The Space Review

[Orionid]

The secret history of Britain’s involvement in the Strategic Defense Initiative
by Aaron Bateman Monday, February 1, 2021


Long before Ronald Reagan offered Margaret Thatcher hundreds of millions of R&D funding associated with SDI, she supported the program, often over the objections of others in the British government. (credit: Reagan Library)

In March 1983, President Ronald Reagan surprised the world when he called upon American scientists to use their talents to render ballistic missiles “impotent and obsolete.” His speech would lead to the establishment of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively called “Star Wars.” It grew into a $30 billion effort to explore the technologies required for a multi-layered missile defense system with land, sea, air, and space-based interceptors. While SDI looms large in Cold War political histories, very little has been actually written about the system itself and how it evolved over time. Even less has been written about the involvement of foreign countries in SDI research and development.[1] Of all the foreign participants, the United Kingdom was the most significant in terms of its political value for the Untied States and its access to highly classified areas of SDI research.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4116/1

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“Space ethics” according to space ethicists
by James S.J. Schwartz and Tony Milligan Monday, February 1, 2021


Discussions of “space ethics” date back to at least the 1980s, as part of analyses of the feasibility of terraforming Mars. (credit: Daein Ballard CC BY-SA 3.0)

Late in 2020 two unexpected space ethics op-eds appeared. Unexpected, because space ethics does not usually command that sort of attention; it is more of a background discourse than a regular part of the political battleground. In one of the op-eds, “Wokeists Assault Space Exploration”, Robert Zubrin argued that the authors of a white paper from NASA’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (EDIWG) were threatening to “abort space exploration.” Not long after, Joel Sercel (of TransAstra Corporation) and Steve Kwast (a retired Air Force lieutenant general) wrote a more thoughtful piece arguing that “someone needs to create a carefully crafted new field of space ethics.” The former threw shade on space ethics, the latter looked more positively toward its constructive role as an enabling asset for spaceflight—as something that might allow us to do things better by, for instance, avoiding the kind of disasters that have periodically undermined public confidence in the US space program.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4117/1

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Review: The Mission
by Jeff Foust Monday, February 8, 2021


The Mission: A True Story
by David W. Brown
Custom House, 2021
hardcover, 480 pp.
ISBN 978-0-06-265442-7
US$35.00
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006265442X/spaceviews

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is likely getting a new ride. The agency announced last week that it will issue, around the beginning of March, a formal request for proposals for launching the mission in October 2024. Congress had for years dictated that the mission launch on the Space Launch System, ensuring a speedy transit to Jupiter. NASA had objected, arguing it needed those SLS vehicles for the Artemis program and that a commercial launch option could save the agency as much as $1.5 billion. Congress relented in a spending bill passed in December after engineering analyses found potential issues with the vibrational environment the spacecraft will be exposed to during launch. That opens the door to using SpaceX’s existing Falcon Heavy, or potentially Blue Origin’s New Glenn and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur vehicles yet to make their first launch.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4118/1

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It is very cold in space: Season 2 of “For All Mankind”
by Dwayne A. Day Monday, February 8, 2021


The second season of the AppleTV+ series “For All Mankind” picks up the story in 1983, depicting a thriving lunar outpost, and increasing tensions in the Cold War. (credit: AppleTV+)

Early in the first episode of the second season of AppleTV+’s series “For All Mankind,” a group of astronauts assembles on the lunar surface to watch the sunrise accompanied by a bit of music that is clearly an homage to Brian Eno’s 1983 album “Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks.” Eno recorded that music as the soundtrack to Al Reinert’s documentary “Apollo,” re-released under the title “For All Mankind.” Reinert’s documentary was a masterpiece, beautifully edited and composed, and the fact that it is referenced in the new series—reappearing in the final episode—is an indication of just how fluent the show’s makers are with the language and the culture of the American space program.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4119/1

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How can you improve the Outer Space Treaty?
by Jeff Foust Monday, February 8, 2021


While some think the Outer Space Treaty could use some “vitality” to bring it up to date with current space issues, there’s less consensus on how to do so. (credit: United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs)

