August 9, 2023

Amazon Exec Explains Selection of Space Coast for a $120M Kuiper Satellite Project (Source: Orlando Inno)
One of the reasons Amazon decided to build a new $120 million project on Florida's Space Coast is a Brevard County infrastructure investment that allows for an expedited construction timeline, according to Amazon's Steve Metayer, vice president of production operations for Project Kuiper. Seattle-based Amazon signed a lease at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport's Launch & Landing Facility, committing $120 million to build a 100,000-plus-square-foot satellite processing facility for Project Kuiper, Amazon’s satellite broadband network. (8/7)

Chemical Contamination on International Space Station is Out of This World, Study Shows (Source: Phys.org)
In a first study of its kind, scientists analyzed a sample of dust from air filters within the ISS. Concentrations of potentially harmful chemical compounds exceed those found in floor dust from many American homes. They say their findings could guide the design and construction of future spacecraft. Contaminants include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), "novel" brominated flame retardants (BFRs), organophosphate esters (OPEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

"While concentrations of organic contaminants discovered in dust from the ISS often exceeded median values found in homes and other indoor environments across the US and western Europe, levels of these compounds were generally within the range found on earth." Researchers note that PBDE concentrations may reflect use on the ISS of inorganic FRs like ammonium dihydrogen phosphate to make fabrics and webbing flame retardant. They believe that the use of commercially available off-the-shelf items brought on board for the personal use of astronauts, such as cameras, MP3 players, tablet computers, medical devices, and clothing, are potential sources of many of the chemicals detected. (8/8)

Sierra Space Appoints Jen Splaingard to Lead Transformative Engineering and Test Organization (Source: Sierra Space)
Sierra Space announced the establishment of a new, world-class engineering and test organization designed to innovate, inspire and deliver unprecedented breakthrough technologies and products to the company’s commercial and government customers. Jen Splaingard will lead this substantial initiative. (8/8)

Frontgrade Acquires Aethercomm (Source: Space News)
Frontgrade Technologies, a Veritas Capital company, announced the acquisition of Aethercomm, a California-based manufacturer of high-power amplifier modules and switches. Colorado Springs-based Frontgrade supplies radiation-hardened electronics. Prior to the acquisition, Frontgrade offered no active RF components. (8/8)

Canada's MDA Plans Expansion in UK (Source: Space News)
Canada’s MDA sees a growing opportunity to expand its international space business from the United Kingdom, where it plans to double its team to 80 employees in the next 12 months. Anita Bernie, who was appointed managing director for MDA’s U.K. unit in March, said the company has just moved into a larger, dedicated facility to accommodate this growth in Harwell, England. The U.K. seeks a bigger portion of the global space industry to expand its post-Brexit economy. The British government’s national strategy to become a major space power includes investments in emerging technologies and streamlined licensing regimes to foster a more business-friendly environment. (8/8)

What Propelled This California Aerospace Startup to Shift its 'Center of Gravity' to New Mexico (Source: New Mexico Inno)
In February 2022, while both graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, Ryan Sullivan and Scott Ziegler founded Space Kinetic, a startup building an electromechanical propulsion system that turns solar power into low-cost in-space mobility. New Mexico has become the "center of gravity" for Space Kinetic, which launched out of California's Bay Area early last year. A connection to a national laboratory, resources in the state and a fast-growing aerospace industry all helped propel the startup to the Land of Enchantment. (7/30)

NASA Weighs Changes to Artemis 3 if Key Elements are Delayed (Source: Space News)
NASA has left the door open for changing the scope of Artemis 3, currently set to be the first crewed lunar landing of the program, if key elements suffer major delays. Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development, said the Artemis 3 mission still has a formal launch date of December 2025 but that he was monitoring potential delays in hardware needed for the mission. “We may end up flying a different mission if that’s the case,” he said.

