March 6, 2023

Dynetics Team Demonstrating Key Technologies for NASA's Next Moon Lander (Source: AL.com)
NASA picked Dynetics of Huntsville in 2021 as one of five finalists to “mature designs” for America’s next moon lander, and the company said today it has built test hardware for more than a dozen technologies the coming Human Landing System will need. “Our team has continued to work hard over the past couple of years to mature our design and build on lessons learned,” said Andy Crocker at Dynetics. “We’ve been fortunate to be able to demonstrate so many key technologies for our lander with full-scale hardware in relevant environments.” Click here. (3/3)

The Gold Rush for the Next Round of Military Launch Contracts Has Started (Source: Ars Technica)
The US military recently released a rather mundane-sounding document titled "National Security Space Launch Phase 3 DRAFT Request for Proposals #1." Effectively, its release is the starting gun for the next round of launch contracts for US spy satellites, secure communications satellites, and more. In many cases, the contracts offered by the military can make or break launch companies. For example, after the last round of bidding for national security launches ended, Northrop Grumman ended its efforts to develop the Omega rocket. Click here. (3/6)

Astronomers Watch Dimorphos After Smashing a Spacecraft Into Space Rock (Source: NPR)
Astronomers are still watching that asteroid that NASA whacked with a spacecraft back in September, in the first-ever test of whether an asteroid could be deliberately pushed off-course. Almost immediately after NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission sent a golf cart-sized spacecraft crashing into an asteroid called Dimorphos, scientists hailed it as a huge success – and a powerful demonstration that an asteroid's trajectory can be altered.

The experiment has boosted scientists' confidence, he says, that this kind of deflection technique could really work to protect the planet if Earth ever got menaced by a dangerous incoming space rock. The collision altered the path of Dimorphos through space, shortening the time it takes to orbit another, larger asteroid by 33 minutes. (3/4)

The Mission to Discover if Jupiter’s Moons Support Life (Source: The Guardian)
In the past few decades, astronomers have become fascinated by the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Years of research have all but proved that some of these moons contain vast oceans of liquid water below their frozen surfaces. On Earth, water is the number one prerequisite for supporting life. So could these icy moons be habitable too? In April, the European Space Agency will launch a mission designed to find out. Click here. (3/5)

Chinese Spacecraft Inspecting Other GEO Satellites (Source: Space.com)
A Chinese spacecraft has been reportedly inspecting other satellites in geostationary orbit. The TJS-3 satellite launched in 2018 as an experimental communications satellite, according to the Chinese government. That spacecraft, though, has made close approaches to two U.S. military communications satellites, pausing near them as it drifted across the GEO arc. That has led to speculation that TJS-3 is inspecting or otherwise monitoring those satellites. (3/6)

India to Deorbit Decommissioned Satellite (Source: The Hindu)
India will deorbit an Earth science satellite Tuesday. The Indian space agency ISRO announced Sunday it would fire thrusters on the Megha-Tropiques satellite to cause it to reenter over the South Pacific. Megha-Tropiques launched in 2011 as a joint project with France and was decommissioned in 2021. ISRO said that the spacecraft would have remained in orbit for more than 100 years in its original orbit, and its supply of onboard propellant posed an explosion risk if it was not deorbited. (3/6)

Austin's SXSW Features Voyager-1 Music (Source: Anglia Ruskin Univ.)
The music at the upcoming South by Southwest (SXSW) festival will be out of this world. The event in Austin, Texas, will feature the world premiere later this week of a solo flute piece created using plasma data collected by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft as it crossed into interstellar space. The scientist who developed the music says it is intended to be an example of "data sonification," where data is turned into sound as an alternative means of interpreting it. (3/6)

NASA's Suborbital Crew Program Shifts Focus to Non-Astronaut Participants (Source: Space News)
A NASA initiative originally intended to fly astronauts on commercial suborbital vehicles is changing focus. NASA set up the Suborbital Crew, or SubC, effort in 2020 with the goal of flying astronauts on such vehicles as training for orbital flights. At a conference last week, a NASA official said that suborbital vehicles don't meet the training needs of NASA's astronaut office, so SubC is instead looking to enable flights by NASA civil servants, like scientists and engineers who want to conduct research.

SubC is working with Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic to verify the safety of those vehicles without using a formal certification process like for commercial crew vehicles. That effort, NASA argues, could help promote the broader commercial spaceflight industry. (3/6)

AUC Inaugurates the African Space Agency (Source: Space in Africa)
On the grounds of the newly completed structure for the African Space Agency (AfSA), domiciled within Egypt’s Space City, the African Union Commission and the Egyptian government, represented by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, signed an agreement on 25 January 2023 to formally inaugurate and declare AfSA open and operational. The agreement provides the general framework regulating the relationship between both parties, which will serve as a platform for space research and innovation on the continent. (1/26)

