February 1, 2024

Spaceport Fees Going Up for Launch Companies (Source: C4ISRnet)
Starting this summer, the US Space Force will increase charges for launch companies using its spaceports, following a new provision in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act. This change allows the Space Force to pursue additional revenue streams to fund range modernization, including charging for "indirect" costs like facilities repair and maintenance, which was previously prohibited under the 1984 Commercial Space Act. (2/1)

Norwegian NorSat-TD Microsat Achieves Optical Communication Breakthrough (Source: Space Daily)
The NorSat-TD microsatellite, developed by the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA), has successfully established an optical satellite-to-ground communications link. This achievement marks a pioneering moment for a Dutch-built laser communication device and positions the NorSat-TD among the early microsatellites to accomplish this feat. (2/1)

Britain's Space Capabilities Boosted by Pulsar Fusion's Latest Engine Test (Source: Space Daily)
Pulsar Fusion has marked a significant achievement in the realm of space technology by successfully demonstrating a cutting-edge space engine, distinguished as the largest ever fired in Britain. This new engine, designed to propel a more advanced generation of satellites, represents a leap in the capabilities of in-space propulsion systems.

In a recent test conducted at the University of Southampton, the company showcased this giant engine, which is ten times larger than conventional engines in its category. This test, executed on Monday, 29th January, was a part of a collaborative effort partly funded by the UK Space Agency. The agency's involvement underscores the national significance of this advancement in the UK's space technology sector. (2/1)

Lunar Night Puts Japan's Lander Back to Sleep (Source: Space Daily)
After a brief awakening, Japan's Moon lander is out of action again but will resume its mission if it survives the two-week lunar night, the space agency said Thursday. The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down last month at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way. As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days this week and carried out scientific observations of a crater with its high-spec camera. (2/1)

NASA's Fission Surface Power Project Energizes Lunar Exploration (Source: Space Daily)
NASA is wrapping up the initial phase of its Fission Surface Power Project, which focused on developing concept designs for a small, electricity-generating nuclear fission reactor that could be used during a future demonstration on the Moon and to inform future designs for Mars.

NASA awarded three $5 million contracts in 2022, tasking each commercial partner with developing an initial design that included the reactor; its power conversion, heat rejection, and power management and distribution systems; estimated costs; and a development schedule that could pave the way for powering a sustained human presence on the lunar surface for at least 10 years. (2/1)

China's SSST Raises $900+ Million for Megaconstellation (Source: Reuters)
A Chinese company developing a broadband megaconstellation has raised more than $900 million. Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) raised 6.7 billion yuan ($933 million), one of its investors, CAS Star, said in a statement Thursday. SSST is developing a 12,000-satellite constellation called G60 Starlink, with the first spacecraft expected to launch later this year. The funding will support work on the constellation as well as technology development and operations, according to CAS Star. (2/1)

Intuitive Machines and NASA Working Toward Mid-February Lunar Launch (Source: Space News)
The first Intuitive Machines lunar lander is scheduled to launch this month, although the exact timing remains unclear. NASA and Intuitive Machines said Wednesday they are working towards a mid-February launch of the IM-1 mission on a Falcon 9. The company declined to give a specific launch date other than that the launch will be during a three-day period, setting up a landing attempt on Feb. 22. NASA separately said Wednesday that the Crew-8 commercial crew mission, using the same pad as IM-1, would launch as soon as Feb. 22, a date the agency said they would pursue if IM-1 did not attempt a launch in February. IM-1 is carrying six NASA payloads through its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program along with several payloads for commercial customers. (2/1)

Space Force: Refueling Port Standard Doesn't Mean Northrop Grumman Will be Sole Provider (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force says Northrop Grumman will not be the sole provider of satellite refueling services. The Space Force announced earlier this week that it selected Northrop's Passive Refueling Module (PRM) refueling port for use on future satellites and was supporting work by the company on a tanker spacecraft. Col. Joyce Bulson, director of servicing, mobility and logistics at Space Systems Command, said that even with the selection of Northrop the command continues to evaluate other refueling solutions for potential use. Bulson noted that many of the details about how the Space Force will procure refueling systems and services remain to be determined. (2/1)

China Raises Spaceplane Orbit (Source: Space News)
A Chinese spaceplane has raised its orbit. The spaceplane, launched in December into an orbit of 333 by 348 kilometers, has maneuvered to raise its orbit to 602 by 609 kilometers. That is similar to the maneuvers by the spaceplane on its previous mission. Contrary to previous reports, there is no evidence as yet of the spaceplane releasing objects into orbit, but that could happen now that the spacecraft is in a higher orbit. (2/1)

Space Commerce Office to Assess SpaceX Starlink Collision Avoidance Approach (Source: Space News)
The Office of Space Commerce will work with SpaceX to better understand its collision avoidance technologies. The office will perform an astrodynamics evaluation of the tools SpaceX uses to manage more than 5,000 Starlink broadband satellites as part of the no-exchange-of-funds agreement. SpaceX uses an automated system to perform maneuvers to avoid potential close approaches with other space objects. (2/1)

Exotrail Plans GEO Space Tug (Source: Space News)
Exotrail plans to develop a space tug focused on GEO missions. The company, which launched its first SpaceVan orbital transfer vehicle to low Earth orbit in November, says it is working on a different vehicle that will transport smallsats from geostationary transfer orbit to GEO. The company, based in France with U.S. subsidiaries, says it sees a need for such a vehicle to support national security missions, enabling smallsats to get to GEO without using their own propellant. The first mission for this new tug is planned for 2026. (2/1)

