November 26, 2023

NASA's Steve Jurczyk Passes Away (Source: NASA)
Steve Jurczyk served as NASA’s associate administrator, the agency’s highest-ranking civil servant position from May 2018 to January 2021, and as acting NASA administrator from January 20 to May 3, 2021. Before that assignment he was the associate administrator of the Space Technology Mission Directorate since June 2015. In this position he formulated and executed the agency’s space technology programs, focusing on developing and demonstrating transformative technologies for human and robotic exploration of the solar system in partnership with industry and academia. He previously was director of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. (11/24)

Britain’s First Vertical Launch Spaceport Expected to Blast Off in New Year (Source: Telegraph)
Britain’s first vertical launch spaceport is expected to be approved imminently after passing Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements, the Telegraph understands. SaxaVord spaceport, which is sited on Unst – Shetland’s most northerly island – is hoping to start firing test rockets next spring, with a full orbital launch possible by the end of the year.

Sources close to the project said the spaceport was “very very close” to getting the green light, and was now in the “rubber stamping” phase just awaiting the final nod from Mark Harper, the Secretary of State for Transport. “The CAA has looked at it and said, this looks like it can be a spaceport,” said a source. Success in Shetland would be a huge boost for Britain’s space ambitions, following the catastrophic launch of Virgin Orbit from Cornwall in January, which led to the company filing for bankruptcy. (11/25)

Private Enterprise is the America’s Key to the Modern Space Race (Source: National Interest)
Anew space race is developing between the United States and China. The future of this strategic competition will reshape space exploration and the industries that make it possible. As both nations compete to reach the Moon and establish a permanent human presence beyond Earth’s orbit, the commercial industry—led by private space companies—is America’s best hope for staying ahead.

Today, we are experiencing the burgeoning start of the commercial space age dominated by private launch providers. Among these are SpaceX, Rocketlab, and Blue Origin; each has plans or contracts with NASA to facilitate a leading development role. Since the Space Shuttle’s retirement, NASA has increasingly transferred launch responsibilities to commercial partners (and the Russians). Today, NASA only operates the Space Launch System (SLS), the massive rocket set to take humans back to the Moon.

Private space companies have become game changers in the space launch industry and could secure the United States’s presence in the future space economy. SpaceX’s “iterative design” philosophy contrasts sharply with the traditionally lengthy government-led development programs, such as the SLS, which was nearly $2 billion over budget and years behind its projected schedule. (11/26)

Methane, Water Revealed in Atmosphere of Nearby Exoplanet (Source: Cosmos)
The James Webb Space Telescope has identified methane and water vapour in the atmosphere of a blue planet located 163 light years from our own. WASP-80 b, considered a ‘warm Jupiter’ with a temperature of 825 kelvins (~551°C) and almost identical in size to the largest planet in Earth’s solar system, was studied by NASA astrophysicists using the JWST pointed at its location in the constellation Aquila. (11/26)

Humanity’s Future or an Unwelcome Interloper: SpaceX’s Starbase Transforms a Corner of Texas (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk’s space company is blasting off the world’s most powerful rockets in this corner of Texas—and remaking it along the way. Supporters say Space X’s Starbase represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the course of Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley, which has long struggled with poverty. Click here. (11/26)

What We Actually Know About Aliens, According to Science (Source: Washington Post)
It came from space, hurtling at tremendous speed: a mystery object, reddish, rocky, shaped like a cigar. Its velocity was so extreme it had to have come from somewhere far away, in the interstellar realm. The astronomers in Hawaii who spotted it in 2017 named it ‘Oumuamua, Hawaiian for “a messenger from afar arriving first.” But what was it, exactly? A comet? An asteroid? Or maybe … an alien spacecraft?

That conjecture incited headlines, as well as eyerolls from most scientists. But here in West Virginia, the people involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence — commonly called SETI — decided to aim a giant radio telescope at it, just to be sure. Click here. (11/25)

Space Force Extends Kratos’ Contract for Satellite Ground Systems (Source: Space News)
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has received an eight-year extension to a contract it has held since 2002 for technical services in support of U.S. military communications satellites’ ground systems. The company, based in San Diego, California, was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract worth up to $579 million, the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command said Nov. 22. (11/25)

Russia’s Soyuz-2.1b Rocket Delivers Military Satellite to Orbit (Source: TASS)
The Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the military satellite blasted off from the Plesetsk spaceport at 11:58 p.m. on Saturday. A stable telemetric connection has been established with the spacecraft. "All of the spacecraft’s onboard systems are operating normally," the ministry said, adding that the launch and orbiting had gone smoothly. (11/25)

Senate Leaders Press FAA To Speed Up Space Launch Approvals (Source: AvWeb)
Leaders of the Senate space and science subcommittee have sent a letter to the FAA urging it to further streamline commercial space launch and reentry approvals. Chair Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, and Ranking Member Eris Schmitt, R-Missouri, say red tape at the agency is threatening the country’s competitiveness and in getting high-profile missions like the Artemis moon landing program off the ground.

