July 25, 2023

The New Era of Heavy Launch (Source: Space Review)
Within the next few years, heavy-lift vehicles like New Glenn, Starship, and Vulcan will enter service. Gary Oleson describes how the combination of price and performance of those rockets could reshape the space industry. Click here. (7/24)
 
The Value of Public Interest in Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
A survey released last week provided mixed messages for advocates of NASA, particularly on the public’s priorities for the agency. Jeff Foust examines the survey and just how important public support for NASA is for the agency to achieve its goals. Click here. (7/24)
 
Another Technique to Identify “Unknown” Satellites (Source: Space Review)
Some satellites are not listed in public catalogs, but there are ways to track and identify them. Charles Phillips describes one approach based on orbital elements to help identify some classes of satellites. Click here. (7/24)
 
Access to Venus (Source: Space Review)
The thick, hot, toxic atmosphere of Venus rules out any kind of human exploration of the planet for the foreseeable future. John Strickland examines what could be done, someday, to make Venus a more tolerable world to visit. Click here. (7/24)

Maxar to Begin Production of New Small Satellite Bus (Source: Space News)
Maxar Technologies announced July 24 that its new satellite bus designed for low Earth orbit constellations passed a critical design review. The company will produce 16 of the Maxar 300 series buses for L3Harris Technologies. Each bus is about the width of a conventional oven. These will be used to build missile-detecting sensor satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer program. (7/24)

After Bopping an Asteroid 3 Years Ago, NASA Will Finally See the Results (Source: Ars Technica)
Christmas Day for scientists who study asteroids is coming in just two months when a small spacecraft carrying material from a distant rubble pile will land in a Utah desert. The return of the OSIRIS-REx sample container on September 24 will cap the primary mission to capture material from an asteroid—in this case, the carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid Bennu—and return some of its pebbles and dust to Earth.

It has been a long time coming. This mission launched seven years ago and has been in the planning and development phase for over a decade. To say the scientists who have fought for and executed this mission are anxious and excited is an understatement. But there is an additional frisson with OSIRIS-REx, as scientists are not entirely sure what they've been able to pull away from the asteroid. (7/24)

Varda Waiting on FAA License to Return Space Manufacturing Capsule (Source: Space News)
A startup that launched its first mission to test space manufacturing technologies last month is waiting on a Federal Aviation Administration license to be able to bring what it produced back to Earth. Varda Space Industries launched its first spacecraft, called W-Series 1, on the SpaceX Transporter-8 rideshare mission June 12, to test the ability to produce crystals in microgravity. Those crystals would be brought back to Earth in a reentry capsule set to return as soon as July 17. (7/25)

China's CASIC Developing VLEO Constellation (Source: Space News)
A Chinese company plans to start deploying a constellation of satellites in a very low Earth orbit (VLEO) later this year. Chinese space and defense contractor CASIC plans to start launching satellites for a network that will grow to 192 satellites by 2027 and 300 by 2030. The satellites will provide imaging and communications services in orbits between 150 and 300 kilometers high. Such low orbits require significant propulsion to maintain them, but can provide advantages in terms of latency and resolution. (7/25)

CAPSTONE Cubesat Still Operating in Lunar Orbit (Source: Space News)
A cubesat launched more than a year ago to test an important lunar orbit continues to work well. CAPSTONE launched last summer and entered a near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) around the moon in November. The spacecraft completed a six-month primary mission and is now in an "enhanced" mission slated to last at least a year. Advanced Space, which owns CAPSTONE, said the spacecraft continues to perform well, providing key data about NRHO operations to support NASA's planning for the lunar Gateway. CAPSTONE is also informing Advanced Space's development of Oracle, a cislunar space situational awareness mission for the Air Force Research Lab. (7/25)

Spain's Arquimea Acquires Ecliptic (Source: Arquimea)
A company that pioneered the use of cameras on launch vehicles has been acquired. Spanish technology company Arquimea said it acquired 100% of Ecliptic Enterprises after taking a 20% stake in the company last year. California-based Ecliptic develops avionics and sensors for space systems and is perhaps best known for its RocketCam product that, mounted to the sides of rockets, provided video from launches. Arquimea says the acquisition will enable it to do more business with American companies. (7/25)

