November 9, 2023

VERITAS Mission Warns of Risks of Launch Delay (Source: Space News)
The head of a delayed NASA mission to Venus has warned that the project risks losing critical expertise if the agency doesn’t find a way to move up the mission. NASA selected the Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy, or VERITAS, mission in 2021 as one of two Discovery-class missions to Venus, at the time planned for launch in the late 2020s. VERITAS would go into orbit around Venus and study the planet using several instruments.

However, the agency decided a year ago to delay the mission by three years, to no earlier than 2031, citing the findings of an review into delays of another NASA mission, Psyche, that found institutional problems at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The delay, NASA said, would address a “workforce imbalance” at JPL, which is the lead center for VERITAS, and free up funding needed to accommodate the Psyche delay. (11/8)

SpaceX Installs New Crew Access Arm to LC-40 at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Teslarati)
In between Starlink launches, SpaceX installed its brand new Crew Access Arm on the recently built Crew Launch Tower at Space Launch Complex 40. To help with its ever-increasing launch cadence, SpaceX built a new Crew Launch Tower at Launch Complex 40 in Florida to take pressure off Launch Complex 39A, which is currently the only launch pad in the United States actively launching astronauts into orbit. (11/8)

'A City on Mars' is a Reality Check for Anyone Dreaming About Life on the Red Planet (Source: Space.com)
Setting up colonies on the moon and Mars is a tantalizing goal, perhaps even a necessary one for those who believe it to be a backup strategy that can save humanity from crumbling due to catastrophe. However, space settlement — developing livable stations outside Earth so humans can stay there for years, perhaps forever — is currently naively optimistic, according to authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. It needs a dose of realism, they say.

The Weinersmiths are self-described "space bastards" who remain excited about space exploration and settlement but argue many first-order questions of how human life works in space, like in terms of reproduction, space farms, democracy and legal frameworks (to name just a few concerns) need to be answered before humans can actually live in space. (11/8)

Falcon 9 Rocket Lifts Off on 80th Orbital Launch of the Year (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX sent up 23 Starlink satellites during a mission from Cape Canaveral just on the other side of midnight on Nov. 7, the first of two planned Falcon 9 launches in less than 48 hours. (11/7)

Blue Origin' s New Crane at Port Canaveral Another Piece to Future Launch Puzzle (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Blue Origin has staked out its space at Port Canaveral, right next to SpaceX, with a tower crane for eventual rocket booster recovery operations. Now the company just needs to launch one to put it to work. The 375-foot-tall crane arrived at the port as cargo from Germany in October adding another puzzle piece to Jeff Bezos’ plans to send up its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Spaceport's LC-36. (11/9)

Astronaut Tool Bag Becomes Unexpected Satellite After ISS Spacewalk Slip-Up (Source: Gizmodo)
In space, misplacing a bag of tools is hard to recover from. A tiny mishap during a recent spacewalk outside the ISS has led to a new object in the night sky, with a tool bag now orbiting Earth ahead of the space station, temporarily taunting the astronauts who dropped it.

During a spacewalk on November 1, astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara were carrying out handy work outside the ISS when they accidentally let a tool bag float away where it could no longer be reached. The bag of tools, orbiting Earth at the same velocity of 17,500 miles per hour as the ISS, is now circling the planet ahead of the orbital lab, according to EarthSky. (11/7)

If the Next Starship Makes it Through Staging, You Can Call That a Win (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX will have answers to some burning questions in the first three minutes of the next Starship test flight. Did the upgrades to the Starship launch pad in Texas hold up to the rocket's powerful thrust? Are the rocket's Raptor engines more reliable than they were on the first Starship test flight in April? And did the rocket's Super Heavy booster safely separate from the Starship upper stage?

