December 15, 2023

Uruguay Will Be Able to Launch Rockets and Satellites Into Space in 2025 (Source: Ambito)
Uruguay continues working on its path in the space race hand in hand with private partners and investments in the country. One of them is Tlon Space S.A., an Argentine company dedicated to putting satellites into orbit that approached the government to carry out an innovative project: the construction of a rocket launch port in Rocha. The initiative involves construction of a spaceport on land belonging to the Ministry of Defense. (12/15)

Rocket Lab Launches Radar Imaging Satellite (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab's Electron returned to flight Thursday after a launch failure nearly three months ago. The Electron lifted off at 11:05 p.m. Eastern and placed the QPS-SAR-5 radar imaging satellite into orbit for Japanese company iQPS. The launch was the first for Electron since a failure in September that the company blamed on an electric arc in the upper stage that resulted from a "largely improbable" series of events. The launch was the tenth Electron mission this year, including one suborbital launch, a record for the company. Rocket Lab is planning up to 22 Electron launches in 2024. (12/15)

Space Force Wants Dynamic Space Operations (Source: Space News)
A Space Force general says the military needs to improve on "dynamic space operations." Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, who runs the Space Force's Space Systems Command and was nominated to be the next vice chief of the U.S. Space Force, said at the Spacepower conference this week that strategic competition with China in space will require the U.S. to shift its reliance on fixed assets in preset orbits to satellites that can move, be upgraded and adapt their tasks as needed. That includes, he said, making use of in-space refueling and servicing capabilities. However, Space Force chief of space operations Gen. Chance Saltzman cautioned that while dynamic space operations is a "fascinating" concept, more analysis is needed. (12/15)

SWOT Ocean Science Satellite Exceeds Expectations (Source: Space News)
Scientists are pleased with the performance of an ocean science satellite launched a year ago. During a session of the AGU Fall Meeting conference this week, the project scientist for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission said that the performance of the spacecraft exceeded "my wildest dreams" with data that was better than requirements immediately after its main instrument was turned on. SWOT, a joint mission between NASA and the French space agency CNES, launched last December to map sea surface heights and water levels in lakes. (12/15)

Apex Plans New California Satellite Factory (Source: Space News)
Small satellite manufacturer Apex will open a new factory next year. The company announced Thursday it selected a nearly 4,300-square-meter facility in Los Angeles for its Factory One, slated to open in the third quarter of 2024. The factory will be able to produce up to 50 of its Aries and larger Nova satellites a year. The first Aries satellite, being built at the company's existing facility in L.A., is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission early next year. (12/15)

SpaceX's Texas Starbase to Expand with Second Orbital Launch Pad (Source: myRGV.com)
A SpaceX executive said the company will continue expanding its Starbase site in South Texas. Speaking at an invitation-only event this week in Brownville, Kathy Lueders, general manager of Starbase and a former NASA associate administrator, said the company plans to build a second orbital launch pad at Starbase to support a higher flight rate. It has also moved engine testing to a new site at a former gun range several kilometers away to minimize beach closures. Lueders said the next Starship launch from Starbase will take place early next year, with "multiple" flights planned for 2024. (12/15)

Artemis Crew Visits White House (Source: AP)
The crew of the Artemis 2 mission visited the White House Thursday. The four astronauts met with President Biden and Vice President Harris in the Oval Office in an event that was not announced by NASA or the White House in advance. The astronauts said afterwards that the president was fulfilling a promise he made to them when they were selected in April to visit the White House. The Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed flight to the moon since 1972, is scheduled for launch no earlier than late 2024. (12/15)

ULA Confirms Vulcan Launch Slip to NET Jan. 8 (Source: ULA)
United Launch Alliance confirmed Thursday that the first Vulcan Centaur launch has slipped to January. The company said it was able to complete a full wet dress rehearsal of the rocket this week after a test last week was cut short because of technical problems. The inaugural launch, carrying Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander, is scheduled for Jan. 8 from Cape Canaveral. The launch had previously been set for Christmas Eve. (12/15)

ESA Extends Director's Term (Source: ESA)
ESA is extending the term of its director general. The agency announced Thursday that the ESA Council agreed to a new four-year term for Josef Aschbacher, starting in March 2025. Aschbacher has been head of the agency since March 2021 and the early renewal by the council "signaled its continued trust" in his ability to lead the agency. ESA also announced the appointments of two new directors, Laurent Jaffart as director of connectivity and secure communications and Marco Ferrazzani and director of internal services. (12/15)

