August 18, 2023

Northrop Grumman Wins Sole-Source Contract for Space Force Radar Sites (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman will get a sole-source Space Force contract to develop space-tracking radars. The contract will fund the second and third sites of the Space Force’s planned network of sensors known as the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC). Northrop won a $341 million contract a year and a half ago to develop the first DARC site in the Indo-Pacific region. The second and third are expected to be located in Europe and in the continental United States. The Space Force estimates the contract to be awarded in late 2023 or early 2024. (8/18)

Japan's iQPS Picks Rocket Lab for SAR Satellite Launch (Source: Space News)
Japanese company iQPS, which had planned to launch a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite with Virgin Orbit, has switched to Rocket Lab. The companies announced Thursday that the QPS-SAR-5 satellite will launch on a dedicated Electron rocket in September. Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne was originally tapped to launch the satellite in a deal announced last May, but Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy before the launch could take place. The deal continues a busy month for Rocket Lab that includes a contract for five Electron launches for BlackSky, a two-launch NASA contract announced earlier this week and a contract with an undisclosed customer for a launch of the suborbital version of Electron. (8/18)

Polish Astronaut to Visit ISS with Axiom (Source: Space News)
A Polish astronaut will go to the International Space Station on a future private mission. Axiom Space signed a contract with the Polish government, supported by the European Space Agency, for a flight of a Polish astronaut on a future Axiom mission to the station. ESA announced in June that Poland was increasing its funding for ESA to include such a flight. The announcement did not state when the mission would take place or who would fly it, but a Polish astronaut is among the members of the ESA's astronaut reserve, available for specific flight opportunities. Sweden signed a similar agreement earlier this year, with Swedish reserve astronaut Marcus Wandt expected to fly on Axiom's Ax-3 mission early next year. (8/18)

Hurricane Delays California Launch (Source: Lompoc Record)
A hurricane will delay a SpaceX Starlink launch until next week. SpaceX said Thursday that the Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, planned for early Friday after a one-day delay, was on hold because of heavy seas created by Hurricane Hilary that would interfere with booster recovery efforts. The next launch opportunity will be no earlier than Monday. (8/18)

SpaceX Generates Small Profit in Q1-2023 (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Leaked financial documents show that SpaceX generated a small profit in the first quarter of 2023. The documents show the privately held company had a $55 million profit on $1.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter. Those documents also showed that the company had a $559 million loss in 2022, with about $5.2 billion in expenses versus $4.6 billion in revenue. That was an improvement over a $968 million loss in 2021. (8/18)

South Korea's Innospace Plans to Launch From Australia (Source: Cosmos Magazine)
A South Korean company has signed a contract to launch from Australia. Innospace plans to perform a dozen orbital launches from Arnhem Space Centre, a launch site in Australia's Northern Territory operated by Equatorial Launch Australia. The launches are scheduled to begin in April 2025, with about three launches per year planned from the site. Innospace is developing a small launch vehicle using hybrid propulsion and conducted a suborbital launch in March from Brazil's Alcântara Space Center. (8/18)

Neptune Clouds Linked to Solar Activity (Source: New Scientist)
Clouds on distant Neptune could be linked to solar activity. Planetary scientists studying decades of images of Neptune found that clouds in the planet's atmosphere fluctuated significantly on cycles that matched the sun's 11-year activity cycle, with the most clouds around periods of high solar activity. One explanation is that increased solar activity triggers chemical reactions in Neptune's upper atmosphere that can cause clouds to form. (8/18)

JWST Finds Most Distant Galaxies (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have confirmed that an object seen in one of the first James Webb Space Telescope images is among the most distant galaxies. The object, dubbed 'Maisie's galaxy,' was seen in JWST images last summer and identified as potentially a distant galaxy. Follow-up studies have confirmed the object dates back to just 390 million years after the Big Bang, making it one of the oldest galaxies yet detected. The galaxy is named after the daughter of the principal investigator of the study, Steven Finkelstein, who found the galaxy on Maisie's ninth birthday: "She had been asking me to name a galaxy after her, and I told her we weren't really allowed to do that. But because we found it on her birthday, I just started calling it Maisie's galaxy." (8/18)

