November 1, 2023

SES Says O3b mPower Electrical Issues are Worse Than Thought (Source: Space News)
Electrical issues disclosed a few months ago on the first four O3b mPower satellites in medium Earth orbit will significantly reduce their operational life and broadband capacity, their operator SES announced. SES interim CEO Ruy Pinto said getting the performance originally expected from the next-generation MEO constellation will require Boeing to build two more O3b mPower satellites than initially planned, alongside upgrades on five others already in the works.

Two upcoming O3b mPower satellites set to launch in a few weeks will not have these upgrades to enable SES to start initial services no earlier than April. SES had planned to launch O3b mPower commercially later this year before experiencing a glitch that is sporadically tripping off power modules on the satellites. Pinto said the delay has reduced the revenue and earnings.

Despite Boeing now under contract to supply 13 O3b mPower satellites rather than 11, and the work needed to upgrade five of them, Pinto said SES does not expect to spend more money on the constellation because of a risk-sharing deal with the manufacturer. Boeing recently disclosed $315 million of losses on a satellite contract to meet life cycle commitments for an undisclosed customer. A source close to Boeing confirmed SES is this customer. (10/31)

Space Force Awards 11 Launches to ULA and 10 to SpaceX (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has awarded 21 launches to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. The assignments, 11 to ULA and 10 to SpaceX, are the final part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contracts the two companies won in 2020. The 21 launches include five missions for the NRO, several for the Space Development Agency and the DARPA/NASA DRACO nuclear propulsion demonstration. Of the 48 launches in NSSL Phase 2, ULA received 26 and SpaceX 22. (11/1)

Sweden's Ovzon Gets ITU Extension to Begin Satellite Service (Source: Space News)
Swedish satellite operator Ovzon has won another extension of the deadline to start operating its first satellite. Ovzon said Tuesday that the ITU agreed to extend a Dec. 31 deadline for bringing into service its Ovzon 3 satellite by six months. That satellite is scheduled to launch as soon as December on a Falcon 9, but will take several months to reach its geostationary orbit slot using electric propulsion. Ovzon sought the extension after it switched launch providers from Arianespace to SpaceX. Satellite manufacturing delays prompted an earlier one-year extension from the ITU. (11/1)

Astronauts Perform ISS Maintenance Spacewalk (Source: Space.com)
Two NASA astronauts performed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, to spend up to seven hours performing maintenance on the station, including removing an electronics box that is part of a communications system and replacing a component of a joint that allows the station's solar arrays to track the sun. (11/1)

China Launches Mapping Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a mapping satellite Tuesday. A Long March 6 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 6:50 p.m. Eastern and placed the Tianhui-5 satellite into orbit, state media reported. The spacecraft is the latest in a series of satellites operated by China's military for topographic mapping. (11/1)

Finland's Kuva Space Raises $17.6 Million for Imaging Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
Finnish hyperspectral satellite imagery startup Kuva Space raised 16.6 million euros ($17.6 million). The company announced the Series A funding round Wednesday, led by existing investors, to help the company build out a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites as well as an analytics platform. The funding will also go towards opening a U.S. office as part of its market expansion plans. Kuva Space will launch its first two satellites next year and projects having as many as 100 satellites in orbit by 2030. (11/1)

Lucy Spacecraft Flies By Dinkinesh (Source: New Scientist)
NASA's Lucy spacecraft will fly by its first asteroid today. The spacecraft will pass within 430 kilometers of the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh, a body less than one kilometer across. The flyby, added to the mission plan after its launch two years ago, will primarily serve as a test of spacecraft instruments for future asteroid flybys. Lucy's primary mission is to study several Trojan asteroids that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. (11/1)

Multiverse Media and SpaceNews to Merge (Source: Space News)
Multiverse Media Inc., a Denver-based integrated media company that Educates, Informs and Inspires the space community across multiple professional and enthusiast brands, is proud to announce it is merging with SpaceNews, Inc., the world’s largest space and satellite trade media brand. The combined company, to be known as Multiverse Media, will be controlled by SpaceNews shareholders, and will be led by current SpaceNews CEO Andy Pemberton and Executive Chairman Felix Magowan. Multiverse Media founder Dylan Taylor will be Vice Chairman. (10/31)

