September 26, 2023

Raytheon to Close Texas Facility (Source: CoStar)
Aerospace and defense manufacturing giant Raytheon Technologies, now known as RTX, plans to lay off workers at a Dallas plant in a move tied to closing the facility because of declining business and budget cuts. RTX recently completed the reorganization of its business, taking it from four business units to three business units — Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace and Raytheon. It also rebranded from Raytheon Technologies to RTX as part of the process. (9/22)

NASA Wants More 'Space Tug' Ideas to Deorbit the International Space Station (Source: Space.com)
NASA is asking U.S. industry for proposals to create a "space tug" for removing the International Space Station from orbit in the early 2030s. The agency plans to use a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle (USDV) to safely steer the ISS into Earth's atmosphere. (White House officials previously called this vehicle a "space tug.") If all goes according to NASA's plan, after the ISS program concludes, flights and commercial research will  proceed on industry-led space stations, which are now in their early stages of development. (9/25)

Starlink Added About One Million Customers in the Last Nine Months (Source: Cord Cutters)
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet provider said it now has over 2 million active customers. This milestone means that Starlink gained about a million customers in the last nine months. (9/25)

NASA's Perseverance Rover Sets Record for Longest Mars Drive on Autopilot (Source: Space.com)
NASA's Perseverance rover, along with its automatic navigation system, just set a record on Mars by maneuvering right through a particularly hazardous patch of Martian land. In turn, this impressive trip saved scientists weeks of precious time during which they can now do more science. Although the mission team usually charts out the Mars rover's course manually, the automatic navigation system named AutoNav proved remarkable in this case as it safely guided the Perseverance rover around rocks hidden from orbiter images typically used for planning, scientists say. (9/25)

A Capsule’s Fall Marks the Start of Asteroid Autumn (Source: Space Review)
On Sunday, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft returned to Earth, dropping off a capsule containing samples collected from the asteroid Bennu. Jeff Foust reports on the success of the first part of NASA’s “Asteroid Autumn” that includes a launch and a flyby. Click here. (9/25)
 
Honoring and Dishonoring the Dead in Outer Space (Source: Space Review)
One of the customers on a Virgin Galactic suborbital flight earlier this month took with him fossils from two potential ancestor species to humanity, sparking outrage among some anthropologists. Deana Weibel explores the incident as well as the relationships between the living and the dead when it comes to spaceflight. Click here. (9/25)
 
Hiding in Plain Sight: Is China’s Spaceplane a Co-Orbital ASAT in Disguise? (Source: Space Review)
China has tested a spaceplane similar in concept to the American X-37B. Carlos Alatorre examines if that vehicle could be, or support the development of, an anti-satellite weapon. Click here. (9/25)
 
Security Dimensions of Space Economics and Finance (Source: Space Review)
The growing space economy creates new opportunities for financing companies, but also new risks. Jana Robinson warns how some Western funds may be helping finance Chinese and Russian space efforts. Click here. (9/25)

NASA's Delayed VERITAS Venus Mission Tests Key Technology in Iceland (Source: Space.com)
While NASA's VERITAS Venus mission continues to be on hold, team members have been perfecting technologies on Earth in places that resemble the hellish planet. Early last month, one such field campaign took the mission's science team to a barren and rocky region in Iceland. There, they studied rocks and surfaces near an active volcano named Askja. (9/25)

Where Will Virgin Galactic Stock Be in 5 Years? (Source: Motley Fool)
Virgin Galactic is a pioneer in a brand-new industry: space tourism, which involves transporting high-net-worth individuals to the edge of space to enjoy a brief period of weightlessness and spectacular views. No one knows for sure what this opportunity will be worth over the coming years. But UBS analysts believe it could grow to $4 billion by 2030 as companies invest more capital into their technical capabilities. (9/25)

Sierra Space Raising Nearly $300 Million from Japanese Consortium at $5 Billion Valuation (Source: CNBC)
Sierra Space, the subsidiary of private aerospace contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation, raised new funds at a $5.3 billion valuation, the company announced on Tuesday. Sierra Space’s equity raise of $290 million was led by Japanese investors MUFG, Kanematsu and Tokio Marine, with significant participation from prior investors and insiders. Citigroup advised on the deal. (9/25)

Why Einstein Must be Wrong: In Search of the Theory of Gravity (Source: Phys.org)
Unlike physical theories describing the other three fundamental forces in physics—the electromagnetic and the strong and weak nuclear interactions—the general theory of relativity has only been tested in weak gravity. All attempts to blend general relativity and quantum physics necessarily introduce deviations from Einstein's theory. Therefore, Einstein's gravity cannot be the ultimate theory of gravity. (9/25)

