January 20, 2025

"We are an Aerospace State" - Ohio Prepares Millions in Incentives for Anduril Manufacturing Operations (Source: CBS News)
Anduril Industries is preparing to build a massive advanced manufacturing facility in central Ohio, adding a planned 4,000 jobs to the area's burgeoning high-tech sector, state officials announced. The Cosa Mesa, California-based defense technology company plans to begin construction of what it's calling "Arsenal 1" as soon as state and local approvals are secured. The 5 million-square-foot facility will be located on a 500-acre (202-hectare) site near Rickenbacker International Airport in rural Pickaway County, about 16 miles southeast of Columbus. Production of military drones and autonomous air vehicles would begin in July 2026 under the plan, said Christian Brose, Anduril's chief strategy officer.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said it is the largest single job creation and payroll project that Ohio has announced. The governor said winning Anduril's manufacturing plant marks a continuation of Ohio's history of advanced aviation, which began with the Wright brothers and continues to grow surrounding the Dayton-area Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. "We are an aerospace state," DeWine said. He called Ohio "the brains of the Air Force."

The Anduril project will pursue a job creation tax credit from the Ohio Department of Development and a $70 million infusion from the All Ohio Future Fund, which the DeWine administration and lawmakers established to help local governments prepare sites for economic development projects. JobsOhio also plans to provide the project with a sizeable grant, the exact amount of which will be announced once agreements are signed, as well as talent acquisition services. (1/18)

How 'Quantum Foam' May Have Inflated the Early Universe (Source: Space.com)
The early universe experienced a phase of rapid expansion, known as inflation. For decades, cosmologists assumed that this expansion was powered by a new entity in the universe, known as the inflaton. But new research suggests that it may have been possible to inflate the universe without anything new powering that inflation.

In a recent paper, astrophysicists describe a model where inflation happens, leading to the large-scale structure of the universe, without anything new powering it. The model starts with a description of space that is expanding due to a cosmological constant, much like the dark energy we observe in the modern-day cosmos. Within that backdrop, the quantum foam is doing its usual thing, which is to shake up space-time at submicroscopic scales. Under the right conditions, the gravitational waves triggered by the quantum foam can sometimes generate exactly the right kind of deformations in space. (1/19)

CLPS Overview: Lunar Locomotives (Source: CNBC)
The CLPS program (or Commercial Lunar Payload Services, colloquially pronounced “clips”) has about a dozen companies signed up, each represented by their own landers of all shapes and sizes. At $100 million to $200 million a pop, CLPS missions aren’t free — but they are comparatively inexpensive. Like most new space projects, the first CLPS flights launched years behind schedule. But I don’t think the timeline is what’s important here. With two missions last year, a third now on its way and a fourth launching shortly, speed on the lunar railroad is picking up. Click here. (1/17)

SpaceX Eyes Leak In Starship Upper-Stage Loss (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX said a leak may have caused a fire in Starship’s upgraded Block 2 upper stage, leading to the loss of the vehicle during the super-heavy lift launch system’s seventh test flight, while also signaling it would press ahead with plans for another mission in weeks. “Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said. (1/17)

Rocket Lab Lands Pair of Contracts (Source: LA Business Journal)
Rocket Lab USA Inc. scored two new deals this month for launches for two government agencies. In the first, the Long Beach space vehicle launch and manufacturing firm said that it had received a subcontractor agreement with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. in San Diego. And in the second, the company said Jan. 9 a mutual agreement with NASA has been reached to include Neutron launch services to the agency through Rocket Lab’s existing VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare launch services) contract.

Rocket Lab will join the Kratos-led team of subcontractors that will provide systems engineering, assembly, integration, and test, mission planning and execution and launch services for the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) 2.0 program. Rocket Lab will share in a five-year, $1.45 billion contract awarded to Kratos this month if all options are exercised, according to a release from the company on Jan. 7. (1/20)

Why Africa Must Join the Space Race (Source: Monitor)
By working with the African Union’s African Space Strategy and partnering with agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency, we can secure a seat at the table where humanity’s future is being decided. Africa, with its vast untapped potential, must seize this opportunity, as satellites offer innovative solutions to critical challenges. (1/20)

China Completes Three Rocket Engine Ignition Tests in Single Day (Source: Xinhua)
China successfully completed three ignition tests for liquid oxygen-kerosene engines on Sunday, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). This marks the first time that the country has conducted three ignition tests on two types of liquid oxygen-kerosene engines within a single day. The tests were carried out by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology, a subsidiary of CASC, at a facility in the Baolongyu area of Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (1/19)