The Orbiter: The New Space Chase

GettingTHE NEW SPACE CHASE Younger

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation

Every Year Mind the Gap

Making Leaders: “Empowering People to Do the Right Thing” . . . plus more!

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

3

CONTENTS The New Space Chase

5 6

Mind the Gap

8 10

Incubating Future Industry Leaders

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation

16 17

The SSPI Hall of Fame Celebration

Risk is Better Distributed Now

Making Leaders: “Empowering People to do the Right Thing”

Upcoming Events SSPI-MA FUN AND FUNDRAISING

SSPI-MA Annual Winter Fundraising Event, January 24, Reston, VA, USA. Click here for more information.

NETWORKING IN SILICON VALLEY

2019 SmallSat Symposium, February 5-7, Mountain View, CA, USA. Click here for more information.

NETWORKING AND DISCUSSION IN LONDON

The Satellite Launch Sector: Where Are We Now?, February 13, London, UK. Click here for more information.

WORKSHOP IN MARYLAND

NASA Workshop on Optics, March 13, Greenbelt, MD, USA. Click here for more information.

Learn more about upcoming events at www.SSPI.org 2

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

The New Space Chase

By Robert Bell, Executive Director Once upon a time there was a Space Race. Two powerful countries competed to see who could put the first payload into Earth orbit, then who could first launch humans into space, and then who would put people on the surface of the Moon before the other. Gradually, the number of spacefaring nations grew.

As of last year, a total of 18 countries have developed their own launchers for uncrewed spacecraft and nearly 90 national governments have their own satellites in Earth orbit.

Space is a great target for government action. As an executive of the UK Space Agency notes later in this issue, governments have the unique ability to take on high-risk, long-term challenges that no private business could sensibly invest in. Yet here we are in 2019 with commercial launch companies lofting military satellites and ferrying cargo – and soon crew – to the International Space Station.

Private investors are funding companies that plan to manufacture in space (Made in Space), mine asteroids (Deep Space Industries) and set up lunar mines (Moon Express). While in Silicon Valley for the Future Leaders Dinner at Satellite Innovation, I had a long conversation with a gentleman who is designing robotic vehicles for commercial use on Mars.

So, it would be easy for us in the commercial space sector to say, “NASA, ESA – you’ve had your day.

We’ll take it from here.”

But that would be foolish. Forwardlooking space agencies have not pulled back from their missions but have found new and innovative ways to pursue them in partnership with the private sector. NASA hosts competitions and offers cash prizes to motivate companies to solve its Station, photographed from the Space problems. Its launch and test facilities, The International SpaceShuttle Atlantis and its vast store of intellectual property, now represent a major asset for the commercial sector.

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

3

The New Space Chase

In July of last year, UK Space announced a $31 million grant to Lockheed Martin to build a spaceport in Scotland and develop a smallsat launch system in Reading, England.

In the same year, Australia created its first space agency with a primary goal of helping Australian companies “win a greater share of the global space market.� And the European Space Agency, whose research contracts have played a formative role in companies like Newtec in Belgium, launched an Innovation Exchange conference to foster commercial Astronaut Ed White on Gemini 4 during the first U.S. spacewalk research in space last June.

For decades, commercial space lived on one side of a high wall, and government and military space (with its prime contractors) lived on the other. Now that wall is coming down, piece by piece, thanks in part to the relentless efforts of leaders like Kay Sears (see her interview on our website) and in part to an irresistible logic.

Innovation and risk-taking are in the DNA of business. Continuity and protection from harm are in the DNA of government. Put them together and you get today: a time when innovators on both sides of the wall are finding new ways to make partnership pay off for space Astronaut Mae Jemison working in Spacelab, a major NASA and agencies, for business, and for the European space agencies collaboration citizens of their nations.

4

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

5

Mind the Gap

By Louis Zacharilla, Director of Development and Innovation Sold out Emotional Festive UK industry royalty “Wait, doesn’t this drink kill people???”

See what you missed by not being in London in December??

