Category: Commercial

ULA's Atlas V Ready to Launch MUOS-5 – UPDATE

ULA's Atlas V Ready to Launch MUOS-5 – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 22, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 24, 2016 2:18 pm ET

UPDATE, June 24, 2016:  The launch was successfully conducted at 10:30 am ET today.

ORIGINAL STORY, June 22, 2016: The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is getting ready to launch an Atlas V rocket on Friday, the first since an anomaly occurred on a March 22 launch that placed the Orbital ATK OA-6 Cygnus cargo spacecraft into orbit.  Friday’s launch of a military communications satellite, MUOS-5, originally was planned for May 5, but was delayed while ULA and its suppliers diagnosed and fixed the problem.

During the March 22 launch, the Atlas V first stage engine shut down 6 seconds early.  Fortunately, the Centaur second stage was able to compensate for the under-performance of the first stage.  It fired 60 seconds longer than planned, placing the OA-6 Cygnus spacecraft into the proper orbit and allowing it to successfully dock with the International Space Station (ISS) and deliver supplies.  Cygnus just completed its mission today and reentered Earth’s atmosphere.  It is not designed to survive reentry.  (Cygnus departed from the ISS on June 14 and then was used for the SAFFIRE-1 experiment where a fire was intentionally started inside the capsule to study how fire evolves in microgravity.  Later, several small “cubesats” were ejected into orbit before Cygnus itself made its final maneuver into a destructive reentry.)

Atlas V is powered by Russia’s usually highly reliable RD-180 engine.  ULA quickly traced the problem to the RD-180’s fuel system and in late April specified that it was the RD-180’s Mixture Ratio Control Valve.  In a June 15 statement, ULA went further in explaining what happened:  “at approximately T+222 seconds, an unexpected shift in fuel pressure differential across the RD-180 Mixture Ratio Control Valve (MRCV) and a reduction in fuel flow to the combustion chamber caused an oxidizer-rich mixture of propellants and a reduction in first stage performance. The imbalanced propellant consumption rate resulted in depletion of the first stage oxidizer with significant fuel remaining at booster engine shutdown. The engine supplier has implemented a minor change to the MRCV assembly to ensure the anomaly does not occur on future flights.”

ULA’s Atlas V is used for a broad range of military and civilian space launches and the company insists that it will launch all of its 2016 scheduled missions by the end of the year.  That includes NASA’s asteroid sample return mission OSIRIS-REx, scheduled for September.  Use of the RD-180 engine for national security launches is currently the topic of intense congressional debate and the U.S. goal is to build a U.S. alternative to it.

Friday’s launch of the Navy’s fifth Multiple User Objective System (MUOS-5) communications satellite from Cape Canaveral, FL is scheduled for 10:30 am EDT.  The window is open until 11:15 am EDT.  The weather forecast is 80 percent favorable.  ULA typically webcasts its launches.

Last Updated: Jun 24, 2016 2:18 pm ET
Atlantic Council Experts Argue for New "Proactive Prevention" National Security Space Strategy

Atlantic Council Experts Argue for New "Proactive Prevention" National Security Space Strategy

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 21, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 21, 2016 11:27 pm ET

In a report for the Atlantic Council, Theresa Hitchens and Joan Johnson-Freese argue that the incoming administration needs to relook at U.S. national security space strategy.   Instead of relying on alliterative slogans whose meanings are unclear, a goal-oriented strategy – “proactive prevention” — is needed to ensure that space remains usable for future generations and conflict in space is avoided.

Hitchens is a senior research scholar at the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Maryland and former director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).  Johnson-Freese is a professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and an expert on China’s space program.  The two discussed the paper at an Atlantic Council event on June 17, where Johnson-Freese stressed that the viewpoints are her own, not those of DOD or the Navy.

During the early years of the Obama Administration, two catch phrases became popular:  that space is “congested, contested and competitive”(the three Cs) and that the United States must maintain the ability to “deter, defend, and, if necessary, defeat” (the three Ds) efforts to attack U.S. or allied space assets.

