EDITOR'S NOTE: A correction to last month's NewSpace News: ATK has not officially stated that they will be moving forward with Liberty without CCiCap. Also, please note that Blue Origin did not bid for CCiCap.
Ready For Takeoff
Last month, XCOR Aerospace announced they would be moving their R&D to Midland, Texas. Now, they have decided to set up their production facility and operational base in Florida, and stating that Lynx may not fly until 2013. XCOR has also become the corporate sponsor of Uwingu, and hired AdamsWorks to build their cockpit. Press Release at NASA, Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc, Video at YouTube, Press Release at Uwingu, and Press Release at XCOR
A Closer Look
The details from last month's announcement of NASA's CCiCap winners are slowly emerging. Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc put together some great charts outlining SpaceX's, Sierra Nevada's, and Boeing's milestones. The companies have already made progress, with SNC completing their first milestone, SpaceX completing a full wet dress rehearsal, and Boeing successfully testing their parachute protector. NASA has also released a progress report for CCDev 2 that outlines progress by all companies. Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc and Press Releases at Sierra Nevada, SpaceX, and NASA
Anyone's Race
Every time it looks like a leader is emerging in the GLXP, another company catches up and makes it anyone's race. One of the race favorites, Astrobotic, has won a NASA contract for Lunar and Martian cave exploration, while another top contender, Barcelona Moon, has booked a ride on the Chinese Long March mission. The list of accomplishments continues with ARCA completing their Executor Rocket Engine, and Omega Envoy becoming a sponsor of Moonbots. Press Releases at Astrobotic, Barcelona Moon, and GLXP
Xombie Apocalypse
After several months of relative silence, Masten Aerospace is coming back with a vengeance. They have built on Xombie's 500m downrange flight from last month, and launched Xombie two more times, first translating 650m and then 750m. Videos at Masten Blog
Acquiring Resources
Asteroid mining company Planetary Resources has received investment from a Russian management company that focuses on clean technologies. The full investment value has not been released, but it is said to be in the millions. Article at RT
Safety First
Looking to buy private flights as soon as 2017, NASA has outlined their commercial crew safety certification process. The process will be used to certify the three CCiCap winners, and likely many more. Dan Leone at Space News
Joining the Ranks
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation has added three new members: Arizona State University, Near Space Corporation, and Qwaltec. ASU has a long history of space research, Near Space Corporation flies stratospheric balloon experiments, and Qwaltec provides a variety of services to government and commercial spaceflight groups. Press Release at CSF
Being Green Makes Green
NASA has selected Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation for a high performance green propellant demonstration. The propellant will be an alternative to the highly toxic fuel hydrazine. Press Release at NASA
Nano Club: No Micros Allowed
NanoRacks has issued an Announcement of Opportunity to build a NanoLab community for International Space Station users. The goal of the initiative is to build a "robust, standardized ecosystem" that will utilize the NanoRacks hardware currently on the ISS, and possibly even for use on new systems like Virgin Galactic's suborbital vehicles. NanoRacks has also partnered with Space Florida to create the Space Florida International Space Station Research Competition. Announcement at NanoRacks and Press Release at Space Florida
Back In The Game
Bigelow Aerospace has announced that it will be doubling its workforce, re-hiring many of the workers that it recently laid off. The sudden ramp-up is due to the nearly $1 billion dollars that NASA awarded for CCiCap - all to companies that will likely use the Bigelow modules. Jennifer Robison at Las Vegas Review-Journal
Better Late Than Never
Orbital Sciences has been slow to the finish line versus its rival SpaceX in launching their COTS demo flight to the ISS. The launch date has slowly slid to the right for several months, but it seems that the company is finally getting close to launching. Antares project page at Orbital
What's the Holdup?
FastForward Project has released the results of a survey that gathered opinions and perceptions regarding point-to-point suborbital services for passengers and priority cargo. Release at FastForward Project
The Space Show
Tim Pickens, Dr. Alan Stern, and Dennis Wingo share their respective NewSpace initiatives with Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show.
