September 29, 2020

US Faces Tight Timeline for 2024 Moon Landing, NASA Chief Tells Senate (Source: Space.com)
NASA needs to have a new  lunar lander and giant rocket ready by next year in order to return astronauts to the moon by 2024, the space agency's chief Jim Bridenstine told Congress Wednesday. In a Senate appropriations committee hearing, Bridenstine said NASA aims to send the crewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon in November 2021 to prepare for the first orbital mission with astronauts two years later, Artemis 2. The Artemis 3 mission would follow, sending astronauts to the south pole of the moon in 2024. Bridenstine said he is worried about the effects on the Artemis program if any of the missions are delayed which could happen for technical or funding reasons. (9/28)

Gold Miners Discover 100 Million-Year-Old Meteorite Crater Down Under (Source: Space.com)
Gold miners in the Australian Outback recently discovered a gigantic meteorite crater dating to about 100 million years ago, back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Found near the Western Australian town of Ora Banda, the newly dubbed Ora Banda Impact Crater is about 3 miles (5 kilometers) across. This huge hole was likely created by a meteorite up to 660 feet (200 meters) wide, or longer than the length of two American football fields. (9/28)

NASA Selects SpaceX to Launch Mission Studying Interstellar Space (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
NASA has awarded SpaceX a $109 million contract to launch the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, a NOAA space weather observatory, a robotic scout to map water on the moon, and two other ridealong payloads on a single Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in 2024. The rideshare mission’s primary passenger is IMAP, a probe heading for an observing post nearly a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth in the direction of the sun at the L1 Lagrange point. IMAP’s instruments will study the boundary between the heliosphere — where the sun’s influence reigns — and the region between the stars known as interstellar space. (9/28)

Russia's Position in Space Race Above India But Below US and China (Source: Realnoe Vremya)
Are we much late compared to the rest of the world? We're late even compared to ourselves. Angara A5 launch vehicle project and the new Soyuz-5 and Soyuz-6 projects were outdated even before a serious development began. The world's space rocket science technologies have gone far ahead, and Soyuz-5 and Soyuz-6 are being created on the basis of the best Soviet medium-class Zenit carrier rocket. But it was created as early as in the last century!

The United States is definitely the first in the space race. NASA and the Pentagon have very large space budgets, and this is an important indicator. On the other hand, NASA still does not have enough money to organise a manned expedition to Mars, so for now the priority is again with lunar programmes. The United States has approved the Artemis programme to return people to the Moon in 2024.

I would like to mention India. They are preparing a manned programme, their own spacecraft. Their first cosmonauts are currently undergoing contract training at the Russian cosmonaut training centre named after Y.A. Gagarin. India has a Martian and lunar programme, in which it is already ahead of Russia. In 2019, India tried to gently land the module on the Moon — however, it crashed during a hard landing. (9/29)

NASA, SpaceX Now Target Halloween Launch for Crewed Mission to ISS (Source: Fox35 Orlando)
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting 2:40 a.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 31, for the launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station. Astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker of NASA and Japan's Soichi Noguchi will be carried to the station on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The launch will be the first time an international crew will fly aboard a NASA-certified, commercially-owned-and-operated American rocket and spacecraft from American soil. (9/28)

Rocket Factory Augsburg Signs Agreement with Andøya Space for Maiden Flight (Source: OHB)
Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA), a participation of space technology company OHB SE, will be establishing a launch site for a micro launcher together with Norwegian company Andøya Space. The two partners have now signed a letter of intent to this effect. The site is to provide launch services for small satellites from 2022. "This partnership is of key importance as it will enable RFA and Andøya Space to launch the first satellite from continental Europe on a European launch vehicle," said Dr. Stefan Brieschenk, Chief Operation Officer of RFA. (9/28)

UN Space Chief Calls for Mass Action to Save Earth and Cosmos (Source: The National)
The director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs has called for renewed collective action to protect space for future generations and tackle the climate emergency and other global challenges. Simonetta Di Pippo addressed an online seminar on Monday as part of the annual Autumn Conference of the European Space Policy Institute. The Italian astrophysicist gave an impassioned plea for “co-ordinated and concerted international action, upholding to the highest standards of responsibility, transparency and sustainability so we can build a better future up there in the sky and down here on the planet we call home". (9/29)

Satellite Cos. Want FCC To Reconsider Space Junk Rules (Source: Law360)
The Federal Communications Commission didn't go far enough when it added new rules aimed at curbing the amount of potentially harmful space debris that ends up floating around the atmosphere, satellite bigwigs Amazon, SpaceX and Boeing told the agency. The trio of satelite operators want the FCC to reconsider the significantly pared-back set of rules on orbital debris that it handed down back in April, and they made their case in three separate petitions filed Thursday. (9/28)

