February 6, 2024

Did a NASA Study Pull the Plug on Space Solar Power? (Source: Space Review)
NASA released last month a long-awaited economic assessment of space-based solar power, concluding that it would be far more expensive than terrestrial alternatives. Jeff Foust reports on how some in space solar power community are pushing back against those conclusions, concerned it will have a chilling effect on the field. Click here. (2/5)
 
The Missing Link: Found (Source: Space Review)
Jodrell Bank Observatory in England has been used for radio astronomy and, on occasion, listening for Soviet spacecraft. Dwayne Day describes how it was also used to help search for a “missing link” in Soviet spacecraft communications. Click here. (2/5)
 
The Case for a Fleet of Martian Helicopters (Source: Space Review)
Ingenuity, whose mission ended last month, was a first-of-its-kind Mars helicopter with no guarantees more will follow soon. Ari Allyn-Feuer discusses how sending a large number of similar helicopters could advance Martian exploration in novel ways. Click here. (2/5)

LeoLabs Selected for U.S. Space System Command's Space Domain Awareness TAP Lab Accelerator (Source: LeoLabs)
LeoLabs announced it has been selected to participate in the U.S. Space Systems Command's Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools Applications and Processing (TAP) Lab Apollo Accelerator. This program enables LeoLabs to demonstrate its AI-powered solutions for Combat ID and Space Battle Management. (2/5)

When It Comes to Refueling Satellites, Space Force Faces Hard Choices (Source: Air and Space Forces Magazine)
As Pentagon and Space Force leaders plan for future dynamic space operations where satellites can maneuver as needed and get refueled to prolong their service lives, industry leaders are preparing to deploy new technology and finalizing their concepts of operations for what they agree is an “incredibly hard mission area.” 

In-orbit refueling requires some kind of port or interface for satellites to receive fuel. Industry officials compared such a port to the “inlet of a gas tank” or a “gas cap” on a car. The Pentagon has extensive requirements for such receptacles for aerial refueling, but standards for a satellite equivalent are still being hashed out. Thus far, interfaces developed by Northrop Grumman and Orbit Fab are reportedly approved for Space Force use.

Actually doing the refueling is another story—and Northrop and Orbit Fab are taking different approaches. Orbit Fab’s plan is to have operational fuel depots, or what it calls “Gas Stations in Space,” in the next few years. But the depots themselves won’t refuel satellites. Instead, they will stay in place and “shuttles” will maneuver between the two so that the client (such as the Space Force) doesn’t have to burn fuel getting to the depot. Click here. (2/5)

SPACECOM’s New Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting Outlines Priorities (Source: GovConWire)
In January 2024, General Stephen Whiting took over as commander of the U.S. Space Command. Gen. Whiting spoke about both his priorities in the new role and the threats our nation faces in space. Click here. (2/6)

AI Startup Synthetaic Raises $15 Million (Source: Space News)
Synthetaic, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to analyze data from space and air sensors, announced Feb. 6 it raised $15 million in Series B funding. Wisconsin-based Synthetaic made headlines a year ago when it used artificial intelligence and Planet Labs’ satellite imagery archive to independently track the Chinese spy balloon’s path across the United States before it was shot down. (2/6)

Terran Orbital Works Out Differences With Concerned Shareholders (Source: Via Satellite)
Terran Orbital on Monday said it has reached agreement with a group of investors that had been seeking management and other changes, including the replacement of current CEO Marc Bell, although the only concrete change appears to be moving forward with filling a board seat that has been vacant since July 2022. The concerned investor group, which owns just over 8% of the satellite manufacturer, also wanted the chairman and CEO roles to be separated, and for Terran to conduct a review of strategic alternatives. Bell is also the chairman. (2/5)

Virgin Galactic Says Pin Detached During Recent Spaceflight (Source: Bloomberg)
Virgin Galactic experienced an in-flight hardware issue during its most recent crewed space tourism flight, the Richard Branson-founded company said. A pin used to align Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, VSS Unity, and its carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, while both vehicles are mated on the ground became detached during the Jan. 26 flight. Virgin Galactic said the pin doesn’t support the weight of the spaceplane during the climb to altitude.

“At no time did the detached alignment pin pose a safety impact to the vehicles or the crew on board,” the company wrote. The company didn’t specify a cause of the pin malfunction. It said the pin became dislodged after VSS Unity had been deployed, when the pin no longer served any active function. Virgin said it caught the issue during routine post-flight reviews and notified the Federal Aviation Administration on Jan. 31. (2/5)

SpaceX Accused of Sexual Harassment as Fight With Ex-Employees Intensifies (Source: Bloomberg)
Executives at Elon Musk’s SpaceX discriminated against women, joked about sexual harassment and fired workers for raising concerns, seven former employees allege in California civil rights complaints. The California-based workers, who were fired in 2022 after circulating an open letter critical of Musk’s behavior, argue that the aerospace company’s actions violated the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. The law bans sex-based discrimination and retaliation against employees who raise concerns in the workplace. Their claims were detailed in filings with the California Civil Rights Department that were sent to SpaceX last month. (2/6)

