Space policy roundup – Dec.14.2020

December 14, 2020 TopSpacer

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):

Schedule:
- What’s Happening in Space Policy December 13-19, 2020 – SpacePolicyOnline.com
Biden space:
- Biden’s space policy: boldly going … where? | The Strategist
- A ‘Bretton Woods’ for space in Biden’s first 100 days | TheHill
Trump space:
NASA human spaceflight:
- Boeing Starliner:
  - Next Starliner test flight scheduled for late March – SpaceNews
- Crew for 3rd SpaceX Dragon mission to ISS:
  - NASA, ESA Choose Astronauts for SpaceX Crew-3 Mission to Space Station | NASA
- Artemis lunar program crew corps:
  - NASA Introduces New Crop of Lunar Astronauts – Voice of America
  - NASA Picks 18 Astronauts for Its First Artemis Cadre – SpacePolicyOnline.com
NASA programs:
- The future of Mars exploration, from sample return to human missions – The Space Review
SLS/Orion:
- Latest SLS core stage test issues leave little margin in schedule for first launch – SpaceNews
Commercial space:
- NASA Awards Venture Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 Contract | NASA
Regulation/Spectrum:
Space law:
- Space Café WebTalk Recap: Prof. Stephan Hobe on a future design of the legal order in space – SpaceWatch.Global
Space traffic:
- There Are No Real Rules for Repairing Satellites in Space—Yet | WIRED
- Aerospace Corp. raises questions about pollutants produced during satellite and rocket reentry – SpaceNews
US states space:
- Doña Ana County wants state to repay misspent spaceport tax funds – Las Cruces Sun
Space weather:
- Space weather researchers need detailed impact data – SpaceNews
US Defense space:

International space

Webcasts:

** Casey Dreier: Are Changes Coming to NASA/US Space Policy – Weekly Space Hangout: December 9, 2020

We are pleased to once again welcome Casey Dreier from the Planetary Society to the WSH. Casey will update us (as much as possible) about Space Policy changes that may occur once the new American Presidential administration takes office on January 20, 2021. As Chief Advocate, Casey is the public face of The Planetary Society’s efforts to advance planetary exploration, planetary defense, and the search for life. He educates and empowers the organization’s members to take political action. He writes, teaches, and speaks to The Society’s members, the public, and policymakers to impress upon them the importance, relevancy, and excitement of space exploration. Casey is committed to demystifying the politics and policy process behind space exploration for all audiences. He is a trusted source for journalists and has been featured in many publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Vox, and The Verge, to name a few. He also has appeared as an expert on BBC News and both seasons of National Geographic’s MARS series as a “MARS Big Thinker”. As Senior Space Policy Adviser Casey helps lead the strategic planning of The Society’s policy and advocacy efforts. He works closely with The Society’s leadership, its Board of Directors, and other policy experts to craft the organizational positions and goals regarding the future of space exploration. He provides trusted analysis of the budgetary, political, and policy decisions relating to space, pursues original research, and works collaboratively to generate policy ideas and guidance for the U.S. space program.

** The Space Show – Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 – Laura Montgomery reviewed “space law and policy in 2020 plus we looked ahead to space law and policy for 2021“.

** The Space Show – Sunday, Dec.13.2020 – Open Lines program with Dr. David Livingston leading a discussion on a wide range of topics with callers.

** EMSTA Seminar on space debris 2020 – #SpaceWatchGL opinion: Space Debris – 2020 Vision? Are we really looking after space? – SpaceWatch.Global

** China Aero & Space Weekly News Round-Up – Episode 11 (7th -13th Dec. 2020) – Roundup 6 – Dec – 13 Dec 2020 – SpaceWatch.Global

Topics discussed:

iSpace making progress in the development of Hyperbola 2
Launch of Long March 11 with 2 CAS satellites
Great article on C919 Suppliers
National Radio and Television Administration Announcement
Dongfang Hour reaches 100+ subscribers!

** Innovative Space Showcase – Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** Ben Kaebe – How Are Australian Space Robotics Startups Being Helped by SpAARC? – Cold Star Technologies – YouTube

The Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) in Perth is opening, and Dr. Ben Kaebe is its Technical Interface Manager. What will SpAARC do, and how will it help space startups? Join host Jason Kanigan on the Cold Star Project to find out. Jason asks Dr. Kaebe:
-how he ended up in Australia, having been born in Germany
-the vision for the complex and its user base
-the process and partners of developing SpAARC
-what Earth-based and space applications the facility will assist with
-what capabilities will be available first, and how the complex plans to grow.

** Space Café WebTalk – Mari Eldholm – 17. November 2020 – spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

In this week’s Space Cafè WebTalk, Mari Eldholm, the Director of NIFRO, Oslo, Norway, talked about Norway’s space ambitions from oil to orbit.

