March 20, 2023

South Korean Startup Innospace Conducts Suborbital Launch Test at Brazilian Spaceport (Source: Korea Herald)
Innospace, a South Korean space startup, said Monday its suborbital test launch vehicle, HANBIT-TLV, has been launched. The 8.4-ton thrust single stage hybrid rocket was fired from the Alcantara Space Center in northern Brazil on Monday (Korean time), according to the company. Innospace had attempted to launch HANBIT-TLV since December last year but had postponed it several times due to weather conditions and mechanical errors. (3/20)

Quantum Sensing in Outer Space (Source: Space Daily)
Texas Engineers are leading a multi-university research team that will build technology and tools to improve measurement of important climate factors by observing atoms in outer space. They will focus on the concept of quantum sensing, which use quantum physics principles to potentially collect more precise data and enable unprecedented science measurements. These sensors could help satellites in orbit collect data about how atoms react to small changes in their environment, and using that to infer the time-variations in the gravity field of the Earth.

This will enable scientists to improve how accurately several important climate processes can be measured, such as sea level rise, ice melt rates, changes in land-water resources and ocean heat storage changes. This will be the first effort to establish a new phase in quantum technology development, advancing beyond the quantum principles known in physics and actually translating them into usable device concepts. (3/17)

Sidus Space Announces Quarterly Financial Statement (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space revenue increased to $7.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $1.4 million in the comparable period of 2021, an increase of 418%. On a year-to-date basis, the Company has generated gross profit of 20% as compared to (26%) for the previous 2021 period. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $2.3 million in cash. The Company has continued to invest in expanding operations and launch contracts as well as logistics and equipment related to the development of its satellite operations. Subsequent to the end of the quarter, the Company closed on an underwritten public offering, generating gross proceeds of $5.2 million. (3/16)

Arkisys and Partners to Show How They Would Build a Satellite in Orbit (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force awarded a $1.6 million contract to a team led by Southern California startup Arkisys to demonstrate robotic satellite assembly. Under a SpaceWERX Small Business Innovation Research contract, Arkisys, Novawurks, Motiv Space Systems, Qediq, iBoss and Texas A&M University will demonstrate how they would assemble a three-axis stabilized satellite with the robotic arm on the Arkisys Port Module.

The satellite to be assembled on the ground will be comprised of at least three Novawurks Slegos, box-shaped modules that provide capabilities like pointing, information processing and data storage. The Arkisys-led team also is likely to attach a camera or other payload to prove the utility of the new spacecraft. (3/20)

Drugs in Orbit: One Startup’s Big Idea for Microgravity (Source: Bloomberg)
One of the less intuitive benefits of the new Space Age could be breakthroughs in drug development. With the pressures of gravity stripped away, atoms and molecules behave differently, and researchers have long discussed making medicines and chemicals in low-Earth orbit.

Large pharmaceutical companies have been carrying out a limited number of these experiments for years. Merck & Co. used the International Space Station to refine the recipe for its cancer treatment Keytruda—its bestselling product, with more than $20 billion in annual sales. But the cost of working on the ISS is enormous, and its astronauts are often reluctant to make time in their schedule to handle potentially dangerous chemicals in such a confined space. Click here. (3/15)

Voyager Opens George Washington Carver Science Park Facility at Ohio State University (Source: Voyager Space)
Voyager celebrated a major milestone: the grand opening of the temporary home for the George Washington Carver Science Park (GWCSP) facility at The Ohio State University! Nanoracks, the Science Park’s first tenant, is set to build the Starlab Terrestrial Analog Facility. A replica of the Starlab space station science park, the Starlab Terrestrial Analog Facility, will allow all Starlab users access to research, mission testing, and conducting parallel experiments on the ground.

