Georgia Space Update
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GEORGIA SPACE UPDATE NDIA-GEORGIA CHAPTER SPACE COMMITTEE YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT SPACE ACTIVITIES ACROSS THE STATE OF GEORGIA THINKING SPACE…THINK GEORGIA! JULY 2017 SPACEPORT CHAPTER INDUSTRY ACADEMIA LEGISLATURE ECON DEVEL EVENTS LEGISLATURE GEORGIA GOVERNOR SIGNS SPACE LEGISLATION On Monday, May 8, Governor Nathan Deal signed HB 1 opening the door for space companies in Georgia. For the last several years Georgia has been the nation’s No. 1 state for business and has also been listed as the No. 1 state for distribution & supply chain hubs. Georgia has everything a space company needs from…a great business climate, great business incentives, great workforce opportunities, and a fantastic program to train new workers…to the ability to touch virtually all of the nation’s space assets East of the Mississippi. SPACEPORT EIS CONTINUES THROUGH THE PROCESS The team at the FAA has been working hard over the past few months to develop the Draft EIS and to coordinate with the Federal agencies with jurisdiction or special expertise related to this proposed project. Our focus has been on identifying a range of reasonable alternatives to consider in the Draft EIS, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act and the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act. The FAA will hold another public meeting in Camden County, Georgia after the Draft EIS is released. The specific details of the meeting will be determined closer to the release of the Draft EIS. WORKFORCE Business relies on a well-trained, educated workforce. Not only does Georgia have a highly educated workforce, and 88,000 aerospace workers, but we also ensure that communities are ready for your business with the community “work-ready” certification program and Georgia’s Quick Start workforce training program, ranked nationally as #1 by Expansion Management magazine. Cable-network CNBC recently ranked Georgia as #1 for Best Workforce in the Nation in its annual grading of state business climates. In addition, Georgia Tech produces the largest number of aerospace engineers of any school in the country. If you expand workforce needs to all aspects of the space industry, Georgia Tech still leads the way with the largest number of engineering graduates across the entire engineering spectrum. Combine that with UGA’s programs in computer science, artificial intelligence, environmental health/engineering; Mercer’s biomedical, computer, electrical and environmental engineering; Columbus State’s programs in computer science, artificial intelligence and astrophysics; new engineering programs at the University of Georgia and Georgia Southern, and Middle Georgia College of Applied Aerospace Research Institute few states can boast of that cornucopia of potential worker skills. INDUSTRY SPACEWORKS ENTERPRISES ASTRO Team 8 was a success! ASTRO, or Aerospace Summer Training & Research Opportunity, is a competitively-selected high school program hosted each summer by SpaceWorks. This year, SpaceWorks partnered with Enterprise In Space (EIS), a non-profit program of the National Space Society (NSS), to create the ASTRO project. Six local Atlanta high school students took on the challenge and worked to design the NSS Enterprise, the orbiter and return spacecraft envisioned by EIS. ASTRO, now in its fifth year, was specifically created for high school students and gives them the opportunity to work with and learn from the expertise of the SpaceWorks staff. SpaceWorks hopes to further develop student interest in the aerospace engineering field through this challenging yet fun-filled experience. (ASTRO Team 8 – From left to right: Suhail Singh, Elizabeth Becker, Saahaj Mattey, Dr. John Olds (CEO of SpaceWorks), David Medof, Michaelle Ramos, Meghan Boler) THE SPACEWORKS TEAM Winner of NDIA-GA Small Business of the Year SpaceWorks has been awarded a Phase-3 SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) contract to further the development of QuickShot, a trajectory simulation and optimization tool. Awarded by the Air Force Research Lab, Aerospace Systems Directorate (AFRL/RQ) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the 12 month effort will see the implementation of analysis and improved support for aerothermal modeling, which is a critical factor and constraint in the design of high-speed flight systems. (Public Release Case Number: 88ABW-2017-3024) SpaceWorks recently added two new staff members to its team: Davin Gerber and Ben Merrel. Davin joined the SpaceWorks staff as a Senior Graphic Designer in April. Prior to SpaceWorks, Davin worked as the Interactive Art Director at Melt. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Media Arts and Animation from the Art Institute of Atlanta. Ben Merrel joined SpaceWorks in June as an Aerospace Engineer. He recently graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. SpaceWorks is hosting two interns for the summer semester: Matt Lewine and Matt Arceri. Matt Lewine is an undergraduate student at Georgia Tech majoring in Computer Science and is expected to graduate in May of 2018. Matt Arceri, also a student at Georgia Tech, is currently working towards his Master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. For more information about SpaceWorks, please visit www.spaceworks.aero. GENERATION ORBIT LAUNCH SERVICES Generation Orbit recently shipped its GO1 inert flight test article (ITA) to NASA Armstrong for ground vibration testing to be conducted on a Gulfstream carrier aircraft. This testing is part of the Follow-On Phase II SBIR contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) awarded to GO in April. After further development and testing, GO’s complete single stage liquid rocket, GOLauncher 1, launched from a Gulfstream G-III business jet, will conduct its inaugural flight test in 2019. This will mark the initial operational capability of the world’s first commercially-available hypersonic test bed. (GO1 ITA shipped to NASA Armstrong) Two new staff members have joined the Generation Orbit team: Dr. Michael Smayda and Weston Schlack. Dr. Smayda joined GO in May as the Lead Aerodynamics Engineer. Prior to GO, Dr. Smayda worked at SpaceX as a Senior Aerodynamics Engineer. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering from Cornell University and a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia. Weston Schlack joined GO in June as an Aerospace Engineer. He received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Generation Orbit is currently hosting four interns for the summer semester: Philippa Pinnington, Brandon Tehan, Jeffrey Allar, and Michaela Spaulding. Philippa is a recent graduate of The University of Arizona. There she received Bachelor’s degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Applied Mathematics. Brandon is working towards his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida. He is expected to graduate in December of this year. Jeffrey recently graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master’s degree in Astronautical Engineering. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Florida. Michaela is working toward a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State University and is expected to graduate in May of 2018. Michaela is GO’s first intern from the Brooke Owens Fellowship Program (BOFP). The BOFP was created by Lori Garver, Cassie Kloberdanz Lee, and William Pomerantz to celebrate the legacy of their friend, Brooke Owens. Brooke was an accomplished pilot and a pioneer in the space industry and the BOFP hopes to encourage and inspire young women like her. GO is honored to support Michaela and the inaugural class of Brooke Owens fellows. To find out more about the BOFP, please visit www.brookeowensfellowship.org/. (Michaela Spaulding – 2017 Brooke Owens Fellow at Generation Orbit) More information on Generation Orbit can be found at www.generationorbit.com. ACADEMIA - STEM GEORGIA TECH GLOBAL LEARNING CENTER The Georgia Tech Center for Space Technology & Research and the Georgia Center of Innovation – Aerospace are hosting a two-day event at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia highlighting recent innovations in space science and technologies on October 18 & 19, 2017 [email protected] The event opens with a poster session, welcome reception and open-telescope night at the Georgia Tech Observatory on October 18. Activities on October 19 will feature a combination of invited & contributed technical presentations, panel discussions, and a complimentary luncheon with a prominent keynote speaker in the space industry. The organizing committee seeks original and innovative space-related technical talks & presentations, as well as panelist nominations pertaining to the following: Technical Tracks 1. Small Satellites 2. Space Science & Deep Space Missions 3. Space Launch & Spaceports 4. Human Space Exploration & Development 5. Emerging Technologies & Applications 6. Student Activities & Programs Panels 1. Space Policy & Law 2. Space Commercialization & Finance 3. Space Media & Entertainment Submit nominations or abstracts of no more than 250 words by August 1st, 2017 to http://www.spaceinnovations.org FT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY STEM Fort Valley State University just completed another successful year of its Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Academy (MSEA). The 2016 MSEA class served 27