** December 8, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

** December 10, 2020 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

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Videos: “Space to Ground” + Other ISS reports – Dec.11.2020

December 11, 2020 TopSpacer

Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:

** Expedition 64 SpaceX Corporate Event – December 4, 2020 – NASA

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 64 crewmembers Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker of NASA discussed their flight to the complex last month on the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Resilience” and the progress of their mission during a question-and-answer session Dec. 4 with SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell. Hopkins and Walker rode “Resilience” to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida along with Crew Dragon crewmates Victor Glover of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and docked to the complex the next day for the start of a planned six-month mission.

** Expedition 64 Education In flight Nettleton STEAM – December 10, 2020 – NASA

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 64 Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Shannon Walker of NASA discussed life and research aboard the orbital complex during an in-flight education event Dec. 10 with students from Jonesboro, Arkansas who provided their questions in advance to maintain proper social distancing. Rubins arrived at the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in October, followed a month later by Walker, who flew to the station aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Resilience”. The event also featured introductory remarks from former President Bill Clinton and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

** CRS-21 #NASASocial Science and Station Q&A – NASA KSC

[On Dec. 4th] a live #NASASocial show about the 21st resupply mission launching to the International Space Station this weekend! Representatives from NASA’s ISS Program Research Office, Nanoracks and The Effect of Microgravity on Human Brain Organoids experiment will be joining us to talk about the science going up on this mission, how the orbiting laboratory is continuously evolving and more about how the station is now welcoming commercial partners such as the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

** Watch SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon approach space station in stunning time-lapse – Space.com

SpaceX’s upgraded Cargo Dragon spacecraft captured footage of its approach to the International Space Station on Dec. 7, 2020. — SpaceX’s 1st upgraded Dragon cargo ship docks itself at space station with science, goodies and new airlock: https://www.space.com/spacex-cargo-dr…

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Amateur/Student Satellite, Education, Space Radio

Student and amateur CubeSat news roundup – Dec.9.2020

December 9, 2020 TopSpacer

A sampling of recent articles, press releases, etc. related to student and amateur CubeSat / SmallSat projects and programs (find previous smallsat roundups here):

** Two Brigham Young University student Cubesats set to go to orbit on Virgin Orbit LauncherOne flight this month: How BYU’s work with NASA will allow satellites to take selfies in space – Deseret News

For the last five years, students at the BYU College of Engineering have been dreaming up, designing and building two tiny satellites. And after a two-year delay in the launch of NASA’s ELaNa 20 mission, the cube-like modules are finally ready to head to space.

The “CubeSats” have cameras attached to each of their six sides and are designed to take photos of other satellites, giving NASA a cheap method of visually examining the exteriors of spacecraft.

“The idea is you carry up one of these sort of selfie cameras,” said David Long, an engineering professor at BYU, “and when you needed to get a picture of your spacecraft — it is very inexpensive; it’s disposable — you kind of toss it out the window, conceptually, you know, you just deploy it, and it takes pictures of your main spacecraft. And then it just drifts off into space.”

BYU Passive Inspection CubeSat. Credits: BYU PICS

DreamUp sent 35 student experiments to the ISS via Cargo Dragon

December 8, 2020 TopSpacer

An announcement in my email from the DreamUp education program:

Thirty-Five DreamUp Student Experiments Launch on SpaceX-21

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – December 6, 2020 – DreamUp, the leader in space-based educational offerings, is proud to announce the launch of thirty-five student-designed experiments to the International Space Station on today’s SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-21 rocket launch. These educational payloads, built by students from middle school to university around the world, represent their unprecedented perseverance as they continued to prepare their experiments for flight in unusually challenging circumstances due to COVID-19.

The student payloads launched in SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon alongside thousands of pounds of NASA cargo, supplies, more than 250 science and research investigations, as well as the Nanoracks Bishop Airlock, the first permanent, commercial addition to the International Space Station infrastructure. The Cargo Dragon is scheduled to dock to the Space Station tomorrow, Monday, December 7, 2020.

Specifically, the investigations on board are designed and built by a diverse range of students hailing from several countries and participating in programs led by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), Orbital Space, The Ramon Foundation, and the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance (TRSA).

Notably, “E. Coli Consuming Carbon Dioxide to Combat Climate Change (E. coli C⁵)” will be the first payload launched to the International Space Station from Kuwait. Designed by a team of students from the American School of Kuwait who won Orbital Space’s “Experiments in Space” competition, this Mixstix experiment will investigate how a genetically modified strain of E. Coli bacteria that uses atmospheric carbon dioxide as a food source will behave in the microgravity environment of the Space Station.

The Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, supported by Flight Night, solicited Mixstix experiment proposals from students throughout Oklahoma in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. After participating in a two-phased selection process, six students from three teams were selected as winners. The three teams come from Jenks Southeast Elementary and Summit Christian Academy.

Twenty-eight Mixstix experiments from NCESSE’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Mission 14 and three Mixstix from the Ramon Foundation’s Spacelab program represent long-enduring partnerships that reach students in a broad range of schools across Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the United States and inspire countless more.