The answers to these questions will show how quickly SpaceX can move forward with everything else it wants to do with Starship. These next steps include launching Starlink Internet satellites, which will expedite the network's ability to directly connect with consumer cell phones. SpaceX needs to test in-orbit refueling for Starship flights to the Moon for NASA, and engineers want to demonstrate recovering Starship's giant booster and upper stage, necessary steps to make the rocket fully reusable. (11/8)

Viasat Takes $900 Million Charge (Source: Space News)
Viasat will take a $900 million write-off because of satellite problems. The company said Wednesday that the combination of problems with ViaSat-3 Americas, the total loss of Inmarsat-6 F2 and a decision to cancel a broadband satellite called ViaSat-4 resulted in the charge. The company said it is wrapping up an investigation into the antenna deployment problem with ViaSat-3 Americas, also known as ViaSat-3 F1, and expects that work to be completed next week. The company is filing a $421 million insurance claim for ViaSat-3 F1 and $349 million claim for Inmarsat-6 F2. The company will use ViaSat-3 F2 or F3 to serve the Americas and relocate ViaSat-3 F1. Viasat will separately order a replacement for Inmarsat-6 F2. (11/9)

Rocket Lab to Resume Electron Launches (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab is preparing to resume Electron launches in late November after completing an investigation into a September launch failure. The company said Wednesday it is targeting no earlier than Nov. 28 for the Electron return to flight, carrying a radar imaging satellite for Japanese company iQPS. Rocket Lab's investigation concluded a "largely improbable" combination of events caused an electric arc that shorted out batteries in the rocket's upper stage, depriving it of power. The company will enhance ground tests of the stage and make changes to the structure that houses the batteries to prevent such arcs from happening again. Rocket Lab has two Electron launches planned for the rest of this year and a "completely sold-out manifest" of 22 launches in 2024. (11/9)

X-37B Military Spaceplane to Launch From Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Falcon Heavy in December (Source: Space News)
The next X-37B military spaceplane mission will launch on a Falcon Heavy next month. The Space Force said the X-37B will launch on a mission called Orbital Test Vehicle 7 on Dec. 7 from the Kennedy Space Center. This will be the first time the X-37B will launch on Falcon Heavy after previously using Atlas 5 and Falcon 9 rockets. The Space Force said the mission will "expand the envelope" of the vehicle's capabilities, including operating in unspecified new orbital regimes. (11/9)

SES Wins $270 Million DoD Contract for O3b Constellation Services (Source: Space News)
SES has won a contract worth up to $270 million to provide communications services for the Defense Department. The five-year contract announced Wednesday involves services from the O3b broadband constellation. That contract makes the constellation available to the U.S. armed forces as a managed service, which includes the satellite capacity as well as ground systems and other services. (11/9)

Space Force Picks Companies, Universities for Domain Awareness Accelerator (Source: Space News)
The Space Force's Space Systems Command has selected several companies and universities to participate in an accelerator devoted to space domain awareness. The three-month accelerator kicked off last month at the Space Systems Command’s Tools, Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab in Colorado Springs, and aims to leverage emerging commercial capabilities to help the Space Force better monitor objects and events in orbit. The startups participating in the accelerator include True Anomaly, Katalyst Space Technologies, HEO, DigitalArsenal.io and Intrack Radar Technologies. (11/9)
 
Virgin Galactic to Halt VSS Unity Flights (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic plans to halt flights of its VSS Unity suborbital spaceplane by the middle of next year. The company said Wednesday that it will move from a monthly to a quarterly cadence of flights starting in January, ending them by mid-year so the company can focus resources on development of its Delta class of next-generation suborbital vehicles. The company said the Unity flights this year have been successful, but acknowledged they cost more than the revenue they generate. The company is also laying off 18% of its workforce, or 185 people, as part of its cost-cutting measures. It said the $1.1 billion of cash and equivalents it has on hand should be sufficient to complete development of the Delta-class vehicles and get to positive cash flow in 2026. (11/9)

South Texas Judge Blocks Justice Dept. Case Against SpaceX's Alleged Hiring Discrimination (Source: Bloomberg)
A judge has blocked a Justice Department case against SpaceX that alleged the company discriminated against refugees in hiring. A federal district court judge in South Texas sided with SpaceX, which sought to block the suit filed by the Justice Department in the summer. The company said the case was "factually and legally insupportable" and that export control laws prevent the company from hiring foreign nationals. Those laws do provide exemptions for refugees and asylees, the Justice Department said. The department did not comment on the ruling. (11/9)

