March 5, 2024

Optimus Satellite Launch Marks a New Era for Australia and Satellite Servicing (Source: Space Daily)
Space Machines Company announced the successful launch of Optimus, Australia's most significant private satellite to date, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:05 AM AEDT, March 5th. This launch marks a critical step for Space Machines Company, introducing Optimus as its inaugural Orbital Servicing Vehicle (OSV) and laying the foundation for the firm's future satellite servicing infrastructure. (3/5)

Australia's First Orbital Launch Facility License Awarded to Bowen Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
Australia is poised to make a giant leap in its space exploration and commercialization efforts with the green light for its first orbital launch site, the Bowen Orbital Spaceport, located in Queensland. This historic milestone comes with the approval of the country's inaugural orbital launch facility license under the Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018, setting the stage for domestic and commercial space activities to soar to new heights.

The spaceport, nestled within the Abbot Point State Development Area in North Queensland, represents a significant development for the Australian space sector. Built and operated by Gilmour Space Technologies, an innovative Australian launch services provider, the facility is geared up to offer a range of commercial orbital launch services. (3/5)

ispace Europe and CDS Partner to Deploy Advanced Localization Tech on the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
ispace EUROPE S.A., a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of ispace, inc., has entered into a strategic memorandum of understanding with Control Data Systems SRL (CDS). This collaboration is aimed at developing localization and telecommunications technology to for Lunar applications in support of the quest for sustainable human presence and infrastructure development on Earth's natural satellite. (3/5)

NASA Names Winners in Lunar Gateway Packing and Storing Challenge (Source: Space Daily)
Humans living in space have confronted the challenge of maximizing the physical space available to them. As NASA works to return astronauts to the Moon with its Artemis campaign and chart a new era of deep space exploration with Gateway, humanity's first space station in lunar orbit, being organized and space-efficient is important. To help address the issue, the Lunar Gateway Cargo Packing and Storing Challenge invited the public to devise innovative stowage solutions for NASA's Gateway Deep Space Logistics Module that could help shape the future of space cargo delivery and deep space logistics.

Ninety challenge participants from 35 countries submitted their innovative and imaginative solutions, submitting 3D computer models of a high-reliability storage module to provide astronauts on Gateway quick access to cargo. The finalists shared a prize purse of $7,000. The top winning entry  ($3000) is QASIS-Quick Access Storage in Space by Kriso Leinfellner (Austria). This design maximizes stowage capacity, lightweight structures, and ease of use without the complexities of motors, batteries, and electronics. (3/5)

NASA Uses ORNL Supercomputers to Plan Smooth Landing on Mars (Source: Space Daily)
A U.S. mission to land astronauts on the surface of Mars will be unlike any other extraterrestrial landing ever undertaken by NASA.
Although the space agency has successfully landed nine robotic missions on Mars since its first surface missions in 1976 with the Viking Project, safely bringing humans to Mars will require new technologies for flight through the Martian atmosphere. But these technologies and systems can't be comprehensively tested on Earth beforehand.

Since 2019, a team of NASA scientists and their partners have been using NASA's FUN3D software on supercomputers located at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, or OLCF, to conduct computational fluid dynamics, or CFD, simulations of a human-scale Mars lander. The OLCF is a DOE Office of Science user facility located at DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (3/4)

Sierra Lobo Lands NASA’s $282M Contract to Support Glenn Research Center Flight Systems (Source: GovConWire)
Sierra Lobo won the $282.1 million Space Flight Systems Development and Operations Contract III to support NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. NASA said Thursday that the company will deliver services ranging from space flight hardware design to software development and technology testing and demonstration. The cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a base performance period of three years and two option periods of two years. It also includes a 90-day phase-in period beginning Feb. 27. (2/23)

St. Pete's Lonestar Data Holdings Tech Lands on Lunar Surface (Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal)
Lonestar Data Holdings CEO Chris Stott woke up on Feb. 23 feeling elated. After months of planning, the St. Petersburg space startup's tech had finally touched down on the moon onboard a Texas-based Intuitive Machines lunar lander. It had planned to perform data transmission tests on its moon-bound device for months, and it validated its mission with the test's completion. With Lonestar tech sitting on the lunar surface, the startup's fiction-like goal became a reality, Stott said. (2/26)

With India's Second Spaceport Launch, More Private Players Will Make It A Satellite Launch Hub (Source: ABP)
With the raising of India’s second spaceport in about two years, India will join a select league of nations that have more than one such satellite launch site. The foundation stone of this second spaceport, situated in Tamil Nadu’s Kulasekarapattinam in Thoothukudi district, was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 28. The new spaceport is a significant milestone for the Indian Space Research Organzation (ISRO) and will greatly enhance India’s standing in the comity of space-faring nations, not only propelling India as a commercial space giant but also boosting India’s space prowess.

