July 20, 2023

ESA Preparing for “Assisted Reentry” of Aeolus Spacecraft (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency is in the final stages of performing an “assisted reentry” of an Earth science spacecraft, an effort that will attempt to bring the satellite down over the ocean in a little more than a week. A series of maneuvers will lower the perigee of the Aeolus spacecraft to enable a reentry, projected over the Atlantic Ocean, on July 28. The maneuvers are intended to minimize any chance that debris from the spacecraft that survives reentry would land in populated areas. (7/19)

PlanetiQ Wins Task Order on NOAA Weather Contract (Source: Space News)
PlanetiQ won an $8 million NOAA task order (on a contract with a potential maximum value of $60 million) to deliver daily weather data. The company said the contract is its first sale of radio occultation data that is used to improve weather forecasting models. The company has two satellites in orbit with plans to develop a 20-satellite constellation. PlanetiQ claims its system offers high-quality data at a lower cost than competitors. (7/20)

Lunar Nuclear Power Projects Face Funding Challenges (Source: Space News)
Advocates of lunar nuclear power systems worry that fiscal challenges could slow their development. NASA awarded study contracts last year to three teams for the first phase of its Fission Surface Power program, working on designs of 40-kilowatt reactors that could provide power for future phases of the Artemis lunar exploration campaign. A second phase would fund development of such a reactor, but there is no schedule currently for that phase. Industry officials say they are concerned that challenges securing funding for new programs over the next two years could make it hard for NASA to continue work on Fission Surface Power, and recommended NASA extend the study contracts and support work on enabling technologies. (7/20)
 
SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites From California Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites last night after a one-day delay. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:09 a.m. Eastern Thursday and deployed 15 "V2 mini" Starlink satellites about 15 minutes after liftoff. The launch was delayed a day after a last-second abort, but SpaceX did not disclose the reason for the abort. (7/20)

Space Force Accelerator Teams with Rapid Capabilities Office (Source: Space News)
A U.S. Space Force business accelerator called Hyperspace Challenge is joining forces with the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO). Through the upcoming Hyperspace Challenge class, the Space Force is exploring ways to help spacecraft fend off threats. The Space RCO is specifically interested in products that can quickly and accurately identify space threats, advance space vehicle autonomy and increase spacecraft lifetime and maneuverability. Companies interested in participating in the accelerator can submit indications of interest by Aug. 15. (7/20)

Falcon 9 Display Planned at Dish Network in Colorado (Source: Douglas News-Press)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster will soon go on display not far from the headquarters of a competitor. The city council in Littleton, Colorado, was briefed this week on plans by Dish Network to install the booster on its corporate office complex in the Denver suburb. The company says that the booster, set to arrive in September, will "bring aerospace technology to the community" and serve as a tourist attraction. Littleton is not far from Centennial, another Denver suburb that is home to the headquarters of United Launch Alliance. (7/20)

Astronomers Discover Odd White Dwarf (Source: New Scientist)
Astronomers have discovered a star that has sides made of different elements. The white dwarf star, nicknamed Janus, has one side composed entirely of hydrogen and the other made entirely of helium. Astronomers have previously detected evidence of white dwarf stars evolving from hydrogen to helium or vice versa, but had never seen a star in the middle of such a change. The mechanism for that change is unclear but may be linked to the star's magnetic field. (7/20)

Future of Satellite Internet: OneWeb vs Starlink (Source: Space Daily)
Satellite constellations may well be the future of the Internet because they can ensure fibre-free coverage even in the most remote corners of the world. So, it should come as no surprise that many companies are already working in this direction. Elon Musk's Starlink and UK-based OneWeb were one of the first companies to have grasped the potential of satellite Internet, and it's more than probable that these two players will lead the upcoming market soon enough. So, we decided to take a better look at OneWeb vs Starlink comparison to understand their main features and differences. Click here. (7/20)

