China’s Astronaut Food Over the Decade: From Fast Food to Customization (Source: People’s Daily)
In 2003, China’s first manned spacecraft Shenzhou-5 flew into space. Also from that year onwards, China’s exploration of astronaut food began to enter the public view. Over several space journeys during the 10 years, the astronauts’ recipe improved its quality, from the original fast food such as dim sum to today’s customized choices. Click here. (6/14)

Science and Technology Makes Shenzhou-10 Different (Source: People’s Daily)
On June 11, Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft was successfully launched. It has been 10 years since China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into the space. Compared with previous manned spacecrafts, what are Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft’s differences and advantages? Click here. (6/14)

Aldrin: The Call of Mars (Source: New York Times)
When I view the Moon, there are times when I feel like I’m on a time machine. I am back to a cherished point in the past — now nearly 45 years ago — when Neil Armstrong and I stood on that bleak, but magnificent lunar landscape called the Sea of Tranquility. While we were farther away from Earth than humans had ever been, the fact is that we weren’t alone. An estimated 600 million people back on Earth, at that time the largest television audience in history, watched us plant our footprints on the Moon.

Fast forward to today. Now I see the Moon in a far different light — not as a destination but more a point of departure, one that places humankind on a trajectory to homestead Mars and become a two-planet species. It is time to lay the groundwork for effective global human exploration of space. I am calling for a unified international effort to explore and utilize the Moon, a partnership that involves commercial enterprise and other nations building upon Apollo. Let me emphasize: A second “race to the Moon” is a dead end. America should chart a course of being the leader of this international activity to develop the Moon.

The United States can help other nations do things that they want to do, a fruitful avenue for U.S. foreign policy and diplomacy. A step in the right direction is creating an International Lunar Development Corporation, customized to draw upon the legacy of lessons learned from such endeavors as the International Geophysical Year (whose purpose was to get scientists all over the world to focus on the physics and atmosphere of the Earth), the International Space Station program, as well as model organizations such as Intelsat and the European Space Agency. Click here. (6/13)

FSDC Joins Effort to Keep Spaceflight Vehicles Off Munitions List (Source: FSDC)
The Florida Space Development Council (FSDC), a chapter of the National Space Society, has written to the U.S. Departent of State to voice opposition to proposed export-control rulemaking that would add commercial human spaceflight vehicles to a Department of Defense “munitions list” and thereby place onerous restrictions on their export from the U.S.

The move is part of an ongoing (and mostly positive) effort by the Obama Administration to modify the nation’s current ITAR export control policies. Commercial satellites, for example, would be moved from the DOD list to a less restrictive export control list managed by the Department of Commerce. The proposed addition of human spaceflight vehicles to the DOD list would negatively impact efforts by U.S. companies to build a U.S.-dominated international market for such vehicles.

XCOR Aerospace is one U.S. company that would be impacted by the proposed rulemaking. The company, which intends to develop and operate their next-generation Lynx vehicles in Florida, has aggressively pursued international markets for their vehicles and services. Click here to submit your own response to the rulemaking notice, required by no later than July 8. (6/13)

Internal Audit Hits NASA for Station Resupply Payments to Orbital (Source: Space News)
NASA is taking heat from its Office of Inspector General (OIG) for giving Orbital Sciences Corp. more than $600 million to build hardware for six space station resupply missions before the Dulles, Va.-based firm has fully demonstrated that its fledgling Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo tug are up to the task.

Orbital holds a $1.9 billion NASA contract to fly a total of eight resupply missions to the international space station through 2016.  The contract was awarded in December 2008, several months after NASA picked Orbital as a late addition to a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program that since 2006 had been subsidizing SpaceX in its now-completed effort to develop a competing space station logistics system.

By the end of 2012, according to an OIG report released June 13, SpaceX had been paid a total of $858 million between its $396 million COTS agreement and a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, also awarded in December 2008, that calls for the company to make 12 space station runs. (6/13)

Sierra Nevada Starts Next Phase of Dream Chaser’s Rocket Tests (Source: Galveston Daily News)
As Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft continues aerodynamic performance and landing tests at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California, the company Sierra Nevada completed two tests last week at its rocket test facility in San Diego, Calif.

