Category: Civil

Aerojet Rocketdyne Makes Case for AR1

Aerojet Rocketdyne Makes Case for AR1

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 21, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 21, 2016 7:43 am ET

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Jim Simpson made the case for the new AR1 rocket engine yesterday explaining that its conservative design and low cost will meet mission assurance and affordability objectives desired by potential customers,   It is on schedule to be ready for certification by 2019 at a cost of $824 million — $536 million from the government plus $288 million from the company and its industry partners.

Simpson, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development, spoke to a media roundtable yesterday that was held in conjunction with the Air Force Association’s Air, Space, Cyber Conference.  Joining him was Steve Cook, Vice President for Corporate Development at Dynetics, a partner in the AR1 program.

The impetus for developing the AR1 is eliminating U.S. dependence on Russia’s RD-180 engines that power the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.  Atlas V is the workhorse for launching national security satellites and is also used for NASA and commercial spacecraft.

ULA agrees on the need to replace the RD-180, although there has been a long debate in Congress over the timing for doing so.  Originally Congress mandated that a new U.S.-built engine be ready by 2019 and prohibited ULA from acquiring RD-180s for use beyond that time. Agreement was recently reached, however, allowing the company to purchase RD-180s through 2022.

Nevertheless, 2019 remains the goal for developing a new engine to allow time for it to be tested and certified as part of a launch system that would be ready by the time RD-180-powered Atlas Vs are no longer available.

ULA plans to replace the Atlas V system with an entirely new rocket, Vulcan, by then.  It announced a partnership two years ago with Blue Origin to use its BE- 4 engine, which is now in development and also intended to be ready by 2019.  BE-4 uses an innovative propellant — liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquefied natural gas (methane) – instead of LOX/kerosene.

Aerojet Rocketdyne came forward with the AR1 as an alternative to BE-4.  ULA currently plans to choose between BE-4 and AR1 next spring.

Simpson acknowledged that BE-4 is the baseline engine for Vulcan, but he and Cook highlighted what they see as AR1’s advantages starting with the fact that it uses traditional LOX/kerosene and staged combustion and therefore has less risk than BE-4.  They pointed to the engine’s conservative design and Aerojet Rocketdyne’s long track record in rocket engine design, development and production as offering the mission assurance vital to national security satellites in particular.  Simpson added that Atlas Vs fitted with AR1s can use existing Atlas V launch pads, reducing costs as well.

Creating a low cost engine is part of the company’s plan, with a goal of $20-25 million for a pair of AR1s.   The use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) is one route to lower cost.  A 40,000-pound-thrust 3-D printed pre-burner was tested this week, Simpson said, and other components are under consideration, though specifics were not offered.  He said the new incremental-build approach to development will further lower costs.  Each element is built and tested and the system evolves gradually, instead of the test-fail-fix approach where full scale engines are built for testing.

If ULA retires Atlas V as planned and chooses BE-4 for Vulcan, AR1 still could be used for other customers, Cook stressed.  Among them is NASA, which is currently working on the first two versions of the Space Launch System (SLS) that will be able to launch 70 metric tons (MT) and 105 MT respectively.  A 130-MT version is planned for some time in the 2020s and AR1 could be used for that configuration, replacing the solid rocket strap-ons in the current design.

Cook managed the Ares rocket program at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center before joining Dynetics in 2009.  Ares was part of the Constellation program, which was cancelled the next year and subsequently replaced by SLS.

Cook explained that NASA and the Air Force each put $21 million into the development of advanced liquid boosters beginning in 2012 and although the effort – Advanced Booster Engineering Demonstration and/or Risk Reduction (ABEDRR) — was not directly related to AR1, it contributed to risk reduction for liquid propellant engines broadly.

Simpson said the Air Force has committed to spending $115 million for the first phase of AR1 development and a total of $536 million overall.   Aerojet Rocketdyne and its partners have already committed $77 million to date with a total of $288 million assuming the project goes forward.   He added that if the funding profile changes, so could the cost and schedule.

Last Updated: Sep 21, 2016 7:43 am ET
Senate Commerce and House SS&T Committees Approve Space Bills

Senate Commerce and House SS&T Committees Approve Space Bills

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 21, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 21, 2016 10:22 pm ET

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee each held markups today of  space-related legislation. The Senate committee approved the 2016 NASA Transition Authorization Act and the INSPIRE Women Act.  The House committee approved the TREAT Astronauts Act.  Congress is only scheduled to be in session for a few more weeks in 2016, but if all parties are sufficiently motivated to reach compromise, there is more than enough time to get the bills to the President’s desk before the end of the 114th Congress.

Senate 2016 NASA Transition Authorization Act, S. 3346

Several amendments were adopted to the version of the Senate NASA authorization bill that was introduced last week, S. 3346.  The bill has many wide-ranging provisions, but the main thrust is to provide stability to NASA’s human spaceflight program as a presidential transition nears.

The goal is to avoid the type of disruption that happened when President Obama took office and cancelled the George W. Bush-administration’s Constellation program.  The goal of that program was to return humans to the surface of the Moon by 2020 and someday send them to Mars.  After bitter negotiations, Congress passed and the President signed the 2010 NASA Authorization Act that set NASA on its current course of developing the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew spacecraft to send humans to orbit Mars in the 2030s and land sometime thereafter.  The current effort rejects the Bush Administration’s directive to return humans to the lunar surface (though NASA officials make clear they hope international and/or commercial partners might do so) and instead directs NASA to engage in the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) as a steppingstone to Mars.

