Presidential Space Race
Unbiased campaign news can be nearly impossible to find, so to help you stay accurately informed here is where the candidates stand. Romney issued a brief white paper that has sent mixed messages to the NewSpace community. While the general outline praised SpaceX and was sympathetic to the rising private sector, he cited statements against Obama's past proposals whose accuracy the Space Frontier Foundation has objected to in the past. What his statement that "NASA does not require more funding" bodes for the so-called "Senate Launch System" (SLS) is unclear. Obama has made the rounds in Florida, repeating his past sentiments on space and defending the Agency's record under his Administration. Press releases at NASA and Romney Campaign
Prom King
SpaceX seems to get more popular by the day. Not only are they considering an IPO in 2013, they have Texas and Florida in bidding war over their launch facility and booked three more SES satellite launches. And let us not forget SpaceX's first cargo resupply mission is booked for October 7th, and Grasshopper's first hop. Press Releases at SpaceX, Alan Ohnsman at Bloomberg, Emma Perez-Trevino, and Video at YouTube
Fits Like A Glove
The Atsa team has successfully fit their observatory camera to XCOR's Lynx. The system will provide access to a telescope that can leave Earth's limiting atmosphere, but without the operational constraints of orbital telescopes. XCOR has also appointed Bryan Campen as PR Director and selected FiberDyne Advanced Composites to build the Lynx wing strakes. Press Releases at XCOR and PSI
The First Step
Boeing has completed their first CCiCap milestone, by conducting their Integrated Systems Review. In the review, Boeing presented the latest designs for CST-100, ULA's Atlas V, and ground and mission operations, which will serve as a baseline for future development in CCiCap. Release at NASA
Touch to Grasp
Altius Space Machines has won a contract from JPL to develop a touch-to-grasp gripper, named Gecko Gripper, as a part of the DARPA Phoenix Program. Altius also signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA Langley to develop concepts for a new series of compactly-stowable, long-reach spacecraft robotic manipulators. Press Release and Announcement at Altius
Bring In The Vets
Google Lunar XPrize contender Moon Express has revealed its senior technical team of veteran space industry engineers hired to lead the company's flight programs. Together, the team has 50 NASA missions experience, giving Moon Express a deep understanding of NASA know-how. In other GLXP news, here is a great video summary of the contestants' progress. Press Release at GLXP and Video at Youtube
You Didn't Build That
As our President so controversially stated, businesses did not build the basic infrastructure we take for granted in America. The FAA seems to agree, and has decided to invest $474 million in commercial space transportation infrastructure grants. Press Release at FAA
Next In Line
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation seems to go through leadership faster than our government! Well, this time they are not changing so much as reverting. They have elected Stuart Witt as their next Chairman, who was one of the CSF Founders and is the current CEO of Mojave Air & Space Port.
Can't Touch This
Paragon Space Development Corporation has been listed in Inc. Magazine's exclusive top 500/5000 fastest-growing companies list, landing the #35 spot in the engineering industry. Paragon-SDC combines numerous engineering disciplines to develop life-support systems for spaceflight and other applications. Profile at Inc.
Asteroid Hunters
The B612 Foundation, the developer of the asteroid-hunting SENTINEL mission, has added some prominent members of the business and financial industries to their Founding Circle. Members of the Founding Circle not only support the company financially, but also pledge continued support in areas of finance, technology, and science. Press Release at B612
We Have More Germans
Astrium has won a contract to demonstrate satellite servicing as part of the DEOS (German orbital servicing mission) project. The contract is through the DLR Space Administration and is worth €13 million. Press Release at Astrium
Validation
The United States Air Force has approved eligibility for all candidates for the Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 contract, a program to develop Minotaur-class launchers. SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, and ATK are among the bidders, but ULA was not allowed the bid because of its monopoly on large launchers. Amy Butler at Aviation Week
Silver Lining
Masten Aerospace lost their Xaero vehicle during a recent test. Luckily, they already had a replica in production. They even managed to successfully complete the test, and did not lose the vehicle until landing. Update at Masten
Soft Opening
Spaceport America has scheduled two test launches from their facility in October. The launchers are Armadillo Aerospace and UP Aerospace, and each will be establishing a "first" at the facility. Armadillo will be the first FAA-licensed launch, and UP will be the first to launch as a part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program. Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc
The Space Show
Tom Olson, Brian Mosdell, and Dr. Alan Stern share their respective NewSpace initiatives with Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show.
ISU Call for Papers
The International Space University (ISU) has made their Call for Papers for their 17th annual symposium next March. ISU's 17th annual symposium will address 'Tele-reach' which refers to technologies and applications that allow remote presence, participation, interaction or control.
