February 23, 2024

FCC Proposes Licensing Framework for In-Space Servicing, Assembly, Manufacturing (Source: FCC)
The Federal Communications Commission proposed a framework for licensing in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) activities. ISAM activities are an area of rapidly accelerating innovation and economic opportunity. As part of its Space Innovation Agenda, the FCC is proposing changes to its part 25 rules to support the development of these novel space activities.

The “servicing” aspect of ISAM includes activities such as the in-space inspection, life extension, repair, refueling, or alteration of a spacecraft after its initial launch. It also includes transport of a spacecraft from one orbit to another, as well as debris collection and removal.  “Assembly” refers to the on-orbit construction of a space system using pre-manufactured components, and “manufacturing” is the transformation of raw or recycled materials into components, products, or infrastructure in space. (2/15)

FAA Advances Spaceport Rulemaking (Source: AST)
Kelvin Coleman, Associate Administrator of Commercial Space Transportation, announced that the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) plans to establish a Part 450 Aerospace Rulemaking Committee (SpARC) and organize an International Spaceport Forum on October 13 ahead of the 2024 International Aeronautical Congress (IAC). (2/20)

GAO Issues Report on FAA's Human Spaceflight Oversight (Source: GAO)
FAA is working with industry as it prepares to potentially expand its oversight of spaceflight operations with people on board. FAA chartered a rulemaking committee in April 2023 to solicit industry input on future regulations aimed at protecting people's health and safety in space. Also, FAA is hiring additional staff to support the efforts. But recruiting an adequate talent pool has been challenging, so it's offering recruitment and relocation incentives. FAA is currently prohibited from issuing regulations directed at protecting the safety of humans onboard, with some exceptions, due to a moratorium that Congress established in 2004 to limit certain regulatory burdens on an emerging industry. This moratorium is set to expire on March 8, 2024. Click here. (2/21)

Construction Starts for New Indian Spaceport (Source: Deccan Herald)
India's prime minister will attend the groundbreaking for a new Indian spaceport next week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for the launch site in Tamil Nadu at a Feb. 28 event. The spaceport, to be constructed over the next two years, will be used by the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. Unlike the current Indian spaceport at Sriharikota, the new site will allow launches directly to the south, enhancing the performance of the rocket to polar orbits. (2/23)

Astronomers Discover New Neutron Star (Source: Science)
Astronomers have discovered a neutron star in the remnants of a 1987 supernova explosion. In a paper published this week, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope identified a neutron star in the heart of SN 1987a, an explosion of a star 20 times the mass of the sun in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud. Astronomers believed that the supernova left behind a neutron star, but past efforts to detect it had come up short. Infrared observations by JWST, though, detected emission lines of key elements that prove, researchers concluded, that there is a neutron star present in the supernova remnant. (2/23)

Intuitive Machines Sticks Lunar Landing (Source: Space News)
Intuitive Machines became the first company to land a spacecraft on the moon, but there are few other details about the status of the mission. The Nova-C lander touched down in the south polar regions of the moon at 6:23 p.m. Eastern Thursday, although it took about 15 minutes for the company to confirm it was receiving signals from the spacecraft. The company said a couple hours later that the lander was upright and that it was receiving data from it, but has not provided any more information about the status of the lander, or any of the images of other data it may have returned.

The IM-1 mission is the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the moon after three failed attempts over the last five years, and is the first American spacecraft to soft-land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The spacecraft is carrying six NASA payloads and six payloads from other customers, with plans to operate on the surface for about a week. (2/23)

Multi-Orbit SATCOM Solution by Hughes Selected for AFRL's DEUCSI Initiative (Source: Space Daily)
Hughes Network Systems has secured a pivotal contract from SES to deliver a sophisticated, software-defined satellite communications (SATCOM) solution tailored for the US Air Force's Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program. This initiative is set to revolutionize defense communications by harnessing the power of commercial satellite internet across multiple orbit, using a combination of Ku- and Ka-band frequencies across Geostationary (GEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. (2/22)

NGA Plans $290 Million Spend on Luno Satellite Imagery Program (Source: Space News)
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is making a big bet on commercial satellite imagery with a new procurement. The agency plans to spend up to $290 million on the Luno program to leverage commercial satellite imagery and data analytics to enhance NGA's global monitoring capabilities. Luno is expanding an earlier program called Economic Indicator Monitoring that NGA launched in 2021 with a $29 million budget over five years. Luno is drawing widespread attention in the geospatial intelligence sector and a large number of bids because of its projected size. (2/23)

Avanti Partners with Telesat for Improved Connectivity (Source: Space News)
Avanti, which provides broadband services with GEO satellites, will add capabilities from Telesat's future Lightspeed constellation. Under a strategic partnership announced Thursday, the companies will jointly develop ways to incorporate connectivity from the Telesat Lightspeed constellation for Avanti's enterprise and government customers. They will also explore using Avanti's existing ground infrastructure across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to support and accelerate the LEO constellation's commercial deployment. Avanti currently offers services using five Ka-band satellites in GEO, while Telesat plans to start launching its 198-satellite Lightspeed constellation in 2026. (2/23)

Vast Plans Private Astronaut Missions to ISS (Source: Space News)
Commercial space station developer Vast plans to bid on future NASA private astronaut mission opportunities to the International Space Station. Vast said it expected to bid for the fifth and sixth private astronaut missions that NASA offers to the ISS, hoping to use the missions to gain experience ahead of its planned stations. Axiom Space has been selected by NASA for the first four such missions, three of which have flown with the fourth scheduled for this fall. Vast plans to launch its Haven-1 single-module station at the end of 2025 as a precursor for larger stations it will develop for potential use by NASA and other customers. (2/23)

