June 22, 2023

RFA to Launch From Kourou (Source: RFA)
Launch service provider Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) has signed a binding term sheet with the French space agency CNES to offer its launch services from the Kourou Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana. RFA will launch from the ELM-Diamant launch complex beginning in 2025. With access to arguably the European spaceport, launch service provider RFA will be able to offer customers all inclinations from equatorial to polar. This expands RFA’s portfolio of orbits available to customers to include low inclination orbits such as GTO, MEO, GEO, lunar and even interplanetary mission profiles. (6/21)

Intelsat Walks Away From SES Merger Talks (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has ended talks about merging with rival satellite operator SES, a source close to the discussions confirmed. They had been negotiating a deal for at least three months that would have formed a group with around $4 billion in revenues, beefing up defenses as SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation expands into their satellite broadband markets. A transaction would have followed Viasat’s recently completed Inmarsat merger and another consolidation deal in the works between Eutelsat and OneWeb. (6/21)

AST SpaceMobile Confirms 4G Capabilities to Everyday Smartphones Directly From Space (Source: AST SpaceMobile)
AST SpaceMobile, the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, announced it has achieved repeated successful download speeds above 10 Mbps during testing of BlueWalker 3. Space-based cellular communications at 4G speeds using unmodified smartphones is another world first telecommunications achievement by AST SpaceMobile. (6/21)

NASA Achieves Water Recovery Milestone on International Space Station (Source: NASA)
For space missions that venture beyond low Earth orbit, new challenges include how to provide basic needs for crew members without resupply missions from the ground.  NASA is developing life support systems that can regenerate or recycle consumables such as food, air, and water and is testing them on the ISS. Ideally, life support systems need to recover close to 98% of the water that crews bring along at the start of a long journey. The space station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) recently demonstrated that it can achieve that significant goal. (6/20)

Undersea Tourism and Space Tourism Share Some Risks (Source: Quartz)
The undersea tourism business operates in a similar regulatory environment to space tourism: Participants must be informed of the risks, and then anything goes. The passengers onboard OceanGate’s submersible as it dove to the Titanic this week include Hamish Harding, who had already been to space onboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket [and helped pilot a record-breaking polar circumnavigation jet flight staged at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport].

From a passenger’s perspective, a spacecraft disabled in orbit would be much like the current situation in the north Atlantic: A trapped crew with limited resources, facing a race against time to be rescued. But the response to a disabled spacecraft in orbit would be very different. There are no plans in place at NASA or at SpaceX, the only company that can currently fly humans off-planet, for how to mount a rescue in space.

Grant Cates, a former NASA engineer who now works at the Aerospace Corporation, a government-backed think tank, argues that the situation needs to change. NASA learned through hard-won experience that redundancy is key: Having two spacecraft—a lunar lander and a command module—made Apollo 13's escape from disaster possible, while the Columbia tragedy might have been avoided had NASA sent a rescue rather than attempting to return the damaged Space Shuttle to Earth. (6/22)

NorthStar Pivots to Rocket Lab Following Virgin Orbit’s Collapse (Source: Space News)
Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space has signed a multi-launch deal with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit’s bankruptcy shattered plans to start deploying its space situational awareness (SSA) satellites this summer. Rocket Lab is contracted to launch the venture’s first four satellites this fall on an Electron rocket, NorthStar announced June 22. Spire Global is providing the satellites, each the size of 16 cubesats.

NorthStar had planned to launch three satellites in its initial batch with Virgin Orbit, before the air-launch company fell into bankruptcy in April. Using larger capacity on Electron to deploy more satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) gives its SSA system greater coverage from the outset for early adopters, said NorthStar chief operating officer David Saint-Germain. (6/22)

High-Tech Laser Lab to Demonstrate In-Situ Sensing and Analysis of Ocean Environments (Source: Space Daily)
Impossible Sensing, along with a team of scientists and engineers from SETI Institute, NASA JPL, University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory and other institutions onboard Ocean Exploration Trust's Exploration Vessel Nautilus expedition, successfully launched InVADER Mission's Laser Divebot into the deep waters surrounding Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. This expedition marks the first time a high-tech laser laboratory has been integrated into ROV operations for in situ sensing and analysis - a true paradigm shift in ocean research and exploration.

