HyImpulse Successfully Launches SR75
Rocket From Aussie Southern Launch Site (Source: Space Daily)
HyImpulse has successfully launched their SR75 rocket from the Koonibba
Test Range, operated by Southern Launch, marking a significant step in
Australia's commercial launch capabilities. The SR75, one of the
largest rockets launched commercially in Australia, drew an audience of
locals and VIPs from across Australia and Europe who witnessed the
event on South Australia's Far West Coast. (5/3)
Webb Telescope's Study Suggests Life
on Exoplanet Remains Unconfirmed (Source: Space Daily)
Excitement was high when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reported
potential signs of life on a distant exoplanet. However, a new study by
UC Riverside researchers published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters
tempers these claims, discussing both the limitations and future
possibilities of confirming life on such planets. The research focuses
on the exoplanet K2-18b, which in 2023 appeared to host biosignature
gases in its atmosphere. Unlike most exoplanets, K2-18b receives a
similar amount of solar radiation as Earth and has a comparable
temperature, making it a prime candidate for supporting life.
"The DMS signal from the Webb telescope was not very strong and only
showed up in certain ways when analyzing the data," said UCR project
scientist Shang-Min Tsai, discussing the challenges of detecting
dimethyl sulfide (DMS) on K2-18b. DMS is a compound produced by ocean
phytoplankton on Earth and is key to cloud formation. Despite the
optimistic reports, the atmosphere of K2-18b, rich in hydrogen and
speculated to house water oceans, does not mirror Earth's
nitrogen-based air. Last year, findings suggested the presence of
methane and carbon dioxide, along with a possible detection of DMS on
K2-18b. (5/3)
UTA Scientists Explore Quantum Aspects
of Gravity Using Neutrinos (Source: Space Daily)
Einstein's theory of general relativity describes gravity as a result
of space and time curving. In contrast, high-energy physics
investigates subatomic particles that follow the principles of quantum
mechanics, notable for their random fluctuations and the inherent
uncertainty in particle positions and energies.
For years, efforts have been underway to merge these two scientific
realms into a singular quantum explanation of gravity. This pursuit
aims to integrate general relativity's curvature with the randomness of
quantum mechanics. Researchers have conducted a significant study
examining this theoretical overlap using ultra-high energy neutrino
observations from the IceCube Observatory, situated deep within the
Antarctic ice. They installed numerous sensors across a square
kilometer in Antarctica to monitor neutrinos-neutral, massless
particles-to detect potential quantum fluctuations in spacetime
indicative of quantum gravity. (5/3)
May 3, 2024
NASA Awards Studies for Commercial
Mars Missions (Source: Space News)
NASA has selected nine companies to perform feasibility studies of commercial approaches to deliver spacecraft to Mars and provide services there. The agency announced May 1 the selection of the companies for its “Exploring Mars Together: Commercial Services Studies” program. The nine companies received 12 awards; three of the companies received two each while the other six received a single award.
The contracts, valued at between $200,000 and $300,000 per company, are for 12-week studies to explore four topic areas where commercial services could augment NASA’s broader Mars exploration program: delivery of small spacecraft or hosted payloads to Mars orbit, delivery of large spacecraft or hosted payloads to Mars orbit, Mars imaging services and Mars communication relay services. Click here. (5/3)
NASA Doubles Down, Advances 6 Innovative Tech Concepts to New Phase (Source: Space Daily)
One of the 'science fiction-like' concepts - for a lunar railway system to provide payload transport on the Moon - is being developed at NASA JPL. NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) has selected six visionary concept studies for additional funding and development. Each study has already completed the initial NIAC phase, showing their futuristic ideas - like a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes - may provide fresh perspectives and approaches as NASA explores the unknown in space.
The NIAC Phase II conceptual studies will receive up to $600,000 to continue working over the next two years to address key remaining technical and budget hurdles and pave their development path forward. When Phase II is complete, these studies could advance to the final NIAC phase, earning additional funding and development consideration toward becoming a future aerospace mission. Click here. (5/3)
Vega-C Slated to Launch ESA's Solar Wind Explorer Mission (Source: Space Daily)
ESA has secured a Vega-C rocket for the launch of its Smile mission, a collaborative venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences aimed at exploring solar wind dynamics. The SMILE mission, standing for 'Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer', is designed to enhance our understanding of solar and terrestrial interactions, representing a significant European contribution to this scientific endeavor. A formal agreement ensures SMILE's launch via Vega-C from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, anticipated for late 2025. (5/1)
China Launches Mission to Lunar Farside (Source: Space News)
China launched a mission Friday to return samples from the far side of the moon. A Long March 5 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 5:30 a.m. Eastern, carrying the Chang'e-6 spacecraft. Chang'e-6 will land on the lunar farside and collect up to two kilograms of samples to return to Earth nearly two months later. If successful, it will be the first mission to return samples from the moon's far side, and only the second spacecraft to land there after Chang'e-4. (5/3)
Virgin Galactic Plans June Suborbital Flight at Spaceport America (Source: Virgin Galactic)
The next Virgin Galactic suborbital flight is scheduled for next month. The company announced this week that the Galactic 07 mission will launch no earlier than June 8 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The flight of the VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane will carry three private astronauts, two from the U.S. and one from Italy, and a researcher affiliated with Axiom Space. The flight will be the last for Unity, which Virgin Galactic is retiring to focus on developing its new Delta class of vehicles. (5/3)
SpaceX on Thursday Launches WorldView from California, Starlink From Florida (Sources: Space News, Space.com)
One Falcon 9 launched the first WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Intelligence Thursday. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:36 p.m. Eastern and placed the two satellites into orbit. The spacecraft are the first in a six-satellite constellation that will provide images at a resolution of 30 centimeters and triple Maxar's imagery capacity. Supply chain problems and other pandemic-related delays have extensively delayed the development of the WorldView Legion satellites.
Another Falcon 9 launched a set of Starlink satellites Thursday evening. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:37 p.m. Eastern and placed 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch was the 19th for this Falcon 9 booster, while the launch earlier in the day from California features a booster making its 20th flight. (5/3)
Pulsed Plasma Rocket Development Accelerates Human Missions to Mars (Source: Space Daily)
Advancements in space technology may soon allow humans and cargo to travel to Mars efficiently and quickly. Existing spacecraft require significant velocities due to the vast distances in space, necessitating propulsion systems with both high thrust and high specific impulse. Current technologies fall short of these requirements. Howe Industries is developing a propulsion system capable of achieving up to 100,000 N of thrust and a specific impulse of 5,000 seconds. The Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR), an evolution of the Pulsed Fission Fusion concept, offers simplicity, affordability, and exceptional performance. (5/2)
Lockheed Martin Withdraws Terran Orbital Acquisition Bid (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its bid to acquire smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital. In an SEC filing late Thursday, Lockheed said it was withdrawing an offer made two months earlier to purchase the two-thirds of Terran Orbital it did not already own for $1 a share. The total value of the deal, including assuming or repaying Terran Orbital debt, was more than $500 million. Lockheed did not give a reason for withdrawing the deal but said it would continue to work with Terran, a supplier of smallsat buses for several Lockheed programs. Terran Orbital said it was continuing a strategic review started late last year to explore all options for the company. Shares in Terran Orbital fell 17% in after-hours trading. (5/3)
AST Networks Acquires Reygar to Enhance Maritime IoT Capabilities (Source: Space Daily)
AST Networks has expanded its technology portfolio with the acquisition of Reygar Ltd., integrating advanced performance monitoring systems for both crewed and un-crewed maritime vessels. This move strengthens AST Networks' position in the global maritime communication and connectivity sphere. The acquisition aims to harness Reygar's expertise, particularly its leading platform, BareFLEET, and integrate it into AST Networks' operations, promising enhanced efficiency and customer value. Reygar's addition will allow AST Networks to offer a broader range of tailored solutions to meet the diverse needs of modern maritime fleets. (4/26)
Hughes Launches New Manufacturing Hub and Private 5G Center in Maryland (Source: Space Daily)
Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar company, has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland, emphasizing the company's commitment to innovation and local development. The facility, named the Hughes Manufacturing Facility (EXM), is responsible for producing U.S.-made hardware essential for various networks, including the Hughes HT3000W JUPITER System satellite modem and the Hughes HL1120W Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite terminal. The EXM, staffed by approximately 400 engineers, technicians, and manufacturing personnel, employs advanced robotics to produce satellite modems and terminals. (4/26)
Space Force Continues to Grow Orbital Monitoring Program (Source: Breaking Defense)
The US Space Force is currently monitoring approximately 1,000 priority satellite targets, including both adversary-owned and US satellites at risk, according to Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of space operations for intelligence. Since its inception in December 2019, the US Space Command's space domain awareness capabilities have expanded from a few dozen sensors to a sophisticated setup of hundreds of apertures worldwide. (5/2)
Space a Critical Enabler for DoD (Source: Space News)
Space capabilities are becoming a critical enabler for the Pentagon. Brig. Gen. Robert Hutt, director of plans and programs for the U.S. Space Force, said Thursday that it was clear that space has become the central nervous system of joint operations and a "critical part of the kill chains" for the Defense Department. "Kill chain" is a military term that describes the sequential steps involved in successfully targeting and eliminating an enemy threat. Hutt noted that the Space Force's budget has nearly doubled since the service's inception in late 2019. (5/3)
Dragon Relocated on ISS (Source: NASA)
A Crew Dragon spacecraft switched docking ports at the International Space Station Thursday. The Dragon, launched earlier this year on the Crew-8 mission, undocked from the forward docking port of the Harmony module at 8:57 a.m. Eastern and redocked to the module's zenith port nearly 50 minutes later. The maneuver frees up the forward port for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, currently approved to use only the forward docking port. Starliner is scheduled to launch Monday night on its first crewed test flight. (5/3)
Building a Rocket Engine from Scratch (Source: ABL)
The E2 Engine is a simple, robust, resilient machine. It starts up. It burns smooth. It shuts down. It’s tolerant to a variety of startup sequences and inlet conditions. Recently, a qualification E2 engine achieved a 4x life on total duration and starts. After 28 starts and 1300 seconds of run time, this fleet leader shows no signs of performance degradation. E2 wants to run, and it wants to run for a long time.
It wasn’t always like this though; engine development is unforgiving. Thousands of decisions go into designing an engine, into architecting its sequences, and into building its test stands. When you go to start it up, they all need to be right. Otherwise, you’re likely to be exercising the test stand’s fire suppression system. Click here. (5/2)
All-Girls Team Headed to Rocketry Challenge Finals (Source: KTTV)
An all-girls team from Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles has qualified for the national finals of the American Rocketry Challenge this month. (5/1)
State and Federal Space Stakeholders Release Florida Spaceport System Maritime Intermodal Transportation Report (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida announces the completion of the feasibility phase of the Florida Spaceport System Maritime Intermodal Transportation Study. This study marks preliminary steps in enhancing maritime support for the rapidly growing commercial space transportation sector with the overall objective to assess options to enhance and optimize maritime transportation and infrastructure to support Florida’s spaceport system’s growing needs.
This first-in-the-nation study included extensive engineering and stakeholder analyses. The study was initiated in response to requests from federal stakeholders to assess the feasibility of various maritime support options for spaceport operations in Florida. Among the key findings: Current facilities at Port Canaveral and surrounding areas are insufficient to meet the projected demand for maritime operations related to space launches, necessitating over 9,000 linear feet of dedicated wharf space.
Also, the study recommends short- and mid-term expansions in Port Canaveral's West and Middle Turning Basins, with a long-term expansion northward to support the industry’s growth trajectory. The financial analysis presented in the study outlines a viable business case for the recommended expansions, suggesting a blend of federal grants and revised usage fees to fund the development without imposing undue financial burdens on launch service providers. (5/2)
L3Harris Scores Payload Contract for Millennium’s Foo Fighter Missile Tracking Satellites (Source: Space News)
L3Harris secured a contract to supply critical sensor technology to Millennium Space Systems for a constellation of eight satellites to be produced for the Space Force’s Space Development Agency. SDA announced April 30 it awarded Boeing’s subsidiary Millennium Space a $414 million contract to build eight satellites equipped with advanced infrared and optical sensors. The satellites are for a program called Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (Foo Fighter), which seeks to demonstrate technologies in support of a network of low-orbit satellites being developed by SDA known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. (5/2)
Australian Government Backs Space Machines Company in Joint India Mission to Combat Space Debris (Source: Space Daily)
Space Machines Company announced Space MAITRI, a joint industry-led Australian-Indian mission to demonstrate progress towards space debris management and a sustainable space future. The Space MAITRI project, funded by an $8.5 million grant from the Australian Government through the Australian Space Agency, is part of the International Space Investment India Projects (ISI India Projects) program. This program, delivered by the ASA and Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) Grants Delivery and Business Services, builds upon the concept of a broader 2018 ISI initiative. (4/30)
NASA Uses Small Engine to Enhance Sustainable Jet Research (Source: Space Daily)
Located inside a high-tech NASA laboratory in Cleveland is something you could almost miss at first glance: a small-scale, fully operational jet engine to test new technology that could make aviation more sustainable. The engine's smaller size and modestly equipped test stand means researchers and engineers can try out newly designed engine components less expensively compared to using a more costly full-scale jet engine test rig. (4/29)
Spire Global to Supply AI-Enhanced Weather Predictions to Financial Sector (Source: Space Daily)
Spire Global has finalized a significant agreement with a financial firm to deliver advanced weather forecasting solutions. The deal involves supplying a high-resolution weather forecast model with a six-day outlook, enhanced by unique data sourced from space, and the development of an AI-driven model for extended-range forecasts.
The collaboration will extend Spire's recent partnership with NVIDIA, utilizing the Earth-2 platform designed for weather and climate change modeling. This initiative will enable the training and operation of AI-driven weather models, expected to significantly enhance forecast accuracy and speed, and provide long-range probabilistic forecasts. (4/30)
Intelsat and CNH to Enhance Brazilian Agriculture with Satellite Connectivity (Source: Space Daily)
Intelsat, a major provider in integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, alongside CNH, have committed to implementing advanced satellite terminals on CNH farm equipment across Brazil's remote farmlands using Intelsat's extensive global network. "As the first satellite communications company to provide multi-orbit connectivity to farmers around the world, Intelsat's collaboration with CNH will unlock new capabilities in the most remote locations through our global communications platform." (4/29)
NASA Study Reveals Comprehensive Global River Water Accounting (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has spearheaded a significant study that recalibrates our understanding of global river water volumes, offering new estimates on river flow and storage vital for managing the Earth's freshwater resources. The research, detailed in Nature Geoscience, employs an innovative methodology merging traditional stream-gauge readings with advanced computer simulations across approximately 3 million river segments worldwide.
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have determined that the average global river water volume from 1980 to 2009 was about 539 cubic miles. This volume is roughly equivalent to half of Lake Michigan's water capacity and represents a mere 0.006% of all freshwater, which totals 2.5% of the Earth's water volume. Despite their small percentage, rivers are critical to human civilization from the earliest times. (4/26)
Major Advancements in US Space Domain Awareness Through Space Systems Command (Source: Space Daily)
Space Systems Command (SSC) has made significant strides in space domain awareness (SDA) with its Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab, recently achieving mission success in collaboration with both commercial and academic partners for the Apollo Accelerator Cohort 2 on March 4, 2024. The SDA TAP Lab orchestrates structured programs like the Apollo Accelerator, which foster collaboration and innovation among U.S. entities including companies, academia, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), industry experts, and Guardians to address key challenges. (4/26)
Finnair Suspends Flights to Estonian City Over Russian GPS Interference (Source: Space Daily)
Finnair said Monday it was suspending flights to the Estonian city of Tartu for one month due to GPS interference that the Estonian foreign minister labelled a Russian "hybrid attack". All flights to Tartu were suspended between April 29 and May 31 while "an alternative approach solution that doesn't require a GPS signal can be put in place at Tartu Airport," the Finnish carrier said in a statement. (4/29)
NASA has selected nine companies to perform feasibility studies of commercial approaches to deliver spacecraft to Mars and provide services there. The agency announced May 1 the selection of the companies for its “Exploring Mars Together: Commercial Services Studies” program. The nine companies received 12 awards; three of the companies received two each while the other six received a single award.
The contracts, valued at between $200,000 and $300,000 per company, are for 12-week studies to explore four topic areas where commercial services could augment NASA’s broader Mars exploration program: delivery of small spacecraft or hosted payloads to Mars orbit, delivery of large spacecraft or hosted payloads to Mars orbit, Mars imaging services and Mars communication relay services. Click here. (5/3)
NASA Doubles Down, Advances 6 Innovative Tech Concepts to New Phase (Source: Space Daily)
One of the 'science fiction-like' concepts - for a lunar railway system to provide payload transport on the Moon - is being developed at NASA JPL. NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) has selected six visionary concept studies for additional funding and development. Each study has already completed the initial NIAC phase, showing their futuristic ideas - like a lunar railway system and fluid-based telescopes - may provide fresh perspectives and approaches as NASA explores the unknown in space.
The NIAC Phase II conceptual studies will receive up to $600,000 to continue working over the next two years to address key remaining technical and budget hurdles and pave their development path forward. When Phase II is complete, these studies could advance to the final NIAC phase, earning additional funding and development consideration toward becoming a future aerospace mission. Click here. (5/3)
Vega-C Slated to Launch ESA's Solar Wind Explorer Mission (Source: Space Daily)
ESA has secured a Vega-C rocket for the launch of its Smile mission, a collaborative venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences aimed at exploring solar wind dynamics. The SMILE mission, standing for 'Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer', is designed to enhance our understanding of solar and terrestrial interactions, representing a significant European contribution to this scientific endeavor. A formal agreement ensures SMILE's launch via Vega-C from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, anticipated for late 2025. (5/1)
China Launches Mission to Lunar Farside (Source: Space News)
China launched a mission Friday to return samples from the far side of the moon. A Long March 5 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 5:30 a.m. Eastern, carrying the Chang'e-6 spacecraft. Chang'e-6 will land on the lunar farside and collect up to two kilograms of samples to return to Earth nearly two months later. If successful, it will be the first mission to return samples from the moon's far side, and only the second spacecraft to land there after Chang'e-4. (5/3)
Virgin Galactic Plans June Suborbital Flight at Spaceport America (Source: Virgin Galactic)
The next Virgin Galactic suborbital flight is scheduled for next month. The company announced this week that the Galactic 07 mission will launch no earlier than June 8 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The flight of the VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane will carry three private astronauts, two from the U.S. and one from Italy, and a researcher affiliated with Axiom Space. The flight will be the last for Unity, which Virgin Galactic is retiring to focus on developing its new Delta class of vehicles. (5/3)
SpaceX on Thursday Launches WorldView from California, Starlink From Florida (Sources: Space News, Space.com)
One Falcon 9 launched the first WorldView Legion satellites for Maxar Intelligence Thursday. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:36 p.m. Eastern and placed the two satellites into orbit. The spacecraft are the first in a six-satellite constellation that will provide images at a resolution of 30 centimeters and triple Maxar's imagery capacity. Supply chain problems and other pandemic-related delays have extensively delayed the development of the WorldView Legion satellites.
