December 18, 2023

Satellite-to-Phone Player Lynk Aims to Go Public With Slam Deal (Source: Mobile World Live)
Lynk Global has turned to special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Slam in an effort to secure future financial success, inking a merger that aims to see it become a public company on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the second half of 2024. Slam was founded in 2020 by former major league baseball player Alex Rodriguez, who is now listed as its chairman and CEO. The combined company is expected to be valued at no less than $800 million upon the closing of the transaction. (12/18)

Galaxy Power Aerospace (aka Galactic Energy) Raises 1.1 Billion Yuan for Rocket Development (Source: Weixin)
In September 2023, Beijing Galaxy Power Aerospace Technology Co. completed rounds of financing totaling 1.1 billion yuan (~$154 million). This round of financing will be used for the research and development of Pallas-1 reusable liquid launch vehicle technology, and the construction of related production, testing and launch facilities.

Facing the demand for large-scale and rapid networking of low-orbit constellations, Galaxy Power Aerospace will continue to increase its research and development efforts to build a low-cost, highly reliable Pallas 1 medium-to-large reusable carrier Rocket, a rocket product system composed of the Ceres-1 series of light launch vehicles with fast response and high-density launch, covering all aspects of market demand. (12/17)

Offworld Life Science Research: Processing Liver Stem Cell Samples For An Aging Study (Source: Astrobiology)
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli has been processing liver stem cell samples inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox for the Space AGE investigation. The experiment is researching space-caused aging symptoms like those seen in the elderly on Earth and observes how aged immune cells affect liver regeneration providing deeper insights into the biology of aging and its effects on disease mechanisms. (12/17)

ARFL's Oracle Developing Nation's 1st Cislunar Space Situational Awareness Capabilities (Source: AFRL)
Over the last several years, the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, unveiled two programs, Defense Deep Space Sentinel, or D2S2, and Oracle, to develop cislunar space situational awareness, or SSA, capabilities. Both programs are now under a single umbrella known as the Oracle family of systems, with D2S2 renamed Oracle Mobility, or Oracle-M, and the original Oracle gaining the designation “Prime,” or Oracle-P.

This technology provides the foundations for safe operations in cislunar space in support of responsible and sustainable lunar exploration. Military, civilian and contractor scientists and engineers will analyze the data over the next several years, enabling the transition of technology, knowledge and vision of future space capabilities for the United States Space Force. (12/11)

Orbital Micro Systems Awarded $1.7M SDA Contract for GEMS-PEARL Passive Microwave Payloads (Source: AccessWire)
Orbital Micro Systems was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II agreement by the Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA). The agreement was awarded to OMS for prototype design, production, and testing of the Global Environmental Monitoring System - Passive and Exchangeable Advanced Radiometers for Low-Earth orbit (GEMS-PEARL) microwave imager and sounder payloads. OMS will build engineering prototypes of the GEMS-PEARL radiometers and perform extensive laboratory testing and characterization of key subsystems as well as validating the expected performance of retrieved environmental data products. (12/12)

SpaceX Starship Fans Boost Rio Grande Valley Businesses (Source: San Antonio Express-News)
The morning before the second flight of SpaceX’s Starship mega rocket, every table was full at Grapevine Cafe, a cozy breakfast and lunch joint in a strip mall off Swordfish Avenue. Fall and winter are low season for island tourism, and the Grapevine wouldn’t usually be at capacity on a weekday in mid-November. This fall, however, the possibility of a Starship launch drew people from around the world hoping to see the stainless steel giant blast off from Starbase across the bay.

Starbase-area business owners say that while infrequent and hard to plan for, the extra traffic from space tourists provides a boost that helps them make it through such slow periods. And they’re looking forward to a time when they can count on a regular schedule of launches. SpaceX’s influence was obvious at Grapevine. Several customers wore T-shirts or hats emblazoned with the space company’s logo as waiters brought them plates of apple cinnamon pancakes, loaded hash browns or chilaquiles. (12/17)

Report Outlines Lessons Learned From First U.K. Launch (Source: Space News)
Nearly a year after the failed Virgin Orbit launch from England, United Kingdom government officials remain optimistic about the prospects for building up a launch industry in the country. The U.K. Space Agency released a lessons learned report Dec. 14 on the “UK Pathfinder Launch,” the January 2023 launch by Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne from Spaceport Cornwall in southwestern England. The launch was billed as the first orbital launch from U.K. soil, but the payload of several smallsats failed to reach orbit when the rocket’s second stage malfunctioned.

