Aerospace and Defense Review : News

The Crew Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX is the first American made spacecraft to complete a space mission in over a decade. During an August 4 press conference, astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley stated that they were pleased with the Crew Dragon Spacecraft's performance. The two astronauts praised SpaceX and NASA's commercial crew program for their work in the development of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The Crew Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX is the first American made spacecraft to complete a space mission in over a decade. The Crew Dragon spacecraft completed a mission carrying the two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and back, which lasted a little over two months. "I personally expected there to be more, certainly not issues with the vehicle, but some challenges or some things that were maybe not quite what we expected," Hurley [vendor_logo_first] said, based on his experience flying on space shuttle missions. "The mission went just like the simulators. Honestly, from start to finish, all the way, there were no surprises." Hurley stated an example during reentry when he expected the spacecraft's altitude control to deviate from the plan due to the denser lower atmosphere shortly before parachute deployment. "I fully expected that to happen, and it did not," he said. "The vehicle was rock solid." Behnken was more descriptive of the reentry into the atmosphere and painted a more vivid picture. "Once we descended a little bit into the atmosphere, Dragon really came alive," he said, firing thrusters to maintain the proper attitude during reentry. The initial plan for the Demo-2 mission was for a short test flight, wherein the astronauts would spend a few days at the ISS. However, for two months, NASA extended the mission so that Hurley and Behnken could help support station operations at the ISS as there were only three astronauts present on board. According to Hurley, the extended mission had an added benefit of testing the spacecraft thoroughly. "As we descended through the atmosphere, the thrusters were firing almost  See also:  Top Aerospace Manufacturing Companies ...Read more

The operational architecture consists of three essential parts, space superiority, strategic efforts, and theater effects. Space superiority is meant to be the eyes and ears in space to understand better what is going on up there The majority of the satellites, ground infrastructure, and information systems to be purchased by the U.S. Space Force will be developed in the private sector. According to Col. Russell Teehan, portfolio architect of the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, the developed technologies will be part of the future capabilities of the U.S. Space Force. He described a notional operational architecture for the systems and technologies that the U.S. Space Force believes it will need. Established as the sixth branch of the U.S. military in December, the Space Force is responsible for protecting the U.S. space assets and providing space-based capabilities in the U.S. and allied military forces. The operational architecture consists of three essential parts, space superiority, strategic efforts, and theater effects. Space superiority is meant to be the eyes and ears in space to understand better what is going on up there. This will help the agency to protect the nation’s assets better ion space. This requires advanced sensors and surveillance systems that provide what is known as space domain awareness. [vendor_logo_first] Strategic effects refer to capabilities like space-based early-warning sensors that can detect missile launches, nuclear command, and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). According to Teehan, a strategic architecture ensures that the layers are resilient and can last through all phases of a conflict. Theater effects Services provided by satellites such as communications, regional missile defense, surveillance, and weather fall under theater effects. This sector has seen a significant rise in commercial, allied assets, and smallsats. Teehan stated that there is a lot of commercial activity within the low Earth orbits, a lot of satcom, positioning, navigation, and timing. Theater effects provide a significant opportunity for smallsat innovations. Commercial services are becoming increasingly available for weather data. The Space and Missile Systems Center is currently testing some of these services before deciding if it should invest in government-owned sensors. There are also significant opportunities for commercial players to participate in the deep space architecture segment, which is not spoken about much. There is a continued effort within the Space Force looking at the capability of pushing to cislunar space. This is mainly due to NASA’s accelerated efforts to return to the moon and then to Mars in the future. See Also:  Top Aerospace Tech Solution Companies ...Read more

ABL has also begun testing an integrated RS1 upper stage with an E2 engine. E2 was developed in house and will power both the first and second stages of RS1. Small satellite manufacturing company ABL Space Systems was awarded two U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and completed a massive round of funding with a combined value of USD 90 million. The two contracts and the investment round are vital to the company's rapid development of the RS1 launch vehicle and GS0 deployable launch system, with a demonstration launch scheduled for the first quarter of 2021. The DoD contracts were awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX, with participation from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, for a combined total of USD 44.5 million, spread over three years. In addition, the company secured USD 49 million of financing led by Ethan Batraski at Venrock with participation from New Science Ventures, Lynett Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures. The recent investment round was closed on March 31st and will fully fund the company for three launch demonstration campaigns in 2021. "We've completed hundreds of engine, stage, and ground system tests across multiple deployments to unimproved sites. All were performed on generator power with fully self-sufficient systems," said Dan Piemont, ABL founder, and CFO. "From the beginning, we've focused on developing tactically responsive launch CONOPS alongside our technology. The result is a large capacity, fit-for-purpose resilient launch system. I am excited to deliver value to our customers in the United States Government and our commercial customers across the U.S. and the globe with this technology." ABL has also begun testing an integrated RS1 upper stage with an E2 engine. E2 was developed in house and will power both the first and second stages of RS1. Tests are being conducted at the Edwards Air Force Base under a CRADA with the AFRL Rocket Propulsion Division entitled 'Testing of Additive Manufactured Liquid Rocket Components and Engines in a Rapidly Deployable Architecture for Future Responsive Launch Operations.' This enables the company's use of the Area 1-56 test site. "AFRL was an early supporter and remains a key, trusted partner," said Harry O'Hanley, founder and CEO of ABL. "The AFRL team at Edwards Air Force Base is forward thinking and understands how to work with non-traditional contractors to rapidly innovate. Together, we're developing critical technology to meet the needs of the next generation warfighter and serve the burgeoning commercial space market." ...Read more