Pentagon seeks ideas for small military space station

July 7, 2019 — SpaceDaily.com reports: “The Defense Innovation Unit of the Pentagon announced a call for ideas for a small, autonomous military space station this week.

The ‘solicitation brief,’ known in civilian circles as a request for proposal, seeks ‘solutions for a self-contained and free flying orbital outpost. The solution must be capable of supporting space assembly, microgravity experimentation, logistics and storage, manufacturing, training, test and evaluation, hosting payloads, and other functions.’

It specifies no more than 35 cubic feet of available experimentation space, indicating it is inappropriate for human habitation. The craft must be able to move in its own orbit, be made of material conducive to low Earth orbit, and be ready for flight two years after a contractor is chosen, the brief stipulates.

The space station would be scalable, or expandable, with the capability of carrying attachments, such as an exterior robotic arm, and eventually, human passengers. The brief does not specifically address the craft’s purpose, but appears to be a space station exclusively for military purposes.

A 186-pound payload is also specified, as well as ‘zero to one atmosphere pressurization,’ indication the craft would operate in near-vacuum conditions and further suggesting that it will not be designed for human space travel…” (“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” – Luke 21:25 – 27. See the next three reports.)

France’s Macron announces creation of a new space force command

July 15, 2019 — SpaceDaily.com reports: “French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday announced the creation of a new national military space force command that will eventually be part of his country’s air force.

The declaration — made on the eve of France’s Bastille Day national celebrations that feature a military parade down Paris’s Champs-Elysees — mirrors an initiative in the US championed by President Donald Trump.

‘To assure the development and the reinforcement of our capacities in space, a high command for space will be created in September,’ Macron told military brass gathered for a traditional pre-Bastille Day reception.

He called the renewed military focus on space a ‘true national security issue’.

Last year Macron had spoken of the need for a strategy for space defence and this was the result, he said.

‘The new spatial and military doctrine that has been proposed to me by the (defence) ministry, which I have approved, will allow us to ensure our defence of space…,’ added…”

Brand-New S-500 Missile Systems Can Tackle Attack From Space

July 10, 2019 — SpaceDaily.com reports: “In late June, Sergei Chemezov, chief executive of the country’s defence industry giant Rostec, said that Russia had recently started manufacturing the sophisticated S-500 missile systems.

The new S-500 air defence system will specifically be aimed at countering an attack from outer space, Yuri Muravkin, the deputy chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ anti-aircraft missile troops, told the Russian daily Krasnaya Zvezda.

‘Realising the fact that nowadays and in the foreseeable future, the boundaries between air and space are being and will be erased as the aerial enemy gradually becomes an aerospace one, it is safe to say that the S-500 Prometey missile systems entering service is [already] in the pipeline’, Muravkin pointed out.

The remarks come after Sergei Chemezov, CEO of the state-run corporation Rostec, said in an interview with the Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1 in late June that they are ‘already starting to produce the S-500’…”

India Launches Historic Bid to Put Spacecraft on Moon

July 22, 2019 — Voice of America News reports: “India successfully launched an ambitious mission to land a rover on an unexplored area of the moon as a rocket hurtled into space from Sriharikota in eastern India.

In a feat attempted by only three countries so far — the United States, Russia and China — the project aims to make a soft landing on the moon and seal India’s reputation as a leading space power. 

The launch on Monday afternoon came a week after the high profile lunar mission was abruptly aborted less than an hour before takeoff due to a ‘technical snag.’…”