October 24, 2023

Lockheed Martin Picks Terran Orbital to Build SDA Satellite Buses (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has selected Terran Orbital to provide 36 satellites buses for a Space Development Agency (SDA) program. The companies announced Tuesday that Terran Orbital will supply the buses for the Transport Layer Tranche 2 Beta satellites under a contract Lockheed won in August. The overall SDA contract is worth $816 million, but the value of the Terran Orbital order was not disclosed. Lockheed Martin Owns 33.5% of Terran Orbital. (10/24)

SwRI to Build NOAA Smallsat (Source: Space News)
The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has won a contract to build a small weather satellite for NOAA. The $55 million contract, announced Monday, is for the QuickSounder satellite, which will fly a refurbished engineering unit of the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder instrument. QuickSounder is the first element of NOAA's Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON), a new generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2026. (10/24)

Space Force Plans $1.3 Billion Modernization at Florida and California Spaceports (Source: Space News)
The Space Force is prioritizing upgrades to spaceports. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for assured access to space and director of launch and range operations of Space Systems Command, said the service has $1.3 billion in projected funding to modernize spaceports in Florida and California. Topping the list of needed spaceport upgrades is increased capacity for processing satellites and preparing them for launch. The $1.3 billion projected through 2028 will not be enough to carry out all needed upgrades, she said. (10/24)

Japan's Lunar Lander Investment Won't Cover Full ispace Cost for Mission (Source: Space News)
Japanese lunar lander developer ispace said a recent award from the Japanese government will not completely fund a new lander. The company announced Friday that it won the $80 million innovation grant from the government that will go toward a larger lunar lander called Series 3. The grant will not cover the full cost of developing Series 3, although company executives declined in a press conference Monday to estimate the cost of the new lander. The company also disclosed few details about the design of Series 3, but said it will have some differences from the APEX 1.0 lander being created by its U.S. subsidiary, primarily for NASA and other American customers. (10/24)

Lunar Comms Plans Gets Attention at ASCEND Conference (Source: Space News)
An upcoming telecommunications conference may set the stage for future regulations of lunar communications. At the AIAA ASCEND conference Monday, an ITU official said the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) set to begin Nov. 20 will consider adding regulatory issues about lunar communications to the agenda for the next WRC in 2027. That could include spectrum allocations for lunar communications as well as enforcement of a radio-quiet zone on the lunar farside to avoid interference with future radio astronomy observatories there. (10/24)

China Launches Reconnaissance Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched another reconnaissance mission Monday. A Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 4:03 p.m. Eastern and placed a Yaogan-39 payload into orbit. The Yaogan-39 series has consisted of triplets of satellites carrying out unspecified military reconnaissance missions. (10/24)

Belarus Joins China's Lunar Program (Source: Space News)
Belarus is the latest country to join China's International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program. Officials with the two countries signed a joint declaration on cooperation on ILRS Monday via videoconference. They said they will cooperate in engineering, training and other parts of the project. The joint declaration comes days after Pakistan officially signed up to ILRS. Seven countries, including China and Russia, are now part of the ILRS. (10/24)

Agreement Could Lead to US Companies Launching From Australia (Source: Breaking Defense)
The United States and Australia may soon finalize an agreement to allow U.S. companies to launch from Australia. The technology safeguards agreement (TSA) between the two countries could be concluded in time for a state visit by Australia's prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to the United States later this week. The countries started negotiations on the TSA in 2021 and reached an agreement in principle on it in May. The TSA would address the export control approvals U.S. companies would need to launch from Australian spaceports. (10/24)

OSIRIS-REx Gathered 70.3 Grams From Bennu (Source: Space.com)
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission has officially surpassed its requirement for the amount of asteroid samples it has returned. NASA said that scientists have measured 70.3 grams of material from the asteroid Bennu that the spacecraft returned last month, above the requirement of 60 grams. Scientists are still processing the sample canister and have yet to open the sample head that may contain the bulk of the asteroid sample. That work has been slowed by difficulty opening the canister, with two of 35 fasteners unable to be removed by available tools. NASA is working on alternative ways to open the canister while keeping its contents pristine. (10/24)

Moon is Older Than Thought (Source: Washington Post)
The moon is slightly older than scientists previously thought. Research into samples returned by the Apollo 17 mission and published on Monday found a crystal 4.46 billion years old that formed as the moon's magma ocean crystallized. That is 40 million years older than crystals found previously. The finding suggests a more complex model for the formation of the moon as other rocks returned by the Apollo missions were consistently dated at 4.3 billion years old. (10/24)

Mysterious Magnetism in Apollo Moon Rocks is Natural in Origin (Source: Space.com)
Back in the 1980s, geophysicists analyzing moon rocks brought to Earth during Apollo missions were surprised to find very strong magnetic fields etched onto those samples. The moon is not large enough to power such a field, let alone do so for more than 1.5 billion years. How then, did these lunar samples get magnetized?

The conundrum had previously led a few researchers to suspect other sources of magnetism, including the possibility that the Apollo spacecraft ferrying the samples back home may be responsible. But now, a new study demonstrates that the magnetization preserved in lunar rocks is, in fact, natural in origin — and that spaceflight does not have a significant impact on the force. These findings disprove one of two big oppositions to the theory that the moon powered its own dynamo. (10/12)

Scientists bury time capsule to celebrate upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (Source: Space.com)
A commemorative time capsule was buried at the construction site of what will soon be the world's  largest visible and infrared light telescope. On Oct. 13, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) celebrated its upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ETL) by burying a time capsule that was sealed in 2017, when construction first began. The capsule is filled with tokens celebrating ESO staff and the cooperation between the observatory and Chile. It also celebrates the amazing science and technology behind the 39.3-meter telescope. (10/22)

Two Neptune-Sized Exoplanets Discovered with TESS (Source: Phys.org)
An international team of astronomers reports the detection of two new exoplanets orbiting a bright star known as TOI-5126, using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The newfound alien worlds are similar in size to the solar system's outermost planet. The finding was published October 13 on the pre-print server arXiv.