Using laser spectroscopy, the Laser Divebot collects high-fidelity compositional data, including rocks, sediments, water column, and biological samples. Being deployed for the first time from a mobile ROV, this technology aims to advance in situ sensing, ultimately removing the need to collect physical samples as the first measure-while-in-motion autonomous solution. (6/15)

ULA Launches Spy Satellite on Delta 4 Heavy at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A Delta 4 Heavy lifted off early this morning carrying a classified satellite. The rocket lifted off at 5:18 a.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida after a one-day delay because of a ground system problem. The rocket is carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on a mission designated NROL-68. One final Delta 4 Heavy launch is scheduled for next year. (6/22)

HASC Approves NDAA with Space Provisions (Source: Space News)
The House Armed Services Committee approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act overnight. Members voted 58-1 for the final version of the bill after the committee completed its traditional marathon markup session. Members approved some space-related amendments, such as one that will allow the Space Force to charge companies that use its launch ranges to cover indirect costs associated with launch operations, such as infrastructure upgrades.

Another directs the service to study issues associated with deploying "a high-power megawatt nuclear-electric power and propulsion asset in space." The committee left intact a provision that prevents U.S. Space Command from spending money to improve facilities at its temporary Colorado headquarters until it selects a permanent location. (6/22)

NASA Earth Information Center Opens in DC (Source: Space News)
NASA opened a center designed to highlight its Earth science capabilities amid concerns about budgets for future missions. The agency held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for the Earth Information Center, a public center at NASA Headquarters that shows off Earth science data. It is part of efforts by the agency, under the direction of the Biden administation, to make Earth science data more widely available and work with other agencies on applications of it.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview at the event that some science missions might be delayed because of spending caps enacted as part of a debt-ceiling agreement signed into law earlier this month. NASA officials separately said delays are likely in calls for proposals for future planetary science missions. (6/22)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites From California, Recovers Booster (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites early today. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:19 a.m. Eastern, with SpaceX confirming deployment of the 47 satellites about 45 minutes later. The Falcon 9 booster, making its fourth launch, landed on a droneship in the Pacific as planned. (6/22)

Scout Space Raises Funding for SSA (Source: Space News)
SSA startup Scout Space has raised a new round of funding. The company said Wednesday it closed a seed round, the value of which it did not disclose, from the venture capital firm Decisive Point and from government contractor Noblis. The company did state it has raised $5.5 million since its founding in 2019. Scout developed a sensing payload that helps spacecraft in orbit see and understand the environment around them, and has secured SBIR contracts from the Air Force and Space Force. (6/22)

Danti Raises $2.75 Million for Geospatial Search Engine (Source: Space News)
A startup has revealed its plans to create a search engine for geospatial data. Atlanta-based Danti announced a $2.75 million pre-seed funding round Wednesday to develop a search engine that uses artificial intelligence technologies to extract information from geospatial data, including satellite imagery. The company recently won a $75,000 prize challenge from the National Security Innovation Network, sponsored by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, for an application that would allow non-expert users of geospatial data to quickly prioritize, analyze and organize information into actionable intelligence. (6/22)

UK's Space Forge Aims for US Expansion (Source: Space News)
Space Forge, a U.K.-based space manufacturing company, is looking to expand to the United States. The company has hired Andrew Parlock, a former Iceye executive, as its managing director for U.S. manufacturing operations. That is part of efforts to establish a U.S. facility for building its ForgeStar satellites for American customers of its on-orbit manufacturing technologies. (6/22)

NASA and Northrop Grumman Set Aug. 1 for Next Cygnus Launch to ISS (Source: NASA)
NASA and Northrop Grumman have set an Aug. 1 date for the launch of the next Cygnus mission to the International Space Station. The NG-19 mission will be the final flight of the current version of the Antares rocket, which uses a Ukrainian first stage and Russian engines. Northrop announced last August it would work with Firefly Aerospace on a new, domestically manufactured first stage, launching several Cygnus spacecraft on Falcon 9 rockets in the interim. Northrop delayed the mission from the spring as it continued to investigate a failed solar array deployment on the previous Cygnus spacecraft last November. (6/22)

