As Elon Musk dreams of missions to Mars, fellow billionaires Paul Allen and Richard Branson focus on breakthrough spaceflight closer to home: cheap cargo trips to Earth orbit. From startups to aerospace giant Boeing, entrepreneurs and for-profit companies are working to shake up a $6 billion commercial launch business whose crowded schedules may require years-long waits to loft $200 million communications satellites.
Instead of heavy boosters fired from conventional pads, the new rocketeers envision smaller spacecraft taking off from venues as varied as the remote South Pacific and a giant plane dwarfing Howard Hughes’s famed “Spruce Goose.” Cut-rate rides will let them loft the latest miniature satellites, which are being built for as little as $10,000 and deployed in swarms to monitor crops, create Web hotspots and track weather systems.
Allen and Branson’s ideas will be showcased this week in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Space Symposium trade show. The entrepreneurs share Musk’s aim of paring spaceflight costs. But unlike the SpaceX founder, they and their lower-profile peers are focused closer to Earth. Click here. (4/13)
Security Through Vulnerability? The False Deterrence of the National Security Space Strategy (Source: Space Review)
The United States' policy towards dealing with the potential use of weapons in space is one of deterrence. Christopher Stone argues that this strategy may be a flawed application of the concept of deterrence. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2731/1 to view the article. (4/13)
The "Flexible Path" Made Straight (Source: Space Review)
NASA adopted the "flexible path" approach to spaceflight as a more economical way to carry out human space exploration than a human return to the Moon. Roger Handberg described how this flexible path may be bending right back to the Moon. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2730/1 to view the article. (4/13)
Blue Origin's Suborbital Plans are Finally Ready for Flight (Source: Space Review)
Last week, Blue Origin announced a milestone in the development of an engine intended for its suborbital vehicle. Jeff Foust reports on the company's plans for testing that suborbital vehicle, as well as its orbital vehicle and engine plans. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2729/1 to view the article. (4/13)
International Lunar Decade: Scenarios for Long Term Collaboration in Space Development (Source: Space Review)
Can an international cooperation in lunar exploration open up commercial opportunities and expand the space economy? Vidvuds Beldavs describes how an "International Lunar Decade" could do just that. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2728/1 to view the article. (4/13)
Advisory Group Split on Commercial Spaceflight Export Reforms (Source: Space News)
Members of an industry group that advises the U.S. government on commercial space matters are in broad agreement that export restrictions on commercial human spacecraft should be eased, but sharply disagreed at a recent meeting on how to seek those changes.
The export reform debate at an April 1 meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) here revealed a lack of consensus on specific steps to remove manned commercial spacecraft from the jurisdiction of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
ITAR is the set of rules governing exports of militarily sensitive items on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and tends to be highly restrictive. Reforms enacted last year by the Obama administration moved many commercial satellites and components to the less restrictive Commerce Control List, but any space tourism vehicles — orbital or suborbital — equipped with propulsion systems were unaffected by the shift. (4/13)
USAF: Major Savings With New Launch Range Deal (Source: Aviation Week)
Launch range operations are not nearly as spicy a subject as the rockets that depend on them. But they are an essential utility for the U.S.’s growing space ambitions, and the Air Force says it is embarking on a new path to manage the ranges that will save millions of dollars annually. Detractors, however, warn that reduced cost for launch range operations will be a case of getting what you pay for.
Last November, a joint venture between Raytheon and General Dynamics—Range Generation Next (RGNext)—prevailed over five other competitors for a deal worth up to $1.8 billion over 10 years to consolidate three existing contracts for range support into one deal. Called the Launch and Test Range Integrated Support Contract (LISC), the transition to this new oversight went into effect April 6. By consolidating the contracts, the Air Force expects to save $95-115 million annually for range operations, says Col. Janet Grondin.
Some savings will come from consolidated oversight, but Grondin also cited efficiencies to be gained through the new approach. “LISC is a more cost-effective range contract than the previous structure,” Grondin says. “The contractor is on the hook to achieve the performance and . . . we have full confidence they will.” The prior deals were a cost-plus structure, meaning contractors were reimbursed for costs incurred doing the work. LISC is a fixed-price incentive-fee structure, a mechanism selected to control cost. (4/13)
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