October 19, 2023

SpaceX Battles Regulatory Process That Could Hold Up Starship Test Flight for Months (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Ahead of the hearing before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told Spaceflight Now its regulatory approval process for the second Starship test flight could potentially last until the spring of 2024. In a statement on Tuesday, a FWS spokesperson said their agency received a final biological assessment from the FAA Oct. 5 and FWS has up to 30 days to review it. This came after the FAA sent FWS a letter in August, which requested “reinitiation of Endangered Species Act consultation.”

“Under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, reinitiation of formal consultation is required when a project and its impacts change significantly, the amount of take issued previously is exceeded, we have new information on listed species not previously considered, or a new species is listed,” the spokesperson said. “Reinitiation involving major changes in effects analysis or changes in the [FWS’] biological opinion are addressed fully in a new consultation. For SpaceX reinitiation with FAA, we are considering the operation of a water deluge system.”

That new deluge system was part of a list of 63 corrective actions created as part of the SpaceX-led mishap investigation following the failed launch of the first integrated flight test on April 20, 2023. (10/18)

Industry Leaders Seek Reform of FAA Launch Licensing (Source: Space News)
Space industry officials called for regulatory reforms for the FAA's launch licensing process at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Witnesses that included executives from Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic said that the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) was struggling to keep with the pace of the industry and that efforts to streamline regulations were having the opposite effect. Among their requests was an increase in AST's budget to give the office more resources, as well as an extension of the "learning period" that limits the FAA's ability to regulate commercial spaceflight participant safety. (10/19)

Space Reserve Force Plan Advances (Source: Space News)
A plan to establish a commercial space reserve to ensure the U.S. military has access to commercial satellites during conflicts is moving closer to completion. Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman said Wednesday that plan has been approved by Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and would hopefully be rolled out this fall. Under a program known as Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR), the Space Force will establish agreements with companies to ensure services like satellite communications and remote sensing are prioritized for U.S. government use during national security emergencies. Saltzman said CASR is an example of prudent planning so the military rapidly access commercial services if a crisis erupts. (10/19)

Satellite Component Demand Rises with Constellation Growth (Source: Space News)
Investors are turning their attention to companies that develop subsystems and other components of space systems. At a conference this week, investors said projections of tens of thousands of satellites to be launched over the next several years will drive demand for components from propulsion systems to batteries. Companies that provide those systems will help drive deal activity into 2024. (10/19)

Machina Labs Supports Process Improvement for Space-Related Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
Machina Labs is expanding its role in the space sector by working with satellite and hypersonic vehicle manufacturers. The Los Angeles startup has been working with NASA, the U.S. Air Force and SpaceX since its 2019 founding on using AI to assist space-related manufacturing processes. Machina Labs is now working with satellite manufacturers to help them rapidly iterate designs, including for components that are difficult to manufacture using traditional techniques. (10/19)

Danti Wins Space Force Contract for Satellite Imagery Search Engine (Source: Space News)
A startup has won a Space Force contract to improve a geospatial data search engine. Danti won the $1.2 million SBIR Phase 2 contract this week to advance its development of a search engine that uses natural language to search vast amounts of satellite imagery and other data that government analysts cannot easily find. The company previously won a $75,000 prize challenge from the National Security Innovation Network, sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, for tools to help non-expert users turn such information into actionable intelligence. (10/19)

Cognitive Space Wins SDA Contracts for Satcom Network Resiliency (Source: Space News)
Cognitive Space, a satellite automation startup, has won Space Development Agency (SDA) contracts worth more than $3 million. Under one contract worth $1.25 million, Cognitive Space will delve into topology and link management for dynamic satellite networks. A second contract valued at $1.97 million will explore routing for communications resiliency in space-based mesh networks. The Houston-based startup recent raised $4 million in a "seed+" round to advance AI-powered software systems to support operations of satellite constellations. (10/19)

