April 7, 2023

Port Canaveral Seeks Solutions to Broker Smooth Cruise and Space Relationship (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It’s actually good that one of the world’s largest cruise ships strayed into the safety zone and delayed a SpaceX rocket launch, Port Canaveral CEO Capt. John Murray says. The incident happened on Jan. 30, 2022, when Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas ventured into the no-go zone during a southerly trajectory launch, forcing a scrub for the day just 33 seconds before liftoff. It’s the only time a cruise ship from the busiest cruise port in the world has stymied launch efforts from the Space Coast.

“The reason that I say it was a good thing — that it deviated into the safety zone — is we got with the Coast Guard and we said, ‘We need to fix this,’” Murray said. The fallout from that event had the Coast Guard updating some of the safety zones that had been in place since rockets first began launching from the Space Coast. “So now they’ve refined those safety zones, particularly the Falcon 9, which is like standing at the end of a runway watching a 777 go up. You’re not worried that it’s going to land on you.”

Despite a spike in launch frequency, Murray said so far the cruise industry’s ability to sail when they want to has not been affected. Murray would like the collaboration between the space industry and all of the port’s maritime operations to go one step further. “What I would advocate is some permanent safety fairways off the coast that the ships rendezvous at a point, and they stay in that fairway and no matter what launches are going off, it doesn’t matter as long as they’re in the fairway,” he said noting it’s the same sort of approach ships have with air traffic in New York, Louisiana and Texas. (4/6)

US Space Force’s Responsive Space Strategy Taking Shape (Source: C4ISRnet)
U.S. Space Force officials said they are refining their understanding of what it means to quickly react to threats that impact operational satellites as the service prepares for its second Tactically Responsive Space mission this summer, dubbed Victus Nox. The service last September issued contracts for Victus Nox to Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems to build a satellite and ground system and Firefly Aerospace to launch the mission, which will demonstrate the ability to produce and deliver a spacecraft in about eight months and fly it on short notice.

Brig. Gen. Tim Sejba, program executive officer for space domain awareness and combat power, said April 4 that Victus Nox will help the service further define what it means to be responsive during a conflict or crisis in space. In a quest to be specific about what “responsive space” means to the Space Force, Sejba said the service has identified two areas where the concept could be most helpful: characterizing threats and augmenting existing satellites and sensors with additional capabilities. (4/6)

Greenland Base Renamed (Source: Space News)
A Space Force base in northern Greenland has a new name. The service announced Thursday that Thule Air Base has been renamed Pituffik Space Base after the traditional Greenlandic name of the region where the base is located. The base, located more than 1,000 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, hosts several Space Force units involved in missile tracking and operations of U.S. government and allied satellites. (4/7)

Space Command Wants Better Space Object Tracking (Source: Breaking Defense)
A U.S. Space Command general is calling for better tracking of space objects. Maj. Gen. David Miller, director of operations for Space Command, said at a conference this week that he is "tired of excuses" about challenges tracking satellites and providing that information in a useful format for space operators. He said he is relieved that the Space Force's Space Systems Command has made such improvements a priority and plans to roll them out in an incremental process through spiral development. (4/7)

Emirati Astronaut Prepares for First Spacewalk (Source: The National)
An Emirati astronaut on the International Space Station will perform his first spacewalk later this month. Sultan Al Neyadi will join NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen on the April 28 spacewalk to replace communications hardware on the exterior of the station. He will be the first astronaut from a country that is not an official partner on the ISS to carry out a spacewalk there. (4/7)

JWST Images Uranus (Source: Space.com)
The James Webb Space Telescope has produced some of the best telescopic images yet of Uranus and its ring system. The images, taken in February and released Thursday, show the ice giant planet and cloud systems in its atmosphere, along with its rings and several moons. The planet has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyage 2 in 1986, although a Uranus orbiter mission ranked as the highest priority large mission in last year's planetary science decadal survey. (4/6)

Nature Conservancy And Planet Collaborate To Map Blue Carbon (Source: SpaceRef)
Planet Labs and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global environmental organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends, today announced collaborative efforts on the Blue Carbon Explorer (BlueCarbon.TNC.org), a digital tool developed by TNC that aims to map mangrove and seagrass blue carbon around the world. The tool also enables governments and coastal managers to make data-informed decisions on the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems.

