner Crew's Return From ISS... Possibly in February (Source: Space News)
NASA expects to decide by the middle of the month whether the astronauts who flew to the ISS on Boeing's Starliner can return on that spacecraft. At a briefing Wednesday, agency officials said they are considering a contingency plan where Starliner returns to Earth without Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts who flew to the station on Starliner in June. NASA would instead launch the upcoming Crew-9 Crew Dragon mission with just two crew instead of four, freeing up seats for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth at the conclusion of that mission early next year. NASA engineers are continuing to study thrusters on Starliner that malfunctioned during its approach to the ISS two months ago, with no consensus yet whether they are safe enough for a crewed return to Earth. (8/8)

Spain's Indra to Acquire Deimos Smallsat Manufacturer (Source: Space News)
A Spanish defense contractor is acquiring a smallsat manufacturer as part of efforts to set up a space company. Indra, one of Spain's largest defense contractors, said Wednesday it will acquire Deimos, a smallsat manufacturer, from Spanish energy giant Elecnor for an undisclosed sum. The deal is projected to close by the end of the year. Indra's shareholders approved a plan in June to spin off its space assets into a new company, dubbed Space NewCo, with the goal of generating a billion euros in annual revenue by the end of the decade. (8/8)

China Constellation Launch Created Much Debris in Orbit (Source: Space News)
Another Long March 6A launch has created debris in low Earth orbit. Both commercial space tracking company Slingshot Aerospace and the U.S. Space Force said they were tracking debris from Tuesday's launch of the first set of Qianfan, or "Thousand Sails," satellites on a Long March 6A. Slingshot said it was tracking more that 50 pieces of debris. Launches of the rocket last month, and in November 2022, also created debris. The state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, which designed and produces the rocket, has yet to comment on the incidents. (8/8)

PLD to Begin Launch Pad Development at French Guiana Spaceport (Source: Space News)
PLD Space plans to soon start building launch facilities for its Miura 5 rocket in French Guiana. The Spanish startup says work converting the Diamant site at the Guiana Space Center for use by Miura 5 will begin by October. PLD Space, Germany's Isar Aerospace and a handful of other small European launchers are working with France's CNES space agency to convert the site, abandoned decades ago, into a multi-use facility. PLD Space expects to conduct a first launch of Miura 5 next year and enter commercial service in 2026. (8/8)

Smallsat Launches Decline as Satellites Grow Bigger (Source: Space News)
The number of smallsats projected to launch in the next decade is declining as satellites get bigger. A study by Novaspace presented at the Small Satellite Conference this week projected 14,500 smallsats will launch in the next decade, down from 23,000 smallsats in last year's forecast. The company said it no longer includes Starlink satellites in its forecast because those satellites now weigh more than 500 kilograms, the threshold it uses to define smallsats.

Such spacecraft have been getting heavier in recent years as developers seek to pack more capabilities into them. The report also warned that, despite the large number of smallsats still expected to launch in the next decade, more than 90% are being developed internally or are otherwise captive and thus not open to competition among smallsat manufacturers. (8/8)

Oxford Space Systems Deployed Special Antenna on Ymir-1 Maritime Satellite (Source: Space News)
Oxford Space Systems says it successfully deployed its Yagi very high frequency, high gain antenna. The antenna is installed on the Ymir-1 maritime communications satellite developed by AAC Clyde Space, Saab and Orbcomm. The antenna, which was stowed in a 1U cubesat volume before deployment, enables maritime communication through the VHF Data Exchange System. (8/8)

Little Place Labs Software to Support Maritime Awareness (Source: Space News)
Little Place Labs announced a contract to deploy software to Loft Orbital's YAM-6 satellite. The Houston-based startup plans to use its software on YAM-6 to support maritime domain awareness applications through real-time processing of data collected by the satellite. Loft Orbital launched YAM-6 in March with a variety of cameras and sensors for use by multiple customers. (8/8)

