February 11, 2025

Support of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (Source: Space Daily)
This is a statement by Planetary Science Institute CEO Mark V. Sykes, and reflects the values and principles that guide the daily management of and planning for this Institute under his leadership. "I would like to share a positive perspective of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility from the context of a science institute. At a time when these principles are being purged by our government from a large swath of federal programs, you should know they actually advance science, thereby advancing the interests of our country, and are important for the workplace." Click here. (2/12)

So Long SLS? (And Gateway, Orion, Artemis?) (Source: NASA Watch)
According to Ars Technica: “On Friday, with less than an hour’s notice, David Dutcher, Boeing’s vice president and program manager for the SLS rocket, scheduled an all-hands meeting for the approximately 800 employees working on the program. The apparently scripted meeting lasted just six minutes, and Dutcher didn’t take questions.” Oh yes: Eric Berger just update this story with a tweet saying “NASA HQ was caught completely unaware on Friday afternoon when the first stories started to appear. Boeing apparently did this to pressure lawmakers to ‘save’ SLS before the White House takes action.” (2/9)

MDA Signs $1.1 Billion Contract with Globalstar for NextGen LEO Constellation (Source: MDA Space)
MDA Space announced that it has signed a definitive contract with Globalstar to be the prime contractor for the satellite operator's next generation low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation, with a total contract value of approximately $1.1 billion. As part of the definitive contract for the full LEO constellation, MDA Space will manufacture more than 50 MDA AURORATM software-defined digital satellites for Globalstar. (2/10)

Judge Rules the White House Failed to Comply With Court Order to Release Grant Funds (Sources: New York Times, Space.com)
A federal judge on Monday said the White House has defied his order to release billions of dollars in federal grants, marking the first time a judge has expressly declared that the Trump White House was disobeying a judicial mandate. The ruling by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in Rhode Island federal court ordered Trump administration officials to comply with what he called “the plain text” of an edict he issued on Jan. 29.

That order, he wrote, was “clear and unambiguous, and there are no impediments to the Defendants’ compliance with” it. According to Space.com, the administration's freeze could have affected up to $1.28 billion in NASA grants and funding. (2/10)
 
Station Arrivals (Source: CNBC)
It’s been nearly four years since NASA announced the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program, its plan to replace the International Space Station. There are five American companies leading work on private space station projects that, on paper, would help NASA do just that. And we’re now about five years away from when NASA plans for the ISS to “retire,” in what will effectively be a fiery burial at sea.

Both government and industry leaders alike have emphasized the importance of avoiding a gap in low Earth orbit.Each of the five private space stations efforts underway — led by Axiom, Blue Origin, Gravitics, Vast and Voyager — have varying timelines for how soon their initial modules will get in orbit. I reached out to each of these companies this week to get the most up-to-date timelines for their projects. All but Blue Origin responded, so here’s the latest rundown on when those launches are planned. (2/10)

Redirecting NASA’s Focus: Why the Gateway Program Should be Canceled (Source: Space Review)
NASA states that the lunar Gateway is a key part of the overall Artemis effort to return humans to the Moon. Gerald Black disagrees, arguing that the Gateway is a diversion of resources if NASA is really serious about getting humans back on the lunar surface and going on to Mars. Click here. (2/10)
 
The Spaceport Conundrum (Source: Space Review)
There’s both a growing number of spaceports and a growing number of launches, but those launches are not equally distributed. Jeff Foust reports that the busiest spaceports are struggling to keep up while the rest struggle to make ends meet. Click here. (2/10)
 
What Makes a Lunar Landing Mission “Successful”? (Source: Space Review)
Two commercial lunar landers are on their way to the Moon with a third scheduled to launch later this month. Jatan Mehta explains why the companies operating those spacecraft should be more transparent about what constitutes success for their missions. Click here. (2/10) https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4933/1

Perseverance Rover's Groundbreaking Soil and Rock Samples (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully collected its first soil, airfall dust, and rock fragment samples, marking a historic step in Martian exploration. A new study highlights these early sample returns and their implications for understanding Mars' past.

Until now, the only Martian materials accessible to scientists were meteorites that naturally landed on Earth. However, thanks to NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission, researchers now have the unprecedented opportunity to analyze hand-selected samples. These include rock cores the size of blackboard chalk, fragmented rock pieces no larger than a pencil eraser, and microscopic grains of sand or dust. (2/10)

MDA Space Building Apple-Funded Globalstar Satellites (Source: Space News)
MDA Space confirmed Monday it is building a new generation of Apple-funded satellites for Globalstar. The Canadian company said it was building more than 50 satellites, based on its new reprogrammable Aurora platform, under a contract valued at 1.1 billion Canadian dollars ($768 million). Few details were provided about the latest contract, first teased in 2023 after MDA Space disclosed it had received initial funding from an unnamed customer to kick off the project. MDA previously won a contract to refresh Globalstar's existing constellation, which Apple uses to provide emergency SOS services for iPhones. (2/11)