Another Falcon 9 launched a set of Starlink satellites Thursday evening. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 10:37 p.m. Eastern and placed 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. The launch was the 19th for this Falcon 9 booster, while the launch earlier in the day from California features a booster making its 20th flight. (5/3)
Pulsed Plasma Rocket Development Accelerates Human Missions to Mars (Source: Space Daily)
Advancements in space technology may soon allow humans and cargo to travel to Mars efficiently and quickly. Existing spacecraft require significant velocities due to the vast distances in space, necessitating propulsion systems with both high thrust and high specific impulse. Current technologies fall short of these requirements. Howe Industries is developing a propulsion system capable of achieving up to 100,000 N of thrust and a specific impulse of 5,000 seconds. The Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR), an evolution of the Pulsed Fission Fusion concept, offers simplicity, affordability, and exceptional performance. (5/2)
Lockheed Martin Withdraws Terran Orbital Acquisition Bid (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its bid to acquire smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital. In an SEC filing late Thursday, Lockheed said it was withdrawing an offer made two months earlier to purchase the two-thirds of Terran Orbital it did not already own for $1 a share. The total value of the deal, including assuming or repaying Terran Orbital debt, was more than $500 million. Lockheed did not give a reason for withdrawing the deal but said it would continue to work with Terran, a supplier of smallsat buses for several Lockheed programs. Terran Orbital said it was continuing a strategic review started late last year to explore all options for the company. Shares in Terran Orbital fell 17% in after-hours trading. (5/3)
AST Networks Acquires Reygar to Enhance Maritime IoT Capabilities (Source: Space Daily)
AST Networks has expanded its technology portfolio with the acquisition of Reygar Ltd., integrating advanced performance monitoring systems for both crewed and un-crewed maritime vessels. This move strengthens AST Networks' position in the global maritime communication and connectivity sphere. The acquisition aims to harness Reygar's expertise, particularly its leading platform, BareFLEET, and integrate it into AST Networks' operations, promising enhanced efficiency and customer value. Reygar's addition will allow AST Networks to offer a broader range of tailored solutions to meet the diverse needs of modern maritime fleets. (4/26)
Hughes Launches New Manufacturing Hub and Private 5G Center in Maryland (Source: Space Daily)
Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar company, has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland, emphasizing the company's commitment to innovation and local development. The facility, named the Hughes Manufacturing Facility (EXM), is responsible for producing U.S.-made hardware essential for various networks, including the Hughes HT3000W JUPITER System satellite modem and the Hughes HL1120W Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite terminal. The EXM, staffed by approximately 400 engineers, technicians, and manufacturing personnel, employs advanced robotics to produce satellite modems and terminals. (4/26)
Space Force Continues to Grow Orbital Monitoring Program (Source: Breaking Defense)
The US Space Force is currently monitoring approximately 1,000 priority satellite targets, including both adversary-owned and US satellites at risk, according to Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, deputy chief of space operations for intelligence. Since its inception in December 2019, the US Space Command's space domain awareness capabilities have expanded from a few dozen sensors to a sophisticated setup of hundreds of apertures worldwide. (5/2)
Space a Critical Enabler for DoD (Source: Space News)
Space capabilities are becoming a critical enabler for the Pentagon. Brig. Gen. Robert Hutt, director of plans and programs for the U.S. Space Force, said Thursday that it was clear that space has become the central nervous system of joint operations and a "critical part of the kill chains" for the Defense Department. "Kill chain" is a military term that describes the sequential steps involved in successfully targeting and eliminating an enemy threat. Hutt noted that the Space Force's budget has nearly doubled since the service's inception in late 2019. (5/3)
Dragon Relocated on ISS (Source: NASA)
A Crew Dragon spacecraft switched docking ports at the International Space Station Thursday. The Dragon, launched earlier this year on the Crew-8 mission, undocked from the forward docking port of the Harmony module at 8:57 a.m. Eastern and redocked to the module's zenith port nearly 50 minutes later. The maneuver frees up the forward port for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, currently approved to use only the forward docking port. Starliner is scheduled to launch Monday night on its first crewed test flight. (5/3)
Building a Rocket Engine from Scratch (Source: ABL)
The E2 Engine is a simple, robust, resilient machine. It starts up. It burns smooth. It shuts down. It’s tolerant to a variety of startup sequences and inlet conditions. Recently, a qualification E2 engine achieved a 4x life on total duration and starts. After 28 starts and 1300 seconds of run time, this fleet leader shows no signs of performance degradation. E2 wants to run, and it wants to run for a long time.
It wasn’t always like this though; engine development is unforgiving. Thousands of decisions go into designing an engine, into architecting its sequences, and into building its test stands. When you go to start it up, they all need to be right. Otherwise, you’re likely to be exercising the test stand’s fire suppression system. Click here. (5/2)
All-Girls Team Headed to Rocketry Challenge Finals (Source: KTTV)
An all-girls team from Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles has qualified for the national finals of the American Rocketry Challenge this month. (5/1)
State and Federal Space Stakeholders Release Florida Spaceport System Maritime Intermodal Transportation Report (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida announces the completion of the feasibility phase of the Florida Spaceport System Maritime Intermodal Transportation Study. This study marks preliminary steps in enhancing maritime support for the rapidly growing commercial space transportation sector with the overall objective to assess options to enhance and optimize maritime transportation and infrastructure to support Florida’s spaceport system’s growing needs.
This first-in-the-nation study included extensive engineering and stakeholder analyses. The study was initiated in response to requests from federal stakeholders to assess the feasibility of various maritime support options for spaceport operations in Florida. Among the key findings: Current facilities at Port Canaveral and surrounding areas are insufficient to meet the projected demand for maritime operations related to space launches, necessitating over 9,000 linear feet of dedicated wharf space.
Also, the study recommends short- and mid-term expansions in Port Canaveral's West and Middle Turning Basins, with a long-term expansion northward to support the industry’s growth trajectory. The financial analysis presented in the study outlines a viable business case for the recommended expansions, suggesting a blend of federal grants and revised usage fees to fund the development without imposing undue financial burdens on launch service providers. (5/2)
L3Harris Scores Payload Contract for Millennium’s Foo Fighter Missile Tracking Satellites (Source: Space News)
L3Harris secured a contract to supply critical sensor technology to Millennium Space Systems for a constellation of eight satellites to be produced for the Space Force’s Space Development Agency. SDA announced April 30 it awarded Boeing’s subsidiary Millennium Space a $414 million contract to build eight satellites equipped with advanced infrared and optical sensors. The satellites are for a program called Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (Foo Fighter), which seeks to demonstrate technologies in support of a network of low-orbit satellites being developed by SDA known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. (5/2)
Australian Government Backs Space Machines Company in Joint India Mission to Combat Space Debris (Source: Space Daily)
Space Machines Company announced Space MAITRI, a joint industry-led Australian-Indian mission to demonstrate progress towards space debris management and a sustainable space future. The Space MAITRI project, funded by an $8.5 million grant from the Australian Government through the Australian Space Agency, is part of the International Space Investment India Projects (ISI India Projects) program. This program, delivered by the ASA and Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) Grants Delivery and Business Services, builds upon the concept of a broader 2018 ISI initiative. (4/30)
NASA Uses Small Engine to Enhance Sustainable Jet Research (Source: Space Daily)
Located inside a high-tech NASA laboratory in Cleveland is something you could almost miss at first glance: a small-scale, fully operational jet engine to test new technology that could make aviation more sustainable. The engine's smaller size and modestly equipped test stand means researchers and engineers can try out newly designed engine components less expensively compared to using a more costly full-scale jet engine test rig. (4/29)
Spire Global to Supply AI-Enhanced Weather Predictions to Financial Sector (Source: Space Daily)
Spire Global has finalized a significant agreement with a financial firm to deliver advanced weather forecasting solutions. The deal involves supplying a high-resolution weather forecast model with a six-day outlook, enhanced by unique data sourced from space, and the development of an AI-driven model for extended-range forecasts.
The collaboration will extend Spire's recent partnership with NVIDIA, utilizing the Earth-2 platform designed for weather and climate change modeling. This initiative will enable the training and operation of AI-driven weather models, expected to significantly enhance forecast accuracy and speed, and provide long-range probabilistic forecasts. (4/30)
Intelsat and CNH to Enhance Brazilian Agriculture with Satellite Connectivity (Source: Space Daily)
Intelsat, a major provider in integrated satellite and terrestrial networks, alongside CNH, have committed to implementing advanced satellite terminals on CNH farm equipment across Brazil's remote farmlands using Intelsat's extensive global network. "As the first satellite communications company to provide multi-orbit connectivity to farmers around the world, Intelsat's collaboration with CNH will unlock new capabilities in the most remote locations through our global communications platform." (4/29)
NASA Study Reveals Comprehensive Global River Water Accounting (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has spearheaded a significant study that recalibrates our understanding of global river water volumes, offering new estimates on river flow and storage vital for managing the Earth's freshwater resources. The research, detailed in Nature Geoscience, employs an innovative methodology merging traditional stream-gauge readings with advanced computer simulations across approximately 3 million river segments worldwide.
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have determined that the average global river water volume from 1980 to 2009 was about 539 cubic miles. This volume is roughly equivalent to half of Lake Michigan's water capacity and represents a mere 0.006% of all freshwater, which totals 2.5% of the Earth's water volume. Despite their small percentage, rivers are critical to human civilization from the earliest times. (4/26)
Major Advancements in US Space Domain Awareness Through Space Systems Command (Source: Space Daily)
Space Systems Command (SSC) has made significant strides in space domain awareness (SDA) with its Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab, recently achieving mission success in collaboration with both commercial and academic partners for the Apollo Accelerator Cohort 2 on March 4, 2024. The SDA TAP Lab orchestrates structured programs like the Apollo Accelerator, which foster collaboration and innovation among U.S. entities including companies, academia, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), industry experts, and Guardians to address key challenges. (4/26)
Finnair Suspends Flights to Estonian City Over Russian GPS Interference (Source: Space Daily)
Finnair said Monday it was suspending flights to the Estonian city of Tartu for one month due to GPS interference that the Estonian foreign minister labelled a Russian "hybrid attack". All flights to Tartu were suspended between April 29 and May 31 while "an alternative approach solution that doesn't require a GPS signal can be put in place at Tartu Airport," the Finnish carrier said in a statement. (4/29)
May 2, 2024
Pentagon Official Testifies on Russian
Anti-Sat Nuke (Source: Space News)
A Russian nuclear anti-satellite weapon could render low Earth orbit unusable for most satellites for a year, a Pentagon official warned. Testifying Wednesday at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee, John Plumb, assistant secretary of space policy, suggested that if detonated, a nuclear ASAT could make low Earth orbit unusable for satellites that are not hardened against radiation for a long time, perhaps a year, but added more modeling and simulation of the weapon were needed to better understand its effects. Plumb declined to elaborate on the weapon's launch readiness, suggesting these details be addressed in a classified session, but said it was not "an imminent threat." (5/2)
NASA IG: 100+ Orion Heat Shield Breakaways on Artemis 1 (Source: Space News)
A report by NASA's inspector general disclosed new details about damage to Orion's heat shield on the Artemis 1 mission. In a report released Wednesday, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) said there were more than 100 locations on the heat shield where material broke away unexpectedly during the reentry, the cause of which NASA is still investigating. NASA had said it was studying those issues, which it emphasized were not a safety risk, but had not released those specifics or the images of the heat shield included in the report. The OIG report also discussed other technical issues from the flight, including "unexpected melting and erosion" around separation bolts in the base of the heat shield. (5/2)
BAE Wins $365 Million for Satellite Air Quality Sensor (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems has won a $365 million contract to develop an air quality sensor for future weather satellites. The company's space and mission systems division, the former Ball Aerospace, won the contract Wednesday to develop the Atmospheric Composition instrument, or ACX, for NOAA's GeoXO series of geostationary weather satellites. ACX is a hyperspectral instrument that will provide hourly observations of pollutants emitted by sources including power generation, transportation, oil and gas extraction, volcanoes and wildfires. (5/2)
Nelson Seeks Full Funding for ISS Deorbit Vehicle (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is asking Congress to provide full funding for a space station deorbit vehicle in a supplemental spending bill. While NASA requested $180 million for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) for the ISS in its 2024 budget request last year and $109 million in its 2025 request, Nelson told the House Science Committee this week that NASA wanted the full $1.5 billion for the vehicle as part of a domestic supplemental spending bill proposed last fall by the White House but yet to be taken up by Congress. Funding the USDV should be part of emergency spending, he said, "because we don't know what Vladimir Putin is going to do." He told members at the hearing there was little NASA could do about proposed cuts in various agency programs in the 2025 budget request, citing overall spending caps that remain in place. (5/2)
NRO to Launch Next-Gen Reconnaissance Satellite on May 19 From California (Source: Space News)
The first in a new generation of NRO reconnaissance satellites is scheduled to launch later this month. The agency is targeting a May 19 launch for the mission designated NROL-146 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, said Troy Meink, the NRO's principal deputy director, during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee. The satellites were built under a classified $1.8 billion contract awarded by the NRO in 2021 to SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The NRO did not disclose how many satellites will be launched on this mission or the overall size of the constellation. (5/2)
DoD Pushes ULA to Hasten Vulcan Certification (Source: Bloomberg)
The Pentagon's top space acquisition official is calling on United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin to step up flights of the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Frank Calvelli, assistant Air Force secretary for space acquisition, said at the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee hearing that he was pushing ULA to perform a second certification flight of Vulcan this year to avoid delays in launches of three national security payloads. He said Blue Origin also needs to scale up production of the BE-4 engines used on Vulcan's first stage. ULA said it will be ready to launch Vulcan in the middle of this year but is waiting on Sierra Space's Dream Chaser, with the launch now scheduled to take place by October. (5/2)
Russia Offers Alternative UN Resolution on Space Weaponization (Source: AP)
After vetoing a United Nations resolution regarding the placement of nuclear weapons in space, Russia says it will offer its own resolution on space weaponization. The draft resolution would call on nations to not deploy weapons of any kind in space, or on Earth intended for use against space objects. Russia and China have previously proposed treaties that would ban the placement of weapons in space, which the United States and some other nations have opposed because of problems with verification. (5/2)
Sidus Space Delivers Hardware for Artemis Mobile Launcher (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space has delivered two electronic LCS cabinets to Bechtel as part of NASA's mobile launcher 2. These cabinets are integral to the Launch Control System, with mobile launcher 2 serving as the crucial ground platform structure for launching Space Launch System (SLS) rockets Block 1B and Block 2 configurations. (5/2)
Alabama Has 6 Teams in the American Rocketry Challenge Finals (Source: Moulton Advertiser)
Six Alabama teams have qualified for the national finals of the American Rocketry Challenge happening May 18 in The Plains, Va. Finalists have placed in the top 100 out of a record 922 teams nationally, competing in the world's largest student rocket contest, which annually draws nearly 5,000 students. (5/1)
Space Force Wants to Put Some Contractors on Notice (Source: Defense News)
The US Space Force's top acquisition official, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, expressed to lawmakers his desire to expand the authority to blacklist underperforming defense contractors, a power currently limited to the leader of the service's purchasing command. He emphasized the usefulness of the Contractor Responsibility Watch List and advocated for broader authority during a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing. (5/2)
Canadian Space Agency Looks to Industry to Lease Laboratory (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to see whether industry is interested in leasing the historic David Florida Laboratory where much of Canada’s space hardware has been tested before going into space. The DFL is an assembly, integration, and testing laboratory and is scheduled to close by the end of March 2025. CSA in March said: “DFL will be moving towards a wind-down posture over the next several months, allowing the DFL’s clientele and the Canadian space sector to make alternate arrangements for testing services.” (5/1)
Canada's Maritime Launch Services Changes Course to "Airport Model" (Source: Canadian Press)
Due to supply problems caused by the the war in Ukraine, Maritime Launch Services (MLS) says it is pivoting away from sending its own rockets into space and becoming “more of an airport model” for others, says founder and CEO Steve Matier. Matier – who started the spaceport project in 2016 to launch satellites with Ukrainian Cyclone-4M rockets – said geopolitical realities in Eastern Europe now makes that approach unworkable.
“We can’t get the rockets out of Ukraine,” he said. “So, we’ve pivoted away from a customer-supplier relationship with [them] ... There’s such huge demand for satellites going into orbit that there’s all these [other] rockets in development that don’t have a home. The bottleneck is really the spaceport, and that’s what we’re addressing.”
“Think of Stanfield International, for example, it leases space to Air Canada and WestJet or United. They pay an annual cost for that area and gate access. Stanfield provides fuel, hospitality, lights, power, personnel and all those kinds of things.” He added: “Now, translate that to a spaceport. Launch vehicle developers build their own rockets and pay for them. They work with their own satellite clients to fill up their rockets. We allow them to launch by leasing to them a subset of our facilities to which we provide services, such as control center, payload processing, facility gases, air-space coordination [and] Nav Canada Transport.” (5/1)
NASA Doesn't Know if its Spacecraft Have Adequate Cyber Defenses, GAO Warns (Source: NextGov)
NASA has taken steps in recent years to enhance the cyber requirements included in its contracts but has not issued mandatory security guidance for its spacecraft acquisition policies and standards, the Government Accountability Office warned. The nation’s space agency released cybersecurity-related standards in 2019 that established security requirements for all NASA programs and projects. The watchdog audit noted, however, that the agency “has considered, but not yet implemented” enforceable cyber rules for its purchases of outside spacecraft and related systems. (5/1)
Albuquerque to Host NASA Student Satellite Program (Source: New Mexico Inno)
U.S. Air Force facilities in Albuquerque are set to play host to a group of university students for a summer-long training program focused on a particularly small class of satellites. Florida Atlantic University and seven other U.S. colleges were selected on March 28 to work with NASA and the U.S. military to develop small satellites, with the chance to see technology flown in space. (5/1)
ISRO Study Confirms Water Ice Possibility in Moon’s Polar Craters (Source: New Indian Express)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in another study, has enhanced the possibility of water ice in the polar craters of the Moon. Data revealed that the amount of subsurface ice in the first couple of metres is about 5 to 8 times larger than the one at the surface in both poles (North and South). This crucial information will aid drilling on the Moon to sample or excavate that ice on future missions, and the long-term presence of humans. Not only this, based on the depth of the water ice, it can help select future landing and sampling sites for Moon missions. (5/1)
Europe’s Ambitious Satellite Internet Project Appears to be Running Into Trouble (Source: Ars Technica)
It has been 18 months since the European Union announced its intent to develop an independent satellite Internet constellation, and the plans appear to be heading into troubled waters. In that time, a single bid—from a consortium of multinational companies that includes Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space—has emerged to build the network of a few hundred satellites. The companies are to build, launch, and deploy the network of satellites, intended as Europe's answer to SpaceX's Starlink satellite Internet service for connectivity and secure communications, by 2027.