Axiom Space and UK Space Agency Seek Innovative Projects for Upcoming Mission (Source: Space Daily)
The UK Space Agency has announced the opening of two new funding calls, targeting science experiments and technology demonstrators, as part of the groundwork for a possible collaboration with Axiom Space. This initiative could see a team of four British astronauts embarking on a commercially-sponsored mission, potentially to the ISS. This announcement is a significant step following the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Axiom Space in October 2023, paving the way for a UK astronaut mission underpinned by commercial sponsorship. The initiative underscores the UK's ambition to remain at the cutting edge of space exploration and technology development. (2/21)

China Launches Classified Satellite (Source: Space News)
China launched a classified satellite to geostationary orbit Friday morning. A Long March 5 lifted off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 6:30 a.m. Eastern and deployed the TJS-11 satellite. The satellite is described as being mainly used to carry out multi-band high-speed satellite communication technology verification. TJS satellites are thought by observers to serve a range of purposes including early warning and signals intelligence, and are part of growing Chinese capabilities in GEO that have raised concerns among U.S. Space Force officials. (2/23)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites From California (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites from California Thursday night. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 11:11 p.m. Eastern and deployed 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The booster used for the launch made its 19th flight, tying a company record. Those missions have included ISS commercial crew and cargo flights, commercial satellites and several Starlink missions. (2/23)

Former NASA Official Explains ‘Shots on Goal’ Approach to Cargo Moon Landings (Source: CNBC)
“Coming up with Commercial Lunar Payload Services, I basically felt that the moon as a planetary body had not been focused on enough. The question was: Can we [land cargo missions on the moon] at a rate that is substantially lower in cost than the half a billion to a billion dollars that it would take if we did it on the inside of the agency,” Zurbuchen said. He served as NASA’s head of science for six years, overseeing almost 100 science missions.

While NASA contracts for CLPS missions are typically $100 million to $200 million, no paltry amount, Zurbuchen says he knew from the beginning “there’s a 50% likelihood of any one of these things to work.” We’re one down on that count, with Astrobotic’s first mission having gone awry. The reality Zurbuchen emphasized is that landing on the moon is a herculean effort – and the mixed record of landing attempts since the 1960s, even by superpowers, reflects that. “We should give it a few shots on goal to just make sure it can work at the 50% level, or find out if that is a lot less likely,” Zurbuchen said. (2/22)

Ex-Disney Star Accidentally Checked a Box on a College Application—Now She’s Running a Startup Because of It (Source: CNBC)
Bridgit Mendler’s path from Disney Channel star to space startup CEO started with — quite literally — an accident. The 31-year-old is the CEO and co-founder of Northwood Space, a company that aims to mass-produce satellite ground stations. It’s a far cry from her youth spent as a child actor and recording artist, known for roles in Disney Channel shows and films like “Good Luck Charlie” and “Lemonade Mouth.”

“I’m studying anthropology,” Mendler said in 2015. “But it was an accident ... I was doing the application all on my own. I think I didn’t really understand how it worked. I put down like five different things that I would potentially want to be in as a major, and I got my acceptance letter, and it’s like, ‘You’re in anthropology.’” She graduated from USC in 2016, and parlayed her anthropology degree into a master’s degree in humanity and technology from MIT in 2018. (2/21)

James Webb Space Telescope Finds Neutron Star Mergers Forge Gold in the Cosmos (Source: Space.com)
Scientists have analyzed an unusually long blast of high-energy radiation, known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB), and determined that it originated from the collision of two ultradense neutron stars. And, importantly, this result helped the team observe a flash of light emanating from the same event that confirms these mergers are the sites that create elements like gold. (2/22)

Portuguese Startup Gets Funds to Develop Hosted Payload Connectivity Network (Source: Space News)
A year-old Portuguese startup has raised around $2 million to fly a payload on a commercial small satellite to demonstrate plans for a narrowband connectivity network. Connected hopes to show it could leverage empty space aboard small satellites to provide a network capable of connecting irrigation controllers and other off-the-grid monitoring and tracking devices. (2/22)

Boeing Wins $405 Million Minuteman III Contract Modification (Source: DoD)
The Boeing Co. has been awarded a $405,366,978 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification for operations, maintenance, and testing in support of the Minuteman III weapons system. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $559,366,978. Work will be performed at the Little Mountain Test Facility, Ogden, Utah, and is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2029. (2/22)

Millions of Years Ago, Stars Passed in the Night—and Changed Earth’s Climate (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Although the typical grade school of view of Earth’s place in space is snug between Venus and Mars in a flat plane around our Sun, the truth is our host star is also on its own journey (along with a hundred billion other stars) around the center of the Milky Way, the supermassive black hole known as Sagittarius A*. During this journey, other stars can come close to our own and impact the planets’ orbits, including Earth’s. These stellar interlopers pass within 50,000 AU every 1 million years, and even 10,000 AU every 20 million years. The gravitational perturbations they cause first affect the big planets in our Solar System—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—which then impact the smaller, inner planets.

To understand Earth’s past climate, scientists rewind Solar System simulations, but many of those models only look at the system in isolation—not within the churning dynamism of the Milky Way itself. Kaib and Raymond focus on one event 2.8 million years ago, when HD 7977 passed somewhere between 31,000 and 4,000 AU from our star. Although the star would have little impact on Earth on the high end, the team’s results show that lower end simulations are enough to impact the Earth’s orbit, skewing what we know about our planet’s evolution in the distant past. (2/21)