LOL These words describe the 2018 edition of the UK Chapter’s Better Satellite World Awards dinner in London. It was a wonderfully It was a wonderfully executed, stream of consciousness-style business evening which clicked at every level. The networking was intensely good, the joy of Christmas and the holiday’s approach fed a relaxed atmosphere where a sense of an English festival prevailed thanks to the hard work of the SSPI’s UK chapter members and the generous support of a cluster of sponsors, led by Milbank Law. Most important as the evening and awards program progressed, the industry reinforced its realization that our global industry awareness campaign is reinforcing what the “Better Satellite World” videos, stories and awards claim: that we are the “invisible,” yet “indispensable,” technology with the discipline, exceptional talent and heart to grow expansively as we do good.

The satellite industry is on two great adventures. The first is to explore the universe and the other is to ensure that the place we call “home” improves. The two missions are inextricably linked, if we are to believe the presentations and claims of our leading companies.

Taken as one theme, the three recipients of this year’s awards represented the second effort and through their work told a collective story which I described as “space minding the gap.”

Our industry is forcing closed the separation between those with access and those without. The recipients of the words, especially the Crisis Connectivity Charter and the DARA project revealed that there are layers to the digital “gaps,” including ones in education and the ability to respond adequately in anticipation of disasters strike.

It is ironic that we close a gap by adding space. It defies science probably – but what the hell does an English Literature guy like me know about that anyway! But linguistically that is what is happening. Satellites in space are delivering services and higher throughput speeds to remote communities in the Pacific and elsewhere, and, as Kacific is proving, can close coverage gaps in more densely populated areas of the developed world at lower

6

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Mind the Gap

costs and bring the entire community of vendors with it on the mission.

If you were not at One Whitehall Place here is a recap of the highlights based on a keyword search from my title: Sold Out: This fourth edition of the Dinner was sold out. There were no available tickets. We thank those who purchased tables and tickets.

Emotional: The Crisis Connectivity Charter stirred a lot of emotion. I could hear it in the voice of Euteslat’s Vice President for Humanitarian Affairs, Simon Me with Candace Johnson, industry investor and Thomas Van Gray, as he accepted the Award on behalf Den Driessche, CEO of Newtec and incoming SSPI chairman of the many satellite operator signatories and his colleagues. You could sense the pride of ESOA’s Secretary General Aarti Holla and Global VSAT Forum’s new Executive Director, Dave Meltzer as they stood with these many satellite operators onstage.

Festive: They start celebrating Christmas early in England, bless them. And we could not be happier about that. The UK Chapter of SSPI has a gift for making this event festive.

As the Emcee, I experienced a room that simply wanted to have a good time and to truly honor fully the good works of their peers.

UK Industry Royalty: The many CEOs and senior leaders in the room included industry legends like Milbank’s Peter Nesgos, Candace Johnson, the co-initiator of SES Astra and investors of the Kacific venture; they included as well as Ambassador to the EU, the Honorable John Licht and representatives from UK Space, who gave the event gravitas.

Having Greg Wyler accept his award for OneWeb continued to the “new space” royalty and reinforced how important that venture will be to the “launch” of Space & Satellite Industry 2.0. Thanks to UK chapter president Betty Azzarelli and the chapter board for selecting Greg as its “UK Personality of the Year.” OneWeb declared that for it, the UK is a great place to do business.

“Wait, doesn’t this drink kill people?” The island of Vanuatu has a custom, that when it celebrates a major event – like connectivity for its citizens – that it toast those responsible with a native drink called Kava. You can look it up, which I recommend much more than actually drinking it. In a private event we celebrated Kacific’s award with a Kava toast. What does it taste like? How about tree bark combined with mulch. Having to emcee the first hour of a program on the stuff was nothing compared to the way 80 islands spread over 1300 kilometers will experience being connected to the global economy through satellite!

No, the taste of kava will never rival Veuve Clicquot. But then, we are the satellite industry. And we have many ways and many things to celebrate. We got in as many as we could in London!

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

7

Incubating Future Industry Leaders Every year, SSPI issues scholarships to deserving students pursuing studies in the space and satellite industry. Meet the 2018 recipients: Samuel Albert will be beginning his Masters in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder in Fall 2018 after graduating with Honors from Purdue University’s Aerospace Engineering program. While at Purdue, he took on a challenging course load, including a study abroad course at the European Space Agency, Airbus, the French Space Agency and TU Delft. Sam dedicated a great deal of time and effort to researching the history and cultural importance of locations he and other students visited throughout the trip, often acting as an impromptu tour guide for his peers. In the following year at Purdue, he worked with a group of 56 other students to design a self-sustaining city on Mars, including all required infrastructure, as a final senior project.