However, the European Commission recently delayed the awarding of a contract to this consortium from March to an undetermined date. In April, Europe's Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said, “There is an independent committee which is working on the evaluation process. The work is being carried out extremely seriously." He did not say when this work would conclude. (5/1)
Boeing Looks to Overcome Delays, Setbacks with First Crewed Flight of Starliner Spacecraft (Source: Houston Chronicle)
After years of delays, setbacks and failures, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is about to carry astronauts to space for the first time. The mission, set to launch Monday night from Cape Canaveral in Florida, has been more than a decade in the making and comes four years after Boeing’s rival, SpaceX, began ferrying crew to the International Space Station. It also coincides with a period of heightened scrutiny for the 108-year-old company’s sprawling aviation business after a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January. (5/2)
A Religious Test for Space Exploration? (Source: Space News)
An editorial recently published on SpaceNews took the position that my company’s Luna Memorial Spaceflight service should not be permitted on the Moon because the Navajo Nation views the Moon as sacred. In essence, the author is arguing that lawful space missions should be subject to the religious test of a single culture.
The heart of the argument, however, really comes down to how we see our future and the moon’s role in it. Is the moon a celestial body meant only for science and passive art, as the author says, or is there a more robust future for our nearest neighbor? That future would include human settlements, the use of lunar resources, manufacturing and energy generation – basically enabling us to begin our next step into the solar system. In that future, there is an important role for science, preservation and commerce.
Unless we (and all other nations) forgo human settlement on the Moon – any ban on human remains handling and disposition on the moon would be at most temporary. As we move off planet Earth, we will take all our celebrations, rituals and memorials with us, including our funerals and our memorial services, even as we create new ones. It’s unfathomable that Earth will be the only place that these important customs and celebrations will take place. (5/1)
FY25 Out-Year Budget Plans Can’t Support Space Force Ambitions (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2025 budget request essentially flatlines the Space Force’s coffers at just under $30 billion per year through the next five years — a number that does not support the service’s ambitions to fundamentally remake its current satellite networks to provide more advanced capabilities, according to two veteran space budget analysts.
“Space Force is … no special child and is subject to that same Fiscal Responsibility Act top-line, and we’re starting to see the impact thereof,” Mike Tierney, a long-time space budget guru who is now chief of legislative affairs at the National Security Space Association (NSSA), said on Tuesday during an NSSA webinar.
“This particular fiscal year transition, from ’24 to ’25, … is certainly an inflection point for the Space Force. We are now entering a period, at least it looks as though, of leveling out — focused on sustainment and readiness rather than the kind of year-over-year growth that we had seen that comes naturally with standing up a new force,” he added. (5/1)
2 Astronaut Taxis: Why NASA Wants Both Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Dragon (Source: Space.com)
"We are really excited to have this second transportation system up and available to us," Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said in a press conference here at the agency's Johnson Space Center on March 22. Stich emphasized that the program had wanted, all along, two very different spacecraft with different procedures and teams to support them, to have a backup in case one ship is sidelined due to a safety or other issue. "We've seen in the past the importance, I think, of having this dissimilar redundancy, [because] it's always tough to fly into space," he said. (5/1)
NASA Selects Commercial Service Studies to Enable Mars Robotic Science (Source: NASA)
Nine companies have been selected to conduct early-stage studies of concepts for commercial services to support lower-cost, higher-frequency missions to the Red Planet. NASA has identified nine U.S. companies to perform a total of 12 concept studies of how commercial services can be applied to enable science missions to Mars.
Each awardee will receive between $200,000 and $300,000 to produce a detailed report on potential services — including payload delivery, communications relay, surface imaging, and payload hosting — that could support future missions to the Red Planet. The companies were selected from among those that responded to a Jan. 29 request for proposals from U.S. industry. Click here. (5/1)
Scientists Explore How to Improve Crop Yields - on Mars (Source: Reuters)
For future human bases or colonies on Mars to be self-sustaining, a reliable source of home-grown food will be a must. It simply would be too costly and risky to rely upon rocket deliveries to meet the food needs of colonists. With this in mind, scientists are exploring ways to optimize space farming. In a controlled greenhouse at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, researchers have now identified a way that shows promise for improving crop yields in simulated Martian soil, with different crops grown together in a method called "intercropping" pioneered by ancient Maya farmers. (5/1)
Harvard Center for Astrophysics Facing Financial Strain Following NASA Budget Cuts (Source: Harvard Crimson)
The Center for Astrophysics — a collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum and one of Harvard’s top research centers — is facing a declining budget following NASA’s proposal to reduce The Chandra X-ray Observatory’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
All operations of the Chandra X-ray Observatory are handled by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is managed by CfA scientists and staff. Currently, the Chandra operates on roughly $70 million per year to recruit top research scientists and service the spacecraft. However, it is facing a $29 million cut, bringing its funding to $41 million for the fiscal year 2025. By 2029, Chandra will have a projected budget of $5 million. (4/30)
Mars' Subsurface is 'Burping' Out Methane and Scientists Aren't Sure Why (Source: Space.com)
Since 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has repeatedly detected methane on Mars, specifically near its landing site inside the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometers) Gale Crater. But that Mars methane is behaving erratically. It only appears at night, it fluctuates seasonally and it spikes unexpectedly to levels 40 times higher than usual. To make things more puzzling, the gas isn't present in appreciable amounts high in the Martian atmosphere, and it hasn't been detected near the surface in other Red Planet locales. So what's going on at Gale Crater? (4/25)
EU Space Law – Three Reasons Against, Three Reasons in Favor (Source: EJIL)
EU Member States and space operators active in the EU are in anticipation of the EU Space Law and the changes it may bring. During the European Space Conference in January 2024, it was mentioned that the European Commission would release a draft by March 2024. That month, the French Parliament adopted a Resolution supporting the adoption of an EU Space Law. On 9 April, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, speaking at the ITRE Committee of the European Parliament, said that the presentation of the EU Space Law will be delayed, likely until the summer and perhaps until after the EU elections of June 2024. Click here. (4/29)
How India has Slowly But Surely Become a Major Player in Space (Source: New Scientist)
If India seems like a latecomer to space flight, it is only because the country’s space agency has been slowly and steadily growing for decades, catching up with the original major players. When the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft managed the first ever soft landing near the south pole of the moon in 2023, it marked a triumph for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and a sign that the agency’s unique way of operating makes it capable of great things. (4/30)
The Largest Digital Camera In the World Is Ready to Revolutionize Astronomy (Source: Inverse)
Like the family camcorder, the largest digital camera in the world will capture the next 10 years of cosmic life in memorable detail. In mid-May, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Digital Camera, now officially called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will travel from its current home in California to Cerro Pachón, a mountain in northern Chile.
The camera, the team behind it purports, will take the greatest movie of all time. Observations will begin around January 2025. Trilogy enthusiasts be warned: to watch all the video clips back to back, each packed with a decade’s worth of observations of just one slice of the southern sky, would take a year. That’s without sleeping, too, Rubin Observatory construction director Željko Ivezić tells Inverse. (4/30)
Gateway: Forward Progress on Artemis IV (Source: NASA)
The Artemis IV mission is taking shape with major hardware for Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon, progressing in Turin, Italy. NASA will launch HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), center of image in background, along with the Power and Propulsion Element (not pictured) to lunar orbit ahead of the Artemis IV mission as the first elements of Gateway, the first space station to be assembled around the Moon. During that mission, astronauts will launch in the Orion spacecraft with the Lunar I-Hab, pieces of which are shown here in the foreground, and deliver it to Gateway.
Lunar I-Hab is provided by ESA (European Space Agency) with significant hardware contributions from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and is one of four Gateway modules where astronauts will live and work as they orbit the Moon. Thales Alenia Space completed major welding on HALO and began initial fabrication of Lunar I-Hab last year. The company is a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for HALO, and prime contractor to ESA for Lunar I-Hab. (4/30)
What Do We Know About Exoplanet with Massive Ring System? (Source: Geo TV)
When there’s a discussion about planets with rings, one name pops up in our mind; Saturn, but there are also three other celestial bodies in our solar system that are also surrounded by rings; Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. By far, in our solar system, Saturn has the most number of rings, but there’s a candidate much bigger than this.
Astronomer Eric Mamajek discovered planet J1407b in 2012 which is 20 times larger than Saturn and has 200 times bigger rings — 180 million kilometers wide — than the gas giant. The giant exoplanet is orbiting a brown dwarf star which is at the distance of 433.8 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus.
When a planet passes in front of its star, it prevents the light from coming. With this calculation, Jupiter could block a mere 1% of the Sun’s light. J1407b blocks 95% of light coming from J1407. Mamajek found that the star J1407 was young and had an estimated age of 16 million years. It is the first exoplanet that has rings equal to that of Venus’s orbit of the Sun. An analysis showed in 2015 that the ring system consists of more than 30 rings, each of them tens of millions of kilometers in diameter. (4/30)
The World's Highest Altitude Space Observatory is Open for Business (Source: NPR)
Located some 18,500 feet above sea level at the summit of Chile's Cerro Chajnanto mountain, Tokyo Atacama Observatory has instruments that can see celestial objects many light years away from Earth. Click here. (5/1)
How Powerful Are Spy Satellite Cameras, And What Can They See? (Source: SlashGear)
Spy satellite cameras have dramatically increased in capability, with most of the specifics kept under wraps. Even the lead agency for the U.S. spy satellite program, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), wasn't acknowledged as an entity until 1992. But what we do know is that the NRO and its contractors such as Albedo have developed spy satellite cameras equipped with electro-optical imaging. These camera systems have resolutions of 10 cm with the capability, according to Winston Tri, Co-Founder and CPO at Albedo, to "count trucks, convertibles, and see details on the vehicles such as sunroofs, racing stripes, and if trucks have anything in their bed." (4/29)
A New Approach to Dark Matter Could Help Us Solve Galactic Anomalies (Source: New Scientist)
Recently, a series of galactic anomalies has sparked a scramble to explore alternative explanations for dark matter. This “complex” dark matter might be as simple as sub-atomic particles that bounce off each other, or as complicated as families of dark particles that form dark atoms, stars and even galaxies. There is a daunting variety of possibilities. But now, observations of anomalies in our galaxy finally promise to help us narrow down the options. Click here. (4/29)
Engineer Says He's Found a Way to Overcome Earth's Gravity (Source: Popular Mechanics)
At NASA, Charles Buhler helped establish the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida—a very important lab that basically ensures rockets don’t explode. Now, as co-founder of the space company Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler told the website The Debrief that they’ve created a drive powered by a “New Force” outside our current known laws of physics, giving the propellant-less drive enough boost to overcome gravity.
“Essentially, what we’ve discovered is that systems that contain an asymmetry in either electrostatic pressure or some kind of electrostatic divergent field can give a system of a center of mass a non-zero force component,” Buhler told The Debrief. “So, what that basically means is that there’s some underlying physics that can essentially place force on an object should those two constraints be met.” (4/29)
China’s Chang’e 6 to Carry Pakistan Payload to Moon (Source: Pakistan Observer)
China is poised to launch a robotic spacecraft, Chang’e 6, in the coming days for a groundbreaking mission to the far side of the moon. This mission will highlight the collaborative efforts of multiple nations in advancing scientific knowledge. The Chang’e 6 mission will carry payloads, including satellites, from Pakistan, France, Italy and Sweden. Meanwhile, according to the Institute of Space Technology of Pakistan, the satellite ICUBE-Q has been designed and developed by IST in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University SJTU and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO. (5/1)
Japan Researchers Make Their Mark in Sweden's Space Exploration City (Source: Kyodo News)
Some Japanese researchers have opted to make Sweden their home base as they seek to take full advantage of the Nordic country's advanced space exploration research programs. The northern city of Kiruna is a key center for space research in Sweden. It sits north of the Arctic Circle and draws researchers from all over the world, who favor the city's geographical location as it gives them frequent opportunities to observe the aurora borealis. Although Japan has a strong scientific relationship with the United States in the field of space exploration, Japanese researchers are expected to work more closely with Sweden in the coming years. (4/30)
The Mysterious 'Great Attractor' Pulling the Milky Way Galaxy Off Course (Source: NPR)
No matter what you're doing right now – sitting, standing, walking – you're moving, in at least four different ways. First, Earth is spinning around on its axis at about 1,000 miles per hour right now. This rotation is the reason we have days. Second, Earth and other planets in our solar system are orbiting the sun. Our planet does that at around 67,000 miles per hour. That's why we have years. And third, you're moving because the sun and the rest of our solar system is orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy at over 500,000 miles per hour.
On top of all that, you're moving because the entire universe is expanding outward. All the time. But in the 1970s, astrophysicists noticed that something was off about our galactic neighborhood, or Local Group. The whole clump of neighboring galaxies were being pulled off course at over one million miles per hour, towards something we couldn't see. They called this region the Great Attractor. But their ability to study it was limited. Scientists still don't know exactly why the Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies are off course, but there have been several candidates. Most recently, the prime suspect is the supercluster Laniakea, which is Hawaiian for 'immense heaven' or 'immeasurable heaven.' (5/1)
SES/Intelsat Combination to Counter Starlink (Source: Ars Technica)
SES currently operates 43 GEO satellites, plus 26 broadband spacecraft in MEO. These MEO satellites offer lower latency than GEO networks while still flying high enough to not require hundreds or thousands of spacecraft to blanket the globe. Intelsat has 57 GEO satellites, primarily for television and video-relay services.
The combined company will offer coverage over 99 percent of the world and provide services through a range of communication bands. For now, LEO broadband satellites in the Starlink and OneWeb networks beam signals to user terminals in the Ku-band. The combined networks of SES and Intelsat will span Ka-band, Ku-band, X-band, C-band, UHF, and secure bands tailored for military use.
SES and Intelsat have 13 new satellites on order, including six GEO spacecraft and seven broadband MEO satellites. Intelsat also brings to the table access to OneWeb's LEO constellation. Earlier this year, Intelsat announced it reserved $250 million of capacity on OneWeb's network over the next six years, with an option to purchase double that amount. (4/30)
ATLAS Space Operations to Support Blue Origin’s Blue Ring DarkSky-1 Mission (Source: ATLAS)
Blue Origin has selected ATLAS Space Operations to provide ground segment support for their upcoming Blue Ring mission, DarkSky-1. Blue Ring provides end-to-end services that span hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics in medium earth orbits (MEO), geostationary orbits (GEO), lunar orbits, and beyond.
Blue Origin and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently announced DarkSky-1, a mission that will demonstrate flight systems, including space-based processing capabilities, telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) hardware, and ground-based radiometric tracking. To meet the radio frequency (RF) requirements of this and future cislunar and lunar Blue Ring missions, ATLAS will leverage a number of its highly capable seven-meter antennas across a strategic global footprint. (5/1)
A Russian nuclear anti-satellite weapon could render low Earth orbit unusable for most satellites for a year, a Pentagon official warned. Testifying Wednesday at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee, John Plumb, assistant secretary of space policy, suggested that if detonated, a nuclear ASAT could make low Earth orbit unusable for satellites that are not hardened against radiation for a long time, perhaps a year, but added more modeling and simulation of the weapon were needed to better understand its effects. Plumb declined to elaborate on the weapon's launch readiness, suggesting these details be addressed in a classified session, but said it was not "an imminent threat." (5/2)
NASA IG: 100+ Orion Heat Shield Breakaways on Artemis 1 (Source: Space News)
A report by NASA's inspector general disclosed new details about damage to Orion's heat shield on the Artemis 1 mission. In a report released Wednesday, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) said there were more than 100 locations on the heat shield where material broke away unexpectedly during the reentry, the cause of which NASA is still investigating. NASA had said it was studying those issues, which it emphasized were not a safety risk, but had not released those specifics or the images of the heat shield included in the report. The OIG report also discussed other technical issues from the flight, including "unexpected melting and erosion" around separation bolts in the base of the heat shield. (5/2)
BAE Wins $365 Million for Satellite Air Quality Sensor (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems has won a $365 million contract to develop an air quality sensor for future weather satellites. The company's space and mission systems division, the former Ball Aerospace, won the contract Wednesday to develop the Atmospheric Composition instrument, or ACX, for NOAA's GeoXO series of geostationary weather satellites. ACX is a hyperspectral instrument that will provide hourly observations of pollutants emitted by sources including power generation, transportation, oil and gas extraction, volcanoes and wildfires. (5/2)
Nelson Seeks Full Funding for ISS Deorbit Vehicle (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is asking Congress to provide full funding for a space station deorbit vehicle in a supplemental spending bill. While NASA requested $180 million for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) for the ISS in its 2024 budget request last year and $109 million in its 2025 request, Nelson told the House Science Committee this week that NASA wanted the full $1.5 billion for the vehicle as part of a domestic supplemental spending bill proposed last fall by the White House but yet to be taken up by Congress. Funding the USDV should be part of emergency spending, he said, "because we don't know what Vladimir Putin is going to do." He told members at the hearing there was little NASA could do about proposed cuts in various agency programs in the 2025 budget request, citing overall spending caps that remain in place. (5/2)
NRO to Launch Next-Gen Reconnaissance Satellite on May 19 From California (Source: Space News)
The first in a new generation of NRO reconnaissance satellites is scheduled to launch later this month. The agency is targeting a May 19 launch for the mission designated NROL-146 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, said Troy Meink, the NRO's principal deputy director, during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee. The satellites were built under a classified $1.8 billion contract awarded by the NRO in 2021 to SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The NRO did not disclose how many satellites will be launched on this mission or the overall size of the constellation. (5/2)
DoD Pushes ULA to Hasten Vulcan Certification (Source: Bloomberg)
The Pentagon's top space acquisition official is calling on United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin to step up flights of the Vulcan Centaur rocket. Frank Calvelli, assistant Air Force secretary for space acquisition, said at the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces subcommittee hearing that he was pushing ULA to perform a second certification flight of Vulcan this year to avoid delays in launches of three national security payloads. He said Blue Origin also needs to scale up production of the BE-4 engines used on Vulcan's first stage. ULA said it will be ready to launch Vulcan in the middle of this year but is waiting on Sierra Space's Dream Chaser, with the launch now scheduled to take place by October. (5/2)
Russia Offers Alternative UN Resolution on Space Weaponization (Source: AP)
After vetoing a United Nations resolution regarding the placement of nuclear weapons in space, Russia says it will offer its own resolution on space weaponization. The draft resolution would call on nations to not deploy weapons of any kind in space, or on Earth intended for use against space objects. Russia and China have previously proposed treaties that would ban the placement of weapons in space, which the United States and some other nations have opposed because of problems with verification. (5/2)
Sidus Space Delivers Hardware for Artemis Mobile Launcher (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space has delivered two electronic LCS cabinets to Bechtel as part of NASA's mobile launcher 2. These cabinets are integral to the Launch Control System, with mobile launcher 2 serving as the crucial ground platform structure for launching Space Launch System (SLS) rockets Block 1B and Block 2 configurations. (5/2)
Alabama Has 6 Teams in the American Rocketry Challenge Finals (Source: Moulton Advertiser)
Six Alabama teams have qualified for the national finals of the American Rocketry Challenge happening May 18 in The Plains, Va. Finalists have placed in the top 100 out of a record 922 teams nationally, competing in the world's largest student rocket contest, which annually draws nearly 5,000 students. (5/1)
Space Force Wants to Put Some Contractors on Notice (Source: Defense News)
The US Space Force's top acquisition official, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, expressed to lawmakers his desire to expand the authority to blacklist underperforming defense contractors, a power currently limited to the leader of the service's purchasing command. He emphasized the usefulness of the Contractor Responsibility Watch List and advocated for broader authority during a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing. (5/2)
Canadian Space Agency Looks to Industry to Lease Laboratory (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to see whether industry is interested in leasing the historic David Florida Laboratory where much of Canada’s space hardware has been tested before going into space. The DFL is an assembly, integration, and testing laboratory and is scheduled to close by the end of March 2025. CSA in March said: “DFL will be moving towards a wind-down posture over the next several months, allowing the DFL’s clientele and the Canadian space sector to make alternate arrangements for testing services.” (5/1)
Canada's Maritime Launch Services Changes Course to "Airport Model" (Source: Canadian Press)
Due to supply problems caused by the the war in Ukraine, Maritime Launch Services (MLS) says it is pivoting away from sending its own rockets into space and becoming “more of an airport model” for others, says founder and CEO Steve Matier. Matier – who started the spaceport project in 2016 to launch satellites with Ukrainian Cyclone-4M rockets – said geopolitical realities in Eastern Europe now makes that approach unworkable.
