Life?
On Tuesday, a new paper was posted to Arxiv titled “Phosphine on Venus Cannot be Explained by Conventional Processes.” Phosphine is member of the phosphorus family in which the hydrogen atoms have been replaced with organic derivatives. The paper explains that the presence of phosphine at the concentration found in Venus’ atmosphere “must be the result of a process not previously considered plausible for Venusian conditions.” Taken as a whole, this paper generated a ton of excitement because of the implication that there could have been biological sources on Venus that contributed to Phosphine’s presence. A major caveat to the finding is that it doesn’t guarantee a biological source and could involve a process we’ve never seen before. With that said, it’s a monumental paper and immediately generated calls for additional data to further explore the phenomenon.
The first company to send a probe to Venus will likely be Rocket Lab who I also mentioned in last week’s newsletter. Founded in New Zealand in 2006, the company plans to send an Electron rocket to orbit Venus in 2023 with a payload including the Photon satellite it developed in-house. The satellite will deploy a small probe to enter the atmosphere and gather various readings to send back to Earth. The Electron rocket is Rocket Lab’s second design and incorporates a number of unique elements that differentiate it from the design of rockets from the leader in launch, SpaceX. It is the first company to use electric propellant pumps which allows it to decrease the mass of the pumps used in engines. Less mass allows for cheaper launches and more affordable payload prices for customers. Rocket Lab excels at this approach, touting its carbon composite materials and 3D-printed engine that can be manufactured in 24 hours. In addition to launch payloads, Rocket Lab offers specially designed parts for full missions or enhancements to existing spacecraft designs.
The vertically integrated approach—with most of the materials being manufactured in-house—is similar to the way SpaceX built its initial competitive advantage versus the older rocket companies. Because it doesn’t have a pay a margin on every single component of the launch vehicle, it can afford to charge lower prices while still maintaining a high margin. SpaceX is producing much larger rockets that can propel significantly more substantive payloads but both leverage the strategic advantage of faster iterations and more optimized parts by designing and manufacturing everything inside the company. Which bring us to Rocket Lab’s newly developed satellite, the Photon. From their blog post announcing the satellite:
Space systems company Rocket Lab has launched its first in-house designed and built operational satellite, cementing the company’s evolution from a launch provider to an end-to-end space solutions company that offers turnkey satellites and spacecraft components, launch, and on-orbit operations.
The Photon is powered by a kick stage system called Curie and has its own communication, altitude control, and avionics systems. It is an all-in-one system providing everything a satellite manufacturer could need for deploying many types of payloads. It also has the ability to deorbit completely without leaving behind any material; technologically fresh and environmentally friendly. By building Photon internally, Rocket Lab can continually iterate on designs and push costs ever lower by optimizing the integration with its first and second stages. It is already working on an update to the Curie engine called Hyper Curie which significantly increases thrust and the ability to reach more distant orbits.
This is what a full-service platform looks like. Electron can launch payloads cheaply. Specialized spacecraft parts can help increase the addressable market and improve customer outcomes. Photon can place customer spacecrafts in whatever orbit is required. Rocket Lab has built an offering for launch that will make it cheaper and easier for companies to leverage all sorts of business possibilities in space.
Moonshots
Companies looking to support moon missions have ramped up their preparations this past week. A propulsion systems company called Dynetics announced an upcoming test of in-orbit refueling for its various vehicles in development. It will be heavily involved with landers like the NASA Artemis Human Landing System and Peregrine Lunar Lander as well as NASA’s Lunar Gateway for future missions to the Moon. Dynetics is one of the first companies to work on in-orbit refueling alongside—surprise, surprise—SpaceX. NASA originally announced a partnership with 13 companies in 2019 to develop advanced technologies for the Moon and Mars which included SpaceX’s plan to develop methods for transferring propellant in orbit. These space [gas] stations would allow for longer missions and more developed operations than previously possible. It further demonstrates the complimentary businesses that can grow to support future space programs.
Masten Space Systems tested a payload in its new Xodiac entry, descent, and landing vehicle this week in the Mojave Desert. The vehicle will be part of a mission to the Moon’s southern pole in 2022 which will delivery customer payloads for a number of operations. Masten bills itself as a full-service provider of everything from launch to mission design and analysis. The number of missions and companies forming to support the Artemis Program is really encouraging with each attempting to add value in specific ways like Dynetics or in a more end-to-end fashion like Masten.
In a totally different sort of moonshot, Origin Space detailed a plan to launch its first robot intended for mining asteroids in November. The Chinese company will be testing various functions and maneuvers to demonstrate the robot’s capabilities and provide data for its next launch in 2021. The second launch will observe near earth objects as it prepares for future missions including a potential moon mission. The Moon mission will likely be for testing recovery of materials with less risk than a direct flight to a near earth object.
Startups and Funding
Launch companies continue to receive funding as different approaches and locations vie for a piece of the shrinking pie. One of the companies working to be the first European company to build a reusable rocket raised $8.2 million this week to help build its Maura 1 rocket. Spanish company PLD Space recovered from a failed initial test and has two customers that will be passengers on its maiden voyage.
In the U.S., a rocket company, Firehawk, made it to the finals at Tech Crunch Disrupt 2020 which concluded this week. Its sales pitch is a 3D-printed engine containing only 12 parts. Additionally, it uses a fuel that isn’t susceptible to explosion and produces an exhaust that is environmentally benign.
Finally, Lumi Space was one of several companies to receive funding from the UK Space Agency to fight the growing issue of debris in space. Initially created to provide power to satellites using photonic technologies (lasers), it will repurpose the technology to improve the ranging and characterization of space debris for long-term prevention of collisions.