April 29, 2023

JUICE Jupiter Moon Probe Has Stuck Antenna (Source: Ars Technica)
It has now been two weeks since the on-target launch of the European Space Agency's 1.5 billion euro probe that is bound for the moons of Jupiter. This process had been going well until the space agency attempted to extend a 16-meter-long antenna that is part of its radar instrument. The Radar for Icy Moons Exploration, or RIME, is an important scientific instrument on the spacecraft because its ground-penetrating radar will allow for examinations of the interior of intriguing moons such as Europa and Ganymede.

On Friday, the European Space Agency said the long antenna remains stuck to its mounting bracket and is only extended about one-third of its full length. Engineers at the spacecraft's mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, are working to solve the issue. Given that there are several options for getting the antenna unstuck and nearly eight years of voyaging left before Juice reaches the Jovian system, Europe probably has a good chance of resolving this issue. (4/28)

Azerbaijan Acknowledges Azersky/Spot-7 Loss, Appears to Have Selected Israel’s IAI for 2-satellite, $120M Successor (Source: Space Intel Report)
Azerbaijan’s space agency, Azercosmos, acknowledged the failure of its Azersky optical Earth observation satellite, also known as Spot-7, but said it would continue to serve customers with the twin Spot 6, which is owned by Airbus Defence and Space. On the heels of the acknowledgement, it appears that Azercosmos has concluded a $120-million agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to purchase two high-resolution optical satellites. (4/28)

NASA Program Aims to Help Fix Lagoon Woes Near Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Imagine seagrass in the Banana River as thick as the shag carpet that covered the floors of Brevard County homes at the height of the space race. It's difficult to picture for those of us who are all too familiar with the current state of the Indian River Lagoon following decades of poor water quality due to nutrient pollution and algae blooms that have blocked sunlight from reaching the river floor where the grass once grew. But a NASA pilot program aims to change that.

Like dropping a stone in the water, project managers hope that the sea grass recovery plan will literally take root near the space center and be able to ripple out across the entire Indian River Lagoon. The plan includes planting a minimum of 28,000 shoots of seagrass divided into 18 sites across three areas at Kennedy Space Center. (4/28)

Fabrication, Corrosion Experts Come to Space Coast to Help Safeguard Blue Origin, SpaceX (Source: Florida Today)
For more than 50 years Acadian Contractors has specialized in fabrication and corrosion control on steel and metal structures. Two of their primary contracts locally represent two of the larger aerospace companies — Blue Origin and SpaceX — where they take care of asset protection, preventive maintenance and repair when needed around structures.

With Brevard's space industry being so close to the ocean, an expert in handling products affected by salt air has proven critical. Acadian handles things like ground support equipment — hardware on the launchpad like tanks and pipelines that will fuel equipment for the rockets prior to takeoff. Since October 2022, Acadian has handled SpaceX’s marine operations, which consists of two boats — the ones that retrieve the boosters and the Crew Dragon capsule after it splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. (4/28)

Nelson Expects SpaceX to be Ready for Next Starship Launch Within Months (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told a House committee that SpaceX’s truncated Starship test flight was not a major setback in plans to use that vehicle to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2025. Testifying before the House Science Committee April 27 about the agency’s fiscal year 2024 budget request, Nelson said SpaceX expects to be ready to make another Starship launch attempt in as little as two months. He explained SpaceX’s “hardware-rich” approach to vehicle development, with several Starship and Super Heavy vehicles in production. “That’s their modus operandi. They launch, and if something goes wrong, they figure out what it is, go back, and they launch it again.” (4/27)

State-Owned Academy Makes Rocket Engines Available to Chinese Commercial Space Firms (Source: Space News)
China’s Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology is marketing reusable rocket engines to speed up development of China’s commercial space sector. Three engines are being marketed, including the YF-102 kerosene-liquid oxygen gas generator engine, which uses 3D printing techniques and the vacuum-optimized YF-102V. The third is the reusable YF-209 methane-liquid oxygen, 80-ton-thrust engine. The latter is still in development, with hot fire testing being carried out in February. (4/27)