Australia's Fleet Space to Fly Seismic Sensor on Firefly Lunar Lander (Source: Firefly)
Australian company Fleet Space will fly an instrument on a lunar lander being built by Firefly Aerospace. Fleet's Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER) will be included on Firefly's second Blue Ghost lander, scheduled for launch in 2026. SPIDER, developed with support from the Australian Space Agency, will collect seismic data for up to one lunar day, providing information that could include locations of subsurface water ice deposits. (11/9)

MDA Reports Increased Revenues (Source: SpaceQ)
Canadian company MDA reported a 19% year-over-year increase in revenues in the third quarter. The company said it had increased work across all its business lines, highlighting efforts on Canadarm3, the robotic arm Canada is providing for the lunar Gateway. The company also reported a record backlog of $3.1 billion, thanks to winning a $2.1 billion contract from Telesat for building the Lightspeed constellation satellites. (11/9)

SETI Receives $200 Million Donation (Source: SETI Institute)
The SETI Institute has received a $200 million donation. The gift, announced Wednesday, comes from the estate of Franklin Antonio, co-founder of Qualcomm, who passed away last year. He had supported work by the institute for 12 years, including its Allen Telescope Array radio observatory. The institute, which funds studies in the search for life beyond Earth, said the funding will go a wide range in initiatives in research, education and technology development. (11/9)

Pioneering Satellite Refueling Technology Could Extend Missions Indefinitely (Source: Space Daily)
In an ambitious move to address the escalating issue of space debris, the UK Space Agency has earmarked 2 million pounds for research into satellite refueling capabilities that could significantly extend mission lifespans and curtail the proliferation of orbital debris. The funding targets feasibility studies that will explore practical strategies for refueling a UK-led debris removal mission, alongside examining the prospects for replenishing commercial satellites already in orbit.

With an overabundance of defunct objects encircling the Earth-approximately 37,000 larger than 10 cm and an estimated 130 million smaller than 1 cm-the potential for collisions with active satellites presents a dire challenge. The rapid speeds at which these remnants traverse the space around our planet make them a hazard for essential 'live' satellites that facilitate critical services such as navigation, weather forecasting, communication, and more. (11/8)

Foxconn Awards Exolaunch with Contract to Deploy the Group's First Satellites (Source: Space Daily)
Exolaunch has signed a launch services agreement (LSA) with Hon Hai Technology Group ("Foxconn") to provide mission management, integration services orbital deployment hardware and services for Foxconn's first ever satellites. Exolaunch is a global provider of launch mission management and deployment services for small satellites, having deployed over 320 satellites into orbit using its proprietary separation technologies on the most frequent and reliable launch vehicles on the market. (11/8)

Solestial Receives NASA SBIR Ignite Contracts for Next Generation Solar Array (Source: Space Daily)
Solestial, Inc. has been awarded $849,954 for a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from NASA. The winning proposal titled, "Next Generation Silicon Based Solar Arrays for Space Stations and Other Permanent Space Infrastructure," comes on the heels of a $149,987 Phase I contract in January 2023. The contracts are from a new pilot program, SBIR Ignite, that funds commercially viable technologies from U.S. startups to support research and development and promote economic growth. (11/8)

New Dossier Showcases How Space is Driving a Greener Future on Earth (Source: Space Daily)
The role that space can play in a greener future for us all is high on the agenda at the ESA Space Summit. A new 'green dossier' to be released alongside the event in Seville on 6-7 November showcases how ESA's flagship business-to-business program is fueling an unprecedented growth in green and sustainable space-enabled commercial activities to address the challenges of climate change.

ESA works with businesses to develop commercially sustainable products and services that are supported by space for use on Earth, through its Business Applications and Space Solutions programme. The programme helps companies of all sizes in a host of areas ranging from agriculture and tourism to energy and transport. (11/8)

NSF Funds Annual Solicitation Seeking Physical Science Research Leveraging the ISS National Lab (Source: CASIS)        
For the ninth consecutive year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding a solicitation that seeks proposals leveraging the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory for research in the physical science area of transport phenomena. NSF will provide up to $3.6 million for multiple projects to utilize the space station for fundamental research focused on fluid dynamics, particulate and multiphase processes, thermal transport processes, combustion and fire systems, and nanoscale interactions. (11/8)