Pelfrey Named Marshall Space Flight Center Director (Source: Huntsville Business Journal)
On Monday, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson named Joseph Pelfrey director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, effective immediately. Pelfrey has served as acting center director since July 2023. (2/6)

Space Tourism? The Earth Should Be Enough (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
Isn’t our beautiful Earth good enough? That’s the question I always ask when anyone mentions space tourism. Surely there’s still plenty to explore on our planet without feeling the need to blast yourself into space, wasting resources, creating space debris, possibly risking lives and potentially damaging the Earth you’re leaving? (2/6)

Ex-Russian Military Officer Joins NASA for ISS Mission; Ukrainian Outrage Follows (Source: Kyiv Post)
Alexander Grebenkin, a former Russian military officer and current Roscosmos cosmonaut, is set to travel to the International Space Station as part of the NASA team, as announced on the NASA website, where Ukrainians have commented their outrage. NASA’s Facebook post about this flight received a flurry of criticism and negative comments from Ukrainian users of the social network: Ukrainians demanded explanations from the American space agency and condemned cooperation with Roscosmos. (1/5)

Lynk Global Finalizes SPAC Merger Deal (Source: Space News)
Lynk Global has agreed to a merger that would raise money for the direct-to-smartphone operator and list its shares on Nasdaq, the venture said Feb. 5 in a regulatory filing that details its revenue projections for the emerging market. The deal with Slam Corp., a publicly traded shell company led by former professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez that has been hunting for an investment opportunity for three years, values Lynk at $800 million. (2/5)

Chinese Scientists Record Solar Plasmas to Prevent Space Weather Damage (Source: Xinhua)
Using spectral imaging data of China's first solar exploration satellite, Xihe, a group of Chinese physicists constructed three-dimensional velocity diagrams of two kinds of plasmas in the sun's atmosphere. Using Xihe's observations, the researchers from Nanjing University demonstrated the expansion, ejection, fallback, rotation and splitting of a dark bar and a solar prominence. The accurate measurement of the three-dimensional velocity fields of those plasmas is of great significance for early warning and forecasting of catastrophic space weather, said the researchers. (2/5)

Space Shuttle Endeavour Stacked for Breathtaking Museum Display (Source: America Space)
The public was reminded of the Shuttle’s majesty last Monday when the California Science Center took a major step towards completing a one-of-a-kind display. The orbiter Endeavour was lifted into the air and mated to a flightworthy External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters. The exhibit will be the only authentic Space Shuttle stack in existence. The Science Center still has several major milestones ahead of it – most importantly, more fundraising – but Endeavour’s lift was a major step towards the completion of the exhibition. (2/6)

Canadensys Aerospace Built Imagers Set for Lunar Launch (Source: SpaceQ)
The upcoming second launch of a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission to the Moon will include imagers from Canadensys Aerospace for the International Lunar Observatory Association and Intuitive Machines. The latter was partially funded by the Canadian Space Agency through the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program. (2/5)

Earth Isn't the Only Planet with Seasons, But They Can Look Wildly Different on Other Worlds (Source: Space.com)
When a planet has perfect alignment between the axis it orbits on and the rotational axis, the amount of sunlight it receives is fixed as it orbits around the sun – assuming its orbital shape is a circle. Since seasons come from variations in how much sunlight reaches the planet's surface, a planet that's perfectly aligned wouldn’t have seasons. But Earth isn't perfectly aligned on its axis. This small misalignment, called an obliquity, is around 23 degrees from vertical for Earth. So, the Northern Hemisphere experiences more intense sunlight during the summer, when the sun is positioned more directly above the Northern Hemisphere.

When a planet has an obliquity of more than 54 degrees, that planet’s equator grows icy and the pole becomes warm. This is called a reversed zonation, and it’s the opposite of what Earth has. Basically, if an obliquity has large and unpredictable variations, the seasonal variations on the planet become wild and hard to predict. A dramatic, large obliquity variation can turn the whole planet into a snowball, where it's all covered by ice. Most planets are not the only planets in their solar systems. Their planetary siblings can disturb each other's orbit, which can lead to variations in the shape of their orbits and their orbital tilt. (2/5)

India to Fly ‘Woman Robot’ to Space Ahead of Ambitious Gaganyaan Crewed Mission (Source: Independent)
India is planning to fly a female-looking robot astronaut to space ahead of its ambitious Gaganyaan crewed space flight mission carrying Indian astronauts. The robot astronaut, dubbed Vyommitra – “Vyoma” meaning space, and “Mitra” meaning friend in Sanskrit – is scheduled for flight in the third quarter of this year, while the Gaganyaan crewed mission is slated to be launched next year. “Vyommitra” is designed to simulate human functions and interact with the space capsule’s life support system as part of the mission. (2/5)

Beijing Steps Up Efforts on Commercial Aerospace (Source: Xinhua)
The municipal government of Beijing is planning the establishment of a dedicated "Rocket Street" as a research and production hub for the advancement of commercial aerospace. It is part of the capital city's ongoing endeavors to foster innovation in the industry. The city has laid out measures for the development of a satellite internet industry and provided support for 41 commercialization launch projects, with funding exceeding 100 million yuan ($14.08 million).