NASA Selects SwRI to Lead DIMPLE Lunar Lander/Rover Instrument Suite (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has selected Southwest Research Institute to lead a $50 million lunar lander/rover instrument suite, Dating an Irregular Mare Patch with a Lunar Explorer, or DIMPLE, designed to understand if the Moon has been volcanically active in the geologically recent past. DIMPLE, which was developed by SwRI, will use cameras and radioisotope-based dating to determine the age and composition of an anomalously young-looking patch of basalt named Ina. (7/20)

AROBS Engineering Takes Lead Role in Space Rider Project Software Verification and Validation (Source: Space Daily)
The Romanian software services company, AROBS Engineering, part of AROBS Group, has been announced as the primary industrial partner and consortium leader for the software verification and validation of Europe's first reusable space transportation system, Space Rider. This project, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), is expected to revolutionize access to low orbit.

Space Rider's central aim is to establish an affordable, independent, and reusable integrated space transportation system, facilitating regular access and return journeys from low orbit. AROBS Engineering's crucial role involves overseeing the project's technical specifications, architecture, code development, and testing systems validation, ensuring that the platform will be able to deliver the objectives it has been designed to achieve. (7/20)

Boeing's Millennium Space Systems Amplifies Small Satellite Production (Source: Space Daily)
Millennium Space Systems, a subsidiary of Boeing, marked an important milestone on July 18, 2023, as it celebrated the success of its Small Satellite Factory (SSF). Initially unveiled to the public in 2022, the SSF has risen to the challenge of satisfying an uptick in contracts for proliferated satellite constellations.

This rapid expansion of production capabilities reflects the company's dedication to meeting the evolving needs of its customers. Jason Kim, CEO of Millennium Space Systems, highlighted the significance of the step-up in production, saying, "We ramped up our production capacity for our customers' needs." He added, "I can't talk about most of our national security space missions, but what I can tell you is our programs demand high-throughput production." (7/20)

Wind River VxWorks Software Chosen for Astroscale's Space Debris Solution ELSA-M (Source: Space Daily)
Wind River, an industry leader in intelligent system software, has announced that its VxWorks software will be utilized in the command of the Astroscale ELSA-M Servicer spacecraft's On-Board Computer (OBC). This announcement reflects Wind River's ongoing commitment to supporting the unique challenges and complexities of space missions.

Astroscale, a company dedicated to developing innovative solutions for sustainable space systems, is tackling the growing issue of space debris. The company's ELSA-M (End-of-Life Service by Astroscale - Multiple) aims to safely and responsibly capture and decommission multiple satellites in a single mission, a crucial step in reducing the dangerous accumulation of space debris. (7/20)

Speed Over Cost Right Approach to Stay Ahead of China (Source: Breaking Defense)
Charles Beames, executive chairman of York Space System and former senior Pentagon space official, emphasizes the need for prioritizing speed in acquisitions, even at the expense of cost, to ensure the United States maintains its competitive edge in the space race against China. Beames criticizes the outdated Lowest Price Technically Acceptable approach and advocates for a shift towards acquiring what is already commercially available to equip forces faster. (7/19)

James Webb Space Telescope Makes 1st Detection of Diamond-Like Carbon Dust in the Universe's Earliest Stars (Source: Space.com)
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected the earliest-known carbon dust in a galaxy ever. Using the powerful space telescope, a team of astronomers spotted signs of the element that forms the backbone of all life in ten different galaxies that existed as early as 1 billion years after the Big Bang. (7/19)

Cramer: Don't Touch AST SpaceMobile (Source: CNBC)
AST SpaceMobile: “Jimmy Chill is not going to fall prey to that idea that a bad stock is going to be better long term, I don’t want you to touch that. I like better companies, including one that reports soon, and that’s Tesla.” (7/19)

Threats From Above Lead the List of Space Concerns in New Survey (Source: Universe Today)
Sending astronauts to the moon is OK — but more Americans think NASA should instead put a high priority on monitoring outer space for asteroids and other objects that could pose a threat to Earth, according to the Pew Research Center’s latest survey focusing on Americans’ perspectives on space policy.