“Although the satellites onboard were not placed into orbit due to a technical anomaly with the rocket’s second stage engine,” the agency stated in the report, “this historic event demonstrated the UK’s ability to launch, safely, legally and with the appropriate coordination across government.”

The report made several recommendations about the process of conducting launches from the country. That included streamlining the licensing process to make it easier for companies to demonstrate they have the financial and technical capabilities to carry out a launch, sharing information among the various government agencies involved in launches and improved coordination with other nations whose airspace and waters may be affected by launches. (12/16)

Russia’s Second Meteorological Satellite Arktika-M Launched from Baikonur (Source: TASS)
Russia’s second meteorological satellite Arktika-M, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been successfully put into a designated orbit with a Fregat booster, Roscosmos said. (12/16)

The Mineral Supply Chain And The New Space Race (Source: Forbes)
"Strategic materials and manufacturing have always created new real wealth. America has handed that source of wealth to other nations, in every key sector from semiconductor to aerospace. Space is a new frontier and offers a second chance to reverse that error, and to go from consumers to makers. That process must begin with the supply of basic factor inputs, notably minerals."

We routinely hear Americans referred to as “consumers” and when our economy falls ill, the Rx is always fiscal and monetary stimuli designed to get American “consumers” back into the shopping malls, buying more Chinese goods, produced from a global supply chain of raw materials increasing controlled by the authoritarian state.

This naïve economic strategy is like prescribing sugary cough syrup for pneumonia. It helps the financial press feel better for a couple of quarters, getting us through another election cycle; but it has bred staggering deficits and more recently it has pushed our economy toward stagflation. Worse, this process has funded and legitimized a genocidal regime and created a near peer military threat that requires ever increasing DoD budgets to defend against. (12/16)

Hokkaido Spaceport Emerges as Japan's Gateway to the Stars (Source: Japan Forward)
The construction of the Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO) is progressing steadily. In 2019, a small rocket launched from the town successfully reached outer space. Currently, a launch site for rockets carrying small satellites is under construction and is expected to be operational in 2024. As the global demand for small satellites increases and private space travel expands, HOSPO is gaining attention as Japan's new "gateway to space." The spaceport is managed and operated by the spaceport agency SPACE COTAN.

In October, the Hokkaido Space Summit was held in nearby Obihiro city. Around 800 people from government and industry attended the summit. During the summit, SPACE COTAN's CEO Yoshinori Odagiri explained the location's advantages and prospects as a spaceport. "The environment is very similar to the Kennedy Space Center [United States]," he said. (12/14)

NASA and China are Competing for Space Allies in the Middle East (Source: The Hill)
The UAE has its own astronaut corps, one member of which, Sultan Alneyadi, recently concluded a six-month tour on the International Space Station. NASA is thus very keen to cement ties with the Arab Gulf state further by including Emirati astronauts in the Artemis project. The United Arab Emirates has also forged ties with China’s lunar effort. According to Space News, the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, the University of Sharjah and the UAE signed a memorandum of understanding “on cooperation on the International Lunar Research Station” on Nov. 14.

Is the UAE hedging its bets? Playing both sides against the middle? In any case, the country is in the position of being wooed by both sides of the modern space race. In the meantime, Egypt, the largest country in terms of population in the Middle East, has signed on with China’s International Lunar Research Station project. The agreement is the latest in China’s engagement with Egypt on space, which includes the establishment of a Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center in Cairo and the recent launch of the Misrsat-2 remote sensing satellite.

