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           By Henry Stewart American experts and industry suppliers are slowly chiming in on US Vice President Mike Pence's aggressive demand that the US commit to placing " boots on the Moon " by 2024. The emerging consensus is that the goal is achievable, but difficult and will " require concerted effort by NASA, the White House, and the Office of Management and Budget ." As outlined in the March 28th, 2019 Space.com post, " Can NASA Really Put Astronauts on the Moon in 2024? ," Pence has instructed NASA to put US astronauts on the lunar surface by 2024, four years earlier than previously planned. The article noted that representatives from Denver CO based Lockheed Martin Space Systems , the prime contractor for the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle (Orion MPCV), have indicated that: ... the company could build a crewed lunar lander relatively quickly, by leveraging technologies developed for Orion. This lander could touch down by 2024, provided it de...

           By  Chuck Black It's worth noting that very few large government or private sector organizations ever announce new initiatives unless they're having trouble raising enough money to build the consensus needed for the previous plan. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just the way the world works. It's also worth noting that, in Canada at least, our space program has recently tied its future to approximately $2Bln CDN of new funding over the next twenty-four years to construct an AI turbocharged next generation Canadarm for the NASA led Lunar Gateway . The Gateway is one of two major US programs which could very well end up delayed or on the chopping block to fund this latest, boots on the Moon, US initiative. Or worse, each individual program could continue but no single program would ever receive enough of a budget to ever accomplish something. That would be kinda like how things are now. US President Trump. Photo c/o  Saul ...

Part 6: Future War, Micro-Sats Controlled by AI " BattleStars " Supported by Fast Launching, Hypersonic Transports and Space Based Solar Power           By  Chuck Black This series of posts is attempting to answer some of the questions surrounding the appropriate Canadian response to the recently announced US plan to create an expanded  United States Space Force .   Part one (" The Axworthy Doctrine ") focused on how the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's led to a new Canadian focus on aggressive, international peacekeeping missions requiring space focused communication and surveillance capabilities of a type which Canada didn't then possess. Part two (" The Changing Political Landscape ") discussed why Canada never had a military space policy prior to 1998 by going back to the 1960's and the federal liberal party under  Lester Pearson  and  Pierre Trudeau .   Part three (" Towards Northern Sovereignty ") dealt...

           By  Brian Orlotti Cocoa FL based space startup Rocket Crafters Inc., has patented a new method of 3d printing rocket fuel and is seeking new funding to commercialize its technology. Founded in a garage in Cocoa, Florida some 15 miles from Kennedy Space Centre, Rocket Crafters is led by former astronaut Sid Gutierrez, its chairman, and US Air Force veteran Rob Fabian, its president. In 2017, Rocket Crafters was granted a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to test its patented hybrid rocket engine, which combines a 3D-printed solid plastic fuel with liquid nitrous oxide during ignition. This contrasts with traditional rocket engines that mix a liquid fuel and oxidizer. The fuel, of the same type of plastic used in Lego bricks, is printed as a long horizontal core. The company found that 3D printing the fuel in a linear form reduces imperfections in the plastic, making for a more efficient, predictable burn. L...

           By Henry Stewart NASA's current flagship robotics mission, the $2.46Bln US ($3.29Bln CDN) Mars 2020 rover, is " following the pattern of its predecessors and seeing its cost rise because of technical issues ." As outlined in the March 18th, 2019 Science post, " Cost of Mars 2020 mission may rise by up to 15% ," the mission’s cost will increase by " no more than 15% " according to Lori Glade, NASA’s acting director of planetary science. That's still a sizable sum and will take money away from other NASA missions. Cost growth above the 15% threshold would also trigger requirements for US Congressional notification and mission modifications, according to a plan put in place by NASA in 2016 intended to limit cost overruns. As outlined in the March 19th, 2019 Space News post, " NASA dealing with cost growth on planetary science flagship missions ," there had been " widespread rumors in the planetary science community that Mars ...

           By  Chuck Black It's a little bit late (it was posted 1am EST last night) and it's got a few typo's and glitches (which we're hoping to correct for next time) but the March 20th, 2019 Commercial Space blog " Special Report " on " A Space Focused Overview of the 2019 Federal Budge t" is now available online. The report also contains an overview of the last three Federal budgets and how those documents effected the Canadian space industry, an overview of recent press releases from corporations and industry groups reacting to the latest budget and links to primary source materials. It's important for independent journalists to hold governments to account and provide context for government decisions and current events. If you'd like to learn more about how you can assist with this, please contact me at Chuck.Black@commercialspacemedia.com .  Chuck Black. ___________________________________________________________ Chuck Black is the edi...

Finance Minister Bill Morneau will formally release his fourth Federal Budget to the Canadian House of Commons just after 4pm EST today. This blog is compiling a " Special Report " on what the new budget means for Canada's space industry. It will be e-mailed directly to Commercial Space blog subscribers on Wednesday, March 20th, 2019. If you're not a subscriber who already receives our regular Tuesday and Friday coverage and wish to receive a free subscription, please check out the " Subscribe to this Blog " section on the Commercial Space blog website. Finance Minister Morneau in the House of Commons. Photo c/o Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick . As outlined in the March 17th, 2019 National Post article, " Morneau seen delivering a stimulus-filled budget ahead of the election, " Canada’s ruling Liberals  "are expected to table a goody-filled budget later this week in bid to get back on course with voters ." Several of those about to be ann...

