October 14, 2023

UK’s Asteroid Mining Corp. Unveils SCAR-E Robot (Source: Space News)
Asteroid Mining Corp. is not banking on the space resources market materializing anytime soon. “We are a robotics company with asteroid-mining aspirations,” said Mitch Hunter-Scullion, Asteroid Mining Corp. CEO. “Space resources is a very exciting industry. But it’s one which, let’s be honest, isn’t currently existing fully into its mature sense.” In the near term, the London-based startup will offer services with an six-legged, 20-kilogram robot called Space Capable Asteroid Robotic-Explorer. SCAR-E. "Our go-to-market strategy is to go to the industrial inspection market and go to places which four legged robots cannot.” (10/13)

Jill Biden to Visit Patrick Space Force Base (Source: Florida Today)
First lady Jill Biden will visit Patrick Space Force Base on Monday afternoon to meet with military spouses and families, White House officials announced. Biden and Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough's trip to the Space Coast will cap a two-day swing through the Sunshine State. The first lady will promote the White House's Joining Forces initiative during her Patrick Space Force Base visit. (10/13)

When Ex-ISRO Chief Was Told to ‘Get Lost’ by ISRO satellite Center (Source: Indian Express)
Exhorting students to learn from their failures in life and take risks, former chairman Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) K Sivan on Friday said Chandrayaan-3 was defined a day after the failure of Chandrayaan-2.

“After BE, I thought I would go for a job, but a job was not easy to get. I was passionate about doing masters and after doing masters, I went to ISRO’s satellite center to get a job. They said you are a useless fellow. You are not getting the job, get lost. Finally, I became the chairman of the same organization…Because I did not get a job in the satellite center, I got a job at the rocket center,” he said. (10/14)

19 Mind-Blowing Space Facts That Will Make You See The Universe Differently (Source: BuzzFeed)
There's an Earth-like planet called 55 Cancri e, which is made of diamonds. Similar metals can weld together on their own, when in space. Uranus is the only planet that rotates sideways. Click here. (10/13)

NASA Fires 3 Rockets Directly at the Solar Eclipse (Source: Live Science)
As millions of people across North, Central and South America tilted their heads skyward to watch the partial "ring of fire" solar eclipse, NASA engineers celebrated the once-in-a-decade event in their own way: by firing rockets directly at the eclipse's shadow. The launch of three scientific rockets from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is part of a purely scientific mission to study changes in Earth's upper atmosphere during the sudden plunge in daylight that eclipses bring. (10/14)

The Satellites of the Future Are Heading to Space Right Now (Source: Wall Street Journal)
A new generation of satellites is redefining what’s possible in space. They are radically different from what has been the standard for almost the entire history of humans hurling things into orbit. They tantalize potential customers—including governments, businesses and consumers—with the promise of fast, always-on internet access, anywhere on Earth, anytime.

Thousands of this new kind of satellite are already operational, most of them powering the Starlink satellite network. “Before, you had coverage from a satellite spanning the entire U.S., and you’d share that bandwidth with thousands of airplanes,” says Fromont. “Now, you can dedicate one channel to every single plane, and that’s going to change the customer experience.”

The high-bandwidth connection that the next generation of satellites provides is also a military advantage in battle, and a potential lifesaver when a catastrophe has knocked out the local internet infrastructure. Connecting ships at sea is also an option—presently, most merchant ships have at best spotty or low-bandwidth connections. And then there are the unconnected billions of people all over the Earth who may soon have their first reliable internet access. (10/13)

Chinese Commercial Satellite Firm Completes High-Speed Laser Image Transmission Test (Source: Space News)
A Chinese satellite manufacturer and operator has conducted satellite-to-ground laser tests that will improve its ability to get remote sensing data to Earth. Changguang Satellite Technology (CGST) carried out the test with its Jilin-1 MF02A04 remote sensing satellite and a vehicle-mounted laser communication ground station Oct. 5. (10/13)

SpaceX Launches Second Rocket of Day from Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
After SpaceX successfully launched NASA's Psyche spacecraft aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket on Friday, the company successfully launched a Falcon 9 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Starlink mission's booster landed downrange on a drone ship. (10/13)

Rise in Unwanted Activity Ahead of Andøya Spaceport Opening: Police Urges the Public to Be Alert (Source: High North News)
On November 2, the first spaceport for the launch of satellites on the European mainland will open: Andøya Spaceport in Northern Norway. Given that Norway is not beaten to the finish line by Esrange Space Center outside Kiruna in Northern Sweden or Saxavord Spaceport in Shetland. Andøya Spaceport is licensed for up to 30 launches a year, and the opening is said to mark a new era for Norway as an international space nation.

