>> Maria Varmazis: Space debris, it's a problem, and many in the space community have been calling out for a more unified approach to solving it instead of leaving it to a patchwork of good faith efforts, or at least for something, perhaps from the U.S. government with a bit of teeth to it to help get a handle on this big and growing issue. And maybe we have that now?
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Today is November 3rd, 2023. I'm Maria Varmazis.
>> I'm Alice Carruth and this is T-Minus.
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>> Maria Varmazis: The ORBITS Act unanimously passes the U.S. Senate. U.S. Congress introduces amendments to update government oversight of commercial space activities. Sidus Space is awarded an IDIQ contract.
>> Alice Carruth: And our guest today is SaxaVord Spaceport CEO, Frank Strang. So, stay with us for the second part of the show.
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>> Maria Varmazis: Let's take a look at today's intel briefing. Well, the ORBITS Act, which is meant to help remediate the space debris problem just unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate. It now needs to pass in the U.S. House, and if it does, the ORBITS Act would support policies and technologies to help remove space debris and give a variety of U.S. Federal agencies directives to enact measures to reduce the space debris that's up there and prevent, as much as possible anyway, the industry from creating any more. To be a bit more specific, the ORBITS Act would number one, task the Department of Commerce, Office of Space Commerce or the OSC with publishing a high risk space degree list. Number two, create a NASA program to demonstrate orbital debris removal for faster technology development. Number three, foster consistent orbital debris regulations through a multi-agency update for government systems. And number four, require the OSC, alongside the National Space Council and the Federal Communications Commission, to promote space traffic coordination to prevent collisions and debris generation. It's not a cure all for this difficult problem, but if implemented and properly supported, especially given how stretched U.S. Federal agencies often are, could it help? It certainly could. And Jonathan Dagle, from the National Space Society had this to say about the Act.
>> Jonathan Dagle: So, these are all very positive steps forward, but they do highlight one of the major problems that NSS has been trying to advocate for and that is there's a lack of overall coordinated effort among government agencies in the space regulation. So, the FCC has, you know, everyone has probably heard about the reduction in from the down to five years after the life of a satellite that has been licensed -- spectrum has been licensed through the FCC, anyway. They must deorbit, but this is the FCC regulating spacecraft based on their mandate to allocate spectrum in the public interest. Then you have the FAA, who is regulating both launch, licensing launch and reentry and now they have rules about orbital debris. Their timeline is still 25 years, so they haven't adopted the lower standard, which I think is probably a good idea. I know that it's a concern because industry hasn't already planned for this. And so, one of the problems that affects industry in this situation is uncertainty and one of the ways there is uncertainty in the industry is changing regulations. So, if you've already put a satellite in orbit and now the rules are different, I mean, they may not apply to you, but it's going to cause a lot of let's say anxiety for businesses because their business models are based on a set of rules. And so, the changing rules are a comp -- a problem for them, as our -- as is the sort of this, it's sort of a food fight over which government agencies are going to regulate things in space. And I think one of the things that I have asked is, you know, where does, for example, the FCC's authority to regulate spectrum end? Does it end in low Earth orbit? No, it does not. Does it end, you know, in geostationary orbit? No, it does not. Does it end in the -- around the orbit of the moon? Does it end on the surface of the moon? How about Mars? I mean, you know, so we don't know where these -- there's no clear guideline for where these authorities will end. And what we don't want is every agency in the federal government saying, well, I'm -- I'm responsible for environmental concerns. I'm responsible for transportation. I'm responsible for this. And so, whether it happens on the Earth or it happens on Mars, if it's an American thing, then we're going to regulate it. I mean, even with the FCC, they don't limit their regulation to just U.S. activities. If you are going to use spectrum in the United States and you're a foreign entity, then you're going to be subject to their regulation. In fact, they intend to regulate foreign launches. So, for example from French Guiana or somewhere else, as long as that vehicle is connected to an American down link, which, you know, the spectrum is in the United States, you know, territory or domain I guess, so it's a complex issue. And hopefully this is just one step moving in the right direction, but there's a lot of work to do.
