November 14, 2023

Dutch Firm Eyes Space Baby (Source: Space Daily)
Climate crises, nuclear Armageddon, or a sudden meteor strike -- it's clear humanity could do with Planet B. But first we need to learn to reproduce safely in space, says Dutch entrepreneur Egbert Edelbroek. Edelbroek's firm, Spaceborn United, is pioneering space sex research, with the eventual aim of natural conception and birth in the partial gravity environment found on Mars. (11/14)

UTA Developing More Powerful In-Space Engines for Space Travel (Source: Space Daily)
A University of Texas at Arlington engineering researcher has received a NASA grant to use rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs) for in-space propulsion to make them more efficient, compact and powerful. Liwei Zhang, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), will lead the $900,000 project. (11/14)

Airbus Introduces "Detumbler" Device to Address Satellite Tumbling in Low Earth Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
Airbus has launched a groundbreaking technology designed to mitigate the risks posed by tumbling satellites in space. The innovative device, named "Detumbler," was developed in association with Exotrail and EnduroSat and is scheduled for an in-orbit demonstration early in 2024. This magnetic damping device, weighing approximately 100 grams, is engineered to be attached to satellites nearing the end of their operational lives. Its purpose is to prevent these satellites from tumbling, a common issue in orbital flight dynamics, especially in LEO. (11/14)

Cosmic Wander Takes Flight: D-Orbit's 12th Mission Elevates Space Industry Standards (Source: Space Daily)
D-Orbit marked another milestone with the successful launch of its 12th commercial mission, Cosmic Wander, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-9 mission. The ION Satellite Carrier, a key innovation by D-Orbit, is engineered to revolutionize satellite deployment. It enables precise placement of satellites into specific orbital slots and accommodates a range of third-party payloads. (11/14)

EBAD's NEA Payload Release Modules Prove Crucial in SpaceX Transporter-9 Mission (Source: Space Daily)
Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense (EBAD) has once again marked its presence in the ever-evolving space industry with its innovative NEA Payload Release Modules (PRM), playing a pivotal role in the recent SpaceX Transporter-9 Rideshare mission. This module is compatible with a variety of deployment scenarios, including from an upper stage of a launch vehicle or another spacecraft, like an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). (11/14)

ICEYE Expands SAR Satellite Constellation with Four New Satellites (Source: Space Daily)
ICEYE, a prominent name in persistent monitoring and natural catastrophe solutions using radar imaging satellites, has recently fortified its constellation with the successful deployment of four new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Launched on November 11 via SpaceX's Transporter-9 smallsat rideshare mission, coordinated by Exolaunch, these satellites bring ICEYE's fleet to 31 satellites. (11/14)

Dream Chaser On Track for 2024 Launch (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
Sierra Space's first Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, is nearing its inaugural flight, with plans for testing by NASA ahead of a 2024 launch. The Dream Chaser, part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract, is a reusable spaceplane with an expendable cargo module, designed to supply the International Space Station and land on a runway.  (11/13)

Kendall Describes Damage Caused by Budget Failure (Source: Space News)
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall is warning that dozens of US Air Force and Space Force programs will stall without a stable budget, as current temporary funding is set to expire. Kendall emphasized the urgency of consistent funding, noting that delays in funding give strategic advantages to competitors like China, and stressed the need for focused investment in essential projects to maintain technological superiority. (11/13)

NASA Slows Work on Mars Sample Return (Source: Space News)
NASA is slowing down work on its Mars Sample Return (MSR) program because of budget uncertainty. At an advisory committee meeting Monday, agency officials said NASA told the three centers working on MSR — Goddard, JPL and Marshall — to "start ramping back on activities" related to the program because the agency does not know how much money it will receive for MSR in fiscal year 2024.

A House bill would provide NASA's full request of $949.3 million while a Senate bill would provide only $300 million. That slowdown includes pausing work on a device that would be used to capture the Mars sample container once in Martian orbit and securing it for return to Earth. That slowdown comes as NASA is continuing a reassessment of the overall MSR architecture in response to recommendations from an independent review. (11/14)

Intuitive Machines Considers Up to Three Lunar Lander Missions in 2024  (Source: Space News)
Intuitive Machines says it may launch up to three lunar lander missions in 2024. The company said in an earnings call Monday it continues to work towards a launch of its first mission, IM-1, in January, and hopes to also be able to launch IM-2 and IM-3 before the end of the year. Those missions are backed by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program with other customers, including a new, unnamed space agency that signed a payload contract with the company recently. The company argues that CLPS can help sustain interest in and support for NASA's Artemis lunar exploration effort even with delays in crewed missions. (11/14)

Quantum Space Plans 2024 Satellite Launch (Source: Space News)
Quantum Space will launch its first satellite next year. The company said Tuesday its Scout-1 will launch next March on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission. From sun synchronous low-Earth orbit, the Scout-1 satellite will test a sensor Quantum Space plans to send to deep space as part of QuantumNet, a constellation to provide customers with communications, navigation and space situational awareness services in GEO and cislunar space. Scout-1 will track resident space objects in Earth orbit, refining its image-processing algorithms. (11/14)

Cabana Plans Year-End 2024 Retirement (Source: NASA)
NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana will retire from the agency at the end of the year. NASA announced Monday that Cabana will leave the agency Dec. 31 after 38 years at the agency, starting in the mid-1980s when he was selected as a NASA astronaut. Cabana flew on four shuttle missions, including the first International Space Station assembly mission in 1998. He later served as the longtime director of the Kennedy Space Center before being named associate administrator, the No. 3 position in the agency and the highest civil service post, in 2021. (11/14)

Morpheus Space Releasing Space Mobility Software (Source: Space News)
Morpheus Space is releasing a space mobility software package. The company, initially focused on producing miniature electric thrusters, has expanded into other areas including software. The Journey software will help customers design and operate space missions, including what propulsion systems they should use. Morpheus Space is releasing Journey this week during the Space Tech Expo Europe trade show in Germany. (11/14)

China Develops 'GoMars' Model for Enhanced Mars Mission Planning (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese scientists have taken a significant leap in Mars exploration technology by developing a comprehensive numerical model, "GoMars," to simulate Mars' atmospheric environment. This advancement is particularly crucial for the upcoming Tianwen 3 mission, scheduled around 2028, aimed at returning Martian samples to Earth. The study detailing this model was recently published in the Chinese Science Bulletin. (11/14)

China's 'Robotic Chemist' Could Enable Mars Exploration (Source: New Scientist)
Chinese scientists have developed a "robotic chemist" that could help future Mars missions obtain oxygen. The system used a laser to analyze Mars meteorites to measure their composition, then applied artificial intelligence to use those elements to develop catalysts for reactions to produce oxygen from a briny solution and carbon dioxide. That system tested 3.7 million different combinations of chemicals to find the best one for use on Mars. (11/14)

'Extreme Glow' Observed Around Earliest Galaxies (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have discovered an "extreme glow" around the earliest galaxies. Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope showed that galaxies dating back to 500 millions years after the Big Bang were much brighter than expected. Astronomers said that intense brightness likely comes from clouds of gas surrounding those early galaxies where star formation was taking place at high rates. Those stars emit light at the right ranges to excite the clouds, creating the glow. (11/14)

Something Goes Boom in the Night: the Explosion of a Cold War Secret (Source: Space Review)
A Soviet crewed launch to the Salyut-7 space station suffered a launch failure in the fall of 1983, with the launch abort system on the Soyuz spacecraft saving the crew. Dwayne Day and Asif Siddiqi describe what is now known about that failure and how the United States discovered it happened. Click here. (11/13)
 
A Small Step Forward for Space-Based Solar Power Technology (Source: Space Review)
Space-based solar power has been a topic of debate for decades without much progress on the feasibility of the technology required. Jeff Foust reports on a Caltech project that is wrapping up testing in orbit of three specific technologies needed for it. Click here. (11/13)

Former Raytheon Exec David Broadbent Joins Intelsat to Lead Government Solutions Arm (Source: GovCon Daily)
Satellite communications company Intelsat has appointed Raytheon alum David Broadbent as its president of government solutions. Reporting to CEO Dave Wajsgras, Broadbent will oversee the international government solutions team. (11/13)

Failure to Launch – the Satellite Industry Problem (Source: Cosmos)
Many small satellites – generally under 350kg – use “off-the-shelf” commercial electronics to keep costs low. Others in the same weight class may spend millions more on carefully tailored and hardened custom components. “There’s no way anyone would use commercial-grade electronics in much higher geostationary orbits and expect to get away with it,” Barton quips. Failed communications are the most common symptom of small satellite losses. “Those satellites that are dead on arrival in orbit are the scariest ones,” he says. “In many instances, we never determine what went wrong. And that means we’ve lost a chance to learn.” Click here. (11/13)

How United Launch Alliance’s New Rocket Expands the Commercial Space Race (Source: The Hill)
It looks like the often-delayed United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket is ready for launch. A lot is riding on the new rocket, not the least of which is ULA’s hopes of competing with SpaceX, the one rocket company that rules them all, and its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. The question hanging over the Vulcan Centaur is, can it compete against the likes of the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy? Last year, a story pegged the cost of a Vulcan Centaur launch as $110 million, as opposed to $62 million for a Falcon 9. The cost will be even higher for versions that include strap-on SRBs.

Vulcan Centaur is not the only launch vehicle ready for its debut. The Blue Origin New Glenn and the Rocket Lab Neutron are slated to launch sometime in 2024. Both rockets have reusable first stages, similar to the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy. The reusability feature will make both rockets highly competitive. That may not be the case for the Vulcan Centaur in the long run. Vulcan Centaur has two things going for it.

First, government customers such as NASA and the Space Force are eager to have more than a single option for launch services. SpaceX has performed magnificently, lowering the cost of space launches by orders of magnitude. But decision makers in Washington are queasy about enabling a monopoly, no matter how cheap and reliable the service is. That queasiness is likely one reason the Space Force divided the launch contract between SpaceX and the ULA. Second, the number of launch customers is expected to increase as time goes by. (11/12)