ArianeGroup Subsidiary MaiaSpace Developing Reusable Launcher (Source: European Spaceflight)
A subsidiary of ArianeGroup working on reusable launch vehicle technology spent just a few million dollars last year. Public filings by MaiaSpace showed the venture had expenses of nearly 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million) in 2022 and 250,000 euros of revenue from engineering services. ArianeGroup established MaiaSpace to develop a reusable small launch vehicle using the Prometheus engine that ArianeGroup is producing. (7/25)

Space Economy Grew by 8% in 2022 (Source: Bloomberg)
The space economy grew by 8% in 2022, according to a new Space Foundation report. The organization said the global space economy, including government and commercial activities, is now valued at $546 billion, and the Space Foundation projects it to grow by 41% over the next five years. Commercial revenues accounted for nearly 80% of that total from communications and navigation services. The United States was responsible for 60% of the government spending included in the report. (7/25)

Rising Costs in Florida Delay Government Construction Projects (Source: Florida Today)
Government projects in Florida ― ranging from an airport terminal expansion to roads and pipeline construction ― are feeling the impacts of increased costs. Some are even facing significant delays. One of the more glaring examples involved an electrical project. Initially, airport officials expected to have parts within 18 weeks, but supply-chain issues have forced a delay of 77 weeks, pushing the completion date to at least February 2026. “It is a real problem for the public sector right now. We are having trouble finding workers.”

Meanwhile, the estimate to build a four-lane road has increased from $6.5 million to $7.5 million per mile. With the higher costs, Price told county commissioners it would be crucial to seek alternative funding sources for projects, such as state and federal grants, which would require a project development and environmental study for each one. The county already has issued more than $100 million in bonds for transportation projects, straining its capacity. (7/20)

Above: Orbital Achieves Significant Milestone with NASA in Space Station Gravity Tech (Source: Space Daily)
In a significant leap for space technology, Above: Orbital, the innovative space-based platform design and development company, has recently confirmed the successful testing of its cold gas engine thruster technology and related software. The trial, held at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, highlights a remarkable progression in the development of artificial gravity platforms.

Above: Orbital's business focuses on catering to a diverse set of clientele including the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial entities. The recent achievement underscores the company's strong position in the space industry and its ongoing commitment to advancing the field. Rhonda Stevenson, the CEO and president of Above, who supervised the testing process alongside the engineering team, partners, and investors, expressed her exhilaration at this milestone. (7/25)

Thales Announces Quantum-Ready Cybersecurity Measures for Galileo (Source: Space Daily)
Thales, the French multinational company, has affirmed its central role in providing cybersecurity solutions for Galileo, the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) that provides geolocation services. Thales, leading a consortium which includes Italian firm Leonardo, is tasked with expanding the G2G IOV SECMON project's security monitoring scope, incorporating new assets into the G2G system. The company will also implement automated incident response, network traffic monitoring and create the capability to store large quantities of incident response data. (7/25)

Groundbreaking 3D-Printed Frictionless Gear for Space Applications (Source: Space Daily)
Space equipment is no stranger to being described as "alien artwork", but the latest development from the Swiss team at CSEM, in collaboration with 3D Precision SA and Almatech SA, can rightly earn that moniker. The cutting-edge design they've produced is a unique 3D-printed gear mechanism, one that stands to revolutionize the functionality of critical space instruments. With a construction that mimics the structure of complex bend-based systems, this mechanism has been designed to control the precise rotation of key elements in space operations, ranging from satellite thrusters to telescope lenses or mirrors. (7/25)

National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Takes On Artificial Intelligence (Source: FNN)
For us, the big picture with our agency is all about imagery and geospatial information. And so we obviously work with thousands and thousands of images a day, and that’s ever increasing. We have new sensors constantly coming on board. Of course, the problem that we have is we don’t have more humans to look at and exploit all of those images. So it’s a linear problem for us right now that’s going to turn exponential. So for us, we have to employ automation to be able to tackle this problem. Artificial intelligence in particular, and it’s actually a sub domain, machine learning in the domain of computer vision. (7/24)

Smallsat Market Keeps Growing Despite Supply Challenges (Source: EuroConsult)
Around 26,104 smallsats (satellites <500 kg) will be launched between 2023-2032, representing a daily launch mass of 1.5 tons over the 10-year period, according to Euroconsult, the leading global strategy consulting and market intelligence firm specializing in the space sector and satellite-enabled verticals.

