July 23, 2021 (intelligent-aerospace.com)
• Jeff Bezos’ successful crewed Blue Origin mission on July 20th demonstrated that more and more companies are starting to realize the significance of ‘reusable rockets’ in the burgeoning space industry. New York startup iRocket is banking on its cost-effective resusable launch vehicles
Article by Jeff Foust June 13, 2021 (spacenews.com)
• When the chief executive of the of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority which operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island on the Virginia Coast, Dale Nash, decided to retire, the authority convened a search committee to select Nash’s successor. On June 10th, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam and the chairman of the board of the authority Jeff Bingham announced that Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer Jr., a retired Air Force major general, will be the next chief executive and executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority starting August 1st.
• In his 32 years in the Air Force, Mercer held a variety of space-related roles including commanding the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base and serving as deputy director of operations for Air Force Space Command. Mercer retired from the Air Force in 2008. Mercer has since served as director of the Interagency Program Office for the Federal Aviation Administration’s ‘NextGen’ program to modernize management of the national airspace system.
• Northam said of Mercer: “Under his leadership, Virginia is poised to maximize the investments we have made in our world-class spaceport and launch into the future as a leader in space exploration, research and commerce.” Indeed, Mercer said that growing the spaceport’s launch business was second only to looking out for the needs of spaceport personnel. Mercer plans to “get aggressive” about bringing more customers to the MARS spaceport.
• The two existing MARS launchpads currently accommodate Northrop Grumman’s two Antares launches a year sending Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station, and occasional launches of Minotaur rockets for various government missions.
• But another player has recently begun to operate at Wallops Island – Rocket Lab. The company built a launchpad for its Electron rocket, and in March, it announced it would launch its new medium-class Neutron rocket from Wallops as well. Getting both Electron and Neutron flying regularly from MARS could dramatically increase launch activity. Electron is designed to launch as frequently as once a month, while Neutron may launch six to eight times a year. “Between the Northrop Grumman launches and the Rocket Lab launches, we could be easily doing 20, 25 launches a year within a couple of years,” Nash predicted.
• Certification of an autonomous flight termination system required by NASA will delay the Electron, however. The first Electron launch from Wallops, originally scheduled for 2020, could slip to as late as November.
• Mercer wants to attract additional launch companies to Wallops. “The opportunity to grow in the next one to five years is extraordinary,” he said, citing interest in small satellites from both companies and government organizations like the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency. “I want MARS to be the place of choice for some of these companies that want to get their satellites into orbit.”
• MARS will have to complete with other spaceports for that launch business, in particular Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. Mercer suggested he would be open to building additional launch infrastructure at MARS if there is demand for it. Nash said NASA’s master plan for Wallops includes the ability to add two or three more launchpads, which could potentially accommodate larger launch vehicles than Antares and Neutron. The state of Virginia has more than $250 million in building the Wallops Island facility.
• But Mercer noted that there are limits to how large MARS could grow. “Will we ever become a Cape Canaveral? Probably not because of limits on the infrastructure that can be built there. …[B]ut we want to expand as much as we can… That will allow more customers to come to this range.”
WASHINGTON — The new head of Virginia’s commercial spaceport on Wallops
Island says he wants to increase launch activity at the site, while acknowledging that there are limits as to how big it can grow.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced June 10 that Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer Jr., a retired Air Force major general, will be the next chief executive and executive director of the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, which operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops Island. Mercer will
take over Aug. 1 when the current head of the authority, Dale Nash, retires.
“Under his leadership, Virginia is poised to maximize the investments we have made
in our world-class spaceport and launch into the future as a leader in space exploration, research and commerce,” Northam said of Mercer in a statement.
Mercer held a variety of space-related roles in his 32 years in the Air Force, including commanding the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base and serving as deputy director of operations for Air Force Space Command. Mercer retired from the Air Force in 2008 and, in
2016, became director of the Interagency Program Office for the Federal Aviation Administration’s NextGen program to modernize management of the national airspace system.
