The USAF is determined to go through with its big block buy of EELVs but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is determined to make them prove it is a good deal: McCain Cites Conflict in EELV Block Buy Plan - SpaceNews.com.

Lunar base building looking more feasible: No Joke: These Guys Created A Machine For Printing Houses On The Moon - Co.Design (via Popular Science) -






Update: From Trent Waddington comes a link to this interesting paper: Lunar Contour Crafting – A Novel Technique for ISRU-Based Habitat Development, B. Khoshnevis et al - AAAS - Jan.2005 (pdf).

UP Aerospace Inc. says they will fly to space again this April in New Mexico: Twitter / @UPAerospace:

UP Aerospace announced today that they will launch SpaceLoft 6 on April 5, 2012 from Spaceport America.

If you are interested in placing a payload on this or other flights, see their user guides for info.
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John Carmack says on the aRocket forum that the next version of the STIG tube rocket will hold twice the propellant of STIG-A and should take "significant payloads to 120+ km". The rocket will require a launch permit or license since it will exceed the performance allowed within the amateur rules regime.
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Here's the second part of the Moonandback interview with Jon Goff: Moonandback Interview With Jon Goff pt 2- Direct-To-Station - Moonandback.

Here's more about the apparently successful effort to extend until 2015 the moratorium on FAA regulations dealing with crew and passenger safety: Congress acts to protect space industry from regulation - Bakersfield.com.

Bob Zimmerman wishes the whole law would go away: Lobbying to save commercial space - Behind The Black.

Just to review the situation: The package of legislation governing commercial spaceflight operations with reusable space transports, orbital and suborbital, is called the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act (CSLAA) and was passed in 2004. A lot of it deals with ensuring the safety of uninvolved third-parties, e.g. making sure a kindergarten or the proverbial bus full of lawyers' spouses isn't hit by a falling rocket. Additional regulation dealing with how vehicles should be built and operated to ensure (as judged by the FAA) the safety of crews & passengers is what is being postponed.

Several space transport firms were deeply involved in the making and promotion of CSLAA. It wasn't something forced on the industry by Congress. The commercial space legislation existing at the time dealt primarily with expendable launchers of orbital spacecraft. There were also the rules governing amateur rocketry, where amateur refers to the performance of the rockets, not whether private individuals or companies are flying the rockets. Some aspects of testing and operating suborbital space vehicles also overlapped with aviation regs. The firms believed a regulatory framework had to be established for fully reusable, suborbital and orbital space transports because many investors wanted to see one before they would provide funding. Also, there were insurers, suppliers, and infrastructure institutions (e.g. spaceports) that wanted to see it as well.

There wasn't unanimous support in the industry. Burt Rutan, for example, did not support CSLAA but not because he was against any regulatory framework. He wanted a vehicle certification process like that used in aviation. The companies supporting CSLAA thought certification would be far too time-consuming and expensive for them and that it would inevitably involve arbitrary standardization since in this infant industry there was no proven standard with which to compare.

So far, CSLAA seems to have worked out well. The level of pain involved in the permit/licensing process for vehicle test flights, for spaceports, etc. appears to be acceptable to those involved. I don't know of any regs that have been criticized as particularly onerous and unwarranted. The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST) has the combined responsibilities of regulation and promoting the industry (the FAA had a similar dual role for aviation until the late 1990s). FAA/AST, for example, often sends top officials to space related hearings in Congress, public events, conferences, etc. to speak in favor of commercial human spaceflight.

However, much of the industry would still like to keep FAA/AST from setting crew/passenger rules before any commercial operating system is flying. We can certainly hope by 2015 there will be a least a couple of firms each with a couple of years of commercial suborbital spaceflight experience.

Update: I've been informed that the term "moratorium" exaggerates the limitations in the CSLAA. The FAA can take a number of regulatory actions such as issuing advisory circulars, propose rules in response to particular incidents in licensed/permitted flights, etc. There's no outright prohibition on any and all rules regarding participant safety. It's more proper to call it a time of limited regulation and a learning period to observe design approaches, hardware, and operational techniques in action in the real world.