Blue carbon refers to carbon stored in marine environments like seagrasses, mangroves, and salt marshes. Notably, blue carbon ecosystems can store up to 5 times as much carbon as upland forests. The world’s mangroves alone sequester more than 31 million tons of carbon in their soils and biomass each year. With this in mind, both TNC and Planet believe that the protection and restoration of these environments is critical for supporting biodiversity, combating climate change, and helping communities to thrive. New tools to map, monitor, and quantify these ecosystems are key for their conservation. (4/6)

NASA Administrator Names New Goddard Center Director (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has named Dr. Makenzie Lystrup director of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, effective immediately. She will make history as the first female center director at Goddard. Lystrup succeeds Dave Mitchell, who has served as Goddard’s acting center director since January 2023, and now resumes his duties as the agency’s chief program management officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (4/6)

NASA Awards Innovative Concept Studies for Science, Exploration (Source: SpaceRef)
Technology in development today could radically change the future of air and space exploration. Nearly silent electric aircraft could ferry people and packages around cities, a sprawling radio telescope array on the far side of the Moon could reveal new secrets about the universe, and astronauts on long-duration missions could grow their own medicines to protect their health. These concepts are among six selected for continued study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Click here. (4/6)

Nyx Mission to Observe the Universe from Deep Space - Enabled by EmberCore, a High Specific Power RadioisotopeElectric Propulsion System (Source: NASA)
USNC-Tech is proposing a radioisotope-electric-propulsion spacecraft design powered by a novel commercial radioisotope technology called EmberCore. The spacecraft architecture is capable of incredible ∆V on the order of 50-100 km/s. This spacecraft would enable the unprecedented capability to complete science objectives in the outer solar system.

This Phase II NIAC builds upon the feasibility of the Phase I by looking at logistical changes such as supply chain, regulatory launch approval, assembly, integration, and test while also executing on the Phase I maturation plan by completing production of a radioisotope at a small lab scale and preparing for a full-scale demonstration of the radioisotope in a future phase. (4/6)

SpaceX Launches Intelsat Satellite and NASA Hosted Payload for Pollution Monitoring (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched an Intelsat communications satellite with a NASA hosted payload overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:30 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral and placed the Intelsat 40e satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit about a half-hour later. The Maxar-built satellite will operate from 91 degrees west in GEO, providing Ku- and Ka-band communications services. Intelsat 40e also hosts TEMPO, a NASA payload to measure air pollution across much of North America. (4/7)

SpaceX Starship Test Now Planned for April 17 - April 21 (Source: Space News)
SpaceX is edging closer to the first full Starship launch attempt. The company said Thursday it is planning a launch rehearsal of the Starship Super Heavy vehicle on the pad at Boca Chica, Texas, next week, with a launch attempt to follow about a week later, pending an FAA launch license. An FAA planning document shows a planned launch of the vehicle April 17, with backup dates through April 21. The launch will be the first integrated flight of the vehicle, which is planned to have Starship splash down near Hawaii after less than one orbit. (4/7)

True Anomaly Raises $30 Million for Automomous Orbital Inspection Spacecraft (Source: Space News)
True Anomaly has raised $30 million to develop spacecraft to perform proximity operations in orbit. The company will use the funding to develop its Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle, with two satellites scheduled to launch this fall on a SpaceX rideshare mission. One of the spacecraft will attempt to chase down an "uncooperative" object and take pictures up close. The company hopes to win business from the Defense Department by demonstrating technologies it believes can fill gaps in the military's capabilities to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in orbit. (4/7)

Cruise Line Picks Starlink for Broadband (Source: Space News)
Norwegian Cruise Lines is the latest cruise operator to adopt Starlink for broadband services. Norwegian said it is testing Starlink on one of its ships and plans to expand it to others if the tests are successful. Royal Caribbean Group was the first cruise line to adopt Starlink last August, and Carnival, the world's largest cruise company, has also announced plans to use Starlink. (4/7)

Axiom Schedules Second Private Astronaut Mission in May (Source: Space News)
Axiom Space's second private astronaut mission is scheduled for launch next month. The company said its Ax-2 mission is currently slated to launch May 8 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The 10-day mission will be commanded by former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson with customer John Shoffner as pilot and two Saudi astronauts as mission specialists. A Saudi official said the flight is the start of a "sustainable" human spaceflight program for the country that could eventually include long-duration missions. Ax-2 is part of a series of missions Axiom Space will fly to build up experience ahead of installing commercial modules on the International Space Station as a precursor to a standalone station. (4/7)

