March 9, 2023

Maxar Picks L3Harris Space Coast-Built Deployable Reflectors for GEO Satellites (Source: Via Satellite)
Maxar Technologies has awarded L3Harris a contract to design and build reflector antennas for two Geostationary Orbit (GEO) communication satellites. They will be built in L3Harris’ facilities on Florida's Space Coast. The two nine-meter unfurlable mesh reflector antennas will provide high-power signals and are designed to improve service quality across the satellites’ coverage areas. The antennas are designed with a flexible architecture similar to an umbrella so that they are collapsible, companct, and easy to integrate onto spacecraft. The high-performance reflector antennas also feature a proprietary, gold-plated mesh-reflective surface that maximizes antenna gain and provides improved performance required for mobile media services. (3/8)

Failed SpaceX Investment Deal Lawsuit Gets Go-Ahead in Delaware (Source: Bloomberg)
A lawsuit over a failed SpaceX investment venture can proceed after a Delaware judge held that breach of contract allegations against the party that ended the partnership were reasonable. The case involves a joint venture formed by Leo Investments Hong Kong Ltd. and Tomales Bay Capital LLC to buy a piece of Elon Musk’s private space flight company. Leo alleges that Tomales terminated the deal less than a week after signing it. SpaceX is not party to the lawsuit. (3/8)

Eutelsat and Intelsat Sign Multi-Orbit Contract Enhancing Connectivity with OneWeb Services (Source: Intelsat)
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext: ETL) (Paris: ETL) has signed a multi-orbit agreement with Intelsat to enhance connectivity solutions over Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific, including OneWeb services. Under this new seven-year multi-million-euro capacity agreement with a progressive roll-out of assets over 2023, leveraging Eutelsat’s High-throughput satellites (HTS) in the Ku-band including the recently launched EUTELSAT 10B satellite and OneWeb’s constellation, Intelsat will be able to offer connectivity solutions for air, land and sea. (3/9)

Marie Lumsden’s Fight Against the Canadian Spaceport Project (Sources: Halifax Examiner, CBC)
"I really love this place, and I love the people," says Marie Lumsden, one of the founders of the Action Against Canso Spaceport. Two challenges stand in the project's way: a vocal opposition dampening excitement over the potential for new jobs and tourist dollars, and the need for an estimated $180 million more in funding.

"It's almost a religious thing. It's like your soul is in the land," Lumsden said. "I see the potential for this piece of land to be completely destroyed for absolutely nothing." Elizabeth Marshall, a Mi'kmaw elder from Eskasoni First Nation, likens the efforts to build a spaceport to modern-day colonialism.

Canso has a population of 739, according to 2016 numbers from Statistics Canada. How many residents actually oppose the project is unclear. Polling by Narrative Research for Maritime Launch Services (MLS) in 2021 found 82 percent of respondents favored the project if it followed environmental and safety regulations. An opposing petition circulated by Lumsden and her team gathered 410 signatures, all of which listed Canso as their location, representing 38 percent of adults in the region. (3/9, 12/27)

Starfish Space Raises $14 Million for In-Orbit Servicers (Source: Space News)
Starfish Space has raised $14 million for its planned satellite life extension and debris removal service in a funding round led by insurance giant Munich Re’s venture capital arm, the startup announced March 8. The Kent, Washington-based startup founded by former Blue Origin and NASA engineers in 2019 has now raised more than $21 million to develop Otter, an all-electric servicing spacecraft slightly bigger than a mini-fridge.

This summer, SpaceX plans to launch a microwave-sized demonstrator for Starfish that will attempt to dock with another test spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO). After getting dropped off at an initial altitude by an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) from small rocket developer Launcher, Starfish’s Otter Pup demonstrator will attempt to rejoin the space tug using electric propulsion and an electrostatic capture mechanism. Launcher’s first and latest OTV failed shortly after launching on a Falcon 9 rocket in January. (3/8)

Two Separate Lawsuits Allege Ageist Hiring Practices at Blue Origin (Source: Tech Crunch)
Two separate lawsuits have been filed against Blue Origin alleging discriminatory hiring practices based on age, TechCrunch has learned. The first suit was filed last summer by a former Blue Origin engineer who participated on company interview panels, and who claims that he was instructed by his supervisor to seek out younger candidates. The second complaint, which was filed in January, is being brought by a 64-year-old prospective employee who repeatedly and unsuccessfully applied for jobs for which interviewers said he was qualified.