While both have coexisted in U.S. space policy throughout the Obama Administration, the early focus was on the three Cs and the need to develop international agreements on how to ensure that space is “sustainable” for use in the future and not ruined, for example, by the growth of space debris.

A Chinese antisatellite (ASAT) test against one of its own satellites that created more than 3,000 pieces of debris in 2007 and a collision between an active U.S. Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian Kosmos satellite in 2009 added considerably to the population of debris in low Earth orbit.  Those events catalyzed U.S. efforts to create Transparency and Confidence Building Measures (TCBMs) through the United Nations.   In parallel, the European Union drafted a Code of Conduct (CoC) to define what constitutes good behavior in space so that countries could understand what constitutes bad behavior in the eyes of the international space community.  The idea was that peer pressure would encourage countries to behave well and not recklessly add to the space debris problem, for example.

Hitchens and Johnson-Freese argue that all that changed in 2013 when China tested an ASAT weapon that reached geostationary orbit (GEO).   Until then, all ASAT tests – by the United States, Soviet Union/Russia, and China – threatened only satellites in lower orbits.   While those are very important, Hitchens argues that the most critical national security satellites are those in GEO, which until then was thought to be a “sanctuary” where satellites were safe from attack. The 2013 Chinese test changed the threat perception and hardened U.S. attitudes.  Attention shifted to the three Ds (deter, defend, defeat).  At about the same time, Europe’s Code of Conduct effort essentially fell apart.

Today, Johnson-Freese and Hitchens argue that the United States needs to reassess what its goals are in space and how to achieve them rather than using the “bumper stickers” of the three Cs and three Ds or “scaring people” with recent rhetoric about the need to increase spending for space security by $5 billion and last year’s 60 Minutes segment with Gen. John Hyten and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James discussing “The Battle Above.”

They describe their paper as a starting point for discussion that begins with the premise that the goal is to avoid conflict in space since the United States is heavily dependent on satellites not only for national security purposes, but for everyday life.  In fact, they argue that civil government agencies like NASA and NOAA as well as industry must be involved in generating a new national security space strategy – a “holistic” approach – since they are also deeply involved in space activities.

Hitchens and Johnson-Freese propose a “proactive prevention” strategy “aimed squarely at preventing a space conflict, while also preparing to win one if need be.”  Their paper is published on the Atlantic Council website.

Last Updated: Jun 21, 2016 11:27 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy June 20-25, 2016

What's Happening in Space Policy June 20-25, 2016

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 19, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 19, 2016 4:31 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of June 20-25, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

The Senate is scheduled to continue debate on the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill this week, which funds NASA and NOAA   It got off to a rocky start last week when a Democratic filibuster over gun control in the wake of the Orlando tragedy held up action for about a day (as its name implies, the bill also funds the Department of Justice), but agreement was reached to allow votes on gun control amendments and debate on the bill resumed.  The House schedule for the coming week still was not posted as of Sunday afternoon.  The House meets only in pro forma session tomorrow, then will meet for legislative business Tuesday-Friday before taking off a week plus a bit for the July 4 holiday.

On Wednesday, the Aviation Subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee will hold a rare hearing on commercial space transportation.  The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) is under the jurisdiction of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, but T&I has jurisdiction over the rest of the FAA and some commercial space transportation-related activities are handled by other parts of the FAA.  For FY2017, for example, in addition to the $19.8 million for AST, FAA is requesting $2.0 million as part of a $20 million request for Air Traffic Management (ATM) in the Facilities and Equipment (F&E) account and $2.953 million for commercial space transportation safety in the Research, Engineering and Development (RE&D) account.  The ATM funding is for integrating commercial launches into the National Air Space, a growing issue with the rise in the number of orbital and suborbital launches — and in the case of the Dragon spacecraft, landings — that require aircraft to avoid certain areas.  FAA/AST head George Nield, COMSTAC’s Mike Gold and Michael Lopez-Alegria, GAO’s Gerald Dillingham, and Taber MacCallum from World View Enterprises are the witnesses.  World View Enterprises plans high altitude (stratospheric) balloon flights for tourists and counts Alan Stern and Mark Kelly as members of its executive team.