Beyond Starlab, the GWCSP will also host other research projects that will directly benefit the Ohio agriculture community. Some of these benefits include research to preserve Ohio’s water quality, improve crop genetics and production efficiency, and enhance the biodiversity of the state. (3/15)

Demand Outstrips Supply for Future Commercial Launches (Source: Space News)
Even as the space industry complains of a shortage of launch capacity, SpaceX said it has room to increase an already surging pace of launches. In sessions at the recent Satellite 2023 conference, launch vehicle providers noted that a combination of growing demand, particularly from satellite constellations, and a bottleneck in launch supply was affecting the market, making it difficult to find launches and driving up prices.

“Almost every company that we talk to is worried about medium to heavy lift,” said Tim Ellis, chief executive of Relativity, during one conference panel March 14. Relativity is gearing up for another attempt for the inaugural launch its Terran 1 small launch vehicle, now scheduled for as soon as March 22. That rocket intended to be a precursor for the larger Terran R.

The timeframe of concern, he argued, is between 2024 and 2027. “You have a lot of people that are trying to hit specific deadlines to getting spacecraft to orbit,” he said, “and you have Amazon Kuiper buying up a lot of capacity at prices that I’m sure were well above the most competitive in the commercial space.” Amazon acquired up to 83 launches from Arianespace, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance last April to deploy its Kuiper constellation. (3/19)

Space: A Market Map (Source: Andreessen Horowitz)
The following is a map of the inspiring teams working to push into the final frontier. Like space itself, however, the landscape of companies trying to commercialize it is vast, so no list or market map will be exhaustive. In fact, many of these companies are building many capabilities, so it is particularly challenging to place them in a segment. In spite of this, mapping the space industry is a worthy task, if simply to celebrate those tackling some of the world’s most difficult challenges. Deeper explorations of many of these topics will follow, but for now consider this a landscape of the space startup ecosystem. Click here. (3/16)

FCC Releases Direct-to-Device Spectrum Proposed Rules (Source: Space News)
The FCC released its proposed framework for how satellites can provide direct-to-device connectivity using terrestrial spectrum. FCC commissioners approved a notice of proposed rulemaking for that framework at a meeting last week, with a 30-day public comment period once the notice is published in the Federal Register. This initial draft proposed to limit direct-to-device services to spectrum bands where a single mobile operator has contiguous rights, and to exclude the 700 MHz band that AT&T uses to connect first responders under its FirstNet service, an exclusion that AT&T opposes. (3/20)

Intelsat Acquires Capacity on Hispasat Amazonas Nexus Satellite (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has acquired a "significant amount" of capacity on Hispasat's recently launched Amazonas Nexus satellite. Intelsat is leasing the satellite's high-throughput Ku-band capacity for customers across the United States, Brazil and North Atlantic Ocean. Much of the capacity will be used for providing Wi-Fi to commercial airlines flying over the Americas and on transatlantic flights. Amazonas Nexus launched in February to support Hispasat's expansion into the Americas. (3/20)

Satellogic Selling Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellogic, a company that provides Earth imagery from its satellite constellation, is now offering to sell whole satellites. Satellogic's new Space Systems product is designed to appeal to customers eager to establish or expand their space capabilities rather than simply buying imagery. Satellogic says it can offer individual satellites for less than $10 million, with delivery in orbit within three months. Since the company is based outside the United States, it is not subject to U.S. licensing or export controls, which the company says is "a huge value proposition" for it and its customers. (3/20)

Virgin Orbit Nears Bankruptcy (Source: Sky News)
Virgin Orbit is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection if it cannot secure new funding. The company, which furloughed most of its staff and went into an "operational pause" last week, has reportedly hired two restructuring firms as a backup plan if ongoing efforts to raise more funding fall through. The company is expected to provide an update on plans later this week. (3/20)

Budget Pressure Could Force NASA Choice on VERITAS (Source: Space News)
Budget issues could force NASA to choose between continuing a delayed Venus orbiter mission or selecting a future planetary mission. NASA postponed the VERITAS mission last fall by at least three years as part of efforts to recover from the problems that delayed the Psyche asteroid mission.