Cristian Bureriu, a former senior aerospace software engineer at Blue who was hired in 2018, said he was demoted after complaining to HR that his direct supervisor instructed him to seek out younger candidates — to hire 20- and 30-year-olds exclusively — as “younger guys are more coachable.” His complaint further alleges that Blue “forced out or terminated” around 20 employees in Bureriu’s department, virtually all of whom were over the age of 40. They were replaced with younger staff, the complaint says. Blue Origin fired Bureriu in May 2022, a move that the suit argues was the result of ongoing harassment, retaliation and discrimination after Bureriu took a medical leave of absence.

Bureriu declined to comment for this story. In his complaint, David Rowan says that he applied for 14 open positions with Blue Origin over a period of a couple of years, none of which resulted in a job offer. When he was interviewed for the roles, his complaint alleges that interviewers asked leading questions to determine his age. Rowan learned about Bureriu’s suit last October. Rowan’s allegations “present a convincing mosaic of circumstantial evidence which supports a finding of intentional age discrimination,” his lawyer wrote in the complaint. The lawyer, Kevin Jent, declined to comment for this story. (3/8)

China's Commercial Space Industry Supports Goal of Space Dominance (Source: Space News)
The U.S. intelligence community says that China's growing commercial space industry is helping the country progress toward its goal of edging out the United States in space. The congressionally mandated "Annual Threat Assessment" report released Wednesday concluded that China's commercial space sector, which includes many state-owned companies, "is growing quickly and is on pace to become a major global competitor by 2030."

Those companies, the report stated, will seek to either serve niche markets with little competition or undercut prices offered by Western firms in more competitive markets. The same report said that Russia remains a "key space competitor," but it may have difficulty achieving long-term space goals because of the effects of international sanctions and export controls after its invasion of Ukraine. (3/9)

Space Force Anticipates Perpetual Competition for Space Dominance (Source: Space News)
The head of the Space Force warned of a state of "perpetual competition" in space. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, said increasing capabilities from China in space means that the U.S. has to figure out how to protect its space assets while also deterring rivals from launching attacks that could make outer space unusable for human activities. Because space is a global domain, victory is not defined in traditional terms, he said: "If you do this right, you never fight." (3/9)

Japan's ispace Going Public (Source: Space News)
Japanese lunar lander developer ispace will go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange next month. The company announced Wednesday it will list its shares on the exchange April 12, but did not disclose the price of those shares. Company officials said last month they were considering an IPO as one means to raise money. The first ispace lunar lander, HAKUTO-R Mission 1, is scheduled to land on the moon in late April. (3/9)

Former Air Force Official Joins Shield Capital Advisory Board (Source: Space News)
A former U.S. Air Force chief of staff is joining a firm that invests in defense and space startups. Shield Capital announced that retired Air Force General David Goldfein has joined its national security advisory board. Goldfein, who was chief of staff of the Air Force from 2016 to 2020, will advise investors and entrepreneurs trying to match commercial technologies with national security needs. Shield Capital has invested in space companies such as remote sensing ventures HawkEye 360 and Albedo. (3/9)

NASA and Axiom to Unveil Moonwalk Space Suits (Source: NASA)
NASA and Axiom Space will unveil the Artemis moonwalking suits the company is developing next week. A March 15 event will unveil the design of the suits and include a "suit demonstration," NASA said Wednesday. NASA selected Axiom last September to develop suits for Artemis missions, starting with Artemis 3 no earlier than 2025. (3/9)

Spectrum Bills Advance in Congress (Source: Space Policy Online)
A House committee advanced five bills related to space uses of spectrum. A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted unanimously to move the bills to the full committee during a markup session Wednesday. The bills include efforts to streamline FCC satellite licensing and securing spectrum for launch vehicle communications. (3/9)

SECAF Kendall Conducting Additional Analysis of Space Command HQ Decision (Source: Military.com)
The Secretary of the Air Force says he is conducting "additional analysis" before making a decision on the headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Frank Kendall said this week that he had expected to make a decision by now but wanted the additional study that would ensure "we got this right and have a well-defended decision." That will either confirm a decision made in the final days of the Trump administration to establish Space Command's permanent headquarters at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama or keep it at its temporary headquarters in Colorado. (3/9)

NASA to Fly Earth Science Instrument on Italian Satellite (Source: NASA JPL)
NASA has confirmed plans to fly an Earth science instrument on an Italian satellite. JPL said Wednesday its Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) instrument will fly on the PLATiNO-2 satellite developed by the Italian Space Agency to launch before the end of 2024. MAIA, which will study the effect of airborne particles on human health, was originally to fly on a satellite developed by General Atomics, but the agency and company said last August they had terminated that agreement "due to overall technical alignment and programmatic challenges." (3/9)