October 27, 2023

OneWeb Ais for India Service Next Month (Source: PTI)
OneWeb will soon be ready to offer services in India. Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, the largest shareholder in Eutelsat, said the OneWeb constellation will be ready to start providing services in India next month, but didn't elaborate on those rollout plans. Bharti helped take OneWeb out of bankruptcy in 2020, with the venture being acquired by Eutelsat in a deal that recently closed. (10/27)

Hypersonic Missile Launch Scrubbed Again at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
A hypersonic missile launch from Cape Canaveral was once again postponed Thursday. Airspace restrictions were in place Thursday for an unannounced launch from the Cape, but no launch occurred. The Pentagon later said that a flight test was planned but did not take place, although it did collect ground data "that will inform the continued progress towards fielding offensive hypersonic weapons." Similar airspace restrictions were published for missile tests in March and September that also did not happen. (10/27)

Putin Says First Segment of ISS Replacement to Orbit by 2027 (Source: Space Daily)
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the first segment of the new space station that Moscow plans to construct to replace the ISS should be in orbit by 2027, despite recent setbacks. Russia previously announced its intention to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), where its cosmonauts are permanently stationed and the country plays a key role. The creation of a new Russian orbital space station has instead been announced as the main priority for the space agency Roscosmos. (10/27)

Next Generation Moon Camera Tested in Europe (Source: Space Daily)
When astronauts return to the Moon, they will take more pictures of the lunar surface than any humans before. To develop the best camera for the job, European astronauts and scientists are lending a helping hand to NASA's Artemis imagery team. The engineers behind the Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) worked with ESA in the lunar-like landscapes of Lanzarote, Spain, to put the new camera through its paces during the PANGAEA training program. (10/27)

BlackSky Grabs Back-to-Back Contracts for Legacy Ministry of Defense Customer (Source: Space Daily)
BlackSky Technology won two back-to-back contracts from a legacy international defense ministry customer to continue on-demand, real-time high-frequency imagery and analytics services and conduct research on future multi-sensor space capabilities. BlackSky delivers thousands of high-resolution images and analytics every month to organizations worldwide, delivering transparency and insights into border crossings, nuclear and port facilities, and other economically critical infrastructure at scale. (10/27)

Terran Orbital Reduces Revenue Projections (Source: Space News)
Terran Orbital plans to reduce its revenue projections for the year because of payment delays from a major customer. CEO Marc Bell said Terran Orbital's upcoming full-year revenue projection would be lower than an earlier $250 million forecast, but still represent a "material increase" over the $94 million made in 2022. That revision is linked to payment delays from Rivada Space, which awarded Terran Orbital a $2.4 billion contract to build 300 satellites for a broadband constellation. (10/27)

AFRL and Space Force Contract with Indian Space Startups (Source: Space News)
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Space Force have signed agreements with two Indian startups. The Cooperative Research and Development Agreements, or CRADAs, are with artificial intelligence startup 114AI, which builds dual-use software for space domain awareness, and 3rd Itech, an imaging sensor supplier and developer of computer chips. The companies will work with AFRL and the Space Force on Earth observation and space domain awareness technologies. The CRADAs, the first with non-U.S. companies, are part of a Biden administration initiative to promote joint technology development with India. (10/27)

New Agreement Enables U.S. Launches From Australian Spaceports (Source: Space News)
The United States and Australia have signed an agreement that paves the way for U.S. vehicles to launch from Australian spaceports. The two governments signed Thursday a technology safeguards agreement (TSA) to protect sensitive technology exports on U.S. rockets to Australia. The TSA allows U.S. companies to enter into agreements to launch their rockets from Australian spaceports. The agreement was hailed by Australian spaceport developers, although demand for those facilities remains uncertain. (10/27)

UK and ESA Support German Company's Launch From Scottish Spaceport (Source: Space News)
The British government will help fund the first launch of a German rocket from a Scottish spaceport. The U.K. Space Agency is providing $4.3 million to help Germany's Rocket Factory Augsburg prepare for its inaugural flight next year from SaxaVord Spaceport, located in Scotland's Shetland Islands. The funding, made through an ESA program, will go towards infrastructure and test equipment needed to support the launch of the RFA ONE rocket. That launch is now projected to take place in the second quarter of 2024. (10/27)

Laser Comm Terminals Pass Tests for SDA (Source: Space News)
Laser communications terminals developed by Tesat-Spacecom have passed ground tests for use on Space Development Agency (SDA) satellites. The company said Thursday that its SCOTT80 optical terminal passed tests to confirm its interoperability with other terminals. Tesat's terminals will be integrated with Lockheed Martin's satellites that will be part of SDA's Transport Layer Tranche 1 satellites scheduled to launch in late 2024. Kepler Communications also plans to use that terminal for its commercial constellation. (10/27)

