May 27, 2022

SpaceX Launches First Armenian Satellite (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)
SpaceX launched the first Armenian satellite on May 25, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a government sitting today. This became possible thanks to cooperation between the Armenian state-owned Geocosmos CJSC and the Spanish company Santantis, the Prime Minister said. Armenia’s High-Tech Minister Robert Khachatryan and Ambassador to the US Lilit Makunts were present at the launching ceremony. (5/26)

Starlink Surpasses 400,000 Subscribers Globally (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX told federal regulators in a presentation last week that its Starlink satellite internet service now has over 400,000 subscribers around the world. The disclosure indicates the company is steadily growing subscribers for the service, which began in October 2020. Two months ago, Starlink said it had about 250,000 subscribers. At the start of this year, it said it had about 145,000 subscribers. The figures include both individual consumers and businesses. (5/26)

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Partners with U.S. Space Force to Train Cybersecurity Workers (Source: GeekWire)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is collaborating with the Space Force to address the gap in cybersecurity professionals working on space-related technology. The new Cyber Halo Innovation Research Project (CHIRP) will partner with colleges and universities to provide students with two years of training and research experience.

The idea is to groom students for potential jobs with the Space Force, the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces that launched in 2019, or with its industry partners. (5/26)

Preview of New Gateway Exhibit at KSC Visitors Center (Source: Talk of Titusville)
The future of space travel will come to life at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex with the opening of its brand-new attraction on June 15, Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex, which will feature the spaceport of the future, Spaceport KSC, and an all-new restaurant, Space Bowl Bistro. Click here. (5/26) https://talkoftitusville.com/2022/05/26/preview-of-gateway-exhibit-at-kscvc/

Moon Exploration Company Raises $12 Million (Source: Axios)
Lunar Outpost — a company focused on building rovers and instruments to explore the Moon and mine its resources — has raised $12 million in seed funding. The Moon is poised to become a major geopolitical and scientific center of operation in space, as more nations and companies turn their attention to the lunar surface. Lunar Outpost's seed round is expected to help fund the company's plans to build a new type of autonomous rover for the Moon and amp up its current offerings. (5/24)

China Targets Permanently Shadowed Regions at Lunar South Pole (Source: Space News)
China is looking to land spacecraft near permanently shadowed regions near the south pole of the moon to investigate the potential presence of resources trapped in craters. Researchers from the Key Laboratory of Information Science of Electromagnetic Waves published a paper on landing site selection in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) on the moon, indicating that China’s Chang’e-7 mission will attempt a highly accurate, fixed point landing at a solar illuminated area, such as a crater rim near the lunar south pole.

The landing site will also be in the proximity of a PSR which could then be searched and sampled for detecting water and other volatiles. PSRs do not receive any sunlight due to their latitude and elevation. With temperatures around –230 degrees Celsius, PSRs are colder than the surface of Pluto, making them potential traps for volatiles including water ice but also methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and more. Such resources could help support human explorers on the moon, with water ice converted into drinking water, or electrolyzed to produce rocket propellant. (5/27)

UCF Team Designs Lunar Satellite Tools to Hunt for Water (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
When Kerri Donaldson Hanna looks at the full moon she sees a future full of opportunity. “I see so much possibility. Humans have put their feet there, looked back at Earth, and saw it as that object in the sky,” said Hanna, a planetary geologist at the University of Central Florida. “I see it as a geographically interesting place. It holds a lot of what’s possible for our future. We’ve been there, but what else can we do?”

Hanna and a research team of UCF students are working to print a map of possibilities by creating spectral instruments for a NASA satellite capable of scanning and producing high-resolution maps of water on the moon. In 2019, NASA selected the Lunar Trailblazer mission, along with three other proposed missions, for further study under its Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program. The following year, NASA approved Kerri’s plans for spectral mapping for a 2025 launch. Although Trailblazer could launch as soon as next year, Hanna said.