The bill officially establishes in law that human exploration of Mars, including potential human habitation on the surface of Mars, is a NASA objective.  It lauds the progress made by the SLS and Orion programs and requires NASA to submit a critical decision plan and strategic framework laying out the details of how it will achieve the goal of landing humans on Mars.  The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, an industry advocacy group, praised the bill, especially provisions expressing the sense of Congress that the first uncrewed SLS/Orion mission — Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) — should take place in 2018 and the first crew mission, EM-2, in 2021.

The bill is decidedly less enthusiastic about ARM.  ARM has two components — the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) that will send a robotic probe to pluck a boulder from the surface of an asteroid and move it to lunar orbit, and the Asteroid Redirect Crewed Mission (ARCM) where astronauts will visit the boulder and collect samples to return to Earth. The bill questions the value of ARRM compared to its costs and requires NASA to submit a report on alternatives for demonstrating the technologies needed for the Mars goal.  However, it does not require that the program be terminated.

The bill authorizes $19.508 billion for NASA for FY2017.  It does not address funding beyond that one year, which begins October 1.  The total is the same as approved by the House Appropriations Committee in its version of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, which has not been considered by the House yet.  It is $202 million more than the Senate Appropriations Committee approved.  The money is allocated to NASA’s budget accounts in line with the Senate Appropriations CJS bill except that the extra $202 million is added to the Exploration account, which pays for SLS and Orion.

During the markup today, Senator Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) noted that the bill authorizes less for science and education than they received in FY2016.  Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida), the top Democrat on the committee and one of the bill’s sponsors, replied that the House Appropriations Committee’s CJS bill provides more for science and suggested Markey convey his concerns to his former House colleagues apparently in the hope that the appropriations bill would be more generous.   Authorization bills do not provide money at all, they just recommend funding levels.  Only appropriations bills actually give money to agencies like NASA.

The Planetary Society issued a statement praising the bill, especially the requirements for more details on the plans for getting humans to Mars, but it also “urged” NASA’s authorizing committees to work closely with appropriators “to ensure that funding for NASA’s leading science programs is sufficient to fully carry out the priorities” determined through the National Academies Decadal Survey process.

The bill is bipartisan.  It was introduced by three Republicans and three Democrats and most of the amendments also had bipartisan sponsorship.  The amendments mostly make refinements to existing language, but Senator Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) sponsored one that adds a new section directing NASA essentially to embrace satellite servicing for science and human exploration missions. 

The Gardner amendment requires the NASA Administrator to identify “orbital assets” in both of those mission directorates that could “benefit from satellite-servicing related technologies” and “evaluate opportunities for the private sector to perform such services or advance technical capabilities by leveraging the technologies and techniques developed by NASA programs and other industry programs.”

NASA is pursuing the RESTORE-L program, which is focused on demonstrating satellite servicing of a government satellite — Landsat 7 — in low Earth orbit (LEO).  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has its own program for servicing satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) — Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS).   Meanwhile, two companies are pursuing their own satellite servicing systems — Orbital ATK and SSL (formerly Space Systems Loral).  In an emailed statement to SpacePolicyOnline.com, Mike Gold, SSL Vice President for Washington Operations, thanked the committee for including the provision.  He called satellite servicing “a critical capability not only for NASA but for commercial activities and national security interests,” adding that “leveraging the commercial satellite servicing capabilities that will result” from programs like RESTORE-L and RSGS “represents a commonsense approach to maintain America’s space leadership” and create jobs.

One portion of the bill, entitled the “Scott Kelly Human Spaceflight and Exploration Act,” includes a section on “Medical Monitoring and Research Relating to Human Space Flight.”  It authorizes NASA to provide medical monitoring, diagnosis and treatment of current U.S. government astronauts and former U.S. government astronauts and payload specialists for psychological and medical conditions associated with their spaceflights. The House committee held a hearing on this topic in June and marked up a bill specifically on this issue today, which is discussed below.

House/Senate INSPIRE Women Act, H.R 4755

The Senate committee also approved the Inspiring Next Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act, H.R. 4755, without amendment.  The bill already has passed the House.  It requires the NASA Administrator to take steps to encourage women to study STEM education fields.   No money is authorized.

House TREAT Astronauts Act, H.R. 6076

The House committee approved the To Research, Evaluate, Assess and Treat (TREAT) Astronauts Act, H.R. 6076, which was introduced yesterday.  The committee held a hearing in June on the topic of lifetime medical care for astronauts.  Not all former astronauts are guaranteed medical care after they leave government service and NASA also wants to be able to monitor astronauts over their lifetimes
to determine any long term psychological and medical effects of
spaceflight. 

Committee chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) explained that the bill covers any gaps for former astronauts who are not covered by either the military’s TRICARE program or the civilian Federal Employees Claims Act.   Space Subcommittee chairman Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), who represents the district that includes NASA’s Johnson Space Center where many former astronauts live, called it a “common sense, fiscally responsible” bill to ensure former astronauts receive support for medical issues associated with their spaceflights.

This House bill and the provision in the Senate NASA authorization bill are tightly written as to who is covered, though the definitions are somewhat different.  Also, the Senate language is a “sense of Congress” provision that NASA “may” provide such medical services, while the House bill is directive, stating that the Administrator “shall” do it and goes into much more detail.