>> Alice Carruth: U.S. Congress has introduced a bipartisan amendment to Title 51 of the United States Code to update government oversight of commercial space activities and other purposes. The intention of the amendments are to modernize government oversight of commercial space missions. The amendment states that it serves the national interest to address misconceptions of legal uncertainty through the establishment of a general authorization and supervision certification for outer space activities carried out by non-governmental entities. According to the bill summary, the Act also works to ensure that the U.S. remains a world leader in commercial space activities. The bill designates the Department of Commerce, Office of Space Commerce as the single authority responsible for the authorization and supervision certification process. It goes on further to state that it does not impact existing FCC authority to regulate spectrum and telecommunication satellites or FAA authority to regulate launch and reentry operations. It seems to be along the lines of the study produced by graduate students at George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, which reviewed the commercial Space mission authorization regime, and we covered that in our deep space episode number 22, which we've included a link to in our show notes. We will follow this bill as it progresses.
>> Maria Varmazis: And the U.S. Office of Space Commerce is on route to Seoul for a Republic of Korea U.S. Space Week, where the two nations say they will be strengthening the U.S.-ROK Commercial Space Cooperation, as called for last April by Presidents Biden and Yoon. The week's events are being hosted by the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and ICT to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance.
>> Alice Carruth: If you live out on the West Coast near Vandenberg, then you probably heard the RUD this week. A thankfully unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was effectively terminated by Space Launch Delta 30 on November 1st, as it flew over the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command says an unexpected anomaly emerged during the test launch. A launch analysis group is forming to investigate the cause of the anomaly.
>> Maria Varmazis: Sidus Space has been awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity or IDIQ contract to provide services to a U.S. owned company in support of their commercial lunar program. The five year IDIQ contract has a 10 million dollar ceiling. Sidus Space says they will be supporting an unnamed lunar transportation infrastructure and exploration services company with program management, flight software, command and data handling, and electrical and thermal support services.
>> Alice Carruth: Netherlands based startup company Spherical Systems has raised an investment totaling almost one million euros to develop its own chip designed specifically for the extreme conditions in space. Spherical Systems CEO, Thomas Parry said that the new funding will allow the company to demonstrate its technical and commercial relevance on the global stage.
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>> Maria Varmazis: That concludes our briefing for today, but you'll find links to further reading on all of the stories we've mentioned in our show notes. We've included a few that we didn't have time to cover. One of them is SpaceX and NASA have delayed their cargo resupply mission again. Elon Musk says Starlink has achieved cash flow break even. NASA's Lucy has encountered its first 10 asteroids. And the U.S., China and EU have signed an agreement to work together on AI safety. All these stories and more at space.n2k.com.
>> Maria Varmazis: Hey, T-Minus crew, tune in tomorrow for T-Minus "Deep Space," our show for extended interviews, special editions and deep dives for some of the most influential professionals in the space industry. Tomorrow we have Frank Strang talking about the SaxaVord Spaceport. Check it out while you're recovering from your Halloween candy hangover or shopping for holiday decorations. You don't want to miss it.
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>> Maria Varmazis: SaxaVord Spaceport is weeks away from hosting its first launch. I spoke to CEO, Frank Strang to find out what it takes to build a Spaceport, where the idea came from and what we can expect in the future.
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>> Frank Strang: Well, the finished product, if we ever get to one, will be a multi-use spaceport right up on the north of the UK. So, Unst is the most northern inhabited island in the UK and we're up there almost 61 degrees north. At the moment, we're building three launch pads and so we're multi use. We're looking to build two more, so that will five, which will give us the sustainable spaceport, but we're also building a ground station network. And a big thing for us is how can we create a sustainable business? And that hinges in marrying science with the arts, with tourism and the environment. We're looking to bring the airport back online and we are looking to bring -- lengthen the runway, bring that online, so our clients can fly in directly and we can and bring in both tourism -- tourists and clients. The final vision is, you know, is a pretty complicated jigsaw, but tied into that, you know, some of the things that we're really proud of already is our Education and STEM Outreach Program. The other thing that lastly, I'm very keen on building on the spaceport site is our own space Environmental and Ecological Control Center, so we can use the data that we're bringing down to help save the planet. It's not new, but we can do this all in one location. We need to start with building, you know, the launch facility and we're way down the line with that now.