The authority convened a search committee to select Nash’s successor, which led them to Mercer. “This committee has unanimously selected the best candidate possible to take the helm of Virginia Space,” Jeff Bingham, chairman of the board of the authority, said in a briefing. “Our new CEO and executive director is uniquely qualified to ensure that we deliver on our objectives and work to become increasing active and competitive over the next decade.”
MARS hosts only a few orbital launches a year currently. Northrop Grumman conducts an average of two Antares launches a year from Pad 0-A, sending Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. Neighboring Pad 0-B hosts occasional launches of Northrop Grumman Minotaur rockets, including a Minotaur 1 launch of a National Reconnaissance Office mission scheduled for June 15.
Mercer said at the briefing that growing the spaceport’s launch business was a top priority, second only to looking out for the needs of spaceport personnel. “One of the cleanest ways we can begin to grow this business, without doing much in terms of infrastructure, is simply get aggressive about getting out and bringing more customers to our launch port and to our range,” he said.
A big factor in the future of MARS is Rocket Lab. The company built Launch Complex 2, a launchpad for its Electron rocket, next to Pad 0-A. In March, it announced it would launch its new medium-class Neutron rocket from Wallops, using the existing Pad 0-A. That rocket will also be manufactured at a facility to be built nearby.
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Article by Bilal Waqar May 8, 2021 (wonderfulengineering.com)
• Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) won a $2 billion contract from NASA to build the Dream Chaser, a space vehicle that promises to become the first-of-its-kind reusable cargo vessel. the new space plane could make a round-trip journey to International Space Station much faster than Elon Musk’s SpaceX vehicles. In fact, SNC aims to transform the way spaceflights are perceived, and could become the second big space organization, next to NASA. (see 4:01 minute video of the Dream Chaser’s Concept of Operations below)
• The Dream Chaser is currently able to travel in near space autonomously. SNC is planning a manned mission in 2022. The space plane will be carried into space on a United Launch Alliance rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dream Chaser will land on the space center’s landing strip which the Space Shuttles used. This means that the Kennedy facility is not only performing as a NASA facility, it’s also becoming a multi-user commercial spaceport. The Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser operation at Kennedy will include the hiring of dozens of employees and may even require the construction of new buildings to cater to engineering necessities.
SpaceX capsules designated for ventures to International Space Station might face
competition after the announcement of a new spaceplane set to take its first flight. It is claimed that the new spaceplane could make a roundtrip to ISS much faster than SpaceX vehicles.
The new spaceplane is built and operated by Sierra Nevada Corp. in Nevada and aims to transform the way spaceflights are perceived. The new spacecraft is called the Dream Chaser and as announced can go on the space venture with autonomous capabilities. It will be lifted through ULA (United Launch Alliance) rocket from the Kennedy Space Center to execute 
flights to the ISS.
The new Dream Chaser by the Sierra Nevada Corp. will land on the space center’s landing strip which previously has been used for landing space shuttles. Former astronaut, Janet Kavandi said that the first of the Dream Chasers is getting ready for being delivered to Kennedy Space Center and will land on the strip somewhere around spring 2022.
“When we first launch next year, 2022, at the end of that mission, we plan to come back and land here at this very runway,” said Kavandi.
4:01 minute Dream Chaser Concept of Operations video (‘Sierra Nevada Corporation’ YouTube)
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Article by Eric Berger March 8, 2021 (arstechnica.com)
• The US Army Corps of Engineers has posted a public notice about the spaceport that Elon Musk’s SpaceX proposes to construct in Boca Chica, Texas, at the southern tip of the state along the Gulf of Mexico. The major hardware includes orbital and suborbital launch pads, landing pads, structural test stands, and a ground support “tank farm”.