China Lunar Samples Gifted to Russia, France (Source: Space Daily)
China has gifted lunar samples retrieved by the Chang'e 5 mission to Russia and France to boost lunar research, according to the China National Space Administration. The administration announced on Monday that 1.5 grams of lunar samples were presented to Russia during President Vladimir Putin's visit to China in February 2022. In return, Russia gave China a reciprocal amount from the 1970 Soviet Luna 16 mission, during President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow this March. (4/27)

Exo-Space Hardware Delivered to Sidus Space for Integration and Testing in Preparation for Launch (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced today that Exo-Space has delivered its hardware for integration and testing in preparation for launch aboard LizzieSat. As previously announced, Sidus Space will integrate Exo-Space’s FeatherEdge Data Processing Platform into its hybrid 3D printed satellite, LizzieSat. (4/28)

Raytheon Shies Away From Prime Role for Future Military Satellites (Source: Space News)
Raytheon says it will shift from being a prime contractor to a merchant supplier in future military satellite competitions. Raytheon won a contract last month to build seven missile-detection satellites for the Space Development Agency, but a company executive said pursuing such contracts as a prime contractor "hasn't yielded the results that we were looking for." Raytheon instead plans to offer satellite buses and payloads to other prime contractors. That would allow it to take better advantage of capabilities from subsidiaries Blue Canyon Technologies and SEAKR Engineering, which produce satellite buses and electronics, respectively. (4/28)

Spain's Satlantis to Acquire UK's SuperSharp (Source: Space News)
Satlantis, a Spanish manufacturer of Earth observation satellites and payloads, is acquiring a British developer of thermal imaging systems. Satlantis said it is taking a majority stake in SuperSharp, a startup spun out of the University of Cambridge that has developed a foldable thermal infrared telescope for small satellites. The deal gives SuperSharp the financial and industrial resources needed to deploy an in-orbit demonstrator of that technology in 2025. (4/28)

Falcon 9 Launches Starlink Satellites From California, Recovers Booster (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A Falcon 9 launched Thursday morning while weather grounded a Falcon Heavy. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:40 a.m. Eastern Thursday. It deployed its payload of 46 Starlink satellites an hour after liftoff. (4/28)

Heavy Thunderstorms Force SpaceX to Delay Launch of Falcon Heavy Rocket (Source: Space Daily)
Severe weather in Florida forced SpaceX to postpone the launch of its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket on Thursday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The 57-minute launch window was scheduled to begin at 7:29 p.m. However, the area around Kennedy Space Center received severe thunderstorms prior to the launch window's opening and during it. (4/28)

Italy Uses Pandemic Relief Funding for Space Industry Development (Source: Space News)
Italy is using pandemic relief funding to support its space industry. Italy has ordered at least 34 Earth observation satellites and two Vega launches for the IRIDE constellation, or International Report for Innovative Defense of Earth. More than 47 Italian companies have secured contracts valued at $1.2 billion for IRIDE, funded by the Italian government's National Plan for Recovery and Resilience established to revitalize the nation's economy after the pandemic. In addition to the 34 satellites ordered, the contacts with several companies include options for an additional 35 satellites. (4/28)

Albedo Wins USAF Contract for Thermal Imagery (Source: Space News)
Albedo has won an Air Force contract to provide thermal imagery for nighttime observations. The $1.25 million Small Business Innovation Research contract awarded by AFWERX, the U.S. Air Force innovation arm, will allow Albedo to mature technology for the thermal imaging system it is developing for a constellation of satellites in very low Earth orbit. Those satellites will be able to provide optical imagery at a resolution of 10 centimeters and thermal imagery at 2 meters. (4/28)

Light Steering Technologies Wins AFWERX Contract for Smallsat Angular Pointing (Source: Space News)
Light Steering Technologies has won its own AFWERX contract to develop angular pointing technologies for smallsats. The New Hampshire startup said the $1.25 million award will allow it to advance the technology of its Multi-Axis Scanner, a patented magnetic joint for gimbal-like capability. Potential applications include sensing, laser communications, directed energy and additive manufacturing. (4/28)