A motor firing and ignition test was completed in preparation for upcoming motor tests under the current Commercial Crew Integrated Capability contract with NASA. The company will conduct another series of hybrid motor firings to meet the next contracted milestone this summer. (6/13)

Comtech’s Outlook Brightens on New Orders from Military Customers (Source: Space News)
Satellite ground equipment provider Comtech Telecommunications Corp. said new orders from the U.S. government booked so far in 2013 may mean the company has turned the corner after two years of bad news following the loss of a U.S. military contract and the downturn in its international commercial satellite Earth station business.

Melville, N.Y.-based Comtech said it is particularly hopeful that a recent development contract with the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for a new-generation processor will place the company in the ranks of contractors for U.S. protected military satellite communications work. (6/13)

One Giant Leap for Justin Bieber as He Joins the Ranks of the Celebronauts (Source: Guardian)
Bieber in space. The almighty teen sensation has grown weary of our tawdry planet’s sham, drudgery and broken dreams and sought momentary respite beyond the suffocating reach of Earth’s atmosphere. The star and his manager Scooter Braun – there, presumably, on the off-chance some cheeky extraterrestrial Simon Cowell tries to lure the kid off to break the lucrative teen-pop market in Betelgeuse – are the latest “future astronauts” to sign up for a glimpse of the great beyond with Richard Branson’s space tour company. (6/13)

Antitrust Probe Is Latest Challenge to ULA’s Government Market Dominance (Source: Space News)
A U.S. federal antitrust probe of the nation’s biggest rocket manufacturer over its exclusivity agreement with an engine supplier comes amid continuing consolidation of the propulsion industry and government attempts to spur competition in satellite launching services.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether United Launch Alliance (ULA) ran afoul of antitrust laws with its exclusivity arrangement with RD AMROSS, the U.S.-Russian joint venture that makes the RD-180 engine that powers ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket. The probe, begun in April, may have been triggered by Orbital Sciences Corp., which is interested in using the Russian-manufactured RD-180, for its Antares rocket.

An April 22 memo from FTC Secretary Donald S. Hall authorized investigators to use “any and all compulsory processes available” to determine whether ULA, RD AMROSS or any of their joint venture partners violated antitrust laws “by monopolizing, attempting to monopolize, or otherwise restraining competition in the provision of space launch services, including entering or maintaining an exclusive agreement relating to the supply of propulsion systems for space launch services.” (6/13)

FTC Case Complicated By Aerojet Acquisition of PWR (Source: Space News)
A complicating factor in the FTC anti-trust case is the fact that engine maker Aerojet has just been cleared by the FTC to buy domestic rival Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a partner in RD AMROSS along with RSC Energomash of Moscow. The merger, approved with reservations June 10 by the FTC, leaves the United States with just one merchant supplier of liquid-fueled rocket engines. (6/13)

Black Hole Bonanza in ‘Next Door’ Andromeda Galaxy (Source: Guardian)
Twenty-six new black hole candidates have been discovered in the neighboring Andromeda galaxy. According to the astronomers involved, these could be just the tip of the iceberg. Details of the find will be published in the 20 June issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The discoveries are the culmination of 13 years of observation. Researchers used NASA’s Chandra and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton satellites. Both record the X-ray light emitted by celestial objects. (6/13)

Report Questions NASA Payments to ISS Cargo Hauler (Source: Florida Today)
A watchdog report released today says NASA has took on too much financial risk by paying one of its commercial cargo providers a significant portion of its contract before its systems have been proven. NASA has paid Orbital Sciences Corp. more than $910 million for work on six International Space Station resupply missions even though Orbital has not yet flown its spacecraft, according to NASA Inspector General Paul Martin.