However, that includes increased unwanted interest. According to the Norwegian Intelligence Service's latest report, the threat situation involves digital breaches, economic pressure, military power, and diplomatic pressure, of which Russia and China are the main actors. The Nordland police report an increase in their attention to all areas with strategic targets for intelligence. (10/14)

7 Reasons to Get Excited About CU Boulder in Space (Source: CU Boulder Today)
This year, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) celebrates its 75th anniversary—marking 75 years of CU Boulder’s exploration of space, from the fringes of Earth’s atmosphere to the wide expanse of interstellar space. The university is just getting started. In the year ahead, scientists and engineers from across campus will take part in the first U.S. landing on the moon’s south pole, launch several pint-sized satellites into orbit around Earth, and begin a journey to Jupiter’s dark and frigid moon Europa. Click here. (10/13)

Ligado Sues U.S. Seeking $39 Billion in Spectrum Fight (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Long-struggling satellite company Ligado Networks sued the U.S. over spectrum rights it has been unable to use, alleging that the Defense Department and Commerce Department blocked its business plans through a “highly orchestrated public disinformation campaign.” (10/12)

In the Search for Alien Life, Should We Be Looking for Artificial Intelligence? (Source: Space.com)
Is biological life common in the universe, or should we be looking for artificial, robotic intelligence in the search for alien life? An increasing number of scientists suspect that if we ever do make contact with alien life, we will be communicating with a computer. This thinking revolves around an event called the singularity. This term, borrowed from mathematics, signifies a point where our knowledge of math and physics breaks down and we can no longer accurately characterize what we're trying to describe. A black hole singularity is a good example of this.

Computer scientists have been speculating that the singularity could come soon; most predictions seem to agree on the period between 2030 and 2045. What happens beyond the singularity is anyone's guess. Alien species would have had plenty of time to pass through the technological singularity, which is why so many researchers studying the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) are convinced that technological aliens will be artificial intelligences. (10/13)

Composite Molding Compound Replaces Invar for Lightweight Small Satellite Structures (Source: Composites World)
“Instead of building one satellite each month, the commercial space industry is now building hundreds per month,” says Nick Patz, president of Patz Materials & Technologies. "You can’t spend two weeks making a single part when you’ve got hundreds of parts to make each month. And even though the size of these satellites is much smaller, they still require the same properties: high modulus, high strength, low density and low coefficient of thermal expansion [CTE].” In response, Patz Materials has developed a specifically tailored carbon fiber/epoxy molding compound. (10/12)

SpaceX Applies for Launch of Nearly 30K New Starlink Satellites (Source: Drive Tesla Canada)
SpaceX has applied to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for the launch of almost 30,000 new Starlink satellites. The new satellites will operate at an altitude of 350–614 km in 288 orbital planes. SpaceX has formally asked ITU to launch an additional 29,988 new satellites into orbit for its Starlink. The company is reported to be using the Pacific island nation of Tonga as a source of regulation and is using TongSat, which is seeking to profit from the satellite industry. (10/12)

With Florida Launch, NASA Begins Six Year Journey to Psyche Asteroid (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
After an initial boost from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, NASA’s Psyche mission has begun a six-year journey to metal-rich asteroid “16 Psyche,” a body that may be the exposed core of a protoplanet. Liftoff occurred Oct. 13 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. It was SpaceX’s fourth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023 and the eighth overall for the rocket design.

The Psyche spacecraft was deployed from the upper stage of the rocket just over an hour after liftoff to begin a journey of 2.2 billion miles to asteroid Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The current mission trajectory has the Psyche spacecraft flying once around the solar system before intersecting with Mars in May 2026 for a gravity assist that will place it on a trajectory to intersect with 16 Psyche in August 2029. From there, its primary science mission is expected to last about 21 months. (10/13)

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Shuts Down South Gate Viewing Area Indefinitely (Source: SLD45)
Space Launch Delta 45 has announced the permanent closure of the South Gate launch viewing area at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as of Nov 1, 2023, citing concerns over public safety. The decision comes after multiple serious vehicle crashes in the vicinity and a dramatic increase in mission cadence, prompting leadership to take action to prevent any future incidents. (10/12)