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Blue mailing lists + NASA's tech plan + AST standalone

February 11 2013 10:31:25 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

Some misc. items:

If you want to fly yourself or a research payload, Blue has a mailing list for you: Blue Origin - Join Our Mailing List

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NASA's chief technologist releases a plan for investment in all sorts of technologies including in-space propulsion, ppropellant storage and transfer, radiation protection, and more:

• NASA Unveils Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan - NASA
• NASA Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan - Office of Chief Technologist (pdf)

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Rep. Rohrabacher [R-CA] likes the idea of moving the Office of Office of Commercial Space Transportation out of the FAA and putting it directly under the Secretary of Transportation: Commercial Space Transportation Regulation - Transterrestrial Musings.

Atlas V launches new Landsat + Progress sent to ISS

February 11 2013 09:45:04 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

Today NASA launched the NASA Landsat Data Continuity Mission spacecraft today from Vandenberg: NASA launches $855 million Landsat mission - CBS News

Stewart Money points out that NASA pays about $150M for the launch of an Atlas V 401 while the agency has paid $82M for a Falcon 9: Atlas V Lifts off with LDCM (Landsat 8) - Innerspace.net.

The ~$70M difference is similar to what it costs NASA to run a mission like Cassini at Saturn for one year.

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A Russian Progress cargo vehicle launched to the ISS today: Russians successfully launch space station resupply ship - Spaceflight Now.

And it docked with the station just 6 hours later: Robotic Russian Supply Ship Docks With Space Station - Space.com.

O3b Network reveals pictures of first satellite

February 11 2013 07:38:21 PM | by Carl Godlewski

This is one of the first pictures of O3b Network's first ready to launch satellite. The company expects a launch to be made around May, 2013.

O3b Networks is backed by Google and SES, two companies that are followed by the NSG PTC.

For more information about the satellite, click here.

NM spaceport criticism + Liability and the pilotless space vehicle

February 11 2013 05:36:56 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

A New Mexico publication is not keen on Spaceport America's prospects: Editorial: Don’t be a sucker just to grab business - newmexico.watchdog.org.

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WIth the struggle over the NM space tourism liability limitations in mind, one wonders about the liability implications of an accident involving a pilotless space tourism vehicle: On a lighter note: rocket plane pilots are no longer expendable - Hyperbola.

Armadillo Aerospace, in fact, currently plans for its two seat Hyperion vehicle to fly without a pilot.

I'm sure there is a reasonable argument that such a vehicle is just as safe with an autonomous/remote pilot system as it would be with a human pilot on board but civil lawsuit juries are not known for being reliably reasonable.

Comm'l space launch act re-authorization + Military launch competition

February 10 2013 07:56:31 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

Congress will revisit the Commercial Space Launch Act this year and deal with seveal issues such as launch indemnification renewal and on-orbit authority of space activities: Congress planning an update to commercial launch legislation this year - Space Politics.

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John Kelly writes about the attempt to bring competition to the US military launch program: Military now favors launch competition - Florida Today.

This was discussed earlier here in this post.

Asteroid miner qualifications + Golden Spike profiled

February 10 2013 07:28:18 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

This post at Planetary Resources offers "some insight into what [they are looking] for in aspiring asteroid miners": How to be an Asteroid Miner - Planetary Resources.

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Golden Spike is evaluated in this article: Commercial Moon Flights Coming Soon? - Discovery News.

Antares hot-fire update + Combining Cygnus with an inflatable reentry shield

February 9 2013 06:56:06 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor

Here's the latest on the hot fire pad test of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket next week at Wallops Island:

• Antares Engine Test Scheduled for February 12 - NASA
• Antares Launch Report | Mission Status Center - Spaceflight Now

No webcast:

Officials with NASA and Orbital Sciences said there will be no live webcast of the hotfire, but they plan to issue a statement and release imagery after the test.

"There is a bunch of data to look before we can say if it was successful," said Barry Beneski, an Orbital spokesperson.

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Jeff Siders of Orbital Sciences discussed the Cygnus cargo carrier spacecraft during his presentation last night on the commercial crew and cargo panel (see earlier post). Unlike the SpaceX Dragon, the Cygnus is not designed for return and recovery. Siders, though, mentioned that NASA would use a Cygnus for the High Energy Atmospheric Reentry Test (HEART) project.

As shown in the video below, HEART involves combining a Cygnus with a large Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator like that used for the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) successfully carried out last summer on a suborbital flight. (See NASA Launching High-Tech Inflatable Heat Shield Test Saturday | IRV-3 Test Flight - Space.com - July.17.12.)

I seriously doubt there are any plans to to use such a system to allow Cygnus spacecraft to bring back cargo from the ISS but it is still interesting to see how inflatable reentry devices could allow for the return of a wide array of things not designed for reentry. Perhaps they could even provide for low cost return of materials obtained from asteroids and the Moon.

Lockheed Martin and human spaceflight

February 9 2013 06:03:31 PM | by Clark Lindsey, Managing Editor