Bezos' Moon Lander Design: a Big Downgrade (Source: Futurism)
The Blue Origin lander displayed last week is not going to fly into space and we still don't know what the final product will actually end up looking like. It's merely a mockup, but compared to earlier potential versions of the lander — and especially the first Blue Moon module design that was introduced in 2019 — this white and gold monstrosity leaves much to be desired. It seems like mighty good luck that Blue Origin will have until at least the end of this decade to perfect its Blue Moon lander because, by the looks of the model it showed off to NASA last week, it's definitely not space-ready yet. (10/30)

Poland Signs Agreement to Launch First Satellite Constellation (Source: Notes From Poland)
Poland has signed an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) that will allow the country to launch its first constellation of satellites in 2027. The constellation will consist of at least four satellites – three optoelectronic and one radar – working together as a system. Poland will fund the expected €85 million (378 million zloty) costs while the ESA will help the country with the design, construction, launch and commissioning of the satellites. (10/31)

US Space Force and Saying the Quiet Parts Out Loud (Source: Breaking Defense)
In early September the Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman, changed the mission statement of the Space Force to “Secure our Nation’s Interests In, From, and To Space.” While there has been some debate about the comprehensiveness of the statement, its nine-words reflect the mindset of an operator — not a policy wonk.

The tidy brevity of the statement allows for Guardians to be able to internalize and perpetuate the cultural orientation of a future looking joint warfighter. It also subtly addresses some of the most persistent intangible aspects that justified the establishment of a Space Force in the first place — the unique culture, opportunities, and challenges of the space cadre. But nine words can only contain so much, and there is more to be done for America’s youngest military service to achieve what it needs to achieve. Here are some of the quiet parts that need to be said out loud by Space Force leaders as they move into 2024 and beyond. (10/30)

Astrobotic Lander Arrives at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Astrobotic’s first lunar lander has arrived in Florida for final preparations for launch on Christmas Eve. Astrobotic announced Oct. 31 that the Peregrine lander has arrived at a payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral operated by Astrotech, after shipping last week from Astrobotic’s Pittsburgh headquarters. The lander will undergo preparations for launch on the inaugural Vulcan Centaur flight by United Launch Alliance. (10/31)

Mining Asteroids: A New Method to Extract Metals From Asteroids (Source: Phys.org)
Extraterrestrial mining and metal processing are key strategies for space exploration. In a new study in Scientific Reports, Rodolfo Marin Rivera, and a team of scientists in materials science, conducted catalytic dissolution of metals from meteorite proxies of metal-rich asteroids by using a deep eutectic solvent. These solvents are important for extraterrestrial mining since they can be designed to have relatively low vapor pressures and can comprise organic waste products from extraterrestrial settlements.

The team studied three types of meteorites, two chondrites, and one iron meteorite. The chondrite samples contained silicates with metal-rich phases such as native alloys, sulfides, and oxides, of which, the metallic iron-nickel and troilite formed the most abundant metal-bearing phases in all three samples, with specific hues in the iron-rich meteorite. The scientists subjected the samples to chemical micro-etching experiments with iodine and iron (III) chloride as oxidizing agents in a deep eutectic solvent formed by mixing choline chloride and ethylene glycol. Click here. (10/31)

Spanish Propulsion Startup Raises Seed Round (Source: Space News)
A Spanish company developing green propulsion systems for spacecraft has raised $3 million in seed funding. Arkadia Space announced Oct. 25 it closed what it described as an oversubscribed seed round of funding. The funding will allow Arkadia Space to expand its facilities and workforce in Castellón, Spain, and accelerate development of a hypergolic bipropellant spacecraft thruster. The company is completing work on a small monopropellant thruster, producing five newtons of thrust, with a demonstration flight planned for late next year. (10/30)