Draft Space Force-NRO Plan for Tracking Moving Targets ‘Floating’ Around Military, IC (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Space Force is circulating a first take on how new satellites equipped with sensors to track terrestrial targets as they move would actually operate and get that data to users — whether they be military “shooters” or intelligence analysts, according to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman. (12/14)

Space Force’s New, Classified ‘Threat Warning’ Sensors Now Delivering Intel on ‘Foreign Capabilities’ (Source: Breaking Defense)
Three novel sensor payloads launched by the Space Force in January are now up and running, collecting data on potential on-orbit threats, according to the director of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SpRCO). The sensor demonstration satellites also are carrying a new, “reprogrammable cryptological payload that gives us enhanced cybersecurity on orbit and reprogram ability of keys and software,” he added. (12/14)

Saltzman: 'Probably No Coincidence' X-37 and Chinese Space Plane Will Launch Near Each Other (Source: Air and Space Forces)
While X-37 may keep going for years to come, it will have to go head-to-head with China’s Shenlong space plane. Saltzman tied it back to the competition between the two countries. “It’s no surprise that the Chinese are extremely interested in our space plane. We’re extremely interested in theirs,” he said. (12/14)

NGA Eyes Imminent, ‘Significant’ Contracts for Commercial GEOINT Object Detection, Analytics (Source: Breaking Defense)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will soon ask industry to submit their proposals for GEOINT data services as it looks to take better advantage of commercial sector capabilities. The multi-vendor contracts will meet the increasing demands for commercial GEOINT. (12/12)

Space Force Budget Must Keep Growing to Support Mission (Source: C4ISRnet)
In the four years since Congress established the U.S. Space Force, its budget has doubled. That growth needs to continue in order to meet the increasing demand for space capabilities, according to one of the service’s top officials. Gen. David Thompson, who retires this week from his post as the vice chief of space operations, said that as the Space Force takes on new responsibilities and missions, it needs the resources to match.

“The budget needs to grow because there are still more missions that are migrating to space,” Thompson told C4ISRNET in an interview. “The challenge is, in this environment, defense budgets are likely not to grow significantly in the near future the way they have in the recent past. ”
(12/14)

China Locks Down GPS Data To Guard State Secrets (Source: Newsweek)
China is launching a new campaign to crack down on the theft of sensitive geographical data by foriegn powers, the country's spy agency has said. The Ministry of State Security announced a rigorous investigation after geographical information was accessed by unnamed adversaries for strategic gain, it said on Sunday in a post on China's do-everything app WeChat. (12/14)

SpaceX Gets US Approval to Test Direct-to-Cell Calls Via Starlink (Source: Bloomberg)
SpaceX obtained US approval to run tests on signals between orbiting Starlink satellites and normal mobile phones on the ground using airwaves in partnership with T-Mobile. The FCC in a notice Thursday said it had granted a SpaceX request for a six-month authorization for trials that would involve about 2,000 test devices and 840 satellites. (12/14)

Key Ingredient for Life Spotted on Saturn's Ocean Moon (Source: Gizmodo)
Scientists discovered additional evidence suggesting the potential habitability of a peculiar icy moon orbiting Saturn, one of the planet’s 146 moons. Although tiny, Enceladus is one of the most likely places in the solar system to host life. Over the years of research, Enceladus has stacked up plenty of data to back up this claim as the moon spews organic compounds that are essential ingredients for life. Now, scientists have found more reason to root for Enceladus, discovering strong evidence for hydrogen cyanide that is key to the origin of life, as well as a source of energy to charge it. (12/14)

Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts in Space Keep Getting Stranger (Source: CNN)
Fast radio bursts, or bright, millisecond-long flashes of radio waves in space, are one of the most enduring mysteries of the cosmos — and they just became a little stranger. The first fast radio burst, or FRB, was discovered in 2007, and since then, hundreds of these quick, intense events have been detected coming from distant points across the universe. In a thousandth of a second, the bursts can generate as much energy as the sun creates in one year or more, according to previous research.

