Hot Topics:
Intellectual Property, Export Controls & Insurance

Chair: Franceska Schroeder, Principal, Fish & Richardson, P.C., Washington, DC Office

Speakers:

• Grant Anderson, Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer, Paragon Space Development Corporation
• James W. Babineau, Principal, Fish & Richardson P.C., Austin Office – Intellectual Property
• Christopher T.W. Kunstadter, Senior Vice President Aerospace Insurance, XL Group

Tweets

Now on the stage: panel discussion on export control and intellectual property protection related to the commercial space industry. (ISPCS ‏@ISPCS)

Now up at #ISPCS, additional duscussion on risks and insurance. Moderator @FOSchroeder (Alan Ladwig ‏@SpaceArtAl)

Chris Kunstadter, XL Insurance on “Hot Topics” panel: lot of capital in space insurance market right now, pushing down rates. (Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust)

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Cygnus berthed at ISS. (Credit: NASA)

Expedition 37 Update
Oct. 17, 2013

The Expedition 37 crew aboard the International Space Station focused Thursday on preparations for the upcoming departure of two cargo ships.  The robotic unberthing of Orbital Sciences’  Cygnus resupply ship on Tuesday will mark the start of several weeks of unusually busy vehicle traffic at the orbiting complex.

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Keynote Address
Alan Ladwig
Chief, To Orbit Productions

TWEETS

Back from lunch at #ISPCS with @SpaceArtAl talking about risks and rewards of commercial spaceflight industry. (Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust)

Alan Ladwig says he’s consulting with a new, as yet unannounced group that plans to do comm’l spaceflight participant training. (Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust)

#ISPCS – Alan Ladwig – is he holding back? No, Alan has been set free to tell us what he really thinks!  (Wayne Hale ‏@waynehale )

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ISPCS Panel Discussion
When Government is Ready to Buy…

Moderator: Wayne Hale

Speakers:

• John Mulholland, Vice President/ Program Manager, Boeing Commercial Programs
• Mike Pinkston, Senior Vice President, Antares Program, Orbital Sciences Corporation
• Lee “Bru” Archambault, Director of Flight Operations, Dream Chaser Program, Sierra Nevada Corporation
• Andrew Aldrin, DIrector of Business Development, United Launch Alliance

TWEETS

• Former astronaut Michael “LA” Lopez-Alegria introducing the next panel: “When Government is Ready to Buy…” #ISPCS pic.twitter.com/blQKjXxWnF (Suzi Gordon ‏@suzigordon)
• Now up at #ISPCS. Panel on “When government is Ready to Buy.” @waynehale moderator. He has really flourished in post-NASA career. (Alan Ladwig ‏@SpaceArtAl)
• Note to self: quit talking about how #ISS PARTNERSHIP deserves Noble Peace Prize & find way to make it happen! (Alan Ladwig ‏@SpaceArtAl)

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Keynote Address
John Elbon
Vice President and General Manager
Boeing Space Exploration

• Day 2 of #ISPCS: John Elbon of Boeing speaking about #ISS exploration now and in the future (Suzi Gordon ‏@suzigordon)
• John Elbon @Boeing – America supports our space program, but they quickly forget while in the fog of govt shut-downs and the like. (Larry Strader ‏@Strader411)
• @Boeing’s John Elbon begins his #ISPCS keynote with discussion of #ISS – which he began working on in 1986 with Gerst (Kay Anderson ‏@SpaceRiter)
• ‏John Elbon @Boeing – @ISS_Research is key to fostering commercial crew and cargo. (Larry Strader ‏@Strader411)
• Elbon: #ISS is the heart and soul of what we are doing in space right now and the jumping off point for future space exploration. (ISPCS ‏@ISPCS)

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL., October 17, 2013 (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, today issued a solicitation for proposals in the field of remote sensing.

This solicitation seeks proposals focused on terrestrial benefit via Earth observations, atmospheric science, planetary science or remote sensing of space. CASIS aims to (1) use existing hardware or (2) develop and deploy new sensors or instrumentation for remote sensing on the National Lab.

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SOAR spaceplane atop an A-300. (Credit: S3)

Georgetown (Washington DC), October 17, 2013 (S3 PR) — The aerospace company, Swiss Space Systems (S3), announces today the establishment of a US subsidiary, S3 USA. Located in Georgetown (Washington, DC), the company will be run by Robert Feierbach. This constitutes another important milestone in the extension of the activities of S3 in the US, one week after the announcement of its partnership with Spaceport Colorado. Negotiations on further important partnerships in the country are currently at an advanced stage.

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Platforms for Innovation

Chair: Jeff Foust, Editor, The Space Review

Speakers:

• Steve Isakowitz, President,Virgin Galactic
• Brett Alexander, Director, Business Development and Strategy at Blue Origin
• Khaki Rodway, Director, Payload Sales and Operations, XCOR Aerospace

TWEETS

• LA [Michael Lopez-Alegria] says @jeff_foust is a certified “Smart Guy” – and he’s ready to roll at #ISPCS (Kay Anderson ‏@SpaceRiter)
• Reply to @SpaceRiter @jeff_foust — So the vehicles they are flying will be licensed but not certified, but there’s a certification for Smart Guys. Huh! (Parabolicarc.com)
• Watching @jeff_foust on the podium at #ISPCS talk about the various types of innovation quoting from Jon Gertner’s book (Wayne Hale ‏@waynehale)

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Hybrid engine test at the Mojave Air and Space Port on Jan. 23, 2013. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

The latest edition of The Lurio Report includes an update on Virgin Galactic’s testing of SpaceShipTwo. I’m reproducing the relevant excerpt from it with the original bold emphasis included:

Around the same time stories were again heard that the present engine design would not be able to attain space altitude – at least not with a full compliment of six passengers and two crew.  Will Pomerantz, VP of Special Projects for Virgin Galactic, said in response to my query that, “Mojave’s certainly full of rumors, so it’s good to have a chance to clarify.  On the basis of the great results from PF01 and PF02 [the first two powered flights], coupled with continued ground testing, we do expect the present hybrid motor to be capable of carrying passengers into space.  As always, we’ll continue to look at a variety of ways to improve the motor’s performance and cost-effectiveness.”  (Later Pomerantz confirmed that he was referring to a full complement of passengers and crew when using the hybrid motor.)

He added that while Scaled is not working on any liquid engines Virgin Galactic is, though only for the LauncherOne orbital rocket which will be released from the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) aircraft.

This is really interesting. Let’s dissect this statement one clarification at a time.

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Panel Discussion: The Marketplace

Chair:

Raymond Vogel,  Business Development Principal Jacobs Technology, Inc.

Speakers:

• Monique Jacobson, Secretary of Tourism, State of New Mexico
• Andrew Nelson, Chief Operating Officer, XCOR Aerospace
• Sean Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer, Masten Space Systems
• Bob Allen, Executive Director, Innovation, Design, Entertainment, Art, and Storytelling (IDEAS)

Tweeters:

• Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust
• Suzi Gordon ‏@suzigordon
• Justin Kugler @phalanx
• Chris Boshuizen ‏@cboshuizen
• ISPCS ‏@ISPCS

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