Speaking of launches, NASA Wallops Flight Facility Director Bill Wrobel will speak to the Maryland Space Business Roundtable on Tuesday.  Wallops is getting ready for the return to flight of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket, although that has been delayed to August.

Still speaking of launches, China reportedly is getting ready for the first launch of yet another new rocket from a brand new launch site, possibly on Saturday.  China had inaugural launches of two new rockets last year, both at the smaller end of the capability scale (Long March 6 and Long March 11) from existing launch sites.  The upcoming launch is the first from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island.  China has not officially announced a launch date, but there are rumors it will be on June 25 (which might be June 24 Eastern Daylight Time depending on the launch time).  China has big plans for Wenchang, which will also be the home of the new Long March 5 rocket, expected to achieve its first launch later this year.  Long March 7 is a mid-sized rocket (13.5 metric tons to LEO), while Long March 5 will be China’s most capable rocket ever at 25 metric tons to LEO.   (The largest U.S. rocket is the Delta IV, which can place 28.4 metric tons into LEO.)  The newer Long March rockets use more environmentally friendly fuel and are intended eventually to replace the older models (Long March 2, 3 and 4).

Also on Saturday, Politicon 2016 will be starting in Pasadena, CA.  The Planetary Society (TPS) has a panel discussion scheduled for 2:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time on “How We Get to Mars.”   A June 16 tweet from TPS’s Director of Advocacy Casey Dreier identifies the panelists as TPS CEO Bill Nye, former Hill staffer Bill Adkins (now President of Adkins Strategies, LLC), and former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver (now General Manager of the Air Line Pilots Association).

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday afternoon are shown below.  Check back throughout the week for new items added to our Events of Interest list that we learn about later.

Tuesday, June 21

Tuesday-Thursday, June 21-23

Wednesday, June 22

Saturday, June 25

Last Updated: Jun 19, 2016 4:31 pm ET
Antares Return to Flight Pushed Back to August

Antares Return to Flight Pushed Back to August

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 17, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 17, 2016 9:14 pm ET

The return to flight of Orbital ATK’s Antares rocket will be sometime in August rather than July 6.  The company is still analyzing data from its May 31 hot fire test and the timing of the launch also depends on other activities on the International Space Station (ISS).

The July 6 date has always been tentative, but in an emailed statement to SpacePolicyOnline.com today, Orbital ATK confirmed the slip to August.

“We are continuing to prepare for the upcoming launch of the Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-5 cargo logistics mission to the International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Our Antares team recently completed a successful stage test and is wrapping up the test data analysis. 

“Final trajectory shaping work is also currently underway, which is likely to result in an updated launch schedule in the August timeframe.  A final decision on the mission schedule, which takes into account the space station traffic schedule and cargo requirements, will be made in conjunction with NASA in the next several weeks. Also, our Cygnus spacecraft for the OA-6 mission successfully undocked from the space station and hosted the Spacecraft Fire Experiment-I (Saffire). The team is now performing the final OA-6 mission milestones.”

The delay was first reported by Space News.

Orbital ATK uses Antares to launch Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS.  An October 2014 attempt failed 15 seconds after launch because of a problem with its AJ26 engine, a version of a Russian NK-33 engine built in the 1970s and refurbished by Aerojet Rocketdyne.  The company decided to replace the AJ26/NK-33 engines with new Russian RD-181s.   Two RD-181s are needed for each launch instead of one AJ26/NK-33. 

A hot fire test of the re-engined Antares with two RD-181s took place on May 31 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island, VA, the launch site for Antares.

While awaiting the Antares return to flight, Orbital ATK has launched two Cygnus cargo craft to ISS using United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rockets.  Those were the Orbital ATK (OA)-4 and OA-6 missions.  OA-6 just departed from the ISS and will reenter Earth’s atmosphere on July 22.  The Antares return-to-flight mission is OA-5.  The sequence is out of order because OA-5 was intended to take place between OA-4 and OA-6, but Antares was delayed and the decision was made to keep the mission designations with their launch vehicles (OA-4 and -6 on ULA’s Atlas V; OA-5 on Orbital ATK’s Antares).