But astronomers don’t understand what causes them. Now, scientists have noticed a never-before-seen quirky pattern in a newly spotted repeating fast radio burst called FRB 20220912A. The discovery provides valuable clues to researchers aiming to identify the phenomenon’s source while introducing new enigmas to unravel. A closer look at the signal revealed something new: a noticeable drop in the center frequency of the bursts, acting like a celestial slide whistle. (12/14)

The Biggest Black Hole Merger Just Got Weirder (Source: Astronomy Magazine)
When the LIGO and Virgo observatories detected gravitational waves in the spring of 2019, the event represented the biggest merger of two black holes ever detected. The wave event, called GW190521, shook the cosmos with a power equal to the energy from eight Suns. It was the first clear detection of a so-called intermediate mass black hole, a class long hypothesized but not observed until the GW190521 event. This event was the result of two black holes of approximately 85 and 66 solar masses coming together. The result was a black hole with a mass of 142 Suns.

Despite the merger’s power, its frequency was so low that gravitational wave detectors did not pick it up until after the black holes’ last two orbits. The black hole merger emitted energy as it initially merged and after it wiggled itself into its new shape. The find is the first evidence of waves created by the gigantic black hole as it settled into its spherical shape. (12/14)

Astronomers Search for Sources of Mind-Bending Gravitational Hum Permeating the Universe (Source: Salon)
In June, scientists presented compelling evidence that they discovered a massive "hum" of low-frequency gravitational waves rippling through the universe. In June, the researchers posited that the massive hum they found was coming from the merging of two supermassive black holes, a type of explosive collision almost too big and too powerful to imagine. But that wasn’t the only candidate as a source. Other potential sources of gravitational waves, like quantum fluctuations in the early universe that were driven to the size of the whole universe by inflation. (12/13)

ESA Explores Aerocapture: a Decades-Old Idea to Orbit Mars (Source: Interesting Engineering)
ESA is embarking on a challenging mission to revolutionize how we reach Mars. The conventional method of orbiting the Red Planet is to use a rocket engine to slow down the spacecraft as it approaches Mars at high speed. This technique has worked well for 16 missions since 1971, including ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter in 2016. But it has some drawbacks. It requires a lot of fuel, which adds to the mass and cost of the mission. It limits the speed at which the spacecraft can arrive at Mars, which prolongs the journey and limits the types and capabilities of missions we can undertake. (12/13)

The Mars Sample Return Mission Is at a Dangerous Crossroads (Source: Scientific American)
If left underfunded during its current stage of development, MSR could face even longer delays and higher costs, the very cause of JSWT’s multi-billion dollar delays. This would stifle exploration of the Red Planet until the late 2030s. (12/14)

Aborted Test and Missing Parts Add to European Space Woes (Source: Reuters)
The final flight of Italy's Vega rocket has been delayed after crucial parts went missing, while the latest test of Europe's new Ariane 6 has been aborted, the European Space Agency said, the latest glitches to affect Europe's troubled launch sector. The aborted test of the upper stage of Ariane 6 should not affect plans for an inaugural launch in mid-2024, ESA said. Europe is racing to restore independent access to space after Ariane 6 suffered repeated delays and the Vega C was grounded after a launch failure, leaving a handful of launches of the original Vega version of the rocket. (12/14)

Florida Legislation Aims to Expand Spaceport Territories (Source: SPACErePORT)
As legislators prepare for the state's annual legislative session starting in January, bills have been introduced to add Homestead Air Reserve Base and Tyndall Air Force Base as "spaceport territories" under Chapter 331, Part Two, Florida Statutes. The designation would allow Space Florida to support various space-related roles for these installations, including spacecraft recovery operations. (12/15)

Florida Space Day Planned for January 23 in Tallahassee (Source: SPACErePORT)
The annual Florida Space Day event is planned for Jan. 23, during the state's annual legislative session in Tallahassee. Space industry leaders are expected to attend to discuss the state's space development priorities with legislators and state government officials. (12/15)

Space Florida Pushes for Tax Exemption for Spaceport Bonds (Source: SPACErePORT)
Space Florida is working with other states to establish federal tax exempt status for bonds issued by spaceport authorities for the development of spaceport infrastructure. The exemption is among a list of recommendations in a Congressional report on improving the US competitive posture against China. The recommendation is as follows:

"Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to include provisions for the issuance of private activity bonds for spaceports to encourage the development of such facilities. Private activity bonds would align financial incentives with the growing interest in commercial space ventures and provide states and local governments with a potent tool to attract private companies and developers to invest in the construction and expansion of spaceports, which can lead to job creation and economic development in the regions that host them." (12/15)