Both Egypt and Jordan, moderate Arab states, should be enticed into the Artemis Accords. The Artemis Program alone will not bring peace to the Middle East, but it will demonstrate the benefits of the peaceful exploration of space in a part of the world too often characterized by war and death. (12/17)

How to Prepare Shareholders with a Moon Landing On the Way (Source: CNBC)
The space industry doesn’t command people’s day-to-day attention in a way that, say, the tech world does. Throngs of investors follow FANG stocks, and consumers look for updates about new iPhones or changes to Netflix pricing. The space industry doesn’t draw the same widespread attention to new spacecraft deliveries or rocket prices, even if those in the bubble care a lot.

So then how do space companies, especially publicly-traded names, break out to connect with folks who aren’t focused on space? Does the industry need to break out of the “space bubble” into the mainstream? Or is the insulated nature of the industry a permanent feature that must be factored into any company’s messaging? Click here. (12/14)

Four Tons of Satellites to be Launched Daily by 2032 (Source: EuroConsult)
Euroconsult announces the release of its highly anticipated 26th edition flagship report, “Satellites to be Built and Launched". This edition forecasts an average of over 2,800 satellites launched annually – equivalent to 8 satellites per day and totaling a mass of 4 tons – between 2023 and 2032. (12/12)

SaxaVord Granted Spaceport Licence by UK Civil Aviation Authority (Source: UKCAA)
The UK officially has a brand-new spaceport following SaxaVord, on the North Coast of the Shetland Islands, receiving a licence from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The licence marks several firsts for the UK’s growing space sector including being the first-ever vertical spaceport on UK soil. The spaceport is also the first fully licensed vertical spaceport in Western Europe.

SaxaVord has been assessed by the space regulator to verify that appropriate safety, security, and environmental criteria are met to operate a spaceport, and that it has the suitable infrastructure, equipment, and services to accommodate vertical space launches. The spaceport licence puts Scotland at the forefront of the European launch market. (12/16)

ispace and Orbit Fab Agree to Aggressively Pursue and Enable a Sustainable Lunar Economy (Source: ispace)
ispace and Orbit Fab announced an agreement to collaborate on in-space propellant harvesting and delivery for future missions to the Moon. The ispace-Orbit Fab partnership will leverage each company’s unique and complementary capabilities to develop effective propellants and fuels from resources in space, such as water, ice, and lunar regolith or fine and rocky soils found on the surface of the Moon. (12/11)

It's Been 2 Months. Why Can't NASA Open the Asteroid Sample Container? (Source: Gizmodo)
The asteroid bits were sealed inside a round sampler head at the end of an articulated arm that the spacecraft used to grab the sample. Ever since arriving to Earth, the TAGSAM head (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism), where the bulk of the asteroid sample is stored, has been a bit stubborn.

The curation team for the OSIRIS-REx mission has been having trouble opening up TAGSAM, which is being carefully handled by members of the team through a specialized glovebox under the flow of nitrogen to prevent contamination. Two of the 35 fasteners on the TAGSAM head could not be removed with the current tools approved for use in the OSIRIS-REx glovebox, preventing them from extracting the sample inside. (12/15)

SpaceX Delays First Starlink Satellites with Direct-to-Cell Capability (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX is looking to rebound from a week of scuttled launches with a Falcon 9 launch from California. The Starlink 7-9 mission will feature another batch of 21 satellites heading up to low Earth orbit, something that has become almost routine for the company. However, this late night Friday mission is unique in that it will include the first six Starlink satellites that feature direct-to-cell capabilities. SpaceX stated that the new function “will enable mobile network operators around the world to provide seamless global access to texting, calling and browsing… on land, lakes or coastal waters.”  (12/15)

New Mexico's Spaceport America Is an Economic Dream Deferred (Source: New York Times)
From his tiny gem store in southern New Mexico, Robert Hanseck spends his days untangling chakra beads and answering questions about the healing properties of amethyst crystals. After four decades behind the register, he has met thousands of wellness-minded tourists eager to explore the hot springs that span the region. But he almost never sees the type of traveler he was promised would transform his small town of Truth or Consequences: space enthusiasts.

“It’s been a flop,” he said of Spaceport America, a project that was conceived as the vanguard of commercial space travel — and that has been promoted by state officials for more than two decades as a launchpad for the local economy. Less than a mile up the road, Arthur Burger, who owns an art gallery, recounted the moment in 2021 when he watched in awe as a rocket plane soared into the sky. “That week, people came in from London, from Taipei,” Mr. Burger said. “It was surreal.”