Last Updated: Sep 21, 2016 10:22 pm ET
Russia Sets New Launch Date for Soyuz MS-02, Will Reduce Russian Crews to Two

Russia Sets New Launch Date for Soyuz MS-02, Will Reduce Russian Crews to Two

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 20, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 20, 2016 7:03 am ET

Russia’s TASS news service reports today that the new launch date for Soyuz MS-02 is November 1.  The launch had been scheduled for this Friday, September 23, but was postponed for technical reasons.  Separately, Russia has decided to reduce the number of cosmonauts it has aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from three to two in order to reduce resupply requirements.

Soyuz MS-02 is the second launch of this new version of the Soyuz spacecraft.  It replaces the Soyuz TMA-M series.  The first Soyuz MS launch similarly was postponed for several days — from June 24 to July 7.  In that case, the problem reportedly was with a new docking system in this variant of the spacecraft.

Anatoly Zak at RussianSpaceWeb.com reports that the Soyuz TM-02 launch delay is due to a short circuit in the spacecraft and engineers are trying to determine the exact location — in the descent module or the instrument module.  Depending on the location of the problem, it could take weeks or months to remedy, or the Russians could substitute the Soyuz spacecraft intended for the next launch, Zak writes.

Today’s TASS announcement did not provide any details.   It quotes an unnamed NASA official at Russia’s mission control center as saying that a formal decision was made yesterday that the launch would take place on November 1.  (It is odd that Russia’s official news service could not get a Russian official to make a statement.)

Whenever it launches, it will take NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and two Roscosmos cosmonauts – Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko — to the ISS.  They will join three crew members already aboard — NASA’s Kate Rubins, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’s Anatoly Ivanishin.

The ISS typically has six crew members:  three from Russia, at least one American, and the other two from the United States or other partners (Japan, Canada, and Europe).  They rotate on 4-6 month schedules, traveling to and from ISS on Soyuz spacecraft, which can accommodate three people at a time.

Roscosmos decided earlier this month, however, that beginning with the launch of Soyuz MS-04 in March 2017 (a launch date that probably now will slip), only two Russians will be aboard until Russia launches its long-awaited science module, the Multirole Laboratory Module (MLM).   It is currently scheduled for launch in December 2017, but the launch date has been delayed a number of times.  Meanwhile, the Russian crew complement will be resized to reduce resupply requirements, allowing Russia to launch only three Progress cargo ships instead of four.

Last Updated: Sep 20, 2016 7:03 am ET
Senate Committee to Markup NASA Authorization, INSPIRE Women Bills

Senate Committee to Markup NASA Authorization, INSPIRE Women Bills

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 18, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 18, 2016 10:19 pm ET

The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will markup a new NASA authorization bill on Wednesday that focuses on the desire to avoid disruption to NASA’s human spaceflight program during the upcoming presidential transition.  It is one of several bills the committee will deal with that day, including the INSPIRE Women Act that passed the House earlier this year.  It is designed to encourage women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The 2016 NASA Transition Authorization Act, S. 3346, is co-sponsored by three Republicans and three Democrats:  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), the chair and ranking member of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness; Florida’s two Senators, Bill Nelson (D), who is the ranking member of the full committee, and Marco Rubio (R); Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi); and Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico).   Udall and Rubio both are subcommittee members; Wicker is on the full committee.

The 73-page bill incorporates changes to a draft that was circulated earlier, but the main themes remain the same.  Among the provisions are the following (quotes are from the committee’s press release or the bill itself):

  • affirms support for continuity across presidential administrations in space science and exploration, noting progress on development of the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion programs for deep space human exploration, on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and on commercial crew systems;
  • affirms that “NASA is and should remain a multi-mission agency with a balanced and robust set of core missions in science, space technology, aeronautics, human space flight and exploration, and education”;
  • supports utilization of the International Space Station through at least 2024 and requires an evaluation of the feasibility of operations through at least 2028, while also requiring a report from NASA on how to transform low Earth orbit from a “model reliant on government support to one reflecting a more commercially viable future”;
  • adds human exploration of Mars as an explicit goal and objective for NASA and requires NASA to submit a “strategic framework and critical decision plan” on how to achieve it;
  • directs NASA to continue the SLS and Orion programs with the first uncrewed mission in 2018 and the first mission with a crew “by 2021”;
  • requires a report from NASA evaluating alternatives to the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission for demonstrating technologies and capabilities needed for human trips to Mars;
  • asserts that it is U.S. policy to develop technologies to support NASA’s core missions, including propulsion technologies to reduce the human travel time to Mars;
  • expresses support for several space science missions, including JWST, its successor the Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope (WFIRST), the Mars 2020 rover, and a mission to Europa (the bill is silent on Earth science);
  • allows NASA to provide medical monitoring, diagnosis and treatment for current U.S. government astronauts and former astronauts and payload specialists for “psychological and medical conditions deemed by NASA to be associated with human spaceflight”; and
  • directs NASA to take steps to improve oversight of information technology and cybersecurity.

The bill authorizes $19.508 billion for NASA in FY2017, the same amount approved by the House Appropriations Committee in its version of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill.  That bill has not been considered by the House yet.   The amount is $202 million more than the Senate Appropriations Committee approved.  The authorization bill allocates the difference to NASA’s exploration account (which funds SLS and Orion).   Otherwise, the authorized amounts are the same as in the Senate Appropriations committee-approved bill.  The Senate bill was brought to the floor for debate in June, but was derailed by the gun control debate.

Authorization bills set policy and recommend funding levels; they do not actually provide any money.  Only appropriations bills provide money to agencies like NASA.