To date, TESS has identified nearly 6,900 candidate exoplanets (TESS Objects of Interest, or TOI), of which 395 have been confirmed so far. Since its launch in April 2018, the spacecraft is conducting a survey of about 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun with the aim of searching for transiting exoplanets. (10/23)

Grottaglie: the Italian Spaceport (Sources: ITA, Airline Geeks)
Italy is set to make history with its first spaceport. Grottaglie will be the first spaceport in Italy, as well as the first in Western Europe. Plans began in 2022 for the Grottaglie airport in Apulia (Southern Italy) to host space launches. Grottaglie has already a strategic role within the aerospace world as part of the international program for the on-site production of the Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” fuselages. (10/23)

Axiom Space Hab One Pressure Vessel Nears Completion in Italy (Source: Aviation Week)
Axiom Space is nearing completion of its Hab One pressure vessel. The structure forms the basis of the first of two inhabitable modules that are to be connected to the International Space Station (ISS). The structure is being built in Turin, Italy, by Thales Alenia Space. Hab One hatches have also been fabricated, tested and prepared for delivery to Thales Alenia Space to support Hab One pressure testing, the company says.

The first module is to be shipped to Houston by 2024 for final assembly and integration at Axiom Space’s factory at Ellington Airport. The company plans to launch the Hab One module in 2026. In 2020, NASA granted a fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity award to Axiom Space, worth up to $140 million, to develop at least one commercial module to be attached to the ISS. (10/24)

Ceres Could Have What it Takes to Sustain Life (Source: BGR.com)
Ceres is located within the asteroid belt that sits between Jupiter and Mars, and while the dwarf planet plays a vital part in various science fiction stories, such as The Expanse, the dwarf planet has also been a target for scientific study because it has an insane amount of organic material on the planet. The existence of these compounds was first identified in 2017, thanks to the Dawn spacecraft. However, recent research suggests that organic compounds on Ceres might be more widespread than expected, suggesting that Ceres could sustain signs of extraterrestrial life. (10/22)

Virgin Galactic Teams Up With NASA for Edge-Of-Space Mission (Source: Gizmodo)
A crew of researchers is preparing to conduct experiments approximately 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface while on board Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane. Last week, Richard Branson’s space tourism company announced that its upcoming mission, Galactic 05, is scheduled for a launch window that opens on November 2. The mission will fly planetary scientist Alan Stern and science communicator and bioastronautics researcher Kellie Gerardi, plus a mystery third passenger who’s been identified as a private astronaut of Franco-Italian nationality. (10/23)

Tape Removal! Progress Continues Toward NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to Station (Source: NASA)
NASA and Boeing are working to complete the agency’s verification and validation activities ahead of Starliner’s first flight with astronauts to the ISS. While Boeing is targeting March to have the spacecraft ready for flight, teams decided during a launch manifest evaluation that a launch in April will better accommodate upcoming crew rotations and cargo resupply missions. Ahead of CFT, Boeing has completed P213 tape removal in the upper dome of the Starliner crew compartment and work is underway to remove or remediate the tape in the lower dome of the spacecraft.

These hardware remediation efforts inside the Starliner production facility at KSC are expected to be completed during the next several weeks. After the P213 tape remediation efforts conclude, engineers will conduct final assessments to ensure acceptable risk of any remaining tape. A set of parachutes is on track to be delivered and installed on the CFT spacecraft by the end of this year, ahead of a drop test of Starliner’s updated drogue and main parachutes. The parachutes will incorporate a planned strengthening of main canopy suspension lines. The drop test is planned for early 2024 based on the current parachute delivery schedule.

Boeing and NASA also are planning modifications to the active thermal control system valves following a radiator bypass valve issue discovered during ground operations earlier this year. Additionally, about 98% of the certification products required for the flight test are complete, and NASA and Boeing anticipate closure on remaining CFT certification products early next year. Meanwhile, NASA and Boeing have made significant progress on requirement closures related to manual crew control of the spacecraft and abort system analysis. (10/23)

The Launch Industry Strains Launch Licensing (Source: Space Review)
As commercial launch activity increases, it puts pressure on regulators to keep up while maintaining safety. Jeff Foust reports on those tensions between companies and the US government that came up at a recent congressional hearing. Click here. (10/23)
 
My Suborbital Life: Objectives, Timeline, Training (Source: Space Review)
In the second of his essays about his upcoming suborbital flight, Alan Stern outlines the objectives of the mission and its second-by-second research timeline. Click here. (10/23)
 
My Suborbital Life: Childhood’s End, Perseverance Pays (Source: Space Review)
After decades of dreaming and striving to go to space, Alan Stern will go on a Virgin Galactic suborbital research flight next week. In a first in a series of essays, he describes his lifelong ambitions about spaceflight. Click here. (10/23)
 
ISRO Develops its Agenda for the Future (Source: Space Review)
In the days before the Gaganyaan abort test, India’s prime minister announced ambitious new goals for the country, including landing an Indian astronaut on the Moon by 2040. Ajey Lele examines those goals and their feasibility. Click here. (10/23)
 
ISRO Prepares for Human Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
India’s space agency successfully tested a launch escape system for its Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft program on Saturday. Gurbir Singh discusses the importance of that test in the context of India’s human spaceflight ambitions. Click here. (10/23)