October 7, 2022

Micro Meat and Orbital Assembly Team Up on Space-Based Food Production Venture (Source: Orbital Assembly)
Micro Meat, a pioneer in the alternative protein industry, and Orbital Assembly (OA), developer of space-based business parks with variable gravity, have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-develop cultivated meat production systems in space.

Under the agreement, Micro Meat will install its proprietary meat production equipment aboard OA’s Pioneer-classTM space station to provide food for space station personnel. The Pioneer-classTM stations are the world’s first and largest hybrid space stations for both work and play and will be the first free-flying, habitable, privately-operated facility in orbit. The project will give Micro Meat the opportunity to enhance the efficiency of its production process and make it more of a scalable protein production system on earth. (10/7)

SDA Contracts with Ball Aerospace for 10 Satellites (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Space Development Agency is building out its experimentation capabilities, choosing two companies this week to help test new technology on orbit. SDA announced Oct. 4 it chose Colorado-based Ball Aerospace to build and operate its National Defense Space Architecture Experimental Testbed, or NExT, and provide an initial 10 satellites that will launch in fiscal 2024. The agency awarded the company a prototype agreement worth up to $176 million. NExT offers a platform for SDA to test and refine new sensor technology over time as threats advanced and warfighter needs change. (10/6)

Millennium Space Systems Awarded Space Safari Effort (Source: Space Daily)
Millennium is delivering the satellite for VICTUS NOX, a Tactically Responsive Space mission led by the Space Safari Program Office within Space Systems Command. VICTUS NOX is the next Tactically Responsive Space demonstration. The mission's main focus is to deliver a satellite into operations on a tactically relevant timeline in order to demonstrate a credible response to new on-orbit threats. (10/6)

Successful TEXUS 57 Launch - the Weightless World Above the Arctic Circle (Source: Space Daily)
The TEXUS 57 sounding rocket was successfully launched on the first launch attempt on Oct. 1 from the Esrange Space Center in Sweden to enable microgravity experiments in space. What is behind this long-lasting program and what is its contribution to scientific research? TEXUS (Technological Experiments in Zero Gravity) is the world's most successful and longest lasting sounding rocket program - the first TEXUS rocket launched in December 1977. Sounding rockets - also known as research rockets - launch scientific and technological experiments to the edge of space for a period of about six minutes before falling back to Earth.

How often do TEXUS rockets take off? On average, two rockets every 18 months. For this purpose, two-stage, 13-metre-long Brazilian VSB-30 rocket motors have been used since 2005.The rockets are launched from the Esrange Space Centre - an almost unknown location in the very north of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle. Here, the scientific payload can be easily recovered and returned to the research teams less than two hours after launch. (10/7)

Orbital Sidekick Selected as Partner for Intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE) (Source: Orbital Sidekick)
Orbital Sidekick (OSK), the first U.S. commercial company to deploy hyperspectral sensors in space, announced today that it has been selected once again by the intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE) to serve as the company's technology partner. OSK will have an opportunity to advance its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation known as GHOSt, which is set to launch in 2023. The hyperspectral imaging (HSI) constellation consists of six 100-kg ESPA class satellites for the launches on SpaceX's Transporter program. (10/6)

Central Florida Couple Headed Back to Space with Blue Origin, This Time Inviting Kids to Watch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
One taste of space was not enough for Winter Park couple Sharon and Marc Hagle, so they are headed back on a future launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. This time, though, they’re handing out tickets to come see the spectacle. “It’s a great opportunity to have a second chance, a second peek at space,” Sharon Hagel said. But, she added, she is just as enthusiastic to work with the local nonprofit she founded in 2015 — SpaceKids Global — to arrange for eight children to come out to “watch the launch up close and personal.”

Because Blue Origin allows each space traveler to bring along eight guests to watch their tourist rocket launches from its West Texas launch complex, and both Sharon and Marc are flying, that means eight kids and eight adults can come out to what’s called Astronaut Village for the event. The Hagles and guests will stay at the 155-acre site in Airstream trailers for what she likened to a space-age ranch. (10/6)

Ukrainian Forces Report Starlink Outages During Push Against Russia (Source: Financial Times)
Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices on the frontline, hindering efforts to liberate territory from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian officials and soldiers. Thousands of Starlink terminals, made by Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, were purchased by the US government and crowdfunded by donors to help Ukrainian troops operate drones, receive vital intelligence updates and communicate with each other in areas where there are no other secure networks.