The House passed a NASA authorization bill in 2015 (H.R. 810) that can serve as a basis for compromise if both chambers want to pass a bill this year, even though time is short.  Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), chair of the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, has called on the Senate to pass a bill several times, most recently last week.

The other space-related bill scheduled for markup on Wednesday is the Inspiring Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act, H.R. 4755.  The House passed the bill in March.  The bill was sponsored by Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Virginia). There were no hearings or markups of the bill; it was introduced and went directly to the floor.  No funding is included in the bill.  It simply directs NASA to take steps to encourage women to study STEM fields and submit a plan on how NASA can facilitate and support current and retired astronauts, scientists, engineers and innovators to engage with K-12 female STEM students.

Last Updated: Sep 18, 2016 10:19 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy September 19-25, 2016 – UPDATE

What's Happening in Space Policy September 19-25, 2016 – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 18, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 19, 2016 8:26 am ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of September 19-25, 2016 (through next Sunday) and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

On Friday, Resources for the Future (RFF) will hold a memorial service for Molly Macauley at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C., from 3:30-5:30 pm ET.  All of Molly’s friends and colleagues are welcome to attend, but RFF would appreciate an RSVP so they know how many people to expect.   Please RSVP to specialevents@rff.org.   Molly, a renowned space economist and integral part of the space policy community for three decades, spent almost all of her career at RFF before her tragic death on July 8.

It will be a busy week before that.

The Senate plans to bring a Continuing Resolution (CR) to the floor
tomorrow (Monday) for a cloture vote.  If it gets 60 votes, the Senate
can proceed to debate, and, hopefully, pass it.  Word is that it will
keep the government funded through December 9. The bill reportedly has
controversial policy provisions (“poison pills”) that could delay its
approval, but rumors are that once it passes, the Senate will adjourn
until after the elections instead of remaining in session through the
end of the month.  That would put the House in the position of either
agreeing to the Senate bill or allowing the government to shut down on
October 1, which would not play well in the upcoming elections.  A budget deal was crafted last fall
by then-House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, and President Obama that set the spending limit for FY2017. 
The draft CR reportedly sticks to that agreement, but very conservative
House Republicans disapproved of the deal and are not happy at the
prospect of passing a CR that adheres to it (because it spends too much
on non-defense programs), so there is indeed a chance that a government
shutdown could occur. We think it is only a very small chance in an
election year, but as we’ve said many times, trying to predict what
Congress will do is risky.

The Air Force Association is holding its Air, Space, Cyber conference at National Harbor, MD (outside Washington, DC) Monday-Wednesday. Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James kicks it off tomorrow morning. There is no indication on the conference’s website as to which sessions might be livestreamed, but James tweeted an invitation yesterday for everyone to listen to her talk, so presumably hers will be, at least.  Hopefully AFA will make iivestreaming information available soon. [UPDATE: the link to watch James, from 10:20-11:15 am ET, is http://www.afa.org/airspacecyber/streaming.  Two other sessions Monday afternoon also will be livestreamed as noted at that site.  The list of livestreamed sessions for the rest of the conference are not posted yet.]

While that’s underway, on Tuesday, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Gen. John Hyten to become Commander of U.S. Strategic Command.  He currently is Commander of Air Force Space Command.  He seems to be well liked and respected on the Hill, so apart from the usual Senate challenges on getting any nomination approved (usually for reasons completely unrelated to the nominee), it should go smoothly.

On the civil space side, it’s Mars, Mars, Mars this week.  Explore Mars holds a seminar on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning on “Humans to Mars: Why, How, and When.”  On Wednesday afternoon, Lou Friedman, former executive director of the Planetary Society, will discuss his new book “Human Spaceflight From Mars to the Stars” at George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute. From Thursday-Sunday, the Mars Society holds its annual conference at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. 

The Senate Commerce Committee will markup its “NASA Transition Authorization Act” on Wednesday that, among other things, seeks to protect NASA’s human spaceflight program — which is aimed at sending humans to Mars in the 2030s — from any major changes as the result of the upcoming presidential transition. Congress directed NASA to build a new, big rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and a crew spacecraft to go with it (Orion) in the last NASA authorization act that became law (in 2010).  It has diligently ensured that the Obama Administration (through NASA) implements those programs, often providing more funding than the President requested.  They want to make sure a new President doesn’t disrupt that effort the way President Obama did when he came into office and cancelled President Bush’s Constellation program. The NASA authorization bill is one of several bills the committee will markup that day, including the STEM education-related INSPIRE Women bill that the House passed earlier this year.

SLS is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and its Director, Todd May, will address the Space Transportation Association on Capitol Hill on Thursday.  Also speaking to STA on Thursday is the President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Naoki Okumura.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for other events we learn about later and add to our Events of Interest list.

Monday-Wednesday, September 19-21

Tuesday, September 20

Tuesday-Friday, September 20-23

Wednesday, September 21

Wednesday-Thursday, September 21-22

  • Dent:Space, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA

Wednesday-Friday, September 21-23

Thursday, September 22

Thursday-Saturday, September 22-24

Thursday-Sunday, September 22-25

Friday, September 23

  • RFF Memorial Service for Molly Macauley, Metropolitan Club, Washington, DC, 3:30-5:30 pm ET (please RSVP to RFF at specialevents@rff.org)
Last Updated: Sep 19, 2016 8:26 am ET
Russia Postpones Soyuz MS-02 Launch Due to Technical Reasons

Russia Postpones Soyuz MS-02 Launch Due to Technical Reasons

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 17, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 17, 2016 10:12 am ET

Russia’s Roscosmos state space corporation announced today that the launch of Soyuz MS-02, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed for technical reasons.  A new launch date will be announced later. This is the second flight of this new version of the Soyuz spacecraft.  The first also was postponed close to launch.