BlackSky Imaging Satellites Ready for New Zealand Launch (Source: Space News)
BlackSky will start launching a new series of Earth imaging satellites this month. The first Gen-3 satellite is scheduled to launch as soon as Feb. 18 on a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand, BlackSky announced Monday. The satellite will provide high-resolution 35-centimeter imagery, an improvement that aligns with demands from U.S. and international government customers. The Gen-3 satellites will have capabilities that include short-wave infrared sensors that can penetrate smoke and haze, as well as the ability to conduct multiple observations of the same location within a day. They also will use laser intersatellite links. (2/11)

Airbus to Build Radar Imaging Satellites for UK Military (Source: Space News)
Airbus Defence and Space will build a pair of radar imaging satellites for the U.K. military. Airbus won a contract worth 127 million pounds ($157 million) to build the two SAR satellites for the Oberon program for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The satellites are part of a broader initiative called ISTARI to develop a U.K. military satellite reconnaissance constellation. The first satellite of that constellation, an optical imaging satellite named Tyche, launched in August. The Oberon satellites are projected to launch in 2027. (2/11)

Texas Awards Grants to Five Space Companies (Source: Space News)
A Texas state agency awarded $47.7 million in grants to five space companies Monday. The Texas Space Commission selected Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, SpaceX and Starlab Space for awards ranging from $7 million to $15 million each for construction and development projects in the state. The grants are part of a $150 million Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund program funded by the state government. The commission did not disclose how it selected these five companies for grants, but previously stated it had received 284 applications worth a combined $3.46 billion for the program. (2/11)

DARPA Picks Two Projects for In-Space Manufacturing (Source: Space News)
DARPA selected two projects for the next phase of an in-space manufacturing program. The agency said it will fund flight projects for its Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program led by Caltech and the University of Illinois. Caltech will demonstrate in-space assembly of a truss on a Momentus spacecraft while the University of Illinois will test innovative materials and manufacturing processes on the Bishop airlock module of the International Space Station. (2/11)

SpaceX to Launch NASA Astrophysics Smallsats on Rideshare Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA picked SpaceX to launch an astrophysics smallsat mission as a rideshare payload. NASA said Monday it awarded a task order to SpaceX for the launch of the Pandora spacecraft. The smallsat will operate in low Earth orbit, observing 20 stars known to have exoplanets over one year to determine if spectral signatures from them are linked to the presence of hydrogen and water in the planets' atmospheres or are instead artifacts of the variability of the stars. NASA did not disclose details about when or how Pandora will launch, but the project's leaders previously said they were planning to launch as a rideshare as soon as September. (2/11)

China Launches Broadband Megaconstellation Satellites (Source: Space News)
The first Long March 8A launched early Tuesday carrying a set of broadband satellites. The Long March 8A lifted off at 4:30 a.m. Eastern from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center and placed into orbit an unspecified number of satellites for the Guowang (SatNet) broadband megaconstellation. The Long March 8A is an upgraded variant of the standard Long March 8 with a redesigned second stage. The rocket can carry around 7,000 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. (2/11)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites From California (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites Monday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 9:09 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and deployed the Starlink satellites into orbit. The twilight launch created a plume backlit by the sun that was visible as far away as Arizona and Utah. (2/11)

NASA Expands Testing for Starling Swarm (Source: Space News)
NASA is expanding testing of distributed autonomy for its first satellite swarm, Starling. The four cubesats tested autonomous operations in Earth orbit during an initial phase of the mission, launched in 2023, including sharing information with each other. New instructions sent to the satellites last week will focus on increasing their scientific value. Project officials say the technology could benefit future science missions, in which one satellite detects something and informs others to take followup observations without input from ground controllers. (2/11)

NASA Upgrades Flight Software Systems (Source: Space News)
NASA is rolling out an upgrade to flight software systems used across the agency. A government-only version of NASA core Flight System (cFS) with enhanced security, artificial intelligence, robotics support and autonomy features will be released in mid-2025 for space agency programs. An update to the open-source version of cFS, widely used by missions worldwide, will be available soon after the government version is released. (2/11)

Williams: Butch and I Are Not 'Abandoned' (Source: CBS)
NASA astronaut Suni Williams pushed back against claims that she and Butch Wilmore have been "abandoned" on the ISS. In an interview, Williams said comments last month by President Trump that the two had been "virtually abandoned" on the ISS were not accurate, as they were "part of the team" on the ISS busy with research and other activities. The two astronauts arrived on the ISS in June for what was intended to be a stay of as little as eight days, but problems with their Starliner spacecraft forced it to return home uncrewed. Williams and Wilmore will come back on the Crew-9 Crew Dragon spacecraft as early as late March. (2/11)

Euclid Discovers Einstein Ring (Source: Science)
A European spacecraft has discovered a phenomenon known as an Einstein ring. The discovery by the Euclid space telescope, announced Monday, shows a distant galaxy whose light has been warped by gravitational lensing from a closer galaxy in the line of sight, creating a ring. The distant galaxy bent into a ring is 4.4 billion light-years away, astronomers said, while the nearby galaxy whose gravity created the ring is 590 million light-years away. (2/11)