November 15, 2023

Boeing Experiment On ISS Tests Antimicrobial Coating for Long-Term Space Missions (Source: CASIS)
As humans travel to Mars and beyond, where resupply from and return to Earth is difficult to impossible, monitoring and controlling every aspect of life onboard spacecraft is essential—down to the tiniest microbes. With that goal in mind, global aerospace leader Boeing recently launched a project to the International Space Station (ISS) on SpaceX’s 29th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. The ISS National Laboratory®-sponsored project will test the effectiveness and durability of an innovative antimicrobial coating in space. (11/15)

Southern Launch to host HyImpulse's Pioneering SR75 launch in South Australia (Source: Space Daily)
In a significant development for the global aerospace industry, German rocket manufacturer HyImpulse is set to launch its SR75 sounding rocket from the Koonibba Test Range near Ceduna in South Australia in early 2024. This event marks a pivotal moment in space exploration, showcasing the potential of international collaboration and innovative propulsion technologies. The SR75, which employs HyImpulse's distinctive green hybrid propulsion technology, represents a leap forward in environmentally friendly space access. (11/15)

Europe's Quantum Decade Extends Into Space (Source: Space Daily)
Europe - and the world - is in the midst of the 'quantum decade': a period in which the peculiar properties of matter that manifest at the very tiniest of scales are being transformed from mere scientific curiosities into the basis of practical technologies and products. The result? Major leaps forward in communications, navigation, computing and environmental sensing. The same is true in space: ESA is currently sending a quantum-enabled probe to Jupiter, developing communications based on quantum technologies and planning flying a quantum clock to the International Space Station, as part of its quantum technology cross-cutting initiative. (11/15)

AI-Powered Space Situational Awareness Boosted by Neuraspace-Deimos Collaboration (Source: Space Daily)
Neuraspace, a leader in smarter space traffic management, has announced a strategic partnership with Elecnor Deimos, a renowned name in Space Surveillance and Awareness solutions. This collaboration is set to revolutionize the way space debris is tracked, significantly enhancing the safety and security of space operations. Utilizing critical data from Elecnor Deimos, Neuraspace aims to bolster its space observation capabilities. (11/15)

Momentus Testing New Spacecraft In-Space Engine and Solar Array Design (Source: Space Daily)
Momentus Inc. continues to advance in-space testing of its Microwave Electrothermal Thruster (MET) and recently completed initial in-space testing of its Tape Spring Solar Array (TASSA). The MET is the Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle's (OSV) primary propulsion method that relies on solar power and uses water as a propellant. (11/15)

Bouncing Comets Could Deliver Building Blocks for Life to Exoplanets (Source: Space Daily)
How did the molecular building blocks for life end up on Earth? One long-standing theory is that they could have been delivered by comets. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown how comets could deposit similar building blocks to other planets in the galaxy.
In order to deliver organic material, comets need to be traveling relatively slowly - at speeds below 15 kilometres per second. At higher speeds, the essential molecules would not survive - the speed and temperature of impact would cause them to break apart.

The most likely place where comets can travel at the right speed are 'peas in a pod' systems, where a group of planets orbit closely together. In such a system, the comet could essentially be passed or 'bounced' from the orbit of one planet to another, slowing it down. At slow enough speeds, the comet would crash on a planet's surface, delivering the intact molecules that researchers believe are the precursors for life. (11/15)

Europe’s Space Ambitions Might At Last Take it Out of NASA’s Shadow (Source: The Economist)
At a summit in Spain this week, officials from the European Space Agency (esa) laid out bold ambitions: to become a more autonomous player in a burgeoning new space race, and to develop an American-style private space industry. But could the next SpaceX really be a European firm? It is clear that much work lies ahead. Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor, travels to esa’s Paris headquarters to meet its director general, Josef Aschbacher. Click here. (11/8)

HHS CIO Mathias Moving to Engineering Role at NASA (Source: FNN)
The Department of Health and Human Services is back in the market for a chief information officer. Karl Mathias, the lead technology executive at HHS since March 2022, is leaving to take a new role at NASA after spending the last 20 months as the HHS CIO. (11/14)

Sidus Space Announces Financial Results (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announces its financial results for the third quarter ending Sep. 30. Revenue totaled $986,000 for the quarter, compared to $1.32 million for the same period in 2022. While total revenue declined period-over-period, primarily due to timing of fixed price milestone contracts, higher margin satellite revenue continued to increase. For the nine months ended Sep. 30, sales of $4.6 million were down approximately $344,000 versus prior year. Gross profit was a negative $96,281 or negative 10%, for the quarter. (11/14)