Lunar Exploration Requires a Lot of Infrastructure (Source: Space News)
Future lunar exploration requires significant infrastructure. Specialists from NASA, industry and academia took part in a workshop last month with a goal of orchestrating an enduring human presence on the lunar landscape. That work includes developing landing pads, habitats and other structures needed for crewed missions that have to handle a harsh environment that includes moonquakes and sandblasting by regolith thrown up by the plumes of spacecraft landing and taking off. (8/8)

Polaris Dawn Set for August 26 Launch (Source: Space.com)
A private astronaut mission is now scheduled to launch late this month. The Polaris program announced Wednesday that it has scheduled the launch of Polaris Dawn for Aug. 26. The mission will fly four people on a Crew Dragon and features the first spacewalk on a private mission. The mission has suffered extensive delays, most recently when a Falcon 9 launch anomaly bumped its launch form the end of July. The delayed Crew-9 mission allowed Polaris Dawn to launch late this month. (8/8)

McBride Passes at 80 (Source: CollectSpace)
Jon McBride, an astronaut who flew on an early shuttle mission, has died at 80. McBride, a U.S. Navy pilot, was part of the "TFNG" astronaut class of 1978 and flew as pilot on STS-41G in 1984, his only trip into space. He later worked at NASA Headquarters before retiring in 1989, going to work in private industry and running unsuccessfully for governor of West Virginia in 1996. (8/8)

Raytheon Internships Advance Saudi Aerospace Industry (Source: Times Aerospace)
Raytheon Saudi Arabia has launched its 2024 internship program, welcoming students from universities and technical institutes across the kingdom. This summer-long program provides hands-on experience in various functions such as human resources, digital technology, and logistics, supporting Saudi Arabia's goals for industrial localization and workforce development. (8/7)

Back to School - Search NASA STEM Resources and Opportunities (Source: NASA)
As a new school year begins, NASA's Office of STEM Engagement is here to help put an out-of-this-world spin on your lessons. NASA offers a variety of platforms and resources to support kindergarten through college educators in bringing the excitement of exploration and discovery to students in the classroom and beyond. From in-depth lesson plans to supplemental videos and activities, the resources below can help educators develop an out-of-this world curriculum and create unforgettable experiences for their students. Click here. (8/5) 

Astrobotic Wins NASA Contract for Large Lunar Solar Array Development (Source: Space Daily)
Astrobotic has been chosen by NASA for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award worth about $150k to create an Extra Large Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT-XL) for the Moon. The VSAT-XL, measuring 34m in height and 12.5m in width, is set to become the largest planned lunar power infrastructure to meet increasing energy needs on the lunar surface. Building on the 10kW lunar VSAT already being developed by Astrobotic under a current NASA contract, the VSAT-XL is a deployable, relocatable, self-leveling, sun-tracking solar-powered system. However, it aims to boost power output from 10 kW to 50 kW. (8/8)

LeoLabs Secures $20M in New Contracts in H1 2024 (Source: Space Daily)
LeoLabs, a leader in space monitoring solutions, announced it secured over $20M in contracts during the first half of 2024. This milestone has driven a revenue growth of over 100% year-over-year, highlighting the company's growing dominance in Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and Space Traffic Management (STM). In early 2024, LeoLabs secured new contracts to support SDA and STM missions for a growing global clientele. Key clients include the U.S. Space Force, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and several undisclosed U.S. and international government entities. (8/8)

Russian Space Agency Says Break With West Cost $2.1 Billion (Source: Space Daily)
Russia's space agency on Monday said the break with the West following Russia's offensive in Ukraine had cost it nearly 180 billion rubles ($2.1 billion).
As part of sanctions against Moscow following the start of Russia's campaign, Western countries broke off partnerships with Roscosmos in the space sector. "The termination of contracts by unfriendly countries cost Roscosmos 180 billion rubles," Andrei Yelchaninov, deputy head of the Roscosmos agency, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

One of the collaborations what was halted was the cooperation on a planned joint mission to explore Mars with the European Space Agency. Roscosmos also suspended launches of its Soyuz rockets from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Yelchaninov said the agency planned to make up for the lost revenues by doing more business with countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. (8/5)