Space Force Taps Industry for Supply Chain Strategy (Source: Defense News)
The US Space Force is set to convene with industry leaders and international partners next month to formulate a strategy for enhancing supply chain resiliency in the space sector. The meeting, known as a reverse industry day, will be led by Space Systems Command and will include representatives from countries the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and Japan. (9/25)

Space Domain Awareness Research Hub Opens (Source: DefenseScoop)
The US Space Force has inaugurated a second Tools Applications and Processing lab in Colorado Springs to foster innovation and collaboration in space domain awareness technology. Under the "Project Apollo" umbrella, the lab will host quarterly three-month "innovation cycles" with external partners to tackle challenges in space domain awareness. (9/25)

UAE to Buy Broadband from Yahsat (Source: Space News)
The government of the United Arab Emirates has agreed to buy $5.1 billion in broadband services from Yahsat. The deal, which runs through 2041, includes a $1 billion advance payment that will fund two new geostationary satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5, to be built over the next five years. Yahsat now has $7 billion of contracted revenues in the pipeline following the UAE government's long-term commitment, and the new deal will allow Yahsat to explore moving into new markets. (9/26)

Beijing Commits to Aerospace (Source: Space News)
Beijing's municipal government intends to support commercial aerospace and satellite constellations and applications. The city will seek to incubate and promote innovation in areas including development and production of reusable rockets and crewed suborbital flight as part of a broader effort to support future industries in the area. Other areas included in the initiative are communication satellites, flat-panel satellites, software-defined satellites and standardized satellite platforms, as well as satellite payloads and laser communications. (9/26)

Asteroid Samples Moved to JSC (Source: NASA)
The asteroid samples returned to Earth by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft are now at the Johnson Space Center. An Air Force cargo spacecraft flew the sample canister from the Utah test site where the capsule landed Sunday to Ellington Airport near JSC on Monday. The samples will be stored in a special curation facility at JSC, with the canister opened as soon as today. (9/26)

SLS Rocket Assembly Coming Together (Source: NASA)
Elements of the second Space Launch System rocket are coming together. NASA announced Monday that workers has completed installation of all four RS-25 engines in the core stage of the rocket at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Separately, the segments for the SLS's solid rocket boosters arrived by train at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday. Those segments will later be stacked to form the two boosters that will be attached to the core stage. (9/26)

Weeden to Lead NASA Tech/Policy/Strategy Office (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected a new associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy. The agency said Monday that it hired Charity Weeden for the position, effective immediately. She will lead the Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy, which supports agency leadership on strategic planning. Weeden, a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, previously was vice president for global space policy and government relations at Astroscale U.S. (9/26)

SpaceX Hardware Going to Museum (Source: CollectSpace)
Some SpaceX launch hardware isn't going to be reflown — because it's going into a museum. SpaceX has donated a Merlin engine and Falcon 9 grid fin to the National Air and Space Museum, which the museum says will go on display in an upcoming exhibition on the future of spaceflight. The Merlin engine flew on three launches, including one that carried the Beresheet lunar lander for Israeli organization SpaceIL. The grid fin was used on a single Falcon 9 launch in 2017. (9/26)

Terran Orbital Announces Closing of $32.5 Million Public Offering (Source: Space Daily)
Terran Orbital announced the closing of its previously announced public offering of 23,214,290 shares of its common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.50 per share, are immediately exercisable and will expire five years following the date of issuance. The gross proceeds from the offering to the Company were approximately $32.5 million, before deducting placement agent's fees and other offering expenses payable by the Company. (9/26)

Turning up Gravity for Space Fungi Study (Source: Space Daily)
Fungi in space have been a plot point in Star Trek: Discovery, but they are also a very real problem for astronauts and space stations. United Nations co-sponsored testing by a team in China subjected fungi to hypergravity with ESA's fast-spinning centrifuge. They used ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge at the ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands to test the growth of fungal colonies under double normal Earth's gravity. Fungal species were grown until full mature grown was achieved, and then examined to check for genetic or 'phenotypic' stress reactions. (9/26)

Space Force and Astroscale to Co-Invest in a Refueling Satellite (Source: Space News)
Astroscale U.S., a provider of on-orbit services to extend the life of satellites, has signed an agreement with the U.S. Space Force to co-invest in an on-orbit refueling vehicle. Col. Joyce Bulson, project manager at Space Systems Command, said the agreement includes $25.5 million in government funding and approximately $12 million to be provided by Astroscale. The company will deliver in 24 months a “manifest ready” prototype vehicle capable of refueling a satellite in orbit, Bulson said Sep. 25 in an interview with SpaceNews.

