February 12, 2025

Multinational Research Shows How Life on Earth Can be Measured From Space (Source: Space Daily)
Measurements and data collected from space can be used to better understand life on Earth. An ambitious, multinational research project funded by NASA demonstrated that Earth's biodiversity can be monitored and measured from space, leading to a better understanding of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Erin Hestir led a team that collected data over six weeks in late 2024.

Two NASA aircraft and one South African aircraft flew over South Africa's Greater Cape Floristic Region -one of the most biodiverse places on the planet - to collect ultraviolet, visual, thermal and other images. That data, combined with field work by the large team of scientists from the United States and South Africa, provides a comprehensive look at the region's biodiversity, or life systems. (2/10)

Russian Ambassador Meets ISRO Chairman (Source: ISRO)
Ambassador of Russian Federation to India H.E. Denis Alipov, visited with ISRO Chairman/Secretary Dr. V. Narayanan. Narayanan highlighted the strong bilateral space cooperation right from the initial days of Indian space program to the current cooperation mainly in India’s Human Space flight program, Gaganyaan. Alipov emphasized the need for enhancing Russia’s engagement with various stakeholders of Indian space ecosystem. (2/11)

Astronaut for a Day' Contest to Give Students a Taste of Space Travel (Source: RTL Today)
The Luxembourg Space Agency has launched the second edition of its 'Astronaut for a Day' contest, offering secondary school students a chance to experience a zero-gravity flight and explore career opportunities in the country's growing space sector. The event aims to recruit young ambassadors and teach them about space travel, hone their talents, and  promote the country's proliferating space sector.

Jointly organized with the European Space Agency (ESA), the program is available to secondary school students in Luxembourg from the age of 13. The most breathtaking aspect of the program is likely the zero-gravity test flight that the ten winners get to experience. Nevertheless, all candidates still have to pass physical and mental aptitude tests before embarking on this adventure, same as real astronauts. (2/12)

Space Experts Arrive in SaxaVord to Prepare for Blast-Off (Source: Shetland Times)
Space technicians visited SaxaVord to gather data ahead of their inaugural launch later this year. The team from Orbex, which recently announced its partnership with the Unst-based spaceport, also discussed the development of its dedicated launch complex.

Orbex, which has its headquarters in Forres, paused plans to develop its own spaceport in Sutherland, to focus its efforts on the development of its low-carbon micro-launcher – Orbex Prime. The company said it was gearing up for its first launch from Shetland later in 2025. It has the ability to launch 10 rockets a year. (2/12)

DARPA Demos Will Test Novel Tech for Building Future Large Structures in Space (Source: DARPA)
Based on outstanding technical progress by research teams to date, DARPA has pivoted the third and final phase of its NOM4D program from planned further laboratory testing to conducting a pair of small-scale orbital demonstrations to evaluate novel materials and assembly processes in space.

As commercial space companies continue to expand access to orbit for U.S. economic and national security needs, a major roadblock for building large-scale structures in orbit remains: the size and weight limits imposed by a rocket’s cargo fairing. In 2022, DARPA introduced NOM4D to break this cargo-constraint mold by exploring a new paradigm. Instead of folding or compacting structures to fit them into a rocket fairing to be unfurled or deployed in space, DARPA proposed stowing novel lightweight raw materials in the rocket fairing that don’t need to be hardened for launch.

The intent of this approach is to allow in-orbit construction of vastly larger and more mass-efficient structures than could ever fit in a rocket fairing. Additionally, this concept enables mass-efficient designs of structures that would sag under their own weight on Earth but are optimized for the low-gravity environment of space. Click here. (2/10)

Her Discovery Wasn’t Alien Life, but Science Has Never Been the Same (Source: New York Times)
With TV cameras pointed at her, Felisa Wolfe-Simon began speaking at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2010. “I’ve discovered — I’ve led a team that has discovered — something that I’ve been thinking about for many years,” Dr. Wolfe-Simon said. She was at that time a visiting researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, speaking to a sizable audience of journalists and bloggers.