After years of delays, Virgin Galactic, the anchor tenant at Spaceport America, had sent its founder, Richard Branson, and a team to the edge of space — evidence at last, many in the area thought, that New Mexico was a front-runner in the commercial space race. In this stretch of rural New Mexico, there are plenty of opinions about Spaceport, a futuristic structure on a desolate stretch of desert that has cost more than $200 million in state and local funds. Click here. (12/15)

A Maverick Physicist is Building a Case for Scrapping Quantum Gravity (Source: Science News)
A rift runs deep through the heart of physics. The general theory of relativity, which describes gravity, clashes with quantum physics. In an effort to seal that physics fissure, untold numbers of physicists have spent their careers working to build a theory of quantum gravity. But one physicist is championing a radically different path. Jonathan Oppenheim thinks that gravity might be fundamentally classical, meaning it isn’t quantum at all. It’s an unconventional idea, to say the least.

All known forces except gravity are formulated in terms of quantum physics. The prevailing view is that gravity will need to assimilate with its quantum colleagues. But gravity is different, Oppenheim argues. While other forces evolve within a landscape of spacetime, gravity is the warping of spacetime itself. So, Oppenheim says, “it is pretty unclear that it should have a quantum nature, in my view.” (12/8)

Scientists Went to an Asteroid to Sample the Sun (Source: Economist)
The Bennu sample was pristine. Though bits of asteroids fall to the Earth every day as meteorites, they are not protected from the heat of re-entry or later contamination at the surface. The Bennu sample was. This matters because asteroids like Bennu are the most primitive objects in the solar system, remnants of the cloud of gas and dust that collapsed to form the sun. They are thought to have changed hardly at all in the billions of years since.

This means that the elements they contain are present in the same relative abundances as would be found in the young sun itself, and in the raw material of the rest of the solar system. The Bennu sample is “the largest pristine reservoir of this material on Earth,” Dr Lauretta said. “This alone, in my opinion as a cosmochemist, makes the whole mission worthwhile.” (12/14)

Discovery of Two Planetary Systems Around Sun-Like Stars (Source: Phys.org)
The first system, TOI-2141, consists of a star located 250 light-years away, with a size nearly identical and a slightly more advanced age than our sun. Its chemical composition reveals a scarcity of heavier elements (the quantity is an important factor in planetary formation). The planet TOI-2141b was detected using the transit method, has a diameter three times larger than Earth and a mass approximately 24 times that of Earth, classified as a mini-Neptune. It completes an orbit around the star every 18.26 days.

The second system, TOI-1736, is somewhat exotic. The main star is at a distance of 290 light-years and is very similar to the sun, especially in terms of temperature and age, being only about 15% larger than the sun and having a slightly higher concentration of heavier chemical elements. TOI-1736 has a companion star, smaller and cooler. The cooler star is sufficiently distant to avoid interference with the planetary system, which orbits exclusively around the primary sun-like star.

At least two planets were detected in this system. The first, TOI-1736b, is also a mini-Neptune. Due to this proximity, the planet receives significantly more radiation from the star, resulting in an estimated temperature of 800°C. The second planet, TOI-1736c, does not show transits, and it has a mass 2,800 times greater than that of Earth, nearly nine times larger than Jupiter. With this size, TOI-1736c is classified as a super-Jupiter and narrowly missed becoming a star. It completes an orbit every 570 days. (12/15)

GE Aerospace Achieves Breakthrough in Hypersonic Engine Development (Source: Flight Global)
GE Aerospace says it has achieved a significant breakthrough in efforts to develop a reusable engine capable of powering ultra-fast hypersonic flight. GE Aerospace on 14 December revealed that scientists at its Global Research Center in Upstate New York successfully tested a dual-mode ramjet (DMRJ) engine subscale demonstrator that uses a novel technique called rotating detonation combustion (RDC). The company says the design could enable high-speed, long-range flight with greater efficiency than what is available with current scramjet engines, for both expendable and reusable vehicles. (12/14)

Mars' Atmosphere Swelled Like a Balloon When Solar Wind Stopped Blowing. Scientists are Thrilled (Source: Space.com)
Mars' atmosphere, once as thick as if not thicker than Earth's today, is leaking into space. About 0.25 lbs of Mars' atmosphere (0.11 kg) is pushed away every second by the incessant solar wind, the speedy stream of charged particles routinely blasted from the sun which pervade the solar system and even reach beyond Pluto.

