Jeff Foust, SpaceNews – “Without consistent government demand, many U.S. commercial space firms that offer valuable defense applications may not survive,” said Sam Wilson, systems director at Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
Blue Origin conducts first flight of second human-rated New Shepard
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews – Blue Origin carried out the first flight of a new model of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. The flight was the first for a new model of both the New Shepard capsule, called RSS Kármán Line, and the booster.
Artemis Accords Celebrate Four Years and 45 Signatories
Jacqueline Feldscher, Payload – Focus areas for the next year include prioritization of sustainability in space, including how to handle debris on and around the Moon as the pace of commercial lunar missions is poised to pick up.
Space Agenda 2025 Compendium
The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy (CSPS) published Space Agenda 2025 to provide objective insight into the opportunities and challenges ahead for the space sector: https://csps.aerospace.org/sa2025
Regulatory Reform Should Be Top Priority For 2025: Aerospace Corp.
Briana Sparacino, Payload – In an Aerospace Center for Space Policy & Strategy paper, Brian Weeden, a senior analyst, argues that the continued lack of regulatory modernization leads to: a lack of certainty, overly cumbersome regulations, or a lack of sufficient government oversight.
New DoD space policy directive clarifies Space Force, Space Command roles
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense – The new version of “DoD Directive 3100.10” — dated Oct. 15 and signed by DoD Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks — for the first time codifies into Pentagon policy the three primary missions for which Space Force Guardians must be organized, trained, and equipped to fulfill.
Space Force refining commercial backup plan for military satellites
Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – A new initiative, Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR), would allow the military to tap into commercial space assets, such as satellites and communication systems, during crises or emergencies.
NASA weighing options for continuous human presence in LEO after ISS
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews – At IAC 2024, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy mentioned what she called the “elephant in the room”: a desire to have continuous human presence in low earth orbit (LEO). An alternative approach, “continuous capability,” would mean retaining the ability to have humans in orbit without maintaining a continuous presence.
No simple answers for debris mitigation
Debra Werner, SpaceNews – Marlon Sorge and Greg Henning, executive director and engineering manager, respectively, at Aerospace’s Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies: “One of the things we try to focus on is getting folks on the technical level to talk to each other.”
Solar power from space? Actually, it might happen in a couple of years.
Eric Berger, Ars Technica – Large solar arrays in geostationary orbit could collect solar energy and beam it back to Earth via microwaves as a continuous source of clean energy. It should work — in theory. Aetherflux, a small space solar startup, is putting this concept to the test.