Speculation that NASA had discovered some kind of alien life bred exponentially across nascent social media platforms. Dr. Wolfe-Simon had, unfortunately, not found aliens, nor had she ever said she did. But she had found a terrestrial organism that was behaving unlike any life form known on Earth. The creature lived in water three times as salty as the Pacific Ocean, with the pH level of glass cleaner and, most importantly for her team’s discovery, is full of toxic arsenic.

All known living things use six major chemical elements to keep their bodies churning. One is phosphorus. But from Mono Lake, Dr. Wolfe-Simon’s team said they had isolated an organism that could replace phosphorus with arsenic. This discovery could have significant implications for astrobiology, as it suggests life may be able to adapt to environments with different chemical compositions than previously thought. (2/11)

SpaceX Keeps Pace with 14th Space Coast Launch of the Year (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
SpaceX lined up and knocked out the 14th launch from Florida's Space Coast on Tuesday afternoon. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 of the company's Starlink internet satellites lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (2/11)

Feb. 26 Set for First 2025 Ariane 6 Launch (Source: Space News)
While Arianespace is preparing for its first Ariane 6 launch of the year, the company's manifest is backloaded to the second half of the year. An Ariane 6 is scheduled to launch the French CSO-3 reconnaissance satellite Feb. 26 on the first launch of the vehicle since its inaugural flight last July. The new CEO of Arianespace, David Cavaillolès, said at a recent conference that the company expects to perform five Ariane 6 launches this year, but after CSO-3 the next launch is not expected until August, when it will launch a Eumetsat weather satellite. Cavaillolès said Arianespace still planned to ramp up to its target launch rate of 9-10 Ariane 6 missions a year "as soon as possible." (2/12)

Tracking Satellites is Getting Harder (Source: Space News)
Military tracking systems are struggling to keep up with the growth in satellites in orbit. Military leaders and industry experts warn that Cold War-era tracking infrastructure and manual processes are ill-equipped to handle today's complex space environment, where adversaries' satellites can perform unpredictable maneuvers and new commercial launches happen almost daily. Experts say the U.S. can no longer rely on Cold War-era approaches to space domain awareness and are looking to new approaches and technologies, including artificial intelligence, to help. (2/12)

Port Canaveral Pinched Between Cruise and Cargo, Leisure and Space (Source: Florida Today)
Port Canaveral, the seaport adjacent to Cape Canaveral, is feeling the strain of both space and cruise ship activity. The head of the Canaveral Port Authority said there is now "a significant use of port facilities" to accommodate companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin and ULA, who use the port for delivering hardware and for recovery of boosters. The port expects more space companies to seek use of the port, creating a traffic jam at the port, which is also the second-busiest cruise line terminal worldwide. (2/12)

Vera Rubin Bio Revised in Trump Diversity Scrub (Source: Space.com)
Scientists are alarmed that the website for a new observatory named after a famous female astronomer has altered that astronomer's online biography. The Vera Rubin Observatory has revised a bio of Rubin, an astronomer credited for discovering evidence for dark matter, removing passages that mentioned her efforts to advocate for women in science given the challenges she faced in the field in the mid-20th century. The changes were made after the start of the Trump administration, which has issued executive orders to end diversity initiatives. The observatory is funded by the National Science Foundation. (2/12)

Did Covid Lockdowns Really Cause Temperatures on the Moon to Drop? (Source: Space.com)
Scientists have been arguing about a curious topic recently: Did temperatures on the moon dip due to the world's Covid-19 lockdown? Last year, a pair of researchers claimed that the shockwaves of the shutdown could be felt as far as the moon, causing a slight dip in lunar surface temperatures. Now, a new paper disputes that finding, saying that it's not possible to definitively attribute that drop to the reduction of global emissions associated with the lockdown. (2/10)

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Departs Earth Orbit (Source: Aviation Week)
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander has completed a successful Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) maneuver to depart Earth orbit on a four-day transit to lunar orbit. The TLI was executed Feb. 8, according to a Feb. 10 NASA mission update. (2/10)