>> Maria Varmazis: I'd love to know what sort of motivated you to make a spaceport? That's not -- it's not an easy undertaking.
>> Frank Strang: The space industry, to me, is like the new industrial revolution. It's a phenomenal growth. The UK government, we've always had a satellite industry and 60% of the world's CubeSats are designed and built in the central belt of Scotland, but we never had the launch industry. So, the government launched a competition to find the optimal site for launching small sats into space from the UK. And the emissary that went around the islands came to our local -- our local authority, our local council and said, "Would Shetland be interested in launching rockets?" And that's all we knew. So, they came to me and then said, "Would you be interested in participating in this program?" And we genuinely didn't know too much about it. I'm an ex-Air Force officer, so I know a bit about aerospace and space, but -- and gradually we got sucked into -- into the -- into the sector and we realized that our site on Unst was the optimal site because of our geographic location. And five, six years ago, I decided to throw my hat in the ring with our team and tried to get into this space economy. And we didn't know as much as we know now, which is probably a good thing because had we known --
>> Maria Varmazis: One would hope [brief laughter].
>> Frank Strang: -- we wouldn't have done it.
>> Maria Varmazis: That's the right direction.
>> Frank Strang: Yeah [brief laughter].
>> Maria Varmazis: Yeah.
>> Frank Strang: And bit by bit we got -- we held a symposium, invited the great and the good from the European Space industry up to -- up to Unst and up to Shetland and everyone said this is a great location. So, that put the gas in our tank and then said, "Okay, let's go for it." So, with my fellow directors, we put some money into the pot and off we went, and we went off to learn our craft part in the pan. And we were the last people in the UK to enter this competition and the competition was actually won by Lockheed Martin and an American company called ABL Space Systems from LA, but they were looking at another location, which didn't quite work. So, long story short, the government novated the Pathfinder Program from another location to us. We went off to raise the money, had to secure the planning permits and we had to learn a lot about the industry and a lot of my guys are ex-Air Force pilots and some of them have been in the space industry. And bit by bit by bit, we grew the company to where we are now. And in the last five years, you know, we've gone from being at the bottom of the pile to leading the way in Europe, you know, and that's come at a cost, but it's usually exciting. And I've got an awful lot of pride in my team because I'm the least technically able in our team, it's the team below me that are making it all happen. So, what gave me the impetus was somebody told us we couldn't do it [brief laughter]. So, to any Scotsman, if you tell them you can't do something, you say, "Well, we're going to do it." But also, it felt like the right thing to do because the jobs that we're creating, the educational program, you know, I don't know if you've been following our website, you'll see that in the summer on our outreach program, our online -- the classroom, we had a quarter of a million kids participate from all over the world, from the U.S., from Europe, from Sri Lanka, a quarter of a million kids, that's incredible, you know? And that's a legacy that we're all very proud of. So, I probably haven't answered your question, but we fell into it by accident. It's all consuming as anybody that's in the space industry will tell you. We started off with four employees, have now got just over 84 employees and growing and we have new clients now, we've got multi clients. All we've got to do now is get our spaceport license completed and away we go.
>> Maria Varmazis: Yeah. And fingers crossed for you on the license. I know that that is a waiting game, so.
>> Frank Strang: We're very close. So, we we're weeks away from being awarded it.
>> Maria Varmazis: My goodness, that is extremely exciting. I wish you all the best because that is -- I know everybody's waiting for you. We're all cheering you on for that, that's fantastic news, oh, my goodness, because I was going to ask about a suborbital flights because I know that there are some -- there's some work with HyImpulse. Can you give us an update on what's going on with suborbital?