The nonprofit research center’s report was released today, on the 54th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. It follows up on a similar survey that was done in 2018 to mark NASA’s 60th anniversary.

The earlier survey suggested that slightly more Americans saw monitoring climate change as a top priority (63% vs 62%). This year, the rankings were reversed, with 60% putting cosmic threats at the top of their list, as opposed to 50% for climate concerns. Only 12% of the respondents said sending astronauts to explore the moon was a top priority, and 11% said sending astronauts to Mars led their list. That translates into less support than those missions had five years ago. (7/20)

NASA Mars Analog Crew to Test Food Systems, Crop Growth (Source: NASA)
The first crew to live and work for a year in a NASA-run ground-based, simulated Mars habitat won’t have the luxury of fresh food deliveries, but they will have the chance to grow some fresh produce. NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission 1 crew began their mission June 25 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, after several weeks of training to acclimate to habitat life and mission operations, as well as safety, communication, and team dynamics.

During the first of three one-year missions, the four-person crew will carry out different types of mission activities, including testing various food systems. Some crop growth experiments, along with other activities such as simulated “Marswalks,” robotics operations, habitat maintenance, personal hygiene, and exercise, will test the endurance and impact of isolation on the crew. (7/19)

New Study Reveals Roman Space Telescope Could Find 400 Earth-Mass Rogue Planets (Source: Astrobiology)
New research by scientists from NASA and Japan’s Osaka University suggests that rogue planets – worlds that drift through space untethered to a star – far outnumber planets that orbit stars. The results imply that NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch by May 2027, could find a staggering 400 Earth-mass rogue worlds. Indeed, this new study has already identified one such candidate. (7/19)

Embry-Riddle to Connect Students, Astronauts (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students and faculty plan to connect Volusia County, Florida, middle-school youth with crewmembers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using amateur radio. The plan, supported by Embry-Riddle alumna and former astronaut Dr. Nicole Stott, moved a step closer to reality last month when Embry-Riddle earned provisional approval to take part in the Amateur Radio on the ISS, or ARISS-USA, program. Embry-Riddle’s College of Engineering, on its Daytona Beach Campus, is now putting together an equipment plan for review by the ARISS competition organizers. (6/8)

Interstellar Meteor Fragments Found? Harvard Astronomer's Claim Sparks Debate (Source: Space.com)
Avi Loeb is back. The former chair of the Harvard Astronomy Department recently returned from an expedition to the Pacific Ocean near Papua New Guinea that dragged a magnetic sled across the seafloor in an attempt to find fragments of what Loeb claims is the first-known interstellar meteor, what he refers to as "IM1." While Loeb believes he has found evidence of the first interstellar meteorite, others have their doubts. And the debate is turning ugly.

Loeb suggests that the basis for his expedition, which was funded exclusively by cryptocurrency entrepreneur Charles Hoskinson, was a 2022 memo from the United States Space Command stating that data available to the Department of Defense (DOD) is "sufficiently accurate to indicate an interstellar trajectory" for the 2014 meteorite. However, some say that making the leap from that memo to the spherules Loeb recovered isn't possible. UCF's Phil Metzger said "connecting that meteor to a few tiny balls of metal taken from a vast area of ocean floor isn’t a capability of the Space Command." (7/20)

Return to the Moon: The Race We Have to Win (Again) (Source: Space.com)
It's a story we are all too familiar with. American genius and creativity produce a brilliant idea or plan. We ignore it. Then China does it, and in the end, sells its product back to us. In this case, the product will be low-cost clean energy from space, "rare-earth" metals, and fusion-enabling Helium-3 mined on the moon. Oh, and they will also control the Earth-moon system the way they are trying to control the seas of the western Pacific. This is the reality of things as they stand.

Here's the science fiction part. Imagine if the White House and Congress could agree that it was time again for America to step up as we did during the first space race. What if we decided to return to the moon before China arrives in 2030? In fact, what if the president declared that Americans will be back on the moon by 2029, the 60th anniversary of Apollo 11? And this time we were going to stay!