Space Force Plans Acquisition Reform, More Fixed-Price Contracts (Source: Space News)
The Space Force plans to reform its acquisition processes, including more use of fixed-price contracts. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the Space Force's acting acquisition executive, said Tuesday that the service is "more aggressively" pursuing reforms started by former space acquisition chief Frank Calvelli to streamline programs and control costs. That includes addressing underperformance by companies and government managers alike, he said. He added that Space Force officials were "big fans" of proposed legislation by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to drive efficiency and accountability in defense programs. (2/12)

Crew Dragon Swap to Advance Williams, Wilmore Return From ISS (Source: Space News)
NASA and SpaceX have agreed to swap Crew Dragon spacecraft to reduce the delay in the next mission to the International Space Station. NASA said Tuesday that the Crew-10 mission will use an existing Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endurance, that had been scheduled to fly the Ax-4 private astronaut mission this spring, rather than a new Crew Dragon spacecraft.

Delays in completing that new Crew Dragon had already pushed back the Crew-10 launch from February to late March with the risk of additional delays. The mission is now scheduled to launch no earlier than March 12, delivering astronauts from NASA, JAXA and Roscosmos to the station. That will allow the return shortly thereafter of the Crew-9 mission that will include NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived on the station in June on the Starliner mission. (2/12)

The Efforts Bridging Space Sustainability, From Best Intentions to Real-World Actions (Source: Space News)
According to the Space Foundation, the total mass brought to orbit soared by 40% last year to 1.9 million kilograms. Currently, more than two-thirds of an estimated 9,000 active satellites in orbit are Starlink’s, but SpaceX isn’t the only megaconstellation in town. Amazon, China and others eager to join the fray are fast coming on the horizon.

Although multiple efforts are underway to help space sustainability keep pace with this rapid expansion, progress remains slow. Geopolitical tensions and the absence of enforcement mechanisms continue to hinder progress, while anti-satellite tests and other actions are also exacerbating the problem.

“If we don’t radically rethink how we approach our use of space, we’ll leave behind a permanent toxic trail of debris that chokes our future,” said Moriba Jah, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and chief scientific adviser at Privateer, a space situational awareness company. (2/10)

Pakistan Rover to Fly on China’s Chang’e-8 Lunar South Pole Mission (Source: Space News)
A Pakistan-developed rover will fly on China’s Chang’e-8 moon lander mission in 2028, following an agreement between respective agencies. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Space and Upper Atmo­sphere Research Comm­ission (Suparco) agreed to allow Pakistan’s first rover to fly on Chang’e-8. An agreement in principle had been announced late last year and was formally finalized during Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to China last week. (2/10)

Does the Universe Behave the Same Way Everywhere? Gravitational Lenses Could Help Us Find Out (Source: JCAP)
Recent cosmological observations suggest that, on extremely large scales, there may be anisotropies—variations in the Universe’s structure that challenge the assumption of isotropy. These anomalies have been identified using different methods and include conflicting measurements of the Universe’s expansion rate, studies of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and various inconsistencies in cosmological data. (2/11)

Trump’s Anti-DEI Executive Orders Could Jeopardize Safety of NASA Crews (Source: Guardian)
A flurry of executive orders and internal directives from Donald Trump’s administration may be putting the safety of NASA’s crews in jeopardy, sources within the US space agency said. Top-down cuts to the US federal workforce – via buyouts – and staff shortages resulting from resignations due to Trump’s orders on diversity, gender and remote work are further compounding pre-existing staffing concerns about NASA’s ability to continue operating the ISS and execute Trump’s ambitious vision for Moon and Mars exploration, the sources said. (2/11)

Council Recommends Strategic Dialog with China on Space (Source: Space News)
A new report recommends that the United States pursue both deterrence and strategic dialogue with China in space. The report by the Council on Foreign Relations, released Tuesday, called on the U.S. to make space a "top national priority and commit to revitalizing U.S. leadership in space." That report recommended investment in resilient satellite networks but also maintaining lines of communications with China, such as a direct communication hotline to reduce the risk of miscalculation in orbit.