>> Frank Strang: Yes. So, suborbital, we've got -- we've got several clients that are looking to launch, and HyImpulse have been with us now for, goodness, last three or four years testing their engines. They've come over from Germany. It looks like their first suborbital may be from Australia, but that's all about timing, but their second will be with us in two or three of next year. So, we've got the HyImpulse who are then looking to do multi launches, you know, length, go orbital with us. We've got a company called Skyrora who are also looking to go suborbital next July, coincidentally at the same time that Rocket Factory Augsburg are looking to go orbital. You know, so, we've got HyImpulse and Skyrora on the suborbital front, and then we've got ISA looking to orbital and then we've got ABL Space Systems looking to go orbital under the Pathfinder Program. So, next year, we should have between four to five launches of some shape or size between March and the end of the year, but that's because we've got three pads. Remember, you know, you know, we're -- we've deliberately created this multi-use facility. And HyImpulse conducted a very successful engine test a few weeks ago and they're ready to rock and roll. They're really nice guys. There's a lot of nice people in this industry, but.
>> Maria Varmazis: I've noticed that.
>> Frank Strang: Yeah, there's a lot of nice people. You know what I love about it is it's international. You know, so, we've got two German clients and HyImpulse and Rocket Factory Augsburg, and yeah, RFA, I've got 17 different nationalities working for me and they can all speak better English than me [brief laughter].
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>> Maria Varmazis: We'll be right back.
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Welcome back. Today, we want to pay our respects to two star Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and NASA astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II, commonly known as Ken or T.K. Mattingly, who died on Tuesday at the age of 87. Mattingly flew around the moon as the command module pilot for Apollo 16 in 1972. He stayed at NASA after his Apollo flight and was a founding father, so to speak, of the NASA Space Shuttle Program, and later, Mattingly himself commanded and flew on the Space Shuttles Columbia and Discovery in the early '80s. Mattingly was a big part of the Apollo Program, not just in his work on helping to develop the Apollo space suit and backpack, he was also support crew for many of the Apollo missions. Capcom for Apollo 18, backup command module pilot for Apollo 11, and famously, part of the crew for Apollo 13, but he was exposed to, but did not end up getting rubella right before the scheduled flight and was grounded. But since he was not unwell, Mattingly brought his expertise to bear in the huge effort to get the Apollo 13 crew home to safety. When he reflected on Apollo 13 in an interview in 2001, this is what he said. "The beauty of the program was that everyone knew Apollo was so hard that there was no room for any distraction, no room for politics. There's no personalities getting in. I don't care who's got the right answer, just get it right and it's okay. It didn't matter if it's the new kid on the block or the guy who's retired, anyone who's got an answer to our problems is sought after and appreciated, and you don't get to work in that kind of climate very often. That's one of the things that you really saw in this era. You have to have a contrast with something else to realize how much you should appreciate that kind of environment and the people who created it. That's all there is to Apollo 13." There are not many astronauts from the Apollo days still living, and it's always sad when we must say goodbye to another hero of that generation. Truly, the modern space era stands on the shoulders of giants like T.K. Mattingly. May he rest in peace.
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>> Alice Carruth: That's it for T-Minus for November 3rd, 2023. For additional resources from today's report, check out our show notes at space.n2k.com. We'd love to know what you think of this podcast. You can e-mail us at space@n2k.com or submit the survey in the show notes. Your feedback ensures we deliver the information that keeps you a step ahead in the rapidly changing space industry. We're privileged that N2K and podcasts like T-Minus are part of the daily routine of many of the most influential leaders and operators in the public and private sector from the Fortune 500 to many of the world's preeminent intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
>> Maria Varmazis: N2K's strategic workforce intelligence optimizes the value of your biggest investment, your people. We make you smarter about your team while making your team smarter. Learn more at n2k.com. This episode was produced by Alice Carruth, mixing by Elliott Peltzman and Trey Hester, with original music and sound design by Elliott Peltzman. Our executive producer is Brandon Karpf and I'm Maria Varmazis, thanks for listening. Have a wonderful weekend.
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