Two constellations alone - Starlink and GuoWang (China SatNet) - will collectively account for nearly two-thirds of smallsats to be launched throughout the next decade and over four-fifths of smallsat launch mass. This significant prominence is largely a consequence of the FCC's partial approval of Starlink Gen 2 filings, alongside SpaceX’s launch of 1G satellites on 2G orbital planes and the substantial expansion of GuoWang activities in China. However, the two mega-constellations will only represent less than a quarter of market value due to the considerable cost efficiencies of mega-constellations, leaving significant opportunities for other market participants. (7/25)

NASA Funds Blue Origin Effort to Convert Lunar Regolith Into Solar Arrays (Source: Blue Origin)
NASA awarded Blue Origin a $35 million Tipping Point partnership today to continue advancing its innovative Blue Alchemist breakthrough. Blue Alchemist is a proposed end-to-end, scalable, autonomous, and commercial solution that produces solar cells from lunar regolith, which is the dust and crushed rock abundant on the surface of the Moon. Based on a process called molten regolith electrolysis, the breakthrough would bootstrap unlimited electricity and power transmission cables anywhere on the surface of the Moon. This process also produces oxygen as a useful byproduct for propulsion and life support. (7/25)

Impulse Space is Flying High With New Funding Led by RTX Ventures (Source: Tech Crunch)
Impulse Space, the space logistics startup headed by founding SpaceX employee Tom Mueller, has closed a new tranche of funding to further develop its line of orbital transportation vehicles. The oversubscribed $45 million Series A was led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), and included participation from existing investors Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Airbus Ventures and Space Capital.

Mueller is understood to be one of the preeminent experts in propulsion alive today, and it’s a reputation he earned: as employee No. 1 at SpaceX, he led the development of the Merlin and Draco engines, which power the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft, respectively. This latest venture, which Mueller founded in 2021, two years after his retirement from SpaceX, is also centered around propulsion. Impulse is developing a series of spacecraft which it calls “orbital maneuvering vehicles,” designed for last-mile payload delivery. (7/24)

Massive Galaxy With No Dark Matter is a Cosmic Puzzle (Source: Space.com)
Our picture of cosmic evolution could be thrown into doubt by the discovery of a massive galaxy that seems to lack dark matter. Dark matter, which accounts for around 85% of the matter in the universe, seems to be absent from the galaxy NGC 1277, part of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies. The galaxy, located 240 million light-years from Earth, is the first Milky Way-sized conglomeration of stars, planets, dust and gas found to be missing dark matter. (7/23)

This American Space Explorer Is the First—and Only—Private Owner of an Object on the Moon (Source: Robb Report)
Richard Garriott has already made a name for himself as a founding father of the video-game industry. These days, he’s been busy doing the same for space travel. Garriott is the only person on the planet to complete the Explorer’s Quadfecta, traveling to the North and South Poles, the Mariana Trench, and orbital space. He also owns a rover currently crawling the surface of the moon, making him the first private owner of an object on the lunar surface. The formerly Soviet lunar rover he purchased for $68,500 at an auction in 1998 gives him property rights to the ground beneath it. (7/23)

China is Sending Zebrafish to the Tiangong Space Station (Source: Space.com)
China is planning to send zebrafish to its space station in the future. The small fish species will be sent into orbit on China's Tiangong space station as part of research into the interaction between fish and microorganisms in a small closed ecosystem, Shanghai-based Guancha.cn reported. The experiment will also aid research into bone loss in astronauts. (7/23)

Congress is Getting Serious About UFOs. Just Don’t Call Them That (Source: Los Angeles Times)
The House and Senate are taking significant steps to increase the federal government’s ability to monitor and identify UFOs and to force the military to release more information to the general public. Three former military officers who claim they’ve had encounters with unidentified flying objects will testify to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

In the Senate, lawmakers have added a bipartisan amendment to a must-pass defense bill that would compel the military to gather and declassify UFO-related information. The parallel efforts are part of a growing bipartisan push to investigate the phenomenon. True believers and skeptics agree that they want to know what these objects are — and whether they pose a national security risk. (7/24)