“We can’t get the rockets out of Ukraine,” he said. “So, we’ve pivoted away from a customer-supplier relationship with [them] ... There’s such huge demand for satellites going into orbit that there’s all these [other] rockets in development that don’t have a home. The bottleneck is really the spaceport, and that’s what we’re addressing.”
“Think of Stanfield International, for example, it leases space to Air Canada and WestJet or United. They pay an annual cost for that area and gate access. Stanfield provides fuel, hospitality, lights, power, personnel and all those kinds of things.” He added: “Now, translate that to a spaceport. Launch vehicle developers build their own rockets and pay for them. They work with their own satellite clients to fill up their rockets. We allow them to launch by leasing to them a subset of our facilities to which we provide services, such as control center, payload processing, facility gases, air-space coordination [and] Nav Canada Transport.” (5/1)
NASA Doesn't Know if its Spacecraft Have Adequate Cyber Defenses, GAO Warns (Source: NextGov)
NASA has taken steps in recent years to enhance the cyber requirements included in its contracts but has not issued mandatory security guidance for its spacecraft acquisition policies and standards, the Government Accountability Office warned. The nation’s space agency released cybersecurity-related standards in 2019 that established security requirements for all NASA programs and projects. The watchdog audit noted, however, that the agency “has considered, but not yet implemented” enforceable cyber rules for its purchases of outside spacecraft and related systems. (5/1)
Albuquerque to Host NASA Student Satellite Program (Source: New Mexico Inno)
U.S. Air Force facilities in Albuquerque are set to play host to a group of university students for a summer-long training program focused on a particularly small class of satellites. Florida Atlantic University and seven other U.S. colleges were selected on March 28 to work with NASA and the U.S. military to develop small satellites, with the chance to see technology flown in space. (5/1)
ISRO Study Confirms Water Ice Possibility in Moon’s Polar Craters (Source: New Indian Express)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in another study, has enhanced the possibility of water ice in the polar craters of the Moon. Data revealed that the amount of subsurface ice in the first couple of metres is about 5 to 8 times larger than the one at the surface in both poles (North and South). This crucial information will aid drilling on the Moon to sample or excavate that ice on future missions, and the long-term presence of humans. Not only this, based on the depth of the water ice, it can help select future landing and sampling sites for Moon missions. (5/1)
Europe’s Ambitious Satellite Internet Project Appears to be Running Into Trouble (Source: Ars Technica)
It has been 18 months since the European Union announced its intent to develop an independent satellite Internet constellation, and the plans appear to be heading into troubled waters. In that time, a single bid—from a consortium of multinational companies that includes Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space—has emerged to build the network of a few hundred satellites. The companies are to build, launch, and deploy the network of satellites, intended as Europe's answer to SpaceX's Starlink satellite Internet service for connectivity and secure communications, by 2027.
However, the European Commission recently delayed the awarding of a contract to this consortium from March to an undetermined date. In April, Europe's Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said, “There is an independent committee which is working on the evaluation process. The work is being carried out extremely seriously." He did not say when this work would conclude. (5/1)
Boeing Looks to Overcome Delays, Setbacks with First Crewed Flight of Starliner Spacecraft (Source: Houston Chronicle)
After years of delays, setbacks and failures, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is about to carry astronauts to space for the first time. The mission, set to launch Monday night from Cape Canaveral in Florida, has been more than a decade in the making and comes four years after Boeing’s rival, SpaceX, began ferrying crew to the International Space Station. It also coincides with a period of heightened scrutiny for the 108-year-old company’s sprawling aviation business after a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 in January. (5/2)
A Religious Test for Space Exploration? (Source: Space News)
An editorial recently published on SpaceNews took the position that my company’s Luna Memorial Spaceflight service should not be permitted on the Moon because the Navajo Nation views the Moon as sacred. In essence, the author is arguing that lawful space missions should be subject to the religious test of a single culture.
The heart of the argument, however, really comes down to how we see our future and the moon’s role in it. Is the moon a celestial body meant only for science and passive art, as the author says, or is there a more robust future for our nearest neighbor? That future would include human settlements, the use of lunar resources, manufacturing and energy generation – basically enabling us to begin our next step into the solar system. In that future, there is an important role for science, preservation and commerce.
Unless we (and all other nations) forgo human settlement on the Moon – any ban on human remains handling and disposition on the moon would be at most temporary. As we move off planet Earth, we will take all our celebrations, rituals and memorials with us, including our funerals and our memorial services, even as we create new ones. It’s unfathomable that Earth will be the only place that these important customs and celebrations will take place. (5/1)
FY25 Out-Year Budget Plans Can’t Support Space Force Ambitions (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2025 budget request essentially flatlines the Space Force’s coffers at just under $30 billion per year through the next five years — a number that does not support the service’s ambitions to fundamentally remake its current satellite networks to provide more advanced capabilities, according to two veteran space budget analysts.
“Space Force is … no special child and is subject to that same Fiscal Responsibility Act top-line, and we’re starting to see the impact thereof,” Mike Tierney, a long-time space budget guru who is now chief of legislative affairs at the National Security Space Association (NSSA), said on Tuesday during an NSSA webinar.
“This particular fiscal year transition, from ’24 to ’25, … is certainly an inflection point for the Space Force. We are now entering a period, at least it looks as though, of leveling out — focused on sustainment and readiness rather than the kind of year-over-year growth that we had seen that comes naturally with standing up a new force,” he added. (5/1)
2 Astronaut Taxis: Why NASA Wants Both Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Dragon (Source: Space.com)
"We are really excited to have this second transportation system up and available to us," Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said in a press conference here at the agency's Johnson Space Center on March 22. Stich emphasized that the program had wanted, all along, two very different spacecraft with different procedures and teams to support them, to have a backup in case one ship is sidelined due to a safety or other issue. "We've seen in the past the importance, I think, of having this dissimilar redundancy, [because] it's always tough to fly into space," he said. (5/1)
NASA Selects Commercial Service Studies to Enable Mars Robotic Science (Source: NASA)
Nine companies have been selected to conduct early-stage studies of concepts for commercial services to support lower-cost, higher-frequency missions to the Red Planet. NASA has identified nine U.S. companies to perform a total of 12 concept studies of how commercial services can be applied to enable science missions to Mars.
Each awardee will receive between $200,000 and $300,000 to produce a detailed report on potential services — including payload delivery, communications relay, surface imaging, and payload hosting — that could support future missions to the Red Planet. The companies were selected from among those that responded to a Jan. 29 request for proposals from U.S. industry. Click here. (5/1)
Scientists Explore How to Improve Crop Yields - on Mars (Source: Reuters)
For future human bases or colonies on Mars to be self-sustaining, a reliable source of home-grown food will be a must. It simply would be too costly and risky to rely upon rocket deliveries to meet the food needs of colonists. With this in mind, scientists are exploring ways to optimize space farming. In a controlled greenhouse at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands, researchers have now identified a way that shows promise for improving crop yields in simulated Martian soil, with different crops grown together in a method called "intercropping" pioneered by ancient Maya farmers. (5/1)
Harvard Center for Astrophysics Facing Financial Strain Following NASA Budget Cuts (Source: Harvard Crimson)
The Center for Astrophysics — a collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum and one of Harvard’s top research centers — is facing a declining budget following NASA’s proposal to reduce The Chandra X-ray Observatory’s fiscal year 2025 budget.
All operations of the Chandra X-ray Observatory are handled by the Chandra X-ray Center, which is managed by CfA scientists and staff. Currently, the Chandra operates on roughly $70 million per year to recruit top research scientists and service the spacecraft. However, it is facing a $29 million cut, bringing its funding to $41 million for the fiscal year 2025. By 2029, Chandra will have a projected budget of $5 million. (4/30)
Mars' Subsurface is 'Burping' Out Methane and Scientists Aren't Sure Why (Source: Space.com)
Since 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has repeatedly detected methane on Mars, specifically near its landing site inside the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometers) Gale Crater. But that Mars methane is behaving erratically. It only appears at night, it fluctuates seasonally and it spikes unexpectedly to levels 40 times higher than usual. To make things more puzzling, the gas isn't present in appreciable amounts high in the Martian atmosphere, and it hasn't been detected near the surface in other Red Planet locales. So what's going on at Gale Crater? (4/25)
EU Space Law – Three Reasons Against, Three Reasons in Favor (Source: EJIL)
EU Member States and space operators active in the EU are in anticipation of the EU Space Law and the changes it may bring. During the European Space Conference in January 2024, it was mentioned that the European Commission would release a draft by March 2024. That month, the French Parliament adopted a Resolution supporting the adoption of an EU Space Law. On 9 April, Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, speaking at the ITRE Committee of the European Parliament, said that the presentation of the EU Space Law will be delayed, likely until the summer and perhaps until after the EU elections of June 2024. Click here. (4/29)
How India has Slowly But Surely Become a Major Player in Space (Source: New Scientist)
If India seems like a latecomer to space flight, it is only because the country’s space agency has been slowly and steadily growing for decades, catching up with the original major players. When the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft managed the first ever soft landing near the south pole of the moon in 2023, it marked a triumph for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and a sign that the agency’s unique way of operating makes it capable of great things. (4/30)
The Largest Digital Camera In the World Is Ready to Revolutionize Astronomy (Source: Inverse)
Like the family camcorder, the largest digital camera in the world will capture the next 10 years of cosmic life in memorable detail. In mid-May, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Digital Camera, now officially called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, will travel from its current home in California to Cerro Pachón, a mountain in northern Chile.
The camera, the team behind it purports, will take the greatest movie of all time. Observations will begin around January 2025. Trilogy enthusiasts be warned: to watch all the video clips back to back, each packed with a decade’s worth of observations of just one slice of the southern sky, would take a year. That’s without sleeping, too, Rubin Observatory construction director Željko Ivezić tells Inverse. (4/30)
Gateway: Forward Progress on Artemis IV (Source: NASA)
The Artemis IV mission is taking shape with major hardware for Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon, progressing in Turin, Italy. NASA will launch HALO (Habitation and Logistics Outpost), center of image in background, along with the Power and Propulsion Element (not pictured) to lunar orbit ahead of the Artemis IV mission as the first elements of Gateway, the first space station to be assembled around the Moon. During that mission, astronauts will launch in the Orion spacecraft with the Lunar I-Hab, pieces of which are shown here in the foreground, and deliver it to Gateway.
Lunar I-Hab is provided by ESA (European Space Agency) with significant hardware contributions from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and is one of four Gateway modules where astronauts will live and work as they orbit the Moon. Thales Alenia Space completed major welding on HALO and began initial fabrication of Lunar I-Hab last year. The company is a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman for HALO, and prime contractor to ESA for Lunar I-Hab. (4/30)
What Do We Know About Exoplanet with Massive Ring System? (Source: Geo TV)
When there’s a discussion about planets with rings, one name pops up in our mind; Saturn, but there are also three other celestial bodies in our solar system that are also surrounded by rings; Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. By far, in our solar system, Saturn has the most number of rings, but there’s a candidate much bigger than this.
Astronomer Eric Mamajek discovered planet J1407b in 2012 which is 20 times larger than Saturn and has 200 times bigger rings — 180 million kilometers wide — than the gas giant. The giant exoplanet is orbiting a brown dwarf star which is at the distance of 433.8 light years from Earth in the constellation of Centaurus.
When a planet passes in front of its star, it prevents the light from coming. With this calculation, Jupiter could block a mere 1% of the Sun’s light. J1407b blocks 95% of light coming from J1407. Mamajek found that the star J1407 was young and had an estimated age of 16 million years. It is the first exoplanet that has rings equal to that of Venus’s orbit of the Sun. An analysis showed in 2015 that the ring system consists of more than 30 rings, each of them tens of millions of kilometers in diameter. (4/30)
The World's Highest Altitude Space Observatory is Open for Business (Source: NPR)
Located some 18,500 feet above sea level at the summit of Chile's Cerro Chajnanto mountain, Tokyo Atacama Observatory has instruments that can see celestial objects many light years away from Earth. Click here. (5/1)
How Powerful Are Spy Satellite Cameras, And What Can They See? (Source: SlashGear)
Spy satellite cameras have dramatically increased in capability, with most of the specifics kept under wraps. Even the lead agency for the U.S. spy satellite program, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), wasn't acknowledged as an entity until 1992. But what we do know is that the NRO and its contractors such as Albedo have developed spy satellite cameras equipped with electro-optical imaging. These camera systems have resolutions of 10 cm with the capability, according to Winston Tri, Co-Founder and CPO at Albedo, to "count trucks, convertibles, and see details on the vehicles such as sunroofs, racing stripes, and if trucks have anything in their bed." (4/29)
A New Approach to Dark Matter Could Help Us Solve Galactic Anomalies (Source: New Scientist)
Recently, a series of galactic anomalies has sparked a scramble to explore alternative explanations for dark matter. This “complex” dark matter might be as simple as sub-atomic particles that bounce off each other, or as complicated as families of dark particles that form dark atoms, stars and even galaxies. There is a daunting variety of possibilities. But now, observations of anomalies in our galaxy finally promise to help us narrow down the options. Click here. (4/29)
Engineer Says He's Found a Way to Overcome Earth's Gravity (Source: Popular Mechanics)
At NASA, Charles Buhler helped establish the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida—a very important lab that basically ensures rockets don’t explode. Now, as co-founder of the space company Exodus Propulsion Technologies, Buhler told the website The Debrief that they’ve created a drive powered by a “New Force” outside our current known laws of physics, giving the propellant-less drive enough boost to overcome gravity.
“Essentially, what we’ve discovered is that systems that contain an asymmetry in either electrostatic pressure or some kind of electrostatic divergent field can give a system of a center of mass a non-zero force component,” Buhler told The Debrief. “So, what that basically means is that there’s some underlying physics that can essentially place force on an object should those two constraints be met.” (4/29)
China’s Chang’e 6 to Carry Pakistan Payload to Moon (Source: Pakistan Observer)
China is poised to launch a robotic spacecraft, Chang’e 6, in the coming days for a groundbreaking mission to the far side of the moon. This mission will highlight the collaborative efforts of multiple nations in advancing scientific knowledge. The Chang’e 6 mission will carry payloads, including satellites, from Pakistan, France, Italy and Sweden. Meanwhile, according to the Institute of Space Technology of Pakistan, the satellite ICUBE-Q has been designed and developed by IST in collaboration with China’s Shanghai University SJTU and Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO. (5/1)
Japan Researchers Make Their Mark in Sweden's Space Exploration City (Source: Kyodo News)
Some Japanese researchers have opted to make Sweden their home base as they seek to take full advantage of the Nordic country's advanced space exploration research programs. The northern city of Kiruna is a key center for space research in Sweden. It sits north of the Arctic Circle and draws researchers from all over the world, who favor the city's geographical location as it gives them frequent opportunities to observe the aurora borealis. Although Japan has a strong scientific relationship with the United States in the field of space exploration, Japanese researchers are expected to work more closely with Sweden in the coming years. (4/30)
The Mysterious 'Great Attractor' Pulling the Milky Way Galaxy Off Course (Source: NPR)
No matter what you're doing right now – sitting, standing, walking – you're moving, in at least four different ways. First, Earth is spinning around on its axis at about 1,000 miles per hour right now. This rotation is the reason we have days. Second, Earth and other planets in our solar system are orbiting the sun. Our planet does that at around 67,000 miles per hour. That's why we have years. And third, you're moving because the sun and the rest of our solar system is orbiting the center of the Milky Way galaxy at over 500,000 miles per hour.
On top of all that, you're moving because the entire universe is expanding outward. All the time. But in the 1970s, astrophysicists noticed that something was off about our galactic neighborhood, or Local Group. The whole clump of neighboring galaxies were being pulled off course at over one million miles per hour, towards something we couldn't see. They called this region the Great Attractor. But their ability to study it was limited. Scientists still don't know exactly why the Milky Way and its neighboring galaxies are off course, but there have been several candidates. Most recently, the prime suspect is the supercluster Laniakea, which is Hawaiian for 'immense heaven' or 'immeasurable heaven.' (5/1)
SES/Intelsat Combination to Counter Starlink (Source: Ars Technica)
SES currently operates 43 GEO satellites, plus 26 broadband spacecraft in MEO. These MEO satellites offer lower latency than GEO networks while still flying high enough to not require hundreds or thousands of spacecraft to blanket the globe. Intelsat has 57 GEO satellites, primarily for television and video-relay services.
The combined company will offer coverage over 99 percent of the world and provide services through a range of communication bands. For now, LEO broadband satellites in the Starlink and OneWeb networks beam signals to user terminals in the Ku-band. The combined networks of SES and Intelsat will span Ka-band, Ku-band, X-band, C-band, UHF, and secure bands tailored for military use.
SES and Intelsat have 13 new satellites on order, including six GEO spacecraft and seven broadband MEO satellites. Intelsat also brings to the table access to OneWeb's LEO constellation. Earlier this year, Intelsat announced it reserved $250 million of capacity on OneWeb's network over the next six years, with an option to purchase double that amount. (4/30)
ATLAS Space Operations to Support Blue Origin’s Blue Ring DarkSky-1 Mission (Source: ATLAS)
Blue Origin has selected ATLAS Space Operations to provide ground segment support for their upcoming Blue Ring mission, DarkSky-1. Blue Ring provides end-to-end services that span hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics in medium earth orbits (MEO), geostationary orbits (GEO), lunar orbits, and beyond.
Blue Origin and Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) recently announced DarkSky-1, a mission that will demonstrate flight systems, including space-based processing capabilities, telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) hardware, and ground-based radiometric tracking. To meet the radio frequency (RF) requirements of this and future cislunar and lunar Blue Ring missions, ATLAS will leverage a number of its highly capable seven-meter antennas across a strategic global footprint. (5/1)
May 1, 2024
Biden’s Internet-for-All Program Needs
Starlink (Source: Washington Post)
Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is expected to play a role in the Biden administration’s $42 billion program to bring high-speed internet to every American home, officials say, as Washington comes up against some hard math in its effort to build networks reaching the most remote corners of the nation.