Air Force Awards Lockheed $1 Billion for New ICBM Reentry Vehicle (Source: Breaking Defense)
Lockheed Martin has been awarded nearly $1 billion to develop a new reentry vehicle for the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Pentagon announced Monday evening. The $996 million award for the Mk21A reentry vehicle was sole-sourced to Lockheed following a technology maturation and risk reduction contract where the defense giant was the sole participant. (10/31)

FAA Wraps Up Safety Review of SpaceX's Starship (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX's giant Starship rocket just cleared a major hurdle on the road to its second-ever liftoff. The FAA announced today (Oct. 31) that it has wrapped up its Starship safety review, which assesses the risks that a launch might pose to public health and property. However, there's still another regulatory box to check before SpaceX can get a license for the next Starship liftoff.

"The FAA is continuing to work on the environmental review," the agency wrote today in an emailed statement. "As part of its environmental review, the FAA is consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on an updated Biological Assessment under the Endangered Species Act. The FAA and the USFWS must complete this consultation before the environmental review portion of the license evaluation is completed." (10/31)

NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Experimental Aircraft is Finally Gearing Up For Its First Flight (Source: The Debrief)
NASA’s experimental X-59 aircraft, an ultra-fast aircraft designed for low-noise flight over land, is finally undergoing preparations for what will be its first flight in 2024. Designed to travel faster than sound while reducing the intensity of the resulting sonic booms, the X-59 was built by Lockheed-Martin Skunk Works, an engineering think tank with a historically impressive track record of developing advanced aircraft.

A previous test flight of the X-59 had been expected to take place sometime earlier this year. However, continued testing and experimentation at the company’s Palmdale, California facility resulted in the delay. Now, it appears that the project is wrapping up those efforts, with an exact date in 2024 expected to be announced soon. (10/31)

Inaugural ASU Bootcamp Tackles Space Law and Policy (Source: ASU)
Future space lawyers and students, government contractors and federal employees gathered Sept. 6 to discuss space law and policy — including federal regulators, contracting processes and lobbying, among other topics — at Arizona State University’s Barbara Barrett and Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center.

The first-ever Navigating Space Law and Policy Bootcamp was hosted by the Association of Commercial Space Professionals (ACSP), an organization founded by ASU alum Bryce Kennedy, a graduate of Thunderbird School of Global Management’s Executive Master of Global Management: Space Leadership, Business, and Policy inaugural degree program. (9/15)

To Advance Space Colonization, WVU Research Explores 3D Printing in Microgravity (Source: WVU Today)
Research from West Virginia University students and faculty into how 3D printing works in a weightless environment aims to support long-term exploration and habitation on spaceships, the moon or Mars. The team’s recent experiments focused on how a weightless microgravity environment affects 3D printing using titania foam, a material with potential applications ranging from UV blocking to water purification. (10/30)

Texas A&M’s Space Institute Continues to Lift Off the Ground (Source: The Eagle)
Former longtime NASA employee Rob Ambrose has been at Texas A&M University for two years. Ambrose serves as assistant director of the A&M Space Institute, which was approved and created by A&M’s Board of Regents in August. He’s yet to meet all of A&M’s faculty and not sure if he ever will. A&M is that big. Still, Ambrose has an ambition to get as many of them together and collaborate among their respective fields as A&M’s Space Institute continues to lift off. (10/30)

Mice Embryos Successfully Grown in Space, a Promising Milestone for Human Space Exploration (Source: Salon)
This is the first time that any mammalian embryos have been cultivated and grown in space, which raises the prospect that humans will be able to someday successfully reproduce off of Earth, whether on Mars or beyond the stars. The experiment involved freezing mouse embryos that had been cultivated to the two-cell stage, then shipping them off to space.

Once they arrived at the ISS, they were carefully thawed and cultivated by astronauts in equipment especially designed for the purpose. Four days later the cultivated embryos were preserved in paraformaldehyde and shipped back to Earth, where a team led by molecular biologist Teruhiko Wakayama of the University of Yamanashi studied the results. While fewer of the embryos on ISS survived compared to mouse embryo counterparts that had been cultivated back on Earth, those which did survive developed normally. (10/30)

Here’s How to Bring Mars Down to Earth: Let NASA Do What NASA Does Best (Source: Scientific American)
NASA has a planet-sized problem on its hands. Ironically, the source of this is here on Earth: Congress, which has the penny-wise but pound-foolish policy of trickling out space agency funding every year, hobbling many of NASA’s mission goals that require thinking past the usual two-year House or six-year Senate term. This has repercussions that can be felt across the solar system.