Jeff Foust reports that the Romney campaign continues to try to use Newt's space proposals against him: Space hasn’t completely faded from the presidential campaign - spacepolitics.com.
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A defense of such proposals: Peter Navarro and Greg Autry: Newt May Have Lost in the Space State, but He Wasn't Just Giving Way to Lunar-cy - Peter Navarro & Greg Autry/rhuffingtonpost.com.
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Doug Messier talks about Romney's set of space advisers and Eric Anderson's participation: CSF Chairman Anderson Backs Romney, Attacks Obama as Ineffective - Parabolic Arc

Leonard David hears from George Whitesides of Virgin Galactic about the installation of the motor into the SS2, an expectation of reaching space by end of the year, commercial ops in 2013, and the second pair of WhiteKnightTwo/SpaceShipTwo is under contruction: Virgin Galactic's Private Spaceship Ramping Up Toward Passenger Flights - Space.com -

"Over the next few months we're integrating parts and pieces of the hybrid rocket motor into the SpaceShipTwo airframe, completing ground testing of the rocket motor, and then [will] try and start powered flight over the summer," Whitesides told SPACE.com. Those rocket-powered flights, he said, will continue for some period of time.

Whitesides said it looks possible "to get up to space altitude by the end of the year, if all goes well." The next major follow-on steps, he said, involve obtaining a commercial operating license from the Federal Aviation Administration and moving operations from California to Spaceport America in New Mexico.

"We hope to get to space this year and our hope is to be able to start commercial operations from Spaceport America in 2013," Whitesides said.

Charles Miller, who recently spoke with Alan Boyle about a NASA JSC study into establishing a low cost lunar base using existing launch vehicles, has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal: Charles Miller: Back to the Moon—For a Fraction of the Old Price: Gingrich is right that America needs to retain its lead in space. - WSJ.com -

In 2011, I challenged a team of NASA engineers to answer a simple question: "Can we send humans back to the moon, and to the asteroids, with existing launch vehicles?" The answer was, "Yes, we can." We concluded that it would cost about $40 billion, and that this could be financed out of NASA's existing annual human-spaceflight budget (around $4 billion) over 10 years.

Charles proposes a way to attack the central roadblock to space utilization:

I would add that we should target the most important problem first—the cost of space launches. Use the first year's prize money of $1.8 billion to create a Reusable Spaceplane Prize. Set the first prize at $1 billion, and the second prize at $800 million—and then get out of the way.

Update: Charles has a similar op-ed at Florida Today: Charles Miller: To the moon, beyond: Creation of spaceplanes key to spaceflight strategy - Florida Today

Chris Bergin gives an overview of launch aborts system designs with a focus on the systems used on the Soyuz, and planned for Orion and the SpaceX Dragon: SpaceX Dragon advancing the Launch Abort System to new heights - NASASpaceFlight.com

/-- A photo from Masten Space: Twitter / @MdlRcktScientst -

Cold flow testing the new test trailer and 3500 lbf engine. Like a boss. pic.twitter.com/Q31XgS8U

/-- A report on "squeeze suits" for space excursions and "gravity-loading countermeasure skinsuit" for countering microgravity effects: Next-Gen Spacesuit: Slimmer with New Accessories - Txchnologist.
/-- Brian Wang lists more resources and attractions to draw people into space: Bold Adventurers and Entertaining - nextbigfuture.comStorytellers will Profitably lead the way into Space
/-- I assume Peter is talking about Arkyd Astronautics (see earlier post here) : XPrize founder Peter Diamandis talks Asteroid Mining as his Next Big Venture - nextbigfuture.com -

A new issue of The Lurio Report has been released. Here is the TOC:


For pricing & subscriptions: <http://www.thelurioreport.com/subscribe.html>>

Conference Notes:

FAA/AST Meeting
Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC-2012)

Quick Updates:
The Return of Griffin(ism)?
(Un)Musical Names and Commercial Crew Solicitation Announcement
SpaceX, NASA Delay Flight Opportunity
___ Additional SpaceX Notes
___ SPECIAL UPDATE (February 1), Super Draco & Human Flight

Dear Acquaintances,

- A Perspective on XCOR’s Progress Towards Flying “Lynx”
__ Projects Pressing Forward
__ A Rugged Spacecraft to Carry People
__ XCOR as a Private NACA for Space
__ Evolving Essential Technologies
____ Nonburnite® for Tanks
____ Rocket Engines and Piston Pumps
__ Structures and Aerodynamics
__ Preparing for Operations
__ Assembly, Flight and the Mark III Satellite Launcher
__ Market Potential and Seeking Orbit

NASA gave an update this afternoon on the ISS transport situation. The next Soyuz launch to the ISS will be delayed from March 29th to no earlier than May 15th. No official date for the SpaceX Dragon mission to the ISS was given. March 20th is the no-earlier-than date but ISS program manager Mike Suffredini indicated he thought a slip into early April is possible.
/-- Damaged Russian Spaceship Forces Big Launch Delay for Next Space Station Crew - Space.com
/-- SpaceX flight to ISS could be late March: NASA - AFP
/-- Twitter / Alan Boyle:

The #SpaceX Dragon has to get a new paint job to address thermal issue for #ISS docking ... one reason for delay.