Virgin Galactic Board Chairman Dies (Source: Virgin Galactic)
The chairman of the board of Virgin Galactic, Evan Lovell, has died. The company announced Wednesday that Lovell passed away unexpectedly after an illness. Lovell had been on the company's board since 2019 and became chair in April after serving more than a year as interim chair. Lovell was a partner and chief investment officer of Virgin Group. Raymond Mabus, Jr., a former secretary of the navy, will serve as interim chair. (6/22)

Europe Facing Its Lowest Launch Rate In 40 Years (Source: Aviation Week)
The European/Russian launch partnership ended abruptly in 2022 as part of the economic fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The withdrawal of the medium-lift Soyuz from the Arianespace fleet left the company wit a gap in its inventory and unable to fulfill its biggest launch contract with OneWeb. Arianespace's troubles continue. The last Ariane 5 has been delayed from June to July, marking the 117th launch of an Ariane 5. After that launch, Europe's space industry faces a long hiatus of uncertain duration.

The European fleet will be left with just two small-satellite Vega launchers, with the upgraded Vega C awaiting return-to-flight after a December 2022 failure. Launches for the new Ariane 6 and Vega C will take years to ramp up, so some customers are looking to competitors like SpaceX for access to space. "Europe finds itself today in an acute launcher crisis with a (albeit temporary) gap in its own access to space and no real launcher vision beyond 2030," said ESA's Josef Aschbacher. (6/19)

DARPA, SpaceLogistics Step Toward 2025 Launch of Orbital Robotic ‘Mechanic’ for Satellites (Source: Breaking Defense)
With recently completed ground-testing and a new commercial client, the public-private partnership between the Pentagon’s far-future research agency and Northrop Grumman’s SpaceLogistics to develop a robotic vehicle to physically repair ailing satellites is moving toward launch in early 2025, according to officials involved. “There’s a lot of folks who say robotics have been around for a long time. The challenge is space-based robotics,” said Robert Hauge, Space Logistics’ president. “This is really, really hard.”

The new, highly dexterous robotic arms are many leaps ahead of the Canadarm used by astronauts on the International Space Station, in that they are designed to operate “autonomously” to do “inspection, orbital adjustment, repair and upgrade” missions on spacecraft “that were not designed to be grappled.” Thus, the system “requires a lot of software and a lot of algorithms” alongside the new hardware. “All of the avionics and all of the electronics and all of the software and algorithms that are needed to actually execute that mission go well beyond what’s what anybody’s arm does,” he said. (6/20)

Mynaric to Supply Laser Communications for Raytheon’s Missile-Tracking Satellites (Source: Space News)
Mynaric will supply laser communications terminals for seven military satellites made by Raytheon Technologies, the company announced June 21. The optical communications terminals are for missile-tracking satellites that Raytheon is making under a $250 million contract from the Space Development Agency (SDA). These satellites will be part of SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, a network of 35 satellites that also includes 14 spacecraft made by Northrop Grumman and 14 made by L3Harris Technologies. They are projected to launch in 2025. (6/21)

NASA Welcomes Ecuador as 26th Artemis Accords Signatory (Source: NASA)
During a ceremony at the Ecuador embassy in Washington on Wednesday, Ecuador became the 26th country to sign the Artemis Accords. Karen Feldstein, NASA associate administrator for International and Interagency Relations, participated in the signing ceremony for the agency, and Gustavo Manrique Miranda, Ecuador’s foreign affairs minister, signed on behalf of Ecuador. The Artemis Accords establish a practical set of principles to guide space exploration cooperation among nations, including those participating in NASA’s Artemis program. (6/21)