Harvard Astronomer’s “Alien Spherules” are Industrial Pollutants (Source: Big Think)
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb has been claiming for years that alien space probes are flying throughout the galaxy, claims that one smashed into Earth in 2014, and believes he's found evidence for this on the seafloor. However, Loeb is opining not only far beyond the limits of his own expertise, but well outside of what the data indicates. New research has shown these "spherules" aren't alien technology; they're coal ash from human activity since the industrial revolution. (11/14)

Sale of United Launch Alliance is Nearing, With Three Potential Buyers (Source: Ars Technica)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are close to selecting a buyer for United Launch Alliance. The jointly owned rocket company, which was founded in 2006 and for a time had a monopoly on US government launch contracts, has been up for sale most of this year. Sources say three buyers have emerged for the Colorado-based launch company. These include a private equity fund, the Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin, and a well-capitalized aerospace firm that is interested in increasing its space portfolio.

There is precedent for a private equity firm—typically a group of investors that purchases a company, overhauls it, and then resells the business—buying a launch company. In early 2022, AE Industrial Partners acquired the launch and space services company Firefly. Blue Origin is also not a great surprise. Acquiring ULA would give Bezos an orbital rocket and the guaranteed government contracts he covets. It would also benefit Amazon's need to launch its Project Kuiper satellites.

Ars is not naming the third potential buyer because it could not be confirmed. This aerospace company does not have a large amount of space business presently, but it has been looking to make strategic expansion into government contracts, which ULA has through its participation in the Department of Defense's national security launch program. According to two sources, the sale period is nearing its conclusion, and a buyer could be announced within a couple of months. (11/14)

European Governments and Companies Seek Changes to Georeturn (Source: Space News)
European government and industry officials say the policy of “georeturn,” which guarantees nations receive contracts in proportion to their investments, needs to be adjusted, particularly to make Europe’s launch industry more competitive. Leaders of national space agencies and executives of major space companies said georeturn policies of the ESA should be changed in unspecified ways, but argued against doing away with those policies entirely.

The concern, they said, was that those policies, which guarantee ESA member states that at least 85% of their contributions to programs will be returned in the form of contracts to companies in those nations, creates inflexibility that makes it difficult for European vehicles like the Ariane 6 and Vega C to be cost-competitive on the global market. (11/14)

Rocket Exhaust on the Moon: NASA Supercomputers Reveal Surface Effects (Source: NASA)
Researchers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center produced a simulation of the Apollo 12 lander engine plumes interacting with the lunar surface. have developed new software tools to predict PSI environments for NASA projects and missions, including the Human Landing System, Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, and future Mars landers. These tools are already being used to predict cratering and visual obscuration on upcoming lunar missions and are helping NASA minimize risks to spacecraft and crew during future landed missions. (11/14)

Virgin Galactic Spaceline Expenses Greatly Outstripped Revenues (Source: Douglas's Substack)
A look at Virgin Galactic’s third quarter report showed how much the operation of the spaceline outstripped the revenues generated by the five commercial suborbital flights flown by VSS Unity beginning in late June. The report indicates the company spent $25.6 million operating the spaceline in the third quarter, and $26.2 million for the first nine months of the year. The company began to break out operating costs after the start of commercial service in late June. (11/14)

Spire Launches Constellation Management Platform (Source: Space News)
Spire Global, a space-based data and services firm, has launched a web-based app designed to simplify satellite constellation operations for its customers. The Constellation Management Platform will provide customers with a simplified and user-friendly interface for managing satellite operations, according to the company. (11/14)

Biden Administration Unveils National Spectrum Strategy (Source: GovCon Daily)
The Biden administration issued a memorandum to promote the radio frequency spectrum as an essential element of wireless technology modernization. The White House unveiled the National Spectrum Strategy, which calls for private-public collaboration over spectrum access, management and research and development to keep the country at the forefront of global wireless technology. (11/14)

Janice Starzyk, Gabriel Swiney Take Leadership Roles at NOAA’s Office of Space Commerce (Source; Executive Gov)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has appointed space industry veteran Janice Starzyk as deputy director of the Office of Space Commerce and space law practitioner Gabriel Swiney as head of OSC’s Space Advocacy Division. Starzyk will bring decades of industry experience to the role as she oversees the operations of OSC with the guidance of Director Richard DalBello, NOAA said Thursday.