Right now on Mars, the Perseverance rover is collecting small samples of the Red Planet, gathered from inside the 45-kilometer-wide Jezero crater that once held a huge lake, billions of years ago. Scientists consider it one of the best places to scout for evidence of ancient life on Mars, or at least see if conditions were ripe for its genesis. Click here. (10/30)

How NASA Plans to Change the Way People Fly to the Moon (Source: Washington Post)
NASA’s next missions to land astronauts on the moon will be markedly different from its last one in 1972. Instead of flying directly to the moon, the spacecraft will be refueled in transit — an innovation that could transform the way humans explore the cosmos.

In addition to possibly making regular trips to the moon less expensive, in-flight refueling could enable missions deeper into space. NASA is spending billions to help make the technology a reality: Earlier this year, the space agency awarded a $3.4 billion contract to Blue Origin, the venture founded by Jeff Bezos. Previous contracts worth about $4 billion went to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is scheduled to fly the first two missions later this decade, with Blue Origin to follow.

But while SpaceX intends to refuel its massive Starship in low Earth orbit with a fleet of tanker spacecraft, Blue Origin proposes something different: a reusable lunar lander that will stay in orbit around the moon between trips to the lunar surface. The company also is working on a refueling spacecraft it calls a cislunar transporter that will carry fuel from Earth orbit to lunar orbit, where it will link up with the lander. Click here. (10/31)

Putin Wants to Know Why Russia Can Only Build 40 Satellites a Year (Source: Ars Technica)
The world's original space superpower intends to develop a 264-satellite constellation called "Sphere" that will provide Internet and Earth observation capabilities over Russia. But for plans by companies and countries around the world, this is a relatively small effort. The chief of Russian space operations, Yuri Borisov, explained that the country can only build a few dozen satellites a year. (This is about one-fiftieth of the total that a privately owned company, SpaceX, will launch this year.)

Borisov said building a single satellite in Russia takes about 18 months, and because of this, it is not possible to develop a megaconstellation. According to Borisov, the combined efforts of the US industry and government can build about 3,000 satellites a year, and China has production facilities capable of manufacturing 1,200 to 1,500 satellites a year. The sprawling Russian space corporation he runs, Roscosmos, cannot come close to matching these totals.

Essentially, Borisov said that the way Russia currently builds its satellites is by hand, through intricate and time-consuming processes. To become more competitive and have a constellation of its own, he said, Roscosmos will need to move toward an assembly line-like means of mass production. Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated this is a priority for him. Last week, Putin demanded that Roscosmos "radically reduce" the cost of satellite production and move away from building spacecraft in serial to parallel manufacturing. A plan for implementing this should be put into place by July 1, 2024, the Russian head of state ordered. (10/31)

New Technologies for the Future of European Space (Source: Space Daily)
What do bacteria-based food production, avalanche monitoring and the mapping of Venus have in common? They can all be found among the topics of the 47 research and development activities funded by ESA's Discovery and Preparation programme between January and June 2023. ESA set up the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) to discover and invest in new unconventional ideas that could greatly benefit and advance European space industry and academia. Click here. (10/31)

USound and Physical Synthesis to Send the Tiniest Speaker to Space (Source: Space Daily)
In a move that demonstrates the increasingly multi-disciplinary nature of space ventures, Austria-based USound and U.S. based Physical Synthesis have announced a strategic partnership. The collaboration aims to deploy a specialized zero-gravity musical synthesizer - dubbed the "Blue Marble Synthesizer" - into space. The scheduled launch date is November 7, 2023, using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as part of a ride-share mission. (10/31)