With the commissioning of a second spaceport, ISRO will be able to increase the frequency of launches in the 500 kms planar orbit. The second space port aims to achieve a capability of launching 24 satellites annually. Identifying the key features of the second space port, the ISRO said this will make the satellite launches cheaper, will have low turnaround time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, and minimal launch infrastructure requirements. The second space port also offers many strategic advantages, including its proximity to the equator and the nearby propulsion complex of ISRO that will greatly reduce the time and expenses of rocket launches. (3/3)

Iridium to Acquire Satelles (Source: Space News)
Iridium announced Monday it is acquiring Satelles, a company that provides alternative positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services on its satellites. Iridium is spending about $115 million to buy the 80% of Satelles it does not already own in a deal they expect to complete by April 1. Satelles has been broadcasting PNT signals since 2016 through a channel on Iridium's satellites in low Earth orbit previously used for paging. These signals are far more powerful than those from GPS and other navigation satellite systems in higher orbits, allowing for greater use indoors while also being less susceptible to jamming. The acquisition is the first in Iridium's 36-year history as it works to achieve $1 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade. (3/5)

L3Harris Sensor Satellite Passes Preliminary Review (Source: Space News)
An infrared sensor satellite that L3Harris designed for a future U.S. military constellation passed a preliminary review. The sensor is being designed for potential use in satellites the Space Force is planning for medium Earth orbit. Space Systems Command has ordered six satellites from Millennium Space Systems for an initial deployment known as Epoch 1, but could by up to three more satellites for that phase as well as 18 more satellites for Epoch 2. L3Harris would compete with Millennium and Raytheon for those future satellites. (3/5)

BlackSky Wins $2 Million AFRL Contract to Train AI (Source: Space News)
BlackSky has won a defense contract to provide satellite imagery to train AI models. BlackSky said it won a $2 million contract from the Air Force Research Lab through defense contractor Axient for the images. Axient won a contract from AFRL in September 2023 worth up to $25 million for space experiments. Axient will use BlackSky's satellite imagery and data analytics platform to support studies and technology demonstrations focused on tracking moving objects from space. (3/5)

China's CASC to Test Reusable Rockets (Source: Space News)
China's main state-owned space contractor is preparing to start testing reusable rockets in competition with commercial efforts. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans to launch four- and five-meter-diameter reusable rockets for the first time in 2025 and 2026 respectively, an official said Monday. It's unclear what rockets that official was referring to; CASC had been working on a recoverable version of the Long March 8 but appears to have abandoned those plans. Several Chinese startups are in various stages of development of their own reusable rockets that could compete with CASC's designs. (3/5)

NASA Plans Study Contracts for Commercial Partnerships for Robotic Mars Exploration (Source: Space News)
NASA expects to know by this summer what roles commercial partnerships could play in its future robotic Mars exploration efforts. The agency plans to award several study contracts in April to companies to study proposals for the delivery of small and large payloads to Mars orbit, as well as providing imagery and commercial services. The studies, lasting about three months, will evaluate both the technical and commercial viability of those concepts. NASA has proposed using commercial partnerships as one part of a future Mars exploration strategy unveiled last year. (3/5)
 
Dragon Arrives at ISS with Crew (Source: CBS)
A Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station early today with a new crew. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour docked with the station at 2:28 a.m. Eastern, a half-hour ahead of schedule, with hatches between the station and spacecraft opening less than two hours later. The Dragon delivered the Crew-8 crew of three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut to the station, where they will stay for six months. The Crew-7 crew will depart the station on another Crew Dragon spacecraft early next week. (3/5)

SpaceX Transporter Mission Launches 53 Satellites From California (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched its tenth Transporter rideshare mission Monday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 5:05 p.m. Eastern and deployed 53 satellites over the next two and a half hours. The Transporter-10 mission included a mix of returning customers, such as Iceye, Satellogic and Spire, as well as companies like Atomos Space, Quantum Space and True Anomaly that were launching their first satellites.

The Transporter missions remain popular because of their low prices, although at a conference last week space situational awareness companies say such missions pose challenges because of the large number of satellites from different operators all launched at once. It can take weeks to identify all of the satellites launched on each mission, making it difficult for operators to identify their own satellites and creating space safety hazards. (3/5)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission From Florida - 3rd Launch in Less Than 24 Hours (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Less than two hours after Transporter-10, SpaceX launched another set of Starlinks. A Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral at 6:56 p.m. Eastern despite foggy conditions, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. Both the Transporter-10 and Starlink launches took place less than 24 hours after the Crew-8 launch. (3/5)

Texas Approves Controversial Land Swap with SpaceX (Source: Texas Tribune)
Texas state officials are moving ahead with a land swap with SpaceX. At a meeting Monday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved a proposal to give SpaceX 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park near SpaceX's Starbase site in exchange for 477 acres near a wildlife refuge to the north. Local officials who previously opposed the land swap, causing the commission to delay consideration of the deal in January, now say they back the proposal. Some residents and environmental groups continue to protest the deal. (3/5)

Juno Data Lowers Estimate of Europa Oxygen (Source: New York Times)
A potentially habitable moon of Jupiter may have less oxygen than previously thought. A paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday used data from NASA's Juno spacecraft to estimate the amount of oxygen on the surface of Europa, an icy moon with a subsurface ocean. The spacecraft measured less oxygen than expected, although researchers said the amount is "not totally prohibitive" for life existing within that ocean. (3/5)

A North Korean Satellite Starts Showing Signs of Life (Source: Space Review)
Many in the West had written off a North Korean reconnaissance satellite launched last November as a failure. Marco Langbroek describes how the satellite appears to be alive after recent maneuvers. Click here. (3/4)
 
Squinting at the Universe (Source: Space Review)
While current telescopes, on the ground and in space, are revealing new insights about the universe, astronomers have plans for even more ambitious observatories. Jeff Foust reports on the progress and problems those efforts face. Click here. (3/4)
 
Taking Stock of the US Space Program (Source: Space Review)
The United States has by far the largest government space program, but is not without its challenges. Namrata Goswami examines the current states of government space policies and strategies, as well as problems and missed opportunities. Click here. (3/4)
 
Ode to Engle and Truly (Source: Space Review)
Richard Truly, a former NASA astronaut and, later, administrator, passed away last week. Emily Carney recalls his life from the perspective of seeing his first shuttle launch. Click here. (3/4)