Roscosmos posted the news on its website, saying (using Google translate):  “Roscosmos decided to postpone the planned September 23, 2016 launch of the spacecraft ‘Soyuz MS-02’ for technical reasons after routine tests at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.  The launch date of the spacecraft will be announced later.”

Soyuz MS-02 will take three crew members to the International Space Station (ISS):  NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Roscosmos’s Andrey Borisenko and Sergey Ryzhikov.  When they do launch, they will join three ISS crew already aboard:  NASA’s Kate Rubins, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’s Anatoly Ivanishin.

This is second flight of this new version of the Soyuz spacecraft — Soyuz MS — which replaced the Soyuz TMA-M series.  The first Soyuz was launched in 1967 and it has gone through several modifications over the decades, each with its own designation.  The MS version has improved solar arrays, a new digital computer, and a new docking system among other upgrades.

The first Soyuz MS launch, Soyuz MS-01, also was delayed.  The reasons were never officially speciified, but indications were that it was an issue with the docking system. Originally scheduled for June 24, it launched on July 7 instead.  Because this is a new version of Soyuz, the decision was made to take the longer 2-day trajectory to ISS to check out the spacecraft instead of the abbreviated 6-hour route used in recent years.  Soyuz MS-02 also will take the 2-day path.

Soyuz spacecraft have been the only means for taking crews to and from ISS since the United States terminated the space shuttle program in 2011.  NASA is engaged in public private partnerships with SpaceX and Boeing to build new “commercial crew” vehicles — Crew Dragon and CST-100 Starliner, respectively — that NASA hopes will begin routine flights in 2018 (test flights may occur next year).  Until then, Soyuz is the only one.  Soyuz is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Last Updated: Sep 17, 2016 10:12 am ET
Spire, GeoOptics Win First NOAA Commercial Weather Data Contracts

Spire, GeoOptics Win First NOAA Commercial Weather Data Contracts

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 15, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 16, 2016 7:09 am ET

NOAA made its first two awards today under the Commercial Weather Data Pilot program created by Congress last year.  The winners are Spire Global and GeoOptics, both of which will provide radio occultation data to NOAA for evaluation to determine whether commercial data can be incorporated into NOAA’s numerical weather models.

Congress provided $3 million to NOAA in the FY2016 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations act (Division B of the FY2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act) for the pilot program.  It required NOAA to enter into at least one pilot project through an open competitive process to purchase, evaluate and calibrate commercial weather data and to submit a report on how it would implement the project.  NOAA publicly released that report in April.

The idea originated in the House-passed Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (H.R. 1561) sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK).  Bridenstine chairs the Environment Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee and also serves on the House Armed Services Committee.  He led efforts to include a provision in the pending FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act for DOD to create a similar program.

Under the contracts, the two companies will provide GNSS radio occultation data to NOAA by April 30, 2017 to demonstrate data quality and potential value to NOAA’s weather forecasts and warnings.  NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) will assess the data through the end of FY2017 and issue a report in early FY2018.  The contract award amounts were $370,000 for Spire and $695,000 for GeoOptics.

GNSS refers to Global Navigation Satellite Systems, of which the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) is probably the best known and most widely used.

NOAA already uses GPS radio occultation (GPO-RO) data in its forecasts.  The data are acquired by the six-satellite COSMIC constellation, a joint program with Taiwan.  NOAA is requesting funds for a COSMIC-2 follow-on.

RO data are acquired by very small satellites (microsatellites or nanosatellites) that use signals from GPS or other GNSS systems to make measurements of temperature and water vapor throughout the lower parts of the atmosphere.  When combined with data from polar-orbiting weather satellites, better weather forecasts are enabled.

Thousands of RO measurements per day are useful and COSMIC provides 2,000-3,000.   COSMIC-2 will provide about 10,000, but commercial sources can increase the total to 50,000-100,000, the upper limit in terms of when costs would outweigh benefits according to NESDIS Assistant Administrator Steve Volz.

NOAA called the contract awards a “win-win” because both NOAA and the companies will “gain a trial run of the NOAA evaluation process, a necessary first step to considering sustained operational use of new commercial weather data.”

The cautious phrasing underscores that this is a pilot program only.  NOAA officials express concern about whether the commercial data are accurate, reliable and verifiable.  The pilot project will allow NOAA to assess those characteristics.   NOAA also worries about whether the commercial data can be made available globally in conformance with its obligations to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since companies typically restrict sharing of their data.  That issue is still being debated.

Bridenstine and House SS&T Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) praised the awards in a joint statement today.  Smith said he hoped these were just the first of many such contracts and thanked the two companies for their “leadership, ingenuity, and entrepreneurial spirit.”  Bridenstine noted that the awards show “there is great potential for the government to leverage this new industry.”

GeoOptics CEO Conrad Lautenbacher, a former NOAA Administrator, said his company looks forward to demonstrating that commercial data “can enable the unmatched efficiencies of the private sector to help NOAA accomplish its vital mission to protect and inform the public.” 