Last Updated: Jun 17, 2016 9:14 pm ET
Blue Origin to Livestream Sunday's New Shepard Test Launch – UPDATE

Blue Origin to Livestream Sunday's New Shepard Test Launch – UPDATE

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 17, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 19, 2016 1:32 pm ET

UPDATE, June 19, 2016:   The test was successfully conducted.

ORIGINAL STORY, June 17, 2016: Blue Origin will conduct another test  launch of its reusable New Shepard rocket on Sunday, June 19, 2016.  The often secretive company, owned and headed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, not only announced this test in advance, but will livestream it on the Internet.

The test was originally scheduled for today (June 17), but was delayed because of a technical issue.  It is now scheduled for 10:15 am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Sunday; the webcast will be available on Blue Origin’s website beginning at 9:45 am EDT.

New Shepard is designed to take passengers on suborbital spaceflights and not only return them to Earth, but the rocket as well.  The passengers will ride inside a capsule that is ejected from the rocket during its descent and lands using parachutes.  The purpose of this test is to determine if the capsule could land successfully if one of its three parachute strings fails. No one will be aboard this flight.

Bezos emphasized in a tweet that this one-chute-out test is a demonstration flight and “anything can happen.”

This is the fourth flight of the same New Shepard rocket.  Blue Origin’s test launch facilities are in West Texas.

Last Updated: Jun 19, 2016 1:32 pm ET
House Passes FY2017 Defense Appropriations Bill Cutting EELV Funds

House Passes FY2017 Defense Appropriations Bill Cutting EELV Funds

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

The House passed the FY2017 Defense Appropriations Bill ( H.R. 5293) today by a vote of 282-138. No space-related amendments were adopted so those provisions remain as they were in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the bill.  The Obama Administration threatened to veto the bill as reported from committee in part because it cuts funding for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.

The House bill addresses several national security space issues — from SBIRS to AEHF to weather satellites — but steers clear of the fractious RD-180 rocket engine controversy in terms of how long they may be used and how many may be purchased (a battle which may finally be over).  However, it does require that in future competitions, the award is to be made to the provider that offers the best value — not necessarily the best price — to the government.  The United Launch Alliance (ULA) argues that it cannot compete with SpaceX on price, but its 100 percent mission success rate is a valuable factor that should count in its bids. (Mission success means that the satellite was placed into the intended orbit, even if problems may have occurred during the launch.)

A separate controversy has arisen this year, however, over how many EELVs the Air Force may buy in FY2017.  The request was for $1.501 billion to buy five EELVs, but the House committee decided two were “early to need.”

The report accompanying the House bill did not offer a further explanation, but the Senate Appropriations Committee also denied funds for two of the EELVs and made clear why — exasperation over delays in the new Operational Control Segment (OCX) needed for the newest version of GPS satellites, GPS III.  The Senate committee also recommended dramatic changes in the OCX program, but in terms of launches, it concluded there is no point in launching GPS III satellites if the ground system is not ready. The two launches for which funding was denied are for GPS III satellites.

In its report (S. Rept. 114-263), the Senate Appropriations Committee disagreed with the
Air Force’s plan to launch six GPS III satellites before 2019 because of the
OCX delays. OCX is “needed to launch, checkout, and ultimately integrate
and operate the GPS III satellites with the legacy GPS architecture” and
“will not be ready for many years. … The committee sees no
justification for launching so many satellites without a system in place to
operate them.”

As for OCX itself, the Senate committee recommended termination of OCX Blocks 1-2 (a
reduction of $259.8 million) and add $30 million for “operational M-code
risk mitigation for OCS,” a net reduction of $229.8 million.  OCS is
the Operational Control System, the existing ground system for GPS satellites.

The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978 and the system was declared
operational in 1993.  GPS signals are ubiquitous around the globe for
positioning, navigation and timing (PNT).  A constellation of 24 GPS
satellites is needed for global three-dimensional (latitude, longitude,
altitude) coverage and the satellites have been upgraded several times over the
years, moving through block changes with various designations.  The Air
Force currently has 31 operational satellites that use several
versions of the GPS II series.  The newest version is GPS IIF and the last
of those satellites was launched in February.  GPS III satellites were
supposed to begin launching in 2014, but the date has slipped repeatedly. 
The first currently is scheduled for May 2017.  Lockheed Martin is
building the first eight GPS III satellites and that effort also has been beset
by delays.

