September 22, 2023

Rogers to Use SpaceX’s Swarm LEO Satellites for Wildfire Detection (Source: SpaceQ)
Rogers Communications announced today that it was going to use ground sensors in combination with small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) for wildfire detection. The move is part of Rogers effort to “to help combat climate change-related events in communities across the country.” And it’s a smart move in that it gets them positive public relations and it’s a hedge to protect its own infrastructure investments in places that are susceptible to wildfires. (9/21)

China Capable of Protecting Astronauts From Effects of Space Weightlessness (Source: Xinhua)
China has the capability to protect astronauts from the effects of a weightless environment for 180 days in space, according to a forum on aerospace medicine that kicked off Thursday in Beijing. The progress in this area has provided theoretical support and a technical platform for research in cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal systems, neurodegenerative diseases, human aging and drug screening here on Earth. (9/21)

Cape Canaveral Spaceport Hits 50th Launch Milestone for 2023 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral lit up the Space Coast for the 50th time this year while also achieving a milestone for the company. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying up another 22 of the company’s Starlink satellites made a record 17th flight from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. SpaceX has flown all but three of the Space Coast launches this year with ULA sending up two and Relativity Space the only other one.

With this mission, SpaceX has flown 37 from Cape Canaveral and another 10 from Kennedy Space Center including all three human spaceflights to orbit from the U.S. this year as well as three powerhouse Falcon Heavy launches. The launch manifest for the remainder of the year should see the Space Coast beat the record 57 launches it saw in 2022. (9/20)

AIA Warns on Space "Critical Infrastructure" Designation (Sources: AIA, Via Satellite)
The Aerospace Industries Association has cautioned the National Security Council against designating the space sector as "critical infrastructure", warning that it could hamper industry growth by imposing new regulatory burdens without additional federal funding. "Critical infrastructure designations could adversely affect industry growth and development and could have a disproportionate impact on small businesses," writes AIA President & CEO Eric Fanning in a letter to NSC head Jake Sullivan. (9/20)

China’s Galactic Energy Suffers First Launch Failure (Source: Space News)
Chinese commercial rocket firm Galactic Energy experienced its first failure Thursday with its 10th launch attempt. Airspace closure notices pointed to a launch attempt from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at around 1:00 a.m. Eastern, Sep. 21. The window passed without notification of a launch, which would typically follow within an hour of liftoff. Galactic Energy published an article confirming the loss of a Ceres-1 rocket and its payload via its WeChat social network account roughly six hours after launch. (9/21)

Independent Reviewers Find NASA Mars Sample Return Plans are Seriously Flawed (Source: Ars Technica)
An independent review of NASA's ambitious mission to return about half a kilogram of rocks and soil from the surface of Mars has found that the program is unworkable in its current form. NASA had been planning to launch the critical elements of its Mars Sample Return mission, or MSR, as soon as 2028, with a total budget for the program of $4.4 billion.

The independent review board's report, which was released publicly on Thursday, concludes that both this timeline and budget are wildly unrealistic. The very earliest the mission could launch from Earth is 2030, and this opportunity would only be possible with a total budget of $8 billion to $11 billion. (9/21)

South Korea, US Hold Talks in Seoul on Space Cooperation (Source: KBS)
South Korea and the U.S. have held a series of discussions in Seoul on strengthening space cooperation. According to the defense ministry, Seoul and Washington held their second Space Cooperation table-top exercise and the 21st session of the Space Cooperation Working Group (SCWG) on Tuesday and Wednesday. (9/20)

Fifth Annual El Paso Space Festival Celebrates All That is Outer Space in Our Area (Source: KVIA)
Insights Science Discovery is presenting 2023 El Paso Space Festival, a week-long celebration of space exploration, innovation, and the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. The fifth annual event kicks off this Friday, September 22nd and runs through Saturday, September 30th. (9/20)

Lunar Trailblazer Spacecraft Undergoing Final Preparations for Trip to Florida (Source: UCF)
University of Central Florida planetary scientist Kerri Donaldson Hanna is counting the days until NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission launches from Cape Canaveral and begins its journey to search for water on the moon. The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft, set to launch in March 2024, has been undergoing final preparations and testing with Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado, for it to be shipped to Florida to be integrated into SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. (9/20)