A Chunk of the Moon Appears to be Orbiting Near Earth (Source: Live Science)
Astronomers have found more evidence that a near-Earth asteroid is an ejected chunk of the moon. The asteroid Kamo'oalewa — a Hawaiian name that means "the oscillating fragment" — is a Ferris-wheel-size rock chunk that orbits within 9 million miles (14.4 million kilometers) of Earth every April. Since the object's discovery in 2016, scientists have puzzled over the strange rock's origins, and they were surprised when a 2021 analysis revealed that Kamo'oalewa's composition is similar to the moon's. (10/26)

Hot Summer for Europe's Reusable Rocket Engine (Source: ESA)
An ongoing project to develop a low-cost, reusable engine for European rockets made considerable progress over the summer and autumn, with a series of tests that achieved full ignition and, ultimately, a 30-second burn with re-ignition of an early prototype of the Prometheus engine. Work at ArianeGroup’s test facility in Vernon, France achieved first ignition in June 2023, followed by the 30-second firing and re-ignition on 20 October.

Testing so far has been done on a single prototype engine, but the test effort should accelerate with imminent delivery of two further examples. ArianeGroup, which is developing Prometheus under contract from ESA, will expand testing early next year with installation of one of these prototypes on a test bed modified for liquid methane fuel at German aerospace agency DLR’s test site in Lampoldshausen, Germany. (10/26)

Boosters, Core Stage, and Capsule: Artemis 2 Hardware Takes Shape (Source: America Space)
The SLS/Orion stack consists of four primary elements. The Core Stage, the largest single rocket stage ever built, is flanked by twin Solid Rocket Boosters. These components have extensive heritage from the Space Shuttle program, and they will provide the thrust required to lift Orion into orbit. Once the Core Stage separates, a fully-fueled Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will provide a final propulsive boost to loft Orion into an elliptical high Earth orbit.

Orion itself is perched on top of these elements. The ICPS was completed last year. Over the past month, NASA has made significant progress on the final assembly of the remaining three components of the rocket. They are essentially complete and ready for a fast-paced stacking operation and launch campaign which will take place next year. (10/27)

Zeno Demonstrates innovative Radioisotope Heat Source (Source: GeekWire)
Zeno Power says it has successfully completed its first demonstration of a new type of radioisotope heat source that could be used to generate off-grid power in settings ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of the moon.

The demonstration — performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. — took advantage of the energy provided by the radioactive decay of strontium-90. Zeno said its tests confirmed that the company’s technology can increase the specific power of its heat source compared with previously available strontium-90 heat sources. (10/26)

Six Trends to Watch in Commercial Earth Observation (Source: ESA)
With a multitude of opportunities for start-ups, established companies and investors, commercial Earth observation is a vibrant sector with fast-moving innovations in technology, datasets and downstream applications. ESA is a key driving force for the development of European Earth observation and provides impetus through its many programs and initiatives. Here is some need-to-know background information on the evolution and state of play of the Earth observation industry. (10/26)

Mysterious Dimming of Betelgeuse May Finally Be Explained (Source: Space.com)
Although the star as a whole appeared to darken, Betelgeuse’s photosphere seemed to actually brighten during the event. The Université Côte d’Azur astronomers say this observation is consistent with a likely theory, supported by observations, that Betelgeuse dimmed from our view due to a burst of dust, in the form of silicon monoxide, coming from the star. In turn, that burst might be related to a sudden cooling of the star's surface. "The changes in the structure of the photosphere and the silicon monoxide are consistent with both the formation of a cold spot on the star’s surface and the ejection of a cloud of dust." (10/24)

Venus Had Earth-Like Plate Tectonics Billions of Years Ago, Study Suggests (Source: Phys.org)
Venus, a scorching wasteland of a planet according to scientists, may have once had tectonic plate movements similar to those believed to have occurred on early Earth, a new study found. The finding sets up tantalizing scenarios regarding the possibility of early life on Venus, its evolutionary past and the history of the solar system. (10/26)

New Space Milestone Glasses (Source: CollectSpace)
Chop Shop, a Pennsylvania-based design studio with a focus on space, science and pop culture, has launched its latest crowdfunding campaign for a trio of new tumblers celebrating the "Milestones in Space." The project, which is now live on Kickstarter, began on Monday (Oct. 23) and runs through Nov. 20. (10/26)

Howard University Professor Is Fighting For The School To Offer A Full Program On Space Law (Source: Essence)
AJ Link, a professor at Howard University, wants emerging Black leaders to be at the forefront of a new legal frontier. Link recently penned a letter highlighting the potential of introducing a space law program at the HBCU, in which students learn about the black letter law of international space treaties and US space policy. (10/25)

How to Build a Spaceport (Source: The Next Web)
Around 250 kilometers off the north coast of Scotland, the Shetland isle of Unst is undergoing a dramatic renovation. On a peninsula flanked by giant cliffs and open ocean, builders are constructing a spaceport. They call the project SaxaVord. They say it could host the first-ever vertical rocket launches from Western Europe. It’s a bold objective that welcomes auspicious signs. One was discovered just this summer; another was already known when the team laid their founding stone. Click here. (10/25)