Here's a suggested plan. Let's call it the Artemis New Moon program. It is simple, based on practical need, strategic utility, and what Buzz and Neil's generation called "common sense." If implemented immediately and with vigor, it would also mean the free world can beat the Chinese — both in the short and long term, up there and down here. (7/20)

NASA Enters 'Home Stretch' in Mission to Reach Golden Asteroid Worth $10000 Quadrillion (Source: StudyFinds)
NASA scientists say they are in the “home stretch” of preparing to launch a mission to a $10,000 quadrillion asteroid this year. The preparation is taking place at Cape Canaveral, with the Psyche spacecraft’s liftoff scheduled for Oct. 5.

The mission’s goal is to study a space rock which, in terms of potential value, surpasses the entire global economy, currently estimated at approximately $110 trillion. The asteroid in question, named 16 Psyche, is a unique, metal-rich entity located some 499,555,545 kilometers away from Earth, orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. It is believed to have a core composed of iron, nickel, and gold, potentially valued at an astounding $10,000 quadrillion. (7/19)

Pentagon UFO Investigator: Extraterrestrial 'Technical Supremacy' is a Top Concern (Source: ABC News)
The scientist and military intelligence officer leading the Pentagon's task force for unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) -- which the public calls UFOs -- says being caught off guard by "intelligent or extraterrestrial technical supremacy" remains a top concern as investigators analyze more than 800 cases of mysterious sightings reported by U.S. military personnel dating back decades. (7/20)

Rare ‘Trojan’ World May Share the Same Orbit as Another Planet (Source: CNN)
Astronomers may have found a rare “sibling” that shares the same orbit of a Jupiter-like planet around a young star. Researchers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to observe the PDS 70 system, located 370 light-years away in the Centaurus constellation. Two Jupiter-like planets, known as PDS 70b and PDS 70c, are already known to orbit the star.

But astronomers also spied a cloud of debris within the orbital path of PDS 70b, which could represent the building blocks of a new planet that is actively forming or already formed. The scientists believe their direct image may be the strongest evidence to date showing that two exoplanets can share the exact same orbit. (7/19)

80-Year-Old Man with Parkinson’s Among Passengers on First Virgin Galactic Space Tourism Flight (Source: People)
An 80-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease has been named among the first passengers on Virgin Galactic's second commercial space flight next month. Passenger Jon Goodwin, 80, will be the second diagnosed with the condition to make the journey — dubbed ‘Galactic 02’ — and the first Olympian, after canoeing in the 1972 Munich Olympic games, as the commercial flight takes off on Aug. 10. (7/18)

Sex in Space: Why it’s Worrying That the Space Tourism Sector Hasn’t Considered the Consequences (Source: The Conversation)
Humans have a knack for sharing intimate moments in unlikely places, as membership of the mile-high club demonstrates. So there is a significant chance that the launch of the space tourism sector may be swiftly followed by the first sex in space. But having researched the issue, my colleagues and I believe that space tourism companies haven’t adequately prepared for the consequences of people joining what we could call the “Kármán line club” (referencing the 100km-high boundary between Earth and the rest of the cosmos).

The real concern is not the sexual interactions themselves, but rather if they lead to human conception in space. Early orbital space tourism flights are expected to last for days to weeks, so only the early stages of human reproduction could happen in space. Passengers will not be allowed to board if they are already known to be pregnant, although the space tourism industry does not appear to have considered concealed or unknown pregnancies. Sometimes women don’t realise they are pregnant until they go into labour. (7/18)

Fire-in-Space Experiment Could Soon Make its Way to the Moon (Source: Space.com)
The next frontier for fire-in-space experiments may be the moon. The longtime leader of fire experiments on a private International Space Station (ISS) cargo vehicle says he is considering similar work on a robotic moon lander for NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land people and payloads on the lunar surface in the next few years.