Asked later what a different mission might entail, Free pointed to the experience from the International Space Station program. “One thing we learned from ISS is to make sure we’re flexible so we keep human spaceflight viable,” he said, such as changing the assembly sequence of the station based on when hardware was available. (8/9)

Scientist Unveils a Bold Plan to Turn an Asteroid Into a Space Station (Source: Science Alert)
The basic idea of turning an asteroid into a rotating space habitat has existed for a while. Despite that, it's always seemed relatively far off regarding technologies, so the concept hasn't received much attention over the years. But, if you're retired and have an underlying interest in researching space habitats, developing a detailed plan for turning an asteroid into one seems like a great use of time.

And that is precisely what David W. Jensen, a retired Technical Fellow at Rockwell Collins, recently did. He released a 65-page paper that details an easy-to-understand, relatively inexpensive, and feasible plan to turn an asteroid into a space habitat. Click here. (8/9)

Astronomers Confirm The Faintest Galaxy in The Known Universe (Source: Science Alert)
The Universe we live in is a transparent one, where light from stars and galaxies shines bright against a clear, dark backdrop. But this wasn't always the case – in its early years, the Universe was filled with a fog of hydrogen atoms that obscured light from the earliest stars and galaxies. The intense ultraviolet light from the first generations of stars and galaxies is thought to have burned through the hydrogen fog, transforming the Universe into what we see today. (8/9)

A Solar Flare Just Knocked Out Radio Across The US, And More Are on The Way (Source: Science Alert)
A wild few days for the Sun are being felt around Earth as the effects of its tantrums lash us across the gulf of space. On 7 August, the Sun unleashed a powerful, X-class flare that caused radio blackouts across North America. Space weather forecasts also predicted a combined 'cannibal' coronal mass ejection (CME) that erupted several days ago on 5 August would clip our atmosphere in a glancing blow. While it might well still produce a late arriving solar storm, forecasters now suspect it may have missed altogether. We might expect to see this sort of solar behavior increasing in the coming months, as the Sun escalates towards the peak of its 11-year activity cycle, predicted to take place in July 2025. (8/9)

How 3D Printing Helps Firehawk Reach New Heights in Hybrid Rocketry (Source: Space Impulse)
The space technology market is in a state of dynamic change. While space tech companies are often associated with bold scientific advances, much of the fundamental technology involved in launching payloads into orbit has remained largely unchanged. However, this is beginning to change. Cutting-edge space tech companies are harnessing technologies like 3D printing to fundamentally reimagine rocket propulsion and open new possibilities in space access.

Firehawk Aerospace’s story starts in 2020 when the business raised seed financing of $2.5 million to commercialize patents related to the 3D-printing of fuel grains. The growing venture quickly started serving the defense industry, partnering with Raytheon Missiles and Defense (who also invested in the company). Space Impulse spoke to Will Edwards (CEO) and Dr. Justin Karl (Chief Engineer) of Firehawk Aerospace in an exclusive interview. Click here. (8/1)

Space Perspective Partners With Denison Yachting to Offer Luxury Spaceflight Experience to Its Yachting Clientele (Source: Denison)
Denison is pleased to announce its partnership with Space Perspective, the world’s first and only carbon-neutral luxury spaceflight experience company. Space Perspective offers its clients, who they call Explorers, the transformative power of seeing Earth from the blackness of space–the quintessential astronaut experience. As part of this partnership, Denison has reserved a full capsule, which includes eight seats, on Spaceship Neptune for an extraordinary journey to the edge of space. The companies will work together on cross-promotional opportunities and co-hosted events. (8/2)

Mars Keeps Spinning Faster, And Scientists Don't Know Why (Source: Science Alert)
Recordings of the interior of Mars have just delivered the most precise measurement of the red planet's spin yet, and the results are a confusing surprise. According to data from the now-retired InSight lander, Mars' rotation is accelerating each year by around 4 milliarcseconds. That's a very small amount – shortening the length of a Mars day by just a fraction of a millisecond every Martian year – but the reason for it is not immediately apparent. (8/8)