Florida Highway Patrol Wins Cruiser Competition, with Spaceport Photo Op (Source: FHP)
Today, the American Association of State Troopers (AAST) announced the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) as the 2024 winner of its annual America’s Best Looking Cruiser Competition. With the invaluable support of our partners at Space Florida and the crucial assistance from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), FHP was able to secure a photo taken at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport during the liftoff of a ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket. (7/29)

Florida's Space Coast Braces for SpaceX's Monster Rocket (Source: Wall Street Journal)
This is hallowed ground for the U.S. space program, where NASA set the course for moon landings decades ago. But Florida’s Space Coast, as this stretch of palm trees, subdivisions and rocket pads is called, has never seen anything quite as otherworldly as Elon Musk. Musk’s space company wants to launch Starship, the Earth’s largest and most powerful rocket, dozens of times annually from the Cape in the years ahead.

The rocket from SpaceX towers nearly 400 feet at liftoff—more than the Statue of Liberty—and is at the center of NASA’s plan to return to the moon and Musk’s ambition to colonize Mars. (8/7)

Space Command Lists Capability Priorities for FY-2027 Budgeting (Source: Aviation Week)
U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) has submitted a wish list of capability needs to the Joint Staff to help inform the Pentagon’s budgeting process for fiscal 2027, its commander Gen. Stephen Whiting said. Missile defeat effects that can take on transregional ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile threats, as well as air-launched and ground-launched direct ascent threats, top the command’s integrated priority list for fiscal ’27.

The concept of missile defeat involves providing effects to “deny, delay, disrupt and degrade” missile threats in coordination with global combatant commands, the intelligence community, joint staff, interagency, and Office of the Secretary of Defense. Army officials have called missile defeat the “next logical step” beyond missile defense, and included it in its 2023 Unified Command Plan publication.

The command’s priority list also includes space fires to help the U.S. military establish space superiority, Whiting said. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Commander Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey described space fires from the service perspective as non-kinetic capabilities that support the Army’s ability to conduct offensive fires. (8/6)

Orbit Fab’s RAFTI In-Space Refueling Port Qualified By U.S. Space Force (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force has designated Orbit Fab’s in-space refueling port as an interface for the in-space fueling of military satellites. The Space Systems Command’s System Engineering Review Board recommended the fueling port after assessing the Rapidly Attachable Fuel Transfer Interface (RAFTI). (8/6)

Space Force Officials Pitch Plan to Clean Fuel-Soaked Soil on Sacred Maui Mountaintop (Source: Stars and Stripes)
The Department of the Air Force wants to cleanse fuel-soaked ground on Maui’s tallest peak, considered sacred in Native Hawaiian culture, by venting soil still in place and airing out contaminated soil previously excavated. About 700 gallons of diesel fuel spilled in late January 2023 at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex atop the 10,000-foot summit of Haleakala, a dormant volcano.

The Maui-based 15th Space Surveillance Squadron, which is part of Space Delta 2, operates the complex. The Air and Space Force already face resistance to a plan to expand the facility by building new telescopes to track objects in space. (8/7)

Shotwell Says Starlink is Very Interested in BEAD (Source: Fierce)
Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, revealed SpaceX was working with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on some “structural elements” to determine if SpaceX will bid for Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) projects. Despite Musk's recent bashing of BEAD, Shotwell said SpaceX is “very interested in participating” in BEAD. And she thinks satellite is going to be a necessary technology to reach the most far-flung places.