Private Sector Actively Competing for Involvement in China's Space Station, Manned Lunar Missions (Source: Space Daily)
China's private space enterprises are hopeful that commercial rockets developed by them will be involved in the launch missions of the low-cost cargo transport vehicle for the country's space station, announced a senior official with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). In proposals provided by space enterprises for China's space station low-cost cargo transport system program, many enterprises chose the plans developed by private commercial space rocket companies, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA. (10/31)

DLR and Tesat Laser Terminal Paves Way for High-Speed Data Transfer From Space (Source: Space Daily)
The increasing congestion of data transmission due to the surge in small satellite deployments has been a lingering issue in the aerospace sector. A collaborative effort between the German Aerospace Center Institute of Communications and Navigation (DLR) and Tesat-Spacecom GmbH and Co. KG TESAT has provided a robust solution. They have successfully developed and tested OSIRIS4CubeSat, a compact laser communications terminal explicitly designed for microsatellites, setting new standards in compact design and high-speed data transfer. (10/31)

HawkEye 360 Gets U.S. Navy Contract for Maritime Surveillance in the Pacific (Source: Space News)
HawkEye 360 won a $12.2 million contract from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. HawkEye 360 uses radio-frequency (RF) data collected by satellites to geolocate electronic emissions and draw insights. Under the one-year contract, the company will share satellite RF data, provide analytics and training services to partner nations in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. The unclassified data will be shared via SeaVision, a web-based platform used by the U.S. and allies to improve maritime domain awareness. (10/31)

A Nearby Kilonova Explosion Could Threaten All Life on Earth. But Don't Worry, Scientists Say (Source: Space.com)
Scientists have determined the possible effects of a neutron star collision happening near Earth, finding that these so-called kilonovas could be real killers that would doom humanity. But don't worry, the collision would have to be really close to wreak havoc on our world. Nonetheless, here's what would probably go down. "We found that if a neutron star merger were to occur within around 36 light-years of Earth, the resulting radiation could cause an extinction-level event," said Haille Perkins. (10/30)

Ghost-Like Galaxy Defies Dark Matter Model (Source: Sky & Telescope)
Astronomers have discovered a ghost-like galaxy about half as large as our own Milky Way but no more massive than the puny Small Magellanic Cloud, our galaxy’s dwarf satellite. Since the new galaxy’s stars are spread out over a huge volume, it’s invisible to most telescopes, like a Halloween specter. The origin of Nube (Spanish for “cloud”), as astronomers are calling the new find, may challenge popular ideas about the nature of dark matter. (10/30)

Sidus Space Successfully Completes Critical Milestone of Environmental Testing of AI-Enhanced LizzieSat Satellite (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced it has successfully completed environmental testing of its AI-enhanced LizzieSat satellite, marking a critical milestone in preparation for the upcoming launch expected in the first quarter of 2024. Testing was completed by NTS Orlando where the LizzieSat Spacecraft underwent random vibration testing resulting in flight-qualification levels. (10/31)

Sidus Space Expands Management Leadership (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space is expanding its management leadership structure to support the launch and management of the LizzieSat constellation. Management expects to accelerate the offerings of data-as-a-service, technology payload hosting, and the sale of its Artificial Intelligence (AI), both as an independent service. Jared Novick now serves as Chief Operating Officer and Lindsey Waitt is the LizzieSat Program Manager. Jamie Adams has stepped down as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and vacates his seat on the Sidus Space Board of Directors. (10/30)

Roads Not Taken in Satellite Photo-Reconnaissance: the 1970s (Source: Space Review)
The 1970s saw a new wave of proposals for satellite photo-reconnaissance that didn’t advance beyond the drawing board. Dwayne Day examines what is known about those concepts, from “crisis reconnaissance” to systems that took advantage of the shuttle. Click here. (10/30)
 
Shaking Up the Commercial Space Station Industry (Source: Space Review)
While it is still years before commercial space stations start operations, there are already changes in the relationships of the companies involved in those efforts. Jeff Foust reports on the formation and potential breaking up of partnerships as those companies face new fiscal pressures. Click here. (10/30)