Throughout his time at university, Sam sought out every opportunity to learn more about space exploration and satellite technology, including joining Purdue’s chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS). He was one of four student team members to participate in the 2016 SSPI/SEDS Satellite Design Competition: Solving the Space Solar Power Puzzle. Sam’s team went on to win that year’s competition with a complex analysis of the economic and political difficulties involved in the topic. He enjoyed the experience so much that he joined the National Executive Board for SEDS USA and helped to plan the 2017 competition. Sam’s scholarship from SSPI will help to fund his Master’s degree at University of Colorado Boulder, where he will be working on a thesis project focusing on Entry, Descent and Landing technologies.

Casey Boyle will begin his studies in Fall 2018 in MIT’s Leadership in Global Operations program, a dual degree program that combines a Masters in engineering and an MBA. He previously completed a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Michigan in 2013, where he focused on biomechanics before developing a fascination with outer space and satellite technology in particular. Casey took his first job just after graduation as a satellite configuration designer in Boeing’s Satellite Division, working on assembly, subsystem requirements coordination, primary structure layout and eventually leading a last-minute repair

8

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Incubating Future Industry Leaders

effort for 8 satellites. He also supported the CST-100 Dreamliner Capsule during his time at Boeing, moving through a variety of roles from simple revision work to becoming a full designer. After his time at Boeing, Casey worked for Northrup Grumman as a Manufacturing Engineer for one and a half years before deciding to take his next academic steps at MIT to learn the skills needed to be a technical team leader in the future.

Casey has worked to share his love of satellite outside the classroom and the workplace for many years. While at Boeing, he took on the role of head mentor to his team’s high school interns. Casey has mentored high school and elementary school students in his spare time, by presenting an 8-to-10-week satellite mission course for high school students as well as visiting local elementary schools to teach younger students about how satellites and GPS work. For the past few years, he has also served on Northop Grumman’s and Boeing’s boards to coordinate Engineering Week events. Casey’s scholarship from SSPI will help to fund his next two years of study in the Leadership in Global Operations program at MIT. Teresa McBryan is pursuing an Aerospace Engineering degree at Arizona State University while also serving as a part-time researcher at Arizona State University’s Bio-Inspired Robotics, Technology and Healthcare Lab, where she works on developing screw-propelled vehicles as planetary rover designs. Throughout her time at university, she has sought out a variety of summer internship opportunities to get more hands-on experience. Teresa interned at the University of Maryland’s Space Systems Lab, where she worked on rewiring a satellite servicing robot prototype, during her first summer of college. In 2017, she interned at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, doing research into cameras for cubesat applications. Teresa completed her third summer internship in 2018, this time at Orbital ATK. In addition to working on her courses and part-time research projects, Teresa has dedicated spare time to helping others fall in love with space and satellite. She recently became a member of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, a program designed to inspire capable young women to enter the aerospace industry and to help boost their careers. Teresa’s SSPI scholarship will help fund her continued studies in aerospace engineering at Arizona Space University.

You can learn more about SSPI’s scholarship program and past winners at https://www. sspi.org/cpages/scholarships.

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

9

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation NASA in the US and Roscosmos in Russia are the granddaddy space agencies of the world. The Space Race between these contenders created much of modern technology, from massively powerful rockets and space stations to computers, CAT scans, camera phones, LEDs, wireless headsets and even athletic shoes and home insulation.

But in the years since the race to the Moon, veteran space agencies have undergone huge changes, and new space agencies have sprung up with missions that would have been all but unrecognizable in the Sixties. To better understand the trend, SSPI went to the source: four leaders who are deeply involved in the next generation of government in space. The following is an edited version of the discussion.

10

Steven Gonzales Technology Transfer Strategist NASA

Catherine MealingJones Director of Growth UK Space Agency

James Causey Executive Director Spacecom

Anthony Murfett Deputy Head Australian Space Agency

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation Governments created the space industry, and governments are still deeply involved today, but the priorities and methods are different. Could you contrast “government in space” in the Sixties and Seventies with the same governments today?