Because of the delays in OCX, the Air Force is working on an interim
solution so that the various GPS II satellites and the new GPS III version can
work as an integrated system.  The Senate committee concluded, however,
that the interim solution will not enable all of the capabilities of all the
versions, especially the Military code (M-code), “a key warfighting
need.”  It said the OCX program “remains in jeopardy,” with
a current cost estimate of $2.3 billion, 160 percent above its original
estimate of $886 million.  Although DOD put forward a plan with another
2-year delay, “the contractor and the Air Force believed that a more than
4-year additional delay was likely necessary.”

Consequently, the Senate committee wants the Air Force and the contractor,
Raytheon, to ensure the interim solution — enhancing OCS — works and added
$30 million to enable M-Code broadcast capabilities.   It wants OCX Block
0 completed, but called for terminating funding for OCX Blocks 1 and 2.

The House bill fully funds OCX and no comment about it was made in the committee’s report.  The schedule for Senate consideration of its version of the defense appropriations bill has not been announced.

The Obama Administration’s Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on the House bill said it would eliminate three, not two, EELV launch service procurements as the committee intended, and introduce cost and schedule risk for national security satellites. 

Last Updated: Jun 16, 2016 7:15 pm ET
Senate Reaches Agreement on Russian RD-180 Engines

Senate Reaches Agreement on Russian RD-180 Engines

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 14, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: February 19, 2022 10:28 pm ET

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) brokered an agreement among Senators who have been at sharp odds over how to transition U.S. rocket launches away from reliance on Russian RD-180 engines to a new American-made engine.  The Nelson amendment passed the Senate this morning by voice vote as part of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  The NDAA itself then passed the Senate by a vote of 85-13.

In brief, the compromise sets December 31, 2022 as the end date for awarding contracts to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Atlas V launches of national security satellites that would use RD-180 engines.  It also limits to 18 the number of RD-180s that can be used between the date that the FY2017 NDAA is signed into law (enacted) and that end date.

Sen. Nelson’s office provided SpacePolicyOnline.com with a copy of the amendment as passed.

The amendment that passed originated as one written by Nelson and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), that was then modified by one from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).  McCain chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) and has been the strongest voice for limiting the number of RD-180s to half that approved by this compromise and for a 2019 cut-off date.

The issue has pitted McCain and SASC against Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) of the Senate Appropriations Committee, creating a schism between the Senate committees that authorize DOD activities (SASC) and pay for them (Appropriations).

Durbin praised Nelson for being the “bridge over troubled waters” who was able to find a compromise between the starkly different positions.

The Nelson amendment also settles a related issue.  The version of the FY2017 NDAA that emerged from SASC (S. 2943, S. Rept. 114- 255) would have prevented the Air Force from awarding launch contracts to bidders that use rocket engines from Russia, basically making ULA’s Atlas V ineligible for future contracts.  The defense appropriations bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee (S. 3000, S. Rept. 114-263) conversely said that awards could be made to any certified provider regardless of the rocket engine’s country of origin. The compromise states that contracts may be awarded to any certified launch service provider, but Russian engines may be used only for launches in the phase 1(a) and phase 2 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) procurements.  Phase 2 runs through 2022.  (The Government Accountability Office has a useful report that explains the EELV procurement strategy and its different phases.)

The amendment does not specify RD-180s, but instead bounds the use of Russian rocket engines generally for national security launches.  ULA is currently the only company that offers national security launch services using rockets powered by Russian engines, but the language would apply to any company offering such services.  Orbital ATK, for example, uses Russian RD-181 engines for its Antares rocket, which launches cargo spacecraft for NASA to the International Space Station.  If it were to bid for EELV launches, it presumably would be subject to these limits.

Also, although the cut-off date of December 31, 2022 is for awarding contracts, the limit on the number of engines — 18 — refers to how many may be “used” between the date the law is enacted and that date.