The FAA told the network it understands the issues and it’s doing its best, noting that it has approved 104 launches this year so far compared to 26 in 2019. “Keeping pace with industry demand is a priority and is important for several reasons, including meeting our national security and civil exploration needs,” an FAA spokesperson told CNN in a statement on Tuesday. “We’re working diligently to attract, hire and retain additional staff.” (11/24)

Russian Satellite Kosmos-2570 Detached Two Military Objects (Source: Bulgarian Military)
Specialists from LeoLabs, an American firm, have drawn parallels between the Russian military satellite Kosmos-2570 and the well-known “Matryoshka” Russian nesting dolls in space. The satellite, similar to the nested doll, unveiled Object C on October 30, which later gave birth to a new entity identified as Object D on Nov. 23. Intriguingly, this is not the first time such an event has been recorded by the satellite. Back in 2022, another object was ejected from the body of Cosmos-2565, dubbed Cosmos-2566, according to US observers. (11/25)

Will Blue Origin Buy Boeing and Lockheed's Space Venture? (Source: Motley Fool)
Will they or won't they? For most of 2023, this has been the question on space investors' minds: Will Boeing (BA 0.04%) and Lockheed Martin (LMT 0.36%) -- the two defense giants that own rocket company United Launch Alliance 50-50 -- sell ULA to an outside investor? Or will Boeing buy out Lockheed and take ULA entirely in-house? Or will Lockheed Martin buy out Boeing and claim ULA for itself? Today, the answers seem to be: Yes, no, and also no. (11/25)

Satellite-Sharing Enables Low-Cost Earth Observation (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Specialized but affordable satellites have potential to make surprising discoveries and create new opportunities both for businesses and for government agencies that regulate businesses. For example, GHGSat, which operates a constellation of a dozen methane-detecting satellites, in 2021 found surprising emissions in violation of EU rules from a pair of landfills just outside Madrid, Spain. This sort of precision is attracting customers from the insurance and investment industries, because it enables them to monitor clients or companies they might invest in for violations.

Another way companies including GHG and EOSAT are adding value is by combining their proprietary datasets with free datasets such as that from Europe’s Sentinel-2 satellite and the U.S. Landsat 8. “By complementing these data sources with the EOS SAT-1 satellite equipped with specific agricultural bands, we aim to achieve even more frequent revisit times and analysis capabilities for all areas of interest to our clients,” says EOSDA spokesperson Serhii Mischchenko. (11/25)

Moon’s Scientifically Important Sites Could be ‘Lost Forever’ in Mining Rush (Source: Science)
Science and commerce may be headed for a clash on remote terrain: the Moon. For the first time in half a century, NASA is sending a craft to the lunar surface, with the launch at the end of this year of Peregrine Mission 1, a lander built by the private company Astrobotic. Dozens of other craft will soon follow, many as part of NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon. Most researchers are looking forward to a new golden age of exploration and science. But some are worried.

They foresee that the advent of private landers will lead to a “Moon-rush”, as companies race to grab valuable minerals and resources while trampling over scientifically important lunar sites. With space law offering little or no protection to these areas, researchers are starting to lobby governments and international agencies to do something before it’s too late. (11/24)

Space Force Assigns Number to N.Korean 'Spy Satellite' (Source: NHK)
The US Space Force has assigned a satellite number to an object recently launched by North Korea, confirming that it is orbiting the Earth. The assigned number, 58400, is listed on the satellite-tracking "Space Track" website operated by the Space Force. According to the website, the time it takes the object to complete an Earth orbit is about 90 minutes. (11/23)

North Korea Rocket Explodes During Spy Satellite Launch, and Meteor Hunters Caught it on Camera (Source: Space.com)
The first stage of a North Korean rocket apparently exploded Tuesday (Nov. 21) during a purported spy satellite launch, a new video suggests. A camera at South Korea's Yonsei University, usually used for tracking meteors or shooting stars, showed the first stage of the North Korean Chollima-1 rocket appearing to erupt and spread debris, Reuters reported Friday (Nov. 24).

"This time they appear to have detonated the first stage propellant in mid-air," Byun Yong-Ik, an astronomy professor at Yonsei University, told Reuters. "This kind of measure was not seen in the previous launch attempts, and it could have been an effort to prevent South Korean and U.S. authorities from recovering the (rocket), as it is equipped with a new engine." (11/24)

NASA Administrator to Travel to India, UAE; Discuss Space Cooperation (Source: NASA)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will travel to India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of meetings beginning Monday, Nov. 27, with key government officials. Nelson also will meet with space officials in both countries to deepen bilateral cooperation across a broad range of innovation and research-related areas, especially in human exploration and Earth science. (11/24)

China's Mars Rover Detects Irregular Wedges Beneath Red Planet (Source: Xinhua)
Radars mounted on China's Mars rover Zhurong detected 16 irregular wedges buried underneath a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. A collaborative team identified from the radar data the polygonal wedges below a depth of 35 meters within the rover's journey of approximately 1.2 kilometers, according to the stud. The study showed that the findings suggested a wide distribution of such terrain beneath Utopia Planitia, the largest basin on Mars. (11/24)