The growing discussion of using Starlink to fill in coverage gaps is an acknowledgment of just how expensive and challenging it would be to run new internet cables up every mountain and down every valley nationwide. The administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program also faces cost pressures from a “Made in America” requirement for construction materials. (5/1)
Redefining Engineering Practices Across NASA (Source: Space Daily)
Under the guidance of the Systems Engineering (SE) Technical Discipline Team (TDT), various teams within NASA have been pushing the envelope over the past year to enhance the agency's systems engineering capacities. For example, The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) Project has initiated a pilot to modernize how NASA applies and manages technical standards. This involves transitioning to a data-centric system for managing standards. Also, a team from NESC and NASA has developed significant methodologies to control mass growth, a crucial factor in space system design. (4/29)
PREFIRE Mission Will Analyze Polar Energy Exchanges (Source: Space Daily)
NASA, in collaboration with Rocket Lab, has scheduled the first launch for the PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission on May 22. The primary objective of PREFIRE is to address significant gaps in our understanding of how polar regions, particularly the Arctic and Antarctic, regulate Earth's temperature.
The launch from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, marks the beginning of a series of two missions aimed at measuring Earth's energy loss in the polar regions using advanced far-infrared technology. PREFIRE will deploy two CubeSats on separate Rocket Lab Electron rockets to capture data in unprecedented detail. (4/29)
China's Rocket Engine Test Sets New Thrust Record (Source: Space Daily)
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the country's key space contractor, conducted a critical test on Sunday on a new type of rocket engine, achieving the highest thrust power ever achieved in tests of Chinese liquid-propellant engines.
The test involved a combined ignition of four engines at an engine testing facility in Fengxian county, Shaanxi province. These engines were connected and initiated simultaneously to test the design and performance of the propulsion system for a new model of carrier rocket. This event was overseen by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology, a CASC subsidiary in Shaanxi and a principal manufacturer of liquid-propellant rocket engines in China. (4/30)
Slingshot Aerospace Releases Orbital Congestion Report (Source: Space News)
A new report highlights the growing congestion in Earth orbit. The report, released Tuesday by Slingshot Aerospace, warns that the space domain is becoming crowded to unprecedented and potentially dangerous levels. There were nearly 12,600 satellites in orbit at the end of 2023, a 12.4% increase over 2022, with more than 3,350 of them inactive. The report also warned of "unsustainable" losses in the space insurance field caused by claims last year for problems with the ViaSat-3 Americas and Inmarsat-6 F2 satellites. (5/1)
Hubble Back Online (Source: NASA)
Hubble is back in service after its latest gyro problem. NASA said Tuesday that controllers returned Hubble to normal science operations, a week after problems with one of its three gyros put it into safe mode. The agency did not elaborate on the problems with that gyro, which had triggered a similar safe mode last fall. (5/1)
27,500 New Asteroids Identified (Source: New York Times)
Astronomers have found 27,500 asteroids by reanalyzing images. The effort, by the B612 Foundation and the University of Washington, used a new algorithm to analyze an archive of 412,000 images of the night sky. The project used cloud computing resources by Google to carry out the computationally intensive search. That bounty of asteroids includes about 100 near Earth asteroids, none of which pose an impact threat for the foreseeable future. (5/1)
China's Lunar Base Design Video Includes Space Shuttle (Source: Space.com)
A Chinese concept for a lunar base includes an unexpected element: a space shuttle. The China National Space Administration released a video last week of a concept for its International Lunar Research Station. Visible in the background of the video, though, was a space shuttle, identical in design to the NASA vehicle retired more than a decade ago, lifting off. It was unclear why CNSA included the shuttle in the video, but an updated version blurred it out. (5/1)
Millennium Space Wins $414 Million SDA Contract for Missile Tracking Satellites (Source: Space News)
Millennium Space won a $414 million Space Development Agency (SDA) contract to develop satellites for tracking hypersonic missiles. The contract announced Tuesday is for the Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program, featuring eight satellites equipped with advanced infrared and optical sensors. Millennium, a Boeing subsidiary, will also provide the ground systems and support in-orbit operations under the contract. SDA plans to use the satellites to demonstrate advanced technologies for tracking hypersonic missiles, a crucial capability it is pursuing. SDA plans to launch the FOO Fighter satellites in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. (5/1)
Astroscale to Go Public (Source: Space News)
Astroscale, the Japanese satellite servicing and debris removal company, plans to go public. The Tokyo-based company announced Wednesday it will go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, with shares scheduled to start trading June 5. The company has not set a price for the 20.8 million shares it plans to offer in the IPO. Astroscale is working on a range of technologies to service satellites and remove debris, and recently won the second phase of a JAXA contract to demonstrate the removal of an H-2A upper stage left in low Earth orbit. (5/1)
Space Force Studying Cost/Benefit of Orbital Satellite Refueling (Source: Space News)
The head of the Space Force says he is still studying whether refueling satellites in orbit is worth the cost. Testifying Tuesday before a House appropriations subcommittee, Gen. Chance Saltzman said the value of on-orbit refueling is still in question given the military's shift to cheaper, disposable satellites as part of a proliferated architecture. He noted refueling would make sense for large, high-value satellites in geostationary orbit. Defense budget analysts expressed concern that the Space Force's cautious approach to in-orbit refueling and other emerging commercial space services could have unintended consequences, such as affecting private sector investment. (5/1)
SES Activates O3b mPower Satellites (Source: Space News)
SES has started providing services on its first six O3b mPower satellites. The Boeing-built satellites, which have experienced electrical problems, feature an integrated payload array to offer gigabits per second of throughput. Two more mPower satellites are scheduled to launch later this year, with a total of 13 now planned for the constellation. (5/1)
Portal Space Systems Plnas Highly Maneuverable Satellites (Source: Space News)
Portal Space Systems emerged form stealth Tuesday, disclosing it has received more than $3 million in Defense Department awards to support work on a spacecraft bus called Supernova. That bus uses solar thermal propulsion that offers high thrust and large amounts of delta-V, or change in velocity, to enable it to maneuver quickly between orbits. Portal's founders argue that maneuverability will be desired by both government and commercial customers. The company is planning to launch the first Supernova spacecraft on a demonstration mission by the end of next year. (5/1)
Patent and Trademark Office Plans May 22 Dialogue on Space Commercialization (Source: USPTO)
Are you interested in learning more about the intersection of intellectual property (IP) and the growing commercial space sector? Join us in person or virtually for this free one-day program that will bring together industry experts, policy advisors, and IP professionals to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of space commercialization and its related IP considerations. There is no charge to attend, but registration is required. Registration to attend in person will close May 15. Early registration for in-person attendance in Alexandria, Virginia, is recommended.
Editor's Note: I'm told a similar USPTO event will be held on the Space Coast on May 17, hosted by Space Florida, with an added focus on foreign efforts to acquire sensitive US space technology. Click here. (4/27)
Space-Made Fibers and Novel Biotech Among Research Returning to Earth After Successful Space Station Mission (Source: CASIS)
Research on a novel vision loss therapy and space-manufactured optical fibers were among the nearly 565 pounds of science and technology payloads sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory that splashed down off the Florida coast Tuesday morning as NASA concluded SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. The return of the SpaceX Dragon capsule brings back more than 40 ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations that aim to benefit humanity and foster commerce in low Earth orbit. (4/30)
NASA Grants Support Academic Collaborations for STEM Student Success (Source: NASA)
The Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program funds research projects at under-resourced academic institutions to build or strengthen relationships with NASA. NASA has awarded $3.9 million to 13 teams at under-resourced academic institutions across the country, to support collaborative projects with NASA that offer students mentorship and career development in science, technology, engineering, and math.
This is the second round of seed funding awards given through the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Bridge Program, which was established in 2022 to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the science and engineering communities, as well as NASA’s workforce. (4/30)
NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars (Source: NASA)
“For humans and assets on the Martian surface, we don’t have a solid handle on what the effect is from radiation during solar activity,” said Shannon Curry of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Curry is principal investigator for NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter.
MAVEN observes radiation, solar particles, and more from high above Mars. The planet’s thin atmosphere can affect the intensity of the particles by the time they reach the surface, which is where NASA’s Curiosity rover comes in. Data from Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, has helped scientists understand how radiation breaks down carbon-based molecules on the surface, a process that could affect whether signs of ancient microbial life are preserved there. The instrument has also provided NASA with an idea of how much shielding from radiation astronauts could expect by using caves, lava tubes, or cliff faces for protection. (4/29)
Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, is expected to play a role in the Biden administration’s $42 billion program to bring high-speed internet to every American home, officials say, as Washington comes up against some hard math in its effort to build networks reaching the most remote corners of the nation.
The growing discussion of using Starlink to fill in coverage gaps is an acknowledgment of just how expensive and challenging it would be to run new internet cables up every mountain and down every valley nationwide. The administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program also faces cost pressures from a “Made in America” requirement for construction materials. (5/1)
Redefining Engineering Practices Across NASA (Source: Space Daily)
Under the guidance of the Systems Engineering (SE) Technical Discipline Team (TDT), various teams within NASA have been pushing the envelope over the past year to enhance the agency's systems engineering capacities. For example, The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) Project has initiated a pilot to modernize how NASA applies and manages technical standards. This involves transitioning to a data-centric system for managing standards. Also, a team from NESC and NASA has developed significant methodologies to control mass growth, a crucial factor in space system design. (4/29)
PREFIRE Mission Will Analyze Polar Energy Exchanges (Source: Space Daily)
NASA, in collaboration with Rocket Lab, has scheduled the first launch for the PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission on May 22. The primary objective of PREFIRE is to address significant gaps in our understanding of how polar regions, particularly the Arctic and Antarctic, regulate Earth's temperature.
The launch from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, marks the beginning of a series of two missions aimed at measuring Earth's energy loss in the polar regions using advanced far-infrared technology. PREFIRE will deploy two CubeSats on separate Rocket Lab Electron rockets to capture data in unprecedented detail. (4/29)
China's Rocket Engine Test Sets New Thrust Record (Source: Space Daily)
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the country's key space contractor, conducted a critical test on Sunday on a new type of rocket engine, achieving the highest thrust power ever achieved in tests of Chinese liquid-propellant engines.
The test involved a combined ignition of four engines at an engine testing facility in Fengxian county, Shaanxi province. These engines were connected and initiated simultaneously to test the design and performance of the propulsion system for a new model of carrier rocket. This event was overseen by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology, a CASC subsidiary in Shaanxi and a principal manufacturer of liquid-propellant rocket engines in China. (4/30)
Slingshot Aerospace Releases Orbital Congestion Report (Source: Space News)
A new report highlights the growing congestion in Earth orbit. The report, released Tuesday by Slingshot Aerospace, warns that the space domain is becoming crowded to unprecedented and potentially dangerous levels. There were nearly 12,600 satellites in orbit at the end of 2023, a 12.4% increase over 2022, with more than 3,350 of them inactive. The report also warned of "unsustainable" losses in the space insurance field caused by claims last year for problems with the ViaSat-3 Americas and Inmarsat-6 F2 satellites. (5/1)
Hubble Back Online (Source: NASA)
Hubble is back in service after its latest gyro problem. NASA said Tuesday that controllers returned Hubble to normal science operations, a week after problems with one of its three gyros put it into safe mode. The agency did not elaborate on the problems with that gyro, which had triggered a similar safe mode last fall. (5/1)
27,500 New Asteroids Identified (Source: New York Times)
Astronomers have found 27,500 asteroids by reanalyzing images. The effort, by the B612 Foundation and the University of Washington, used a new algorithm to analyze an archive of 412,000 images of the night sky. The project used cloud computing resources by Google to carry out the computationally intensive search. That bounty of asteroids includes about 100 near Earth asteroids, none of which pose an impact threat for the foreseeable future. (5/1)
China's Lunar Base Design Video Includes Space Shuttle (Source: Space.com)
A Chinese concept for a lunar base includes an unexpected element: a space shuttle. The China National Space Administration released a video last week of a concept for its International Lunar Research Station. Visible in the background of the video, though, was a space shuttle, identical in design to the NASA vehicle retired more than a decade ago, lifting off. It was unclear why CNSA included the shuttle in the video, but an updated version blurred it out. (5/1)
Millennium Space Wins $414 Million SDA Contract for Missile Tracking Satellites (Source: Space News)
Millennium Space won a $414 million Space Development Agency (SDA) contract to develop satellites for tracking hypersonic missiles. The contract announced Tuesday is for the Fire-control On Orbit-support-to-the-war Fighter (FOO Fighter) program, featuring eight satellites equipped with advanced infrared and optical sensors. Millennium, a Boeing subsidiary, will also provide the ground systems and support in-orbit operations under the contract. SDA plans to use the satellites to demonstrate advanced technologies for tracking hypersonic missiles, a crucial capability it is pursuing. SDA plans to launch the FOO Fighter satellites in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027. (5/1)
Astroscale to Go Public (Source: Space News)
Astroscale, the Japanese satellite servicing and debris removal company, plans to go public. The Tokyo-based company announced Wednesday it will go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, with shares scheduled to start trading June 5. The company has not set a price for the 20.8 million shares it plans to offer in the IPO. Astroscale is working on a range of technologies to service satellites and remove debris, and recently won the second phase of a JAXA contract to demonstrate the removal of an H-2A upper stage left in low Earth orbit. (5/1)
Space Force Studying Cost/Benefit of Orbital Satellite Refueling (Source: Space News)
The head of the Space Force says he is still studying whether refueling satellites in orbit is worth the cost. Testifying Tuesday before a House appropriations subcommittee, Gen. Chance Saltzman said the value of on-orbit refueling is still in question given the military's shift to cheaper, disposable satellites as part of a proliferated architecture. He noted refueling would make sense for large, high-value satellites in geostationary orbit. Defense budget analysts expressed concern that the Space Force's cautious approach to in-orbit refueling and other emerging commercial space services could have unintended consequences, such as affecting private sector investment. (5/1)
SES Activates O3b mPower Satellites (Source: Space News)
SES has started providing services on its first six O3b mPower satellites. The Boeing-built satellites, which have experienced electrical problems, feature an integrated payload array to offer gigabits per second of throughput. Two more mPower satellites are scheduled to launch later this year, with a total of 13 now planned for the constellation. (5/1)
Portal Space Systems Plnas Highly Maneuverable Satellites (Source: Space News)
Portal Space Systems emerged form stealth Tuesday, disclosing it has received more than $3 million in Defense Department awards to support work on a spacecraft bus called Supernova. That bus uses solar thermal propulsion that offers high thrust and large amounts of delta-V, or change in velocity, to enable it to maneuver quickly between orbits. Portal's founders argue that maneuverability will be desired by both government and commercial customers. The company is planning to launch the first Supernova spacecraft on a demonstration mission by the end of next year. (5/1)
Patent and Trademark Office Plans May 22 Dialogue on Space Commercialization (Source: USPTO)
Are you interested in learning more about the intersection of intellectual property (IP) and the growing commercial space sector? Join us in person or virtually for this free one-day program that will bring together industry experts, policy advisors, and IP professionals to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of space commercialization and its related IP considerations. There is no charge to attend, but registration is required. Registration to attend in person will close May 15. Early registration for in-person attendance in Alexandria, Virginia, is recommended.
Editor's Note: I'm told a similar USPTO event will be held on the Space Coast on May 17, hosted by Space Florida, with an added focus on foreign efforts to acquire sensitive US space technology. Click here. (4/27)
Space-Made Fibers and Novel Biotech Among Research Returning to Earth After Successful Space Station Mission (Source: CASIS)
Research on a novel vision loss therapy and space-manufactured optical fibers were among the nearly 565 pounds of science and technology payloads sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory that splashed down off the Florida coast Tuesday morning as NASA concluded SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. The return of the SpaceX Dragon capsule brings back more than 40 ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations that aim to benefit humanity and foster commerce in low Earth orbit. (4/30)
NASA Grants Support Academic Collaborations for STEM Student Success (Source: NASA)
The Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program funds research projects at under-resourced academic institutions to build or strengthen relationships with NASA. NASA has awarded $3.9 million to 13 teams at under-resourced academic institutions across the country, to support collaborative projects with NASA that offer students mentorship and career development in science, technology, engineering, and math.
This is the second round of seed funding awards given through the agency’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Bridge Program, which was established in 2022 to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the science and engineering communities, as well as NASA’s workforce. (4/30)
NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars (Source: NASA)
“For humans and assets on the Martian surface, we don’t have a solid handle on what the effect is from radiation during solar activity,” said Shannon Curry of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Curry is principal investigator for NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) orbiter.
MAVEN observes radiation, solar particles, and more from high above Mars. The planet’s thin atmosphere can affect the intensity of the particles by the time they reach the surface, which is where NASA’s Curiosity rover comes in. Data from Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, has helped scientists understand how radiation breaks down carbon-based molecules on the surface, a process that could affect whether signs of ancient microbial life are preserved there. The instrument has also provided NASA with an idea of how much shielding from radiation astronauts could expect by using caves, lava tubes, or cliff faces for protection. (4/29)
April 30, 2024
NASA Looks for an MSR Lifeline
(Source: Space Review)
Mars scientists hoped they would have a better idea of when and how they would get samples back from Mars after NASA completed an internal study of the Mars Sample Return program. Instead, as Jeff Foust reports, NASA is now turning to industry for help on how to reduce the costs and accelerate the schedule of MSR. Click here. (4/30)
Lazy Cat on a Mountaintop (Source: Space Review)
In the 1970s, US intelligence analysts were concerned about Soviet lasers intended to illuminate American satellites. Dwayne Day examines how the CIA attempted to study those efforts with a telescope in Iran, only to be thwarted by the revolution there. Click here. (4/30)
China’s Interest in the Far Side of the Moon: Scientific, Military, or Economic? (Source: Space Review)
China is scheduled to launch later this week Chang’e-6, the first mission to attempt to return samples from the far side of the Moon. Carlos Alatorre explores what is driving the country’s efforts to go to lunar farside and bring back samples. Click here. (4/30)
SES to Acquire Intelsat for $3.1 Billion (Source: Space News)
SES announced Tuesday that it will acquire Intelsat for $3.1 billion, combining two of the biggest GEO satellite operators. The companies said the deal would create a satellite operator with more than $4 billion in annual revenues and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $2 billion. The combined company would operate more than 100 GEO satellites as well as the O3b constellation in medium Earth orbit, and SES said the acquisition would optimize future investments in multi-orbit satellite fleets.
SES and Intelsat had explored a merger last year but walked away from a potential deal last June. SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said the timing was better now for an acquisition given "significant evolution" at both companies. The deal has the approval of both companies' boards, but SES does not expect it to close until the second half of 2025 because of necessary regulatory approvals. (4/30)
Chinese TSS Crew Returns to Earth (Source: Space News)
A Chinese crewed spacecraft returned to Earth Tuesday. The Shenzhou-17 spacecraft undocked from the Tiangong station at 8:43 p.m. Eastern Monday and landed at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region near Jiuquan spaceport at 5:46 a.m. Eastern Tuesday. On board Shenzhou-17 were Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, who had been in space since October. They performed two spacewalks while on Tiangong to repair damage to solar arrays and conducted 84 experiments. The Shenzhou-17 crew was relieved by the three-person Shenzhou-18 crew that arrived at Tiangong last week. (4/30)
China Proposes Ambitious Space Missions (Source: Space News)
China is proposing an ambitious series of space science missions. The set of missions, spanning lunar farside astronomy, astrophysics, exoplanets and heliophysics, was announced by the National Space Science Center (NSSC), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at a meeting April 27. One mission, Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelength (DSL), would place 10 smallsats into lunar orbit, using the moon to shield the satellites from terrestrial radio signals so the spacecraft can detect radio emissions from the early universe.