The House passed its version of the NDAA last month.  It permits 18 engines and allows any certified provider to win launch contracts.  The two chambers must reach agreement on the NDAA overall, but while there are still some differences on this issue, it appears to be close to resolution.

Note:  This article has been updated and clarified to say that December 31, 2022 is the date through which contracts may be awarded regardless of the rocket engine’s country of origin, rather than the date by which they must be used.

Last Updated: Feb 19, 2022 10:28 pm ET
What's Happening in Space Policy June 13-18, 2016

What's Happening in Space Policy June 13-18, 2016

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 12, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 12, 2016 5:53 pm ET

Here is our list of space policy events for the week of June 13-18, 2016 and any insight we can offer about them.  The House and Senate are in session this week.

During the Week

The Senate will resume consideration of the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Monday, with the hope that it can be completed quickly.  The Senate agreed to close debate on the bill on Friday and complete all debate by 11:00 am ET on Tuesday.  It then will vote on germane amendments and passage of the bill.   Debate over a Nelson-Gardner amendment regarding Russian RD-180 engines took up a good part of Friday, but no vote was taken.  They want to set December 31, 2022 as the end date for using RD-180s, whereas Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain insists on 2019, which was set in law by a previous NDAA.  The Nelson-Gardner amendment also does not mention how many engines may be procured, while McCain insists on only nine more.  The RD-180 debate has been covered extensively by SpacePolicyOnline.com already and will not be repeated here.

Senate leadership wants to finish NDAA and move on to the FY2017 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill, which funds NASA and NOAA among other agencies.

The House plans to take up the FY2017 Defense Appropriations bill this week.  The House Rules Committee will meet on Tuesday to decide which amendments may be offered.  Assuming they agree, the bill will move to floor debate promptly.  The House has passed two of the 12 regular appropriations bills so far (Military Construction-VA and Legislative Branch), while a third (Energy-Water) was defeated.  The Senate has passed three (Energy-Water, and a single bill that combined MilCon-VA and Transportation-HUD). 

The Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology (SS&T) Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday afternoon on “Human Spaceflight Ethics and Obligations: Options for Monitoring, Diagnosing and Treating Former Astronauts.”   This issue of lifetime health care for astronauts has been percolating for years.  It concerns what ethical obligations the government has to provide medical care to astronauts once they leave the corps as well as the useful medical information NASA could gain from following them as the years pass.  The issue was raised as long ago as 2001 in the Safe Passage report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM, now the National Academy of Medicine).  A 2014 IOM report raised the same issues as did an October 2015 report from the NASA Inspector General. The 2005 NASA authorization act directed NASA to consider the need for establishing a lifetime health care program for NASA astronauts.  NASA determined that it needs specific legislative authority to do so and has proposed legislation since then, but it has not been enacted.  The House-passed 2015 NASA authorization act (H.R. 810) directs NASA to respond to the IOM recommendations, but the Senate has not acted on that bill.  Wednesday’s hearing will bring attention to the issue (and there are those who believe that a NASA authorization bill could still get passed by the end of the year).  Scott Kelly, who just returned from a U.S. record-setting 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Michael Lopez-Alegria, who previously held the record for the longest continuous U.S. human spaceflight and is now President of the Association of Space Explorers, and Chris Cassidy, head of the astronaut office at Johnson Space Center, are among the witnesses.  The list also includes Secretary of Labor Tom Perez; the chairman of the 2014 IOM study, Jeffrey Kahn; and NASA Chief Medical Officer Richard Williams.  The House SS&T committee typically webcasts its hearings.

On a totally different subject, Joan Johnson-Freese and Theresa Hitchens will discuss a paper they recently co-authored for the Scowcroft Center at the Atlantic Council on Toward a New National Security Space Strategy on Friday.  Johnson-Freese is a professor at the Naval War College and author of several books on national security space and China’s space program.  Hitchens is currently a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland after serving as head of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).  Mike Gruss from Space News will also participate in the discussion.  (We’ve inquired as to whether it will be webcast.  If we find out, we’ll post the information on our Events of Interest list.)

