Commercial Space – Page 31 – Our Awesome Universe

ULA is Up for Sale

Posted on December 27, 2023 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket. (ULA)}

United Launch Alliance (ULA), a space rocket partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is now being offered for sale. Both Blue Origin and Cerberus are showing interest, which could upset the space business as Blue Origin takes a big step forward or Cerberus gets into the space business.

ULA, formed in 2006, has both a wealth of experience as well as the confidence of the US military, even though SpaceX has been eating into that business. ULA also has ready commercial customers, including a partnership with Amazon to launch 47 rockets to bring the Kuiper broadband constellation into orbit.

The ties to Mr. Bezos, owner of Amazon, go even deeper than that. The ULA’s new rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, will use engines built by Blue Origin, another one of Mr. Bezos’ companies. This may make a Blue Origin a natural new owner to ULA.

The potential buyers may want to wait until the test launch of the Vulcan on January 8th. At that time, the Vulcan rocket will be used to launch the Astrobotic Peregrine commercial lunar lander, the first of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative designed to deliver science and technology experiments to the lunar surface.

None of this means Boeing or Lockheed Martin are moving away from space altogether. Boeing is still working on its Starliner to bring individuals and cargo to low-Earth orbit as well as its Space Launch System, which serves as the backbone of the Artemis program. Lockheed Martin will be busy as well with its Orion capsule and human landing system (with Blue Origin and Boeing as well), additional key components of the Artemis program.

Any reshuffling is okay as long as it adds to the array of commercial options for NASA. A new player like Cerberus might be welcome, but I also see some value to pushing an experienced and involved Blue Origin to the top of its game a little quicker so it can go head-to-head with SpaceX.

This should be interesting. Stay tuned.

NASA Had a Busy Year

Posted on December 26, 2023December 26, 2023 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): The introduction of the Artemis II crew, just one of many items highlighted in NASA’s new video summarizing 2023. (NASA)}

This is the time of year for lists, so I wanted to highlight one of the more important lists, at least in the opinion of this writer. That’s right, we need to remember the important space milestones from this year.

Fortunately, NASA recently summed up its successes in 2023 with a new video titled NASA 2023: Nothing is Beyond Our Reach. The video highlights many of the Agency’s accomplishments this year, including the launch of the Psyche mission, the announcement of a crew for the Artemis II mission, and the OSIRIS-REx capsule retrieval.

It is quite a list. Luckily, NASA provided a list of links so you can read more about the various efforts:

OSIRIS-REx: https://go.nasa.gov/41h1xWJ
James Webb Space Telescope: https://go.nasa.gov/3uY0u1V
Psyche: https://go.nasa.gov/3uVtcQZ
Nuclear Propulsion: https://go.nasa.gov/3uVtcQZ
International Partnerships: https://go.nasa.gov/47UUKV2 (PDF)
Earth Observations: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Earth Information Center: https://go.nasa.gov/3Rc1GG8
Sustainable Flight Demonstrator: https://go.nasa.gov/46WqY0Q
International Space Station 25 Years in Low Earth Orbit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY2Zn1cKExY&t=0s
25 Years of the International Space Station
Frank Rubio Record: https://go.nasa.gov/41nyGjI
International Science Missions: https://go.nasa.gov/3TgZ1he
First Woman Issue #2: https://www.nasa.gov/calliefirst/
NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/
Moon to Mars Architecture: https://go.nasa.gov/4ahH7Rl
Artemis III Spacesuit Prototype: https://go.nasa.gov/4719ArL
Space Launch System Hardware Production: https://go.nasa.gov/41hwYQM
RS-25 Tests: https://go.nasa.gov/3RkhF59
Engines Installed: https://go.nasa.gov/47ROoWI
Orion Production: https://go.nasa.gov/41jHxCK
Artemis II Crew Announced: https://go.nasa.gov/3Rc20EQ

Time to read up on 2023 before we dive into more activities in 2024.

Note: You can read a more detailed list of accomplishments at this NASA site.

Blue Origin is Going to Mars, Hopefully

Posted on November 24, 2023November 25, 2023 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): Surface of Mars. (NASA)}

Okay, the plan is for Blue Origin to launch NASA satellites towards Mars, so don’t worry about Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk fighting it out on the Martian surface.

NASA has tapped Blue Origin to take two satellites worth about $79 into space, which will be the first use of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The launch is planned for next year, giving Blue Origin time to test the rocket and prepare for the mission.

The NASA mission, called the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), involves two identical probes that were originally scheduled to fly with the Psyche mission.

The goals of the EscaPADE mission are to:

understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows;
understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars’ magnetosphere; and
understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere.

Can Blue Origin be ready by next year when the window to Mars opens up? That is the big question given the continued delays with the New Glenn rocket.

It is good to see NASA spreading its launches into more hands. Now we just need the industry to meet the challenge.

Space Stories: Space Station Gap, Martian Job Losses, and Canadian Astronauts Announced for Upcoming Missions

Posted on November 22, 2023January 6, 2024 by onespaceman2000

^{Image (Credit): ISS view of Cuba back in December 2013. What you see here is a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is docked to the station. (NASA)}

Here are some recent stories of interest.

—SpaceNews.com: “NASA Acknowledges Possibility of Short-term Post-ISS Gap“

While NASA seeks to maintain an uninterrupted human presence in low Earth orbit, an agency official said a short-term gap between the International Space Station and commercial successors would not be “the end of the world.” NASA’s current approach to its future in LEO counts on supporting development of commercial space stations with the goal of having at least one such station ready to support NASA astronauts and research by 2030, when the ISS is scheduled for retirement. A key question, though, will be whether any of the several companies working on such concepts will be ready by the end of the decade.

—KRON4 News: “Hundreds of California Jobs at Stake if NASA Mars Mission Axed“

Hundreds of tech and science jobs will be lost in California if NASA moves forward with a plan to cut funding from the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, according to state lawmakers. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.-30), sent a letter on Wednesday to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to reverse a decision to slash the mission’s funding. The funding cut would “result in the loss of hundreds of California jobs, prevent the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from making its 2030 launch window, and lead to the cancellation of billions of dollars in contracts supporting American businesses,” the lawmakers wrote.

—Space.com: “Canada Assigns Astronauts to Launch on Boeing’s Starliner, Back up Artemis 2 Moon Mission“

The Canadian Space Agency announced two astronauts will fly to space in the coming years on Wednesday (Nov. 22) as the country continues a historic ramp-up of its human space program in 2023. François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, announced the assignments in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered in the lobby of Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec.