Playing PoSSUM: Citizen Scientists Chase Space Clouds with a Canadian Forces Jet and a NASA Balloon

          By Brian Orlotti

A private non-profit group recently concluded a high altitude research project in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and has another joint effort planned with the National Research Council (NRC) this fall. This work highlights the increasing role of private groups in supporting space focused scientific research in the face of decreasing government support.

The Summer 2018 edition of the Project PoSSUM News which provides a quarterly overview of PoSSUM activities. To download the complete eight page newsletter, please click on this link. Image c/o Project PoSSUM. 

From June 29th to July 1st 2018, two members of Project PoSSUM (polar suborbital science in the upper mesosphere), used a CT-155 ‘Hawk’ training aircraft of the RCAF’s 15 Wing at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to study noctilucent clouds.

Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, forming near an altitude of 83 km above the polar regions during summer. Noctilucent clouds are considered by scientists to be accurate indicators of man-made climate change as well as good analogs for low-density planetary atmospheres like Mars.

Project PoSSUM is a US based 501(c)(3) non-profit research and education group that conducts atmospheric and space technology research as well as various educational outreach programs. Project PoSSUM primarily operates out of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach FL.

The group practices ‘citizen science,’ scientific research conducted in whole or in part by amateur (i.e. non-professional) scientists. Groups like Project PoSSUM contrast with traditional space advocacy groups which enforce a rigid (yet unspoken) caste system relegating non-scientists to menial and subservient roles.

Operating out of Edmonton International Airport, three night flights were conducted along the 56th parallel at altitudes of up to 45,000 ft. The Project PoSSUM team took images of the clouds’ fine structures in the hope that these will reveal more about the highly complex patterns of turbulence and instability in Earth’s upper atmosphere.

PoSSUM members Capt. Theon ‘TK’ Te Koeti (pilot) and Dr. Jason Reimuller (mission specialist) prepare for a noctilucent cloud reserach sortie from Edmonton, AB in a Royal Canadian Air Force CT-155 ‘Hawk’ aircraft earlier this summer. Photo c/o Project PoSSUM.

This research builds upon work done by Project PoSSUM in July 2017 at High Level, Alberta, in which 17 PoSSUM members tested a NASA-funded camera system aboard a Mooney aircraft.

These cameras were the redeployed as part of NASA’s PMC PMC Turbo balloon mission. Launched from Kiruna, Sweden this past July, PMC Turbo is the first dedicated mission to explore the small-scale dynamics of  Earth’s mesosphere as well as the first balloon mission to employ a lidar.

PoSSUM eventually plans to use its instruments on reusable suborbital launch vehicles to build 3D models of the mesosphere at previously unattainable resolutions.

Continuing its Canadian collaborations, a team of PoSSUM scientist-astronaut candidates will, in cooperation with the NRC, test a prototype spacesuit in zero-G in Ottawa from October 15th-19th.

With government space programs’ continuing decline and Canada’s descent to the status of third-rate space power, groups like Project PoSSUM fill an important need. They can cover ‘gaps’ in manpower or skillsets and also serve as a workforce training ground for the blossoming private space industry.

Playing PoSSUM might be just what the doctor ordered.

Brian Orlotti.

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Brian Orlotti is a network operator at the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION), a not-for-profit network service provider to the education and research sectors.

Sixteen More Organizations Currently Developing Small-Sat Launchers

          By Chuck Black

As discussed in the October 3rd, 2016 post, "Sixteen Organizations Currently Developing Small-Sat Launchers," a multitude of start-ups, legacy space companies and national space agencies are currently developing small-sat launchers and/or components using a variety of cutting edge and/or proven technologies.

While "rocket science" is still complex, the knowledge it takes to build one is becoming more widely available. As well, not all launchers are microsat launchers. As outlined in the October 9th, 2016 Reddit Space post, "Rockets of the World circa 2025," there are also dozens of other rockets capable of hoisting larger payloads to orbit either flying now or expected to be coming into service over the next decade. Graphic c/o Skrabek.

That last article highlighted sixteen of those organizations and their launchers. Here are sixteen more. They include:

• The Lockheed Martin (LM) Athena 2C - As outlined in the December 14th, 2012 Lockheed Martin press release, "Lockheed Martin Athena Launch Vehicles Selected as an Air Force Launch Services Provider," large aerospace contractors sometimes do get involved in small-sat launcher development. This particular program, funded by the US Air Force as part of its orbital/suborbital small and medium space lift program (OSP-3), was designed to upgrade the Athena class of US rockets to launch small- and medium-class orbital and sub-orbital payloads. As per the March 2nd, 2015 Space News post, "US Air Force Considers Extending OSP-3 Launch Contracting Vehicle," the program has been extended until 2019 and currently has several hundred millions of funding available for launch and testing. That money may remain unclaimed, since rumor has it that LM has wound down their Athena program.

• The Rocket Crafters Intrepid Rocket Family - As outlined in the September 15th, 2016 Florida Today post, "Rocket Crafters aiming for weekly launches," the company "is developing hybrid rockets to lift small satellites — micro and cubesats — into space" They say their rockets will make launches safer, more affordable and more accessible to companies and colleges through the use of 3D printing technologies. They've also partnered with the Florida Institute of Technology and expect to begin testing as soon as funding is secured. 

• The Rocket Lab Electron Rocket - This US based company, founded in New Zealand in 2006 by CEO and CTO Peter Beck (with internet entrepreneur Mark Rocket as co-director and seed investor), is considered one of the favored players in this group, because of their adequate funding, large project team and the perception that their listed capabilities and timelines are an accurate representation of reality. The Rocket Lab Electron rocket is expected of being capable of delivering payloads of 150 kg to a 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit. The Electron test program is scheduled to run over the second half of 2016, with commercial flights commencing in 2017. Those flights are scheduled to begin in 2017 and are expected to cost $4.9Mln USD ($6.46Mln CDN) per launch. 

• The Rocket Star Aero-spike Engine - A New York based company with an idea for a low-cost, re-usable aero-spike engine, a good promotional video, but seemingly not much else, at least as described in the November 19th, 2015 Popular Mechanics post, "RocketStar Wants To Make Going To Space a One-Step Process; First, they've got to make their rocket fly." According to the article, a" sounding rocket will launch sometime in the next few months (the date is still being worked out with NASA), and will provide an in-air demonstration of the aerospike rocket. Once it reaches its ceiling of 10,000 feet, it will break apart into four pieces and return to the ground safely via drogue parachute." Almost a year later, we're still waiting.

• The Scorpius Space Launch Company Demi Sprite - Once called "Hawthorne's other rocket company," at least according to the November 2nd, 2015 Space News post, "Hawthorne’s Other Rocket Company," the current corporate focus is on the design and sale of all-composite cryogenic pressure vessels (a useful component of liquid fueled rockets) but not the design and sale of complete rocket systems. According to online accounts, funds for the Scorpius (now Micrososm) Demi Sprite began drying up in 2012, but the company is included in this list because of its listing in the September 23rd, 2015 Parabolic Arc post on "Multiple Small Satellite Launch Vehicles Under Development."

• The SpaceLS Prometheus Launcher - This UK based company is supposedly building a hydrogen peroxide (HTP) and kerosene based rocket, based upon the British Black Arrow design which successfully launched the 66 kg Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit in 1971. The company seems to have no sources of funding for the research and development required to move forward and only drawings to prove its engineering acumen. Those drawing will won't matter as much as its future success in raising funds for R&D. 

• The SpaceFleet Association EARL Project - The Spacefleet Association is "part of a consortium" which has submitted a bid to the European Commission for Horizon 2020 development funding to support the EARL-D5 programme. As outlined in the April 4th, 2015 Rocketeers.co.uk post, "Spacefleet: EARL-D3 successful test flight," the association reported a successful test flight of the 0.75m EARL-D3 subscale RLV demonstrator at the Malina military firing range in Romania, in April 2015. According to their website, the "Spacefleet EARL Project will demonstrate that a payload can be lifted into space (later, into orbit) at low cost, using three near-identical autonomously-piloted, rocket-powered lifting bodies, which can be re-used many times."

• The Stofiel Aerospace Bella High Altitude Balloon Launcher - So far unfunded, but stratospheric balloons are cheap, at least when compared to rockets, and this company, created by four Kent State University military veterans, plans to use them as a first stage, in order to provide "on site" micro/nanosat launch services. They may even have a useful market niche. As outlined in the October 4th, 2016 Design Engineering post, "Canadian Space Agency announces Stratospheric Balloon Flight research grant opportunity," the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and others utilize balloon launches as a research and development component for testing the performance of components in vacuum, as a preliminary to integrating them into a satellite.

• The Swiss Space Systems (S3) SOAR Project - Another air launch system, utilizing a "Zero-G certified Airbus A300," flying in a parabolic arc to launch SOAR,  a "partially" reusable air-launched space plane launch system designed to launch small satellites on a suborbital or orbital trajectory. The company is privately owned/ incorporated in Switzerland, and funded through a variety of sometimes unclear methodologies. It also possesses substantial Russian connections, including the NK-39 engine which will be used for SOAR (developed by Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency) and a contract with the Russian firm RKK Energia to develop the upper stage. The September 14th, 2016 Swissinfo.ch post, "Jaussi was threatened before attack," said that Pascal Jaussi, the chief executive of S3 "who was brutally attacked several weeks ago is out of the hospital and says he had been receiving threats before the attack. He also admitted that his company is facing financial trouble."

• The Ursa Major Technologies Hadley and Ripley Rocket Engines - A small group of Colorado based ex-Blue Origin employees currently without major funding. To compensate, they have decided to focus on engine development for other rocket builders. The Ursa Major Hadley "is a 5,000 lbf sea level thrust, liquid oxygen and RP-1 engine." The Ursa Major Ripley engine is "a 35,000 lbf class, liquid oxygen and hydrocarbon engine" capable of being configured to carry 150kg payloads to low earth orbit as required under the October 15th, 2015 NASA Venture Class Launch Services Awards, which doesn't mean that they necessarily plan to build entire launchers, but might suggest that they plan to continue to build engines for others.

• The Vector Space Systems Vector R (Rapid) and the Vector H (Heavy) launchers - According to the company website, "the two launch vehicles share common technology and launch facilities including pressure fed ablative engines, carbon fiber fuselage, LOX/Propylene fuels and mobile launch capability. " Vector R is rated as being able to place 50kg into orbit while Vector-H is rated as being capable of placing 100 kg into orbit. As outlined in the September 8th, 2016 PR Newswire press release, "Vector Space Systems Awarded $2.5M in NASA and DARPA Contracts," the company is currently being funded under a series of US government small business innovation research (SBIR) and small business technology transfer (STTR) programs.

• The Ventions Inc. Small Air Launch Vehicle to Orbit (SALVO) - SALVO is an air launch to orbit approach using US Air Force F-15E's, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Air Force. As outlined in the June 19th, 2015 Defence Systems post, "Airborne 'stealth launch' of CubeSat said to be underway," the program may already be operational, as a technology demonstrator for the more ambitious Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program. which was seemingly cancelled in late 2015. As outlined in the June 2nd, 2015 Satellite Today post, "Generation Orbit Gains GOLauncher 2 Commitments, Plans GOLauncher 3," Ventions will also be providing the rocket engines for the Generation Orbit GO Launcher series of air launch to orbit vehicles.

• The Virgin Galactic LauncherOne - Another air launch to orbit design, this time using knowledge derived from the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne, which won the $10Mln USD ($13.2Mln CDN) Ansari X Prize in 2004. Perceived as having the funding, expertise and knowledge needed to (mostly) fulfill their announced roll-out and timeline, the LauncherOne system is an an expendable, two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket air-launched from a White Knight Two carrier aircraft in a similar configuration to that used by Orbital Sciences' Pegasus. Flights are expected to begin sometime in 2017.

• The XCor Aerospace Lynx Mk III Suborbital Spacecraft - This partially reusable design, was intended to use a standard Lynx Mk II suborbital production spacecraft with an additional 650 kg (1,430 lb) external dorsal mounted pod large enough to hold a two-stage carrier to launch a single micro-satellite (or multiple nano-sats) into low-Earth orbit. But, as outlined in the May 31st, 2016 Space News post, "XCOR lays off employees to focus on engine development," those plans were put on hold as the company pivoted to focus on a liquid hydrogen engine being developed under contract with United Launch Alliance (ULA). The current plans could certainly change again, as new funding becomes available.

• Zero Point Frontiers Corporation (ZPFO) - Founded in 2008, and not so much a designer of small-sat launchers as it is a subcontractor to others, ZPFC started out assisting government and commercial agencies with studies relating to heavy lift launch vehicles and their use beyond Earth orbit under the cancelled NASA Constellation program. More recently, the company has worked with SpaceX, Blue Origin and Firefly Space Systems. There is no doubt that ZPFO, while currently not working on a dedicated, in-house launching system, could certainly build one quickly if there was a client requirement.

• The Zero2infinity Bloostar Launcher - A high altitude balloon based launcher system, designed by a privately held Spanish company. As outlined in the March 23rd, 2016 Via Satellite post, "Zero2infinity Lays Out Goals for Balloon-Rocket Launch System," the vehicle is designed to carry a 75-kilogram payloads to a 600-kilometer Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) with a price tag of approximately $4.5Mln US ($6Mln CDN). The vehicle’s first orbital mission is currently slated for the second half of 2018 and is scheduled to be preceded by numerous suborbital development launches. As well, at least according to the article, the project has collected letters of intent worth roughly $268.4Mln USD ($356Mln CDN) in order to fund the project.

The number of non-US based smallset launch developers is noteworthy. As outlined in the July 20th, 2016 Aviation Week and Space Technology post, "Dearth Of Dedicated Smallsat Launchers Challenges Fledgling Industry," many US small-sat launcher developers are concerned over the well funded competition from abroad.

Chuck Black.

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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.

Sixteen Organizations Currently Developing Small-Sat Launchers

          By Chuck Black

In a blaze of publicity, both Blue Origin and SpaceX have announced programs to build large rockets capable of competing with the NASA Space Launch System (SLS).

The hot fire test of a small-sat launcher engine in the Nevada desert in August 2014. The engine was a component of the Spaceborne Payloads Assist Rocket Kauai (SPARK) which was, as outlined in the August 18th, 2014 Via Satellite post, "Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Final Hot-Fire Test for LEONIDAS SmallSat Launcher Engine," undergoing testing at that time. Photo c/o Via Satellite.

What's less well known is that 35+ smaller launchers are currently under development from a multitude of start-ups, legacy space companies and national space agencies. These new launchers, utilizing a variety of cutting edge and/or proven technologies, are targeting the small-sat market, a segment considered at present, to be under served by the existing providers.

Most will end up failing, but some won't. Contenders include:

• The Aerojet Rocketdyne Spaceborne Payloads Assist Rocket Kauai (SPARK) - Also known as the Super Strypi (because it derived from the design of the 1960's Strypi sounding rockets), this US based three stage expendable solid rocket launch system was developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia National Laboratories and Aerojet Rocketdyne to place miniaturized satellites into low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits as part of the Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS). As outlined in the November 3rd, 2015 NASA SpaceFlight.com post, "Super Strypi conducts inaugural launch – Fails during first stage," the initial test flight suffered a failure around a minute into its launch and was lost. No further flights have so far bean scheduled. 

• The ARCA Space Corporation Haas 2C Rocket - This US based company (with Romanian origins) makes hover-boards (the ArcaBoard, which makes you, "Feel Like a Superhero!" and the ArcaMini, "inspired by planetary exploration rovers!"), but also advertises the manned, single-stage, liquid fueled suborbital Haas 2B rocket and the two stage. liquid fueled Haas 2C launcher, which is supposedly capable of launching 400kg into low Earth orbit. Doesn't seem to pass the sniff test until you realize that the company has a pedigree which includes drones, stratospheric rocket launches, large scale stratospheric balloons, two governmental contracts with the Romanian government and one contract with the European Space Agency (ESA). As outlined in the September 2nd, 2015 Via Satellite post, "Spaceport America Gains New Customer ARCA Space Corporation," the firm recently relocated to Space Port America in New Mexico. 

• Argentina's Tronador II Rocket - The latest in a series of Argentinian rockets is a 2 1/2 stage Argentinean small, liquid fueled satellite launcher capable of launching a payload of 200 kg into low earth orbit. According to the Tronador II listing on Gunthers Space Page, the maiden orbital launch is planned for 2019 from the Base Naval Puerto Belgrano.

• The Bagaveev Corporation's so far unnamed microsat launcher - According to Crunchbase, the Bagaveev Corporation "is a startup backed by Adam Draper's Boost accelerator and advised by Tim Draper (from DFJ Venture)" which is "designing, building and testing 3D printed aerospike rocket engines that will power both lower and upper stages of a 3-ton, 35 foot rocket, designed to deliver 10-12 kg nanosatellites to low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbit." Two rounds of seed funding (one "undisclosed" and one for $120K USD) plus one round of debt financing (for $535K USD) in 2014-15 won't provide enough money to build the rocket, although it will go a long way towards identifying those half dozen "non-trivial" engineering problems likely to bedevil new rocket builders. As outlined in the January 16th, 2016 Business Insider post, "SpaceX success launches space startups to new heights," Bagaveev expects to raise a further $16Mln USD ($21Mln CDN) before launching its first rocket.

• The Celestia Aerospace Sagittarius Airborne Launch System - An air launch to orbit approach. As outlined in the July 24th, 2015 Orbiter.ch Space News post, "Celestia Aerospace, ready to design, build and launch nano-satellites from Spain," this Spanish based start-up intends to use "demilitarized" Mig-29UB fighters to launch small rockets (dubbed "Space Arrows") capable of propelling nano-satellites into 400 and 600 km orbits. As outlined in the December 2nd, 2014 Technology for Life website post, "Celestia Aerospace will launch nanosatellites into space from a MiG-29 aircraft," the original plan was to begin launches in "early 2016." 

• The Copenhagen Suborbitals Spica Rocket - The company is a non-profit, open project,  amateur based space endeavor, funded entirely by private sponsors and donors attempting to build suborbital space vehicles on a micro size budget, using lightly regulated technology in their projects. The Spica rocket, with its 100 kN liquid bi-propellant engine running on liquid oxygen and ethanol, is a logical follow-on to the earlier, unsuccessful Nexø I rocket and the upcoming Nexø II.

• The CubeCab Cab-3A Launcher - Another air launch to orbit approach. As outlined in the August 30th, 2016 3D Print.com post, "CubeCab Plans to Put Lots of CubeSats into Orbit with a Small 3D Printed Rocket and a Retired Fighter Jet," the company is exploring a partnership with Starfighters Aerospace in Florida to re-purpose the "world’s only flight-ready fleet of F-104 jets," for use as a 60,000 foot high, Mach 2.2 movable platform to launch micro-sats into orbit with its so far not publicly demonstrated, 3D printed Cab-3A launcher.  According to CubeCab, their idea could cut the cost of launching a load of CubeSats to about $250,000, significantly cheaper than other methods of deployment and allow for launch on demand.

• The Firefly Space Systems Alpha Rocket - A two stage, liquid fueled rocket intended to launch 400 kg to low Earth orbit orbit with a large, capable team, a $5.5Mln USD ($7.2Mln CDN) NASA venture class launch services (VCLS) contract and a just completed $19Mln USD ($25Mln CDN) funding round. However, while the company is perceived to have a high likelihood of actually achieving commercial launches upon the successful conclusion of testing, the program is currently "under legal pressure from Virgin Galactic regarding allegedly stolen intellectual property," over the aero-spike engine Firefly has said it intends to use in the Alpha rocket. As outlined in the September 30th, 2016 Spaceflight Insider post, "Firefly Space Systems Burns Out," Virgin recently moved forward with an intellectual property (IP) legal action against Firefly, which puts Firefly's project plan and funding in jeopardy. As outlined in the September 18th, 2016 post, "Rocket Companies, But Not SpaceX, Are Collecting Rocket Patents," a lot of rocket companies, not just Firefly and Virgin, are currently taking steps to protect their intellectual property.

• The Generation Orbit GO Launcher2 - Another air launch to orbit approach, this time utilizing modified commercial jets as launch platforms for micro-sat launchers. The company first gained public attention in 2013 when it won $100,000 USD ($131,000 CDN) for its proposal in the 2013 Space Frontier Foundation (SFF) NewSpace Business Plan Competition (BPC). As outlined in the September 30th, 2013 NASA press release, "NASA Awards First CubeSat-Class Launch Services Contract," Generation Orbit has also received $2.1Mln USD ($2.76Mln CDN) as part of the NASA Enabling eXploration and Technology (NEXT) program. Under NEXT, Generation Orbit will launch a group of three 3U CubeSat payloads to a 425 km orbit, beginning sometime in 2016.

• The Interorbital Systems Neptune Series of Launch Vehicles - A strange "beast" of a company with no visible funding, but substantial marketing and numerous online announcements proclaiming its extensive capabilities and ongoing participation (but not always a successful conclusion) in a variety of public competitions. The proposed Nepture series of rockets is designed around liquid and solid fueled, common propulsion modular systems for manned, unmanned, orbital and suborbital uses, which seems to cover most every possible use and seems perhaps, overly ambitious for such a small firm. As outlined in the September 28th, 2016 Space News post, "Launch contract deadline looms for lunar lander teams," Interorbital Systems is currently engaged in building a launch vehicle for the Google Lunar X Prize. The company also competed unsuccessfully for the Ansari X Prize and America's Space Prize.

• The Lin Industrial Taymyr Microsat Launch Vehicle - Not all start-ups are based in Western countries. As outlined in the September 16th, 2014 SK Skolkovo post, "Lin Industrial: A slingshot into space," the Skolkovo (near Moscow), the Russia based Lin Industrial corporation Aldan rocket (since renamed the Taymyr micro-sat launch vehicle),  is expected to shuttle 10 - 180 kg micro-satellites to low-earth orbit "for a fraction of the current costs," but needed to raise " 500 million rubles" or around $10.5Mln CDN in order to move forward. Over the next two years, the company must have been at least partially successful since, as outlined in the June 17th, 2016 Lin press release, "Flights of the supersonic rocket started," flight testing and development is taking place. 

• The MISHAAL Aerospace M-OV Orbital Vehicle - While its listed as a player in the March 9th, 2016 Business Wire press release, "Commercial Sub-orbital and LEO Spaceflight Services Market Assessment - Fast-Growing Small-Satellite Industry Demanding Dedicated Segment of Launch Services - Research and Markets," there is no recent, independent public confirmation that MISHAAL Aerospace continues to develop its M-OV orbital vehicle. Calls into the office will not connect and the last indication of activity on the website is the October 24th, 2014 press release, "Outernet Inc. Signs a Letter of Intent with MISHAAL Aerospace for Launch of their Satellites."

• The Currently Undefined Open Space Orbital Plan - Another, mostly unknown company with a website and a listing in the March 9th, 2016 Business Wire press release, "Commercial Sub-orbital and LEO Spaceflight Services Market Assessment - Fast-Growing Small-Satellite Industry Demanding Dedicated Segment of Launch Services - Research and Markets," but currently without a lot of traction in the real world. This time its a Canadian company, so its been profiled in the August 4th, 2014 post, "New East Coast Rocket Start-up Announces Kickstarter Campaign," and its follow-up after the Kickstarter campaign failed, the September 7th, 2014 post "Open Space Orbital Post Mortem: Lessons Learned & Moving Forward."

• The Orbital ATK Stargazer Aircraft and Pegasus Rocket - This air launch to orbit approach is operational, having launched satellites into orbit 42 times (with 37 successes) between 1994 and 2015, according to the April 19th, 2015 SpaceFlight Now post, "New Orbital ATK paint job for Pegasus carrier jet." It's also expensive, and most of the other companies listed here are focused on lower cost alternatives. A recent proposal to upgrade the Stargazer aircraft (a modified Lockheed L-1011 TriStar aircraft originally built for Air Canada in 1974) under the NASA Venture Class Launch Services (VCLS) program, was not funded, but the program has not officially been shelved.

• The PLD Space European Smallsat Launcher Program (ARION2) - A "a microlauncher designed to offer flights to low-Earth orbit (LEO) for micro-satellites and cube-sats, to cater to the current lack of launch opportunities for small payloads," according to the European Commission ARION2 | European small sat launcher webpage. PLD Aerospace has been developing a family of launchers (including the ARION1 and ARION2) since 2013, using a series of privately funded offering eventually expected to total approximately €25Mln Euros ($37Mln CDN). The ARION2 is advertised on the PLD website as being an "ITAR FREE" three stage, liquid fueled and reusable rocket capable of launching 150 kg into low Earth orbit and 5 kg to the Moon.

• The Secretive Relativity Space Program - You certainly can't tell from the website. But as outlined in the July 18th, 2016 GeekWire post, "Blue Origin and SpaceX vets raise cash for Relativity Space, a stealthy startup aiming to build rockets ‘with zero human labor,’" the company has already raised $10Mln USD ($13Mln CDN) to fund its secret plans. According to the article, "the venture’s president and CEO is Tim Ellis, a former engineer at Blue Origin, the company that Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos founded in Kent, Wash. Based on Facebook postings, Ellis was involved in the initial development of Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine, which is slated to be used on United Launch Alliance’s next-generation rocket as well as Blue Origin’s yet-to-be-built orbital launch vehicle."

US small-sat launch providers are especially concerned over potential new competition from abroad, at least as outlined in the July 20th, 2016 Aviation Week and Space Technology post, "Dearth Of Dedicated Smallsat Launchers Challenges Fledgling Industry."

And they have good reason to feel this way. The sixteen organizations listed above are less than half of the companies uncovered after a cursory search.

For the list of sixteen "other" organizations currently developing small-sat launchers, tune in next week.

Chuck Black.

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Chuck Black is the editor of the Commercial Space blog.

Rocket Companies, But Not SpaceX, Are Collecting Rocket Patents

          By Henry Stewart

Cover c/o CPA Global.

Privately owned rocket companies, many of which have announced their presence, promoted their products and criticized their competitors since the September 1st, 2016 SpaceX accident when a Falcon-9 rocket catastrophically blew up on the launch pad, provide compelling anecdotal evidence that the space industry is about to enter an intensively competitive phase.

And now, a large intellectual property focused firm has issued a report showing rocket companies perform at least one other business function common to other highly competitive and highly disruptive industries.

They collect patents to guard their intellectual property (IP) from competition and protect their bottom line from patent trolls.

Jersey Island based CPA Global has issued a thirty-six page "Technology Intelligence Report on Commercial Manned Spaceflight" focused around "an in-depth patent analysis on manned spaceflight innovation."

As outlined in the August 25th, 2016 CPA Global press release, "It is rocket science: how manned spaceflight is the new frontier of innovation," nations with active manned space programs, such as the United States, China and Russia, "represent three-fifths of all patent protection with a worldwide total of more than 4,300 patented space innovations filed since 1960."

Key findings of the report include the following:

Manned spaceflight patent activity is much larger and diverse than one would anticipate. While it’s difficult to calculate, we estimate that there are over 17,000 manned spaceflight inventions that have been patented since the early 1960s.

Patent flings are trending sharply upwards, particularly since China’s entry into the crewed space race. China’s frst astronaut, Yang Liwei, flew aboard the Shenzhou 5 space craft on October 15, 2003, making China the third country in the world with a manned spaceflight program.

The fling trend is also due to increasing patent activity by private launch providers in the United States – where a clear transition from the public to private sector is currently underway. 

The US, China and Russia, each with active manned spaceflight programs, represent three-fifths of all patent flings. Other countries, including Japan, represent only 5% of the patent activity that’s occurred in the last 5 years.

Direct competitors in a cut-throat marketplace. United Launch Alliance (ULA) president and CEO Tory Bruno, Blue Origin founder and owner Jeff Bezos and Arianespace chairman and CEO Stéphane Israël operate rocket companies which have responded to the September 1st, 2016 SpaceX explosion at Cape Canaveral in different, but decidedly opportunistic ways. As outlined in  the September 14th, 2014 Space News article, "ULA says it could accommodate additional Atlas 5 launch next year," ULA has offered increased capacity, and the roll-out of its RapidLaunch program, which would allow satellite providers to schedule a launch as a primary payload aboard an ULA Atlas 5 rocket in as little as three months from purchase. Blue Origin, as outlined in the September 17th, Headline and Global News post, "Plans for a Powerful Orbital-Class Launcher Revealed," has released plans for a powerful new class of  launcher to compete with both ULA and SpaceX offerings. Ariannespace seemed the most philosophical, at least that's the impression left after reading the September 14th, 2016 Via Satellite post, "After SpaceX-Amos 6 Loss, Arianespace Sees Demand Surge." Perhaps that stoicism grew from reading the September 16th, 2016 Space News post, "Mowry leaving Arianespace for Blue Origin," which reported on Clay Mowry, the longtime president of Arianespace’s US subsidiary, who left to join Blue Origin.  Photo's c/o Zimbio, River Janga & Arianespace.

Top patent holders listed in the report included NASA (mostly because of its long history, since "securing patent protection is not a core strategy of the agency"), the Boeing Company, Russian based RSC Energia (which together vie for the largest amount of recent patent applications) and the European based Airbus Group.

The report also listed Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Microsoft, Thales Group, a variety of Japanese businesses (who have mostly "existed the industry"), the French aerospace engine manufacturer Safran SA, US defence contractor Harris Corporation and Blue Origin (a private spaceflight company founded by Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos) as holders of substantial amounts of rocket and space focused patents.

The SpaceX “no-IP” strategy, which makes the company unique among the firms referenced in the report, also came in for comment. It said, "so far, SpaceX has successfully navigated the IP minefeld, but considering the volume of information included in this study, it is likely that this test will not be the last."

For more on the US patent law system and the SpaceX approach, its worth checking out the January 6th, 2016 post, "Is the US Patent System Broken?"

The increasing amount of private patents issues as compared to government patents. As outlined in the report, "the shift to private sector manned spaceflight has seen a reversal of technical focus. Industry (once) supported government programs by supplying parts and components (guidance, electronics, life support etc.), but commerce is now fully engaged in the development of “core” space technologies such as propulsion and spacecraft design.." Graph c/o CPA Global.

Canada was cited for Canadian Space Agency (CSA) patents related to its Mobile Services System (MSS), which is used on the International Space Station (ISS).

It's also worth noting that, as outlined in the March 1st, 2015 post, "The REAL Reason our Next Space Agency Head is a Marketing Maven and IP Commercializer," CSA president Sylvain Laporte was once the commissioner of patents and registrar of trademarks in the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).

However, no Canadian companies were cited in the report and Canada was not considered to be one of the important IP generators.

Looks like the great white north is going to sit this one out.

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Henry Stewart is the pseudonym of a Toronto based aerospace writer.

Meanwhile, Back in the Real World: Seasoned Entrepreneurs are Jockeying for Position in the Fast Growing NewSpace Economy

          By Brian Orlotti

Another quote attributed to Laurence Peter. Graphic c/o AZ Quotes.

Laurence J. Peter, the Canadian born developer of the "peter principle," who made a career out of studying hierarchical organizations, is generally credited with the saying, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." 

Federal politicians, running for public office by promising yet another complex deliberation on what was once known as a long-term space plan (the most recent of which is the 2012 Emerson Aerospace review), might want to study both Peter's principles and the recent actions of actual entrepreneurs (some of whom are even Canadians) to get a sense of what real entrepreneurs need...

For example, on September 14th at the World Satellite Business Conference in Paris, SpaceX announced two new contracts for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

Elon Musk. Photo c/o REUTERS/Stephen Lam.

These new orders, along with a well-received recent appearance by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, indicate that despite recent setbacks, confidence in the company and its founder have not waned.

The two contracts are for the launch of a communications satellite for Spanish satellite operator Hispasat, S.A on a Falcon 9 as well as the launch of a Saudi Arabian communications satellite (Arabsat 6A) on a Falcon Heavy.

The two missions are expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida between late 2017 and 2018.

With these additions, SpaceX now has over 60 missions on its launch manifest representing over $7Bln USD ($9.22Bln CDN) in contracts. Its continued ability to attract new clients as well as its founder's ability to evoke admiration from both audiences and notorious media personalities are testaments to the continuing strength of Elon Musk's enterprise.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bantering with host Stephen Colbert on the September 9th, 2015 edition of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.  During the interview, Colbert questioned Musk's stated goal of settling Mars, citing the planet's inhospitable climate. Musk's reply was that Mars was “definitely a fixer upper of a planet” and suggested a fast way and a slow way to make Mars habitable. The fast way would be to drop nuclear weapons on Mars' poles, freeing the ice and water there. Musk's "slow way" to terraform Mars would be to introduce greenhouse gasses like CO2 into Mars atmosphere over centuries. Tellingly, Musk's statements weren't ridiculed by the notoriously snarky host who finished up the interview by stating that Elon Musk was definitely the man to change the world for the better and wished him the best of luck. Screen shot c/o CBS.com.

But Musk isn't the only entrepreneur in action this week. As noted in the September 15th, 2015 Space.com article, "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Will Launch Rockets and Spaceships from Florida," there is at least one other flush billionaire looking to make a bit of money off the high frontier.

Jeff Bezos. Photo c/o Getty.

According to the article, Jeff Bezos, the founder of private spaceflight company Blue Origin and founder and CEO of Amazon.com, has announced that Blue Origin will make Florida's Space Coast its home port for building and launching reusable rockets.

The company intends to lease the historic Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, in order to establish a "21st century production facility" to build a reusable fleet of orbital vehicles to launch from the refurbished site. Florida Governor Rick Scott, in attendance for the announcement, praised the venture, which he said will "invest $200 million locally and create 330 jobs."

Blue Origin will be sharing the complex with Mountain View, California based Moon Express, a company formed in 2010 by Canadian expatriate Robert Richards, Indian born Naveen Jain and local boy Dr. Barney Pell.

Robert Richards. Photo c/o Forbes.

But Blue Origin and Moon Express, along with SpaceX, are only three of the many private companies in the race to offer commercial trips to space for passengers and technology.

For example, as outlined in the September 5th, 2015 Space.com post "Boeing Opens Renovated Shuttle Facility for 'Starliner' Crewed Space Capsule," Boeing has just opened up a facility for its new CST-100 Starliner space capsule. NASA plans to use the Starliner capsule and SpaceX's Dragon capsule to launch US astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2017.

Others are also involved in the jockeying for position to reap the massive profits expected to accrue to the winning player.

The September 16th, 2015 Reuters post, "Boeing rejects Aerojet Rocketdyne bid for ULA launch venture," focused on a failed $2Bln USD take over of the 50-50 rocket launch venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corporation, which until recently had a monopoly over the lucrative US government market for military launches, is a recent example.

Screen grab from a 2011 MDA on orbit-satellite servicing proposal. As outlined in the March 11th, 2011 MDA press release, "Intelsat Picks MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. for Satellite Servicing," the company had originally entered into an open ended agreement with Intelsat S.A., then the world's leading provider of fixed satellite services, to commercialize Canadian technology developed through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as part of the Canadarm development program. But only nine months later, as outlined in the January 12th, 2012 post, "MDA Satellite Servicing Agreement with Intelsat Expires," the contract lapsed over concerns about whether or not the Canadian firm would be allowed to bid successfully on US government agency contracts. Six months later, as outlined in the June 27th, 2012 post "MacDonald Dettwiler buys Space Systems Loral for $875M," the beleaguered Canadian company created a second opportunity to resell the fruits of its previous projects and obtain compliance under the very restrictive US regulations governing the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Screenshot c/o MDA.

Of course, not all Canadian individuals and organizations are completely locked out of US based NewSpace opportunities. At least one Canadian firm, or at least its US based subsidiary, remains in the race.

On Aug 26th, leading commercial satellite maker Space Systems/Loral (SSL) announced that it has been awarded a contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop on-orbit robotic assembly of communications satellites. The move comes on the heels of other recent initiatives to assemble satellites in space rather than on Earth, at lower cost and with faster deployment time.

The program, called 'Dragonfly,' is centered around the idea of satellite components being stored inside a standard rocket payload fairing and launched into orbit where they would self-assemble into a functioning satellite. By this method, Dragonfly would enable satellites larger and more capable than traditional ones that could not otherwise be launched.

MDA CEO Daniel E. Friedmann. As outlined in the May 12th, 2015 post, "MacDonald Dettwiler, Sherlock Holmes and Why "Daddy" Might not Love Either," the quarterly MDA earnings conference call is simply not complete until Friedmann has had the chance to complain about the lack of federal government support for his company. Photo c/o MDA. 

SSL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Richmond, BC based MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA), will leverage its parent company's extensive experience in space robotics and communications to implement the Dragonfly concept. Dragonfly's initial focus will be on the construction of large radio frequency (RF) dish antennas, which could enable communications satellites with dishes as large as Earth-based ones.

The Dragonfly program will have a five-month initial phase during which SSL will need to demonstrate how on-orbit assembly could lower satellite cost and mass while enabling higher performance. SSL is As part of this effort, SSL has submitted a proposal to NASA for collaboration on taking the Dragonfly concept to a ground demonstration and then a flight application.

The entrance of an established player like SSL/MDA into orbital satellite assembly is a recognition of the field's great potential. As competition increases, so too will innovation. The march of spacecraft and launch vehicles towards standardization and affordability will be the engine that propels the space industry forward.

Brian Orlotti.

But, of course, not a single one of the items presented above are dependent on generating another committee tasked with formulating government policy. The entrepreneurs and Americans are so far ahead that the only "real" option for any potential future Canadian government task-force is to "lead, follow, or get out of the way."

Of those three options, and especially given our lacklustre political leadership in all matters "space" up until now, the second and third are the only ones which currently seem feasible or of any use to the entrepreneurs.

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Brian Orlotti is a network operations centre analyst at Shomi, a Canadian provider of on-demand internet streaming media and a regular contributor to the Commercial Space blog.

ULA vs SpaceX: An Empire Strikes Back!

          By Glen Strom

The book of conventional wisdom says that a large, established company can’t be as nimble as a small company. The big guy just can’t change direction fast enough to ward off the brash upstart. 

The Atlas family of rockets, which were originally designed in the late 1950's by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, for use as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). From 1962 to 1963, Atlas boosters also launched the first four American astronauts to orbit the Earth. The Atlas V is still in service with ULA, as part of the USAF EELV program. Graphic c/o FAA.

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is out to prove that some books should be left on the shelf to collect dust. The joint venture, set up by Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company in 2006, has used Delta IV and Atlas V rockets to successfully launch dozens of US Air Force (USAF) payloads as part of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. Since its creation  in the 1990s, the EELV program has become the primary program for launching high-value and highly profitable US military satellites.

Elon Musk. Picture by Dan Taylor / Heisenberg Media. 

Enter the aggressive startup. 

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, CA, wanted some of that lucrative USAF business. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk saw his chance during the March 5th, 2014, meeting of the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to launch an attack at what he saw as ULA’s big weakness.

Cost.

As outlined in a March 5, 2014 NASASpaceFlight.com article, “SpaceX and ULA go toe-to-toe over EELV contracts,” Musk claimed that the USAF paid ULA more than $380Mln USD per launch ($472.19Mln CDN). SpaceX, he said, could do the same launches for under $90Mln USD ($112Mln CDN). 

Musk also pointed out that ULA’s Atlas V rocket uses a Russian RD-180 engine, an old, but still physically reliable engine, surrounded by potential political problems due to the current tensions over Ukraine.

Now, back to the point about those slow-to-respond established mammoths of industry. Some big companies would have shrugged off the attack from the upstart and carried on as before.

That seemed to be the case with ULA. As mentioned in the NASASpaceFlight article, ULA’s CEO at the time, Michael Gass, said little more than ULA had a great track record and Musk’s numbers were categorically wrong.

The Delta rocket family. Rolled out in 1960, two variants, the Delta II and the Delta IV, are still being manufactured by ULA as part of the EEVL program. As outlined in the March 3rd, 2015 Space News article, "ULA Targets 2018 for Delta 4 Phase-out, Seeks Relaxation of RD-180 Ban," ULA is slowly phasing out the Delta, due to its high cost.  Graphic c/o  USAF.

ULA’s plans for change must have been in the works—rocket development has a long lead time—but for whatever reason, the board decided that Gass wasn’t the right guy to lead that change. He was replaced by Salvatore “Tory” Bruno, the president of Lockheed Martin Strategic and Missile Defense Systems, on August 12, 2014.

PR-speak often veils true meaning in the corporate world, but it’s easy to read between the lines in a statement Gass made that’s quoted in “United Launch Alliance Taps a Lockheed Executive To Replace CEO Gass,” an August 12, 2014, article at SpaceNews.

Mike Gass. Photo c/o NASA.

... Gass said he had planned to retire ‘in the near term’ but with ‘the changing industry landscape over the next several years, the Board of Directors and I have agreed that the immediate appointment of my successor to begin the leadership transition is in the best interest of the company...

The new guy didn't waste any time making it clear to SpaceX that they were in for a fight. In an October 16, 2014, Denver Business Journal article, “ULA plans new rocket, restructuring to cut launch costs in half,” Bruno addressed the cost factor directly.

We’re cutting [ launch cost] in half again, we’re getting in to the commercial [launch] marketplace. We will also adjust design our teams and our organization to be the most effective at delivering that.

Bruno again outlined his plans in a February 17, 2015, article in Aviation Week, “New Rocket, White Tails In ULA’s Long-Term Strategy.”

Two projects are under way: a new upper stage to replace the existing RL-10 upper stage, and a new booster called the Next-Generation Launch System (NGLS).

The new booster/upper stage combination will replace both the Atlas V and the Delta IV rockets. A new methane/LOX engine from Blue Origin, the company owned by Amazon.com tycoon Jeff Bezos, will provide the power.

Flight testing for the NGLS is scheduled for 2019.

ULA will also reduce the number of launch pads it maintains from 5 to 2. The one on the east coast will support the last launches of the Atlas V and Delta IV, as well as the NGLS.

Further evidence shows that ULA is thinking more like a competitive commercial company. They’re ordering hardware further in advance than they used to for white tail rockets (vehicles that haven’t been sold yet) for an expected increase in business. The old, conservative ULA was loath to order parts without a committed customer.

Where’s that increased business coming from? NASA commercial launches and non-governmental commercial launches of communications satellites. Bruno said in the Aviation Week article, “We intend to go aggressively now after NASA commercial activities—cargo and crew—as well as pursuing [the] commercial market place which is largely comsats in the GEO orbit.”

Bruno’s moves aren't just behind the scenes. His public profile is noticeably higher than the previous CEO’s. An article from January 21, 2015, at Adweek, “Meet the Most Interesting Space CEO You’re Not Following on Twitter,” covers Bruno’s entry into social media. He has a lot to say in his Twitter account, @torybruno, about his company, the industry, and his main competitor. He even jokes around with someone who created a fake Tory Bruno Twitter account.

Glen Strom

Some big companies falter when they’re pushed by a new, innovative competitor. Some, like ULA, fight back. In the end, commercial space should benefit from the innovation that comes from the competition between these two nimble companies.
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Glen Strom is a freelance writer and editor with a background in business and technical writing. He's also the editor of The Gazette Weekly, the newsletter of the Canadian Space Society.

The Economic Benefits of Orion Won't Come to Canada

          by Chuck Black

Senator Shelby. Photo c/o Wikipedia.

It's a truism that NASA programs have normally included a strong and often very public Canadian component.

Examples of this would include the James Webb Space Telescope (expected to include a Canadian built fine guidance sensor and near-infrared imager and slitless spectrograph), the Mars Science Laboratory (with its Canadian made alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and image sensors), the International Space Station (ISS) mobile servicing system (which utilizes the CanadArm II and the special purpose dexterous manipulator), the now retired space shuttle (also outfitted with CanadArms) and even, as outlined by author Chris Gainor in the books "Arrows to the Moon" and "Canada in Space," substantial components of the original Apollo program.

But anyone looking to find a direct, domestic contribution to the December 5th, 2014 test flight of the Orion  Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), is likely to be disappointed. 

And most of the credit (or perhaps, the blame) for this unusual state of affairs seems to rest squarely at the feet of the senior United States senator from Alabama, Richard Shelby.

In fact, a number of US politicians and space program experts have called Shelby to task for his advocacy, not just of Orion, but also of the still incomplete Space Launch System (SLS), a giant rocket designed to operate with Orion. Shelby has championed both of these programs to the point of threatening ongoing funding for other NASA programs, specifically the commercial crew development program, a second NASA spaceflight program officially targeted at developing cargo and manned access to low Earth orbit, but possessing the potential to do far more, for far less money.

At least one expert, former NASA deputy director Lori Garver, considers the Shelby approved programs as being designed primarily to generate "jobs in (certain) peoples' districts."

Of course, senator Shelby has taken great pride in promoting the numerous local benefits he has helped to bring to his constituents, such as those outlined most recently in the June 3rd, 2014 YellowHammer article "Big news for Huntsville: Shelby announces $1.7 billion for space launch system," which discussed the allocation of "nearly $18 billion to NASA for the 2015 Fiscal Year, including $1.7 billion allocated to rocket development for the Space Launch System (SLS) currently underway at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama."

The article goes on to state that Shelby is also the vice chairman of the "Senate Appropriations Committee and its Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice Science and Related Agencies (CJS), which passed the bill."

Shelby has been so effective in his advocacy for jobs in Huntsville that the only real internationally outsourced component of Orion has been the service module. As outlined in the November 21st, 2012 NASA Spaceflight.com article, "UK steps up, as ESA commit to ATV Service Module on NASA’s Orion," the European contribution was made possible through funding from the United Kingdom and is based on the existing European Space Agency (ESA) automated transfer vehicle (ATV).

The Orion MPCV. Derived from the earlier Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a part of the cancelled Constellation program, the MPCV is not scheduled for further flights until 2018 when it will be launched, again unmanned, as part of the first flight of the proposed SLS. This date is years later and at a far higher cost than originally expected, according to the August 27th, 2014 CBS News article "NASA commits to $7 billion mega rocket, 2018 debut." A US House of Representatives science subcommittee on space hearing, focused on an update on the Space Launch System and monitoring the development of the nation’s deep space exploration capabilities, will be held on December 10th, 2014 in Washington, DC.  Graphic c/o NASA.

Most of the rest of the Orion/SLS combination isn't all that terribly new or innovative, either. According to the December 5th, 2014 Guardian post, "Orion: a last-ditch effort by a fading empire that will never strike back," private sector competitor SpaceX (a contender in the commercial crew development program) is planning a historic launch of its own over the next year:

The rocket is called the Falcon Heavy. Yes, (SpaceX CEO Elon) Musk named his rocket after the Millennium Falcon of Star Wars, and he promises it will take twice as much payload into space as the one NASA launched on Friday, and at one-third the cost. 

So far his claims about SpaceX have come true, and soon he’ll be fighting, with the lobbyists and the politicians who play favorites, for satellite contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

It's not that Shelby didn't have a little help along the way. Shuttle contractors originally sold SLS to the US government as a way to preserve domestic American jobs threatened by the wind-down of the space shuttle program.

Even Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin (LM) provided some assistance. As outlined on the MPCV website, queries about subcontractors are normally told only that the Orion "industry team" is composed of Sacramento, CA based Aerojet Rocketdyne, Charlotte, NC based United Technologies Corporation Aerospace Systems (UTAS), and Morristown, NY based Honeywell Inc., plus "an expansive network of minor subcontractors and small businesses in 45 states."

Privately, LM goes to great lengths to confirm that there are no Canadian based Orion subcontractors in its current Orion supply chain. After all, the intent of the program wasn't to preserve Canadian jobs.

None of which will help Canadians develop any personal stake in future Orion missions.