December 3, 2023

Life After the ISS (Source: Quartz)
How do you retire when you’re irreplicable? That’s the question facing the International Space Station. With NASA having announced plans to retire the ISS in 2030, the clock is ticking to develop a replacement. The ISS was built on international goodwill and cooperation, but amid increasing political turmoil, many of the new plans are being put forth by individual nations and commercial partnerships. Here are five frontrunners. (11/30)

India Set to Launch its First X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (Source: )
India is set to launch its first X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), aiming to investigate the polarisation of intense X-Ray sources. While space-based X-Ray astronomy has been established in India, focusing predominantly on imaging, time-domain studies, and spectroscopy, the upcoming XPoSat mission marks a major value addition. (11/30)

Telescopes Didn't Always Play Nicely with Each Other. That's About to Change (Source: Universe Today)
A team of researchers addressed the main problem of assessing images from sky surveys taken over many years from different telescope in different locations under different conditions. The challenge has been to match observations of the same objects and when the surveys are in close proximity this can be more challenging. Existing tools have been available to crossmatch data from various catalogs such as TopCat, CDS Match and Aspects but to date, these are sow and have had higher than wished for failure rates.

The team has developed a new data science approach known catchily as ‘mixed integer quadratically constrained programming’ or MIQCP for short that centres around assigning a score to each pair of observations from different observing runs from different surveys. The assigned score measures the likelihood that the observations were of the same object and the score increases as the observations are closer and decreases if further apart. (11/30)

Satellites Watch World's Largest Iceberg Break Away From Antarctica (Source: BBC)
The world's largest iceberg is drifting beyond Antarctic waters and satellites are tracking its movement from space. The iceberg, called A23a, has broken loose and is moving past the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula after being grounded for more than three decades. Recent satellite images reveal that the iceberg, weighing nearly a trillion tons, is drifting at a rate of three miles each day, aided by strong winds and ocean currents. The European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission has been closely tracking the movement of A23a. (11/30)

Racing to the Moon and Mars, US Intelligence Sees China Advancing with Remarkable Speed (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. intelligence officials in 2019 acknowledged that China’s lunar advances had surprised them. They are no longer surprised. The intelligence community now assesses with confidence that China is poised to succeed in landing humans on the moon and constructing a permanent base camp at the lunar south pole by the end of this decade, four intelligence officials told McClatchy, just as NASA has fallen behind its own deadlines to achieve similar milestones.

It is the first time intelligence officials have publicly detailed their concerns that China may win the race to return people to the moon and establish a lunar outpost — an achievement that could set back U.S. plans for human space travel for decades to come. Neither country plans to stop at the moon. Both see it as a training ground for missions to Mars in the 2030s, vying to make history by sending humans deep into space and landing them for the first time on another planet. (11/28)

HEO Expands Global Presence With The Opening of USA Office (Source: HEO)
HEO is excited to announce the establishment of its United States of America office, HEO (USA), marking a strategic move to enhance its presence in North America. This expansion reflects HEO's commitment to serving new and existing defence, government, and commercial customers in the United States. HEO is a non-Earth imaging and analytics provider that enables assessment of the status, operation, and anomalous behaviour of objects in orbit, so that space players can confidently act in space and on Earth. (12/1)

Ursa Major Raises $318 Million (Source: Space News)
Ursa Major said Thursday it has raised $138 million in a pair of funding rounds. The funding is a combination of a Series D round announced earlier this year and a more recent Series D-1 round the company added "due to strong interest in accelerating development on several future programs." Investors include Explorer 1 Fund and Eclipse, RTX Ventures, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Exor Ventures, Mack & Co., XN and other institutional shareholders. The funding will support a new solid rocket motor program the company recently announced as well as ongoing work on its Hadley and Ripley liquid-propellant engines. (12/1)

Intelsat's New Antenna Works with Starlink and other GEO Satellites (Source: Space News)
Intelsat has developed a new antenna that can work with both its own geostationary satellites as well as SpaceX's Starlink constellation. Intelsat showed off the antenna, mounted on a vehicle, at an investor day event Thursday. About a dozen of the antennas, ruggedized to meet military specifications, have been sold to date to the Defense Department. Intelsat is also in discussions with Amazon about a similar antenna that would work with the Project Kuiper constellation. (12/1)

Senate's 2024 Spending Bill Would Cut NASA Funding, While House Bill Keeps Budget Flat (Source: Space News)
The Senate version of a 2024 spending bill could be "very problematic" for NASA's space technology programs. At an advisory committee meeting Thursday, Prasun Desai, acting associate administrator for space technology at NASA, said that while neither the House nor Senate bills fully fund NASA's proposed budget for space technology, the Senate version is more concerning since it would cut spending by about 7% from 2023, versus a House bill that would keep the budget flat.

