June 26, 2023

SpaceX Shares Set Valuation at $150 Billion (Source: Wall Street Journal)
A sale of SpaceX shares would value the company at $150 billion. SpaceX is reportedly offering shares held by current and former employees at a price that would value SpaceX at $150 billion, up from $140 billion late last year. The sale would not raise more money for the company but instead allow employees to liquidate their shares. (6/26)

Final Ariane 5 Planned for July 4 Launch (Source: Arianespace)
Arianespace has rescheduled the final Ariane 5 launch. The company said Friday the launch of the Syracuse 4B and Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit government communications satellites is now planned for July 4 from Kourou, French Guiana. The launch was scheduled for mid-June but postponed after engineers concluded three pyrotechnical transmission lines in the rocket needed to be replaced. (6/26)

Senate Bill Would Create New Onramp for Companies to Enter DoD Launch Services Contracts (Source: Space News)
The Senate's version of a defense authorization bill would create a new lane for launch procurements. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2024 on Friday after closed deliberations. The Senate bill would create a "Lane 2A" for Phase 3 of the National Security Space Launch program of procuring launch services. As currently planned, Lane 2 would be for established launch providers who can perform the full range of launch missions; the proposed Lane 2A would open two years into the contract to allow new entrants to complete for those missions. Unlike the House version of the NDAA, the Senate version does not authorize the creation of a Space National Guard. (6/26)

Lynk Global Offers Direct-to-Handset Service for Palau (Source: Space News)
Lynk Global is preparing to provide direct-to-handset services for a Pacific island nation. The Palau National Communications Corporation (PNCC) announced last week it will use Lynk's satellites to provide periodic texting services in part of Palau outside of terrestrial network coverage starting later this month. Lynk currently has three small satellites in low Earth orbit with plans to launch another three in the fall and six more in January 2024. PNCC is one of more than 30 companies that Lynk says is has signed agreements with. (6/26)

Anduril Acquires Adranos (Source: Space News)
Defense contractor Anduril Industries has acquired Adranos, a manufacturer of solid rocket motors. Adranos had developed a a proprietary aluminum-lithium alloy fuel for use in missiles and launch vehicles. Anduril says it will offer those motors to defense prime contractors for use in missiles and hypersonic vehicles. Terms of the deal, announced Sunday, were not disclosed. (6/26)

SLI Formed to Enter Ground Station Business (Source: Space News)
Space Leasing International (SLI), a new venture formed by the multinational Libra Group, plans to get into the ground station business. SLI announced last week it will acquire 21 ground stations over three years and lease them to RBC Signals, starting with a single ground station in Alaska. RBC says the deal will allow it to serve a growing customer base without having to raise money to build its own stations. Libra Group, which leases assets in shipping, aviation and other fields, says it is interested in expanding to leasing satellites and launch facilities through SLI. (6/26)

Rocket Lab to Launch Multiple Satellites as Part of Upcoming Recovery Mission (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) reports that its next Electron mission will deploy seven satellites to space and include an attempt to recover the rocket's booster after launch. The 'Baby Come Back' mission, Rocket Lab's 39th Electron launch, is scheduled to deploy from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a launch window that opens July 14, 2023 UTC.

Rocket Lab is also planning to conduct a marine recovery of Electron's first stage as part of this mission. Rocket Lab's recovery team will retrieve Electron using a customized vessel and transport the stage back to Rocket Lab's production complex for analysis. Data from this recovered stage will inform Rocket Lab's ongoing recovery and reuse program. (6/23)

Space Tech to Shrink as the Limits of Quantum Physics are Tested (Source: Space Daily)
A UK-wide consortium is developing technologies to use nanoparticles as state-of-the-art sensors on small, shoebox-sized satellites known as CubeSats. The Universities of Warwick, Swansea and Strathclyde have been awarded 250k pounds to further research into nanoparticles and quantum physics in the application of space technology.

Recent advances in the field of levitated optomechanics (the motion of tiny particles held and measured in free space by laser light), have shown that nanoparticles can exhibit behaviors that are governed by the laws of quantum mechanics (a fundamental theory which describes how atoms and subatomic particles interact). (6/22)

The Zero Debris Charter (Source: Space Daily)
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus Defence and Space, OHB SE and Thales Alenia Space demonstrated their commitment to promoting the safety and long-term sustainability of space operations at the Paris Air Show 2023 Thursday. Satellites in orbit underpin our modern lives. They are used for space science, Earth observation, meteorology, climate research, telecommunication, navigation and much more.

But swirling fragments of past space endevours are trapped in orbit around Earth, threatening our future in space. Over time, the number and mass of these debris objects grow steadily, boosting the risk to active satellites. Encouraged by its Member States to implement "a Zero Debris approach for its missions; and to encourage partners and other actors to pursue similar paths", ESA is updating its internal space debris mitigation standards. (6/23)

Rocket Lab to Launch Space Object Monitoring Mission for Spire Global and NorthStar (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab signed a dedicated launch deal with Spire Global to deliver its first four Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites to low Earth orbit for its Space Services customer NorthStar Earth and Space. The dedicated mission on Electron will deploy the satellites to a 530km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a launch window that opens in September 2023.