“These actions increased NASA’s financial risk in the event that the system demonstration flight reveals the need for design changes and modifications to Orbital’s rocket system,” the report says. Orbital has a $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract for eight missions to the station. (6/13)

Buddhists Believe in Outer Space: Shaolin Abbot (Source: Xinhua)
As China’s successful launch of its fifth manned spacecraft marks another step in realizing the country’s space dream, Chinese monks regularly ponder how space is related to their own life. “Buddhism believes there are aliens. They not only exist, but there are many,” said Shi Yongxin, abbot of the Shaolin Temple in central China’s Henan Province.

Buddhists believe the existence of many different worlds and their end-results do not exclude other celestial bodies, said Shi in an exclusive interview with Xinhua. According to the 48-year-old monk, those who have a good practice of Buddhism can go to other worlds, including outer space. (6/13)

Russia Promises Manned Launches from Its Own Soil in 2018 (Source: Space.com)
Russia, one of the world’s space powerhouses, has been launching its rockets from Kazakhstan since the early days of its space program, but now plans to shift its launches to Russian soil within five years. But some experts question whether such a pace is realistic.

This spring, President Vladimir Putin pledged $51.8 billion by 2020 to place his country back in the top ranks of world space explorers. The centerpiece of that promise is Vostochny, a cosmodrome, or launch site, under construction in eastern Siberia, near the Chinese border. Within five years, Putin promised that an International Space Station crew would launch from Vostochny. (6/13)

India Lines Up Satellite Launches In July/August (Source: Aviation Week)
Four Indian satellites are slated for launch over the next two months, a senior space scientist says, using both Indian and foreign launchers. “Between July 1 and July 26, we hope to loft a navigation satellite and Insat-3D meteorological satellite, followed by the launch of a communication satellite, GSAT-14, and a military satellite, GSAT-7, in August,” the scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said. (6/13) 

What Would Happen if All Satellites Stopped Working? (Source: BBC)
We may not always realise it, but we depend on space technology orbiting the Earth. So what would happen if it all stopped working? At a recent international conference on “space hazards”, I listened to a series of speakers outline doomsday scenarios. These included a massive solar storm disrupting satellite communications, a cyber attack partially disabling the GPS system, and debris knocking out Earth-monitoring satellites.

Threats to this space infrastructure are real, and governments around the world are beginning to think seriously about improving the resilience of the systems we rely on. To focus their thoughts, and with a nod to that pioneer of threats from space, Orson Welles, here is what might happen if we suddenly encountered a day without satellites. Click here. (6/13)

Ashton Kutcher Pals With Branson, Plans Space Ride (Source: National Enquirer)
Insiders say that “Two and a Half Men” star Ashton Kutcher has struck up a cozy new bromance with British billionaire Richard Branson. Ashton, 35, recently put down a whopping $250,000 deposit to reserve a spot on Branson’s Virgin Galactic suborbital spacecraft. And now, the hunky actor and adventuresome entrepreneur are said to be best buddies. (6/10)

Shenzhou-10: Capsule Docks with Space Lab (Source: Independent)
Three Chinese astronauts are getting ready to enter their home for the next week after their capsule docked with an orbiting state station. State media reported that automated controls guided the Shenzhou 10 space capsule in its successful docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab Thursday.

The astronauts will later enter the module to conduct experiments. During the mission the astronauts will also conduct a manual docking between the space capsule and the lab. They will also deliver a series of science lectures from the Tiangong — part of an outreach to increase the space program’s popularity among younger Chinese. (6/13)

This Is an Actual Photo of a Planet in Another Solar System (Source: Smithsonian)
See that little blue smudge? That’s another planet. It’s named HD95086 b, and it’s orbiting a star 300 light years away. This is one of the first times in human history that we’ve ever laid eyes on a planet in another solar system, a planet that isn’t orbiting the Sun. Click here. (6/13)

Air Force SMC Investigates New Potential GPS Satellite Launch Option (Source: GPS World)
The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with SpaceX as part of the company’s effort to certify its Falcon 9 v1.1 Launch System for National Security Space (NSS) missions. This cooperative agreement facilitates data exchanges and protects proprietary and export-controlled data. The CRADA will be in effect until all certification activities are complete.