It also advises that the president should launch a vulnerability, remediation, and deterrence assessment that includes participation by the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, private sector space companies, and civil space organizations and academic institutions. (2/12)

Redwire to Build Another Space Force Orbital Refueling Craft (Source: Space News)
Redwire will build an additional satellite for a Space Force orbital refueling project. The company said Tuesday that the Space Force ordered a third Mako satellite bus for the Tetra-6 in-orbit refueling experiment scheduled for 2027. The prime contractor for the experiment, Arcfield, had previously ordered two Mako platforms for the Tetra-5 experiment, scheduled for later this year. Fuel delivery satellites from Orbit Fab or Northrop Grumman will attempt rendezvous, docking and propellant transfer operations with the Arcfield-built satellites in geostationary orbit. (2/12)

Astroscale and ClearSpace Complete Review of Satellite Deorbiting Tech (Source: Space News)
Astroscale and ClearSpace have passed the halfway mark in de-risking key technologies for potential satellite deorbiting missions for the U.K. Space Agency (UKSA). Astroscale's U.K. subsidiary announced Tuesday that it has successfully completed the Mid-Term Review of Phase 2 for UKSA's Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission, while ClearSpace said it completed its own Mid-Term Review of Phase 2 in December.

Once the companies complete the Phase 2 work, scheduled by the end of March, the agency is expected to select one company to lead a consortium for Phase 3. That period would cover manufacturing, assembly and testing of the spacecraft, which will attempt to remove multiple U.K.-licensed spacecraft from low Earth orbit. (2/12)

One Agency Tried to Regulate SpaceX. Now Its Fate Could Be in Elon Musk’s Hands (Source: Pro Publica)
“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA,” the agency’s chief counsel said in September, after proposing $633,000 in fines for alleged SpaceX violations related to two launches. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s response was swift and caustic. He accused the agency of engaging in “lawfare” and threatened to sue it for “regulatory overreach.” “

The fundamental problem is that humanity will forever be confined to Earth unless there is radical reform at the FAA!” Musk wrote on X. Today, Musk is in a unique position to deliver that change. As one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers and head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, he’s presiding over the administration’s effort to cut costs and slash regulation.

While it’s unclear what changes his panel has in store for the FAA, current and former employees are bracing for Musk to focus on the little-known part of the agency that regulates his rocket company: the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, known as AST. “People are nervous,” said a former employee who did not want to be quoted by name talking about Musk. (2/11)

South Korea, US Launch Next-Gen Space Telescope SPHEREx for 3D Universe Mapping (Source: Chosun)
The next-generation space telescope, in which Korea participated in its development, is heading to space. The researchers plan to use this telescope to create a three-dimensional infrared map of the universe and explore the origins of the universe and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) announced on the 12th that the space telescope SPHEREx, co-developed by KARI and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will be launched at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Feb. 28. The mission period for SPHEREx is 2 years and 6 months, during which it will observe space four times. (2/12)

Putin Rages as Sanctions Hobble Russia in the New Space Race (Source: The Times)
Russia's once glorious space legacy received its latest blow as President Putin sacked Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos. The removal of Borisov after less than three years in the job underlined the Kremlin’s displeasure over recent setbacks in space exploration, traditionally a source of national pride.

Western sanctions triggered by the invasion of Ukraine have taken their toll, just as China sends astronauts to its Tiangong space station and India, a relative newcomer, plans a Venus orbiter mission.

Analysts say that the Russian spacefaring prowess is useful for Putin. “Space activity still legitimates authoritarian governance in Russia, just as it did decades ago,” said Pavel Luzin, a senior non-resident fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). “In this way it is highly important.” (2/11)

Russia Claims New Plasma-Based Engine Could Cut Mars Travel to Just 30 Days (Source: Gizmodo)
A trip to Mars may be in the books for future astronauts, but current propulsion technology will have them floating in a spacecraft bound for the Red Planet for roughly six to nine months. Considering how spaceflight affects the human body, that’s not ideal. A rocket company in Russia may have developed a solution to travel through the cosmos at much faster speeds using a new type of rocket engine.

