May 1, 2023

FAA Sued Over SpaceX Starship Launch Program Following April Explosion (Source: CNBC)
Five environmental and cultural heritage groups are suing the FAA, alleging that the agency violated the National Environment Policy Act when it allowed SpaceX to launch the largest rocket ever built from its Boca Chica, Texas facility without a comprehensive environmental review, according to court filings. SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy test flight on April 20 blew up the company’s launch pad, hurling chunks of concrete and metal sheets thousands of feet away into sensitive habitat, spreading particulate matter including pulverized concrete for miles, and sparking a 3.5-acre fire on state park lands near the launch site.

The lawsuit against the FAA was filed in a district court in Washington D.C. on Monday by plaintiffs including: The Center for Biological Diversity, the American Bird Conservancy, SurfRider Foundation, Save Rio Grande Valley (Save RGV) and a cultural heritage organization, the Carrizo-Comecrudo Nation of Texas. The groups argue that the FAA should have conducted an in-depth environmental report, known as an environmental impact statement (EIS), before ever allowing SpaceX to move ahead with its Starship Super Heavy plans in Boca Chica. (5/1)

Why Kenyans Should Invest in Space Exploration (Source: The Standard)
The Director General and CEO of Kenya Space Agency told how the Taifa-1 satellite was developed, the value of space explorations, and what one needs to be a space engineer. "The Kenya Space Agency is a state corporation under the Ministry of Defence. It was established in March 2017 with the mandate to promote, coordinate and regulate space-related activities in Kenya. Whereas it is under the Ministry of Defence, the Agency is mostly concerned with peaceful uses of outer space and therefore the bulk of its functions and activities are civilian in nature and for national socioeconomic development.

"It works closely with over 12 public universities through the provision of research grants in the promotion of research and development activities in space systems engineering and the development of applications for harnessing processing, and analytics of space-derived data for decision support and to provide solutions, monitoring mechanism and early warning. Further, it supports startups in the space sector through research grants in the development of applications. it also partners with Kenya Innovation Agency (KeNIA) in supporting startups in the space sector through sponsorship of space challenge activities aimed at fostering innovation and incubation." (5/1)

How to Build Manhattan in Space (Source: The Atlantic)
The real problem with space is there’s not enough of it—at least not when it comes to places to put people. With billionaires funding their own space programs and investors pouring cash into new start-ups aimed at building a true space economy, millions of humans may end up working and living away from Earth in a century or two. If that happens, all of those people will need somewhere to live. But as of yet, no would-be captain of space industry has proposed a viable housing plan.

Mars, which gets a lot of attention as ground zero for humanity’s future, is really just a good place to die. The Red Planet is a frozen desert with a thin atmosphere and no protecting magnetic field. The threat from high-energy solar radiation is so extreme that cities would have to be built underground or covered by thick domes. And the surface of Mars (or any planet or moon) sits at the bottom of a deep gravitational well (that is, a high-gravity region) that rockets must climb out of or carefully drop down into. This makes visits between the surface and space an expensive proposition: It takes a lot of rocket fuel to climb up and down those wells, and rocket fuel doesn’t grow on trees (and trees don’t grow on Mars). Click here. (4/27)

Second ‘Impossible’ Ring Found Around Distant Dwarf Planet (Source: New York Times)
Earlier this year, astronomers announced that a tiny world beyond Neptune with a diameter about one-third that of Earth’s moon possessed a Saturn-like ring that should not be there. It now turns out that there are two such “impossible” rings. “It was a big surprise,” said Chrystian Luciano Pereira, a doctoral student at the National Observatory in Brazil who led the observations of the world, known as Quaoar. “This implies that Quaoar is a more complex system than we initially thought.” The new ring, about six miles wide, encircles Quaoar at a distance of about 1,500 miles. (4/27)

How to Get Your Kids Excited About Space (Source: Khaleej Times)
As parents, we often want our children to develop an interest in things beyond their daily routine. One area that is mysterious and unexplored enough to encourage a lot of creativity and curiosity is space. If you want your children to develop a more vibrant imagination and inquisitiveness about exciting domains like space, you have to foster that interest in them. Here are some ideas to help you encourage your children’s interest in space and in science and exploration at large. Click here. (5/1)

