SpaceNews This Week | Debate intensifies over Space Corps proposal

September 8, 2017 View this email in your browser Debate intensifies over Rogers' Space Corps proposal Michael Fabey — With former U.S. Air Force officials demanding more time for the service to prove it is on track with space development, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) continued to argue Sept. 7 the time is now to create a Space Corps, or something akin to it. The Air Force has had enough time to prove its mettle in space, Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee said during a keynote speech at a Center for Strategic and International Studies conference on space organization. "The Air Force is as fast as a herd of turtles as far as space is concerned," said Rogers, who introduced legislation in June to create a Space Corps – a new military branch similar in structure to the Marine Corps – to focus on space operations and acquisition. See Full Story NASA preparing call for proposals for commercial lunar landers Jeff Foust — NASA is preparing to release a solicitation for the commercial transportation of payloads to the lunar surface, the latest step in the agency's efforts to help promote the development of commercial lunar landers. In testimony Sept. 7 at a House space subcommittee hearing on private lunar exploration, Jason Crusan, director of advanced exploration systems at NASA, said the agency was developing a call for proposals for such services after evaluating the results from a request for information (RFI) earlier in the year. "What we are now looking at doing is actually buying landed delivery services in the next fiscal year, of actually buying the first ability to land small payloads," he said. "We're preparing for the solicitation as we speak." See Full Story Iridium teams up with LEO Internet of Things startup Magnitude Space Caleb Henry — Iridium Communications, in the first of what the company signaled could be many similar partnerships with new smallsat operators, has announced a collaborative agreement with a startup to expand its offerings in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market. Iridium signed a memorandum of understanding Sept. 7 with Magnitude Space, a Dutch startup that plans to launch its first two satellites next year, to work together on space-based IoT services. Magnitude Space is a year-old Amsterdam startup with more than $5 million in capital from private investors and government funds, Ernst Peter Hovinga, co-founder and chief executive, told SpaceNews. The company is fully funded to launch its first satellite in the first half of next year on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, he said, and begin commercial service. See Full Story SpaceX launches X-37B ahead of Hurricane Irma Michael Fabey — With Hurricane Irma looming off the Florida coast, SpaceX beat unfavorable weather odds Thursday morning to send the U.S. Air Force's X-37B reusable spaceplane back into orbit for its fifth classified mission. A Falcon 9 carrying the Boeing-built X-37B hidden inside its protective shroud lifted off a 10:00 a.m. Eastern from NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. By noon, the Air Force had declared the launch a success.  This was the first X-37B be launched on board a Falcon 9 and following stage separation, the rocket's first stage successfully landed at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1  at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the company said.  See Full Story North Korea testing a stressed U.S. defense net Michael Fabey — The latest North Korean missile tests come at time when the U.S. defensive shield is weakened, missile-defense analysts say, by this summer's loss of a pair of warships specially outfitted for ballistic-missile defense (BMD). Those two guided-missile destroyers — the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald — collided with commercial ships, cutting down immediate regional U.S. maritime BMD capability by at least 14 percent.  The chinks in the ocean-going parts of the shield and the subsequent tests, the analysts say, show a need to develop and deploy more space-based sensors to guarantee full and continuous missile-defense coverage. A more robust space-based layer would also provide a more encompassing picture of threats than ship- or land-based radars. SEE FULL STORY NASA studying less expensive options for Europa lander mission Jeff Foust — NASA is continuing to examine various, potentially less expensive options for a mission to land on Jupiter's moon Europa even after completing a recent review, postponing a call for instruments for the spacecraft. At a meeting of the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Sept. 6 in La Jolla, California, Curt Niebur, a program scientist in the planetary science division at NASA Headquarters, said mission planners are continuing to examine several factors, including mission cost and science return, as they evaluate the design of the mission. The lander mission, he said, successfully passed an early-stage review called a mission concept review in June. However, he said the agency had not settled on a specific, single concept for the mission. See Full Story Arianespace resets next launch to late September after finding electrical equipment problem Caleb Henry — Arianespace is rescheduling the Ariane 5 launch meant for yesterday to the end of the month, having traced the source of the computer-triggered mission abort to a solid-propellant booster problem. The launch provider said Sept. 6 that an electrical equipment issue in one of the boosters interrupted the automated lift-off sequence Tuesday, cancelling the mission.  Yesterday's mission scrub — a rare event for the Ariane 5 — occurred after the rocket's first stage liquid engine started burning, but before ignition of the two strap-on solid-fuel boosters.  "This interruption is perfectly compliant with our procedures which authorize a launch only if 100% of launcher equipment is fully operational," Arianespace said in a Sept. 6 statement. "This rule guarantees the reliability and robustness of our launch system." See Full Story   SpaceNews is establishing an annual awards program this year to recognize individuals, companies and organizations for excellence and innovation.   Winners will be featured in the Dec. 18 issue of SpaceNews. We seek to honor headline-grabbing breakthroughs as well as outside-the-limelight innovations that may have escaped our attention.   A formal announcement on the awards program — including eligibility, criteria, and selection process — will be made in September. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2017 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314