She previously served as an adviser at United Launch Alliance and held executive management roles at Virgin Orbit, Bryce Space and Technology, International Launch Services and Futron. Swiney will lead a team which represents the Department of Commerce in space policy development and in talks with other countries over U.S. space commerce. He is a lecturer at Harvard Law School who previously served as a staff attorney at the State Department and held senior policy roles at NASA. (11/14)

North Korea Tests New Solid-Fuel Engines (Source: Philstar Global)
North Korea has developed and successfully conducted ground tests of a "new type" of solid-fuel engine for its banned intermediate-range ballistic missiles, state media said. The announcement came as Pyongyang also disclosed a Russian delegation led by Moscow's natural resources minister Alexander Kozlov was visiting Pyongyang to hold talks on cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology. (4/15)

SpaceX Founding Employee Successfully Moves From Rockets to In-Space Propulsion (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX launched its ninth "Transporter" mission on Saturday from California, carrying dozens of small- and medium-sized satellites into low-Earth orbit. The upside of these launches for customers is that they can rely on regular, low-cost access to space aboard the reliable Falcon 9 rocket. The downside is that the satellites are all released into a basic orbit, and if they want to reach a different altitude or inclination, they have to bring their own propulsion along for the ride.

This has led to the advent of "last mile" services from various companies offering small add-on spacecraft capable of providing in-space propulsion. One of the most intriguing of these is Impulse Space, a company founded two years ago by rocket scientist Tom Mueller, who was a founding employee at SpaceX before leaving in 2020.

During Saturday's launch, Mueller's career completed something of a full circle when a Falcon 9 rocket launched Impulse Space's first vehicle, the Mira spacecraft, on a test flight. After the launch, the Mira "LEO Express 1" mission phoned home, and it relayed that all was well. So, the mission is off to a promising start. (11/13)

Why are Things in Space Round? (Source: Live Science)
The universe's bodies formed after the Big Bang exploded about 13.8 billion years ago. Tiny dust particles circulating in enormous doughnut-shaped dust clouds began to collide. If the collision was gentle enough, according to NASA, the dust particles fused. Collision after collision created a snowball effect; The more mass a budding planet accumulated, the more its gravity grew and the more matter it attracted. That "gravity pulls all the matter toward the center of gravity," said Bruno Merín. "Every piece of matter is trying to get as close as possible to the center of gravity." (11/13)

The Oort Cloud Might be More Active Than We Thought (Source: Universe Today)
Every now and then a comet or asteroid comes to our solar system from interstellar space. We have observed two interstellar objects in recent years, Oumuamua in 2017, and Borisov in 2019. One would assume then that in the past at least some interstellar objects have struck Earth. But we’ve never found an interstellar meteorite. A new study argues that this is because the Oort cloud is much more active than we thought.

The Oort cloud is a halo of icy material on the outermost edge of the solar system, where the Sun’s gravity is barely strong enough to hold them in a stellar orbit. When another star passes somewhat near the Sun, members of the Oort cloud can be nudged toward the inner solar system, where they can become long-period comets. We have never observed the Oort cloud, but we know it’s there because comets can approach the Sun from every direction, not just the orbital plane of the planets.

Astronomers can distinguish between Oort cloud objects and interstellar objects by their orbits. Interstellar objects have a hyperbolic orbit, meaning that if you traced their path purely under the gravitational influence of the Sun, it would continue on to interstellar space, never to return. Oort cloud objects, on the other hand, have an orbital path that is closed. They may travel to the most distant region of space, but they are gravitationally bound to the Sun. (11/13)

Arizona Factory to Produce New Virgin Galactic Spaceships (Source: KTAR)
Virgin Galactic said progress is being made at its Mesa assembly facility now under construction, and that factory is becoming even more central to the space tourism company’s strategy as it shifts its focus to its Delta-class ships that will be built there. The building of the Delta-class ships is set to take place at the assembly factory in Mesa, and it is expected to come online in Q2 2024. (11/13)

