Page 5 - Aerotech News and Review, May 18 2018

Wi-Fi in space, spacecraft technologies launched on Blue Origin rocket
A company vying to be the first in- ternet service provider in space and as a NASA monitoring system for testing technologies on suborbital vehicles were both carried into space when Blue Ori- gin’s New Shepard rocket successfully launched April 29.
Solstar’s space communicator services aim to securely and conveniently connect people and technology in space to Earth via any internet connected device. Named for Apollo 17 astronaut and U.S. Senator, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, the Schmitt Space Communicator Xperimental tech- nology (SC-1x) may connect researchers on the ground and in space to improve exploration.
“We have already proven our tech- nology works in space,” said M. Brian Barnett, Solstar founder and CEO. “This flight allowed us to test the quality of our internet link that will lead to commercial services. The technology demonstration went as planned, performing the first
May 18, 2018
commercial tweet in space. Solstar could offer Wi-Fi services to people and things flying in space, similarly to how airlines currently provide customers in-flight Wi- Fi services.”
Solstar’s communication technolo- gies have flown twice through the Flight Opportunities program funding on two of the program’s contracted launch pro- viders: Near Space Corp. high-altitude balloon and UP Aerospace’s suborbital rocket.
The second experiment flown on New Shepard is the first FO-funded flight of the Suborbital Flight Experiment Moni- tor (SFEM-2) with the primary objec- tive of evaluating suborbital vehicles as potential test platforms for future space technology. The flight also provides an early assessment of an acoustic sensor that is now being tested on the Interna- tional Space Station. The sensor was also selected for the Orion spacecraft.
“Currently, ground-based testing in
NASA photograph by Ryan Dibley
A NASA Suborbital Flight Experiment Monitor was flight tested on the Blue Origin rocket that was used to gauge sensors and obtain data in space-like environment for further development of suborbital vehicles. SFEM-2 Katy Hulbert, principal investigator, center, and team members Alex Kim, right, and Hiep Nguyen prepare the experiment for flight.
low-gravity conditions is largely limited to parabolic aircraft, which provides a very short duration of microgravity, a matter of seconds,” said Katy Hul- bert, Ph.D., NASA SFEM-2 principal investigator. “Suborbital flight testing would allow longer duration and con- tinuous operational testing with vari- able gravity, such as high-g (or high levels of acceleration) during launch and offering minutes of microgravity at
suborbital altitude.”
The SFEM-2 will provide data for ac-
celeration, cabin temperature and pres- sure, and other measurements such as acoustic levels. Using SFEM-2 will also allow for an understanding of the internal environment of new suborbital vehicles to test technologies needed to support future space missions.
Through the Flight Opportunities pro- gram, the Space Technology Mission Di-
rectorate selects promising technologies from industry, academia and government for testing on commercial launch vehi- cles. The program is funded by STMD, and managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center.
STMD is responsible for developing the crosscutting, pioneering, new tech- nologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions.
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