It will be busy up in space this week, too.   On Tuesday, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft will depart from the ISS.  Five hours later, a fire will erupt inside the spacecraft as part of an experiment called SAFFIRE to observe how fires evolve in microgravity.   The robotic spacecraft is not designed to survive reentry, so it is a good candidate for such research.   Miles O’Brien had an excellent segment about the experiment on the PBS NewsHour last week.   

Then on Saturday, three crew members (NASA’s Tim Kopra, ESA’s Tim Peake, and Roscosmos’ Yuri Malenchenko) will return home.  NASA TV provides live coverage as usual.  Landing is at 5:12 am Eastern Daylight Time.

Those and other events we know about as of Sunday morning are shown below.  Check back throughout the week to see what’s been added to our Events of Interest list.

Sunday-Friday, June 12-17

Monday, June 13

Tuesday, June 14

Wednesday, June 15

Thursday, June 16

Friday, June 17

Saturday, June 18

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2016 5:53 pm ET
Busalacchi: Decadal Survey Needed for Weather Forecasting Enterprise

Busalacchi: Decadal Survey Needed for Weather Forecasting Enterprise

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 9, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 9, 2016 2:46 pm ET

Antonio (Tony) Busalacchi, Jr., the incoming President of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), called for a Decadal Survey to set a strategy for the U.S. weather forecasting enterprise similar to those conducted for earth science and space sciences.  Busalacchi was one of the witnesses at a congressional hearing on the private sector’s role in weather forecasting that also included Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, President of Spire Global, one of the companies interested in selling satellite data to NOAA.

The hearing before Rep. Jim Bridenstine’s (R-OK) Subcommittee on Environment of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee was generally friendly, although some Republican members asked questions that tried to shift the focus to climate change or suggested that NOAA was not as open to partnering with the private sector as it should be.  Busalacchi, MacDonald and the other three witnesses — Barry Myers, CEO of AccuWeather; Jim Block, Chief Meteorological Officer of Schneider Electric; and Neil Jacobs, Chief Scientist of Panasonic Weather Solutions — were very positive about their relationships with NOAA, however.

Bridenstine is a leader in efforts to encourage NOAA to incorporate private sector weather data into its numerical weather forecasts and inserted a provision in NOAA’s FY2016 appropriations law creating a commercial weather data pilot program to assess such data to determine if it can be used.  NOAA submitted an implementation plan to Congress this spring explaining that it plans to competitively procure GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) data as the test case.  Spire Global is one of the companies that wants to compete. 

GPS-RO satellites use signals from GPS satellites to make measurements of temperature and water vapor throughout the lower parts of the atmosphere.  When combined with measurements from polar orbiting weather satellites, better weather forecasts are enabled.   NOAA currently obtains such data from the COSMIC satellite constellation, a joint project with Taiwan, and is requesting funds for more in the COSMIC-2 program.  As many as 50,000-100,000 measurements each day would be useful, whereas even with COSMIC-2, NOAA will be obtaining only about 10,000, so there is significant opportunity for commercial sources to provide the rest.

Bridenstine stresses frequently, including at yesterday’s hearing, that he does not foresee replacing the government’s weather satellite capabilities with those of the private sector, but instead enhancing them through government-private sector partnerships with a goal of making the entire U.S. weather enterprise less reliant on large, vulnerable satellites.

The private sector has significant capabilities not just in using NOAA-provided data to make forecasts, but also obtaining their own data through aircraft observations, for example, and creating their own weather models.  Busalacchi described the U.S. weather enterprise as a three-legged stool — government, private sector, academic/research — that work together to yield “the world’s most comprehensive and successful array of weather services in support of the public and private good.”  All three “must continue to evolve [and] the dimunition of any single leg will compromise the entire enterprise, and will negatively impact its diverse beneficiaries.”

The potential of partnerships between the government and the private sector was explored in a 2003 report from the National Research Council (NRC), Fair Weather: Effective Partnerships in Weather and Climate Services.   Busalacchi praised the report, but pointed out that those types of NRC reports rarely get follow-up, they are one-time efforts.  By contrast,  Decadal Surveys are performed every 10 years — a decade — and Congress now requires a mid-term assessment half-way through the relevant decade,

Until recently, Busalacchi was co-chair of the on-going Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space.  He stepped aside when he accepted the presidency of UCAR, a position he will take up in August.  He is currently Director of the Earth Systems Interdisciplinary Center at the University of Maryland.

