February 21, 2023

Space Force Considers Civilian Reserve Fleet (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is considering ways to leverage commercial space capabilities in the event of an emergency. The service is studying a concept called the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserves (CASR), which would be modeled on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program where the Defense Department can call up commercial airliners to augment airlift. Space Systems Command and the Space Force Association held a meeting earlier this month to discuss CASR, with 84 companies participating.

CASR would involve commercial space companies that manufacture satellites, operate launch vehicles and provide services like satellite-based communications and Earth imagery. The Space Force is working on policies and funding requirements for CASR to support a budget proposal for fiscal year 2025. (2/21)

DoD's Space RCO Flew Falcon Heavy Payloads (Source: Space News)
A secretive military space office is starting to share more details about its activities. The Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) had three payloads on a Falcon Heavy launch in January for space situational awareness and communications, one of the first times it has publicly acknowledged its activities. The Space RCO was established in 2018 and is modeled after the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office that led development of the X-37B and the B-21 stealth bomber. The Space RCO works primarily with U.S. Space Command to meet urgent needs. The director of the office, Kelly Hammett, said he is working to be a "little bit more open" about its work to show off its capabilities to Capitol Hill and to industry. (2/21)

FAA Forecasts Big Increase in Commercial Launches (Source: Space News)
Commercial launches in the United States could more than double in the next several years. A forecast in a recent FAA report to Congress predicted that commercial launches and reentries could increase from 74 in fiscal year 2022 to up to 186 in 2026, with launches dominating those figures. Surging demand for large satellite constellations is driving that growth. That increase is putting a strain on the handful of spaceports that currently host most commercial launches, prompting efforts to upgrade facilities and streamline operations. (2/21)

India Performs Pre-Launch Testing for Lunar Lander (Source: PTI)
India's next lunar lander has completed one phase of pre-launch testing. The Indian space agency ISRO said Sunday that the Chandrayaan-3 lander had passed electromagnetic interference and capability testing, a key step ahead of launch. The mission, India's second attempt to land on the moon, could launch as soon as June. (2/21)

China's Mars Rover Mission Enters Second Year, If Still Operational (Source: Space.com)
The second anniversary of China's first Mars mission passed without an update on its rover. Tianwen-1 entered orbit two years ago this month, a milestone marked in state media by highlighting achievements of the orbiter. There were no updates, though, on the status of the Zhurong rover, which went into hibernation last May and was expected to resume operations in December. The lack of updates has fed speculation that the rover did not survive the cold Martian winter. (2/21)

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Drone Takes 390 Meter Flight (Source: Space.com)
Ingenuity flight made its longest flight in 10 months last week. The Martian helicopter flew 390 meters in the flight last Thursday, the longest since April 2022. The flight, the 43rd for the helicopter, was intended to keep pace with the Perseverance rover as that rover climbs out of the delta formation in Jezero Crater. (2/21)

Celestis to Send Presidential Samples to Space (Source: Celestis)
Four presidents — or, rather, the DNA from four deceased presidents — are going to space. Celestis announced Monday it was taking the DNA, in the form of hair samples, from George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan on its Enterprise Flight mission later this year. The company, best known for flying cremated remains into space, will fly DNA from others on the mission that will go into solar orbit, including from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and several actors from the original series. "At first glance, sending four former U.S. presidents' DNA into deep space seems a little bizarre," the company acknowledges, calling the DNA samples a "cosmic time capsule" for future generations. (2/21)

India’s Space Security Policy: Getting Space Security Right (Source: Space Review)
In the second part of an examination of Indian space security policy, Pranav R. Satyanath examines how India should look beyond ASATs when crafting a policy for securing its interests in space. Click here. (2/21)
 
Trials and Tribulations of Planetary Smallsats (Source: Space Review)
Smallsats have revolutionized many aspects of spaceflight, including science, but not without challenges. Jeff Foust reports on the problems a line of small planetary missions funded by NASA has faced trying to get off the launch pad, including finding rides to space. Click here. (2/21)
 
Will a Five-Year Mission by COPUOS Produce a New International Governance Instrument for Space Resources? (Source: Space Review)
A United Nations committee has started work on a five-year project to develop a potential governance framework for utilization of space resources. Dennis O’Brien analyzes the viewpoints of various nations and organizations involved in that effort. Click here. (2/21)
 
Making Something From the Great Balloon Incident: Space Policy at the Fringes (Source: Space Review)
The Chinese spy balloon that floated over the United States and was eventually shot down has raised awareness about what is going on in the stratosphere and the need to better track it. Roger Handberg argues it may also provide some data on another topic at the fringes of space policy. Click here. (2/21)

DoD to Search for Potential Cause of Cancer Cluster Near Patrick Space Force Base (Source: Florida Today)
Will and Pat Dixon live smack dab in the middle of what they fear is a waste dump of abandoned military chemicals and hardware. Their home is in the center of a 52-acre area where workers next week will begin searching for old military waste, some dating back to World War II. "If there's a ground zero, that's us," Will Dixon, 72, of South Patrick Shores, said Thursday at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers community meeting at Pelican Beach Park in Satellite Beach.