Lockheed in ‘Late Stage Negotiations’ with Unnamed Solid Rocket Motor Supplier (Source: Breaking Defense)
ockheed Martin is in “late-stage negotiations” apparently to stand up a new supplier of solid rocket motors, Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet revealed today, though he offered few details. With the solid rocket motor industrial base dominated by two key players — Orbital ATK and Aerojet Rocketdyne, both of which have been acquired by larger firms — Lockheed is looking to bring on a brand new vendor to broaden the industrial base, Taiclet told lawmakers. He did not identify the company in question. (9/20)

True Anomaly Lands $17.4M Contract From US Space Force for Space Domain Awareness Tech (Source: Tech Crunch)
True Anomaly has landed a $17.4 million contract from the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command to help the warfighter make critical decisions in the space domain. The startup, which was founded less than two years ago, is tasked with developing a suite of space domain awareness (SDA) capabilities for the Space Force. The 48-month-long contract will be delivered via a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 3 contract. (9/21)

AUKUS Security Pact Should Expand to Include Space Monitoring (Source: Breaking Defense)
Pooling capabilities for space domain awareness (SDA) as part of the Australia, UK, United States (AUKUS) security pact would not only improve trilateral security, but also lay the groundwork for a global network for keeping tabs on satellites and dangerous space debris in Earth and, eventually, cislunar orbits, according to a new report by The MITRE Corporation. (9/20)

How NASA Study Participants are Doing 9 Weeks Into Their Yearlong Mission (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Ultra runner Kelly Haston is not going stir-crazy inside her 1,700-square-foot Martian habitat, and that's a pleasant surprise. "It is comfortable and spacious, and I do not yet miss being outside," Haston said. "I am an avid trail runner, and I was worried I would miss being outside with friends and loved ones." Haston is the commander of a four-person crew spending 378 days inside Mars Dune Alpha, a 3D-printed "Martian habitat" at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Click here. (9/20)

Virgin Galactic's Next Flight Will Take a Pakistani to Space for the 1st Time (Source: Space.com)
Namira Salim will make spaceflight history next month. The adventurer will become the first Pakistani to reach space on Virgin Galactic's next mission, called "Galactic 04," which is scheduled to launch from New Mexico's Spaceport America on Oct. 5. (9/20)

Inflatable Space Station Module Blows Apart in Explosive Test (Source: Space.com)
That's now five space station prototypes blown up for science's sake. The Colorado company Sierra Space, which is creating an inflatable module for an International Space Station (ISS) successor, deliberately exploded a new design on Aug. 17 that included a metal plate. (In this case, the plate was a cheaper stand-in for a window, but metal can also be used to simulate robotic attachments or other items.) Click here. (9/20)

China's Astronauts Have Been Tnding a 'Space Garden' on TSS (Source: Space.com)
China's Shenzhou 16 astronauts have been growing their own food in Earth orbit. Mission commander Jing Haipeng and rookie astros Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao have been cultivating vegetables as part of their science experiment workload aboard the Tiangong space station. The trio have been using a "space garden" cultivation device designed by researchers of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center. (9/20)

$100,000 Breakthrough Physics Prize Awarded to 3 Scientists Who Study the Large Scale Structure of the Universe (Source: Space.com)
Three scientists have won $100,000 for their work on new ways to study the large-scale structure of the universe — the enormous tendrils of criss-crossing matter which hide evidence of our universe's fundamental forces.

Mikhail Ivanov, of MIT, Oliver Philcox, of Columbia University and the Simons Foundation, and Marko Simonović, of the University of Florence, won the New Horizons Prize in Physics "for contributions to our understanding of the large-scale structure of the universe and the development of new tools to extract fundamental physics from galaxy surveys." (9/21)

This Week in Spaceflight (Source: NSS)
Join Elysia Segal for an in-depth review of the major happenings This Week in Spaceflight. Dive deep into Stoke Space's monumental Hopper2 test, SpaceX's record-breaking Starlink missions, Rocket Lab's Electron setback, and get updates on NASA's Artemis II crew rehearsals and the Soyuz MS-24 launch. Plus, stay tuned for highlights across the cosmos including Ingenuity's latest Mars antics! Click here. (9/22) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nmfcGmyZN8

McCarthy Introduces STAR Act in Congress (Source: Rep. Kevin McCarthy)
Congressman Kevin McCarthy, Representative of California’s 20th Congressional District and Speaker of the House, introduced the Space Transformation And Reliability (STAR) Act. The STAR Act would continue to provide regulatory certainty by extending the FAA learning period for regulating commercial human space flight through 2031. Extending the learning period is necessary to provide sufficient time for the commercial space industry to conduct the launches needed to inform the FAA’s standards for safe human space flight. (9/21)

New NASA Report Looks at Societal Considerations for Artemis (Source: NASA)
Given the significance of Artemis missions, NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, set out to begin conversations to develop a framework for how the agency and its partners can consider societal and ethical implications to inform future work. “As we plan for upcoming missions, we have the opportunity make sure they reflect NASA’s core value of inclusion and bring in new voices, ensuring we have a truly global, representative alliance as we explore deep space for the benefit of all," said Ellen Gertsen.