Helicon Chemical Begins HTPB Production in West Virginia (Source: Helicon Chemical)
Helicon Chemical announced today that it has begun manufacturing its first batches of Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) at AVN Corporation laboratories on the campus of the West Virginia Regional Technology Park (WVRTP). In addition to producing its patented enhanced HTPB rocket fuel binder, Helicon is turning out non-enhanced versions of the mixture that will add to the wide market demand for the substance. Polyurethanes prepared from HTPB can be engineered for specific defense and commercial physical properties including highly elastic, tough and rigid for use in foam insulation panels; durable wheels and tires, electrical potting compounds and high performance rocket fuel binding. (8/2)

U.S. Commission to Investigate China’s Remote-Sensing Technologies (Source: Space News)
An influential U.S. commission that advises Congress and the White House is soliciting proposals to produce an unclassified report on China’s remote sensing capabilities. The request for proposals, issued Aug. 8, seeks a report that assesses China’s objectives in remote sensing technologies, the state of the country’s remote sensing technology and its competitiveness. Proposals are due Sep. 8. The commission wants to “identify and assess Chinese investments in U.S. advanced remote sensor companies; and examine China’s use and development of advanced remote sensors for military purposes,” said the request. (8/8)

China Could Be Planning a Second Broadband Megaconstellation (Source: Space News)
The Shanghai government has expressed backing for a broadband megaconstellation consisting of an initial 1,296 satellites. A Shanghai Municipal People’s Government press conference July 25 announced that a project known as “G60 Starlink” now envisions building a constellation of potentially more than 12,000 satellites. A first phase will see 1,296 satellites sent in orbit. China’s government set up a state-owned enterprise in 2021 to oversee and coordinate the construction of the 13,000-satellite Guowang. 

G60 Starlink was previously geared towards developing an internet satellite cluster without an overt constellation plan. The project is centered in Shanghai’s Songjiang District and appears to offer an alternative to the national level Guowang plan. The G60 Starlink development has been quietly ongoing since 2016, and announced its cluster plans in 2021. G60 refers to an expressway of the same name which runs through several cities in the Yangtze River Delta region. The project is part of a Science and Technology Innovation Valley initiative.

A key first development phase of the project includes a satellite manufacturing center capable of producing 300 satellites per year. The facility is expected to enter service during 2023. It was also stated to lower the cost of a single satellite by 35 percent, though without specifying a reference point. (8/8)

Space Agencies are Reforming Acquisition to Accelerate Commercial Tech Integration (Source: NextGov)
U.S. space agencies are developing a set of new acquisition programs and policies to speed up the purchasing of critical emerging technologies while reducing barriers to entry for the commercial space industry, officials said. Frank Avila, acting director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, said his organization is increasingly leveraging procurement vehicles known as bailment agreements, which can be established in a matter of weeks and allow the agency to temporarily own and test commercial satellite systems and other technology solutions. (8/8)

NASA Unveils Artemis II Orion Capsule at Kennedy Space Center (Source: Space Daily)
Journalists from all over the world got to meet the Artemis II Crew and their Orion Crew Module, which will send them on a journey around the Moon and back to earth no earlier than November 2024. Displayed inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are the Orion Crew Modules for Artemis II, Artemis III, Artemis IV, and the European Service Module (ESM). (8/8)

NRO Seeks Innovation on Satellites and Ground Systems (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office says it is open to work with industry and academia on advanced technologies for satellites and ground systems. U.S. Space Force Col. Matt Allen, deputy director of advanced systems and technology at the NRO, said his agency was interested in both evolutionary improvements in technology and more revolutionary capabilities. An example of the former he gave was improved radiation-hardened electronics, while the latter revolved around basic research "to give us that undeniable advantage over our adversaries." (8/9)

NRO Plans 'Responsive Space' Mission with Firefly and Xtenti (Source: Space News)
The NRO announced it will conduct a responsive space mission with Firefly Aerospace and Xtenti. The NRO mission, scheduled to launch on a Firefly Alpha launch vehicle in 2024, will demonstrate multiple on-orbit deployments with Firefly's Elytra orbital vehicle and Xtenti's Fantm-Ride small satellite dispenser. After deploying commercial payloads, Elytra will maneuver and then go into standby mode, awaiting a callup from the NRO to deploy U.S. government payloads on demand. (8/9)