Currently, ULA’s Delta IV and Atlas V are the only certified launch vehicles capable of lifting NSS payloads -— such as the GPS satellites -— into orbit. The addition of multiple certified launch vehicle providers bolsters assured access to space by providing more options for the warfighter to place needed capabilities on orbit. While certification does not guarantee a contract award, it does enable a company to compete for launch contracts. Those contracts could be awarded as early as Fiscal Year 2015 with launch services provided as early as Fiscal Year 2017. (6/12)

Vintage futures: Next Stop Mars, 1952 (Source: Boing Boing)
“It will probably be some 50 years before any safe space flight from Earth to another planet and back is made, but there seems now to be very little doubt that the dreams of Roger Bacon in AD 1249 and Albertus Magnus in 1280 have left the realm of Wellsian imaginings and become a practical proposition.” Click here. (6/12)

Is Earth’s Orbit Scarily Close to Venus’s Sultry Zone? (Source: New Scientist)
It used to be called Earth’s twin. With much the same size, mass and composition as our home, Venus was a lush jungle planet in the popular imagination of the early 20th century. Muggier than Earth, perhaps, but otherwise not so very different. That, of course, turned out to be entirely incorrect. Venus’s surface is sweltering and its atmosphere suffocating: its being closer to the sun made a dramatic, not an incremental, difference to its fate.

That realization has all but extinguished hopes of finding a twin for any earthly environment in our solar system. (Iced-over oceans on moons of the gas giants are almost our last hope.) So the search for Earth’s twin has moved much further afield: to the families of other stars. Work to identify the “habitable zones” in which such planets might exist has turned up some startling insights – not just about them, but also our own planet (see “Goodbye, Goldilocks: is life on Earth heading for an earlier demise?”).

If the latest models are accurate, Earth and Venus really might have been twins, had the orbit of one been just a tiny bit different. But rather than two clement Earths, there might have been two infernal Venuses. That’s a doubly humbling thought. (6/13)

NASA Visitor Centers Launch New “Passport” for Space Tourists (Source: CollectSpace)
Earth-bound space tourists hitting the road this summer to tour NASA’s historic launch pads and mission controls, as well as see the retired space shuttles on display, now have their own passport.

The “Passport to Explore Space” is now being offered by the official visitor centers for NASA’s nationwide facilities and the museums that display the space agency’s former orbiter fleet. Guests to the 14 locations in nine states can get the passports stamped with commemorative markers representing each of the centers, earning them offers and discounts in the process. (6/13)

ULA Completes PDR on Dual-Engine Centaur for Commercial Crew Program (Source: Parabolic Arc)
United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and initial round of development testing for the Dual Engine Centaur in support of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Under Independent Research and Development (IRAD) funding, ULA is re-establishing the Dual Engine Centaur (DEC) configuration for performance and human space flight safety. Atlas V is capable of flying both a single and dual engine on the Centaur second stage, but most satellite missions require only a single engine due to the powerful capability of the Atlas V booster to loft the payload into orbit. (6/13)

Europe’s Proba-V Satellite Tracks Aircraft in Flight (Source: Space News)
Europe’s Proba-V satellite, launched May 7, has successfully demonstrated that it can capture data on aircraft speed, position and altitude, the German and European space agencies announced. Flying in a polar low Earth orbit 820 kilometers in altitude, Proba-V on May 23 switched on its Automatic Dependent Broadcast-Surveillance (ADS-B) receiver and within two hours had harvested more than 12,000 ADS-B messages being emitted by aircraft flying below, the two agencies said. (6/13)

FTC Opens Antitrust Probe of United Launch Alliance (Source: Reuters)
U.S. regulators have opened a probe into whether a Lockheed-Boeing joint venture that launches U.S. government satellites into space has flouted antitrust laws. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, violated federal antitrust laws by “monopolizing” or restraining competition through an exclusivity agreement with the maker of the engines used in its rockets.