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 has long been hailed as the foundation of international space law, the basis for both a series of subsequent treaties and for other agreements. Last year, the US-led Artemis Accords sought to incorporate or “operationalize” many of the principles of that treaty in its agreements with other countries who wish to cooperation of the Artemis program of lunar exploration (see “The Artemis Accords take shape”, The Space Review, October 26, 2020).
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4120/1

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EKS: Russia’s space-based missile early warning system
by Bart Hendrickx Monday, February 8, 2021


The Tundra missile early warning satellite. Source

In May of last year, Russia launched the fourth of its new-generation missile early warning satellites called Tundra. Flying in highly elliptical orbits, they continuously monitor regions from which missile attacks could potentially be launched against Russian territory. The Tundra satellites are part of the Integrated Space System (EKS), which will also include several satellites in geostationary orbit. With the fourth Tundra launch, EKS is reported to have reached its minimum baseline configuration. This article attempts to shed new light on the system’s technical features and capabilities using a variety of openly available sources.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4121/1

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Review: Cosmic Careers
by Jeff Foust Monday, February 15, 2021



Cosmic Careers: Exploring the Universe of Opportunities in the Space Industries
by Alastair Storm Browne and Maryann Karinch
HarperCollins Leadership, 2021
paperback, 256 pp., illus.
ISBN 978-1-400-22093-9
US$19.99
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400220939/spaceviews

This may be the best job market in decades for people looking into get into the space industry. Many well-funded startups are hiring engineers and others needed to get their businesses off the ground—figuratively and literally—from launch vehicle companies to satellite manufacturers to those developing services based on data from space systems. SpaceX alone has several hundred job openings on its website; many are engineers and technicians, as you’d expect, but others range from finance managers and customer support staff for its Starlink satellite system to cooks and a barista.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4122/1

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Global navigation satellite systems: a Symbiotic Realist paradigm
by Nayef Al-Rodhan Monday, February 15, 2021


The UK’s departure from the EU means it will no longer participate in the Galileo satellite navigation system, an example of the geopolitical issues involved with such networks. (credit: ESA)

The UK space sector has been forced to face up to issues of sovereignty, particularly regarding its satellite activity, as Chris Skidmore, the government’s former science minister, highlighted during a Parliamentary debate on the future of the space industry earlier this month. The UK also recently made its final significant industrial contribution to the EU’s Galileo satnav system, as it bid the multi-billion-pound project farewell in another nod to the country’s departure from the European Union.

While space quite literally appears to know no bounds, geopolitical developments on the ground have increasingly brought its geopolitical limitations, as well as questions of sovereignty, regulation, and multilateral relations, into the picture. Despite the UK’s close involvement, the EU ensured that key features of Galileo would only be accessible for bloc members. This raises questions about the exclusive framework that some of these systems operate in, their “global” ubiquitous nature, and how this feeds into the balance between competition and cooperation: what I call a Symbiotic Realist coexistence.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4123/1

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Reflecting core American values in the competition for the final economic frontier
by Josh Carlson Monday, February 15, 2021


A “Second Space Race” may be emerging between the US and China regarding economic benefits derived from space. (credit: SpaceX)

One motif of space futurism, from some of the earliest examples in the 1860s to the modern day, is the expected timeline for the developments and blossoming space culture that is envisioned. Virtually every one of those predictions has been, in retrospect, too aggressive and unrealized. Bruce Cahan and Dr. Mir Sadat, in “U.S. Space Policy for the New Space Age: Competing on the Final Frontier”, address the missing element that threw those predictions off: economics. While we may have the technology to do most, if not all, of the things described, it is the economic impetus drives civilizations to act and achieve.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4124/1

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Space investors head to the exits, at last
by Jeff Foust Monday, February 15, 2021


Astra, which nearly reached orbit with its Rocket 3.2 launch in December (above), announced this month it will merge with a special-purpose acquisition company, allowing it to raise nearly $500 million and go public. (credit: Astra/John Kraus)

For the last several years, the space startup ecosphere has looked a little like a roach motel: money comes in but it doesn’t come out. Billions of dollars of funding have flowed into launch vehicle, remote sensing, broadband megaconstellation, and other companies, but there have been few exits: opportunities for those investors to collect their return on that investment through either a sale of the company or a public offering of its stock.