NOAA Seeks Budget Increase for Weather Satellites (Source: Space News)
NOAA's fiscal year 2024 budget proposal requests increased funding for a next-generation weather satellite program. The proposal seeks significant increases for the GeoXO program of future geostationary weather satellites, after Congress provided less than half the funding NOAA requested for GeoXO in 2023. The proposal also looks to increase spending on the Polar Weather Satellite program for the next two JPSS satellites as well as ramping up work on a new architecture of low Earth orbit weather satellites. The NOAA budget also requests $88 million for the Office of Space Commerce to fund development of civil space traffic management capabilities. (4/7)

China's iSpace Launches Solid-Fuel Hyperbola-1 Rocket to Orbit (Source: China Daily)
A Chinese commercial rocket successfully launched overnight. The SQX-1 rocket, also known as Hyperbola-1, lifted off at 12 a.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Chinese officials did not disclose if the launch carried any payloads. The solid-fuel Hyperbola-1, developed by Chinese company iSpace, reached orbit on its first launch in 2019, but failed in three subsequent launches. (4/7)

Building the Space Age: Acknowledging Skilled Workers (Source: Space.com)
In most cases, it is not the university-educated professionals who are physically constructing the rockets, crew vehicles, and other mission-critical elements. It is (and will be) the welders, electricians, metal workers, machinists, plumbers and pipefitters, and innumerable other skilled trades workers. Their work must be flawless, or as flawless as is humanly possible, for such missions to succeed. No human future in space will happen without their invaluable contributions. (4/1)

NASA Awards Contract for Aerospace Systems Modeling, Simulation (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a small business set-aside contract to Metis Flight Research Associates LLC of Albuquerque, New Mexico, for support of aerospace systems modeling and simulation facilities at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Technical Services for Aerospace Modeling and Simulation III (SimLabs III) is a hybrid contract that includes a cost-plus-fixed-fee core for contract management and technical services contract line items, and an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity provision for technical service contract line items. (3/23)

China Carries Out Successful Rocket Vertical Landing at Sea (Source: Global Times)
China recently carried out a successful rocket vertical landing test at sea, with developers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) saying Thursday that the technology would lay the foundation for future applications including a recyclable near-space experiment platform as well as the development of space travel.

CAS Space, a commercial spaceflight firm that is partly owned by CAS, revealed that it successfully carried out the launching-from-land and landing-at-sea flight trial in Haiyang, East China's Shandong Province, which verified the rocket stage recovery at sea, communication and spacecraft tracking and measuring technology under the impact of sea clutters. (4/5)

America Longs to Expand Low-Earth Orbit Economy 'For the Benefits of Humanity' (Source: The Register)
The US government has published a strategy for LEO research and development, anticipating a transition from the ISS to the use of private sector successors and investigating approaches to address the threat of orbital debris. The US National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) vision is for continued US leadership in space research, using LEO science to help drive its ambitions for the exploration of the Moon and Mars, but also expanding its international partnerships and ensuring “equitable access” to LEO for peaceful purposes, especially commercial activities. (4/5)

Exhibit Features Virginia's Past, Continued Role in Space Exploration (Source: WTVR)
"One small step for man" has led to one giant leap for the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. The "Apollo: When We Went to the Moon" exhibition is now on display, spanning four galleries. The exhibit is said to be the largest one the museum has shown in history. Virginia is no stranger to space exploration. NASA's Langley Research Center and Wallops Island Flight Center both call the coast of the Commonwealth home.

"The training these astronauts did, it was done at Langley," Fuqua said. "The equipment that they used, the rockets that they built, a lot of that started at Langley." A special part of the exhibit, called "Virginia to the Moon" is dedicated to Virginia's past and continued role in space exploration, noting the several astronauts that were born in Virginia. It also details the women behind some of the most prominent space findings, including Katherine G. Johnson, a mathematician from Virginia. (4/5)

SpaceX's Next-Gen Starlink Satellites Have Started Falling From Space (Source: Gizmodo)
It’s been a little over a month since SpaceX launched 21 mini versions of its next-generation Starlink satellites, but it appears that one of those little guys just couldn’t cling to orbit any longer. The Starlink satellite designated as 30062 reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Monday at 4:50 a.m. ET off the coast of California. The satellite very likely burned up during its reentry. Jonathan McDowell noted that three of the Starlink V2 Minis were raising their altitudes in the attempt to reach their designated operational orbits, while one underwent a controlled deorbit maneuver. (4/4)

Sidus Space Expands Board with Appointment of Leonardo Riera (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced the appointment of Leonardo Riera to its Board of Directors. Riera brings more than 35 years of experience in investment banking and fund management to Sidus Space. During his accomplished career, Riera served as a Consultant for McKinsey & Co, as Head of a Mergers & Acquisitions unit for Citicorp Investment Bank. (4/6)