Most lunar scientists agree that water-ice exists in the permanent shadows of craters safe from the sun’s evaporating rays. But there are few actual detections of frozen water. Lots of remote sensing measurements have suggested where water should be, such as surface-temperature maps, but Hanna is hoping Trailblazer can end the speculation and unearth facts hidden beneath the surface — or on the surface. (5/27)

General Dynamics to Develop DoD LEO Constellation Ground System (Source: Space News)
General Dynamics won a contract to develop the ground system for the Space Development Agency's LEO constellation. The seven-year contract, announced Thursday, is for $162.9 million as a baseline, with $161.5 million in options. Under the contract, General Dynamics will set up two operations centers and 14 ground stations for communicating with the Tranche 1 constellation. The company teamed with Iridium Communications, KSAT, Emergent and Raytheon on the bid. While SDA has used fixed-price contracts for its satellites, it used a more traditional cost-plus contract for the ground network because of the system's complexity and risk. (5/27)

Space Force Develops Process for Evaluating Commercial Satellite Cybersecurity (Source: Space News)
The Space Force released a new process for evaluating the cybersecurity of commercial satellite operators it works with. Under the Infrastructure Asset Pre-Approval program, or IA-Pre, commercial suppliers of satellite-based services are evaluated based on their cybersecurity practices and systems. Those that pass are put on a pre-approved list and do not need to be re-evaluated for each proposal. The service is also looking to add more squadrons of cyber specialists to support military units that operate communications, surveillance and navigation satellites. (5/27)

Space Force Procures Five ULA Vulcan Launches, Three SpaceX Falcon-9 Launches (Source: Space Systems Command)
The Space Force's Space Systems Command issued task orders Thursday for eight launches to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. The command awarded five launches to ULA's Vulcan Centaur, including a GPS mission, the WGS-11+ communications satellite and three classified missions, all launching from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX will perform Falcon 9 launches of a Missile Defense Agency mission, a military weather satellite and one set of SDA Tranche 1 satellites from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg. The task orders were issued under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 contracts awarded to the two companies in 2020. (5/27)

SpaceX to Replace Crew Dragon Heat Shield After Failed Test (Source: Space News)
SpaceX will replace the heat shield on its next Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station after it failed acceptance tests. NASA said this week that the heat shield suffered damage in recent tests that simulated the loads it would experience on landing. A new heat shield will be tested and used on the Crew-5 mission launching in September. NASA denied a report earlier in the week that, during the Crew Dragon reentry on the Ax-1 private astronaut mission in April, hypergolic propellant leaked from thrusters and caused excessive wear to that heat shield. NASA said recent reentries were normal with no unusual wear to the heat shield. (5/27)

Macroeconomic Issues Threaten Continued Space Industry Growth (Source: Space News)
Macroeconomic issues could put a damper on the growth of the space industry. Industry officials said issues ranging from supply chain disruptions to concerns about a recession could impair growth previously expected for companies, particularly if those conditions slow the rate of investment into startups. Investors may also be "spooked" by the poor performance on the markets by space companies that went public in the last year through SPAC mergers. (5/27)

Additive Manufacturing Increasingly Used for Space Hardware (Source: Space News)
Spacecraft developers are making increasing use of additive manufacturing. At Space Tech Expo, companies said the technology has matured to the point where they can use it for rapidly building and testing complex parts. Additive manufacturing will still be employed alongside traditional subtractive-manufacturing processes for the foreseeable future, though, they said. (5/27)

ESA Expects Russia to Remain an ISS Partner (Source: Reuters)
The head of the European Space Agency doesn't expect Russia to leave the ISS partnership. Josef Aschbacher said this week at the World Economic Forum that Russia and the other ISS partners depended on each other, making it infeasible for Russia to go off on its own. His comments echo those of NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who has reiterated that Russia shows no sign of leaving the station for the foreseeable future despite Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and sanctions levied on Russia by Western nations. (5/27)

Japanese Astronaut Retiring From JAXA (Source: Jiji Press)
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi is retiring from the Japanese space agency JAXA. Noguchi said he will retire from JAXA at the beginning of June and work in the private sector. He became an astronaut in 1996 and flew on the shuttle, Soyuz and Crew Dragon. He said that after returning from the ISS a year ago on Crew Dragon, he experienced burnout and decided it was time to leave the agency. (5/27)

Brazil's Space Science Institute in Decline (Source: Science)
Researchers say a Brazilian space science institute is decaying from a lack of funding. The National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, was once a crown jewel of Brazil's science program, working on remote sensing data and developing satellites. However, its budget has declined precipitously in recent years, and scientists there say the center is falling apart and losing researchers. INPE's budget increased this year, bringing it back to 2019 levels, but the center's director says it needs to double its current budget to carry out its work. (5/27)