That is starting to change. Investors are continuing to put money into space companies, and at an increasing rate. After a brief period of uncertainly last spring because of the pandemic, investors doubled down on the field.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4125/1

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In memoriam: Taylor Dinerman
by Christopher M. Stone Monday, February 22, 2021


Taylor Dinerman. (credit: Christopher Stone)

Recently, The Space Review lost one of its longtime contributors, Taylor Dinerman. The son of a World War II veteran who was educated in Geneva one of the United Nations’ hubs in Europe, and himself a wounded combat veteran who defended the Jewish home state, Taylor was no stranger to the ways of the world, its diverse cultures and languages, and the many differences of opinion and perspectives that ranged the gambit of his interests in the overlapping studies influencing national and international dynamics. Because of this experience in the political, military, and academic realms, he was motivated to put these observations to pen in various newspapers, journals, and studies through such publications and think tanks as National Review, Gatestone Institute, Hudson Institute, Wall Street Journal, among many others.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4126/1

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The promise of return on investment does not disappear in cislunar space and beyond
by Vidvuds Beldavs Monday, February 22, 2021


Alternative financing mechanisms may be needed to support development of lunar infrastructure without relying on uncertain government programs. (credit: Anna Nesterova/Alliance for Space Development)

In a recent essay, Josh Carlson discusses the importance of the United States taking a leadership role in commercial space activities (see “Reflecting core American values in the competition for the final economic frontier”, The Space Review, February 15, 2021). The premise of the article that “the economic impetus drives civilizations to act and achieve” can be debated, but political imperatives cannot motivate sustainable space development. Sustainable presence in outer space demands that the large investments required generate returns that are competitive with other investments and that promote further growth.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4127/1

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NASA tests the perseverance of some space enthusiasts
by Svetoslav Alexandrov Monday, February 22, 2021


An image from the surface of Mars taken by Perseverance and released by NASA the day after landing. The lack of more such images from the mission, a break with past Mars missions, has been a source of frustration for some people. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

In 2016, I wrote an article about the lack of rapid image releases when certain space missions reach their destination (see “Rethinking image release policies in the age of instant gratification”, The Space Review, August 29, 2016.) My article focused on projects such as Rosetta and New Horizons, which adopted more conservative approaches by offering monthly or weekly batches of imagery, in contrast to missions like Cassini, the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) Spirit and Opportunity, Phoenix, Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), and InSight, whose science teams published photos as soon as they were received on Earth. Back then, I never imagined that the next Mars rover would find itself in the midst of a similar controversy. After all, it was mostly Mars surface missions that had their photos available on the web immediately after downlinking.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4128/1

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It only looks easy: Perseverance lands on Mars
by Jeff Foust Monday, February 22, 2021


An image of the Perseverance Mars rover, dangling beneath the skycrane used to lower the rover to the surface, released by NASA a day after its February 18 landing. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

One of NASA’s most remarkable, if peculiar, skills is its ability to turn the amazing into the mundane. When it landed astronauts on the Moon in 1969 for the first time in human history, the world stopped to watch. By the time it did it for the sixth and final time (to date) in 1972, the world largely ignored it. Most shuttle missions faded into obscurity, gaining attention only when they involved unusual complexity or unfortunate tragedy.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4129/1

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Review: Liftoff
by Jeff Foust Monday, March 1, 2021



Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX
by Eric Berger
Willam Morrow, 2021
hardcover, 288 pp.
ISBN 978-0-06-297997-1
US$27.99
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0062979973/spaceviews

Rocket launches are coming back to Kwajalein. On Friday, NASA announced it awarded a contract to Astra to launch a constellation of cubesats called TROPICS that will study the structure of tropical cyclones. Those satellites will be launched on three of Astra’s Rocket 3 vehicles during a 120-day period in the first half of 2022, from Kwajalein Atoll.
https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4130/1