Falcon Heavy Launches ViaSat at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy finally launched the first ViaSat-3 satellite and two other spacecraft Sunday night. The rocket lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Sunday after nearly two weeks of delays caused by technical issues and poor weather, as well as a last-minute abort during a launch attempt Friday. The primary payload, the 6,400-kilogram ViaSat-3 Americas satellite, was deployed around 4 hours and 32 minutes after launch. The Boeing-built spacecraft will be used by Viasat to provide broadband services over the Americas, and is the first of three such spacecraft that will offer global coverage. Also on the Falcon Heavy launch was Arcturus, the first broadband "micro-GEO" satellite from Astranis, and a cubesat from Washington-based Gravity Space with a communications payload. (5/1)

Viasat Seeks Replacement for Ariane 6 for Launch of Third ViaSat 3 Satellite (Sources: Spaceflight Now, Space News)
The third ViaSat-3 spacecraft was to launch on an Ariane 6 but the company says it is looking for a new ride because of delays with that rocket. Viasat had announced in 2018 it selected SpaceX, ULA, and Arianespace to each launch one ViaSat 3 satellite, awarding launch contracts to three industry leaders. The first test flight of the Ariane 6 rocket, which the European Space Agency and ArianeGroup are developing to replace the workhorse Ariane 5, is now scheduled for no earlier than the end of this year, following years of delays. Once the Ariane 6 is flying, payloads from European governments and ESA will be first in line to fly on operational Ariane 6 missions, according to Dave Ryan. (4/30)

Air Force Tests Experimental Navigation Satellite (Source: Space News)
An experimental navigation satellite is undergoing final tests for a launch next year. The U.S. Air Force Navigation Technology Satellite-3 is a flight test seven years in the making to demonstrate novel technologies for space-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). It's also seen as a test case for the management of the so-called PNT enterprise, which includes the satellites, the ground system and the receivers that allow users to talk to the satellites. There is strong interest in the satellite both in the Defense Department and other agencies, seeing it as a potential means to offer a layer of resilience to the nation's PNT capabilities. (5/1)

China's Orienspace Readies Launch From Ocean Platform (Source: Space News)
Chinese rocket startup Orienspace is moving towards a debut launch from a sea platform later this year. The Gravity-1 rocket will launch from a mobile sea platform in the second half of the year, the company said in a mid-April meeting with officials from the province where those launch facilities are based. Gravity-1 consists of three solid stages and four side boosters and is designed to place up to 6,500 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Gravity-1 would be the most powerful rocket in the world using only solid-fuel stages and the largest in the growing Chinese commercial launch sector. Orienspace claims to have secured orders for launches of hundreds of satellites. (5/1)

Japan Considers Comet Sample Mission (Soiurce: Jiji)
Japan's space agency JAXA is considering a comet sample return mission. The proposed mission would be based on technology the agency developed for the Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions that returned samples from asteroids. JAXA has not yet selected a target for this mission but is considering a comet. The mission likely would not launch until the mid-2030s and return samples about a decade later. (5/1)

Kennedy Space Center Prepares for Greater Sea-Rise Problems (Source: Space Daily)
As sea levels rise, NASA managers and engineers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida are keeping a wary eye on potential damage to critical launch structures and other buildings not far from the Atlantic Ocean. More than a decade ago, the ocean started to encroach on federally protected beaches, penetrating to within some 2,000 feet of critical infrastructure. Now, with more intense hurricanes starting to hit, the work becomes even more crucial.

Historic Launch Pads 39A and 39B, which are close to the water, are vital for NASA and commercial partner SpaceX to continue sending astronauts to the International Space Station and soon to the moon. Click here. (4/28)

Multi-Domain Operations: Helping Militaries Make Better Decisions Faster (Source: Space Daily)
DoD's Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, aims to put intelligence from any sensor - on land, at sea, in the air or in space - in the hands of any military operator or commander who needs it. JADC2 is a leading example of what's known as multi-domain operations, the idea that military forces around the globe can operate faster, more collaboratively and more effectively by using commercial-style data networks that collect, process and distribute enormous volumes of information within seconds.