Update: Marcia Smith gives a more detailed account of Suffredini's comments: Sufferdini: Space Station Launch Delays Will Have Little Impact on Overall Operations - spacepolicyonline.com.

And here is the audio of his comments:
NASA Media Teleconference on Space Station Status - Feb. 2 (via Alan Boyle).

Photos from the Armadillo STIG-A flight on January 28th from Spaceport America are available here. A sample (click on images for hi-res vesions):

Caption: "View of the Rio Grande River valley from 239,000 ft (~50 mi) aboard Armadillo Aerospace’s STIG-A III rocket launched from Spaceport America, taken January 28, 2012":



Caption: "View of parachute ballute deployment at apogee during Armadillo Aerospace’s STIG-A III rocket launched from Spaceport America, taken January 28, 2012":



Caption:"Armadillo Aerospace's STIG-A III Rocket Launches Successfully from Spaceport America":



All photos are courtesy of Armadillo Aerospace and Ben Brockert.

Here's a statement from Spaceport America about the recent Armadillo Aerospace rocket test:


Upham, NM – New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) officials announced today a launch of a “STIG-A” rocket designed and built by Armadillo Aerospace. The launch took place from Spaceport America's vertical launch complex on Saturday, January 28, 2012. The research and development test flight was a non-public, unpublished event at the request of Armadillo Aerospace, as the company is testing proprietary advanced launch technologies.

Saturday’s Armadillo launch successfully lifted off at approximately 11:15 a.m. (MDT), which was within the dedicated, five-hour launch window, and flight data indicates the rocket attained a maximum altitude of approximately 82-km (~50 miles). A failure of the ballute (balloon-parachute) recovery system meant that the GPS-steerable main parachute could not be deployed as intended; however, the vehicle was successfully recovered within the predicted operating area and the nose cone and ballute were separately recovered intact on the Spaceport property.

“This vehicle was the same one that flew on December 4th, 2011, and successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a reusable rocket,” said Neil Milburn, Vice President of Program Management for Armadillo Aerospace. “The altitude achieved in this second flight was approximately twice that of the earlier flight and again tested many of the core technologies needed for the proposed manned reusable suborbital vehicle.”

The images captured by the rocket-mounted camera at apogee also serve to indicate the spectacular views of the Rio Grande valley that await future private astronauts.

The next incremental step for Armadillo Aerospace will be a 100-km (~62 miles) -plus "space shot" with the successor vehicle STIG-B, which is provisionally scheduled to launch in early spring from Spaceport America.

Bob Zimmerman analyzes various statements made recently by Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Roscosmos: The head of Russia’s space agency makes news again - Behind The Black.
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Wayne Hale suggests that just as some love living on the flat-lands of the Great Plains, there will be those who someday love living on the space-lands of the Moon and Mars: Living West of the 100th Meridian - Wayne Hale's Blog
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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-R) is skeptical about a lunar base by 2020: Dana Rohrabacher Zaps Moon Base Plan - Heard on the Hill - Feb.1.12.

Moonandback interviews Jon Goff of Altius Space Machines about their sticky boom technology: Moonandback Interview With Jon Goff, part 1 - The Sticky Boom - Moonandback.
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David Livingston and Dr. Steven Howe talked during the John Batchelor show about nuclear thermal rockets: John Batchelor Show, “Hotel Mars,” Wednesday, 2-1-12 - Thespaceshow's Blog
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Bill Mellberg talked with David Livingston on the Space Show on Tuesday about "comparing aviation to commercial space regarding markets, safety" plus 54th anniversary of Explorer 1: William (Bill) Mellberg, Tuesday, 1-31-12 - Thespaceshow's Blog.

A press release from United launch Alliance about their commercial crew project with the Atlas V:


CENTENNIAL, Colo., Feb. 2, 2012 -- United Launch Alliance (ULA) today announced the completion of two key milestones leading toward the certification of the Atlas V launch vehicle for human spaceflight.