Boeing Readies MD-90 Aircraft for NASA-Sponsored Truss-Braced Wing (Source: Flight Global)
Boeing has now moved an MD-90 to the site in Palmdale, California where it plans to modify the former passenger jet into NASA’s X-66A truss-braced-wing demonstrator aircraft. The US manufacturer on 15 August flew the MD-90 from Victorville, California, where it had been stored and painted, to nearby Palmdale, a distance of only about 35nm (64km), Boeing said on 17 August. (8/17)

U.S. Postal Service to Issue OSIRIS-REx Stamp (Source: USPS)
The U.S. Postal Service will commemorate NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and the samples of the asteroid Bennu that it will deliver to Earth in September 2023. The first-day-of-issue event for this Forever stamp is free and open to the public. (8/17)

New Horizons Is Now So Far Away, It Can Measure The True Darkness of Space (Source: Science Alert)
To get a real view of the dark sky, we would need to travel beyond the dust, to the furthest edge of our Solar System. Far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Voyagers I and II have traveled that far, as have Pioneers 10 and 11. We've long lost contact with the Pioneers, and while we still communicate with the Voyagers, they can't transmit any useful images to us.

But there is a distant spacecraft that can. New Horizons flew past Pluto in 2015, and then past the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth. It is now twice as distant from the Sun, and its cameras can still gather data. Recently the New Horizons team tried to capture the fragile darkness of the Universe. They aimed New Horizons at a patch of sky far away from the Milky Way, away from the Sun, and away from bright stars. Then they measure how much light the camera captured. (8/17)

Aerospace R&D Cluster Around Seattle WA Spurs New Industrial Demand (Source: Puget Sound Business Journal)
Research and development ventures have landed around Seattle Paine Field Airport, soaking up industrial space as fast as it can be built. Less than 4% of the industrial space in the North End market sat vacant at the end of the second quarter, according to commercial real estate services company JLL, spurring the construction of several speculative new projects as developers place bets on the demand continuing.

Along with market conditions that have pushed industrial uses north from King County, young companies are seeking space in the orbit of the Boeing Co.’s largest manufacturing center and tapping into new energy technologies like hydrogen, biofuels and even nuclear fusion, said Gabe Smith, vice president of JLL. “The deep aerospace aviation talent pool in and around Paine Field because of the generations of Boeing work there — you have this unique blend of that type of talent and tech talent coming out of Seattle,” Smith said. (8/17)

FAA Proposes Changes To Astronaut Classifications And Other Regulations (Source: SpaceRef)
A proposed rule would incorporate various changes required by the United States Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of November 2015. This proposed rule would provide regulatory clarity to applicants seeking licenses for space flight operations involving government astronauts by adding two new subparts to the human space flight regulations containing requirements for operators with government astronauts with and without safety-critical roles on board vehicles.

The proposed rule would also require an operator to demonstrate any government astronauts on board can perform their role in safety-critical tasks. This proposed requirement would maintain public safety by ensuring operators provide mission specific training on safety-critical tasks to government astronauts, as has been done in the NASA Commercial Crew Program. (8/18)

Vector Space Biosciences Files for Registration for Space Launch of Biological CubeSats (Source: SpaceRef)
Vector Space Biosciences announces it has begun filing for licensing and registration for the design, development and launching of biological CubeSats, enabling biotechnology, pharmaceutical and advanced materials companies to generate unique and powerful datasets to advance the space industry. Customers are invited to pre-register now and during the Vector Space Biosciences talk at Oracle Health Conference on September 20th, 2023. (8/17)

Planet Wins Contract with Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asia (Source: SpaceRef)
Planet Labs announced it has won a new contract with a Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asia for its global daily monitoring solution. The contract has a seven-figure annual contract value. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a new customer for Planet and the contract was won through one of Planet’s partners in the region. (8/17)

