April 22, 2024

Space Force Moves to Scale, Enhance Terrestrial Data Transport Prototype (Source: Defense Scoop)
The Space Force’s acquisition arm plans to award a follow-on production contract in the coming months for a ground-based system that provides a “data-transfer-as-a-service” capability for the service and other partners. In 2021, Space Systems Command (SSC) awarded a $46.5 million pathfinder contract to Sev1Tech to prototype meshONE-T, a terrestrial network of data transport nodes that facilitates secure and rapid communications between sites located around the world. (4/18)

Japanese Satellite Will Beam Solar Power to Earth in 2025 (Source: Space.com)
apan is on track to beam solar power from space to Earth next year, two years after a similar feat was achieved by U.S. engineers. The development marks an important step toward a possible space-based solar power station that could help wean the world off fossil fuels amid the intensifying battle against climate change.

"It will be a small satellite, about 180 kilograms [400 pounds], that will transmit about 1 kilowatt of power from the altitude of 400 kilometers." One kilowatt is about the amount of power needed to run a household appliance, such as a small dishwasher, for about an hour, depending on its size. Therefore, the demonstration is nowhere near the scale required for commercial use. (4/19)

Why Is It So Hard to Send Humans Back to the Moon? (Source: Space.com)
Between 1969 and 1972, the Apollo missions sent a total of a dozen astronauts to the surface of the moon — and that was before the explosion of modern technology. So why does it seem like our current efforts, as embodied by NASA's Artemis program, are so slow, halting and complex? There isn't one easy answer, but it comes down to money, politics and priorities. Click here. (4/21) https://www.space.com/why-is-getting-to-the-moon-so-hard

America's Next Great Space Station Gets a Vote of Support From Japan (Source: Motley Fool)
Four teams of space companies are working to replace the International Space Station when it's shut down in 2030. One of the leading teams, known as Starlab, attracted a new partner in the form of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation this month. Mitsubishi is the third major industrial corporation to sign onto the Starlab project. (4/20)

NASA Reveals 'Glass-Smooth Lake of Cooling Lava' on Surface of Jupiter's Moon Io (Source: Live Science)
The new images show Loki Patera, a 127-mile-long (200 km) lava lake on Io's surface. Scientists have been observing this lava lake for decades. It sits over the magma reservoirs under Io's surface. The cooling lava at the center of the lake is ringed by possibly molten magma around the edges. "The specular reflection our instruments recorded of the lake suggests parts of Io's surface are as smooth as glass, reminiscent of volcanically created obsidian glass on Earth," Scott Bolton said. (4/21)

New Study Says We May Be Living in a Variable Universe (Source: Popular Mechanics)
The standard cosmological model known as Lambda-CDM (ΛCDM) proposes that dark energy is a constant force in the universe. However, an early “hint” in a new detailed map from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument shows that dark energy can actually grow stronger and weaker over time. While this evidence isn’t enough to be considered a discovery, it does call into question some underlying assumptions about how the universe formed and is expanding. (4/18)

NASA Commits to Titan Mission Despite Cost Increase (Source: Space News)
NASA has confirmed plans for a mission to Saturn's moon Titan despite costs that have doubled. NASA said last week that the Dragonfly mission, which will send a rotorcraft to Titan to study its habitability, had been confirmed to go into full-scale development ahead of a launch in mid-2028. The total cost of the mission, including launch and operations, is now $3.35 billion, far higher than when NASA selected the mission in 2019 as the latest in the New Frontiers line, which had a cost cap excluding launch and operations of $850 million.