Parker Solar Probe Kisses Sun, Finds Source of “Fast” Solar Wind (Source: Cosmos)
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has ventured near enough to the Sun to reveal the source of fast solar wind. Such details about solar wind structure are lost when the wind exits the Sun’s corona as a gust of charged particles. Parker has detected streams of high-energy particles that correlate to pockets on the Sun’s surface known as coronal holes. These are areas where a magnetic field emanates outward into the space around the Sun without looping back into its surface. These holes tend to appear near the Sun’s poles, so the fast solar wind they generate doesn’t hit Earth. (6/20)

Canadian Space Agency Awards $16 Million for Space Technology Development Program AO 7 (Source: Axios)
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) recently released the list of 27 organizations that received funding under the Space Technology Development Program (STDP) AO 7. We’ve already covered some of the awards, but in the coming weeks you’ll see more detailed stories on the other awards. Of the 27 organizations selected, 25 are SMEs. In total, 29 technology projects were selected. The CSA has other funding opportunities open. Click here. (6/20)

US State Department Releases Strategic Framework on Space Diplomacy (Source: SpaceRef)
The US Department of State has released a new space-related policy document, called “A Strategic Framework for Space Diplomacy.” The Strategic Framework discusses the circumstances that the United States (and its allies) now find themselves in regarding space policymaking and the commercial space sector, and outlines how the United States will be adapting its diplomatic approach to reflect the rapid growth of the space sector and the growing importance of space in US and global policy.

The Framework pointed to the Start Department’s diplomatic relationships with other spacefaring nations as well as domestic partners like the National Space Council, NASA, and DoD (among many others), as having given them “space-specific policy expertise” that can be leveraged to the United States’ benefit. The Department said that America has “been a leader in exploring and utilizing outer space for peaceful purposes”, connected to their “commitment to progress for all humankind.” (6/21)

Our Galaxy’s Black Hole Not as Sleepy as Thought (Source: AFP)
The supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our Milky Way galaxy is not as dormant as had been thought, a new study shows. The slumbering giant woke up around 200 years ago to gobble up some nearby cosmic objects before going back to sleep, according to the study published Wednesday. NASA's IXPE space observatory spotted an x-ray echo of this powerful resurgence of activity, the researchers said. (6/21)

Could Ohio be Home to the U.S. Space Command Headquarters? (Source: WCMH)
Ohio politicians hope the state catches President Joe Biden’s eye as the next home for the U.S. Space Command – but they may be reaching for the stars. As the Biden administration continues what has become a politicized search for the Space Command’s headquarters, elected officials at the local, state and federal levels want Ohio – specifically its Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton – to be the No. 1 choice. But the Air Force appears to have different plans. In an email Tuesday afternoon, a department spokesperson said Ohio didn’t make the shortlist for Space Command’s headquarters, which is currently stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (6/21)

The Space Race May Already Be Won (Source: Space News)
With little fanfare, SpaceX has unveiled its plan to completely revolutionize the space industry, and the world has collectively shrugged. In early December 2022, SpaceX introduced its Starshield concept, a satellite program offering satellite-based secure communications and optional sensing payloads to government customers. However, despite its subdued announcement, Starshield is, in fact, a Trojan horse that will enable SpaceX to further dominate the space domain and dictate policy to businesses and national governments alike.

With the new Starshield program, SpaceX is on the verge of transforming its dominance into a monopoly. Governments and businesses must act now to counter any attempts to monopolize the space industry in order to preserve consumer choice and to ensure national policy remains in the hands of elected governments. (6/21)

Rocket Lab HASTE Mission Success for Hypersonic R&D (Source: Shore Daily)
Rocket Lab confirmed via Twitter that Saturday night’s hush-hush mission from Wallops Island was successful. “Mission success for the launch of our new suborbital launch vehicle! …. Congratulations to our mission partners, and welcome to a new era of hypersonic test launch capability!” There was little to no fanfare when Rocket Lab’s first hypersonic accelerator suborbital test Electron mission, called HASTE, lifted off at 9:24 p.m., from the company’s Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Flight Facility. The mission was classified. What was in the payload and its mass have not been disclosed. (6/20)