Virgin Galactic Plans November Research Flight at Spaceport America (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic will fly two researchers on its next suborbital spaceflight. The company said Wednesday it has scheduled its Galactic 05 mission for no earlier than Nov. 2. On board will be two researchers, Alan Stern and Kellie Gerardi, who will conduct several experiments intended to gain experience on how to do research on commercial suborbital vehicles. For Stern, the flight will serve as training for a later Virgin Galactic flight where he will perform NASA-funded research. An unidentified Franco-Italian private astronaut will also be on the flight. (10/19)

Axiom Streamlines Astronaut Training (Source: Space News)
Axiom Space said it has streamlined the training for its next private astronaut mission. The four-person Ax-3 mission is set to launch in January on a SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station, spending up to two weeks there. At a briefing this week, Axiom said it has refined its training both on ISS and Crew Dragon systems based on experience from the company's first two missions and is "asymptotically" approaching the ideal training flow. The flight will carry private astronauts from Italy, Sweden and Turkey, commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría. (10/19)

Atomos Wins AFWERX Contract for Testing Satellite Servicing Ops (Source: Space News)
Atomos Space has won a $1.6 million contract to support testing of satellite servicing operations. The contract from AFWERX will allow Atomos to establish a ground-based testing facility for multi-party rendezvous and proximity operations. Atomos is working with Axiom Space on the project to support Axiom's future commercial space station. Atomos is also developing an orbital transfer vehicle whose first flight is slated for 2024. (10/19)

China Readies Next Crewed Mission (Source: Xinhua)
China is gearing up for its next crewed mission. A Long March 2F rocket and Shenzhou-17 spacecraft rolled out to the launch pad Thursday to continue preparations for launching a new crew to China's Tiangong space station. Officials did not state when the launch will take place but is expected to be next week. (10/19)

Inflection Point for Blue Origin (Source: Quartz)
Blue Origin is at an interesting inflection point. Next year could see it finally flying rockets on a regular basis, competing directly with SpaceX. When Bezos stepped down as CEO of Amazon in 2021, many wondered if that would lead to him to spend more time and energy at his space company. Perhaps the installation of Limp, who worked with him closely at Amazon for many years, is a sign that Bezos is taking a tighter grip on the reins.

On the other hand, Blue Ring could be seen as the most practical product the company has yet offered, without the big-time Bezos vision behind the company’s other products: A fully-reusable rocket, a Moon lander, and a space station are all novel efforts for a space company, but a big satellite that can fly around the solar system is in some sense more straightforward, and perhaps driven by the profit motive—something that has been in short supply at Blue but might offer some much-needed discipline. (10/19)

Star Trackers Emerge as New Tool for High-Precision Space Debris Detection (Source: Space Daily)
Neuraspace, a trailblazer in space traffic management (STM), has entered into a collaborative effort with Arcsec, a well-known supplier of star trackers. The alliance aims to employ Arcsec's star trackers in the detection and analysis of space debris, a move expected to bring a sea change in how space debris is managed. The collaboration will facilitate Neuraspace in furnishing its clients with granular data about imminent collision threats in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). (10/19)

Chinese Satellite Cluster Utilizes InSAR Technology for Advanced Terrain Mapping (Source: Space Daily)
China's PIESAT-1, a unique constellation of remote-sensing satellites arranged in a wheel-like formation, has successfully acquired high-precision topographic data using multi-baseline interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology. This achievement marks China's first in-orbit application of this advanced mapping system, according to an announcement made by the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), a subsidiary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Earlier in March, China took a significant step in space technology by launching PIESAT-1, also known as Hongtu-1. The constellation stands out for being the first of its kind globally, featuring a central "axle" satellite orbited by three auxiliary satellites. These auxiliary units are positioned just a few hundred meters away from the primary satellite, evenly spaced around it. (10/19)

Rocket Lab Moves Into System Integration Phase for NASA's Mars Mission (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has entered a crucial phase in its collaboration with NASA on the ESCAPADE mission, a project aiming to study Mars' hybrid magnetosphere. The company announced that the twin spacecraft for the mission have moved into the system integration phase, aligning with a launch scheduled for 2024.