GAO Finds Conflict of Interest With $652M MSFC Contract (Source: Law360)
NASA should re-award a $651.6 million operations services contract awarded to a Maryland company because an agency employee involved in the acquisition had a conflict of interest, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office decision released Monday. The GAO sustained Alabama-based Teledyne Brown Engineering's protest alleging that a NASA worker had a personal relationship with a high-level employee who works for the contract awardee SGT LLC's subcontractor COLSA Corp., which alllegedly tainted the selection process. (9/28)

Reality Bites (Source: Space Review)
A reality TV show is reportedly in the works that would send the winner to the International Space Station. Dwayne Day notes this is a latest in a long line of such ventures, which so far have all failed to send anyone into space. Click here. (9/28)
 
Battle of the Titans (Source: Space Review)
In the 1980s, the Air Force pursued a new launch vehicle as a backup to the Space Shuttle. As Wayne Eleazer recounts, what would become the Titan IV had its challenges both before and after it won the competition. Click here. (9/28)
 
Photons and Phosphine (Source: Space Review)
A month ago, Rocket Lab not only returned its Electron rocket to flight, but also flew its first Photon satellite. Jeff Foust reports on the development of the spacecraft and how it could enable plans for a privately backed mission to Venus. Click here. (9/28)

UAE Plans Lunar Mission (Source: The National)
The United Arab Emirates is planning a lunar mission. The Emirates Moon Exploration Project, announced Saturday, will send a spacecraft to the moon by 2024, although few other details about the planned mission were disclosed. The mission will be part of a 10-year strategic plan for the UAE's space program. The UAE's first Mars mission, the Hope orbiter, launched in July and will arrive at Mars in February. (9/28)

NASA Astronaut Plans to Cast Her Ballot From the Space Station (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins told The Associated Press on Friday that she plans to cast her next vote from space – more than 200 miles above Earth. Rubins is just outside Moscow in Star City, Russia, preparing with two cosmonauts for a mid-October launch and a six-month stay at the International Space Station. “I think it’s really important for everybody to vote,” Rubins said. “If we can do it from space, then I believe folks can do it from the ground, too.” Most U.S. astronauts live in Houston. Texas law allows them to vote from space using a secure electronic ballot. Mission Control forwards the ballot to the space station and relays the completed ballot back to the county clerk. (9/25)

China Launches Reconnaissance Satellites (Source: Space News)
China launched a pair of remote sensing satellites Saturday night with no advance notice. A Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:23 p.m. Eastern and placed the Huanjing-2A and -2B satellites into orbit. The launch came with no advance notice by the Chinese government, such as airspace closures around and downrange from the launch site. The two satellites are equipped with 16-meter multispectral, 48-meter hyperspectral and infrared imagers. They will be used monitor land and water resources and disasters, and serve the agriculture and forestry industries, according to Chinese media. (9/28)

Germany's HyImpulse Tests Hybrid Rocket Engine (Source: Space News)
German launch vehicle startup HyImpulse has successfully tested a hybrid rocket engine. HyImpulse said that a hot-fire test earlier this month confirmed that its engine, which uses solid paraffin fuel and liquid oxygen, performed on par with liquid hydrocarbon-based fuels. HyImpulse is developing its three-stage SL1 launch vehicle designed to carry payloads of up to 500 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit, and is one of three companies in a competition run by the German space agency DLR to support the development of small launchers. (9/28)

NASA and USGS Plan RFI for Future of Landsat (Source: Space News)
NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey will soon seek ideas for the future of the Landsat program. The agencies plan to release a request for information by the end of the year for Landsat Next, the spacecraft that would come after the Landsat 9 satellite scheduled for launch next year. Landsat Next is likely to be a significant departure from its predecessors, government officials said, with the agencies open to new approaches to acquiring the imagery. (9/28)

Chinese Lander Confirms Lunar Surface Radiation (Source: Science)
Data from a Chinese spacecraft show that radiation levels on the moon remain within safe limits for astronauts. A dosimeter flown by Chinese and German scientists on the Chang'e-4 lunar lander shows radiation levels on the moon are 5-10 times higher than passengers on an intercontinental aircraft flight receive, but are within levels for safe exposure for NASA astronauts. That radiation exposure could be reduced by shielding lunar habitats with at least 50 centimeters of regolith, although greater shielding is required to protect astronauts from solar storms. (9/28)