Another mission, Taiji, will use three satellites to detect gravitational waves. NSSC did not announce any new planetary missions as part of this, but there remains the possibility that one or more proposed planetary missions will be selected under a separate track. (4/30)
Airbus Plans More Imaging Satellites (Source: Space News)
Airbus had outlined plans for new high-resolution imaging satellites. The company said Monday it will develop a new series of spacecraft called Pléiades Neo Next to augment the two Pléiades Neo spacecraft in orbit that provide imagery at a resolution of 30 centimeters. Airbus said it has started work on one Pléiades Neo Next satellite to be launched in the next few years, but did not disclose how many satellites it foresees building. The Pléiades Neo Next satellites will offer enhanced resolution, although the company did not offer specifics. The Pléiades Neo Next program will help Airbus replace capacity lost when two Pléiades Neo satellites were destroyed in a December 2022 Vega C launch failure. (4/30)
Finland's Kuva Space to Provide Hyperspectral Earth Monitoring Data to ESA (Source: Space News)
Finnish startup Kuva Space will provide hyperspectral data to ESA. The company said Monday it won a $1.9 million contract to develop onboard data processing and rapid communications links for its spacecraft, allowing them to quickly provide imagery that will be used to detect illegal activities in the Baltic Sea area between Finland, Estonia and Sweden. The contract was awarded by ESA's Civil Security from Space program, an initiative aimed at bolstering humanitarian, law enforcement, safety and emergency response with space technologies. (4/30)
Dragon Splashes Down Off Tampa Coast with ISS Cargo (Source: NASA)
A Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth early Tuesday. The Dragon splashed down off the coast from Tampa, Florida, at 1:38 a.m. Eastern, concluding the CRS-30 mission to the International Space Station. The spacecraft, which launched to the station last month, returned about 1,850 kilograms of science experiments and equipment from the ISS. (4/30)
Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Cubesats on Next Two Missions From New Zealand (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab will launch a pair of NASA cubesats on its next two launches. The company said Monday it will perform back-to-back launches of Electron rockets from New Zealand for NASA's PREFIRE mission, each carrying a single 6U cubesat. The first launch is scheduled for no earlier than May 22 with the second to follow within three weeks of the first. The two launches are required to place the spacecraft into specific orbits to carry out their mission of measuring infrared emissions from the polar regions. (4/30)
Canada Wants to Instill Space in Military Operations (Source: Canadian Press)
A Canadian general says he wants to increase the "space-mindedness" of the Canadian military. Brig. Gen. Michael Adamson, commander of the Canadian Armed Forces Space Division, told a parliamentary committee that his division is working to help the rest of the military better understand the importance of space and the growing need to be aware of threats to space assets. He said the Canadian military will need to work more with the private sector to better leverage their capabilities. (4/30)
Space Force Launch, Security Needs Fuel Boom in Space Contracts (Source: Bloomberg)
A steady increase in space procurement has boosted US defense capabilities over the last decade, and concerns over the prospect of nuclear weapon-equipped Russian satellites may drive more spending. US Space Force procurement has grown faster than other federal agencies’ space-related contract spending since the service’s inception in 2019. It’s projected to hit a high of $18 billion this fiscal year, according to Bloomberg Government data.
NASA clearly leads all civilian agencies in the market, defined by BGOV analysts as including vehicles, launch, payloads, and ground stations and excluding missiles and missile defense. (4/29)
48 Governors (Except Florida and Texas) Oppose Guard Units Moving into the Space Force (Source: Air and Space Forces)
Governors from nearly every U.S. state and territory signed a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on April 29 asking him to withdraw an Air Force proposal to transfer Air National Guard units to the Space Force. While the letter does not endorse the creation of a separate Space National Guard, it does mark a clear pushback against Department of the Air Force plans to move all its space professionals into one service component. All told, the letter has 53 signatories—48 state governors, and five governors of territories. Only the leaders of Florida and Texas did not sign. (4/29)
Saudi Arabia Seeks to Bolster space Credentials Through WEF Partnership (Source: The National)
Saudi Arabia will partner with the World Economic Forum for the creation of an entity called the Center of Space Futures, which will be hosted by the Saudi Space Agency. The center will be a part of WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution network (C4IR), a future-oriented platform for dialogue and co-operation that seeks to make the most of technology to transform economies and societies among various countries and regions. (4/29)
Firefly CEO Sees 'Enough Demand' for Fully Commercial Lunar Missions Independent of NASA (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
When Firefly Aerospace launches its Blue Ghost lander to the moon's surface later this year, it will do so on board a SpaceX rocket and with $112 million in funding from NASA. But CEO Bill Weber sees a future in which the Texas-based firm goes it alone, completing fully commercial lunar missions on a medium-size rocket built in-house — with no funding from NASA.
"Commercial industry needs to be running that transit," Weber told Yahoo Finance in an interview. "And the government, instead of being the prime contract driver, will utilize that capacity. We’re at that point where we’re about to flip. There's most definitely enough demand on the commercial side." (4/29)
FAA Learning Period to Get Another Extension (Source: Space Policy Online)
House and Senate committee leaders announced just after midnight that they have reached agreement on a new FAA reauthorization bill. The vast majority of the bill does not deal with space activities, but one provision would extend the so-called “learning period” for another few months. The language prevents the FAA from promulgating new commercial human spaceflight regulations and will expire on May 11 if this bill does not pass by then. The chairs and ranking members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced the agreement. (4/29)
Six Deep Space Network Antennas in Madrid Arrayed For the First Time (Source: NASA)
In a historic first, all six radio frequency antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex – part of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) – carried out a test to receive data from the agency's Voyager 1 spacecraft at the same time on April 20, 2024. Known as "arraying," combining the receiving power of several antennas allows the DSN to collect the very faint signals from faraway spacecraft. A five-antenna array is currently needed to downlink science data from the spacecraft's Plasma Wave System (PWS) instrument. As Voyager gets further way, six antennas will be needed. (4/29)
NASA Lays Out How SpaceX Will Refuel Starships in Low-Earth Orbit (Source: Ars Technica)
Some time next year, NASA believes SpaceX will be ready to link two Starships in orbit for an ambitious refueling demonstration, a technical feat that will put the Moon within reach. Last year, NASA awarded a contract to Blue Origin to develop its own human-rated Blue Moon lunar lander, giving Artemis managers two options for follow-on missions. Designers of both landers were future-minded. They designed Starship and Blue Moon for refueling in space.
Pretty much every Starship test flight over the next couple of years will have goals that feed into the first Artemis lunar landing. During these upcoming Starship test flights, engineers will measure the slosh of propellants inside the ship, along with tank pressures, and observe how the fluids respond to impulses from small thrusters. In microgravity, these small rocket jets provide "settling thrust" to guide the ship's liquid toward the outflow needed for refueling.
Engineers will also monitor the boil-off rates of the methane and liquid oxygen in space. Over time, cryogenic liquids transition to a gaseous state without insulation or other measures to prevent boil-off. SpaceX and NASA officials want to know how much of the propellant will be lost from boil-off to know how many refueling tankers they need to launch for a Starship lunar landing mission. (4/29)
The Threat of a Solar Superstorm Is Growing—And We’re Not Ready (Source: Scientific American)
The sun is ramping up for a big year. In one sense it already had a big year, thanks to the April 8 solar eclipse. But that was a terrestrial phenomenon. What we’re gearing up for is a decidedly solar one—our star is nearing the peak of its magnetic activity cycle, which means more sunspots, more storms and, potentially, more danger to Earth.
Big flares fire out high-energy x-ray and gamma radiation that can damage satellites orbiting Earth; when those photons strike the metal casing of a spacecraft, they blast away clouds of electrons like shrapnel, and these fast-moving particles generate strong pulses of hardware-frying electromagnetic energy. We should be reinforcing the electricity grid, and making it more decentralized would be a good start. The good news is that astronomers are studying the sun with fierce devotion to better understand and predict its outbursts. (4/26)
NASA Seeks Input on Space Technology Shortfalls (Source: Space News)
NASA is seeking public input on how to prioritize nearly 200 topics in space technology to improve how it invests limited funding on them. The agency has released a list of 187 “technology shortfalls,” or topics where current technology requires additional development to meet NASA’s future needs. The shortfalls are in 20 areas ranging from space transportation and life support to power and thermal management.
By prioritizing technology shortfalls, he argued NASA will be better able to invest its funding on the most important ones. Through this process, people will be able to rate the importance of some or all of the technology shortfalls NASA has identified. They can also list technologies they think should be included or identify those shortfalls that they believe have already been solved. NASA will use the input from that process, as well as a separate internal agency effort, to develop a ranked list of technologies. That should be ready by this summer. (4/29)
Advisory Committee Recommends Moving FAA Commercial Space Office Out of the Agency (Source: Space News)
An advisory committee for the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space office has recommended that the office be moved out of the FAA. At an April 23 meeting, the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) unanimously approved a recommendation that the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, be moved out of the FAA and turned into a standalone organization directly under the Secretary of Transportation.
The proposal, COMSTAC members argued, would address the perception that AST currently does not receive the resources it needs to regulate a growing space launch industry in its current form within the FAA. (4/27)
Stennis Gets New Director (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has named John Bailey as director of the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, effective immediately. Bailey had been serving as acting director since January. NASA Stennis is a unique federal city, home to more than 50 resident tenants with a combined workforce of over 5,200. The center tested the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage that helped launch the Artemis I mission. It also is testing all RS-25 engines to help power SLS launches and will conduct flightworthy testing of the agency’s new exploration upper stage prior to its use in space on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
The center is a leader in partnering and working with commercial aerospace companies to support their propulsion test projects. It also is expanding as an aerospace and technology hub, and in development of intelligent and autonomous systems needed for deep space exploration. (4/29)
Mars scientists hoped they would have a better idea of when and how they would get samples back from Mars after NASA completed an internal study of the Mars Sample Return program. Instead, as Jeff Foust reports, NASA is now turning to industry for help on how to reduce the costs and accelerate the schedule of MSR. Click here. (4/30)
Lazy Cat on a Mountaintop (Source: Space Review)
In the 1970s, US intelligence analysts were concerned about Soviet lasers intended to illuminate American satellites. Dwayne Day examines how the CIA attempted to study those efforts with a telescope in Iran, only to be thwarted by the revolution there. Click here. (4/30)
China’s Interest in the Far Side of the Moon: Scientific, Military, or Economic? (Source: Space Review)
China is scheduled to launch later this week Chang’e-6, the first mission to attempt to return samples from the far side of the Moon. Carlos Alatorre explores what is driving the country’s efforts to go to lunar farside and bring back samples. Click here. (4/30)
SES to Acquire Intelsat for $3.1 Billion (Source: Space News)
SES announced Tuesday that it will acquire Intelsat for $3.1 billion, combining two of the biggest GEO satellite operators. The companies said the deal would create a satellite operator with more than $4 billion in annual revenues and adjusted EBITDA of nearly $2 billion. The combined company would operate more than 100 GEO satellites as well as the O3b constellation in medium Earth orbit, and SES said the acquisition would optimize future investments in multi-orbit satellite fleets.
SES and Intelsat had explored a merger last year but walked away from a potential deal last June. SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said the timing was better now for an acquisition given "significant evolution" at both companies. The deal has the approval of both companies' boards, but SES does not expect it to close until the second half of 2025 because of necessary regulatory approvals. (4/30)
Chinese TSS Crew Returns to Earth (Source: Space News)
A Chinese crewed spacecraft returned to Earth Tuesday. The Shenzhou-17 spacecraft undocked from the Tiangong station at 8:43 p.m. Eastern Monday and landed at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region near Jiuquan spaceport at 5:46 a.m. Eastern Tuesday. On board Shenzhou-17 were Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, who had been in space since October. They performed two spacewalks while on Tiangong to repair damage to solar arrays and conducted 84 experiments. The Shenzhou-17 crew was relieved by the three-person Shenzhou-18 crew that arrived at Tiangong last week. (4/30)
China Proposes Ambitious Space Missions (Source: Space News)
China is proposing an ambitious series of space science missions. The set of missions, spanning lunar farside astronomy, astrophysics, exoplanets and heliophysics, was announced by the National Space Science Center (NSSC), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at a meeting April 27. One mission, Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelength (DSL), would place 10 smallsats into lunar orbit, using the moon to shield the satellites from terrestrial radio signals so the spacecraft can detect radio emissions from the early universe.
Another mission, Taiji, will use three satellites to detect gravitational waves. NSSC did not announce any new planetary missions as part of this, but there remains the possibility that one or more proposed planetary missions will be selected under a separate track. (4/30)
Airbus Plans More Imaging Satellites (Source: Space News)
Airbus had outlined plans for new high-resolution imaging satellites. The company said Monday it will develop a new series of spacecraft called Pléiades Neo Next to augment the two Pléiades Neo spacecraft in orbit that provide imagery at a resolution of 30 centimeters. Airbus said it has started work on one Pléiades Neo Next satellite to be launched in the next few years, but did not disclose how many satellites it foresees building. The Pléiades Neo Next satellites will offer enhanced resolution, although the company did not offer specifics. The Pléiades Neo Next program will help Airbus replace capacity lost when two Pléiades Neo satellites were destroyed in a December 2022 Vega C launch failure. (4/30)
Finland's Kuva Space to Provide Hyperspectral Earth Monitoring Data to ESA (Source: Space News)
Finnish startup Kuva Space will provide hyperspectral data to ESA. The company said Monday it won a $1.9 million contract to develop onboard data processing and rapid communications links for its spacecraft, allowing them to quickly provide imagery that will be used to detect illegal activities in the Baltic Sea area between Finland, Estonia and Sweden. The contract was awarded by ESA's Civil Security from Space program, an initiative aimed at bolstering humanitarian, law enforcement, safety and emergency response with space technologies. (4/30)
Dragon Splashes Down Off Tampa Coast with ISS Cargo (Source: NASA)
A Dragon cargo spacecraft returned to Earth early Tuesday. The Dragon splashed down off the coast from Tampa, Florida, at 1:38 a.m. Eastern, concluding the CRS-30 mission to the International Space Station. The spacecraft, which launched to the station last month, returned about 1,850 kilograms of science experiments and equipment from the ISS. (4/30)
Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Cubesats on Next Two Missions From New Zealand (Source: Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab will launch a pair of NASA cubesats on its next two launches. The company said Monday it will perform back-to-back launches of Electron rockets from New Zealand for NASA's PREFIRE mission, each carrying a single 6U cubesat. The first launch is scheduled for no earlier than May 22 with the second to follow within three weeks of the first. The two launches are required to place the spacecraft into specific orbits to carry out their mission of measuring infrared emissions from the polar regions. (4/30)
Canada Wants to Instill Space in Military Operations (Source: Canadian Press)
A Canadian general says he wants to increase the "space-mindedness" of the Canadian military. Brig. Gen. Michael Adamson, commander of the Canadian Armed Forces Space Division, told a parliamentary committee that his division is working to help the rest of the military better understand the importance of space and the growing need to be aware of threats to space assets. He said the Canadian military will need to work more with the private sector to better leverage their capabilities. (4/30)
Space Force Launch, Security Needs Fuel Boom in Space Contracts (Source: Bloomberg)
A steady increase in space procurement has boosted US defense capabilities over the last decade, and concerns over the prospect of nuclear weapon-equipped Russian satellites may drive more spending. US Space Force procurement has grown faster than other federal agencies’ space-related contract spending since the service’s inception in 2019. It’s projected to hit a high of $18 billion this fiscal year, according to Bloomberg Government data.
NASA clearly leads all civilian agencies in the market, defined by BGOV analysts as including vehicles, launch, payloads, and ground stations and excluding missiles and missile defense. (4/29)
48 Governors (Except Florida and Texas) Oppose Guard Units Moving into the Space Force (Source: Air and Space Forces)
Governors from nearly every U.S. state and territory signed a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on April 29 asking him to withdraw an Air Force proposal to transfer Air National Guard units to the Space Force. While the letter does not endorse the creation of a separate Space National Guard, it does mark a clear pushback against Department of the Air Force plans to move all its space professionals into one service component. All told, the letter has 53 signatories—48 state governors, and five governors of territories. Only the leaders of Florida and Texas did not sign. (4/29)
Saudi Arabia Seeks to Bolster space Credentials Through WEF Partnership (Source: The National)
Saudi Arabia will partner with the World Economic Forum for the creation of an entity called the Center of Space Futures, which will be hosted by the Saudi Space Agency. The center will be a part of WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution network (C4IR), a future-oriented platform for dialogue and co-operation that seeks to make the most of technology to transform economies and societies among various countries and regions. (4/29)
Firefly CEO Sees 'Enough Demand' for Fully Commercial Lunar Missions Independent of NASA (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
When Firefly Aerospace launches its Blue Ghost lander to the moon's surface later this year, it will do so on board a SpaceX rocket and with $112 million in funding from NASA. But CEO Bill Weber sees a future in which the Texas-based firm goes it alone, completing fully commercial lunar missions on a medium-size rocket built in-house — with no funding from NASA.
"Commercial industry needs to be running that transit," Weber told Yahoo Finance in an interview. "And the government, instead of being the prime contract driver, will utilize that capacity. We’re at that point where we’re about to flip. There's most definitely enough demand on the commercial side." (4/29)
FAA Learning Period to Get Another Extension (Source: Space Policy Online)
House and Senate committee leaders announced just after midnight that they have reached agreement on a new FAA reauthorization bill. The vast majority of the bill does not deal with space activities, but one provision would extend the so-called “learning period” for another few months. The language prevents the FAA from promulgating new commercial human spaceflight regulations and will expire on May 11 if this bill does not pass by then. The chairs and ranking members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee announced the agreement. (4/29)
Six Deep Space Network Antennas in Madrid Arrayed For the First Time (Source: NASA)
In a historic first, all six radio frequency antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex – part of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) – carried out a test to receive data from the agency's Voyager 1 spacecraft at the same time on April 20, 2024. Known as "arraying," combining the receiving power of several antennas allows the DSN to collect the very faint signals from faraway spacecraft. A five-antenna array is currently needed to downlink science data from the spacecraft's Plasma Wave System (PWS) instrument. As Voyager gets further way, six antennas will be needed. (4/29)
NASA Lays Out How SpaceX Will Refuel Starships in Low-Earth Orbit (Source: Ars Technica)
Some time next year, NASA believes SpaceX will be ready to link two Starships in orbit for an ambitious refueling demonstration, a technical feat that will put the Moon within reach. Last year, NASA awarded a contract to Blue Origin to develop its own human-rated Blue Moon lunar lander, giving Artemis managers two options for follow-on missions. Designers of both landers were future-minded. They designed Starship and Blue Moon for refueling in space.
Pretty much every Starship test flight over the next couple of years will have goals that feed into the first Artemis lunar landing. During these upcoming Starship test flights, engineers will measure the slosh of propellants inside the ship, along with tank pressures, and observe how the fluids respond to impulses from small thrusters. In microgravity, these small rocket jets provide "settling thrust" to guide the ship's liquid toward the outflow needed for refueling.