RD Amross, a joint venture of Russia’s NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies Corp, provides RD-180 engines for ULA rockets. Industry sources say ULA is preventing RD Amross from selling the engines to other rocket makers, including Orbital Sciences Corp, which is trying to break into the lucrative market for government rocket launches. Jessica Rye, spokeswoman for ULA, confirmed the investigation and said the company was cooperating with antitrust regulators.

“ULA’s contracts to purchase the RD-180 engine are lawful, pro-competitive and designed to provide the most reliable launch vehicle possible for critical U.S. government missions,” Rye said. Industry sources said the FTC investigation follows repeated unsuccessful efforts by Orbital to buy the RD-180 engines for its new medium-lift Antares rocket, which was developed in partnership with NASA to haul cargo to the International Space Station. The first Antares rocket was launched from a new commercial spaceport in Virginia in April. (6/13)

RD AMROSS Led by Former KSC Director (Source: SPACErePORT)
RD AMROSS was formed as a joint venture of Pratt & Whitney (in West Palm Beach) and Russia’s NPO Energomash to provide Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines for the ULA Atlas-5 launch vehicle. The joint venture is led by former NASA KSC Director Bill Parsons with offices in Cocoa Beach. RD AMROSS also offers Russian-built RD-120, RD-151, RD-171, and other engines. This Space Coast office will surely have some role or stake in the ongoing FTC antitrust probe. The probe involves the inability of RD AMROSS to sell RD-180 engines to ULA competitors like Orbital Sciences Corp.

Orbital’s Antares rocket uses Russian-built NK-33 engines, originally developed by Kuznetsov and provided to Orbital under an arrangement with Aerojet — in competition against RD-AMROSS. Aerojet has modified the NK-33 design, redesignating it as the AJ-26. Orbital has reportedly had some issues in testing with the AJ-26, rumored to stem from their use of decades-old NK-33 engines from a dusty Russian inventory. With the NK-33 no longer in production, Orbital remains interested in the RD-180 as a long-term replacement.

While the RD-180 engines also come from a Russian inventory, the Air Force originally was requiring Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney to establish a U.S.-based (West Palm Beach) production line for the Atlas-5 engines, to mitigate the EELV program’s reliance on Russia as a critical-path provider of USAF launch vehicle hardware. This U.S. production line was never developed, probably due to Russia’s reluctance to transfer the engine technology to the U.S. In lieu of U.S.-based production, Lockheed (and ULA) were allowed to stockpile a large inventory of the engines. (6/13)

Canadian Aerospace Responsible for $42 Billion in Revenue, 170,000 Jobs (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), in partnership with Industry Canada, today released The State of the Aerospace Industry: 2013 Report, which contains updated data and analytics for the Canadian aerospace industry as of 2012. The report highlighted the economic significance of the sector, which is responsible for $42 billion of revenue and 170,000 jobs across industries in Canada, its leadership in research and development (R&D) and productivity, and its potential for growth in coming years. (6/12)

Planetary Resources Announces Kickstarter Extended Goal: Hunting for Planets (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Alien planets are out there and Planetary Resources needs your help to find them! That’s right, the same high-powered telescope technology being used by Planetary Resources to identify near-Earth asteroids can also be used to hunt for what scientists call extrasolar planets or “exoplanets” – which are very much alien worlds. For the first-time ever, this capability will be placed directly into the hands of students, researchers and citizen scientists. (6/11)

An Urgent Plea for Help in Keeping Crewed Spaceships Off the U.S. Munitions List (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Some new rules are being proposed by the US State Department on export controls for manned suborbital space vehicles designed for commercial spaceflight. At the end of May, the Department of State published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Rule 78 FR 31 444 – that did a great thing. The DoS proposed a move of commercial satellites from the US Department of Defense (DoD) Munitions List to the Department of Commerce’s commerce control list (CCL). 