On a curious note, she did express concern about the government taking over ownership of a broadband network if a private company fails to deliver. “I’ve put over $10 billion into Starlink that the government hasn’t paid for. If I participate in BEAD, I don’t want the government to say, ‘I can take over your network,'" she commented but did not elaborate further. (8/6)

Are Russia and China Planning to Send Nuclear Weapons Into Space? (Source: National Interest)
U.S. deterrence strategy has long centered on its ability to tailor both conventional and nuclear response options to a wide range of different contingencies, as well as deliberate ambiguity surrounding when it would use nuclear weapons. Both these concepts would be thrown out the window if a nuclear anti-satellite weapon were detonated today. While the exact capabilities of Russia's space weapon are unknown, it is likely to pose as much a threat to its own satellites as it is those of the United States. (8/6)

Reshaping the Future of Space Robotics (Source: Aerospace Corp.)
A team of engineers and scientists have developed a novel technology, called the Autodynamic Flexible Circuit, that will enable new adaptable and resilient approaches for space robotics, satellites and other innovations for space exploration and operations. 

While conventional flex circuits have been used in spacecraft for decades, they don’t move on their own. They’re either static or have to be moved by external forces. While not useful for every application, combining a flexible circuit board with the actuator it powers creates new options and affords greater adaptability for some and allows the exploration of new concepts with drastically reduced volume and mass. (8/7)

Why Did NASA Set Up Operations in Houston? Water. Resources. Political finagling. (Source: Houston Chronicle)
When thinking about the origins of Johnson Space Center, the NASA hub located 25 miles southeast of downtown Houston, I think about a comment by criminal/philosopher Herbert McDunnough: “Well this whole thing is just who knows who. Then over here, you have favoritism.” A memo from James Webb, the second administrator of NASA, to President Kennedy via Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, set out eight “essential criteria” for the future home of the space center.

Those included transportation, with a “first-class all-weather commercial jet service airport,” as well as water access “to transport by barge large, cumbersome space vehicles.” Proximity to the long-line telephone system was needed, as was industrial infrastructure. A “culturally attractive community” was also on the list for recruitment. And they wanted proximity to institutions of higher learning. A strong utility system, readily available water, space to grow and a mild, “ice-free” climate were also sought. So, Houston. But plenty of places in Florida, Louisiana and California offered these, too. Finessing ensued. Finagling ensued.

A small group of local political and power players worked together to make the space center happen here. Houston Congressman Albert Thomas confirmed in June 1961 that NASA was looking for a site for its Manned Spacecraft Center. As the chair of the House Appropriations committee, Thomas had some sway. He and Johnson wanted NASA based here. In August 1961, a NASA inspection team visited Houston, where they met with Thomas, Johnson (who was chair of the National Space Committee) and Kenneth Pitzer, president of Rice University. One month later, Webb announced plans for a $60 million center in the Houston area. (8/6)

Space Flight Laboratory to Build Two More Microsatellites for GHGSat (Source: SpaceQ)
Toronto based Space Flight Laboratory developers of a variety of small satellite platforms and technology, announced at this years Small Satellite Conference that GHGSat has contracted them to build two more greenhouse gas monitoring microsatellites, GHGSat-C12 and C13. Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) had previously built nine GHGSat microsatellites, the last being GHGSat-C8 which was launched in 2023. The two new microsatellites, already under development, will once again use the SFL designed 15-kg NEMO bus and “be identical in design and technical capabilities to GHGSat-C6, C7, C8.” (8/6)

China Begins Launching a Megaconstellation, and it Sounds a Lot Like Starlink (Source: Ars Technica)
Chinese officials have long signaled their interest in deploying a satellite network, or maybe several, to beam broadband Internet signals across China and other nations within its sphere of influence. Two serious efforts are underway in China to develop a rival to SpaceX's Starlink network, which the Chinese government has banned in its territory. The first batch of 18 satellites for one of those Chinese networks launched into low-Earth orbit Tuesday.

SSST's network was previously known as G60 Starlink, referencing a major cross-country highway in China and the project's intent to imitate SpaceX's broadband service. Thousand Sails may eventually consist of more than 14,000 satellites, but like other Internet megaconstellations, the size of the fleet will likely grow at a rate commensurate with demand. It will take many years for SSST to deploy a 14,000-satellite constellation, if it ever does. SpaceX has rolled out several generations of Starlink satellites to offer new services and more capacity to meet customer uptake. (8/6)