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FeedSource: [ArsTechnica]

Time: 2018-03-30 17:08:04 UTC

Original URL: https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/spacex-launches-a-rocket-but-noaa-prevented-some-of-it-from-being-shown/ [arstechnica.com] using UTF-8 encoding.

Title: NOAA just prevented SpaceX from showing its rocket in orbit

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NOAA just prevented SpaceX from showing its rocket in orbit

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story [arstechnica.com]:

On Friday morning, SpaceX successfully launched [arstechnica.com] a Falcon 9 rocket into space and later deployed 10 Iridium communications satellites into low-Earth orbit as planned. But unexpectedly for most watching, the company's webcast was precluded from showing the mission in its entirety.

At T+ 9:00 minutes, just two seconds before the rocket's second-stage engine cut off from firing, the video from space ended. The launch commentator, SpaceX engineer Michael Hammersley, explained earlier in the broadcast that "[d]ue to some restrictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, SpaceX will be intentionally ending live video coverage of the 2nd stage just prior to engine shutdown."

Asked about this on Friday morning, a NOAA spokesman was not aware of the situation. "I can only think it's an error," Chris Vaccaro told Ars. "I would double check with them (SpaceX)." NOAA has promised [twitter.com] more information will be forthcoming. (4:45pm ET Update: NOAA released this statement [noaa.gov]).

We did double check with SpaceX. It was definitely an issue with NOAA, the rocket company said. Apparently NOAA recently asserted that cameras on the second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX uses for engineering purposes, qualify as a remote sensing system, which are subject to NOAA's regulation [noaa.gov]. A provisional license obtained by SpaceX for Friday's launch of the Iridium-5 mission required it to end views once the second stage reached orbit.

This raises some questions about the real purpose behind NOAA's action, as the regulation specifically exempts "small, hand-held cameras." SpaceX intends to obtain a full license for such camera views, and as of now there is apparently no restriction in place for SpaceX's next launch of a NASA cargo ship from Florida, happening as early as Monday [arstechnica.com].

These NOAA regulations were enacted to prevent individuals from launching and flying their own personal spy satellites in space. However, as astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell pointed out [twitter.com] on Twitter, it is not clear what national security rationale there is for controlling cameras on the second stage of SpaceX rockets.

One theory put forth [twitter.com] by Peter B. de Selding, editor of SpaceIntelReport, is that this may be some kind of push back from NOAA because SpaceX did not have a proper license for the cameras on the Falcon Heavy's Starman launch, which showed [youtube.com] a mannequin in a red Tesla in Earth orbit for several hours. At the same time, in recent weeks, both President Trump and the Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross have praised SpaceX for that launch and the views from Starman, so it's difficult to see this as some kind of top-down punishment for the company.

What does seem clear is that, with the proliferation of micro-rockets, cubesats, and even smaller satellites, these regulations on cameras in orbit will need to be clarified—something else for the National Space Council to consider, no doubt.

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