The systems which connect a small antenna to a 35-centimeter-high terminal also provide internet for Ukrainian civilians. Some of the outages led to a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent weeks, said one senior Ukrainian government official with direct knowledge of the issue. Many were reported as soldiers breached the frontline into Russian-controlled territory and some during pitched battles, the official said, speaking under the condition of anonymity. (10/7)

UK Competition Watchdog Has Concerns About Viasat’s Inmarsat Takeover (Source: Space News)
Viasat’s $7.3 billion Inmarsat takeover could lead to more expensive and poorer quality Wi-Fi for plane passengers, the U.K.’s competition watchdog said Oct. 6 as it prepared to launch a full-scale probe of the deal. The satellite operators have until Oct. 13 to offer a solution to allay the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) concerns, or face an in-depth investigation that could push the timeframe for closing the deal well into next year. The CMA’s initial assessment found the two satellite operators are “currently the strongest” providers of inflight connectivity (IFC) available to airlines. (10/6)

AFRL Developing ‘Cyber Range’ for Space Operators (Source: Space News)
The Air Force Research Laboratory plans to use experimental cubesats to create a training environment for cybersecurity exercises focused on the space domain. The AFRL Information Directorate is looking to build a cyber range for the Space Force and other organizations to conduct realistic exercises simulating cyberattacks against satellites and ground systems. (10/6)

Virgin Orbit Awaiting License for First UK Launch (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit says it is technically ready for its next LauncherOne mission, and the first orbital launch from the United Kingdom, but is still waiting on a launch license from the British government. Virgin Orbit announced Oct. 5 that it completed a launch rehearsal for the mission, including fueling of the rocket, three days earlier at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The vehicle is now “ready for flight,” the company said.

Unlike the previous LauncherOne missions, the upcoming launch will not take place from Mojave but instead Spaceport Cornwall in England. That requires obtaining a launch license from the U.K. government, through its Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). That launch license is still pending, and the company said in its Oct. 5 statement that a schedule for the launch “will be determined by the launch permitting regulatory process.” (10/6)

Sierra Space Hires Former SpaceX Executive as CIO (Source: Space News)
Sierra Space has hired a former SpaceX executive as its chief information officer as the company builds up its infrastructure to support work on commercial spacecraft and a space station. The company announced Oct. 6 it hired Ken Venner as senior vice president and chief information officer. Venner served as CIO of SpaceX from 2012 to 2018 and most recently was president and chief product officer of e-Share, a company developing collaboration software. (10/6)

Ariane 6 Upper Stage Testing Underway (Source: Space News)
ArianeGroup has started static-fire tests of the upper stage of the Ariane 6 rocket, a key step in the development of the vehicle whose first launch remains uncertain. ArianeGroup and the European Space Agency announced Oct. 6 that they started a campaign of hot-fire tests of the Ariane 6 upper stage and its Vinci engine at a test site in Lampoldshausen, Germany, operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The test firing on Oct. 5 was the first of up to four planned to qualify the stage for flight. (10/6)

Another Starship Launch Tower in Florida Soon? (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Parts for a second SpaceX Starship Launch Tower have arrived at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, but where will the new tower be built? (Maybe at the SpaceX Falcon booster Landing Zone, or near ULA's soon-to-be-former Delta-4 launch complex, or the proposed LC-49 complex north of LC-39B.)  Plus, this video includes a rare glimpse at New Glenn hardware inside one of Blue Origin's buildings. Click here. (10/6)

Pentagon Awards $200 Million Spacecraft Contract to Private Venture York (Source: CNBC)
Spacecraft manufacturer York Space Systems won a Pentagon contact worth up to $200 million, announced Thursday, to build experimental satellites for the military’s Space Development Agency (SDA). Known as the T1DES system, York will build and operate 12 prototype satellites that will test satellite communications from low Earth Orbit, as an addition to the “Tranche 1 Transport Layer” (T1TL) network that SDA is already building. York previously won $328 million as part of a larger contract to build satellites for T1TL. (10/6)

Space, the Unseen Front in the War in Ukraine (Source: BBC)
The head of the US Space Force, General Jay Raymond, describes it as the "first war where commercial space capabilities have really played a significant role". It's also the first major conflict in which both sides have become so reliant on space. Gen Raymond - whose service is the newest branch of the US armed forces - avoids giving precise details of how the US and its allies have been helping Ukraine. But he gives a clear indication of what it's been doing. "We use space to help strike with precision, we use space to provide warnings of missiles, of any threat that could come to the United States or to our allies or partners," he says. (10/5)

SIMBA Chain Awarded SpaceWERX Orbital Prime Contract (Source: Business Wire)
SIMBA Chain announces it has been selected by SpaceWERX for a STTR Phase I in the amount of $250,000 to investigate how SIMBA’s blockchain technology may enable In-space Service Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities being explored by the Department of the Air Force (DAF) and United States Space Force (USSF) through the Orbital Prime program. Orbital Prime was created to accelerate the commercial ISAM market toward a use case of Active Debris Remediation. (10/5)

Maine Companies Team to Launch Cremated Human Remains (Source: Times Record)
Two Brunswick aerospace companies announced Wednesday they have agreed on a contract that will send five Maine-made rockets carrying human and pet ashes into suborbital space to be distributed among the northern lights. Memorial services, priced at $750, will be the first of multiple offerings Northern Lights Space Exploration LP will provide its customers through its partnership with rocket company bluShift Aerospace, according to a press release.