“It is fitting that this notable launch for commercial space will be carrying such a large and diverse array of student investigations, and I am particularly excited to for the launch of the very first Kuwaiti experiment on the International Space Station!” said Allen Herbert, Interim CEO of DreamUp. “Student-designed microgravity research has the power to excite and engage not only young learners, but their parents, schools, and broader communities, and to equip them to pursue the challenges that humanity will face in the future. DreamUp is proud to support students as they pursue cutting-edge research on the most advanced commercial space platforms, and we congratulate them all on their persistence and tenacity in a challenging time.”

These launch opportunities were made possible via our partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA.

For additional media inquiries, please email us at info@dreamup.org, and for continued updates, be sure to follow @DreamUp_Space on Twitter and Instagram.

About DreamUp: Based in Washington, DC, DreamUp is the first company bringing space into the classroom and the classroom into space. Uniquely positioned to inspire kids globally and engage them through scientific discoveries in space, DreamUp aims to foster an educational community where space-based research and projects will be available to all learners of all ages. DreamUp has a proven track record with more than 400 student research payloads from around the world launched on SpaceX and Northrop Grumman rockets to the International Space Station via a partnership with Nanoracks and its Space Act Agreement with NASA. For more information, visit https://www.dreamup.org/.

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Activism, Roundup

Space policy roundup – Dec.7.2020

December 7, 2020 TopSpacer

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 Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 30 Nov – 6 Dec 2020 – SpaceWatch.Global –

Topics discussed:

1. Chang’e-5 Lunar Return Mission
2. Charming Globe Completes a Massive RMB 2.4 Billion Pre-IPO Round of Funding
3. Recommended article on Yaogan

** Episode 27 Salvage in Outer Space, Part II – Michael Listner/Space Law & Policy Solutions – Space Thoughts – YouTube (Part I)

** Space Law, the Artemis Accords and When Things Go South – Constellations Podcast

This episode marks a departure from our normal content, which typically includes topics such as the impact of SDN on ground systems, space exploration, rocket launches and so much more. Instead we will discuss space law and its impact on such issues as orbital debris, geospatial analytics and space tourism among others. To guide us through this discussion our guest today is Randy Segal, a partner in Hogan Lovells. We talk about the nuances of the Outer Space Act, a 50-year-old agreement recently updated with the Artemis Accords and Randy explains the impact of Space Law on public-private space partnerships as well as its impact on the weaponization of space. Randy concludes with a consensus on procedures and platforms for everything space; situational awareness, traffic management, debris mitigation, space sustainability.

** International Space Station 20th Anniversary Panel Expanding the Market in Low Earth Orbit – NASA

NASA is committed to stimulating the low-Earth orbit economy as the next step in humanity’s exploration and expansion into the solar system. Low-Earth orbit provides an ideal environment for crew training, fundamental and applied research, and advanced systems development, as well as other activities. In recognition of the 20th anniversary of continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station, listen as NASA Public Affairs Officer Gary Jordan sits down with some of the most influential people leading these commercialization efforts and learn how the space station will play a critical role in NASA’s goal to develop a robust commercial economy in low-Earth orbit. Joining the conversation are Mike Read – International Space Station Business and Economic Development Manager at NASA, John Mulholland – Vice President and Manager for the International Space Station Program at Boeing, Christine Kretz – Vice President of Programs and Partnerships for the International Space Station U.S. National Lab, Jeffrey Manber – Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Nanoracks, Rich Boling – Vice President of Corporate Advancement at Techshot, Phil McAlister – Director of Commercial Spaceflight at NASA, Benji Reed – Senior Director of Human Spaceflight at SpaceX, and Ven Feng – Deputy Manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

** E43 – The Modern Missile Threat (with Sam Wilson and Steve Dunham) – Aerospace Corp – Center for Space Policy & Strategy (CSPS)

** Space Café WebTalk BLACKOPS#1 by Ralph Thiele – 12. November 2020 – spacewatch. global – News Room – YouTube

In this special Space Cafè “Black Ops by Ralph Thiele #1”, Colonel (Ret`d) Ralph Thiele, Chairman of the Berlin based Political-Military Society, President of Euro Défense-Germany, and Managing Director of StratByrd Consulting, Germany talked with his guests about the Implication for Security & Defence coming with the the LEO & MEO wave.

His guests in this session were:

John Munoz Atkinson – Director, Business Development, Global Governments at SES Networks
Alexandra Stickings – Research Fellow for Space Policy and Security at RUSI

** Tim Anderson – How Could The Success Of SpaceX Starship Change The Space Industry? – Cold Star Technologies – YouTube

Commander Tim Anderson is not only a US Naval Reserve officer with responsibilities in war planning, but is also in a defense contractor role managing ship repairs and modernization. In this interview hosted by Jason Kanigan of the Cold Star Project, Commander Anderson discusses how government and Department of Defense makes up its mind on spending, and how you can make use of that process. We also dig deep into the potentially great impact of SpaceX Starship on the space industry: payload variants, areas of operation, effect on industry players and more. Why? The dramatic rise in cargo capacity offered and drop in launch and transportation costs promised–even if the numbers are nowhere near as rosy as predicted.