He argues that an “active and ongoing strategic planning process” is needed for the U.S. weather enterprise, the established Decadal Survey process should be utilized, and Congress should request one.  

 

Note:  The National Research Council (NRC) is the operating arm of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) that conducts studies such as those mentioned above.  The NRC was created in1916 and its reports were referred to as NRC reports, but last year NASEM rebranded itself and no longer uses the NRC label.  Since the full name of the organization is far from mellifluous, most now refer to them simply as “Academy” studies.  The one referenced herein was written in 2003, however, so we refer to it as an NRC study.

Last Updated: Jun 09, 2016 2:46 pm ET
Services for Patti Grace Smith Scheduled for Monday, June 13, 2016

Services for Patti Grace Smith Scheduled for Monday, June 13, 2016

By Marcia Smith | Posted: June 7, 2016 12:00 am ET | Last Updated: June 8, 2016 12:09 pm ET

Services for Patti Grace Smith will be held in Washington, DC on Monday, June 13. One of the most prominent members of the space policy community, Smith died of pancreatic cancer on Sunday, June 5, though only her inner circle knew that she was ill.  She was 68.

Smith – or just “Patti” as most in the space community called her — had a sterling career in space policy. Saying that she was widely admired and respected may seem trite, but truer words were never spoken.


Patricia (Patti) Grace Smith.  Photo credit: Secure World Foundation.

Patti had a successful career in the communications industry before becoming head of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). She held positions in the private sector (National Association of Broadcasters, Westinghouse Broadcast Corporation, and Sheridan Radio Network) and the government (Federal Communications Commission; Department of Defense; Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.)

During her years at AST (1995-2008), she was a fervent supporter of commercial space activities.  Her calm, firm, articulate advocacy for commercial space and the companies that AST facilitated and regulated was legendary.   She led AST as it implemented the 2004 amendments to the Commercial Space Transportation Act that guide the commercial human space flight business, granted a license for the SpaceShipOne flight that garnered the X-Prize, and made Mojave Air and Spaceport the first inland commercial spaceport.

After leaving FAA, she became a consultant to and Board member of a number of space companies and organizations. She chaired the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) from 2009-2013, and President Obama appointed her to the advisory board of the National Air and Space Museum in 2012.  She became vice-chair of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2014, and was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Secure World Foundation (SWF).

ASEB Director Michael Moloney said via email that “As vice chair of ASEB, Patti made countless important contributions to the role of the Board in advising our nation’s government and aerospace community.  We will miss her extensive expertise and her guiding words, but most of all we will miss her friendship and her welcoming spirit.”

SWF Executive Director Michael Simpson emailed from an SWF-sponsored Space Security Conference in Prague that “Patti’s calm insight and clear thinking opened a door to space entrepreneurship and may yet have a lasting impact on the regulatory process itself….Her loss would be so much worse had she not done so much to mentor those she has left behind.”   He added that participants at the conference “paused for a moment of reflection in her memory.”

Jim Muncy, himself a legend in commercial space policy circles, tweeted his reaction to the news:

Patti’s spirit and enthusiasm are immortalized in this YouTube video of a speech she gave in 2013 to the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. 

A “home-going” service will be held on Monday at 11:00 am ET at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 1615 3rd St. NW, Washington, DC.

According to the New York Times, she is survived by her husband, John Clay Smith, three sons, a daughter, 12 grandchildren, and a sister.

This article was updated to add the comments by Michael Simpson.

Note:  Articles about Patti’s passing refer to her as serving as the first head of the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which is correct.  Previously, regulation of commercial space transportation was part of the Secretary of Transportation’s office.  It was moved to the FAA in 1995.  The Department of Transportation was designated as the entity to facilitate and regulate commercial space launches in a 1983 Executive Order, followed by the 1984 Commercial Space Launch Act.

Last Updated: Jun 08, 2016 12:09 pm ET

SPACEPOLICYONLINE.COM

About | Contact | Privacy