Spending reductions would be spread unevenly among space technology programs since some are fully funded in the bill or, in the case of nuclear thermal propulsion, would be significantly increased. He said NASA is being "conservative" about how it spends money on space technology during the ongoing continuing resolution, which keeps spending at 2023 levels until early February, in case there is a cut in the final 2024 bill. (12/1)

Former Blue Origin Executive Sues for BE-4 Engine Manufacturing Safety (Source: TechCrunch)
A former Blue Origin executive has filed suit against the company, claiming he was fired for raising safety concerns. In the suit, filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Craig Stoker said he was fired as BE-4 program manager last year after months of trying to raise issues about the safety of workers building BE-4 engines. Stoker blamed Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith for ignoring those concerns and creating a hostile work environment. Blue Origin has not commented on the suit, while Smith is stepping down as CEO this month. (12/1)

China's Shanghai City Government Focuses on Space Development (Source: Space News)
A Shanghai government initiative aims to foster a robust commercial space ecosystem in the Chinese city. An "action plan" published by the Shanghai municipal government in November proposed supporting development of a space ecosystem that would produce 50 commercial rockets and 600 commercial satellites a year by 2025. The Shanghai government will adapt policies to attract and foster related high-end industry and talent, according to the announcement. This includes creating industrial funds and improving related industry support policies and cultivating 10 key commercial aerospace enterprises. (12/1)

Studying Self-Contained Spheres of Liquid Protein in Space Could Help Improve Medicine on Earth (Source: CASIS)
Protein-based therapeutics treat and prevent a wide range of conditions, from cancer to HIV, but protein clumping during manufacturing is a problem. Finding a way to avoid or reverse clumping could remove a major roadblock, but studying the complex motion of proteins in solution on Earth is difficult. This is because the proteins interact with the walls of the container holding the solution, which affects their behavior.

In the microgravity environment on the space station, researchers from Arizona State University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute did something impossible on Earth—they studied protein solutions without a container. In the absence of gravity, the liquid forms into a floating, self-contained sphere, allowing the team to study protein motion in new ways and create models to better understand the factors that lead to protein clumping. (12/1)

After 50 Years, US to Return to Moon on January 25 (Source: AFP)
The lander, named Peregrine, will have no one on board. It was developed by American company Astrobotic, whose CEO John Thornton said it will carry NASA instruments to study the lunar environment in anticipation of NASA's Artemis manned missions. Several years ago, NASA opted to commission US companies to send scientific experiments and technologies to the Moon -- a program called CLPS. These fixed-price contracts should make it possible to develop a lunar economy, and provide transport services at a lower cost. (12/1)

DIU Invites Industry Proposals for Dual-Use Satellite Networks (Source: Space News)
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is seeking proposals from industry to combine commercial and military satellite networks. The Hybrid Space Architecture aims to take advantage of commercial satellite broadband services, in-space laser communication, cloud computing, quantum-secure encryption and other innovations. DIU selected eight companies last year for the first phase of the project, and in a new solicitation Wednesday sought proposals in four key areas: persistent sensing, data transport, high-performance edge computing and data fusion. (11/30)

Space Norway Broadband Satellites Pass Tests (Source: Space News)
Two satellites designed to provide broadband communications for the Arctic have passed key tests. Space Norway said the two satellites for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission completed thermal vacuum tests conducted by their manufacturer, Northrop Grumman. The satellites are scheduled to launch in mid-2024 and operate in highly elliptical orbits optimized to cover the Arctic. The satellites carry military communications payloads from the U.S. and Norway as well as a Ka-band commercial payload from Viasat. (11/30)

China's CALT Developing Reusable Air-Launch System (Source: Space News)
Another Chinese manufacturer is working on a reusable air-launch system. The system is being designed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) to deliver a payload of up to 300 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit. The three-stage rocket would be launched from a plane at subsonic speeds, with the first stage able to land using "air rudder" technology for reuse. An air-launch system could help small satellites get to space while avoiding bottlenecks at Chinese spaceports. (11/30)

France's Kayrros Develops Tool for Global Methane Tracking by Satellite (Source: Space News)
A French company has unveiled a free tool for tracking global methane emissions using satellite data. The public platform released this week by Kayrros uses data from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-5P satellite and a sensor on the International Space Station to provide daily snapshots of methane, a major cause of global warming. The map shows 5,645 methane "super-emitters", or sources that release the gas at a significantly higher rate than is typical, most of which are linked to fossil fuels. The methane map comes on the eve of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, in Dubai. (11/30)

Arcfield Acquires Orion Space Solutions (Source: Space News)
Defense and intelligence contractor Arcfield has acquired Orion Space Solutions. Orion, founded in 2005 as Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates, focuses on atmospheric science, space exploration and research, building smallsats and payloads for them. Arcfield said the acquisition will enhance its business both in space exploration systems as well as hypersonic tracking capabilities. Arcfield is a portfolio company of the private equity firm Veritas Capital, formed from Peraton's former systems engineering and support services business. (11/30)

House Advances Commercial Space Bill, With Republicans Favoring Commercial Space Regulation (Source: Space News)
The House Science Committee advanced a commercial space bill Wednesday on a party-line vote. The committee favorably reported the Commercial Space Act of 2023 on a 21-17 vote, with Republicans voting in favor of the bill and Democrats opposed to it. A key element of the bill is to establish a "mission authorization" regulatory regime for new space activities not currently licensed, an approach different from what the White House has proposed. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), ranking member of the committee, said that while she opposed the bill in its current form, she hoped to work with Republicans on changes before it is taken up by the full House. (11/30)