Gonzalez: There have been three eras of space. Space 1.0 was a competition where the governments focused their agencies on technical superiority that translated into political superiority. That ended with the Moon. In the Seventies and Eighties, we went into Space 2.0, an era of government-to-government collaboration.

There was Soyuz, Apollo-Mir and the International Space Station, which attracted more nations into space. Now we’re entering Space 3.0, the commercial era. Our government’s goals have shifted: from politics to cost-sharing to commercialization for economic development. NASA in particular and countries like Luxembourg are creating financial environments where funding becomes more available through private-public collaboration. New players are entering into it – Australia, the UK, Portugal, African nations and China. In the US, we have created an office of Space Commerce within the Department of Commerce, and one of its directives is to streamline regulations on the commercial use of space.

Causey: Space 3.0 is the reason Spacecom (spacecomexpo.com) was created.

Every year in November, we bring together NASA folks with university leaders and the commercial sector to catalyze the commercialization of space. Many countries, many companies are recognizing that they can take advantage of existing programs, past investment and infrastructure without making massive new investments of their own. It’s a very exciting time.

Mealing-Jones: In the UK, we didn’t have that earlier set of big inspirational programs. What we are doing is having a balanced approach to space. We have focused on encouraging a very vibrant private sector. There is still a lot of government investment going into the space sector but there is a new recognition of how much space affects daily life and how much economic opportunity it creates. UK has positioned itself quite well to take advantage of that, and government is still learning these new levers.

Murfett: Balance is a good word as is the recognition that government is becoming a partner and facilitator. Our mission is to grow a globally respected space industry that grows the broader economy and inspires the population. Critical to that is balance: developing a competitive regulatory environment that makes Australia a great place to do space business – and doing it in a time when companies no longer need to make massive investments to pursue truly exciting opportunities.

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

11

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation What are the assets and strengths that government space agencies bring to the commercialization of space technologies today?

Mealing-Jones: A government or agency saying that space is important to a nation is an encouragement to industry and academics. We do make a reasonable amount of investment in space but just as key is that government says space is important and says it will buy space-based services. It’s not just our agency, it’s also the Trade Ministry, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office that create the environment for growth. We need to show a joined-up approach with all of government behind it, and that it has continuity beyond political party. We just did a campaign about the contributions of space to the health sector, which can help to counteract the view that a pound should be spend on National Health Service instead of space.

Each part of the UK has a unique role to play in the space economy, and we work hard to communicate that. There really isn’t a part of our country that cannot derive benefit from space. The big projects also engage public opinion: they connect the excitement of space with the practical benefits and economic potential. We push out the growth numbers to show the opportunity.

Murfett: We see one of our roles as developing a comprehensive, 10-year strategy for development of the space sector and doing it in close consultation with industry.

That strategy won’t be static. It will evolve. But it’s very valuable to set expectations and make seed investments that give them meaning. We’re looking at areas where Australia can play a significant role: as a site for communication ground stations, in advancing positioning, navigation and timing, new rocket technologies, and artificial intelligence for analysis of earth observation data, to name a few. Government also has the power to convene industry, academia and international peers to accelerate development. Australia has three-tenths of one percent of the world’s population but generates about 4 percent of the world’s new knowledge. Our research capabilities are strong, but they need to be joined up with innovative business. Our third contribution is sharing our story nationally and internationally. Australia has been involved in space activities for 50 years; when Apollo 11 transmitted the first human footsteps on the Moon, Australia had a role in that broadcast milestone.

Causey: Spacecom has been trying to introduce the industry to NASA’s 1,400 patents available for licensing, which are still an untapped resource. Bigelow Space is an example: the technology for the inflatable habitats in space was originally

12

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation developed by NASA, which did the development and prototyping and then put it on a shelf. We now have a 2/3 scale version of it orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station (ISS). The other asset is expertise. Every one of the commercial space companies have NASA graduates on their team, and The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lift off from Cape most use NASA facilities Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 and capabilities to do investigation and analysis.

Finally, government has been able to seed commercial space with good financial models. Commercial missions to the ISS are one example. NASA just created the Commercial Lunar Payload program offering funding and seeking bids for commercial transport to the lunar surface. The strategic partnership people at NASA are looking at the organization’s technology facilities and asking whether commercial companies can use them: launch pads at Kennedy, rocket testing at Marshall Spaceflight Center. That helps provide the funding that keeps NASA operating. How do we focus and leverage to do what the taxpayers want us to do?