Through Driftspace, a software produced by the Portland-based Yarn Corporation, customers will be able to attend the memorial services in virtual reality. The contract is worth up to a total of $7 million for five suborbital flights, each of which will carry up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cremated human or animal remains. BluShift, which will power its 50- and 78-foot-tall rockets with a bio-derived, nontoxic solid fuel, has long planned to partner with companies that rely on satellites in a polar orbit. (10/5)

Indian Rockets to Launch OneWeb Satellites (Source: Live Mint)
NewSpace India Limited, under the Department of Space and the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has signed two launch service contracts with M/s Network Access Associated Limited (M/s OneWeb), United Kingdom, for launching OneWeb LEO Broadband Communication Satellites on board ISRO's heaviest launcher LVM3. "As part of the Contract, 36 satellites will be placed into orbit by one LVM3, from Satish Dhawan Space Center," said ISRO in a statement. (10/6)

Questions About Firefly's Launch Success (Source: Seradata)
There is now some evidence of an underperformance on the Firefly Alpha second flight - probably the upper stage - meaning the satellites will re-enter much earlier than expected. Seradata works out the severity of a partial failure relative to loss of capacity and loss of life. "The Firefly Alpha Flight 2 payloads are definitely not in their desired orbit (which was targeted for 300km circular orbit). Since they'll reenter very soon, maybe we should not consider this as a mission success." (10/6)

Virgin Orbit's Next Rocket Ready for Cornwall (Source: Space Daily)
Virgin Orbit reports that its latest rocket has completed a full launch rehearsal and is now ready for flight. The window for the company's next launch, planned to be the first orbital space launch from the U.K., will be determined by the launch permitting regulatory process. This rehearsal marked the final major acceptance test of the rocket prior to mating to its carrier aircraft - an upcycled Boeing 747 dubbed "Cosmic Girl"- and beginning pre-launch operations. Meanwhile, integration of customer satellites into the rocket's fairing is expected to begin this week in the newly inaugurated Space Systems Integration Facility (SSIF) at Spaceport Cornwall. (10/6)

Tiangong Space Station Marks Key Step in Assembly (Source: Space Daily)
The Wentian lab module of China's Tiangong space station has been repositioned to dock with a radial port on the station's Tianhe core module on Friday afternoon, which marked a key step in Tiangong's in-orbit assembly, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The agency said in a news release that during the hour-long operation that finished at 12:44 pm, Wentian was moved from the axial port of Tianhe to a radial port of the core module. The maneuver was carried out based on cooperation between astronauts inside the Tiangong and ground controllers. (10/6)

Solar Power Beams: a Step Toward Cleaner Energy (Source: Space Daily)
Power beaming could offer Europe and other parts of the world huge potential to tap into renewable energy sources and contribute to the goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050. "Power beaming technologies would enable the creation of new energy networks in the sky and could help solve the energy problem," Coste says. "They would enable countries to fully control and distribute their energy where needed, independently."

The demonstration at Airbus' X-Works Innovation Factory on 27 September 2022 was a success, albeit on a smaller scale: using microwave beaming, Coste, Thueux and their colleagues transmitted green energy between two points representing 'Space' and 'Earth' over a distance of 36 metres, producing green hydrogen and bringing a model city to life. "Now that we have successfully tested the key bricks of a future space-based solar power system on a small scale for the first time, we are now ready to take Power Beaming to the next level", says Yoann Thueux.

The demo was undoubtedly a success, but how will the technology work in real life? "We are looking at a number of designs," explains Thueux. One thing, however, is already clear: If satellites were to collect the sunlight, they would need to measure about 2 kilometres across to achieve the same power level as a nuclear power plant." (9/28)

Swedish Space Instrument Will Study the Moon on Board a Turkish Spacecraft (Source: Space Daily)
A space instrument from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) will be sent to the Moon within the next few years onboard the Turkish spacecraft AYAP-1. In orbit around the Moon, the Lunar Neutrals Telescope will study how the flow of charged particles from the Sun, the solar wind, interacts with the Moon's surface. The agreement between IRF and the Turkish Space Technologies Research Institute (Tubitak Uzay) means that Swedish space researchers will once again have the opportunity to study the Moon. (10/6)