Last Updated: Sep 16, 2016 7:09 am ET
Babin Wants Regulatory Rethink for Commercial Space

Babin Wants Regulatory Rethink for Commercial Space

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 13, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 14, 2016 5:29 am ET

Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) wants a complete rethinking of the government’s role in regulating new commercial space ventures like asteroid mining.  Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) has been championing an expansion of the regulatory authority of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST), an approach also endorsed by the Obama Administration. The FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) will discuss a draft Bridenstine bill tomorrow.  Babin is saying wait — expanded government regulation may not be the answer.

Babin chairs the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space, and Technology (SS&T) Committee and gave a comprehensive address on the topic at a Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) breakfast meeting this morning.  Offering historical examples of where government attempts to regulate new technologies were “ill-conceived,” he contended that other ways should be found to satisfy U.S. obligations “without stifling innovation or smothering the embers of creativity.”

The issue stems from U.S. government obligations to authorize and continually supervise the space activities of non-government entities, like companies, under Article VI of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.  Babin defended the Treaty itself, saying it is “just as relevant today” as it was 50 years ago.  It was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly on December 19, 1966; opened for signature on January 27, 1967; and entered into force on October 10, 1967.  He characterized negotiations over the treaty in that Cold War era as reflecting two very different philosophies, communism and freedom.  “Fortunately, the United States position was accepted” and Article VI allows for non-government entities to engage in space activities freely.

Another positive feature is that the treaty does not dictate how signatories should fulfill their Article VI obligations, he pointed out, leaving it up to each nation.  Today, as innovative non-traditional space activities are emerging, the United States needs to decide what to do, but it should not quickly jump to the conclusion that more regulation is the answer. “While some may see regulations as the easiest way to ‘check the box’ on satisfying our international obligations … I would challenge all of you to explore more creative options.”

Section 108 of last year’s Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA) required a report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) recommending an approach.  The report was delivered to Congress earlier this year recommending that FAA/AST’s authority be expanded to approve “mission authorizations” for companies that want to build space stations in Earth orbit, create lunar bases, mine asteroids, or other non-traditional commercial space activities.  That approach is favored not only by OSTP and FAA/AST, but by Bridenstine who has been in the forefront of raising these issues in Congress and the space policy community.

Some of the companies interested in non-traditional space activities are represented on COMSTAC, which provides advice to FAA/AST.  It is scheduled to discuss a draft Bridenstine bill tomorrow at 3:00 pm ET via teleconference.  The meeting is open to the public (dial-in instructions are available here.)

Babin wants other options considered, however.  He feels the OSTP proposal places the burden on companies to demonstrate their consistency with U.S. obligations, foreign policy and national security when it should be the other way around.  “Instead, we should have a regime in which the private sector activities are presumed authorized and only after the government has met certain conditions can it place restrictions on an activity.”

He is particularly concerned about language in the OSTP proposal that requires interagency concurrence.  He noted that it is very similar to requirements NOAA must observe in granting licenses for commercial remote sensing satellites.  NOAA is supposed to make decisions on license applications within 120 days, but that has turned into three years for one applicant, with no information provided on who in the interagency process objects, why, or when a resolution might be forthcoming.  Babin does not want the same fate for the new non-traditional commercial space efforts.  He used the NOAA example to counterbalance arguments that FAA/AST’s authority should be expanded so companies can have regulatory certainty to ease investor concerns.  With regulations like that, he argued, uncertainty is created, not resolved.   His subcommittee held a hearing on NOAA’s commercial remote sensing license process last week (SpacePolicyOnline.com will post a hearing summary soon).

Babin cited FAA/AST’s recent approval of an application by Moon Express to launch a lunar lander as an example of how the current system can be made to work, but argued that Moon Express should have had a “framework — not necessarily predicated on federal regulations — that presumes their activity is authorized and places the burden on the government to demonstrate otherwise.”   Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards said that it took about 7 months for the company to get that approval by going to each involved government agency and voluntarily disclosing information each needed to sign off. 

“America is great because it is a country where you have the freedom to create without government permission. … Whether or not our system of values will be carried by the future pioneers of outer space will likely hinge on the degree to which America is able to unleash the awesome power of freedom and protect against government regulatory intervention.”

Babin went on to discuss Space Traffic Management (STM) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA), two other areas where expanded FAA/AST authorities are being discussed.  Babin argued that other options with greater private sector involvement should be explored.  “That isn’t to say that nothing can or should be done [by the government], just that we should be cognizant of existing authorities and consider a wide array of solutions, rather than resorting to the crutch of regulatory expansion.”

He plans “substantive hearings” once several outstanding reports required by CSLCA are delivered and “legislative solutions, if necessary.”

Last Updated: Sep 14, 2016 5:29 am ET
Blue Origin Reveals Its Heavy Lift Rocket — New Glenn

Blue Origin Reveals Its Heavy Lift Rocket — New Glenn

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 13, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: November 28, 2016 10:54 pm ET

Blue Origin has announced plans to test a heavy lift rocket, New Glenn, by the end of the decade.  It will be more capable than SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, but smaller than NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS).  Blue Origin plans to use New Glenn to launch humans as well as cargo into space.

Named in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, the rocket will come in 2- and 3-stage versions.  Like Blue Origin’s current New Shepard rocket (named for Alan Shepard, the first American in space), it will launch and land vertically and be reusable (first stage only).  New Shepard is a suborbital rocket that uses Blue’s BE-3 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen (LOX) engines.  New Glenn will use Blue’s BE-4 engines, the first engines to use a liquefied natural gas (methane)/LOX combination.