Engineers will also monitor the boil-off rates of the methane and liquid oxygen in space. Over time, cryogenic liquids transition to a gaseous state without insulation or other measures to prevent boil-off. SpaceX and NASA officials want to know how much of the propellant will be lost from boil-off to know how many refueling tankers they need to launch for a Starship lunar landing mission. (4/29)
The Threat of a Solar Superstorm Is Growing—And We’re Not Ready (Source: Scientific American)
The sun is ramping up for a big year. In one sense it already had a big year, thanks to the April 8 solar eclipse. But that was a terrestrial phenomenon. What we’re gearing up for is a decidedly solar one—our star is nearing the peak of its magnetic activity cycle, which means more sunspots, more storms and, potentially, more danger to Earth.
Big flares fire out high-energy x-ray and gamma radiation that can damage satellites orbiting Earth; when those photons strike the metal casing of a spacecraft, they blast away clouds of electrons like shrapnel, and these fast-moving particles generate strong pulses of hardware-frying electromagnetic energy. We should be reinforcing the electricity grid, and making it more decentralized would be a good start. The good news is that astronomers are studying the sun with fierce devotion to better understand and predict its outbursts. (4/26)
NASA Seeks Input on Space Technology Shortfalls (Source: Space News)
NASA is seeking public input on how to prioritize nearly 200 topics in space technology to improve how it invests limited funding on them. The agency has released a list of 187 “technology shortfalls,” or topics where current technology requires additional development to meet NASA’s future needs. The shortfalls are in 20 areas ranging from space transportation and life support to power and thermal management.
By prioritizing technology shortfalls, he argued NASA will be better able to invest its funding on the most important ones. Through this process, people will be able to rate the importance of some or all of the technology shortfalls NASA has identified. They can also list technologies they think should be included or identify those shortfalls that they believe have already been solved. NASA will use the input from that process, as well as a separate internal agency effort, to develop a ranked list of technologies. That should be ready by this summer. (4/29)
Advisory Committee Recommends Moving FAA Commercial Space Office Out of the Agency (Source: Space News)
An advisory committee for the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial space office has recommended that the office be moved out of the FAA. At an April 23 meeting, the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) unanimously approved a recommendation that the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, be moved out of the FAA and turned into a standalone organization directly under the Secretary of Transportation.
The proposal, COMSTAC members argued, would address the perception that AST currently does not receive the resources it needs to regulate a growing space launch industry in its current form within the FAA. (4/27)
Stennis Gets New Director (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has named John Bailey as director of the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, effective immediately. Bailey had been serving as acting director since January. NASA Stennis is a unique federal city, home to more than 50 resident tenants with a combined workforce of over 5,200. The center tested the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage that helped launch the Artemis I mission. It also is testing all RS-25 engines to help power SLS launches and will conduct flightworthy testing of the agency’s new exploration upper stage prior to its use in space on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
The center is a leader in partnering and working with commercial aerospace companies to support their propulsion test projects. It also is expanding as an aerospace and technology hub, and in development of intelligent and autonomous systems needed for deep space exploration. (4/29)
April 29, 2024
India Aims To Be In The Top Group Of
Global Space Powers By 2047 (Source: The North Lines)
India's space programme has been in the spotlight ever since the Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the Moon's southern hemisphere on August 23, 2023. The mission—costing a meager $75 million—covered everything, from the rocket launch to the propulsion system and the lunar lander and rover expenses. This cost-effective approach is driving other developing countries eager to establish their own sustainable space programs.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced a space roadmap featuring the Chandrayaan-4 mission, planned for a conceptual phase with a targeted launch no earlier than in 2028; building a space station (Bharatiya Space Station), set to be positioned at an altitude of 120-140 kilometres in low-Earth orbit (LEO), by 2035; and sending astronauts to the Moon by 2040.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has proposed changing its name to the ‘Indian Air and Space Forces' (IASF). This reflects a shift in India's strategic approach, emphasizing the significance of space in national security. This initiative is part of India's official space policy, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of India's Independence from British rule in 1947. (4/28)
India’s Sea-Based Launch Pads: A Game Changer for Safer, More Flexible Missile Testing (Source: IDRW)
India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is setting its sights on the high seas with a project for a mobile, sea-based missile launch platform. The proposed platform offers a compelling solution with enhanced safety, greater flexibility, reduced environmental impacts, and faster testing cycles. (4/28)
ISRO Conducted 23 Collision Avoidance Maneuvers in 2023 to Save Satellites (Source: India Today)
The Indian Space Research Organization released its comprehensive Space Situational Assessment Report (ISSAR) for the year 2023, revealing it conducted 23 collision avoidance maneuvers to safeguard satellites. The report gives significant insights into the challenges in space traffic management and satellite operations. ISRO received approximately 1,37,565 close approach alerts from the US Space Command (USSPACECOM), with about 3,033 alerts involving satellites coming within 1 km of each other. (4/29)
Chinese Astronauts Repair Space Station's Solar Wings After Debris Impact (Source: Space Daily)
The crew of the Shenzhou XVII, stationed on China's space station, successfully repaired damage to the core module's solar wings caused by space debris. This repair was accomplished during the country's inaugural mission involving extravehicular maintenance, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The TSS core module, Tianhe, experienced a reduction in power after debris impacted the solar wing's power cables.
The TSS has conducted several maneuvers to avoid collisions with space debris, a growing concern due to increased human activity in space. The agency has improved its predictions of the space station and nearby orbital objects' paths, enhancing its collision avoidance protocols and reducing false alarms by 30%, Lin Xiqiang detailed.
Future plans include using high-definition cameras on the space station's robotic arm and cameras held by spacewalking astronauts to inspect and assess the external conditions of the station and the potential risks posed by small debris. The next crew, aboard the Shenzhou XVIII, will focus on enhancing the station's defenses against space debris by adding protective measures to external piping, cables, and essential systems during their spacewalks. (4/25)
No More Jammer Sales: it’s Time for Global Enforcement (Source: Space News)
The Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide critical positioning, navigation and timing services to users across the globe. However, like other electronics-based systems (and despite industry efforts to bolster the security of these technologies) devices receiving a signal from GNSS satellites could be vulnerable to jamming and spoofing. It is time for the United States to coordinate international efforts to halt the marketing and sale of devices that interfere with GNSS systems. (4/22)
China Set to Launch High-Stakes Mission to Moon's 'Hidden' Side (Source: Reuters)
China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. (4/28)
SpaceX Making Progress on Starship In-Space Refueling Technologies (Source: Space News)
NASA says SpaceX is on track to demonstrate in-space refueling of Starship next year, a critical technology for returning humans to the lunar surface using that vehicle. Amit Kshatriya, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, said SpaceX achieved one step toward refueling of Starship with a demonstration on the latest Starship test flight March 14.
During that flight, SpaceX performed an in-flight propellant transfer demonstration under a NASA Tipping Point contract awarded in 2020. SpaceX planned to transfer at least 10 metric tons of liquid oxygen from a header tank to the main tank within the Starship upper stage while in space. While SpaceX said the day of the flight that it performed the demonstration, neither the company nor NASA provided any updates since then. At the advisory committee meeting, though, Kshatriya said the test appeared to go well.
“On Flight 3, they did an intertank transfer of cryogens, which was successful by all accounts,” he said, adding that analysis of the test is ongoing. The next major milestone is a demonstration planned for 2025 where two Starships will dock in orbit, with one transferring propellants to the other. Plans for that have passed a flight system review, according to a slide he presented at the meeting, examining the overall mission architecture and key subsystems, among other topics. (4/27)
India's space programme has been in the spotlight ever since the Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the Moon's southern hemisphere on August 23, 2023. The mission—costing a meager $75 million—covered everything, from the rocket launch to the propulsion system and the lunar lander and rover expenses. This cost-effective approach is driving other developing countries eager to establish their own sustainable space programs.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced a space roadmap featuring the Chandrayaan-4 mission, planned for a conceptual phase with a targeted launch no earlier than in 2028; building a space station (Bharatiya Space Station), set to be positioned at an altitude of 120-140 kilometres in low-Earth orbit (LEO), by 2035; and sending astronauts to the Moon by 2040.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has proposed changing its name to the ‘Indian Air and Space Forces' (IASF). This reflects a shift in India's strategic approach, emphasizing the significance of space in national security. This initiative is part of India's official space policy, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of India's Independence from British rule in 1947. (4/28)
India’s Sea-Based Launch Pads: A Game Changer for Safer, More Flexible Missile Testing (Source: IDRW)
India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is setting its sights on the high seas with a project for a mobile, sea-based missile launch platform. The proposed platform offers a compelling solution with enhanced safety, greater flexibility, reduced environmental impacts, and faster testing cycles. (4/28)
ISRO Conducted 23 Collision Avoidance Maneuvers in 2023 to Save Satellites (Source: India Today)
The Indian Space Research Organization released its comprehensive Space Situational Assessment Report (ISSAR) for the year 2023, revealing it conducted 23 collision avoidance maneuvers to safeguard satellites. The report gives significant insights into the challenges in space traffic management and satellite operations. ISRO received approximately 1,37,565 close approach alerts from the US Space Command (USSPACECOM), with about 3,033 alerts involving satellites coming within 1 km of each other. (4/29)
Chinese Astronauts Repair Space Station's Solar Wings After Debris Impact (Source: Space Daily)
The crew of the Shenzhou XVII, stationed on China's space station, successfully repaired damage to the core module's solar wings caused by space debris. This repair was accomplished during the country's inaugural mission involving extravehicular maintenance, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The TSS core module, Tianhe, experienced a reduction in power after debris impacted the solar wing's power cables.
The TSS has conducted several maneuvers to avoid collisions with space debris, a growing concern due to increased human activity in space. The agency has improved its predictions of the space station and nearby orbital objects' paths, enhancing its collision avoidance protocols and reducing false alarms by 30%, Lin Xiqiang detailed.
Future plans include using high-definition cameras on the space station's robotic arm and cameras held by spacewalking astronauts to inspect and assess the external conditions of the station and the potential risks posed by small debris. The next crew, aboard the Shenzhou XVIII, will focus on enhancing the station's defenses against space debris by adding protective measures to external piping, cables, and essential systems during their spacewalks. (4/25)
No More Jammer Sales: it’s Time for Global Enforcement (Source: Space News)
The Global Positioning System (GPS) and other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide critical positioning, navigation and timing services to users across the globe. However, like other electronics-based systems (and despite industry efforts to bolster the security of these technologies) devices receiving a signal from GNSS satellites could be vulnerable to jamming and spoofing. It is time for the United States to coordinate international efforts to halt the marketing and sale of devices that interfere with GNSS systems. (4/22)
China Set to Launch High-Stakes Mission to Moon's 'Hidden' Side (Source: Reuters)
China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. (4/28)
SpaceX Making Progress on Starship In-Space Refueling Technologies (Source: Space News)
NASA says SpaceX is on track to demonstrate in-space refueling of Starship next year, a critical technology for returning humans to the lunar surface using that vehicle. Amit Kshatriya, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, said SpaceX achieved one step toward refueling of Starship with a demonstration on the latest Starship test flight March 14.
During that flight, SpaceX performed an in-flight propellant transfer demonstration under a NASA Tipping Point contract awarded in 2020. SpaceX planned to transfer at least 10 metric tons of liquid oxygen from a header tank to the main tank within the Starship upper stage while in space. While SpaceX said the day of the flight that it performed the demonstration, neither the company nor NASA provided any updates since then. At the advisory committee meeting, though, Kshatriya said the test appeared to go well.
“On Flight 3, they did an intertank transfer of cryogens, which was successful by all accounts,” he said, adding that analysis of the test is ongoing. The next major milestone is a demonstration planned for 2025 where two Starships will dock in orbit, with one transferring propellants to the other. Plans for that have passed a flight system review, according to a slide he presented at the meeting, examining the overall mission architecture and key subsystems, among other topics. (4/27)
April 28, 2024
More Starlink Satellites Launched Atop
Falcon 9 From Florida on Sunday (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX launched another collection of Starlink satellites on Sunday at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Falcon-9 booster landed downrange on a droneship for reuse on future missions. (4/28)
Space Coast Congressman Announces Retirement (Source: WFTV)
U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) announced Friday that he is retiring after 16 years in Congress. The 76-year-old has held the seat for Florida’s 8th congressional district since 2008. That district stretches from Vero Beach to Titusville. Posey told Channel 9 that he is leaving Congress because of “circumstances beyond my control.” He has endorsed former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos -- a fellow Republican who qualified to run for the seat hours before qualifying closed at noon Friday. (4/26)
NASA's Voyager is in Hostile Territory. It's 'Dodging Bullets' (Source: Mashable)
At some 15 and 12 billion miles away, Voyager 1 and 2 are beyond the protective bubble of the sun, called the heliosphere. Out in this realm of interstellar space, the nearly 50-year-old probes have a higher probability of damage from hostile, high-speed particles, called galactic cosmic rays, owing to a higher number of particles zooming by every second. "We are dodging bullets out there," said Alan Cummings, a cosmic-ray physicist at Caltech — the research university that manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (4/27)
Dark Matter: A New Experiment Aims to Turn the Ghostly Substance Into Actual Light (Source: Phys.org)
Several experiments have aimed to unveil what it's made of, but despite decades of searching, scientists have come up short. Now our new experiment, under construction at Yale University in the US, is offering a new tactic. Dark matter has been around the universe since the beginning of time, pulling stars and galaxies together. Invisible and subtle, it doesn't seem to interact with light or any other kind of matter. In fact, it has to be something completely new.
At present, the most sensitive approach targets the halo of dark matter permeating the galaxy (and consequently, Earth) with a device called a haloscope. It is a conductive cavity immersed in a strong magnetic field; the former captures the dark matter surrounding us (assuming it is axions), while the latter induces the conversion into light. The result is an electromagnetic signal appearing inside the cavity, oscillating with a characteristic frequency depending on the axion mass. (4/26)
JWST Studies Planet K2-18 b Again to Confirm Presence of Gas 'Only Produced by Life' (Source: Earth.com)
In September 2023, Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge, announced a very intriguing discovery. Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Madhusudhan and his team detected the presence of carbon-bearing molecules, including methane and carbon dioxide, on exoplanet K2-18 b.
This discovery was added to other recent studies suggesting that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet, characterized by a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. The initial Webb observations also provided a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS). On Earth, this molecule is “only produced by life”, primarily by phytoplankton in marine environments.
The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide, along with the shortage of ammonia, support the hypothesis that K2-18 b may have a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. The team is now conducting follow-up research with the JWST’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) spectrograph, hoping to further validate their findings and provide new insights into the environmental conditions on K2-18 b. (4/26)
Unprecedented Find in Meteorite Challenges Astrophysical Models (Source: SciTech Daily)
Scientists have discovered a meteorite particle with an unprecedented magnesium isotopic ratio, indicating its origin from a hydrogen burning supernova. Research has discovered a rare dust particle trapped in an ancient extra-terrestrial meteorite that was formed by a star other than our sun. The discovery was made by lead author Dr. Nicole Nevill and colleagues during her PhD studies at Curtin University, now working at the Lunar and Planetary Science Institute in collaboration with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. (4/26)
Hubble Telescope Put Into Dreaded Safe Mode Due to Ongoing Glitch (Source: Gizmodo)
NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope isn’t doing so well. The observatory has been suffering from a pesky glitch affecting its gyroscope, causing it to suspend its science operations for a second time in less than six months. On Friday, NASA announced that Hubble had automatically entered safe mode on Tuesday, April 23 when one of its three operational gyroscopes returned faulty readings. Engineers are currently working on a solution to resume the telescope’s observations. (4/26)
What's on the Far Side of the Moon? Well, Not Darkness (Source: Mashable)
It took less than a week for NASA Administrator Bill Nelson's gaffe to make it to social media. Over an hour into a budget hearing for the U.S. space agency, a congressman asked Nelson why China is sending spacecraft to the "backside" of the moon. "They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side that's always in dark," said Nelson, a former senator and astronaut, during the April 17 hearing.
"We're not planning to go there." He proceeded to tell the lawmaker that "We don't know what's on the backside of the moon." On two counts, that was untrue: The so-called far side of the moon is not dark, despite popular belief, nor is it completely unknown to American scientists. (4/27)
A New Era: Ariane 6 Maiden Launch Campaign Gets Underway (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
On July 5, 2023, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle took flight for the last time, thus ending a storied 27-year career for what was Europe’s first heavy-lift rocket. Nearly ten months later, Arianespace is back at the launchpad with its new and advanced heavy-lift workhorse: the Ariane 6.
For the first time, the central core and boosters for Ariane 6 have been delivered to the pad at the ELA-4 launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana, officially marking the start of the maiden launch campaign. On Wednesday, April 24, the central core of the rocket — consisting of the main booster and upper stage — was transported 800 meters from the launcher assembly building to the ELA-4 pad, where it was installed on the launch table via a crane and with the assistance of automated guided vehicles (AGV). (4/27)
Identification of Noise Sources During Launch Using Phased Array Microphone Systems (Source: NASA)
In 2011 and 2012, the NESC sponsored research into the effectiveness of a microphone phased array (MPA) to identify noise sources and tested the array during an Antares launch from the Wallops Flight Facility. This simple prototype array was able to identify impingement-related noise sources during the launch. Today, building on this previous work, a new open-space truss MPA architecture is in development and test for use during the Artemis II launch. (4/26)
Northrop's Rocket Fuel Factory Is Slow to Take Off (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The Pentagon long relied on one U.S. company to make the main ingredient that fuels its most powerful missiles. Northrop Grumman’s effort to build a second source has been slow to take off. Years after building a factory to make more of the key chemical, Northrop’s output is still missing from the fuel powering many U.S. weapon systems—when global conflicts have spurred demand for a range of tactical missiles. A new $95 billion spending package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will further bolster weapons demand abroad and pay to replenish U.S. arsenals. (4/27)
Rocket Reuse: SpaceX Achieves 20 Flights for Galileo Mission Booster, Aims for 40 (Sources: SpaceX, Ars Technica)
For mission performance requirements to launch the Galileo L12 spacecraft into a medium Earth orbit, SpaceX did not attempt to recover the first stage booster supporting this mission. The last time a first stage was expended during a Falcon 9 mission was 146 flights ago in November 2022. On most Falcon 9 missions, enough propellant remains in the first stage after stage separation to enable landing, recovery, and ultimately reuse on future missions.
In round numbers, the dry mass of a Falcon 9 first stage is about 50 metric tons, so the landing of all these rockets has prevented 15,000 metric tons of metal and other materials from being dumped into the oceans. SpaceX is currently working toward qualifying the Falcon booster and fairing fleets to support 40 missions each. Increasing Falcon's flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse.