The Pioneer Anomaly: What Happened To Old NASA Probes At 20 Astronomical Units? (source: IFL Science)
What NASA got from Pioneer 10 and 11 was a weird and intriguing mystery. At around 20 astronomical units (AU), with one AU being the distance between the Earth and the Sun, both spacecraft began accelerating towards the Sun. The probes were still heading out of the Solar System, but a force was acting on them, pushing them in the direction of the Sun and slowing their progress. While this may sound trivial, the fact that both probes went through this at around 20 AU led some physicists to propose that there was something wrong with our theory of gravity, specifically Newton’s gravitational inverse-square law. (11/13)

First Starship Passenger Makes New Plans While Waiting for Musk (Source: Bloomberg)
As Elon Musk prepares to test his Starship rocket for the first time since an April takeoff ended in flames, the Japanese billionaire tapped to lead its debut passenger flight is looking at other space companies. Yusaku Maezawa, founder of online clothing retailer Zozo Inc., hoped to travel around the moon this year aboard Starship with a hand-picked group of singers, painters and other pop-culture artists.

Selected by Musk in 2018 for the Starship flight, Maezawa has conceded that the party will have to wait. The delay may give Maezawa, who traveled to the International Space Station aboard a Russian rocket in 2021, more time to focus on other space goals, including cleaning up junk in orbit and creating a virtual Earth with satellite data. In February, Maezawa invested $23 million in Astroscale Holdings Inc., a Japanese startup tackling problems posed by old rocket parts, dead satellites and other man-made debris orbiting Earth. (11/13)

Experts Anticipate Starship Move to Florida (Source: WESH)
For SpaceX's next Texas Starship launch "there will be lot of things to look at,” Eric Berger said. And one of the things will be the pad upgrades to handle all that thrust. The first test decimated the launch pad, causing a massive dust and concrete storm at liftoff. While the testing of Starship has been and will continue down in Boca Chica, Texas, its operational hub will be on the Space Coast, and there are big plans for it.

“I’m sure we will see many Starship launches from [Florida] as they move forward. One of the main reasons they are doing the testing down there in Texas is that they sort of have first dibs on everything there. They are not competing with anybody else in a busy launch schedule,” Dr. Don Platt of Florida Tech said. (11/13)

Preserving Water Quality for Astronauts During Space Exploration (Source: ASU)
The ISS commercial resupply mission dubbed CRS-2 SpX-29 carries a special biological sciences payload — a collaborative experiment developed by researchers at Arizona State University, Texas State University (TSU) and NASA to study how spaceflight affects bacterial growth and biofilm formation in life support systems on the ISS. This experiment will provide scientists with information to help improve spacecraft habitat sustainability — specifically, protection of one of the most vital and vulnerable resources aboard any space vehicle: water. (11/13)

Lost in Space: $100,000 Tool Bag from NASA Spacewalk (Source: UPI)
Every construction worker who ever accidentally left their tools at their worksite now has something in common with NASA astronauts, who lost a tool bag worth $100,000 during a spacewalk on Nov. 1. The white satchel, which can now be seen orbiting the Earth with a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, is hovering about 200 miles above the planet. The bag eluded astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara during a maintenance spacewalk on the International Space Station. (11/13)

Scottish Spaceport is Set to Launch an Explosive New Satellite Race (if the Sheep Stay Away) (Source: BBC)
Forget the clean, Hollywood vision of space exploration – or even the tropical launch sites of European missions. Instead, think luscious fields. Think heavy-lidded highland sheep. Think surprise burial sites. Because satellite launches? They’re about to go Scottish. A series of new launchpads in Shetland, at Scotland’s northern tip, is forcing everyone to reimagine space centres. The SaxaVord Spaceport is the brainchild of wife and husband team Debbie and Frank Strang (the former RAF officers are chief operating officer and CEO of the company, respectively). Click here. (11/13)

Who's in the US Space Force's Newest Tech Accelerator? (Source: Quartz)
Alongside academic participants from the Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, a number of new and nimble startups are in the mix. The smaller companies add a diversity of talent in a field otherwise dominated by giants like SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing. Here’s who’s kicking around in the sandbox. Click here. (11/13)

The Biggest Questions: Are We Alone in the Universe? (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Now we know the galaxy is teeming with a diversity of worlds. Our planet’s oceans were once considered exceptional, whereas evidence today suggests that numerous moons in the outer solar system host subsurface waters. Our notion of the range of environments where life could exist has also expanded thanks to the discovery on Earth of extremophile organisms that can thrive in places far hotter, saltier, acidic, and more radioactive than previously thought possible. Click here. (11/13)