           By  Chuck Black Two years ago, as outlined in the April 10th, 2016 post, " Deltion Innovations Receives Gov't Funding to Develop Multi-Tool for Space Mining; Will Anyone Buy It? ," Capreol ON based Deltion Innovations received a $700,000 CDN contract from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to build a Percussive and Rotary Multi-Purpose Tool (PROMPT), a combination drill and rotary multi-use tool designed to facilitate future mining operations on the Moon, the asteroids and on Mars. The first PROMPT on the left with the commercial " MicroCorer " version on the right in the Deltion booth at PDAC 2019. Photo's c/o Chuck Black .  At the time, the real question was whether anyone would ever commercially support the tool by buying one. While that question doesn't yet have a definitive answer, it's worth noting that Deltion, after delivering the original PROMPT in 2017, has just rolled out a smaller, less costly, commercially availab...

           By Henry Stewart Jim Bridenstine. Photo c/o NASA/ Bill Ingalls . It's worth noting that, only a day after questioning whether the US Space Launch System (SLS) will be ready in time to be used for the scheduled 2020 first orbital flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and its European built service module, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine sent an e-mail to NASA employees and SLS contractors praising the SLS workforce and stating that using alternative commercial carriers for Orion missions " is not optimum or sustainable ." As outlined in the March 14th, 2019 NASA blog post, " A Message to the Workforce on SLS and Orion ," Bridenstine sent this message to NASA employees and contractors: Yesterday, I was asked by Congress about the schedule slip of the Space Launch System and plans to get NASA back on track. I mentioned that we are exploring the possibility of launching Orion and the European Service Module to low-Earth orbit on an existing heavy-l...

           By  Chuck Black The rumor has been whispered in the corridors of space industry experts since almost the beginning of the program. NASA's expensive Space Launch System (SLS), an American shuttle-derived " super heavy-lift " expendable launch vehicle developed originally as part of NASA's long-term deep space exploration plans, would eventually be replaced by the smaller, but far less expensive commercial crewed vehicles currently undergoing their final testing and expected to fly astronauts to space over the next year. And now, that rumor has exploded into public view. During a public hearing of the US Senate Commerce Committee to assess America's future in space held in Washington DC on March 13th, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency would decide in the coming weeks about whether to take the first orbital flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and its European built Orion service module on a pair of commercial launc...

           By Henry Stewart Mona Nemer. Photo c/o Gov't of Canada . On the one hand, very few government employees have ever written reports indicating that their tasks have been accomplished and its time to retire back to the private sector or academia. On the other hand, Federal government chief science adviser Dr. Mona Nemer has really only held her position for a little over a year and its certainly fair to give a bit more time before expecting to receive a full public accounting of her actions and usefulness. On Monday, the Federal government released its first " Annual Report of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada ," the science advisory's first attempt to to self-assess its successes and accomplishments. According to its summary, the report " outlines the major activities of the Office of the Chief Science Advisor for Canada over the course of its first full year ." These activities included, " developing the Model Policy on Scientific Integrit...

           By  Brian Orlotti A team from Cannes France based Thales Alenia Space (TAS), Bedford UK based Cranfield University and Glascow UK based Glenalmond Technologies has successfully 3d printed a full-scale prototype of a titanium tank to be used in future crewed space exploration missions. As outlined in the March 8th, 2019 Manufacturing Technology post, " Titanium pressure vessel for space exploration made using additive manufacturing ," the tank is made of a titanium alloy deposited using an additive process called Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). The tank is approximately 1m in height and 8.5kg in mass. The WAAM process enabled two individual pieces to be integrated into a single part, eliminating the need for long-lead-time forgings and substantially reducing waste material to be removed by machining. If manufactured traditionally, the tank would have required about 30 times more raw material than its final mass. In WAAM, me...

           By  Chuck Black The Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is at least being honest when talking about Federal motivation to participate in the US Lunar Gateway . As outlined in the March 6th, 2019 Canadian government press release, " Launching Canada's Space Strategy ," the key priority of the strategy is " investing in science, innovation and research " which, according the press release, will unlock " new opportunities for economic growth ," create " thousands of jobs for hard-working Canadians ," and help Canadian's " understand the world we live in and our place in it ." But while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the government's stated motivations, some (in office and elsewhere) have argued that the Moon is now " the central focus of the new space strategy and investments ," despite what the press release explicitly states. Those arguments are obviously in error. The new p...

           By  Chuck Black It wasn't a bad press conference, if you ignored the fact that it was set up mostly to release documents intended to support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's February 28th, 2019 press conference announcing Canadian support for the US led Lunar Gateway program and funding for the construction of a new $2Bln CDN " Canadarm3 ." There was also the question of why the language used by the presenters seemed targeted more at the elementary school children attending the event than at the Canadian taxpayers expected to pay for the program or the scientists, engineers and businessmen expected to build and manage the new Canadarm. Be that as it may, on March 6th, 2019 Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains formally announced the release of the written copies of " Canada's New Space Strategy ," at the Telus " World of Science " Centre in Edmonton AB to an audience of mostly elementary school students. As outlined in the March 6th, 20...