Jiang Guangzhi said Beijing hosts a cluster of 157 enterprises specializing in commercial space, including a number of leading commercial launch startups. Rocket companies are centered in the south of the city, with satellite-related enterprises gravitating to its north. In 2023, a total of 13 space launches were conducted by China's private commercial rocket enterprises, all headquartered in Beijing. The city's rocket makers are now engaging in the development of reusable rockets, with a projected breakthrough between 2024 and 2025, Jiang added. (2/4)

Korea’s KASS Satellite Navigation System Certified by National Authorities and Enters Operational Service (Source: Thales Alenia)
The Korea Augmentation Satellite System (KASS) developed by Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor has been officially certified by the Korean authorities. Now operational, this navigation system is the result of a collaboration between Thales Alenia Space — a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) — and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) for the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). (1/29)

Korea to Join US-Led Space Security Training Event This Month (Source: Korea Times)
Korea will participate in a U.S.-led multinational training event on space security this month, the Air Force said Monday, amid Seoul's efforts to boost defense capabilities in the increasingly important domain. Personnel from the Air Force, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute will take part in Global Sentinel 2024 hosted by the U.S. Space Command at Vandenberg Space Force Base from Feb. 5-16. The event will involve some 250 personnel from 28 countries and focus on boosting cooperation in space domain awareness operations, such as those on satellite collisions and falling space debris. (2/5)

Do People Still Want to Go to Mars? (Source: The Conversation)
NASA's contemplated missions would range from carrying various payloads to the red planet, to providing communications relay services. No talk of a Mars astronaut just yet. But do people still want to go to Mars? Absolutely. One question is, what is the best way to get people there? Another question – should we? A typical interplanetary space mission costs at least a billion US dollars, so the world’s major space agencies have spent no less than $50 billion on Mars over the years. And this is just to send cameras, rovers and landers. To send people to Mars would be next level.

Some will argue that before humans become interplanetary and start to “mess up” another planet, we should make sure Earth is looked after. Others point out that space exploration should do more to include sustainability. Despite this debate, if the history of human exploration is anything to go by, you only need a tiny fraction of the population to be motivated enough to do it. If they also have the capital, it will happen. I can’t see that Mars will be much different. (2/4)

NASA Space Tech Spinoffs Benefit Earth Medicine, Moon to Mars Tools (Source: NASA)
As NASA innovates for the benefit of all, what the agency develops for exploration has the potential to evolve into other technologies with broader use here on Earth. Many of those examples are highlighted in NASA’s annual Spinoff book including dozens of NASA-enabled medical innovations, as well other advancements. Click here. (1/29)

15 Spacetech Startups Set to Lift Off, According to Investors (Source: Sifted)
VC money for space is harder to come by now than it was just a few years back. Median spacetech deal sizes in Europe remain more than half the size of similar deals in the US and Asia, according to analysis from VC firm Seraphim Space, though investor appetite recovered slightly last year, following a really quiet 2022.

A handful of European companies are defying the downturn and fetching big deals, not least Munich-based rocket startup Isar Aerospace, which pulled in one of the biggest spacetech rounds globally in 2023, with its $165m Series C. A few chunky raises have already caught the eye in 2024, including a $30m Series B for Reims-based launch startup Latitude and a €100m Series C for Italian space logistics company D-Orbit.

And what about the next space challengers; the ones flying just under the radar? We asked five investors for their picks and explanations for why these companies stand out. The one catch — they couldn’t choose from their own portfolios. Click here. (2/1)

One Guardian: Opportunity Leads A Soldier To Space (Source: USSF SpOC)
U.S. Space Force Major Julius Lee carries more than just the notes and instructions he needs daily in his Green Book. Within its pages lies an early service photo of his father – the man who inspired the journey he is on today. Little did Lee, or his father and grandfather who served before him, know the pioneering twist this third generation servicemember’s path would take. Click here. (1/29)

Enhancing Europe’s Space Sector (Source: N2K)
The European Space Agency, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank have come to a formal agreement to enhance the European Space Sector. Spanish aerospace company PLD Space has won the second phase of the project for the development of a Spanish launcher for small satellites. Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. has  completed a deal with Eutelsat OneWeb to purchase its 50% share of the Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS)  joint venture, and more. Click here. (1/30)

Water-Powered Hybrid Moon Rockets... From London (Source: Evening Standard)
A UK startup has built a tiny bit of outer space on terra firma inside - but why? The high-pressure vacuum chamber lets space engineering expert Ashley Johnson, CEO of Applied Atomics, and his team develop what’s believed to be the world’s first chemical/electric, water-fuelled hybrid rocket engine. Now they’re building a spacecraft prototype in the hope of cutting costs for moon missions - and in future scaling the system to nuclear propulsion. His start-up has attracted accelerator interest from Seraphim Space, a major global space tech company. (12/27)