NASA's fiscal year 2024 budget proposal offered just $1.5 million for VERITAS to keep its science team together and projected continuing that funding level through 2028, a move some called a "soft cancellation." NASA officials say they are committed to restarting VERITAS once it secures funding for the mission and after JPL gets through the launch of two other missions, but added that continuing with VERITAS could mean not holding a competition for the next Discovery-class planetary mission in mid-decade. (3/20)

Mars Sample Return Cost Growth Threatens Other Science Missions (Source: Space News)
Cost growth in Mars Sample Return could affect not just other planetary missions but also a heliophysics mission. NASA requested $949.3 million for Mars Sample Return in the 2024 budget request, but warned that projections included in the budget for future years are likely to increase.

NASA has not disclosed a formal cost estimate for the program, which features a lander and European-built orbiter to return samples collected by the Perseverance rover, and is waiting until after a confirmation review this fall. Increased costs of Mars Sample Return could affect other planetary missions as well as the Geospace Dynamics Constellation, a major heliophysics mission that NASA proposes to pause development of in the fiscal year 2024 budget request. (3/20)

UK and Japan Agree on Space Cooperation (Source: Reuters)
Britain and Japan announced a space cooperation agreement Friday. The agreement, officials with the two countries said, includes information sharing, joint training and personnel exchanges. The announcement provided few specifics about how that cooperation would work. (3/20)

Reentry of Space Debris Causes California Lightshow (Source: New York Times)
The reentry of space debris caused a light show in California skies Friday night. The objects streaking across the skies across Northern California were likely pieces of an antenna called the Inter-orbit Communication System-Exposed Facility that was jettisoned from the International Space Station in 2020. The antenna, weighing more than 300 kilograms, likely burned up entirely upon reentry, and any surviving pieces would have landed in the vicinity of Yosemite National Park. (3/20)

The Intricacies of Starting a Rocket Engine (Source: Hackaday)
Rockets are conceptually rather simple: you put the pointy bit upwards and make sure that the bit that will go flamey points downwards before starting the engine(s). Yet how to start each rocket engine type in a way that’s both safe and effective? Unlike in the Wile E. Coyote cartoons, real-life rocket engines do not have a fuse you light up before dashing off to a safe distance. Rather they use increasingly more complicated methods, which depend on the engine type and fuels used. Click here. (3/19)

Adtran and Satelles Partner to Deliver Satellite Time and Location Alternative to GNSS (Source: Space Daily)
Adtran, Inc and Satelles, Inc.,jave announced a strategic partnership. The collaboration will enable operators of critical infrastructure to safeguard their timing networks with Satellite Time and Location (STL) technology. By integrating Satelles' STL into its Oscilloquartz network synchronization products, Adtran will provide an alternative to GNSS systems or a way to augment them with enhanced reliability and security. With the ability to deliver highly precise PNT service, even in GNSS-denied applications, STL offers a vital resource for mobile operators, power utility companies, government, scientific research and more. (3/14)

Evidence Shows the Big Bang Wasn't the Beginning (Source: Big Think)
For many decades, people conflated the hot Big Bang, describing the early Universe, with a singularity: that this "Big Bang" was the birth of space and time. However, in the early 1980s, a new theory called cosmic inflation came along, suggesting that before the hot Big Bang, the universe behaved very differently, pushing any hypothetical singularity unobservably far back. Earlier this century, some very strong evidence arrived showing that there was a universe before the Big Bang, demonstrating that the Big Bang wasn't truly the start of it all. Click here. (3/16)

Investigation Will Test 3D Printed Materials for Satellite Manufacturing (Source: Space Daily)
As 3D printed rockets, car parts, and even homes begin to hit the market on Earth, L3Harris Technologies aims to leverage the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory in its search for durable materials to 3D print satellite components. Before 3D printed materials can be used to build more sustainable and efficient parts for spacecraft, they must be tested to ensure they can withstand the harsh environment of low Earth orbit. (3/14)