Spearheaded by Dr. Rob Lillis at the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, the ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission will deploy two spacecraft to orbit Mars. The objective is to investigate a range of factors affecting the Martian magnetosphere, including its structure, composition, variability, and dynamics. Among other goals, the mission aims to deepen our understanding of how the solar wind depletes Mars' atmosphere, thereby shedding light on its climatic history. (10/19)

TRIDENT Drill Integrated Into VIPER Lunar Rover (Source: Space Daily)
Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, together with the team from Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, are gearing up to incorporate the latest addition to NASA's first robotic Moon rover, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover). The newly arrived instrument is the TRIDENT drill, an acronym for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain.

TRIDENT is the last of four science instruments to be delivered to the clean room where VIPER is under construction. The other three instruments-MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations), NSS (Neutron Spectrometer System), and NIRVSS (Near-Infrared Volatiles Spectrometer System)-have already been successfully integrated into the rover. (10/19)

Searching for Concentrated Biosignatures in an Ancient, Martian Mud Lake (Source: Space Daily)
A landmark discovery by a collaborative team led by the Planetary Science Institute's Alexis Rodriguez has unveiled evidence of sedimentary plains created by aquifer drainage within Martian collapse formations termed chaotic terrains. "Our research focuses on a sedimentary unit within Hydraotes Chaos, which we interpret to be the remnants of a mud lake formed by discharges from gas-charged mudstone stratigraphy dating back to nearly 4 billion years ago, a time when the surface of Mars was likely habitable." (10/19)

Space Force Pursues Clearer Rules on Outsourcing (Source: Defense One)
The US Space Force is creating an updated set of guidelines for how the service will work with the commercial space sector. "What are the inherently governmental functions that have to be performed by either the military or Space Force, versus what services could I outsource and let industry do for us and I just pay as I go? We didn't have really good solid answers for that," said Gen. Chance Saltzman. (10/18)

Momentus to Conduct In-Space Delivery for Polish Nanosatellite Maker SatRev (Source: Space Daily)
Momentus Inc. has entered into a contractual agreement with SatRev, a Polish nanosatellite manufacturer, for orbital transportation and delivery services slated for the first quarter of 2024. The arrangement involves the SOWA-1 payload, developed by SatRev, as the primary consignment to be ferried by Momentus. (10/18)

NASA Makes it Easier to Find Assistive Technologies for Licensing (Source: Space Daily)
NASA develops a variety of technologies to explore space and beyond for the benefit of humanity. One measure of its success is the impact on the daily lives of millions of people with injuries and disabilities who are assisted with innovative treatments and products developed from NASA-derived technology.

Now, NASA is making it easier than ever to find and access patented inventions born from space exploration that could help design or manufacture assistive technologies. To help spur the next generation of assistive technologies, NASA has compiled patented technologies with potential applications to this industry in one place. Companies are invited to browse the list for innovations that can help improve an existing product or launch the creation of something new. (10/18)

DLR and NASA Collaborate to Advance Aircraft Aerodynamics Research (Source: Space Daily)
A collaboration between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and NASA is set to redefine our understanding of commercial aircraft aerodynamics. Through advanced wind-tunnel tests, the joint effort aims to improve the predictability of aerodynamic features for future aircraft, focusing on making them quieter, more efficient, and less damaging to the environment. (10/18)

Experts Advocate for Greater International Cooperation at China Space Science Assembly (Source: Space Daily)
The 3rd China Space Science Assembly, taking place in Huzhou city in East China's Zhejiang province, has become a forum for scientists to discuss the evolving landscape and emerging trends in space science. A dominant theme at the gathering has been the increasing call for international collaboration in space research and exploration.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, the former director-general of the European Space Agency (ESA), emphasized that "we have no alternative to cooperation, because we are living on one planet, meaning that we have only one common future." Dordain highlighted that in an increasingly intricate world, cooperation is more crucial than ever. He noted that collaboration is steadily becoming more achievable, grounded in mutual interest, mutual understanding, and trust. (10/18)