• What is striking about this architectural drawing is the relatively limited amount of land that SpaceX has to work with, as a substantial portion must be devoted to stormwater flooding ponds. All of these facilities will be concentrated within a couple dozen acres, in stark contrast to the expansive launch sites in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
• Since acquiring the south Texas launch site in 2014, SpaceX’s planned scope of activities has grown from planning about 10 Falcon 9 launches a year to launches of the massive Starship vehicle. SpaceX has acquired two floating oil rigs, named Phobos and Deimos, that are being converted at shipyards along the Texas coast into massive floating launch pads (see video below). The plan is to launch Starships on suborbital hops from the ground launch pad in Texas to the floating platforms towed and anchored out in the gulf waters. The Starships can be launched from there into space without collateral damage.
• Musk has also proposed the incorporation of nearby Boca Chica Village into a new city, called Starbase, Texas. Such a city would need to have at least 201 residents and follow state rules for incorporation. Prior to SpaceX’s arrival, the small Boca Chica community consisted of several dozen homes. In recent years, the company has sought to buy out or otherwise remove residents so that it has more control over its nearby launch activities. SpaceX is also undergoing an environmental assessment in south Texas for evaluation by the Federal Aviation Administration.
As part of a federal review process for its plans in South Texas, details of SpaceX’s
proposed spaceport have been made public. They were posted late last week in a public notice from the US Army Corps of engineers, which is soliciting public comments on the changes.
Most notably, the new documents include a detailed architectural drawing of the multi-acre site at the southern tip of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The 
major hardware that exists or will be built includes:
• Two orbital launch pads, one of which is already under constriction
• Two suborbital launch pads, one of which already exists
• Two landing pads, one of which already exists
• Two structural test stands for Starship and the Super Heavy booster
• A large “tank farm” to provide ground support equipment for orbital flights
• A permanent position for the totemic “Starhopper” vehicle at the site’s entrance
What is striking about this architectural drawing is its compact nature, largely because SpaceX has limited land to work with at the facility and must include stormwater ponds to mitigate against flooding. All of these facilities will be concentrated within a couple dozen acres, which is in stark contrast to more expansive launch sites in Florida at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
However, SpaceX appears confident that it can control the launch and landing of its vehicles such that any mishaps will not severely damage nearby equipment. This is a non-traditional and possibly risky bet, but SpaceX has always been willing to take risks during development programs in order to move more quickly.
8:22 minute video on Starship Floating Launch Platform (‘Science of Space’ YouTube)
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Article by Sandra Erwin October 28, 2020 (spacenews.com)
• NASA astronaut and US Air Force colonel Michael Hopkins is the commander of an upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Hopkins is also planning to transfer to the US Space Force.
• “If all goes well, we’re looking to swear him into the Space Force from the International Space Station,” said Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations of the US Space Force. Raymond is working with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the details of a planned transfer ceremony as a way to highlight the decades-long partnership between DoD and NASA.
• NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is scheduled to launch on November 14th from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew of four includes Hopkins, NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission specialist Soichi Noguchi (all 4 pictured above).
• For more than 60 years, men and women from the five military branches have helped fill the ranks of the NASA astronaut corps. Hopkins was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2009. Like hundreds of other Air Force airmen, Hopkins is voluntarily transferring to Space Force. He will be the first member of the Space Force to serve in NASA’s astronaut corps.
WASHINGTON — NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, a U.S. Air Force colonel and the commander of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, is transferring to the U.S. Space Force and is expected to be commissioned aboard the International Space Station.
“If all goes well, we’re looking to swear him into the Space Force from the International Space Station,” said Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force.
Col. Michael “Hopper” Hopkins is the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission scheduled to launch Nov. 14 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew of four includes Hopkins, NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission specialist Soichi Noguchi.
Col. Catie Hague, a spokesperson for the chief of space operations, told SpaceNews that the service is working with NASA to schedule a transfer ceremony once Hopkins is on board the International Space Station.
Hopkins, like hundreds of other airmen who are now in the Space Force, is transferring voluntarily. He was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2009.