This is the way.

Where have space agencies learned to reduce their investments or constrain their ambitions in recognition that there are better ways to get results in space?

Gonzalez: A prime example at NASA is what we have done with launch services.

It was a big shift for the agency to move away from sending its astronauts to the space station. The agency took a big bet that the commercial industry could step into the breach, leverage the assets NASA has and deliver the capability. The NASA Centers are also reviewing their technology portfolio with a view to where they are leading and where other sectors are leading. In Houston, there was a director of the human health program; he created a system called Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (COSI) that looked to the medical industry to provide

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

13

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation the capabilities to understand the astronauts’ health in space. Now COSI is being used by all government agencies to open-source their challenges to find industry capabilities that can help. COSI put out a “space poop challenge,” got 5,000 responses and came up with solutions to relieving yourself on a long duration period in a space suit. Eighty percent of these competitions have saved money for the organizations.

Mealing-Jones: We have technology roadmaps to identify where we have strong capabilities and where we need to develop more. But we have also moved to a challenge-led model in the UK. A lot of government people will talk about the importance of taking risks and yet actually the decision-making processes are formulated around complete success at all times. That’s where partnership matters.

If the government is prepared to invest in something and industry is prepared to match it, then that thing is probably worth doing. Ironically, when it comes to risk, if it isn’t reasonably risky, then government probably shouldn’t be doing it. Industry could be doing it themselves.

Causey: How do you create an environment for entrepreneurs to learn what’s going on in the space community, start a business and get funding? Spacecom has been building its entrepreneurial network for the past four years. We encourage startups to participate in a challenge, enter a workshop and compete for a challenge, and a winner is determined. In most recent year, 55 companies competed, 20 were qualified and 19 competed. The winner got $100,000 of Google Cloud credits. This is bringing the major aerospace contractors to the process. The tech transfer program is working to connect with existing ecosystems. We partnered with the New York Space Alliance in September to move NASA tech to their ecosystem, and NYSA brought the incubators, accelerators and coworking space. That’s a great return on NASA’s investment to leverage the ecosystem that exists.

Murfett: One thing we’re considering is asking where there is a market gap, and whether government should offset a risk or otherwise fill that gap. Where can we invest to trigger investment by the commercial sector, without distorting the market? Here are two specific examples. Australia, through Geoscience Australia, is investing $260 million AUD in testing and development of a Satellite-Based Augmentation System that will increase the accuracy of GPS location data to the sub-meter level. Improved accuracy will have major spillover effects for our economy. Agriculture will be more productive. The mining sector can make full use of autonomous vehicles. We have also developed Digital Earth Australia, a platform

14

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Civilian Government in Commercial Space: The Next Generation that provides access to data and images from 30 years of the Landsat program.

It gives industry and government the ability to detect physical changes across Australia in unprecedented detail. Australia is a very dry place and exploring for water is extremely important for land management and farming. If the data shows that a particular place has been without water for 30 years, it’s unlikely to be there in the future.

What new ways of working do you expect to see in the relationship between government and the private sector around space commercialization in the years ahead?

Murfett: Our job will be to keep striking the right balance. We need a long-term strategy backed by investments to really activate the market. We need the right regulatory environment to encourage innovation. We recently updated legislation for overseas launch certificates, as just one example. What about property rights in space? The regulatory environment must keep evolving. And finally, we need to balance public safety and the public interest with the drive to grow the space market and space entrepreneurship in Australia.

Gonzalez: We’re going to see a trend to figure out how to work ever closer together as opposed to being two separate entities providing services. You might end up seeing more things like Houston Exponential, which is building an innovation district to drive joint investment. NASA has a twofold mission: one is to explore, the other is to do it for the benefit of all mankind. Pushing out into space and building an innovation district are two clear examples. Taking the bureaucracy out of policies is a trend – not taking out the controls that protect the taxpayer – but taking a hard look at regulations to make sure they are contemporary with the times. It will help the private sector and government at the same time.