This is a great step for the industry. Unfortunately, there were some “not so good” inclusions in the Department of State NPRM … it has explicitly proposed to put manned commercial space flight vehicles on the Department of Defense Munitions List. This is the same backward path provided to the US satellite manufacturing and launch community two decades ago that almost decimated that industry. So even before we can achieve a meaningful sized global market, and dominate it with US companies, there is the real possibility that we will be hampered before the market is fully opened.

The benefits that have a real potential of not being realized are high tech job creation in rural, underserved, and hard hit regions of our country (by necessity, these vehicles are flown in remote areas); creation of a global, suborbital research and personal spaceflight industry led by US companies; and the influence that these operations will have on our children through enhanced STEM opportunities. We will be turning over the lead to non-US companies. Let’s push together to move the rules in a better direction. Write to the State Department before July 8 and tell them to move suborbital manned vehicles to the Commerce Control List. Click here. (6/11)

Angara’s Twisted Path to First Launch (Source: SPACErePORT)
Back in the mid 1990s, after the U.S. resolved to develop next-generation EELV rockets to upgrade its aging Atlas and Delta fleet, Russia responded by committing to the development of its own next-generation launch vehicle, the Angara. Like the new Delta and Atlas EELV rockets, Angara was to feature a common main stage booster that could launch in a single configuration, or with multiple stages strapped together for heavier payloads.

But while the Atlas-5 and Delta-4 both entered service in 2002, the Angara remained a paper rocket for about a decade while competing designs and alternative rockets came and went, presumably jockeying for scarce Kremlin space funding. The Angara launch site has also been an issue of contention, with Plesetsk, Baikonur and Vostochny named as sites for new (and expensive) Angara launch infrastructure. The first launch of an Angara 1.2 “light” vehicle is planned at Plesetsk in coming weeks. (6/12)

First Angara Rocket Shipped to Plesetsk (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Khrunichev Space Center has shipped the first flight model of light-weight Angara 1.2 PP (PP is the Russian for “Maiden Launch”) to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. In accordance with the Angara 1.2 Maiden Launch Master Schedule, the train carrying the Angara 1.2 PP hardware departed for Plesetsk in the early hours of May 28.

Angara family is a new generation of environmentally friendly launchers now under development at the Khrunichev Space Center on the basis of the URM-1 Common Core Booster (CCB), using oxygen/kerosene engine. The Angara product line includes lightweight to heavy-lift launchers featuring LEO payload capabilities of 3.8 MT to 35 MT (Angara A7). One CCB is used by the light-weight Angara 1.2 LV. The maximum number of CCBs is seven (Angara А7). (6/8)

NASA Launches Research Balloon From Sweden (Source: NASA)
A NASA scientific balloon carrying the SUNRISE solar telescope was successfully launched at 1:37 a.m. EDT June 12 from the Esrange Space Center in Northern Sweden. The telescope, SUNRISE, is a high-resolution stratospheric solar observatory that is aiming to fully understand the structure and dynamics of the solar magnetic field. This will be done through a time series of ultraviolet images and magnetograms. This is the second flight of the SUNRISE payload. (6/12)

New Commander Takes Stage at 45th Space Wing (Sources: Florida Today, USAF)
Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, commander of the 14th Air Force, has officiated command of the 45th Space Wing in Central Florida to Brig. Gen. Nina Armagno. “Armagno is the first person to command both the 30th Space Wing Hawks at Vandenberg Air Force Base…and the 45th Space Wing Sharks… She will do an outstanding job here,” said Helms.

As commander of the 45th Space Wing, Armagno is director of the Eastern Range and responsible for processing and launching government and commercial satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She will preside over a base that generates an estimated $1.2 billion and has a population and workforce of nearly 15,000 civilian and military personnel and their families.

Armagno, who last served as commander of the 30th Space Wing and Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, assumed command Wednesday morning from outgoing commander Brig. Gen. Anthony Cotton, who heads to a new assignment at the National Reconnaissance Office. (6/13)