Multi-domain operations systems will collect terabytes of data from thousands of sensors - some old, some new, and some that use proprietary data formats readable by only certain ground stations. Fusing all that data, interpreting it and converting it into actionable battlefield intel will be the work of artificial intelligence and machine learning. One example of such a system is the Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node, or TITAN - a forward-deployed ground station that ingests and combines large and diverse data sets to find, track and render detailed 3-D visualizations of potential threats quickly. (4/28)

USSPACECOM Forum Discusses Need for Space-Savvy Medical Personnel (Source: Space Daily)
US Space Command's office of the Command Surgeon hosted the 2nd USSPACECOM Joint Space Medicine Forum April 18-19, at the Catalyst Campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. The two-day event brought together 37 medical leaders from combatant commands, service components, academia and NASA. This year's event emphasized a growing need for medical personnel to be "space savvy," placing a greater focus on developing a working knowledge of care for those involved in both ground-based and space-based operational missions. (5/1)

NASA Successfully Extracts Oxygen from Lunar Soil Simulant (Source: NASA)
As NASA works toward sending astronauts to the Moon through Artemis missions, one of the agency’s primary goals is to establish a long-term presence on the lunar surface. Resources like oxygen are crucial building blocks for making that vision a reality. In addition to using oxygen for breathing, it can also be used as a propellant for transportation, helping lunar visitors stay longer and venture farther.

During a recent test, scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil. Lunar soil refers to the fine-grained material covering the Moon’s surface. This was the first time that this extraction has been done in a vacuum environment, paving the way for astronauts to one day extract and use resources in a lunar environment, called in-situ resource utilization. (4/25)

SmallSat Education Conference Planned at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: FSGC)
Students and educators interested in cubesats, thinsats, and high altitude balloon missions are encouraged to participate in a SmallSat Education Conference planned on 28-29 October at the AMF Center for Space Education on the KSC Visitor Complex. Abstracts are due by July 1. Click here. (5/1)

China Targeting US Satellite Program in Quest for Military Supremacy (Source: New York Post)
A top-secret CIA intelligence report, illegally posted by 21-year-old US Air Guardsman Jack Teixiera, revealed that China is building cyberweapons to hack and hijack American satellites critical to US war-fighting operations, according to reports last week. Frightening. But there’s more. As a former senior analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), I specialized in foreign space warfare doctrines and have participated in multiple wargames simulating a conflict in space between the US and top adversaries such China and Russia.

I can confirm that cyberhacking is one of many weapons that China is amassing to target US satellites to deter America from intervening if and when China attacks Taiwan. China’s military concluded that exploiting this vulnerability by attacking our satellites would provide Beijing with a decisive advantage in battles against U.S. forces. At the same time, China has been beefing up its own space arsenal, having doubled its number of orbiting satellites from 250 to 499 between 2019 and 2021, according to the DIA. (4/29)

US Satellite Captures Images of New Chinese Military Blimp at Remote Base (Source: The Hill)
New satellite images show a large blimp apparently developed by the Chinese military at a military base in northwest China, according to CNN, taken months before a spy balloon from the country flew over the U.S. The satellite images, obtained by CNN, were taken in November 2022 by BlackSky, an American satellite imaging company. They show a 100-foot long blimp hovering over a runway that is nearly a kilometer long. Aerospace experts also told CNN that the images of the base in the desert of China showed infrastructure to launch airships and a large airship hangar. (5/1)

NASA’s Next Space Station Will Be 1,000 Times Farther From Earth (Source: Freethink)
For two decades, the ISS was the only occupied space station, but in April 2021, China launched the first module of Tiangong, a space station capable of supporting three astronauts. Within two months, it received its first crew and has been occupied ever since. Today, a handful of new space stations are in development, and unlike in the past, they aren’t all the work of national space agencies. Here are some of the ones most likely to get off the ground in the near future. Click here. (4/29)