Blue’s development of the BE-4 is well known.  The United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced a partnership with Blue exactly two years ago to use BE-4 engines for its new Vulcan rocket, expected to debut around the end the decade, although it subsequently decided to also consider Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR1.  It will choose one of the two in the next few months.

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, who is also President of Amazon.com, has hinted at his development of a large orbital rocket before and yesterday’s announcement revealed the company has been working on it for three years already.  Bezos released a graphic comparing the two versions of New Glenn with other past, present and future rockets.


Graphic credit:  Blue Origin
Editor’s Note:  Antares (U.S. – Orbital ATK), Soyuz (Russia), Ariane 5 (Europe), Atlas V (U.S.-United Launch Alliance), Falcon 9 (U.S.-SpaceX), and Delta IV Heavy (U.S.-United Launch Alliance) are currently operational orbital launch vehicles.  Vulcan (ULA), Falcon Heavy (SpaceX) and New Glenn (Blue Origin) are in development.  Saturn V (NASA) was used to launch Apollo astronauts to the Moon and the Skylab space station; its last flight was in 1973.

New Glenn is 23 feet in diameter and launches with 3.85 million pounds of thrust from seven BE-4 engines, Bezos said in a statement.  The 2-stage version is 270 feet tall, while the 3-stage variant is 313 feet tall.  The two use the same first and second stages (the second stage is powered by a single BE-4). The third stage uses one BE-3 engine.

The first launch of New Glenn is planned before the end of this decade from Launch Complex-36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Bezos plans to use it to launch commercial satellites as well as humans into space and he added that the 3-stage version can fly “demanding” missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), although he was not explicit about the nature of those missions.  LEO is a popular orbit for some commercial and many government satellites (the International Space Station is in LEO, for example), but most commercial satellites are placed into geostationary orbit high above the equator, so it is not unusual or demanding for rockets to be able to launch missions beyond LEO, even far into the solar system like the New Horizons mission to Pluto that launched on ULA’s Atlas V.

The terminology has come to be used in recent years, however, to refer to human missions to the distance of the Moon and beyond.  Bezos did restate his vision of  “millions of people living and working in space” and asserted that New Glenn is just one step in that direction:  “Up next on our drawing board: New Armstrong.  But that’s a story for the future.”

That rocket would be named in honor of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon.

Interestingly, Bezos omitted NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) from the graphic, using a Saturn V for comparison instead.  NASA is building SLS to send astronauts beyond low Earth orbit.  Its first test flight is scheduled for late 2018.   Three versions are planned — 70, 105, and 130 metric tons (MT) to LEO.  The largest would be slightly greater in capability than the Saturn V.   The 70-MT version, which will launch in 2018, is 322 feet tall and its engines will generate 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.  The 130-MT version will be 365 feet tall with 9.2 million pounds of thrust.

SLS critics assert that there is no need for the government to pay for a new big rocket because SpaceX and Blue Origin are moving forward on their own and NASA can buy launch services from them.  NASA does not own any launch vehicles today (the space shuttle was the last, and that program ended in 2011).  It purchases services from companies like SpaceX, ULA, and Orbital ATK.   SLS advocates argue that SLS will be much more capable than any of the commercial designs and is required for challenging missions such as sending humans to Mars.  The need to ensure a strong U.S. industrial base is another argument often used to explain the need for the government to continue to be involved in building new rockets. 

SLS is an expensive undertaking.  NASA has released a cost estimate for the program only through the first launch (Exploration Mission-1) — $7 billion for development or $9.78 billion if formulation costs are included.  That excludes costs for associated ground systems at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.   The Government Accountability Office is skeptical of NASA’s cost estimating procedures, however, and no estimate has been released for the program beyond the first flight.  SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft and NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development Bill Hill reportedly said his goal is for SLS, Orion and their ground systems to cost no more than $2 billion per year for production and operation once development is complete. That is only a goal, however, and still would represent a sizeable percentage of NASA’s budget every year for the indefinite future.

Blue Origin’s announcement may add fuel to the debate over the need for SLS, although it has strong support in Congress.  It was Congress, in fact, that insisted NASA build a new, big rocket in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act after President Obama cancelled the Constellation program.  Begun under President George W. Bush, Constellation was designed to send humans back to the surface of the Moon and someday to Mars using a rocket called Ares V.   Development of that rocket was, indeed, terminated by President Obama, but Congress replaced it with SLS.  The SLS program is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) chairs the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA and is an ardent SLS supporter.  It has strong support from others in the Senate and the House, as well as NASA itself.

One complaint about SLS is that it will be launched so infrequently — at most, once a year — that its safety could be undermined because launch crews will not maintain their proficiency.  Against that backdrop, the market for New Glenn seems soft unless Bezos’s vision of millions of people living and working in space is realized.

Last Updated: Nov 28, 2016 10:54 pm ET
Still Time for a NASA Authorization Bill This Year? – UPDATE

Still Time for a NASA Authorization Bill This Year? – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: September 13, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: September 15, 2016 10:02 pm ET

UPDATE, September 15:  The Senate Commerce Committee will markup the Senate version of a FY2017 NASA authorization bill on September 21 at 10:00 am ET.

Original Story, September 13, 2016: Rumors have been circulating for months that NASA’s authorization committees will try to get a new NASA authorization bill enacted before the 114th Congress gavels to a close at the end of the year. Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) yesterday again exhorted the Senate to act on a NASA authorization bill the House passed last year and a Senate draft bill — different from that one — is circulating, but time is getting short.  One goal is to provide stability to NASA during the presidential transition and passage of legislation would give Congress a chance to get its policy choices formally on the table.