Apollo 11 Moon Dust (and Cockroaches) Going to Auction (Source: CollectSpace)
Up for auction is a small amount of moon dust from the Apollo 11 — and the cockroaches that ate it. The dust was fed to cockroaches after the mission to test if the dust harbored any life. After the tests, a researcher kept the cockroach carcasses, and a small amount of lunar dust was extracted from them. An auction house estimates that the dust, and cockroaches, will sell for $400,000. (5/27)

Embry-Riddle International Space Innovation Team Advances to NASA Finals (Source: ERAU)
A student team representing all three campuses of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, as well as the Politecnico di Milano, a prestigious university in Italy, has designed a system to produce propellant out of resources extracted from Mars. Water would be extracted from subsurface ice pockets and carbon dioxide from the planet’s atmosphere in the team’s innovative design, which recently advanced to the finals of NASA’s Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts — Academic Linkage (RASC-AL), to be held in June.

The 29-person team will compete against 14 other teams. Their project proposal was chosen among a field of 150 by NASA representatives and experts from Aerojet Rocketdyne, The Boeing Company, Cislunar Space Development Company, Northrop Grumman, Reliable Robotics and SpaceWorks. (5/2)

UCF Scientists Talk Space, Sci-fi During Orlando MegaCon (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Before Joshua Colwell, Addie Dove and Hannah Sargeant began diving into the new episode of the Walkabout the Galaxy podcast Saturday at MegaCon, Colwell had an icebreaker — if you could have the superpower to see in other light waves, which would you choose?

They were the opening event at MegaCon’s Creator Stage on Saturday. It’s the second time the podcast was recorded at the event, where thousands of cosplayers dressed as their favorite characters and perused the hundreds of exhibitions and celebrity meet-and-greets. (5/21)

Astroscale Gets Funds for 2024 Debris Removal Mission (Source: Space News)
Astroscale has secured European Space Agency funding for a 2024 demo mission to remove what will likely be a OneWeb satellite. The debris-removal startup said May 27 that the 15 million euro ($16 million) funding enables it to complete the design of its ELSA-m servicer spacecraft, progressing through manufacturing up to the satellite pre-integration phase. Astroscale plans to launch a commercial de-orbit service for satellite operators after that. (5/27)

Legs Installed for SpaceX Starship Launch Mount at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The first legs for the Starship launch mount at Pad 39A have been installed, construction of Blue Origin's 2CAT facility continued, and a quick update on the SpaceX Fleet. Click here for the video. (5/25)

What Can Satellites Reveal About Climate Tipping Points? (Source: ESA)
Tipping points are typically self-propelling, so that, once triggered, they drive deeper change. Examples include strongly increased ice sheet melt, permafrost thaw, ocean circulation changes and forest dieback. The threat to society from climate tipping points – both individually and due to their interactions – is not yet well understood. It is an area needing urgent research to develop predictions of when and where these abrupt changes can occur and the risk that they pose to communities and ecosystems worldwide.

The global view and high spatial resolution afforded by satellites pose a particularly useful opportunity, said researchers at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium in Bonn, Germany. Remote sensing has already been used to provide critical evidence of the proximity of several tipping elements, ranging from ice sheets to boreal and tropical forests.

“We have moderate confidence that ocean circulation in the North Atlantic will not collapse during this century because climate models still miss key processes.” To gain a better understanding of ocean dynamics and therefore make more reliable predictions of any potential rapid changes, the models should be better coupled to Earth observation datasets. He says, “A rapid weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation would have worldwide impacts: it is therefore urgent to work on the risk of such an event occurring.” (5/26)

Southern Launch Receives Further Support from the Australia's Government (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Australian spaceport and space mission provider, Southern Launch, has been awarded an Australian Space Agency Moon to Mars Grant for their mobile launch rail. The almost $1 million grant will enable Southern Launch to design, construct, and commission a mobile launch rail that will be capable of launching sub-orbital vehicles ranging in mass from 20kg to 3,500kg.

The mobility of the rocket launcher will allow Southern Launch to use the launch rail at both the Koonibba Test Range and the Whalers Way Orbital Launch Complex.

The mobile launch rail project will deliver on the Federal Government’s commitment to providing world-class, reliable, economical, and safe launch facilities in Australia, which will serve a wide range of Australian and international customers. The increased capability will also mean that more international launch customers will be able to consider Southern Launch as their launch site. (5/26)