To meet NorthStar's program requirements, Spire has selected Rocket Lab to launch the satellites on an accelerated timeline within five months of contract signing. Spire has previously launched with Rocket Lab on Electron's first two commercial missions, Still Testing and Its Business Time, in 2018. (6/23)

Northrop Reaches Rocket Motor Milestone with Navy (Source: Naval Technology)
Northrop Grumman has completed its 2,000th solid rocket motor for the US Navy's Trident II D5 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile system. "The unmatched reliability, record-breaking mission success, and planned life expectancy of the Navy's SLBM system speaks to the design of the propulsion and our ability to produce critical motors consistently," said the company's Wendy Williams. (6/23)

NASA Opposes Lithium Mining at Tabletop Flat Nevada Desert Site Used to Calibrate Satellites (Source: FNN)
Environmentalists, tribal leaders and others have fought for years against lithium mining ventures in Nevada. Yet opposition to mining one particular desert tract for the silvery white metal used in electric car batteries is coming from unusual quarters: space. An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted element needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming.

But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellites orbiting overhead. At the space agency’s request, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to withdraw 36 square miles (92 square kilometers) of the eastern Nevada terrain from its inventory of federal lands open to potential mineral exploration and mining. NASA says the long, flat piece of land above the untapped lithium deposit in Nevada’s Railroad Valley has been used for nearly three decades to get measurements just right to keep satellites and their applications functioning properly. (6/23)

Starfighters Preps F-104 for Future Air Launch Operations (Source: Starfighters)
After participating in a centennial celebration for Italy's air force, Starfighters continues preparation of its F-104 supersonic aircraft for future air launch operations. The company, based at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, is developing a capability for launching small satellites to low Earth orbit. Click here. (6/26)

Coolest Rocky Exoplanet Ever: James Webb Reveals Surprising Atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1 C (Source: SciTech Daily)
Infrared measurements of TRAPPIST-1 c indicate that it is probably not as Venus-like as once imagined. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has successfully measured the heat radiating from TRAPPIST-1 c, an exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth. With a dayside temperature of about 225 degrees Fahrenheit, it is the coolest rocky planet ever characterized using this method. (6/25)

Japan's Military Considers Adopting Musk's Starlink Satellite Service (Source: Reuters)
Japan's military is testing Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service with an eye to adopting the technology next fiscal year, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unnamed government sources. The Ministry of Defense already has access to communication satellites in geostationary orbit, but use of Starlink technology, operated by Musk's SpaceX, would add a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, the Yomiuri said. (6/24)

How Companies Like SpaceX Transformed Space Travel Into the Wild West (Source: New York Post)
In 2006, SpaceX’s first attempted rocket launch left from a former US military site on Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean. The craft’s $7 million price tag would have been impressively inexpensive, but 30 seconds after liftoff, its rocket engines faltered — and the hunk of metal plummeted back to Earth, smashing 200 yards offshore. In 2007, SpaceX’s second attempt also failed after 7 minutes of flight.

Military advisers watching the company’s efforts wondered about the corporate culture, doubting the SpaceX guy with the orange Mohawk was the best man to run its mission control. Click here. (6/24) 

Titanic Sub Tragedy Stokes Fears for Space Tourism (Source: Axios)
The catastrophic implosion of a submersible near the wreckage of the Titanic is a sobering moment for another extreme and risky tourism industry: private human spaceflight. Why it matters: It's not a matter of if, but when a deadly accident will rock the commercial human spaceflight industry, experts say. Submersibles like OceanGate Expedition's Titan are subject to few safety regulations, much like the vehicles that take extremely rich customers to space. Click here. (6/25) 

Former Crucial Australian NASA Base Has a New Mission (Source: News.com.au)
A little known ex-Aussie NASA base has been earmarked to play a pivotal role in the next space mission led by the United States. Along with the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, the Carnarvon Tracking Station, 900km north of Perth, was vital to the success of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission. But while the former starred in an iconic Australian movie and became a household name, the latter got all but forgotten, despite being the largest NASA base outside the United States at the time.

Founder of the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum Phil Youd has revealed to news.com.au that the site is set to receive a minimum of $10 million for a new 29.6-metre dish by Canadian space company ThothX, which aims to secure a 20-year renewable lease to operate and maintain the facility. Mr Youd, who now doubles as a director at ThothX, also revealed that the dish’s potential new job won’t be trivial, with the company working on significant US contracts. (6/25)

NASA Analog Astronauts 'Depart' for Year Inside Mock Mars Base (Source: CollectSpace)
The next time that Kelly Haston, Ross Brockwell, Nathan Jones and Anca Selariu will see blue sky, a year will have gone by on Earth. Not that the four "analog astronauts" are leaving the planet, but for the next 12 months they will live inside a mock Mars base located at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where they will be remotely observed and studied by scientists. As the first of three planned Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, or CHAPEA, crews, Haston, Brockwell, Jones and Selariu will help inform the space agency how to better design and plan for future human missions on the real Martian surface. (6/25)

First Vulcan Launch Further Delayed for Centaur Modifications (Source: Space News)
The inaugural launch of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket faces new delays after the company said it needs to make “minor reinforcements” to part of the Centaur upper stage. In a brief statement early June 24, ULA said it would remove the Centaur upper stage that had been installed on the Vulcan booster at Cape Canaveral for that inaugural launch and ship it back to the company’s Decatur, Alabama, factory. The Vulcan booster will remain at the Cape, stored in a horizontal processing facility. (6/24)