Bulson leads a new office based at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, that oversees space mobility and logistics programs. Astroscale is headquartered in Japan. Its U.S. subsidiary is based in Colorado. The company focuses on space sustainability technologies such as debris removal and on-orbit satellite servicing. Astroscale won a so-called Other Transaction Authority, or OTA, contract. OTAs give the government flexibility to negotiate with contractors and share the cost of projects.

The $25.5 million contract awarded to Astroscale was funded by a $30 million congressional earmark added to the Space Force’s 2023 budget. Bulson said Astroscale’s bid was one of 23 received through the  Space Enterprise Consortium, known as SpEC, an organization created to attract startups and commercial companies to compete for defense programs. (9/25)

Blue Origin to Replace CEO Bob Smith with Outgoing Amazon Exec Dave Limp (Source: CNBC)
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will replace CEO Bob Smith with outgoing Amazon executive Dave Limp. Smith is retiring effective Dec. 4 and will remain with the company until Jan. 2 for the CEO transition, according to notes to Blue Origin staff written by Smith and Bezos that were obtained by CNBC.

Limp joins Blue Origin at a key phase of the company’s multiple space projects. Blue needs to ramp production of its BE-4 rocket engines, return its space tourism rocket New Shepard to flight, and launch its next-generation New Glenn rocket for the first time – as well as deliver on a recently-won NASA contract for a crewed lunar lander. (9/25)

SLS Booster Segments for Artemis 2 Arrive in Florida (Source: SpafeFlight Insider)
A journey of more than a million miles began by rail as the solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Artemis 2 mission made their way to Florida’s Space Coast. The 10 segments that make up both solid rocket boosters for NASA’s second Space Launch System were shipped together by train, a cross-country trek of some 2,800 miles from Corinne, Utah, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The journey started Sept. 19, and was completed the afternoon of Sep. 25. (9/25)

Space Force is Boosting its Footprint in Japan, Top Guardian Says in Tokyo (Source: Stars & Stripes)
The U.S. Space Force is expanding its presence in Japan with the transfer of an Army missile-tracking unit and possibly establishing a headquarters in the allied country. “Space is critical to modern warfare,” said Gen. Chance Saltzman. The number of personnel and type of facilities needed to establish a headquarters in Japan are being assessed, he said. Potential locations in western Tokyo include Fuchu Air Base, home of Japan’s Space Operations Group and Yokota Air Base, home of U.S. Forces Japan and Japan Air Defense Command, Saltzman said. (9/25)

Germany and Venezuela Have Been Chosen for Teams in the US-China Space Race (Source: The Hill)
Two recent events illustrated how Project Artemis has become an instrument of international diplomacy for the US and how China is trying to do the same for its own lunar efforts. Germany has signed the Artemis Accords, bringing the number to 29 nations and counting. Germany, a member state of the European Space Agency, is a modern, industrialized nation. Germany’s joining what is, in effect, the Artemis Alliance further strengthens the modern Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface.

Venezuela will join China’s effort to create a lunar base in competition with the American-led effort. China has already helped the South American country develop and launch satellites, as Spaceflight Now noted in 2017. Why has China promised to make Venezuela a partner in its moon program? What resources does the South American country possess that would benefit such an effort? The Council on Foreign Relations said in Venezuela “Decades of poor governance have driven what was once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries to economic and political ruin.” (9/24)

Who Owns the Moon Owns the Future (Source: WBUR)
Ice and minerals on the Moon could help humanity travel to space’s distant planets and asteroids. Now, entrepreneurs and experts say lunar resources could speed future space travel and change life on earth. "Helium-3 on the moon is worth $4 billion per ton. It's the most valuable thing in space," Gerald Kulcinski, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin and former director of the Fusion Technology Institute, says. But which countries, which companies, would get the right to extract those resources? Click here. (9/25)

India Gives Lunar Lander Revival Until Oct. 6 (Source: The Hindu)
ISRO will wait another 14 days to establish contact with Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. ISRO will continue attempts to revive the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover till the next sunset on the Moon which is slated for October 6. (9/25)

NASA Uses Old People To Plot A Space Future For Young People (Source: NASA Watch)
Will someone please explain how a bunch of older folks (all well-intentioned, to be sure) on the NASA Advisory Council are expected to have clear knowledge of what the Artemis Generation actually wants their future in space to be? Based on these official photos, there is no one on the NAC who is apparently under 50. Many are over 60, several are well over 70. Two are over 80. The youngest of them will be in their 60s if/when we land on Mars. (9/21)