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by Sandra Erwin December 19, 2018 (spacenews.com)
• On Tuesday December 18th,Vice President Mike Pence announced President Trump’s Pentagon directive to establish a four star U.S. Space Command. While at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Tuesday, Pence said, “We’re working as we speak with leaders in both parties in Congress to stand up the United States Space Force before the end of 2020.”
• On Wednesday, VP Pence was at the Pentagon to receive a briefing on space operations and cyber defense. One of the topics was the Pentagon’s draft proposal, named SPD-4, establishing a Space Force as a sixth separate military branch. The directive is being finalized and could be signed by the president shortly after the new year.
• The SPD-4 directive would instruct Department of Defense to submit a legislative proposal on how the new service would be organized and a budget request. Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said to reporters, “We’re right now in final coordination in the building on the legislative proposal.”
• The Space Force will most likely be initially organized under the Department of the Air Force. This approach would be less costly and more likely to get congressional support, experts said. The Air Force had already included an Air Force Space Command. Under this construct, Space Force would still meet the criteria to be considered a sixth service, said Thomas Taverney, the former vice commander of the Air Force Space Command.
• The Pentagon could keep costs under control by making the Space Force a leaner organization that does not require multiple layers of bureaucracy to get things done, Taverney said. “Maybe we can come up with a more efficient way to set up the organization.”
• One part of the plan that is still unresolved is the establishment of a preliminary Space Development Agency to accelerate innovation and insertion of commercial technology into space programs. Its functions and makeup have not yet been decided. A study team will have 60 days to complete this task. “What is it going to be? An overarching policy organization? A separate acquisition organization? Or a new acquisition organization that takes pieces from the others?” Taverney asked.
• Air Force brass is pushing for Fred Kennedy, the director of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (DARPA) Tactical Technology Office, to head the Space Development Agency. Kennedy has past experience working at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center and has ‘space acquisition’ expertise.
• [Editor’s Note] It now appears that the Deep State tentacles of the Air Force and DARPA are creeping into the creation and control of this supposedly “separate sixth branch of the military”. Is this the ‘Space Force’ that President Trump intended?
Vice President Mike Pence visited the Pentagon on Wednesday to receive a briefing on space operations and cyber defense. One of the topics was the proposal the Pentagon is drafting to establish a Space Force as a separate military branch.
Speaking with reporters shortly before Pence arrived at the Pentagon Wednesday morning, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the establishment of a Space Force was one item on the agenda. “We’re going to talk to him about a number of projects going on here in the building,” Shanahan said, according to a pool report.
Pence came to the Pentagon one day after announcing that President Trump directed the Defense Department to establish U.S. Space Command as a four-star combatant command. Speaking on Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Pence said Trump will also sign a new space policy directive in the coming days that will lay out plans and a timeline to create a U.S. Space Force as a sixth branch of the armed forces. “We’re working as we speak with leaders in both parties in Congress to stand up the United States Space Force before the end of 2020,” said Pence.
The new space policy directive, named SPD-4, is the fourth major space policy action by the Trump administration. According to sources, the directive is being finalized and could be signed by the president shortly after the new year. The policy memo would instruct DoD to submit a legislative proposal on how the new service would be organized and a budget request. The National Space Council, led by Pence, has been in back and forth coordination with DoD on the legislative proposal.
Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday that the legislative proposal has not yet been shared with Congress. “We’re right now in final coordination in the building on the legislative proposal,” he said. “I think we’re still on the timeline. We’ve kind of all talked about it.”
DoD sources said the Space Force proposal will likely recommend organizing the new branch initially under the Department of the Air Force. This would make the Space Force comparable to the Marine Corps, which is part of the Department of the Navy. This approach would be less costly and more likely to get congressional support, experts said.
Organizing the Space Force under the Department of the Air Force is “probably the most logical way to solve this in the near term, said Thomas Taverney, a retired Air Force major general who served as vice commander of Air Force Space Command.
The Space Force under this construct would still meet the criteria to be considered a sixth service, Taverney told SpaceNews.
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