Mealing-Jones: We have the right partnerships in place in the UK. I would like to see it broaden out into a true network. I want to draw more people into it rather than have it be a small circle. Beyond that, it’s genuinely getting people to think about what the new frontiers may be: the commercialization of exploration and deep space. On the commercial application side, we have begun to see whole new adjacent areas beginning to engage with the difference that space technologies can make in their business, from big data to AI. There will be different partnerships and approaches that will truly change the sector. There are a lot of things possible in the next ten years that you can’t even dream of today.

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

15

Risk is Better Distributed Now

In this Better Satellite World podcast with RRE Ventures General Partner and COO, Will Porteous, the recipient of the first SSPI Astropreneurship Award offers a fascinating insight into how he identifies category defining ventures for investment and gives his view on why New York STATE may be the next important innovation and investment ecosystem for a boom in space commercialization technologies, companies and services. He points to the State’s heritage in optical technologies as one example of Upstate New York’s strength.

RRE Ventures has invested in a range of ventures that cover a wide gamut of the industry. Their investments include Spire, Spaceflight and New York statebased Ursa Space (led by two SSPI Future Leader award recipients.) Will and his company have a reputation as open-minded and thoughtful investors that encompass independent perspectives.

In his conversation with Director of Innovation Lou Zacharilla, Porteous talks about why he became interested in the space and satellite sector and describes how he arrives at a decision of whether to invest or not. He cites the importance of “rigorous thinking” in choosing candidates and shares his impression of Ursa Space and others.

16

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

Making Leaders

“Empowering People to Do the Right Thing” Catherine Mealing-Jones, Director of Growth, UK Space on leadership Catherine Mealing-Jones did not set out to become a key player in the space sector of the United Kingdom, a nation that produces about 44% of the world’s small satellites and aims to double its share of the global space economy by 2030. As Director of Growth, she is now responsible for meeting that ambitious goal. But her early goals were quite different.

She was the first in her family to attend university, where she majored in English because she wanted to be a writer. What she ultimately became was a civil servant as well as chartered accountant.

Her early career was with UK Border, a law enforcement agency responsible for border protection. She learned to manage large-scale technology programs there as well as to manage partnerships among different organizations.

Learning to Lead

She learned early on the value of leading by example. A self-starter by nature, she found it surprising and sobering to realize that “not everybody is motivated by wanting to do the best thing all the time.” But she also learned that “how you behave is really important – how you lead, how you shape things and how you enable others to shape things with you has a profound impact on how people operate and how they become leaders.”

She is a passionate believer in drawing on people with different background and different talents, and she also learned early about the challenges that brings. “Early on,” she says, “I encountered behavior that wasn’t in keeping with standards of respect, especially of respect for diversity. I realized that I faced a choice: either to challenge this and try to make it into something more positive or simply to put up and shut up. I took the decision to challenge. The most interesting thing was the response that came from other people around that situation, who really felt empowered to do the right thing.”

Attracted by a job posting with the UK Space Agency, she applied and won her current position – in an industry of enormous excitement and potential. In a Promise2Purpose podcast on the SSPI channel, she shares that excitement, her unusual career path and the lessons in leadership it has taught her.

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space

17

Cover Photo Credit: NASA Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, having just completed the major portion of his second extravehicular activity (EVA) period in three days, holds up a “For Sale” sign refering to the two satellites, Palapa B-2 and Westar 6 that they retrieved from orbit after their Payload Assist Modules (PAM) failed to fire. Astronaut Joseph P. Allen IV, who also participated in the two EVAs, is reflected in Gardner’s helmet visor. A portion of each of two recovered satellites is in the lower right corner, with Westar 6 nearer Discovery’s aft.

Advertising Opportunities are available!

As you know, SSPI has transformed its news vehicle, The Orbiter, into a beautiful, page-turning digital magazine you can read from your desktop, tablet or phone, or as a handy print-out to carry with you on travel trips. The Orbiter brings SSPI news, coverage of the Better Satellite World campaign, and new research reports to more than 6,000 members and industry contacts.

Advertise With Us We invite companies to advertise in the new Orbiter. Full-page and half-page ads are available Some SSPI sponsorships include one or more ads with the sponsorship – but now you can purchase an ad directly! Download the media kit or email Tamara Bond-Williams for more information.

Copyright 2019 by the Space & Satellite Professionals International

18

The Orbiter When Nations Incubate Space