ULA has successfully completed the third and fourth milestones of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA). In December, ULA conducted a series of detailed reviews that reflected the culmination of efforts involving technical experts and representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

A Tailored System Requirements Review (TSRR) was successfully conducted which summarized months of work with ULA and NASA. The team reviewed the detailed evidence that demonstrates how the existing, flight-proven Atlas V meets the intent of NASA's Human Spaceflight Certification requirements. The team paid particular emphasis to requirements traceability, verification and certification planning. Because Atlas V is already certified to fly the nation's most complex exploration and national security missions, ULA was able to provide a wealth of detailed system and sub-system analysis, qualification, certification, and flight data resulting from 28 successful missions.

"The TSRR was the result of an extensive effort with NASA and our commercial spacecraft partners during which we cooperatively reviewed the details of Atlas V design, analyses and operations," said George Sowers, ULA's vice president of business development and advanced programs. "This was the first time that we were able to share detailed Atlas V design and flight data with NASA Human Spaceflight experts."

A Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) Review also was conducted to evaluate safety-critical launch vehicle systems. This included the details of existing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) data, Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) results, explosion modeling analyses, system hazard analyses and fault coverage assessments. The PSA leveraged similar data developed in support of Atlas V launches of critical NASA missions including Pluto New Horizons, Juno and the Mars Science Laboratory.

"The PSA provided a firm foundation to show how the demonstrated reliability of the Atlas V offers significant benefits towards meeting NASA's stringent crew safety requirements," Sowers said. "We received invaluable insight from the NASA's Commercial Crew Program while allowing us to provide the details behind the reliability and robustness of the Atlas V design."

"ULA gave us an invaluable opportunity to get to know its Atlas V systems and subsystems through our unfunded partnership," said Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango. "And we are happy to share our knowledge and expectations to keeping our crews safe."

"With the recent launch of the Mars Science Laboratory for NASA, Atlas V once again demonstrated the highest confidence, lowest risk solution for human spaceflight," Sowers added.

Three of the four current NASA CCDev partners providing commercial crew integrated services have selected Atlas V as their launch vehicle.

"The flight-proven and NASA-certified Atlas V eliminates all risk of launch vehicle development and early flight failures inherent in new, unproven designs," Sowers said.

As NASA moves forward with the Commercial Crew development Program, ULA will offer human-certified Atlas launch services to meet the needs for the crew transportation system providers.

"The Commercial Crew Development Program is on a path to create a robust commercial crew transportation capability to low-Earth orbit (LEO). ULA looks forward to continued work with our spacecraft customers and NASA to develop an early U.S. crew space transportation capability providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to LEO and the International Space Station," Sowers said.

ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

A press release today from Sierra Nevada about the Dream Chaser:


Sparks, NV – February 2nd, 2012 –Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems announces the completion of a major Dream Chaser® milestone under NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) Program. Successful completion of this milestone required the assembly and delivery of the primary structure of the first Dream Chaser flight test vehicle. SNC has now completed all of its 11 scheduled CCDev milestones on time and on budget.

“SNC is proud to have met its schedule and cost targets in the delivery of our first flight structure as we continue to make preparations for our vehicle’s first full-scale flight. The Dream Chaser Program is making great strides towards developing a safe and cost-effective space system that will provide our country with the capability to safely transport crew and critical cargo to and from the International Space Station,” said Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC’s Space Systems.

The Dream Chaser Flight Test Vehicle will be used to execute several remaining CCDev2 milestones, including a captive carry flight and the first free flight of the vehicle which is scheduled for the third quarter of this year. Program Director of Flight Operations, Steve Lindsey, joined the Dream Chaser team in 2011 after five Space Shuttle flights and three years as Chief of the Astronaut Office. Lindsey will manage SNC flight operations for the Flight Test Vehicle. Dream Chaser’s CCDev2 flight tests will be conducted with the assistance of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (DRFC). DRFC, under the direction of David McBride, is located at Edwards Air Force Base in California and serves as NASA's primary center for atmospheric flight research and operations.

“The delivery of the Dream Chaser Flight Test Vehicle illustrates the significant progress our team has made as part of NASA’s CCDev Program,” said Jim Voss, SNC’s Vice President for Space Exploration Systems. “Our team now includes over a dozen heritage space companies and seven NASA Centers whose combined strength has continued to allow us to exceed the Program’s expectations. The composite structure provided by our partner organizations will allow our team to further execute concurrent design and development for the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle.”

The all-composite structure was designed by the SNC team and built in conjunction with SNC Dream Chaser team organizations AdamWorks of Centennial, Colo., Applied Composite Technology of Gunnison, Utah, and Scaled Composites of Mojave, Calif. SNC is now assembling the vehicle in the company’s Louisville, Colo. facility.