"We really need to be on the lunar surface to get long duration," said David Urban, fire investigator and chief of the low-gravity exploration technology branch at NASA's Glenn Research Center. Urban stressed that the idea is still in the proposal stage. But he hopes to study fire-safety practices on a NASA-funded Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) robotic moon vehicle. (7/18)

US, Japan Host First-Ever Space Engagement Talks (Source: DVIDS)
The ongoing race against adversaries and competitors who possess advanced space capabilities and questionable intentions further emphasizes the need to reinforce norms of behavior in space. U.S. Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs, and Requirements, Lt. Gen. Philip A. Garrant, recently made history by hosting the first-ever Space Engagement Talks with Japan, aiming to enhance combined space operations and establish a bilateral roadmap for future collaboration. (7/18)

LEO, MEO or GEO? Diversifying Orbits is Not a One-Size-Fits-All Mission (Source: SPOC)
It may come as no surprise that most of the man-made objects in space can be found in Low Earth Orbit, also known as LEO. LEO is the orbital range closest to Earth, which also means it’s the easiest orbit to reach in terms of energy and rocket power. Satellites that orbit up to 1,200 miles above earth are in LEO. They include the International Space Station, the Hubble Telescope and some 4,000 Space X Starlink satellites, to name a few. (7/18)

US Military Leans Into Megaconstellations (Source: Ars Technica)
The leader of the United States Space Command, an Army general named James H. Dickinson, said Wednesday that megaconstellations such as SpaceX's Starlink network have played an important role in Ukraine's efforts to deter an invasion by Russia. "We are seeing for the first time what a megaconstellation means to the world," Dickinson said. "That provides such resiliency and redundancy in terms of maintaining satellite communications in this example. That is powerful, and the department is moving in that direction." (7/19)

Space Command Leaders Accused of ‘Deliberate Manipulation’ in Headquarters Fight (Source: AL.com)
The Alabama chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has accused Air Force and U.S. Space Command leadership of “deliberate, taxpayer-funded manipulation of a competitive selection process” in the fight over a permanent location for the U.S. Space Command headquarters. Chairman of the committee, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), said in a letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Space Command commanding Gen. James Dickinson that the committee has been trying since May 25 to obtain “essential documents” related to the selection of a permanent home for the command.

“To date, you have refused to meaningfully respond to this request and have offered contradictory explanations of fundamental issues,” Rogers wrote. The letter is the latest move in an increasingly heated confrontation between members of Congress and the Pentagon over the base. An official military ranking procedure put Redstone atop the list of official preferred candidates for the headquarters but supporters of keeping the command in Colorado Springs, where it started and now operates, have opposed a move. (7/19)

Space Force Changed Launch Procurement Plan Due to Concerns About Capacity (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force last week announced plans to increase the number of providers in the national security launch program. Officials said the decision was driven by a projected growth in demand for satellite launches and concerns about a shortage of heavy-lift rockets later this decade. “The manifest is growing. So in Phase 3 we’re refining our strategy,” said Col. Douglas Pentecost.

Pentecost said the next procurement of launch services, known as National Security Space Launch Phase 3, is intended to ensure the Space Force has access to launch supply at competitive pricing. Under the dual-lane NSSL strategy, the plan is to select multiple medium-lift rockets to launch lower-orbit missions, and three heavy-lift launch providers in an effort to reduce DoD’s dependence on SpaceX and ULA. Pentecost said the Space Force estimates it could launch as many as 88 missions in the 2027-2032 timeframe. (7/19)

Russia Considers Using Space Launchers to Bomb Ukraine (Source: BRIEF Telegram)
Russia's space agency Roskosmos is reportedly evaluating options for using space rockets to drop aerial bombs on Ukraine from orbit. The proposal is likely to face serious technical difficulties, not least the risk of bombs burning up from the heat of atmospheric reentry. The Russian BRIEF Telegram channel reports that former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin has been discussing the proposal with Dmitry Baranov, director general of the Progress Rocket Space Center, before taking it to Vladimir Putin last week. (7/18)