Latin America’s Military Satellite Landscape – Opportunities and Challenges (Source: SpaceRef)
Latin American countries have historically been some of the top satellite communication consumer markets. But in the case of military satellites, the area is yet to record high demand. One of the key aspects of having sovereign space capabilities is that the more domestic production a country has for space applications, the more the country can adopt and experiment with new military satellite technologies. Click here. (8/17)

North Korea Could Take Military Action Around Key Summit (Source: Al Jazeera)
North Korea may launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or take other military action in protest at a major summit between the United States, South Korea and Japan, a South Korean lawmaker has said, citing the country’s intelligence agency. US President Joe Biden is due to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David on August 19, as he looks to enhance ties between Seoul and Tokyo amid nuclear threats from North Korea and China’s increasing assertiveness. (8/17)

True Anomaly Gets Regulatory Greenlight for First Spacecraft Reconnaissance Mission (Source: Tech Crunch)
Defense-focused space technology startup True Anomaly has received key permits from regulators that will allow it to demonstrate imaging and rendezvous capabilities on-orbit for the first time. The two authorizations — from NOAA and the FCC — give the company the greenlight to perform non-Earth imaging and to demonstrate in-space rendezvous proximity operations, respectively. True Anomaly is planning on executing these capabilities using two of its “autonomous orbital vehicle” spacecraft, which the company calls Jackals, during a mission early next year. (8/17)

Space Development Agency to Consider Commercial LEO Options to Augment DoD Network (Source: Space News)
SpaceX, Kuiper Government Solutions and Aalyria Technologies were selected for market-research studies on how commercial systems could add capacity to the military’s future low Earth orbit constellation. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency announced Aug. 17 that the companies will conduct three-month studies. The agency said it wants to better understand the industry’s capabilities to provide “LEO backhaul” services. (8/17)

From 'Astronautas' to Cosmonauts, Space Enthusiasm is a Global Phenomenon (Source: WMFE)
Space doesn’t just stretch the limits of physical distance-- it goes beyond language barriers as well. As launches become more and more of a daily occurrence in Florida, the space program is catching the attention of the Hispanic community. Manuel Mazzanti is an Argentinian journalist who covers space for Spanish speakers.

He said the community from Latin America to Spain is curious about space exploration despite very little coverage in their native language. “They usually consume media in English, they see live streams in English, but I think it was a great idea to have someone here telling them what's going on,” said Mazzanti, who aims to take his Spanish-speaking audience to rocket launches from NASA’s press site.

Mazzanti hopes as interest in space exploration grows, so will the number of Spanish space journalists on the space coast. While all major news networks cover the biggest launches, NASA’s Artemis moon missions, he hopes to form a community of local space journalists. “It would be nice to have at least a small community of regulars covering all the launches.I'm the only one living here and trying to be at every launch and trying to report what's going on here. But I think that is going to happen sooner or later.” (8/16)

US Space Economy's Output is Shrinking (Source: Phys.org)
Recently, the U.S. government started tracking the space economy's size. These data can tell us the size of the space-related industry, whether its outputs come mainly from government or private enterprise, and how they have been growing relative to the economy at large. Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic made up over 80% of the U.S. space economy in 2021. The government held a 19% share of space spending, up from 16% in 2012—mostly thanks to an increase in military spending. Click here. (8/16)

SpaceX's Latest Near-Polar Falcon 9 Starlink Mission Vaulted From Cape Canaveral Late Wednesday (Source: Florida Today)
Late Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried more Starlink internet satellites to orbit after lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport at 11:36 p.m. EDT. The 230-foot rocket vaulted away from Launch Complex 40 on a southeasterly trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean, skirting between the Florida coast and the Bahamas. The rocket's first stage, which flew its 13th mission to date, completed an ocean landing aboard the Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship about eight minutes after liftoff. (8/17)

Florida Space Grant Student Resource Webinar on August 21 (Source: FSGC)
The NASA-sponsored Florida Space Grant Consortium will host an August 21 webinar for students participating in Space Grant activities. The webinar will provide information about NASA activities and challenges that are recruiting for fall as well as information on how to apply for Spring internships. A recording will be shared after the webinar for students who are unable to attend. Contact FSGC at fsgc@ucf.edu for access or information. (8/17)

