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A small Singapore-based company, Astroscale, is on its way to becoming the first debris-cleaning service provider in space. The company just landed a $30 million grant that will be used to fine-tune propulsion and debris-catching technologies. Astroscale plans to perform a full-scale demonstration by the first half of 2018. There are currently 23,000 accountable space debris objects orbiting Earth and experts expect closer to 150 million when accounting for the pieces smaller than a cubic centimeter. These smaller debris particles actually pose the greatest threat to current entities in orbit, as they travel quickly and are very difficult to trace. Astroscale plans to approach the debris problem in two steps. The IDEA OSG 1 satellite will first map the debris environment (including debris as small as 1 mm wide) to help private and public entities protect their current equipment. Then, with a goal of launching in 2018, an adhesive-smeared spacecraft will collect and relocate debris out of orbital range.
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While sixteen teams are racing to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP) by the Dec. 31, 2017 deadline, the XPRIZE Foundation has announced their intention to proceed with the next space prize. Andrew Barton, director of technical operations for GLXP, has said that they have started prize design workshops to help define how this new prize will cultivate teams and solutions that will address the key technical challenges of the future in space. "By the time the Google Lunar XPRIZE is over, we'd like to have at least one follow-up space prize that we're ready to enter into the final design phase for with a sponsor," Barton said.
There are currently two teams with lunar launch contracts submitted to the foundation.
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In early March, Jeff Bezos invited select members of the press to tour its headquarters in Kent, Wash., lifting the veil on some of the company's operations. Bezos mentioned plans to expand hiring, projecting more than 1,000 employees by the end of the year - up from 600 at the time. The Kent factory is used for initial production of the BE-4 engine which hopes to reach a production rate of 12 engines per year for planned use in the United Launch Alliance Vulcan launch vehicle. In a separate meeting, Bezos highlighted the benefits of private companies in the quick decision to spend $10 million on two engine test cells for validation of the BE-4 engine. The first will be a high-pressure cell for pre-burner engine tests while the second will be a full engine test cell.
The full production facility for BE-4 has not been announced yet by Blue Origin, but there are many states eager to host the facility, Florida among them. A bid for the facility would likely be proposed by Space Florida, as stated by Dale Ketcham, the chief of strategic alliances for Space Florida.
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NASA selected 137 Phase II proposals out of the 323 received submissions in response to its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The agency's SBIR program is a competitive, awards-based program that encourages American small businesses to engage in federal research, development and commercialization. Selected proposals from these small businesses will support the development of technologies in the areas of aeronautics, science, human exploration and operations, and space technology. Phase II contracts last for 24 months with a maximum funding level of $750,000. The total value of this year's selected proposals from 117 American small business and research institutions is approximately $105 million.
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The Aviation branch of the United Nations, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), will be crafting guidelines for space tourism by 2019. The ICAO's standards are often used as benchmarks for national aviation laws worldwide. President of the ICAO, Olumuyiwa Benard stated that "suborbital and outer space flights will foster new tourism and transport markets." This comes as the commercial space industry continues to see increased investment. According to Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, around $3 billion is invested per year in space projects.
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- Skybox Imaging Re-branded as Terra Bella
[Link]
- Hakuto and KDDI Working Together for XPRIZE
[Link]
- Planetary Resources Patents Asteroid Prospecting
[Link]
- Alabama Senate Passes Bill to Study Spaceport
[Link]
- Orbital ATK Expanding in Arizona
[Link]
- ESA All-Electric Telecom Platform
[Link]
- Georgia House Passes Spaceflight Waiver
[Link]
- Millennium Space Systems Expanding
[Link]
- NASA Awards $150 for Cube Quest Competition
[Link]
- Spaceport America Article in SV
[Link]
- XCOR Partnering with
Blåkläder [Link]
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This month, Dr. Eric Seedhouse and Lt. Col. Eileen Collins share their respective newspace initiatives with Dr. David Livingston on The Space Show.
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Other Cool Things
Rocket Lab Flight Qualifies Rutherford Engine [Video]
Adobe - Do you know what your marketing is doing?
[Video]
SpaceX Droneship at Cape Canaveral
[Link]
Mars World Coming to Las Vegas
[Link]
XCOR Factory Tour
[Video]
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UPCOMING LAUNCHES
Apr 22
Soyuz - Sentinel 1B
Apr 25
Soyuz - Mikhailo Lomonosov
Apr 28
PSLV - IRNSS 1G
April TBD
Falcon 9 - JCSAT 14
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NEWSPACE MENTIONS IN THIS ISSUE
Astroscale
Bigelow Aerospace
Blue Origin
Hakuto
KDDI
Lockheed Martin
Made In Space
Millenium Space Systems
Orbital ATK
Planetary Resources
Rocket Lab
Skyfi
SpaceX
Terra Bella
United Launch Alliance
XCOR
XPRIZE Foundation
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