New Air Force Directorate to Oversee 'Monumental' Effort to Deploy Minuteman III Successor (Source: GovCon Daily)
The Air Force Global Strike Command has established the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Modernization Directorate, which will work to oversee the retirement of the LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM and the deployment of the LGM-35A Sentinel. AFGSC said Wednesday that the new directorate, also known as AFGSC/A10, will be led by Brig. Gen. Colin Connor, formerly the deputy director for nuclear and homeland defense operations at the Joint Staff. (12/13)

Richard DalBello on Space Traffic Coordination (Source: Executive Gov)
Richard DalBello, director of the Office of Space Commerce at NOAA, said OSC has made efforts to develop and implement the Traffic Coordination System for Space, or TraCSS, a civil space situational awareness and space traffic coordination — dubbed SSA and STC, respectively — platform. DalBello told Senate lawmakers that TraCSS will serve as a modern information technology system designed to provide satellite tracking data and related services to support civil and commercial space satellite operators and owners.

He said his office is taking a phased development approach for TraCSS to develop capabilities and facilitate the transition of STC and SSA responsibilities from the Department of Defense to the Department of Commerce. “TraCSS will ingest unclassified data from DOD and integrate commercial SSA data and services. Over time and with each phase, more commercial data and commercial SSA services will be integrated as core capabilities,” DalBello stated. (12/14)

Bezos Says What We’re All Thinking: “Blue Origin Needs to be Much Faster” (Source: Ars Technica)
In a rare interview, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made some interesting remarks about Blue Origin. He has invested an extraordinary amount of money into Blue Origin—likely somewhere between $10 billion and $20 billion—and it truly is a passion project. But the inescapable truth about Blue Origin is that to date, it has been a disappointment in terms of execution. At present, Blue Origin employs approximately 11,000 people, about the same total as SpaceX. However, Blue Origin has launched zero rockets this year, whereas SpaceX has launched nearly 100, as well as building and launching thousands of satellites.

Bezos candidly acknowledged this. "Blue Origin needs to be much faster, and it's one of the reasons that I left my role as the CEO of Amazon a couple of years ago," he said. "I wanted to come in, and Blue Origin needs me right now. Adding some energy, some sense of urgency. We need to move much faster. And we're going to."

"We're going to become the world's most decisive company across any industry," he said. "We're going to get really good at taking appropriate technology risks, making those decisions quickly. You know, being bold on those things. And having the right culture that supports that. You need people to be ambitious, technically ambitious. If there are five ways to do something, we'll study them, but let's go through them very quickly and make a decision. We can always change our mind." (12/14)

House and Senate Pass 2024 Defense Policy Bill by Overwhelming Majority (Source: Space News)
The House on Dec. 14 approved the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 310 to 118. The vote came a day after the Senate approved the bill by an 87 to 13 majority. The NDAA is now headed to President Biden’s desk for signature. The White House indicated the president will sign the bill.

The compromise NDAA bill unveiled Dec. 6 authorizes $841.4 billion for the Department of Defense, or about $600 million below the president’s request. The bill authorizes $30.1 billion for the U.S. Space Force, or about $79 million below Biden’s request. The NDAA extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to support Ukraine’s military through 2027. However, Congress has not yet appropriated funding for Ukraine, which the president submitted in an emergency national security supplemental request. Click here. (12/14)

China Launches Mystery Reusable Spaceplane for Third Time (Source: Space News)
China launched its experimental reusable spacecraft for the third time Thursday while maintaining strict secrecy around the mission. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert Dec. 14, sending a “reusable test spacecraft” into low Earth orbit. (12/14)

New Clues for Growing Resilient Crops Found in Space-Grown Cotton (Source: CASIS)
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) that compared how ordinary cotton and cotton genetically modified to withstand drought grew in space. Plants typically struggle to thrive in harsh space environments. To the team’s surprise, the test cotton, especially the genetically modified variety, grew better in space than on Earth. Determining exactly why cotton seems to thrive in space is a mystery that UW researchers are investigating.