BAE to Acquire Ball Aerospace (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems is buying Ball Aerospace for $5.55 billion. The companies announced early Thursday the deal, set to close in the first half of 2024 pending regulatory approvals. Ball Corporation expressed its intent to sell Ball Aerospace earlier this year to focus on its core packaging business, using the proceeds of the sale to reduce its debt. Colorado-based Ball Aerospace, with more than 5,200 employees, has provided satellites and instruments for many NASA, NOAA and national security space programs, generating an anticipated $2.2 billion in revenues this year. (8/17)

Why BAE Bought Ball Aerospace and Why it Matters (Source: Sky News)
For some time now there has been a growing air of confidence around BAE Systems. That was underlined when, earlier this year, the UK's biggest defence contractor reported a record order book. And it was further emphasised when, today, BAE announced it is spending $5.55bn (£4.35bn) on the aerospace division of the US packaging giant Ball Corporation.

The deal, described by BAE as a "unique opportunity to strengthen BAE Systems' world class multi-domain portfolio", is the biggest acquisition this year by a British company. The Ball Corporation is a specialist supplier of satellite systems, geospatial intelligence, tactical solutions and antenna arrays. The acquisition of its aerospace arm takes BAE more deeply into both the space sector and into what, in defence industry jargon, is described as 'C4ISR' - command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. (8/17)

Terran Orbital Expects $180 Million for Rivada Constellation Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital expects to receive $180 million from Rivada Space this year as initial payments to produce a 300-satellite constellation. Terran Orbital executives said in an earnings call this week that they have done "extreme due diligence" on the financials of Rivada and are confident the company can fully fund the $2.4 billion constellation. Rivada has declined to disclose details about its fundraising but said it can meet its commitments to its suppliers.

Rivada is the largest customer of Terran Orbital, and Terran Orbital executives said they are on track to record positive EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024 thanks to the Rivada deal and a smaller one with Lockheed Martin. Terran Orbital CEO Marc Bell, though, said in a podcast last week it was a "big mistake" for the company to go public through a SPAC deal since it got only a fraction of the anticipated proceeds. (8/17)

Momentus Cuts Workfore by 30% (Source: Space News)
Momentus cut its workforce by 30% this summer to conserve its dwindling cash. The in-space transportation company revealed in an earnings call this week that it cut both full-time time employees and contractors to reduce costs and extend its cash runway. The company reported a net loss of $18.8 million in the second quarter and ended the quarter with $21.6 million of cash and equivalents. Momentus has hired Deutsche Bank to help it raise money while evaluating "strategic alternatives." Executives remained upbeat about the company, pointing to a recent Space Development Agency SBIR award worth up to $2 million and interest in both its Vigoride tug and new M-1000 satellite bus. (8/17)

SkyWatch to Combine Radar and Optical Satellite Imagery (Source: Space News)
Satellite imagery distributor SkyWatch has a new product that combines radar and optical images. The company said there is now a growing demand for integrated images that combine visually appealing pictures from optical satellites with data from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites that can see at night and through clouds. The new service allows customers to capture a SAR image of the same area of interest of their optical capture and overlay the data. SkyWatch is using SAR images provided by Umbra for the service. (8/17)

AI Startup Wallaroo Wins Space Force Contract (Source: Space News)
Artificial intelligence startup Wallaroo Labs won a $1.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to continue work on in-space AI applications. The company, also known as Wallaroo.ai, is partnered with New Mexico State University for the Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 2 contract from SpaceWERX, the technology arm of the Space Force. The Space Force said it needs AI and machine learning capabilities that can be deployed in the cloud and at the edge for missions in space. (8/17)

Umbra Achieves Commercial SAR Milestone with 16-cm Resolution (Source: Space Daily)
Umbra has reached a significant milestone by generating a 16-cm resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image, marking the highest resolution for a commercial satellite image ever shared with the public. This advancement in Umbra's services can be attributed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) lifting the temporary licensing conditions which previously restrained Umbra's operations. (8/11)