SpaceX landed its 300th Falcon booster with last week's Starlink mission. In the Falcon fleet's lifetime, SpaceX has now landed about 85 percent of the Falcon rockets it has launched. These days, more than 90 percent of all its missions launch on previously flown boosters. Landing 300 rockets means SpaceX has preserved 2,700 Merlin rocket engines. (4/27)
SpaceX Launches Galileo Navsat for Europe (Sources: SPACErePORT, Space.com, SpaceFlight Now)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 carried two satellites for the European Space Agency's Galileo global navigation system to orbit. Prior to this, 28 Galileo satellites have launched, all of them atop Russian-built Soyuz rockets or Europe's Ariane 5. The European Commission signed the €180 million (about $192.5 million) two-launch deal with SpaceX on March 19. That represented a roughly 36 percent markup on the cost of the two missions compared to the standard payment plan for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch, which is $67 million. (4/27)
NASA Considers Switch to LEO Rendezvous for Artemis III (Source: Ars Technica)
Under one of the options NASA is considering, astronauts would launch into low-Earth orbit inside an Orion spacecraft and rendezvous there with a Starship vehicle, separately launched by SpaceX. During this mission, similar to Apollo 9, a precursor to the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the crew would validate the ability of Orion and Starship to dock and test habitability inside Starship. One benefit of this mission profile is that NASA could "save" an upper stage for the SLS rocket and use it on the subsequent lunar landing mission while also buying down some risk. (4/27)
Parker Solar Probe Prepares To Break Humanity’s Speed Record (Source: WECB)
During its 19th orbit, the Parker Solar Probe flirted with the fiery edges of the Sun, cruising to about 7.26 million kilometers from our star’s surface. This daring maneuver matched the probe’s previous record for the closest approach, a testament to its enduring design and the precision of the teams behind it at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, where it was also built.
However, it’s the next lap in this cosmic race that has scientists and space enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. On December 24, aided by a gravity assist from Venus on November 6, the probe will swoop even closer to the Sun, to a mere 6.12 million kilometers away. This closer encounter is not just about breaking records; it will also increase the probe’s speed to an astonishing 692,000 kilometers per hour. (4/26)
China Aims to Beat US in Race for Mars Samples with 2030 Goal (Source: South China Morning Post)
The chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program predicts China could beat the US in the race to bring rocks from the red planet back to Earth, in the first such suggestion from the country’s space authorities. “China will launch the Tianwen-3 spacecraft around 2030 to implement its Mars sample return mission,” Wu Weiren said on Wednesday.
Wu, the first senior Chinese space official to make such a prediction openly, also revealed that China has started planning on a project to build the world’s first Mars sample laboratory. Sun Zezhou, Wu’s colleague and chief designer of the 2021 Tianwen-1 Mars mission, previously said that all key technologies needed for Tianwen-3 were in place and work was progressing smoothly. (4/26)
NASA Still Doesn’t Understand Root Cause of Orion Seat Shield Issue (Source: Ars Technica)
More of the charred material than expected came off the heat shield during the Artemis I reentry, and the way it came off was somewhat uneven, NASA officials said. Orion's heat shield is made of a material called Avcoat, which is designed to burn off as the spacecraft plunges into the atmosphere at 25,000 mph (40,000 km per hour). Coming back from the Moon, Orion encountered temperatures up to 5,000° Fahrenheit (2,760° Celsius), hotter than a spacecraft sees when it reenters the atmosphere from low-Earth orbit.
Engineers have performed sub-scale heat shield tests in wind tunnels and arc jet facilities to better understand what led to the uneven charring on Artemis I. "We’re getting close to the final answer in terms of that cause," Kshatriya said. NASA officials previously said it is unlikely they will need to make changes to the heat shield already installed on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II, but haven't ruled it out. A redesign or modifications to the Orion heat shield on Artemis II would probably delay the mission by at least a year. (4/26)
Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft Will Not Fly Private Missions Yet, Officials Say (Source: Space.com)
Boeing says it may sign up private astronauts for future Starliner missions, but the focus is on NASA for now. The spacecraft's program manager, Mark Nappi, said the company is very focused on flying the first Starliner mission for NASA with astronauts on board. That mission, Crew Flight Test (CFT), will see NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams rocket to space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket no earlier than May 6. (4/27)
North Korea Reaffirms Plan to Bolster Space Reconnaissance Capabilities (Source: Korea Times)
North Korea reiterated its commitment to launching more reconnaissance satellites this year, Saturday, after putting its first spy satellite into orbit in November. Pyongyang "will carry out an important mission to enhance its space reconnaissance capabilities as planned to monitor and control the U.S. and other hostile forces' military movements and aggressive attempts," an unnamed spokesperson of the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (4/27)
Space Force Opens Bidding for Classified Communications Satellites (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is kicking off a major procurement of next-generation communications satellites critical to the nation’s nuclear command, control and communications network. This estimated $8 billion procurement, known as Evolved Strategic Satcom (ESS), will supplement and eventually replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellation. The new system will provide critical jam-resistant communication channels for the National Command Authorities and deployed forces worldwide, even in the North Polar region – a capability lacking in the current system. (4/26)
Pentagon Canceled Northrop’s Classified Satellite Program Due to ‘Budgetary Concerns’ (Source: Defense One)
Northrop Grumman’s classified satellite program was canceled because the Pentagon didn’t have enough money to pay for it, the company said. The cancellation sliced about $1.6 billion off Northrop’s “unfunded backlog”—that is, prospective orders whose funding has yet to be appropriated, according to the company. Bloomberg first reported that the canceled program was intended to develop a military communications satellite for the Space Force. (4/25)
Musk Plots UK Mobile Phone Network (Source: The Telegraph)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is laying the groundwork to connect his Starlink satellite service to the UK’s mobile phone network as rural households struggle with poor signal coverage. In a filing with telecoms regulator Ofcom, the billionaire’s space business asked for permission to expand its network of ground terminals, which would pave the way for it launching a mobile service. (4/26)
Mick Jagger Has an Out-of-This-World Experience at NASA Headquarters (Source: Billboard)
Mick Jagger certainly felt “2000 Light Years From Home” this week, when he stopped by NASA‘s headquarters. The Rolling Stones frontman stopped by the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before the iconic rock band kicks off their Hackney Diamonds Tour in the city on Sunday (April 28). “Thanks @nasa for being so welcoming to us and great to be shown around by astronauts Josh Cassada, Bob Hines and Jessica Meir,” Jagger captioned a series of photos from his visit that he posted on Instagram. (4/26)
SpaceX launched another collection of Starlink satellites on Sunday at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Falcon-9 booster landed downrange on a droneship for reuse on future missions. (4/28)
Space Coast Congressman Announces Retirement (Source: WFTV)
U.S. Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL) announced Friday that he is retiring after 16 years in Congress. The 76-year-old has held the seat for Florida’s 8th congressional district since 2008. That district stretches from Vero Beach to Titusville. Posey told Channel 9 that he is leaving Congress because of “circumstances beyond my control.” He has endorsed former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos -- a fellow Republican who qualified to run for the seat hours before qualifying closed at noon Friday. (4/26)
NASA's Voyager is in Hostile Territory. It's 'Dodging Bullets' (Source: Mashable)
At some 15 and 12 billion miles away, Voyager 1 and 2 are beyond the protective bubble of the sun, called the heliosphere. Out in this realm of interstellar space, the nearly 50-year-old probes have a higher probability of damage from hostile, high-speed particles, called galactic cosmic rays, owing to a higher number of particles zooming by every second. "We are dodging bullets out there," said Alan Cummings, a cosmic-ray physicist at Caltech — the research university that manages NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (4/27)
Dark Matter: A New Experiment Aims to Turn the Ghostly Substance Into Actual Light (Source: Phys.org)
Several experiments have aimed to unveil what it's made of, but despite decades of searching, scientists have come up short. Now our new experiment, under construction at Yale University in the US, is offering a new tactic. Dark matter has been around the universe since the beginning of time, pulling stars and galaxies together. Invisible and subtle, it doesn't seem to interact with light or any other kind of matter. In fact, it has to be something completely new.
At present, the most sensitive approach targets the halo of dark matter permeating the galaxy (and consequently, Earth) with a device called a haloscope. It is a conductive cavity immersed in a strong magnetic field; the former captures the dark matter surrounding us (assuming it is axions), while the latter induces the conversion into light. The result is an electromagnetic signal appearing inside the cavity, oscillating with a characteristic frequency depending on the axion mass. (4/26)
JWST Studies Planet K2-18 b Again to Confirm Presence of Gas 'Only Produced by Life' (Source: Earth.com)
In September 2023, Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge, announced a very intriguing discovery. Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Madhusudhan and his team detected the presence of carbon-bearing molecules, including methane and carbon dioxide, on exoplanet K2-18 b.
This discovery was added to other recent studies suggesting that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet, characterized by a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface. The initial Webb observations also provided a possible detection of a molecule called dimethyl sulfide (DMS). On Earth, this molecule is “only produced by life”, primarily by phytoplankton in marine environments.
The abundance of methane and carbon dioxide, along with the shortage of ammonia, support the hypothesis that K2-18 b may have a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. The team is now conducting follow-up research with the JWST’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) spectrograph, hoping to further validate their findings and provide new insights into the environmental conditions on K2-18 b. (4/26)
Unprecedented Find in Meteorite Challenges Astrophysical Models (Source: SciTech Daily)
Scientists have discovered a meteorite particle with an unprecedented magnesium isotopic ratio, indicating its origin from a hydrogen burning supernova. Research has discovered a rare dust particle trapped in an ancient extra-terrestrial meteorite that was formed by a star other than our sun. The discovery was made by lead author Dr. Nicole Nevill and colleagues during her PhD studies at Curtin University, now working at the Lunar and Planetary Science Institute in collaboration with NASA’s Johnson Space Center. (4/26)
Hubble Telescope Put Into Dreaded Safe Mode Due to Ongoing Glitch (Source: Gizmodo)
NASA’s iconic Hubble Space Telescope isn’t doing so well. The observatory has been suffering from a pesky glitch affecting its gyroscope, causing it to suspend its science operations for a second time in less than six months. On Friday, NASA announced that Hubble had automatically entered safe mode on Tuesday, April 23 when one of its three operational gyroscopes returned faulty readings. Engineers are currently working on a solution to resume the telescope’s observations. (4/26)
What's on the Far Side of the Moon? Well, Not Darkness (Source: Mashable)
It took less than a week for NASA Administrator Bill Nelson's gaffe to make it to social media. Over an hour into a budget hearing for the U.S. space agency, a congressman asked Nelson why China is sending spacecraft to the "backside" of the moon. "They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side that's always in dark," said Nelson, a former senator and astronaut, during the April 17 hearing.
"We're not planning to go there." He proceeded to tell the lawmaker that "We don't know what's on the backside of the moon." On two counts, that was untrue: The so-called far side of the moon is not dark, despite popular belief, nor is it completely unknown to American scientists. (4/27)
A New Era: Ariane 6 Maiden Launch Campaign Gets Underway (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
On July 5, 2023, the Ariane 5 launch vehicle took flight for the last time, thus ending a storied 27-year career for what was Europe’s first heavy-lift rocket. Nearly ten months later, Arianespace is back at the launchpad with its new and advanced heavy-lift workhorse: the Ariane 6.
For the first time, the central core and boosters for Ariane 6 have been delivered to the pad at the ELA-4 launch complex in Kourou, French Guiana, officially marking the start of the maiden launch campaign. On Wednesday, April 24, the central core of the rocket — consisting of the main booster and upper stage — was transported 800 meters from the launcher assembly building to the ELA-4 pad, where it was installed on the launch table via a crane and with the assistance of automated guided vehicles (AGV). (4/27)
Identification of Noise Sources During Launch Using Phased Array Microphone Systems (Source: NASA)
In 2011 and 2012, the NESC sponsored research into the effectiveness of a microphone phased array (MPA) to identify noise sources and tested the array during an Antares launch from the Wallops Flight Facility. This simple prototype array was able to identify impingement-related noise sources during the launch. Today, building on this previous work, a new open-space truss MPA architecture is in development and test for use during the Artemis II launch. (4/26)
Northrop's Rocket Fuel Factory Is Slow to Take Off (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The Pentagon long relied on one U.S. company to make the main ingredient that fuels its most powerful missiles. Northrop Grumman’s effort to build a second source has been slow to take off. Years after building a factory to make more of the key chemical, Northrop’s output is still missing from the fuel powering many U.S. weapon systems—when global conflicts have spurred demand for a range of tactical missiles. A new $95 billion spending package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan will further bolster weapons demand abroad and pay to replenish U.S. arsenals. (4/27)
Rocket Reuse: SpaceX Achieves 20 Flights for Galileo Mission Booster, Aims for 40 (Sources: SpaceX, Ars Technica)
For mission performance requirements to launch the Galileo L12 spacecraft into a medium Earth orbit, SpaceX did not attempt to recover the first stage booster supporting this mission. The last time a first stage was expended during a Falcon 9 mission was 146 flights ago in November 2022. On most Falcon 9 missions, enough propellant remains in the first stage after stage separation to enable landing, recovery, and ultimately reuse on future missions.
In round numbers, the dry mass of a Falcon 9 first stage is about 50 metric tons, so the landing of all these rockets has prevented 15,000 metric tons of metal and other materials from being dumped into the oceans. SpaceX is currently working toward qualifying the Falcon booster and fairing fleets to support 40 missions each. Increasing Falcon's flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse.
SpaceX landed its 300th Falcon booster with last week's Starlink mission. In the Falcon fleet's lifetime, SpaceX has now landed about 85 percent of the Falcon rockets it has launched. These days, more than 90 percent of all its missions launch on previously flown boosters. Landing 300 rockets means SpaceX has preserved 2,700 Merlin rocket engines. (4/27)
SpaceX Launches Galileo Navsat for Europe (Sources: SPACErePORT, Space.com, SpaceFlight Now)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 carried two satellites for the European Space Agency's Galileo global navigation system to orbit. Prior to this, 28 Galileo satellites have launched, all of them atop Russian-built Soyuz rockets or Europe's Ariane 5. The European Commission signed the €180 million (about $192.5 million) two-launch deal with SpaceX on March 19. That represented a roughly 36 percent markup on the cost of the two missions compared to the standard payment plan for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch, which is $67 million. (4/27)
NASA Considers Switch to LEO Rendezvous for Artemis III (Source: Ars Technica)
Under one of the options NASA is considering, astronauts would launch into low-Earth orbit inside an Orion spacecraft and rendezvous there with a Starship vehicle, separately launched by SpaceX. During this mission, similar to Apollo 9, a precursor to the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the crew would validate the ability of Orion and Starship to dock and test habitability inside Starship. One benefit of this mission profile is that NASA could "save" an upper stage for the SLS rocket and use it on the subsequent lunar landing mission while also buying down some risk. (4/27)
Parker Solar Probe Prepares To Break Humanity’s Speed Record (Source: WECB)
During its 19th orbit, the Parker Solar Probe flirted with the fiery edges of the Sun, cruising to about 7.26 million kilometers from our star’s surface. This daring maneuver matched the probe’s previous record for the closest approach, a testament to its enduring design and the precision of the teams behind it at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, where it was also built.
However, it’s the next lap in this cosmic race that has scientists and space enthusiasts buzzing with excitement. On December 24, aided by a gravity assist from Venus on November 6, the probe will swoop even closer to the Sun, to a mere 6.12 million kilometers away. This closer encounter is not just about breaking records; it will also increase the probe’s speed to an astonishing 692,000 kilometers per hour. (4/26)
China Aims to Beat US in Race for Mars Samples with 2030 Goal (Source: South China Morning Post)
The chief designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program predicts China could beat the US in the race to bring rocks from the red planet back to Earth, in the first such suggestion from the country’s space authorities. “China will launch the Tianwen-3 spacecraft around 2030 to implement its Mars sample return mission,” Wu Weiren said on Wednesday.
Wu, the first senior Chinese space official to make such a prediction openly, also revealed that China has started planning on a project to build the world’s first Mars sample laboratory. Sun Zezhou, Wu’s colleague and chief designer of the 2021 Tianwen-1 Mars mission, previously said that all key technologies needed for Tianwen-3 were in place and work was progressing smoothly. (4/26)
NASA Still Doesn’t Understand Root Cause of Orion Seat Shield Issue (Source: Ars Technica)
More of the charred material than expected came off the heat shield during the Artemis I reentry, and the way it came off was somewhat uneven, NASA officials said. Orion's heat shield is made of a material called Avcoat, which is designed to burn off as the spacecraft plunges into the atmosphere at 25,000 mph (40,000 km per hour). Coming back from the Moon, Orion encountered temperatures up to 5,000° Fahrenheit (2,760° Celsius), hotter than a spacecraft sees when it reenters the atmosphere from low-Earth orbit.
Engineers have performed sub-scale heat shield tests in wind tunnels and arc jet facilities to better understand what led to the uneven charring on Artemis I. "We’re getting close to the final answer in terms of that cause," Kshatriya said. NASA officials previously said it is unlikely they will need to make changes to the heat shield already installed on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II, but haven't ruled it out. A redesign or modifications to the Orion heat shield on Artemis II would probably delay the mission by at least a year. (4/26)
Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft Will Not Fly Private Missions Yet, Officials Say (Source: Space.com)
Boeing says it may sign up private astronauts for future Starliner missions, but the focus is on NASA for now. The spacecraft's program manager, Mark Nappi, said the company is very focused on flying the first Starliner mission for NASA with astronauts on board. That mission, Crew Flight Test (CFT), will see NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams rocket to space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket no earlier than May 6. (4/27)
North Korea Reaffirms Plan to Bolster Space Reconnaissance Capabilities (Source: Korea Times)
North Korea reiterated its commitment to launching more reconnaissance satellites this year, Saturday, after putting its first spy satellite into orbit in November. Pyongyang "will carry out an important mission to enhance its space reconnaissance capabilities as planned to monitor and control the U.S. and other hostile forces' military movements and aggressive attempts," an unnamed spokesperson of the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (4/27)
Space Force Opens Bidding for Classified Communications Satellites (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is kicking off a major procurement of next-generation communications satellites critical to the nation’s nuclear command, control and communications network. This estimated $8 billion procurement, known as Evolved Strategic Satcom (ESS), will supplement and eventually replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellation. The new system will provide critical jam-resistant communication channels for the National Command Authorities and deployed forces worldwide, even in the North Polar region – a capability lacking in the current system. (4/26)
Pentagon Canceled Northrop’s Classified Satellite Program Due to ‘Budgetary Concerns’ (Source: Defense One)
Northrop Grumman’s classified satellite program was canceled because the Pentagon didn’t have enough money to pay for it, the company said. The cancellation sliced about $1.6 billion off Northrop’s “unfunded backlog”—that is, prospective orders whose funding has yet to be appropriated, according to the company. Bloomberg first reported that the canceled program was intended to develop a military communications satellite for the Space Force. (4/25)
Musk Plots UK Mobile Phone Network (Source: The Telegraph)
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is laying the groundwork to connect his Starlink satellite service to the UK’s mobile phone network as rural households struggle with poor signal coverage. In a filing with telecoms regulator Ofcom, the billionaire’s space business asked for permission to expand its network of ground terminals, which would pave the way for it launching a mobile service. (4/26)
Mick Jagger Has an Out-of-This-World Experience at NASA Headquarters (Source: Billboard)
Mick Jagger certainly felt “2000 Light Years From Home” this week, when he stopped by NASA‘s headquarters. The Rolling Stones frontman stopped by the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, before the iconic rock band kicks off their Hackney Diamonds Tour in the city on Sunday (April 28). “Thanks @nasa for being so welcoming to us and great to be shown around by astronauts Josh Cassada, Bob Hines and Jessica Meir,” Jagger captioned a series of photos from his visit that he posted on Instagram. (4/26)
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