The new report summarizes findings from a workshop the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy held in April that included experts from fields spanning social science, humanities, science and engineering. Participants engaged in sessions on key ethical challenges of spaceflight and how ethical, legal, and societal implications were handled by other scientific endeavors with potentially profound societal effects. (9/21)

UK Mulls Onboard Sensing Requirements for Satellites (Source: C4ISRnet)
In an effort to avoid collisions in the increasingly congested space environment, Britain is considering a policy that would require satellites to carry a space domain awareness sensor, according to a U.K. Space Command official. The Ministry of Defence is leading development of a cross-government Space Sector Plan, which will likely push for stronger policy around space domain awareness requirements for satellite operators. (9/21)

SpaceX's Leuders Addresses South Texas Community (Source: Port Isabel Press)
A former NASA official turned Executive General Manager of Starbase has made it her priority to bridge the gap between SpaceX and its surrounding communities. Recently, she publicly addressed citizens of the lower Laguna Madre to fill them in on SpaceX’s latest successes, concerns and plans for the future. The South Padre Island Chamber of Commerce hosted guest speaker Kathryn Lueders, Executive General Manager of Starbase, on Sep.14. The event featured a larger-than-normal audience. (9/21)

Future of Aerospace is Taking Off From El Paso Region (SourcE: El Paso Times)
Space tourism and aerospace manufacturing around El Paso are poised to redefine the region. But visions differ on how to reach the stars. The Borderland has a rare combination of wide open spaces for experimental rockets, launch sites — such as Spaceport America and White Sands Missile Range, the "Birthplace of America's Missile and Space Activity" — and schools such as the University of Texas at El Paso, training the next generation of aerospace engineers.

Some, such as the New Mexico-based Space Valley Coalition, want to accelerate aerospace's commercial and entrepreneurial market. But groups like the UTEP-led Paso del Norte Innovation group are skeptical of a start-up heavy economic growth model, instead promoting advanced manufacturing and government collaboration. The two groups are among the 16 national finalists for a $160 million federal grant to ensure "the U.S. remains globally competitive in key technology areas for decades to come." The winners of the grant are expected to be announced in November. (9/21)

Webb Finds Carbon Source on Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa (Source: ESA)
Astronomers using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have identified carbon dioxide in a specific region on the icy surface of Europa. Analysis indicates that this carbon likely originated in the subsurface ocean and was not delivered by meteorites or other external sources. Moreover, it was deposited on a geologically recent timescale. This discovery has important implications for the potential habitability of Europa’s ocean. (9/21)

NASA’s Mars Rovers Could Inspire a More Ethical Future for AI (Source: The Conversation)
Since ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, many news outlets have reported on the ethical threats posed by artificial intelligence. There is a better way to bring artificial intelligence into workplaces. I know, because I’ve seen it, as a sociologist who works with NASA’s robotic spacecraft teams. The scientists and engineers I study are busy exploring the surface of Mars with the help of AI-equipped rovers. But their job is no science fiction fantasy. It’s an example of the power of weaving machine and human intelligence together, in service of a common goal.

Instead of replacing humans, these robots partner with us to extend and complement human qualities. Along the way, they avoid common ethical pitfalls and chart a humane path for working with AI. When companies reject the machines-will-replace-us myth and opt for building human-robot teams instead, many of the ethical issues with AI vanish. (9/21)

ESA Delays Next Big Ariane 6 Test (Source: Ars Technica)
The European Space Agency announced this week that the next major ground test for the continent's long-delayed Ariane 6 rocket won't happen in early October. Ground teams were preparing to load a test version of the Ariane 6 rocket with propellant and fire its main engine for nearly eight minutes on a launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. This was supposed to be a final exam, of sorts, for the Ariane 6 ahead of its first flight next year. (9/22)