Category Archives: Activism

Space policy roundup – Nov.23.2020

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

International space

Webcasts:

** A New Doorway to Space | NASANanoRacks to add new airlock for the ISS to enhance both commercial and government activities on the station:

Opening another portal to receive more shipments and deploy more satellites and experiments is the challenge a private company took up – Nanoracks LLC, headquartered in Webster, Texas. With support from NASA, the company built a new and different kind of doorway into space.

The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock Module will serve as another door to space, helping to move larger payloads inside and outside the station. This will alleviate one bottleneck slowing down the deployment of new small satellites and CubeSats from the space station. Bishop will also significantly increase the amount of research that can be done in low-Earth orbit – research that helps us better understand the space environment but also has implications for Earth imaging, medical research, and biomanufacturing.

** Sunday, Nov.22.2020 –  Rob Ronci and Trent Tresch talked about “for news, updates, and policy discussions regarding  the Caelus Foundation, which  advocates “for broad participation in the space domain and to engage and empower people around the world to build a space-centric community through their decisions and actions“.

** The Space Show – Tuesday, Nov.17.2020Dallas Bienhoff discussed cislunar development and also “possible ideas for the new administration and NASA, Artemis, Mars, returning to the Moon, space tugs, the Gateway, private sector advances, and much more“.

** Cislunar, Proliferated Leo and Accelerating InnovationConstellations Podcast – YouTube

Listen to Colonel Eric Felt talk about what the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) is doing to keep the U.S. competitive edge in space. Building a strong team is important and he believes that is part of the secret sauce that makes the AFRL so successful. Learn about cislunar and XGEO and why these are exciting areas to be studying. Col Felt reflects that the growing interest in cislunar and XGEO comes down to commercial activity, resources and political advantages. He said there are cost and performance advantages coming from proliferated LEO and that every mission in the future that can be done from LEO will be done from LEO. With so many thousands of satellites going up, a high level of automation will be essential for their management; however, there will be limits to this kind of autonomy – especially in a war fighting scenario.

** Luxembourg teams up with ESA to create a unique “European Space Resources Innovation Centre” to be established in the Grand Duchy | Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology

Luxembourg just entered a strategic partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to create a “European Space Resources Innovation Centre”, or ESRIC. Unique of its kind, ESRIC aims to become an internationally recognised centre of expertise for scientific, technical, business and economic aspects related to the use of space resources for human and robotic exploration, as well as for a future in-space economy.

Based in Luxembourg, ESRIC will partner with public and private international players in this field to create a hub of excellence for space resources in Europe. The creation of ESRIC was part of the Luxembourg government initiative SpaceResources.lu launched in 2016 to establish an ecosystem favourable to the development of activities related to the exploration and use of space resources.

ESRIC’s activities will focus on space resources research and development, drawing together excellence from public research and its facilities, with private sector initiative and efficiency. The centre will also contribute to economic growth by supporting commercial initiatives and start-ups, offering a business incubation component and enabling technology transfer between space and non-space industries.

** E42 – Early NASA Recruitment for Women and African Americans (with Angie Bukley and Alan Ladwig)Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** November 18, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

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Space policy roundup – Nov.16.2020

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

International space

Webcasts:

** Episode 26 Salvage in Outer Space Part IMichael Listner/Space Law & Policy SolutionsSpace Thoughts – YouTube

The links to the two articles I referenced on the video: Taking salvage in outer space from fiction to fact: https://www.thespacereview.com/articl… Semantics in lexicon: Moving away from the term “salvage” in outer space : https://www.thespacereview.com/articl…

** Dongfang China Aerospace News Roundup 9 Nov – 15 Nov 2020 – SpaceWatch.Global

Hello and welcome to episode 7 of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup, covering the period of November 9 to 15! This week, we bring you the launch of a Long March 6 carrying some very interesting payloads, APT Satellite ordering a new GEO HTS satellite from CGWIC, and also some activity happening among Chinese LV manufacturers.

** The Space Show – Friday, Nov.13.2020Dr. David Carrier talked about “about his experiences training the Apollo astronauts for being on the lunar surface. His new book,  Apollo Memories[Amazon commission link], tells the story through his work and his eyes.

** The Space Show – Sunday, Nov.15.2020Dr. Michael Schmidt discussed his new paper published in the NewSpace Journal, “Why Personalized Medicine Is the Frontier of Medicine and Performance for Humans in Space“.

** Marcia Smith on U.S. space policy after the election – SpaceQ

On this weeks episode of the Space Economy podcast my guest is Marcia Smith the founder of Space Policy Online.

Marcia’s career includes being the Executive Director of the U.S. National Commission on Space, a Senior Level Specialist in Aerospace and Telecommunications Policy at the Congressional Research Service, and a Director of the Space Studies Board at the National Research Council. While Marcia likes to be referred to as a space policy analyst, and downplays her career, she is an expert in space policy, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show this week as we discuss the election and its effect on the space program.

** Moonlight: connecting Earth with the Moon – ESA

Under the agency’s “Moonlight” initiative, ESA is exploring with industry the necessary technical solutions along with delivery models for the provision of lunar telecommunication and navigation services.

** NASA, Artemis, Space Force & The Election ResultsScott Manley

** E41 – Are We Alone? (with Kara Cunzeman, Tom Heinsheimer, Henry Helvajian)Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** November 11, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** November 13, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

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The Space Show this week – Nov.16.2020

The guests and topics of discussion on The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, Nov.16, 2020; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT: No program today.

2. Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020; 7 pm PDT (9 pm CDT, 10 pm EDT): We welcome Dallas Bienhoff back to the show for an update on his Cislunar business activities.

3. Wednesday, Nov.18, 2020: Hotel Mars TBA pre-recorded. See upcoming show menu on the home page for program details.

4. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020; 7-8:30 pm PDT (9-10:30 pm CDT, 10-11:30 pm EDT): No program today.

5. Friday, Nov.20, 2020; 9:30-11 am PDT (11:30 am-1 pm CDT, 12:30-2 pm EDT): We welcome Rafel Jorda, CEO of Open Cosmos to the show. Open Cosmos was founded five years ago in the United Kingdom, which builds satellites the size of a microwave in just six months with prices that do not exceed 10 million euros. For more information, visit www.open-cosmos.com.

6. Sunday, Nov.22, 2020; 12-1:30 pm PDT (3-4:30 pm EDT, 2-3:30 pm CDT): We welcome Rob Ronci, Executive Director of the Caleus Foundation.

Some recent shows:

** Sunday, Nov.15.2020Dr. Michael Schmidt discussed his new paper published in the NewSpace Journal, “Why Personalized Medicine Is the Frontier of Medicine and Performance for Humans in Space“.

** Friday, Nov.13.2020Dr. David Carrier talked about “about his experiences training the Apollo astronauts for being on the lunar surface. His new book,  Apollo Memories[Amazon commission link], tells the story through his work and his eyes.

** Sunday, Nov.8.2020John Hunt talked about “physics, advanced propulsion, space solar power and more”.

** Friday, Nov.6.2020Lt. General Steven Kwast, USAF (Ret) talked “about the importance of space to our future and prosperity along with the major threat to this prosperity, China”.

** Thursday, Nov.5.2020Robert Zimmerman “discussed a variety of topics, including the recent 2020 election and its potential impact on all things space”.

** See also:
* The Space Show Archives
* The Space Show Newsletter
* The Space Show Shop

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

The Space Show - David Livingston
The Space Show – Dr. David Livingston

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Misc: BtB bleg; “Under Ancient Skies” cosmic tribute; Space music from Angèlia Grace & Karliene

Bob Zimmerman points me to a fund-raiser this week: Quick November Fund-Raiser for Behind the Black.

Bob does frequent postings in which he discusses images of the amazingly diverse Martian surface such as:  Terraced mesa inside Martian depression“[The image] shows a very puzzling terraced mesa inside an enclosed depression or sinkhole (the western half of which can be seen in the full image).

Today he posted this item about the Curiosity rover’s latest activities: Rover update: Curiosity on the move again

And here is his report on the asteroid Apophis, which will pass close to earth in 2029: Apophis: the asteroid that may someday hit the Earth – Behind the Black

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Here’s an audio narrative/musical tribute to the cosmos created by a

collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and Grammy Award-winning musician and producer Diplo, with words by the museum, music from Diplo’s album MMXX, and narration by Hrishikesh Hirway. As a companion album to MMXX, Under Ancient Skies expands on the theme of our connection with nature to explore our human experience in the cosmos around the globe and throughout history, from the ancient world to contemporary understandings of the universe.

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“Angelic Soprano” Angèlia Grace renders a beautiful vocal interpretation of a selection of the Hans Zimmer soundtrack to the film, Interstellar [Amazon commission link]:

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Karliene sings a space Christmas song titled, A Spaceman Came Travelling by Chris de Burgh

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Space policy roundup – Nov.10.2020

A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest (find previous space policy roundups here):

International space

Webcasts:

** Dongfang China Aerospace News Roundup 2 Nov – 8 Nov 2020 – SpaceWatch.Global

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! We come to you one day late this week, having spent nearly 2 hours yesterday speaking with our friend and colleague Kevin Xu of Landspace, on topics related to reusable rockets, the differences between SOEs and commercial companies in China, and Kevin’s thoughts on rocket cams. Our interview with Kevin will be available in around 2 weeks. That being said, this week we bring you updates on Galactic Energy, China’s maritime satcom industry and the product offerings therein, and China’s role in the regional EO market.

** E40 – Space Agenda 2021 Showcase (with Jamie Morin and guests)Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** Raphael Roettgen – E2MC Update on October 2020 Space Financing RoundsCold Star Technologies – YouTube

E2MC founder Raphael Roettgen returns to the Make Space Boring News show to share the news of space financing rounds for the month of October 2020. Web article on spacewatch.global: https://spacewatch.global/2020/11/e2m…

**  The Space Show – Friday, Nov.6.2020Lt. General Steven Kwast, USAF (Ret) talked “about the importance of space to our future and prosperity along with the major threat to this prosperity, China”.

** The Space Show – Thursday, Nov.5.2020Robert Zimmerman “discussed a variety of topics, including the recent 2020 election and its potential impact on all things space”.

** Hotel Mars  (joint program by The John Batchelor Show & The Space Show) – Wed. Nov.4.2020John Batchelor and Dr. David Livingston spoke with Douglas Messier about topics related  “to the Europa Clipper delay including SLS booster delays, the use of commercial launch options including the Delta 4 Heavy or the Falcon Heavy and what those rockets would mean for payload, Europa travel times, and mission costs”.

** November 4, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** November 6, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

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