NASA Promotes Westlake for Heliophysics (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected a new director of its heliophysics division. The agency announced Wednesday that Joseph Westlake will take over leadership of that division in January. He currently is a researcher and project scientist for the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe mission at the Applied Physics Lab. He succeeds Nicola Fox, who became NASA's associate administrator for science early this year. (11/30)

Progress MS-25 Brings Fresh Supplies to Space Station Crew (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Russia’s uncrewed Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft docked with the International Space Station to resupply the seven-person Expedition 70 crew living aboard the outpost. The spacecraft launched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying some 5,600 pounds of supplies, including food, consumables, experiments and hardware. (12/3)

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Starlink Satellites on Saturday From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Postponed from its initial Friday night launch window, the 11 p.m. EST launch deployed a payload of 23 Starlink internet-beaming satellites into low-Earth orbit. The 230-foot rocket's first-stage booster descended for a fiery landing aboard the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas out on the Atlantic Ocean. (12/3)

NASA, Small Companies Eye New Cargo Delivery, Heat Shield Technologies (Source: Space Daily)
Two small businesses are benefitting from NASA's expertise as they develop heat shield technologies, cargo delivery systems, and new protective materials for spacecraft and space stations in the growing commercial industry of low Earth orbit operations. The two American companies - Canopy Aerospace Inc. of Littleton, Colorado and Outpost Technologies Corp. of Santa Monica, California - recently announced progress in the development of a new heat shield manufacturing capability and a new cargo transportation system for potential use on the International Space Station and future commercial space stations. (11/30)

Scientist Hails Accuracy of Chinese Geomagnetic Satellite Data (Source: Space Daily)
The Macao Science Satellite 1 network, China's leading space-based geomagnetic monitoring system, has achieved remarkable feats and attracted scientists from around the world, according to a top member of the program. Zhang Keke, director of the Macao Institute of Space Technology and Application, said in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that research into geomagnetic fields is one of the frontier spheres in the international science community and the two-satellite network is able to accurately detect and measure the space-time variables of Earth's magnetic fields. (12/1)

Interstellar Ice May Hold the Key to Understanding Life's Origins (Source: Space Daily)
Recent research presents a novel perspective on the origins of life's essential components, particularly amino acids. Utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the researchers observed the formation of carbamic acid and ammonium carbamate at extremely low temperatures of -348 degrees Fahrenheit and -389 degrees Fahrenheit. This discovery indicates that such molecules, precursors to more complex amino acids, could have formed during the earliest and coldest stages of star formation. Interestingly, the study also found that at warmer temperatures, akin to those around a newly formed star, two carbamic acid molecules could combine, forming a stable gas. (12/1)

Direct-to-Phone Satellite Connectivity Emerging as Major New Market This Decade (Source: Space Daily)
The Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) industry is currently witnessing a pivotal transformation. This transformative shift is primarily attributed to the emergence of direct-to-device satellite solutions, particularly direct-to-phone services. These advancements are a result of integrating terrestrial and non-terrestrial network (NTN) connectivity, coupled with significant technological developments. By 2032, it is estimated that direct-to-phone services could connect approximately 130 million average monthly users. (12/1)

Hanwha Turns to Eutelsat OneWeb for Satellite Connectivity in South Korea (Source: Space Daily)
Hanwha System has  entered into a distribution partnership agreement with Eutelsat OneWeb, part of the renowned Eutelsat Group and the world's first GEO-LEO satellite operator. This strategic collaboration aims to offer high-speed, low latency connectivity services across South Korea. (12/1)

NASA Tests In-Flight Capability of Artemis Moon Rocket Engine (Source: Space Daily)
NASA conducted the third RS-25 engine hot fire in a critical 12-test certification series Nov. 29, demonstrating a key capability necessary for flight of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket during Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. NASA is conducting the series of tests to certify new manufacturing processes for producing RS-25 engines for future deep space missions, beginning with Artemis V. Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris company and lead engines contractor for the SLS rocket, is incorporating new manufacturing techniques and processes, such as 3D printing, in production of new RS-25 engines. (12/1)

Globalsat Enhances Connectivity Across Latin America with Rivada's OuterNET (Source: Space Daily)
Globalsat Group, a provider of mission-critical satellite and wireless connectivity solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Rivada Space Networks to deploy the OuterNET, a next-generation data network, across Latin America. This collaboration is set to revolutionize connectivity for customers in key sectors such as energy, government, NGOs, agriculture, utilities, and transportation, extending throughout the Americas and beyond. (12/1)

NASA's 6-Pack of Mini-Satellites Ready for Their Moment in the Sun (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) is using half a dozen satellites. This month, mission members completed construction of the six identical cereal box-size satellites, which will now go into storage and await their final testing and ride to space aboard a ULA Vulcan rocket, sponsored by the United States Space Force (USSF)'s Space Systems Command (SSC). The satellites will work together to act like one giant radio antenna in space. The mission will study the physics of explosions in the Sun's atmosphere. (12/1)