The House passed a FY2015 NASA authorization bill by voice vote in February 2015.  Although the funding recommendation were only for that fiscal year, which is long past, the policy provisions were adopted on a bipartisan basis.  Some have been overtaken by events, but Babin, who spoke at a Commercial Spaceflight Federation breakfast meeting yesterday morning, called it a “perfectly good bill” and urged the Senate to pass it or “quickly work with the House to negotiate a compromise.”   He noted that the House and Senate versions of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, which includes NASA, are in a “mature” stage and their funding levels could be “reconciled” into a new authorization bill.

Authorization bills set policy and recommend funding levels, but only appropriations bills actually provide money to agencies like NASA.

The last NASA authorization act was enacted in 2010.   Its policy provisions remain in force, but the funding recommendations were only for three years, FY2011-FY2013.

Babin chairs the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s Space Subcommittee.  The committee approved a more recent bill for FY2016 and FY2017 (H.R. 2039), but on a strictly party-line basis because, among other things, it recommended deep cuts to NASA’s earth science program that Democrats strongly opposed.  No further action has occurred on that bill.

The FY2015 bill, H.R. 810 (itself is an update of a FY2014 bill that passed the House, but not the Senate), avoided highly charged partisan issues. The 128-page bill covers a lot of ground.  

A 49-page staff draft of a Senate authorization bill for FY2017 is circulating that is more narrowly focused, but at a top level has similar themes.  One key point on which the bills agree is that human exploration is a core NASA mission.  Both bills support continued use of the International Space Station (ISS) and sending humans to Mars and other locations in deep space.   Both want more details from NASA on how that will be accomplished.  H.R. 810 requires NASA to develop and provide to Congress a “Human Exploration Roadmap” detailing capabilities and technologies needed.  The draft Senate bill calls for a “strategic framework” and a “critical decision plan.”  Both require that the role of international and commercial partners be included.

One focus of the draft Senate bill not included in H.R. 810 is stability at NASA during the presidential transition.  It includes a “sense of Congress” section that “the United States, in collaboration with its international and commercial partners, should sustain and build upon our national space commitments and investments across Administrations with a continuity of purpose…”  As discussed at a recent hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee that oversees NASA, there is bipartisan concern that NASA’s programs could be disrupted again as they were when President Obama took office and cancelled the Constellation program begun under his predecessor, George W. Bush. 

It should be noted that passage of a new NASA authorization bill may not provide any such assurance, however.  Congress passed two NASA authorization laws supporting Bush’s Vision for Space Exploration and its Constellation program to return humans to the lunar surface by 2020 and then go on to Mars.   One passed in 2005 when Republicans controlled Congress, the other in 2008 when Democrats were in control.  The pair of laws signaled not only bipartisan congressional consensus, but agreement between the White House and Congress on the path forward for human exploration, a long sought goal of human spaceflight advocates who had seen earlier presidential initiatives fail to win congressional support.

The existence of those laws did not, however, deter President Obama from cancelling Constellation after a review by a blue ribbon panel concluded that NASA’s budget would have to ramp up to $3 billion more per year to implement it.  Similarly, a new President could decide that the current program, with the goal of putting astronauts in orbit around Mars in the 2030s, is unaffordable.

Another place where H.R. 810 and the draft Senate bill agree is skepticism about the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) as one of the elements of that plan to get to Mars.  At the time H.R. 810 was written it was called the Asteroid Retrieval Mission and the bill requires a report explaining the need for and cost of the program.  The draft Senate bill points out that the cost for ARM has risen and the NASA Advisory Council has raised concerns, and the program is competing for resources with other aspects of the human exploration program.   It does not call for the program to be terminated, but offers a sense of Congress statement that alternatives should be considered for demonstrating the technologies needed for the humans-to-Mars mission and requires a report from NASA on those alternatives.

NASA’s earth science program remains contentious in Congress, with many House and Senate Republicans arguing that NASA should focus on space exploration, not studying Earth, which other agencies could do.  Democrats insist that earth science research from space is a key aspect of NASA’s science program and no other agency launches earth science research satellites.  NOAA is responsible for operational weather satellites and until recently was planning to launch some climate research sensors, but the White House decided to transfer those to NASA.   H.R. 810, written in 2015, apparently foresaw such a turn of events and stated that if NASA is given additional responsibilities in earth science, the White House needed to provide it with additional money.   The draft Senate bill is silent on earth science policy.

As for funding, the figures in H.R. 810 are no longer relevant. The draft Senate authorization bill would authorize $19.508 billion, the same total that is in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill.  The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $19.306 billion, which is $202 million less.  The draft Senate authorization bill allocates that $202 million to the Exploration account.  NASA’s other accounts are funded at the same level as in the Senate Appropriations Committee’s bill.

Congress is scheduled to be in session for the rest of this month before adjourning until after the November elections, although there are indications that the Senate may leave earlier than that if it can pass a FY2017 Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funded for the first part of FY2017.   If it does, that would compress the time for reaching agreement on a NASA authorization bill.  H.R. 810 and the draft Senate bill are similar enough to provide a basis for compromise, but different enough to prevent one.  It is a matter of how motivated the involved parties are to pass a bill prior to this next presidential transition.

Last Updated: Sep 15, 2016 10:02 pm ET

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