The Corps was in town to discuss the status of an environmental investigation and pending cleanup of former defense sites just south of Patrick Space Force Base, a military mess that has raised fears of health risks for decades. Some area residents have long been concerned by what they see as an abnormally high rate of rare cancers and other diseases among those who have lived in the area. (2/20)

China Releases Chang'e-4 Payloads' Scientific Datasets (Source: Space Daily)
China has released a new batch of datasets from the payloads installed on the Chang'e-4 probe on the official website of the Lunar and Planetary Data Release System. The datasets include 3,991.1 MB of 803 data files obtained by the four scientific payloads on the Chang'e-4 lander and rover between December 26, 2021 and January 10, 2022.

The Chang'e-4 probe, launched on Dec 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing in the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan 3, 2019. So far, its rover Yutu-2 has traveled about 1,500 meters on the far side of the moon. (2/21)

NuSpace and GomSpace Signs MoU for Singapore NewSpace Business (Source: Space Daily)
GomSpace, a satellite company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NuSpace Pte. Ltd, a Singapore-based company providing space-based infrastructure services. The partnership will allow the parties to develop space projects in Singapore, leveraging NuSpace's expertise in satellite as a service and GomSpace's experience in delivering space missions and equipment.

The combination of NuSpace's local presence and GomSpace's engineering expertise will create a joint approach to facilitate the development of space projects in Singapore. The partnership is expected to lead to the creation of innovative solutions that improve outcomes for various projects. (2/21)

Babcock Secures UK Military Skynet Satellite Contract (Source: Space Daily)
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded Babcock International Group a six-year contract to manage and operate Skynet, the MOD's military satellite communications system, on February 15. The contract is called Skynet Service Delivery Wrap (SDW), it is valued at 400 million pounds ($486.6 million), and it is expected to support 400 jobs in Corsham, Bristol, and Plymouth, UK.

SDW is a part of the MOD's 6 billion pound Skynet 6 satellite communications program aimed at delivering battlefield communications to British and allied forces operating around the world. Skynet 6 is currently being built by Airbus and is set to be launched in 2025 and become operational in 2028. (2/21)

Crew Stuck on ISS to Return to Earth in September (Source: Space Daily)
Russia's space agency on Tuesday said that the crew stuck on the International Space Station because of a damaged capsule were now expected to return to Earth in September, a year after they first launched into orbit. Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the ISS in September 2022 aboard a Soyuz MS-22 capsule.

They were scheduled to return home in the same spacecraft, but it began leaking coolant in mid-December after being hit by what US and Russian space officials believe was a tiny space rock. Russia plans to send a rescue ship, a Soyuz MS-23, on February 24. Before the leak, the trio had been due to return to Earth on March 28, 2023. (2/21)

Very Large Telescope Captures Direct Images of Bright Exoplanet (Source: Space Daily)
Chile's Very Large Telescope has captured direct images of a bright, Jupiter-like exoplanet after data from two European Space Agency satellites showed a gravitational pull on the planet's host star. The European Southern Observatory released the photographs Monday, showing what the observatory called the lightest ever exoplanet. The planet orbits the young star AF Leporis, in the constellation Lepus, some 87.5 light-years from Earth. (2/21)

NSL Unveils New 'Black Box' for Satellites (Source: Space News)
NearSpace Launch, an Indiana company known for robotically assembling ThinSats, is unveiling a new Black Box for autonomous satellite tracking and data relay. “Operators want to keep connected to their satellite to get critical health and safety data,” Matthew Voss, NSL chief operating officer, told SpaceNews. “Even over the polar regions or the ocean, you can always connect to your satellites.”

Interest in Black Boxes is growing. Launch aggregators help dozens of cubesats and microsatellites travel together as secondary payloads on rocket rideshare missions. Once in orbit, it is sometimes difficult to identify individual satellites deployed from the same launch vehicle, particularly if onboard batteries or radios fail. More than 180 NSL EyeStar radios have been sold to transmit data between satellites and the ground through the Globalstar and Iridium communications constellations.

NSL’s new Black Box augments the EyeStar radio with GPS tracking plus sensors to keep tabs on satellite health and safety. The latest self-powered Black Box comes in four sizes. And it relays data through Iridium Next satellites. (2/20)

Former Space Coast Congressman Weldon to Run for Florida House Seat (Source: Florida Today)
Former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon is looking to return to elective office, filing to run as a Republican for Brevard County's District 32 seat in the Florida House of Representatives in the 2024 election. Weldon served in Congress for seven two-year terms, serving on the space committee. He first won election in 1994 as part of the so-called "Republican Revolution." He won reelection in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Weldon, a 68-year-old physician, seeks to succeed incumbent Republican District 32 Florida Rep. Thad Altman, who cannot run for reelection to the Florida House because of term limits. (2/21)