NASA said that the costs included in the cap had doubled because of a series of replans to the mission caused by budget pressures, as well as supply chain and related pandemic impacts. NASA will also spend more on a heavy-lift launch vehicle to allow Dragonfly to reach Titan on schedule in 2034 despite two years of launch delays. (4/22)

Blue Halo Wins $24.4 Million AFRL Contract (Source: Space News)
Defense contractor BlueHalo has won a $24.4 million Air Force Research Lab contract to study vulnerabilities of space systems. BlueHalo will be tasked to "accelerate the advancement of the directed energy modeling, simulation and analysis, assessment expertise, and highly technical capabilities to safeguard strategic U.S. space interests," according to a contract announcement last week. AFRL's Satellite Assessment Center, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, evaluates the vulnerabilities of space vehicles to lasers and laser radiation. (4/22)

ESA Graduates Five Astronauts (Source: ESA)
ESA's latest class of astronauts have graduated. The agency held a ceremony Monday to mark the completion of the year-long training program for the five astronauts selected in November 2022. The five were joined by an Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate. The new ESA astronauts are now eligible for assignments for future ISS and other missions. (4/22)

Syrian Astronaut Passes Away at 72 (Source: CollectSpace)
The first Syrian to go to space has died. Muhammed Faris died last week in Turkey at the age of 72 after a long illness. Faris flew to the Mir space station in 1987, spending a week in space as Syria's first and, to date, only space traveler. A Syrian Air Force pilot, he served in the country's military after his flight, rising to the rank of general before detecting with his family to Turkey in 2012. (4/22)

Germany's Reflex Aerospace and South Korea's Flexell Space Team Up to Power Next-Generation Satellites (Source: Reflex)
Reflex and Flexell Space have signed a LOI to collaborate on integrating Flexell’s state-of-the-art solar cells into Reflex’s rapidly manufactured satellite platforms, the companies announced. This international partnership brings together two NewSpace innovators at the cutting edge of satellite manufacturing and solar power to usher in a new era of high-performance, low-lead-time satellites.

Reflex is pioneering new ways of improving satellite design and production, enabling the serial production of tailored satellites. Flexell Space, a Hanwha Group company, has developed groundbreaking solar cell technology that reduces mass while increasing durability and efficiency. Together, they are both working to meet the growing demand for flexible, resilient and high-performance satellites. (4/20)

Israel's Momentick Raises $6.5M for Satellite Methane Monitoring (Source: Axios)
Emissions detection service Momentick closed a $6.5 million seed round to expand the range of greenhouse gasses that it tracks, the company tells Axios. Leaks from fossil fuel infrastructure are responsible for 40% of human-caused methane emissions. Momentick is among a handful of startups using satellites to detect plumes of invisible gas leaking from fossil fuel infrastructure.

Unlike the Environmental Defense Fund's MethaneSat or the publicly traded earth imaging service Planet Labs, both of which launched their own satellites, Momentick is purely a software company, using an algorithm it developed to interpret images taken by others' satellites. The approach enables Momentick to be cost-efficient and cover a broader swath of territory, CEO Daniel Kashmir says. The company says it can detect leaks below 1,000 kilograms/hour, which is about standard for a satellite. (4/18)

ST Engineering and EY Sign MOU in Space Technology and Geospatial Analytics for Sustainability Purposes (Source: EY)
ST Engineering Geo-Insights and EY Corporate Advisors announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in space technology and geospatial analytics, aimed at tackling pressing environmental challenges. The companies will explore co-developing a geospatial platform, integrating ST Engineering Geo-Insights’ capabilities into EY’s existing infrastructure resilience services that focus on rail, roads, water utilities, pipelines and powerlines.

Both parties will explore using geospatial data to co-develop sustainability roadmaps and form a joint sustainability product development working group to focus on five key areas, namely deforestation; water management and quality; compliance with Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures or Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures requirements; carbon accounting; as well as baselining environmental impacts. (4/17)

2024 KSC Community Leaders Update Planned in May (Source: NASA KSC)
The KSC Community Leaders Update will bring together influential individuals from our community to update them on the changes taking place at NASA/KSC. This in-person gathering will take place on Thursday, May 23, 2024, at 2:00 PM at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation's Center for Space Education within the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Mingling starts at 2:00 PM, the presentation begins at 2:30 PM. (4/22)