NOAA Lifts Restrictions on Commercial Remote Sensing (Source: Space News)
NOAA has lifted many restrictions it had placed on companies with commercial remote sensing licenses. NOAA said this week that it removed temporary restrictions imposed on companies with "Tier 3" licenses for systems with cutting-edge capabilities. Those restrictions, part of a revised licensing system enacted in 2020, were intended to last no more than three years unless extended at the request of the Secretary of Defense. With the restrictions removed, companies can provide more advanced imaging services. As an example, Umbra says it can now offer higher resolution radar imagery from its satellites. (8/9)

GHGSat Orders Spire Satellites (Source: Space News)
GHGSat has ordered four more satellites from Spire. The companies announced Tuesday the agreement for the four 16U satellites equipped with payloads for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions for launch as soon as next year. GHGSat ordered three similar satellites from Spire last year that are slated to launch late this year. The companies declined to disclose the value of the new contract. (8/9)

SDA to Expand Satellite Testing From North Dakota (Source: Space News)
The Space Development Agency will expand satellite testing operations in North Dakota. The agency announced this week it will build a new satellite testing facility at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, expanding its presence there. SDA said two years ago it would set up satellite operations centers at Grand Forks and at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. The new satellite test and checkout center in North Dakota is expected to be completed in 2026. (8/9)

ExoTerra Demonstrates Hall-Effect Thrusters on Blackjack Satellites (Source: Space News)
ExoTerra Resources has demonstrated its first Halo Hall-effect thrusters in orbit on DARPA Blackjack satellites. Three Blackjack Aces satellites launched in June have successfully tested the thrusters, the company said. The thrusters use xenon propellant but can also use krypton. ExoTerra said its thrusters will be on "several more flights" in the next year. (8/9)

Busek Pleased with Electric Thrusters on OneWeb Satellites (Source: Space News)
Busek says it's pleased with the performance of its electric thrusters on OneWeb satellites. More than 100 of Busek's BHT-350 Hall-effect thrusters are operating in orbit on OneWeb communications satellites, making OneWeb the largest customer for those thrusters. OneWeb switched to Busek's thruster after sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine prevented OneWeb from buying thrusters from Russian manufacturer Fakel. (8/9)

Kongsberg Offers Ka-Band Ground Network for Smallsat Constellations (Source: Space News)
Kongsberg Satellite Services has unveiled an automated Ka-band ground network for small satellite constellations. The KSATlite Ka-band network is designed to support small satellite constellations with data-intensive applications like Earth observation and communications that sometimes require high-speed data transfer. KSAT has rapidly expanded its network of antennas in recent years to keep up with growing data traffic, opening its 23rd ground station, in South Korea, in June. (8/9)

China Launches Radar Imaging Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a radar imaging satellite Tuesday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 6:53 p.m. Eastern and placed the unnamed satellite into orbit. The spacecraft carries an S-band synthetic aperture radar that Chinese media said will be used for emergency management and disaster response. (8/9)

Cosmonauts Conduct Spacewalk at ISS (Source: Space.com)
Two Russian cosmonauts carried out a spacewalk at the International Space Station. Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin will start the seven-hour spacewalk around 10:45 a.m. Eastern. The spacewalkers will attach debris shields to the Rassvet module and test a work platform intended for use on a robotic arm on the Nauka module. (8/9)

Redwire to Supply Cameras for True Anomaly’s Inspector Satellites (Source: Space News)
True Anomaly, a startup based in Denver, will install Redwire’s navigation and sensing cameras on two inspector satellites it plans to launch next year. True Anomaly developed a small satellite named Jackal, designed to chase down uncooperative objects and take pictures up close. The first two are scheduled to launch to low Earth orbit in early 2024 on the SpaceX Transporter-10 rideshare.  True Anomaly plans to market these vehicles to the U.S. government.
Even Rogers, CEO of True Anomaly, said Aug. 8 that the company selected Redwire’s SpectraCam and SpectraTrac cameras for the Jackal vehicles. (8/8)

GHGSat Orders Four More Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Cubesats From Spire (Source: Space News)
GHGSat has ordered another four 16U cubesats from Spire Global for a launch no earlier than 2024 to expand its greenhouse gas-monitoring constellation, the Canadian satellite operator announced Aug. 8. The satellites, each the size of 16 cubesats, are identical to the three GHGSat ordered from Spire last year for a launch in late 2023.