MDA Sees Revenue and Profit Growth in Second Quarter With “Healthy Demand Trends” (Source: SpaceQ)
MDA announced their financial results for the second quarter of 2023. In contrast to the recent downward trend of some other space sector counterparts, MDA saw significant growth. They reported second quarter revenues of $196 million were up 26.7% year-over-year, from $154.7M in 2022. Revenues over the last six months were up YoY from $283.1M to $397.9M. (8/16)

Tough Memory Device Aims for Space Missions (Source: Kaust)
Among the many hazards encountered by space probes, exposure to radiation and huge temperature swings pose particular challenges for their electronic circuits. Now KAUST researchers have invented the first ever flash memory device made from gallium oxide, a material that can withstand these harsh conditions far better than conventional electronics. (8/15)

Russia's Lunar Lander Enters Lunar Orbit (Sources: TASS, The Hindu)
Russia said its Luna-25 lander has entered orbit around the moon. The spacecraft, launched last week, performed a maneuver Wednesday to go into lunar orbit ahead of a landing scheduled for this Monday. Roscosmos said the spacecraft was working well but provided few other details about the status of the mission. Meanwhile, India's Chandrayaan-3 lander separated from its propulsion module in lunar orbit Thursday after that module placed the lander into a low lunar orbit earlier this week. The lander is slated to make a landing attempt next Wednesday. Both spacecraft will try to land in the south polar region of the moon. (8/17)

NASA Lunar Trailblazer Progressing Toward 2014 Launch (Source: NASA JPL)
A NASA lunar orbiter mission is a step closer to launch. Engineers have installed the final instrument on the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft at a Lockheed Martin facility in Colorado. The Lunar Thermal Mapper, contributed by the U.K. Space Agency, joins the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper added to the spacecraft late last year. The instruments will map concentrations of water ice at the lunar poles. Lunar Trailblazer is now scheduled to launch early next year as a secondary payload on the Falcon 9 carrying Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander. (8/17)

New Space Race Reignites the Epic of Lunar Probes Half a Century Later (Source: El Pais)
Luna-25 is an entirely new probe, although it still takes advantage of the original moon landing platform design. Its main goal is to check the operation of the modern systems that control it, landing in an area of the Aitken basin, near the lunar south pole. The newly-launched probe is number 25 in the Luna historic series of spacecraft, which gave the now-defunct Soviet Union some of its greatest successes in the early years of the space race. Click here. (8/16)

Indian Lunar Lander Splits From Propulsion Module in Key Step (Source: Space Daily)
India's latest space mission completed a key step in the country's second attempt at a lunar landing, with its Moon module separating from its propulsion section on Thursday. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) confirmed that the lander module of the Chandrayaan-3, which means "Mooncraft" in Sanskrit, had "successfully separated" from the propulsion module six days ahead of a planned landing slated for August 23. (8/17)

State Department Kicks Off International Lunar Year Discussions (Source: Space Policy Online)
The State Department is starting discussions with U.S. stakeholders to organize an International Lunar Year. The ILY will build on the International Geophysical Year that heralded the beginning of the Space Age, the International Space Year of the early 1990s, and other international “years” that coordinate global scientific efforts and educate the public. The White House proposed the ILY in the November 2022 National Cislunar Science and Technology Strategy produced by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). (8/16)

New Space Force Unit Dedicated to Adversary Satellite Targeting (Source: Space.com)
The Space Force has established its first unit dedicated to targeting enemy satellites. The service activated the 75th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron at Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado last week. The unit is devoted to collecting intelligence on an adversary's satellites as well as "target engagement." The squadron is the first in the Space Force dedicated to targeting activities. (8/17)

A Long Shot for Alabama to Win Back Space Command? ‘I Don’t Think It Is,’ Congressman Says (Source: AL.com)
The speech included talking points about national defense and immigration enforcement. But the one line that generated spontaneous applause Wednesday concerned Space Command as Congressman Dale Strong addressed about 1,000 community and business leaders at a Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce luncheon. “Stay tuned because this process is not over by a long shot,” Strong said. And the applause immediately rippled across the Von Braun Center meeting hall. (8/16)