NASA Workshopping Ideas for Apophis Asteroid Mission (Source: Space News)
A Feb. 7 NASA workshop will examine low-cost options for a mission to a near Earth asteroid. The "listening workshop" will explore ways to conduct missions to Apophis, an asteroid that will safely pass very close to Earth in 2029. An extended mission for the OSIRIS-REx sample return spacecraft, renamed OSIRIS-APEX, will visit Apophis after the flyby, but scientists would like to send spacecraft to the asteroid before the flyby as well. One possibility is to repurpose the twin Janus smallsats that were built for a different asteroid flyby mission that was canceled when its launch as a rideshare on the Psyche mission was delayed. NASA cautions, though, that funding for any Apophis mission will be "really challenging." (2/1)

NASA Names Upcoming Crew for ISS Mission (Source: NASA)
NASA has named the crew for a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station later this year. The Crew-9 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than August on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, will be commanded by NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, with NASA's Nick Hague as pilot and Stephanie Wilson as mission specialist. Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also be a mission specialist on Crew-9. The launch will be the first for Cardman and Gorbunov. Wilson flew on three shuttle missions to the ISS between 2004 and 2009, while Hague spent more than six months on the ISS in 2019 after being on an aborted Soyuz launch to the station in 2018. (2/1)

Starlink's Laser System Is Beaming 42 Million GB of Data Per Day (Source: PC Magazine)
SpaceX's laser system for Starlink is delivering over 42 petabytes of data for customers per day, an engineer revealed today. That translates into 42 million gigabytes. “We're passing over terabits per second [of data] every day across 9,000 lasers,” SpaceX engineer Travis Brashears said. (1/30)

NASA’s Fission Surface Power Project Energizes Lunar Exploration (Source: NASA)
NASA is wrapping up the initial phase of its Fission Surface Power Project, which focused on developing concept designs for a small, electricity-generating nuclear fission reactor that could be used during a future demonstration on the Moon and to inform future designs for Mars. NASA awarded three $5 million contracts in 2022, tasking each commercial partner with developing an initial design that included the reactor; its power conversion, heat rejection, and power management and distribution systems; estimated costs; and a development schedule that could pave the way for powering a sustained human presence on the lunar surface for at least 10 years. (1/31)

How SETI is Expanding its Search for Alien Intelligence (Source: Space.com)
For example, there's the Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence — mercifully shortened to COSMIC SETI. All 27 antennas that constitute the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico have been outfitted with new gear to perform 24/7 SETI observations under a collaboration between the SETI Institute and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the group that operates the VLA. COSMIC will analyze data for the possible presence of "technosignatures" - detectable signatures and signals that shout out the presence of distant advanced civilizations.

The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) has undergone antenna redesign and now is outfitted with high-end computers, signal processors, and other electronics making it far faster than ever before, Diamond adds. "The instrument is performing at a level that it has never performed at since it was built. All of that is fairly new in the two to three years." One output from ATA has been its use by SETI Institute scientists to delve into powerful Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), a head-scratching phenomenon wanting of explanation. (1/31)

Lockheed Martin’s Misplaced Satellite to Fall Back to Earth Next Month (Source: Space News)
A Lockheed Martin satellite that was placed in the wrong orbit Dec. 22 is expected to de-orbit in February. Despite a much shortened mission, the company said it successfully accomplished many of the objectives of the technology demonstration. The 300-pound payload — a newly designed electronically steerable antenna flying on a Terran Orbital Nebula bus — went to the wrong orbit following an upper stage problem with the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket placed that launched the mission Dec. 22. (1/30)

The Pentagon’s Worst Enemy (And It Isn’t China) (Source: Forbes)
In today’s space domain, rapid change is the status quo, and adaptability to change should be viewed as a key ingredient for the resilience necessary for the U.S. to win the second space race. Space systems underpin everything from national defense, banking, economic growth, and scientific discovery. The stakes are simply too high for us to be outpaced by our rival China, but we will fall short if we don’t wake up to the true threat. We won’t lose this space race because our rival is particularly cunning or innovative, we will lose because we continue to tie our own hands by carrying on a broken status quo of antiquated planning and budgeting processes. (1/30)

Space Launch Delta 45 Commander Spearheads Commercial Collaborations (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Brigadier Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen wants commercial companies to solve Space Force problems, but if the U.S. Space Force can help them, that’s OK with her, too. That’s part of the message she delivered at the Space Mobility Conference at the Orange County Convention Center on Tuesday, bringing together a combination of military, civil and commercial players in the space game. Click here. (1/31) 

America, China and Russia are Locked in a New Struggle Over Space (Source: The Economist)
As conflict spreads on Earth, ill omens are emerging in the firmament. As countries race to develop new capabilities in space, some are also building the forces and weapons to fight beyond the atmosphere. On January 28th Iran said it had launched three satellites; Western countries fear they could be used in its ballistic-missile programme. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has opened a new chapter in space war. But America’s biggest dread is China, which seeks to match if not surpass America’s primacy in the heavens. Admiral Christopher Grady, vice-chairman of America’s joint chiefs of staff, explains it bluntly: “Space has emerged as our most essential warfighting domain.”

American generals scrutinise the cosmos from Space Command’s headquarters in Colorado Springs. “Guardians”, as America’s new breed of space warriors call themselves, monitor about 15 daily missile launches, from Ukraine to Iraq and North Korea, at the Joint Operations Centre (joc). They also watch the fast-growing deployment of satellites, heaps of orbiting junk and the re-entry of objects into the atmosphere. Above all, they look for danger. Click here. (1/31)