But for a rare two days last December, some of that wind went away. Its sudden and dramatic disappearance caused the atmosphere on Mars' sun-facing side to swell by nearly four times its usual size — from its usual 497 miles to over 1,864 miles. The peculiar event was recorded by a NASA orbiter named MAVEN which has been observing both Mars's atmosphere and its response to the sun's behavior since 2014. MAVEN's data showed other aspects of the Martian system, including the tear drop-shaped magnetosphere, the bow shock and the ionosphere expanded similarly. (12/13)

Space Coast-Based AML Plans Advanced Magnet Manufacturing (Source: AML)
Advanced Magnet Lab manufacturing capabilities are built on the backbone of its technology, PM-Wire, which is a scalable and modular, manufacturing process, that has ability to produce non-sintered and sintered permanent magnets at a high-rate and high-yield. The process is adaptable to a variety of applications, including those that benefit from magnets in unique configurations and material compositions for end-use applications in industrial generators, aerospace, and defense.

The Company’s first step into high-rate commercial manufacturing will be non-sintered permanent magnets for select commercial and defense customers. AML has several development programs underway for enabling electric motor applications, including a collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for an electric vehicle motor. AML plans to co-locate manufacturing with customers or supply chain partners, with preliminary discussions underway with several United States jurisdictions for site locations. (12/15)

Environmental Groups File New Claims Over SpaceX's First Starship Launch (Source: Douglas Messier Substack)
National and local environmental groups and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas, Inc., filed additional legal claims today against the FAA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Today’s filing focuses on the agencies’ failure to fully analyze and mitigate environmental harms from the April 20 explosion of the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy rocket and launchpad at Boca Chica in south Texas. Despite an ongoing lawsuit, the FAA decided that a supplemental environmental analysis wasn’t warranted. The agency also refused to provide an opportunity for public comment before permitting the second launch on November 18.

Today’s complaint also argues that USFWS failed to address the harm from the April 20 explosion and efforts to recover thousands of chunks of concrete and metal from sensitive tidal flat habitat. The Service further failed to address excessive noise and vibrations from the first launch, including reports that noise levels greatly exceeded what was expected. It further states that the FAA relied entirely on a SpaceX-conducted investigation of the April 20 explosion. The agency doesn’t appear to have conducted an independent investigation. (12/15)

Intuitive Machines/KBR Team Wins NASA OMES III Engineering Contract (Source: ASRC)
Space & Technology Solutions, a joint venture with Intuitive Machines and KBR, has won NASA's Omnibus Multidiscipline Engineering Services III (OMES III) contract. The team is supported by ASRC and Space Coast Aerospace Services (SCAS) for hardware and software engineering — including the development and validation of new technologies to enable future space and science missions for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program and NASA’s Exploration and In-space Services (NExIS) projects division. (12/14)

Space Perspective Reveals Balloon-Bourne Space Capsule (Source: Space Perspective)
Space Perspective revealed Spaceship Neptune's capsule, their latest marvel in sustainable space travel. Take a behind-the-scenes look at the assembly and vision of our space capsule designed for new heights. At Space Perspective, we're committed to sustainable exploration, and Spaceship Neptune is leading the way. Our commitment to sustainable travel extends beyond the Earth, ensuring a minimal environmental footprint in every mission. Click here. (12/15)

NASA Partners with Commercial Space Firms for Expanded CubeSat Launch Services (Source: Space Daily)
NASA is collaborating with several commercial space companies under its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This will expand opportunities for science and technology payloads, including small sats and cubesats.VADR partners include ABL Space Systems, Astra Space, Blue Origin, Firefly, L2 Solutions, Northrop Grumman, Phantom Space, Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, and ULA. (12/15)