Bad Weather Dashes Plan for Florida Launch Salvo (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Weather postponed two launches Monday from Cape Canaveral. A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of 60 Starlink satellites was scrubbed in the final minute of the countdown Monday morning when weather conditions failed to clear in time for the launch. That launch will likely be delayed to no earlier than Thursday. United Launch Alliance scrubbed a Delta 4 Heavy launch Monday evening when lightning forced crews to suspend the retraction of the mobile gantry, halting launch preparations. That launch has been rescheduled for 11:58 p.m. Eastern tonight, but with unsettled weather still in the forecast. SpaceX has moved a Falcon 9 GPS satellite launch that was scheduled for this evening to Wednesday night. (9/29)

Russia Launches Gonets and Kepler Satellites (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Soyuz rocket launched a set of satellites Monday, including the first two operational satellites for Kepler Communications. The Soyuz-2.1b lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 7:20 a.m. Eastern with a primary payload of three Gonets communications satellites. The rocket also carried 15 secondary payloads arranged by Exolaunch, including two 6U cubesats built by Kepler. The satellites are the first Kepler built in-house after working with AAC Clyde on three prototypes. Kepler plans to build a constellation of 140 satellites to provide store-and-forward communications for large data files and Internet of Things services. Kepler said this launch is the start of an "aggressive" launch campaign, with the next set of satellites to launch in December. (9/29)

Virgin Galactic Shares Soar Again (Source: CNBC)
Shares in Virgin Galactic soared Monday after an analyst said the stock price should soar. The suborbital spaceflight company's stock closed up nearly 25% Monday, and is now up 78% for the year to date. The jump was not prompted by any company announcements but instead a report by a Bank of America analyst that was bullish on the company's future prospects, saying that "no company in our coverage universe has anywhere near comparable growth potential" as Virgin Galactic. The company is best known for its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle, whose entry into commercial service has been pushed back to 2021, but has more recently expressed interest in orbital human spaceflight and high-speed point-to-point transportation. (9/29)

Musk Open to Starlink IPO (Source: Teslarati)
Elon Musk says he would be open to an initial public offering (IPO) for Starlink, but not in the near future. In a tweet Monday, Musk said an IPO for Starlink would take place "several years in the future when revenue growth is smooth & predictable." Earlier this year, Musk said he was giving no thought to spinning off the broadband constellation service and taking it public. Beta testing of the Starlink service is in progress, including by the emergency management department in the state of Washington to provide connectivity in communities affected by wildfires there. (9/29)

India Extends Mission of Space Telescope (Source: Hindustan Times)
An Indian space telescope is entering an extended mission. The Astrosat satellite, equipped with ultraviolet and X-ray instruments, launched five years ago. The Indian space agency ISRO says Astrosat is still working well, and will remain in operation after completing its five-year primary mission. K. Sivan, head of ISRO, said several other space science missions are in development by the agency, including one to study X-ray polarization. (9/29)

More Evidence Subsurface Mars Lakes (Source: Science News)
Scientists have found more evidence of subsurface lakes of liquid water on Mars. New analysis of radar data from ESA's Mars Express mission appears to confirm a 2018 finding that a lake exists about 1.5 kilometers below the surface of the ice cap at the south pole of Mars. The new study, announced Monday, confirmed the presence of the lake and also found what appear to be several smaller bodies of water surrounding it. Researchers caution, though, that they're still not sure how water can remain liquid at the cold temperatures found there without either a geothermal heat source or high concentrations of salt that could turn the water "into some weird glass," said one scientist. (9/29)

Space Force Has Plan for Buying Weather Sensors (Source: Space News)
The US Space Force is providing Congress with a plan for buying new weather satellites, addressing perceived issues with the weather program previously overseen by the Air Force. Raytheon Technologies, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates are currently building space sensor prototypes for the Space and Missile Systems Center. (9/28)

AFRL’s Big Ambitions For Lunar Patrol Satellites (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Air Force Research Lab has revealed first details about its groundbreaking effort to build an experimental satellite for monitoring lunar-faring spacecraft — including its possible Lagrange point orbit and plans for a kick off industry day this coming summer. The Cislunar Highway Patrol Satellite (CHPS) would be the first space domain awareness (SDA) to focus on cislunar space, the vast region between the Earth’s outer orbit and the Moon’s. It could also be the US military’s first attempt to operate a satellite in the special orbital domains known as Lagrange Points, where a spacecraft can, in essence, ‘hover’ in a relatively fixed spot.

“We are evaluating multiple orbits for potential utility in conducting the space domain awareness mission. Most of the orbits of interest lie within the Lagrange 1 or 2 families,” program manager Capt. David Buehler, tells me in an email. Lagrange 1 lies between the Sun and Earth, where NASA already operates several solar probes because of the uninterrupted view of the Sun; Lagrange 2 lies outside the lunar orbit on a constant line of site with the Sun and the Earth, where NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will be placed. (9/29)