DoD Updates Tenets for Responsible Space Behavior (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department released on Friday updated guidance for safe and responsible space operations. The guidance updates five tenets for responsible behavior in space that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued in 2021. The update reflects recommendations from U.S. Space Command and includes specific behaviors for each of the five tenets, such as informing operators of the loss of control of a space object. DoD released the guidelines to provide "transparency about U.S. military space activities in order to reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation," U.S. Space Command said, adding that it was not asking other nations or companies to adopt them. (3/6)

Viasat and Ligado Partner for Direct-to-Handset Satellite Service (Source: Space News)
Viasat announced last week it is partnering with Ligado to provide direct-to-handset satellite services. Viasat has used L-band from Ligado's SkyTerra-1 geostationary satellite since 2014 to deliver less bandwidth-heavy services over North America, and is now working with Skylo to expand those services to support consumer smartphone, automotive, and defense applications. The companies said these services would initially be limited to low-bandwidth applications such as simple two-way messaging. (3/6)

NASA Proposes Final Extension of ISS Cargo Contracts (Source: Space News)
NASA is proposing to extend current space station cargo resupply contracts through the projected end of the International Space Station. In a procurement filing last week, NASA announced its intent to extend the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contracts with Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space and SpaceX from January 2027 through December 2030. NASA has previously stated it plans to retire the ISS and shift to commercial space stations by 2030. Companies offering alternative vehicles they would like to use for cargo transportation have until mid-March to request that NASA recompete the contracts rather than extend them. (3/6)

NASA and Roscosmos Discussing Seat Swap for ISS Soyuz/Dragon Crew Transport (Source: Space News)
NASA and Roscosmos are working on adding another mission to a seat barter agreement. Agency officials said last week that discussions are underway with the Russian government to amend an existing agreement to swap seats between Soyuz and Crew Dragon spacecraft to add the Crew-7 mission this fall. That would ensure the continuation of "integrated crews" on Soyuz and Crew Dragon spacecraft, so there would be at least one American and one Russian on the station should either vehicle be unavailable for an extended period. A separate agreement would be needed for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, which will fly its first crewed mission later this spring. (3/6)

Lonestar Raises $5 Million for Lunar Data Center (Source: Space News)
A startup has raised a seed round to develop lunar data centers. Lonestar Data Holdings raised $5 million in a round led by Scout Ventures, the company announced Monday. Lonestar is preparing to send a proof-of-concept data center to the moon later this year on Intuitive Machines' second lunar mission, IM-2. Lonestar's initial data center, the size of a hardback novel, will be followed by a series of larger data centers offering data storage and edge processing, with disaster recovery a key early market for the startup. (3/6)

America's Booming Space Defense Business Risks Trouble With China and Russia (Source: Daily Beast)
A growing number of companies are racing to get into the space defense business—but a major conflict of interest scandal could be on the horizon. One such company, True Anomaly, is using artificial intelligence to pilot small satellites that will be able to detect spy satellites from adversaries like China and Russia. In October, True Anomaly—which is backed by U.S. Senator JD Vance’s venture capital firm, Narya—plans to launch two vehicles for the U.S. Space Force on a rocket owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Companies like True Anomaly have raised concerns about whether the increasingly militarized frontiers of space should be privatized in the same way Musk is turning civilian space voyages into commercial enterprises. While private industry can launch high-tech satellites cheaper and faster than the government, some experts say that commercial space defense has its downsides. Click here. (3/6)

Is Earth in Danger if Betelgeuse Goes Supernova? (Source: BBC)
Almost everyone can identify Orion, which, along with the Great Bear and the Southern Cross, is just about the most famous constellation in the sky. It is brighter than the Bear, larger than the Cross and it contains two first-magnitude stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse, officially Beta and Alpha Orionis. Betelgeuse is a long way away. According to the Hipparcos astrometric satellite, its distance is about 430 lightyears. This may not be accurate – some of Hipparcos’s results are decidedly suspect – but it is not on our doorstep.

It is a pulsating supergiant, with a diameter at least 400 times that of the Sun. If our current theories are right, it will explode as a supernova and will end up as either a neutron star or, more probably, a black hole. When the supernova outburst happens, Betelgeuse will briefly shine in our skies far more brilliantly than any other star or planet (with the obvious exception of the Sun).

There is no doubt that a supernova outburst within a few tens of lightyears from us would have most unpleasant consequences. It would bathe us in all types of radiation, which would matter very much. A really major supernova can become as luminous as an entire galaxy and if one of our near neighbors such as Alpha Centauri decided to behave in this way we certainly couldn’t ignore it. However, it seems safe to say that Betelgeuse would be out of range. (3/4)

The 10 Most Innovative Space Companies of 2023 (Source: Fast Company)
On this year’s list, Terran Orbital is helping develop navigation systems for NASA’s planned moon-orbiting Gateway station, Firefly Aerospace is designing a new lunar lander, and Axiom Space is engineering new moon suits. Also listed are Benchmark Space Systems, Ursa Major, SpinLaunch, Capella, Epsilon 3, and Pixxel. Click here. (3/2)