Decoding these findings could lead to the production of more resilient crops that withstand stressful conditions on Earth and during long-term space missions. (12/14)

Rocket Lab Sets Launch Date for iQPS's 'The Moon God Awakens' Mission (Source: Space Daily)
In a significant development in the realm of space launches and Earth observation, Rocket Lab is gearing up for its 42nd Electron mission. Scheduled no earlier than Dec. 15, the mission, aptly named "The Moon God Awakens," is set to lift off from New Zealand. This mission holds special significance as it will be carrying a single satellite for the Japan-based Earth imaging company, the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS). (12/14)

Spire Global Secures Major EUMETSAT Contract for Satellite Weather Data (Source: Space Daily)
Spire Global has been awarded a significant contract by EUMETSAT, the European meteorological satellite agency. This multi-million euro deal, spanning an initial period of two years from 2024 to 2026 with potential extensions, marks a significant step in advancing weather forecasting capabilities. (12/13)

NASA's Space Station Laser Comm Terminal Achieves First Link (Source: Space Daily)
A NASA technology experiment on the International Space Station completed its first laser link with an in-orbit laser relay system on Dec. 5, 2023. Together, they complete NASA's first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system. NASA's LCRD (Laser Communications Relay Demonstration) and the new space station demonstration, ILLUMA-T (Integrated LCRD Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal), successfully exchanged data for the first time. (12/14)

How the Coast Guard’s Satellite Imaging Plays a Huge Role in Maritime Domain Awareness (Source: Federal News Network)
The Coast Guard is facing a more complex and varied mission as it protects the U.S. maritime borders, as well as possibly expanding into the Indo-Pacific region. Adm. Linda Fagan, the commandant of the Coast Guard, said an increased presence in the Indo-Pacific region would require both more budget and a larger workforce.

This is why the Coast Guard is relying more and more on satellite data from the automatic identification system (AIS), which provides specific information when monitoring vessels to assist situation awareness. Without additional budget or workforce capacity, the AIS will become more key to mission success. Having AIS turned on is a daily routine for ships traveling, but some foreign vessels may not follow the laws requiring them to be on, leading to suspicious activity and the use of multi-source functions for the Coast Guard to identify the issue. (12/9)

NGA Plans ‘Significant’ Awards for Commercial Data Services (Source: Federal News Network)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is continuing its push to take advantage of unclassified commercial data sources, with plans to launch a competition for commercial GEOINT data services next month. As the commercial space industry continues to grow, NGA is increasingly turning to unclassified, commercial imagery and other services,  rather than highly sensitive government sources. A 2021 strategy spelled out how NGA analysts should turn to commercial imagery as a “primary source” for intelligence analysis.

Whitworth also said NGA is partnering with the National Security Innovation Network to launch a new initiative in early 2024 called the “Global Fishing Forecast Challenge.” The goal is to use unclassified data to forecast illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity. Ten teams will  compete for a $500,000 prize, with each team receiving at least $25,000 for their solution. (12/13)

GAO's Bill Russell on Artemis Timeline Challenges (Source: Federal News Network)
It’s the first time we’ve tried to return to the moon in over 50 years. There’s a reimagining of how to do that, not just to do one moon landing, but to create a sustained lunar presence and ultimately set the foundation for human exploration of Mars. So I think that that ups the complexity a little bit. But what we found is that NASA’s initial schedule is very ambitious when you compare it to the average time it takes equivalent NASA projects to go from start to finish. We found it is about a year faster than the average NASA project, even though there are extra complexities like being able to support humans safely, some of the technical challenges in fueling the lander, getting into orbit, testing that all to meet a 2025 launch date.

We did take a look at the arrangements between NASA and the contractors and found that there is robust insight into the contractors’ activities, especially around how they’re handling safety issues and the progress that they’re making. So the transparency and the relationship between NASA and the contractors was good. This is really a platform to be able to go to the moon multiple times, support multiple missions. Artemis is planned to extend into the 2030s. So it’s more complicated than a-one-and-done approach. And these capabilities are going to be foundational to supporting that larger, sustained effort. (12/13)

A New Tournequet System for Astronaut Healthcare (Source: Northumbria University)
Professor Nick Caplan and Dr Luke Hughes, from Northumbria’s Aerospace Medicine and Rehabilitation Laboratory, have won the 2023 Humans in Space Challenge, run by South Korean health technology company, Boryung, in partnership with Axiom Space and Aurelia. Funding from the competition will allow them to develop a space-ready version of the Delfi Personalised Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction, which is used to perform Blood Flow Restriction Exercise (BFRE).

It involves applying a surgical-grade tourniquet cuff to an individual’s limb and inflating it to compress the limb and reduce blood flow and oxygen supply to muscle and bone tissue during exercise. BFRE has been shown to mitigate loss of muscle and bone mineral in individuals following surgery and during limb immobilisation here on Earth. (12/13)