SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (USTRANSCOM PR) – While speaking at the National Defense Transportation Association’s Fall Meeting on Oct. 7, U.S. Army Gen. Stephen R. Lyons, commander, U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), announced USTRANSCOM is looking to space to quickly move critical logistics during time-sensitive contingencies or to deliver humanitarian assistance, helping to project and sustain the Joint Force in support of national objectives.

WOODBINE, Ga., October 6, 2020 (Spaceport Camden PR) – Camden County and the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research (CBAER) at Georgia Southern University has released a new study on the economic impact of space tourism on coastal Georgia. The report estimates that a single launch could attract approximately 4,000-5,000 visitors to the area. CBAER estimates that 38 to 45 jobs connected to tourism and hospitality would be supported long-term by the project as well.

While there would be some additional new jobs as a result, the primary impact on employment would likely be adding more hours to existing employees, shifting employees from part-time to full-time work, or increasing their income due to increased customer traffic and visitor counts.

New multi-year MLSA provides launch capacity for nine microsats, end-to-end mission management services, and schedule reliability for fast-growing radio signal mapping constellation

SEATTLE, October 7, 2020 (Spaceflight Inc. PR) —Spaceflight Inc., the leading satellite rideshare and mission management provider, today announced it signed a Multiple Launch Services Agreement (MLSA) with HawkEye 360. Under the agreement, Spaceflight will provide capacity, engineering, and mission management services to launch HawkEye 360’s Cluster 4, 5, and 6 of its radio frequency mapping satellites. Each cluster in the constellation consists of three approximately 30 kg microsats which fly in a unique formation to gather a wide variety of geolocation data.

HOUSTON, Oct. 7, 2020 (Boeing PR) — NASA has chosen veteran astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore to serve as commander of Boeing’s [NYSE: BA] CST-100 Starliner for the Crew Flight Test. He replaces Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, who decided not to fly for personal reasons. Wilmore, who has already been training for a Starliner flight as a backup crew member, will join Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke for this first crewed mission of the Starliner spacecraft.

“I’m grateful to Chris for his exceptional leadership and insight into this very complex and most capable vehicle,” Wilmore said. “Having had the chance to train alongside and view this outstanding crew as backup has been instrumental in my preparation to assume this position. Stepping down was a difficult decision for Chris, but with his leadership and assistance to this point, this crew is positioned for success. We will move forward in the same professional and dedicated manner that Chris has forged.”

GLASGOW, Scotland (University of Glasgow PR) — A ‘self-eating’ rocket engine which aims to put small payloads into orbit by burning its own structure as propellant has won financial support from the UK Government.

The Defence & Security Accelerator (DASA), part of the Ministry of Defence, has pledged £90,000 [$116,080] for further development of the autophage engine, which is being built at the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering. The development team hope that this new rocket could create launch opportunities at the spaceports emerging across the northern regions of the UK.

• Merger to create the first publicly traded space infrastructure company at the forefront of the new space economy
• Momentus partners and customers include SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and NASA
• Momentus to become publicly listed through a business combination with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRAC, SRACU, SRACW) (“Stable Road”)
• Combined company will have an estimated enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion and will become listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “MNTS” following expected transaction close in early 2021
• Pro forma for the transaction, Momentus will have approximately $310 million in cash on the balance sheet, to be funded by Stable Road’s $172.5 million of cash held in trust (assuming no redemptions) and $175.0 million from a fully committed common stock PIPE at $10.00 per share, including investments from private equity growth investors, family offices and select top tier public institutional investors

SANTA CLARA, CA , October 7, 2020 (Momentus PR) — Momentus Inc. (“Momentus” or the “Company”), a commercial space company offering in-space transportation and infrastructure services, today announced it has signed a definitive merger agreement with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SRAC, SRACU, SRACW) (“Stable Road”) that will result in the Company becoming publicly listed. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined operating company will be named Momentus Inc. and its securities will be listed on Nasdaq and trade under the ticker symbol “MNTS.”

The president of Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) said on Sunday that Brazil plans a launch a domestically-produced orbital rocket within two years, according to a news release on the agency’s website.

“We are working on the development of a more powerful engine, which is the S50, a project carried out in partnership with the national industry in São José dos Campos (SP). It incorporates a number of technological advances. We intend to start testing the engine in 2021 and make it fly by 2022,” Carlos Moura said.

by Thaddeus Cesari 
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — With the completion of its latest series of milestone tests, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has now survived all of the harsh conditions associated with a rocket launch to space. 

Webb’s recent tests have validated that the fully assembled  observatory will endure the deafening noise, and the jarring shakes, rattles and vibrations that the observatory will experience during liftoff. Known as “acoustic” and “sine-vibration” testing, NASA has worked carefully with its international partners to match Webb’s testing environment precisely to what Webb will experience both on launch day, and when operating in orbit.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

As their name implies, cavemen and their families lived in caves to protect themselves from the dangers of weather, wild animals and alien monoliths that might suddenly appear on the savannah.

As humanity prepares to take its next evolutionary step — the permanent settlement of the moon and Mars — it looks like it will be heading back to the caves. Or, more accurately, lava tubes that will protect astronauts from dangers of radiation and solar storms.

Ah oui. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose….

NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) met last week and reached the not-at-all surprising conclusion that NASA’s rush to land astronauts on the moon by 2024 and funding delays could get some of them killed, SpaceNews reports:

SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, raising the number of spacecraft launched for the broadband Internet constellation to 775. The successful flight followed three scrubs, two for bad weather and the other due to a ground sensor issue. Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship. The booster previously supported launch of Crew Dragon’s first flight to […]

WASHINGTON (DOD PR) — The Space Development Agency announced today that two companies won bids to build out Tranche 0 of the tracking layer for the National Defense Space Architecture. Together, those contracts amount to more than $342 million.

Both L3Harris Technologies, Inc., of Melbourne, Florida, and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., of Hawthorne, California, also known as SpaceX, were successful in their bids to participate in the NDSA.

Each company is expected to build four overhead persistent infrared imaging, or OPIR, satellites for the tracking layer of the NDSA. Those satellites should be ready by the end of fiscal year 2022.