A statement from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation about the NRC's report on NASA's Space Technology Program.


Washington, D.C. February 2, 2012: The Commercial Spaceflight Federation welcomes today's release of the National Research Council report on NASA's Space Technology Program. The Federation and its member companies are strong advocates for robust funding for the Space Technology Program.

The report found, "It has been years since NASA has had a vigorous, broad-based program in advanced space technology development, and NASA’s technology base is largely depleted," and that, "a robust space technology base is urgently needed."

CSF Executive Director Alex Saltman said, "At a time when the nation is asking all government agencies to do more with less, NASA technology development is vitally important to reduce operations costs, increase capability and open up new, more cost-effective paradigms for achieving NASA's goals.”

Below are some selected findings from the report, on technology development and its relationship with commercial spaceflight.

Industry access to NASA data:
"Recommendation. Industry Access to NASA Data. OCT should make the engineering, scientific, and technical data that NASA has acquired from past and present space missions and technology development more readily available to U.S. industry, including companies that do not have an ongoing working relationship with NASA and that are pursuing their own commercial goals apart from NASA’s science and exploration missions. ..." (Page S-12)

"[The US aerospace industry] seems ready to exploit emerging commercial opportunities (beyond traditional services such as commercial communications and imagery), often by selling commercial space products and services where earlier the government would have purchased the space system itself. Promising non-governmental commercial opportunities include orbital human habitats and satellite servicing. Current U.S. space policies are intended to take advantage of the strengths of the United States with its free-market, entrepreneurial business culture. The transition to a more robust commercial space industry would be facilitated if NASA made new and existing research and development data more accessible to U.S. industry (especially industry that is working on its own commercial goals apart from NASA missions)." (Page 4-8)

NASA and commercial space:
"Recommendation. NASA Investments in Commercial Space Technology. ... OCT should also collaborate with the U.S. commercial space industry in the development of precompetitive technologies of interest to and sought by the commercial space industry." (Page S-12)

"The draft [NASA] roadmaps could be improved by explicitly addressing the needs of the commercial space sector." (Page 4-7)

Available platforms:
"Various platforms are available to support flight testing and demonstrations, depending on the technology and application in question. Possibilities include high-altitude airborne flights, sub-orbital space flights, and orbital flights on dedicated spacecraft, government or commercial spacecraft (as a secondary payload), and on the International Space Station (ISS)." (Page 4-4)

"High launch costs currently serve as a major barrier to any space mission, limiting both the number and the scope of NASA’s space missions." (Page 2-12)

Jeff Foust reports that the FAA legislation includes a limited extension of the moratorium on regulations by the FAA of commercial human spaceflight operations: Final FAA bill includes partial extension of CSLAA provision - Space Politics -

The conference report version of the FAA reauthorization bill [pdf] gives the industry a partial victory. Section 827 of the bill (on page 318), tucked away in the “Miscellaneous” section of the bill between sections on air passenger screening privacy and air transportation of lithium batteries, extends the current restriction on safety regulations, but only to October 1, 2015. The joint statement of managers [pdf] of the conference report provides a few more details, on page 152 of the PDF document: “Nothing in this provision is intended to prohibit the FAA and industry stakeholders from entering into discussions intended to prepare the FAA for its role in appropriately regulating the commercial space flight industry when this provision expires.”

A message from Ed Wright about the Teachers in Space/Citizens in Space program:


Space Center Houston (Feb. 2, 2012) — The United States Rocket Academy made a surprise announcement at the Space Exploration Educators Conference, which began here today.

“Teachers in Space is now Citizens in Space,” said Edward Wright, chairman of the United States Rocket Academy and project manager of Teachers in Space. “The focus of our program is growing beyond the public school system. We are creating a more inclusive program that will enable teachers, students, museum educators, and others to become citizen scientists and space explorers.”

“Teachers in Space was created to enable large numbers of teachers to fly in space and return to the classroom. Working with the companies that are now developing reusable suborbital vehicles, we have made significant progress toward that goal. We began training our first Pathfinder astronaut candidates and acquired a contract for 10 space flights with one of the new suborbital companies — XCOR Aerospace. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the largest single bulk purchase of suborbital flights to date. We expect that it will be only the first of many such contracts.

“As we developed our astronaut training course, we had many requests to open the program to a wider audience. Requests from university students, aerospace museum directors, science-center educators, as well as private, religious, and home-school teachers.