GHGSat currently has nine satellites in low Earth orbit, built by the University of Toronto’s Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) and are about the same size. The seven additional satellites from Spire will increase the frequency of the constellation’s observations and coverage as part of plans to monitor emissions daily from every industrial source, GHGSat said without elaborating. (8/8)

NOAA Lifts Many Commercial Remote Sensing License Conditions (Source: Space News)
The agency that regulates commercial remote sensing satellite systems has loosened restrictions imposed on many companies’ licenses, enabling them to provide higher-resolution imagery or other services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Aug. 7 that it had modified “Tier 3” commercial remote sensing licenses for several companies, removing conditions that had been in place for up to three years.

The conditions were part of a revision of the commercial remote sensing licensing system enacted in 2020. That effort was intended to streamline the licensing process and reduce the amount of time license applications were reviewed by the government. That created three license tiers, including a Tier 3 for the most advanced systems. That tier gave NOAA the ability to include temporary restrictions on those licenses. (8/8)

NRO to Conduct Responsive Space Mission with Firefly and Xtenti (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office announced a contract Aug. 8 with Firefly Aerospace and Xtenti, a Texas-based space logistics startup, for a responsive space mission. The NRO mission, scheduled to launch on a Firefly Alpha launch vehicle in 2024, will demonstrate multiple on-orbit deployments with Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle and Xtenti’s Fantm-Ride small satellite dispenser.

Elytra will deploy commercial rideshare payloads with Fantm-Ride, before performing an on-orbit maneuver. After the maneuver, Elytra will remain in orbit on standby, prepared to deploy U.S. government payloads on-demand. (8/8)

Leaf Space Prepares its Ground Station Network for the Upcoming SpaceX's Transporter-9 Mission (Source: Space News)
Leaf Space, an Italian company specializing in Ground Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) solutions, has recently secured a substantial EUR 20M ($  22M) in Series B funding. With 17 operational satellite ground stations worldwide and a portfolio of ~80 serviced satellites, Leaf Space is now preparing for the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-9 Rideshare mission. (8/8)

Starfish Space to Provide Air Force Satellite Guidance Software (Source: Space News)
Starfish Space has secured $1.8 million from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX technology accelerator to develop its satellite guidance software, the in-orbit servicing startup announced Aug. 8. The 18-month Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) will support work on Cephalopod, designed to enable a satellite to dock with another spacecraft using only electric propulsion, to mature the technology for supporting government and commercial servicing missions at scale. (8/8)

ESA Ponders European Spaceports Ahead of Budget Review (Source: European Conservative)
“Europe must wake up” and secure its place in a fast developing new space race, the director of the European Space Agency (ESA) Dr. Josef Aschbacher has declared in an interview with The Telegraph, as he warned that the Continent was facing total dependence on outside powers to operate its space program. A €7 billion per annum transnational organization consisting of 22 nations, the ESA has been crippled by the war in Ukraine, which has forced it to rely solely on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to launch satellites into orbit after sanctions prevented it from using Russian Soyuz rockets.

The ESA, which includes the UK despite Brexit, is specifically charged with getting Europe’s strategically vital Galileo satellites into orbit, which is essential for European governments to maintain independent communication systems outside of the United States and China. According to Dr. Aschbacher, Europe needs to invest now in space infrastructure lest it be left behind by rival powers and the private sector, with the ESA chief even raising the possibility of helping with spaceport facilities already existing on British soil.

The advent of multipolarity and geopolitical rivalries has reignited the space race in recent years as Western powers fear Chinese dominance in a looming return to lunar operations. Similar to the development of AI, Europe is increasingly stereotyped on the world stage as taking a backseat in new technological innovation and then suffering the geopolitical ramifications as other nations and regions move ahead at pace. (8/1)