New SwRI Chamber Simulates Harsh Acoustic Environment of Rocket Launches (Source: Space Daily)
The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has expanded its aerospace testing capabilities with a cutting-edge acoustic test chamber designed to mimic the grueling acoustic conditions experienced during a rocket launch. This chamber is the latest enhancement to SwRI's sprawling 74,000-square-foot Space System Spacecraft and Payload Processing Facility. SwRI's new chamber serves as a critical asset for testing whether space systems, particularly small satellites, can withstand the thunderous cacophony accompanying a rocket's ascent. (10/18)

SpaceX Says It's 'Hard to Say' When Starship Will Be Moon-Ready (Source: Bloomberg)
A SpaceX executive said it’s “hard to say” when the company’s new Starship vehicle will be ready as a lunar lander for NASA, claiming regulation is holding up additional test flights. William Gerstenmaier, vice president for build and flight reliability at Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., testified during a US Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that the next Starship vehicle has been ready to fly on a test mission for more than a month now, but is still awaiting the necessary government approvals. (10/18)

The Universe May Be Teeming With Jupiter-Like Gas Giants (Source: Inverse)
Gas giants like Jupiter may be more common than we thought, at least in some parts of the galaxy. For a long time, we assumed that our Solar System was the very model of what a star system should look like: a few rocky little planets orbiting moderately close to the Sun, with giants of gas and ice farther out. But we were wrong. Many of the star systems we know of have “hot Jupiters,” gas giants orbiting perilously close to their stars, even closer than Mercury orbits the Sun.

It’s rare to find a gas giant like Jupiter in the outer reaches of a star system. A recent study suggests that that planets like Jupiter may be more common than we thought; they just need quiet neighborhoods to grow up in. That could have interesting implications for the history of our own Solar System. (10/17)

Russia Threatens To Shoot Down Western Satellites (Source: Newsweek)
Russia could shoot down Western commercial satellites should they be used to assist Ukraine in the war, a Russian Foreign Ministry official was reported as saying on Monday. Quasi-civilian Western satellites could be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike, Vladimir Ermakov, head of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, said, according to state news agency Tass.

Ermakov didn't state which companies have assisted Ukraine in the war via satellite technology. In the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Elon Musk's SpaceX deployed its Starlink satellites to help provide Kyiv with internet service. American satellite operators including Maxar Technologies Inc. and Planet Labs PBC are also contracted to provide services to various U.S. national-security agencies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Musk has said that SpaceX's Starlink satellite-internet system provides Ukraine with a "major battlefield advantage." (10/16)

How NASA's Europa Clipper Will Survive its Trip to Jupiter's Hostile Moon (Source: Phys.org)
If life exists elsewhere in the solar system, it may well reside in the ocean of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The mysterious world appears to have the necessary ingredients for life as we know it. Beneath its frozen exterior is a single body of water that's so deep it may hold more liquid than all of the oceans on Earth.

Europa is believed to have enough carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and other key elements to form the building blocks of living organisms. And scientists suspect the heat generated as the moon is stretched and squeezed by Jupiter's gravity would provide enough energy to sustain any creatures that might be there. That's why NASA is building Europa Clipper. (10/18)

Rocket Lab Opens Engine Facility (Source: LA Business Journal)
Rocket Lab USA Inc. has opened its new engine-development center in Long Beach. The launch provider, also based in Long Beach, will use the 144,000-square-foot space to support the high-rate production of its 3D-printed Rutherford engine, as well as development and production for its new Archimedes engine. (10/16)

University of Oxford Partners with Breakthrough Prize Foundation in Search for Life Beyond Earth (Source: U. of Oxford)
The University of Oxford and the Breakthrough Prize Foundation today announced a new scientific partnership aimed at finding evidence of signatures of technology beyond our planet. Oxford will be the international headquarters for the Breakthrough Listen initiative, the largest ever astronomical program searching for ‘technosignatures’ - evidence of past or present technology that would signal the presence of life beyond planet Earth. (10/18)