Scientists at Russia’s state-owned Rosatom corporation have developed a prototype of a plasma electric rocket engine that could reach Mars in just 30 to 60 days, Russian media reported. The rocket, which uses hydrogen as fuel, has the potential to revolutionize spaceflight, but it is very early in its development phase and will likely take several years before it can be used for a human mission to Mars. (2/12)

ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Still Doesn’t Have the Space Force’s Seal of Approval (Source: Ars Technica)
Last October, ULA started stacking its third Vulcan rocket on a mobile launch platform in Florida in preparation for a mission for the Space Force by the end of the year. That didn't happen, and ULA is still awaiting the Space Force's formal certification of its new rocket, further pushing out delivery schedules for numerous military satellites booked to fly to orbit on the Vulcan launcher.

Now, several months after stacking the next Vulcan rocket, ULA has started taking it apart. The "de-stacking" will clear ULA's vertical hangar for assembly of an Atlas V rocket to launch satellites for Amazon's Kuiper constellation. ULA hoped to launch as many as 20 missions in 2025, with roughly an even split between its new Vulcan rocket and the Atlas V heading for retirement. That would require around one launch every two and a half weeks. Six weeks into 2025, ULA's first launch of the year is still a month or more away.

The laborious process of certifying a new rocket or spacecraft involves numerous reviews and metaphorical stacks of paperwork. The Space Force's objective with certifying the Vulcan rocket is ensuring it will provide a reliable ride to orbit for the military's most sensitive and expensive satellites. These include spy satellites, missile warning sentinels, and spacecraft for the Global Positioning System. (2/11)

Firefly Aerospace to Add 50 New Employees Thanks to $8.2M Texas Space Commission Grant (Source: Austin Business Journal)
Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, which builds rockets and lunar landers, announced Feb. 11 that it received an $8.2 million grant from the Texas Space Commission that will enable it to increase its manufacturing capabilities, conduct educational outreach and add 50 jobs.

The company — which has 750 employees spread across more than 275,000 square feet of space in Cedar Park and Briggs — said in an announcement that the funding comes from the Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund, which supports development of emerging spaceflight technologies, workforce training and infrastructure critical to Texas' growing aerospace sector. The Texas Space Commission was launched by the state Legislature in 2023 with $350 million to position Texas as a global industry leader. (2/11)

How Trump’s Air Force Picks Signal Blast-Off in the US-China Military Space Race (Source: South China Morning Post)
Competition in space between the US and China could be about to intensify, with US President Donald Trump’s picks to lead the United States Air Force notable for their strong backgrounds in the field, according to analysts. Trump has nominated space and air force veteran Troy Meink for the post of secretary, with Matthew Lohmeier, former commander of the space force – which is overseen by the airborne service – expected to serve as deputy.

Experts say the appointments will add to the already-tense US-China military competition in space. Both men have said space should be prioritized, a position also held by Frank Kendall, who was air force secretary in the Joe Biden administration. (2/12)

Satellites and Space Races: The Role of Europe in the Space Economy (Source: Bruegel)
Reinhilde Veugelers and Hermann Ludwig Moeller, Director of the European Space Policy Institute discuss the financial landscape of space exploration, the role of private and public sectors, and the critical intersection of space with security and defense. They also explore the growing demand for space services and the funding mechanisms needed to support Europe’s ambitions in space. Click here for their expert insights and recommendations on how Europe can move forward in this rapidly evolving field. (2/5)

Exoplanet System May Be the Fastest Ever Discovered (Souce: KXAN)
A star flying through the night sky may be the fastest-moving solar system in our galaxy. Possibly a planet a little larger than Neptune orbiting a small star, the system could be moving at least 1.2 million miles per hour, according to NASA. First discovered in 2011, the system was included in a research project led by Sean Terry with the University of Maryland and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Terry said it could be traveling faster than 1.2 million miles per hour. They were only able to track the system’s movement from left to right. It could be moving relatively further or closer to Earth, meaning it could be moving even faster. (2/11)