August 25, 2021

Long Beach CA Reemerges as an Aerospace Hub (Source: Los Angeles Business Journal)
From startups to established titans, aerospace companies are expanding their presence in Long Beach. Companies including Relativity Space, Rocket Lab USA and Virgin Orbit have established their headquarters in the city over the past few years, bringing thousands of local jobs and millions of dollars in payroll. (8/23)

Colorado Aerospace Industry the 'Mall of America' for All Things in Orbit (Source: The Gazette)
If you are  are shopping for space technology, Colorado is the Mall of America for all things in orbit. If traffic is light, you can buy your rocket and satellite, hire staff to manage it in space and ink a contract with space tracking experts to keep it safe. From satellites probing the far reaches of the solar system to television from space, Colorado leads the way.

The state is also the home to the bulk of the new Space Force, with four of its bases and its most important missions. The Global Positioning System signal that puts bombs on target, keeps your car on the right road and allows banks and the Internet to keep functioning comes from Colorado Springs. Buckley Space Force Base tracks missiles around the planet and stores satellite data for intelligence agencies.

The National Space Defense Center, the Aerospace Data Facility, U.S. Space Command and Army Space and Missile Defense Command are all here, and those are only the ones without cool acronyms. We also house Space Operations Command, which goes by SPOC, along with Space Training and Readiness Command, which is ... drum roll .. STARCOM in military parlance. Colorado Springs Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn put it simply: America wouldn't be in space without Colorado. (8/25)

Silicon Valley’s Most Successful Incubator is Doubling Down on Space Tugs (Source: Quartz)
The rise of commercial rockets and venture-backed satellites has created an opportunity for TransAstra to solve the equivalent of the “last mile” problem in space. To save money, satellite operators pack as many spacecraft as possible into orbital rockets, but a large rocket can only go to one destination in space. Satellites might need to be positioned in a variety of orbits and altitudes to do their work. Space tugs to cart satellites from their initial arrival point to a bespoke destination.

Analysts at Northern Sky Research estimate that companies are currently paying about $750 million to launch small satellites, a figure that could reach $1.5 billion annually by 2023. A dozen companies are at work on developing space tugs for this market; currently operational vehicles include the Photon kick stage operated by Rocket Lab, and Spaceflight’s Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle.

Another future option may be Vigoride, the space tug being developed by Momentus, a company founded by a Russian space entrepreneur, Mikhail Kokorich. Sercel spent 2019 as the chief technology officer of the company, with the idea of using Vigoride to demonstrate TransAstra’s mining technology, leaving the company that December. (8/25)

Russia Postpones Lunar Mission Over 'Problems During Testing' (Source: Space Daily)
Russia revealed Tuesday it postponed its first mission to the moon's surface in decades as a result of "problems" encountered during tests of the Luna-25 spacecraft. The country's space agency Roscosmos announced last week that the mission -- originally scheduled for October 1 -- from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East had been moved to May 2022.

The Luna-25 mission to the Moon's south pole aims to probe ice deposits there. It is set to be Russia's first mission to the moon's surface in 45 years and the first in its post-Soviet history. The chief engineer of Russia's state NPO Lavochkin design bureau explained the delay Tuesday saying that "more time" was needed to complete successful trials. (8/24)

China's Rover Travels Over 1km on Mars (Source: Xinhua)
China's Mars rover Zhurong had traveled more than 1,000 meters on the surface of the red planet as of Monday, the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, lander, and rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander, carrying the rover with an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days or about three months on Earth, touched down on May 15 in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars. (8/25)

Congressional Report Details Deployment of Russian, Chinese Laser and Microwave Weapons in Space (Source: Sputnik)
Russia and China have fervently opposed US plans for the deployment of offensive weapons systems in space for over a decade, jointly proposing a treaty to prevent such arms from being deployed by any nation. Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there was "still a chance" to reach an agreement on the issue.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), an agency responsible for briefing US lawmakers on military matters and other affairs, has accused Russia and China of engaging in "threatening" activities in outer space which may harm the US and its allies' national security, and of working to create a whole range of space weapons with offensive capabilities.

In a document titled "Space as a Warfighting Domain: Issues for Congress," the CRS indicates that "many states and international entities, including the Department of Defence and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), now declare space as a warfighting domain," even as "various treaties and agreements" formally continue to promote the heavens as a "peaceful domain." (8/24)

NASA Tests Ways to Reduce Stress in Plants Growing in Space (Source: Space Daily)
One experiment on NASA SpaceX's 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission to the space station will help determine the effect of plant stress responses to the microgravity environment. The Advanced Plant Experiment-08 (APEX-08) will grow Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant scientists routinely use for research. The study includes making genetic alterations that elicit a response in the pool of polyamines, a group of organic compounds that modulate plant responses to environmental stress.

Pools of polyamines in plants, particularly a major group called putrescines, could be manipulated in space and on the ground to reduce stress reactions. Masson, along with co-investigator Dr. Shih-Heng Su, selected six distinct genotypes of Arabidopsis plants for the study. Inside a laboratory at Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF), the payload development team, including NASA researchers, the principal investigators, and contractors, placed the Arabidopsis seeds in an agar medium on Petri plates for the journey to the orbiting laboratory. (8/25)

Virgin Orbit Selects Redwire to Provide Digital Engineering to Support Rapid Development (Source: Space Daily)
Virgin Orbit has selected Redwire to provide state-of-the-art digital engineering solutions that will support multi-mission planning through systematic analysis and advanced modeling and dynamic mission simulation. This critical capability will enhance Virgin Orbit's end-to-end responsive space service offering.

Redwire recently announced the debut of its Hyperion Operational Space Simulation Laboratory (HOSS)-a first-of-its-kind digital engineering environment that leverages the company's full suite of digital engineering capabilities, including software- and hardware-in-the-loop configurations, to enable next generation space architectures and solutions, such as advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning and cyber technologies.

HOSS enables collaboration with government and commercial partners such as Virgin Orbit to rapidly design, develop, deploy, operate and maintain mission critical space capabilities. (8/25)

Russia Plans to Send Two More Space Tourists to ISS (Source: Sputnik)
Two space tourists could head to the International Space Station (ISS) on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft after 2023, Deputy Director General for International Cooperation of Russian space agency Roscosmos Sergey Saveliev told Sputnik. According to Saveliev, an agreement will be signed with the two space tourists in the near future but they will only be able to go to space after 2023, since up until then all the seats on Roscosmos spacecraft are already taken. (8/25)

COVID-19 Surge Forcing Critical Oxygen Away From Launchers like SpaceX and ULA (Source: Florida Today)
A pandemic-triggered shortage of oxygen across the nation has rippled out to spaceflight companies like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, officials confirmed this week, and is part of the reason for the Space Coast's months-long launch drought. (The Cape hasn't hosted a launch since June 30.) But changing demands for oxygen have forced suppliers to prioritize hospitals overrun with COVID patients – and high-priority customers like launch providers are not immune to seeing their tanks slowly lose pressure.

"We're actually going to be impacted this year with the lack of liquid oxygen for launch," Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, said Tuesday during a panel at the 36th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "We certainly are going to make sure hospitals have the liquid oxygen they need." Liquid oxygen, or LOX, is a critical resource to most launch providers, heavy industry, and even city water systems. Rockets like SpaceX's Falcon 9 and ULA's Atlas V combine supercooled oxygen with rocket-grade kerosene to produce thrust necessary for liftoff. (8/25)

Crewed Space Missions Call for Colossal Engineering Projects (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Case in point, researchers in China are investigating the possibility of assembling a spacecraft in orbit. The project is part of the nation's ambitions to expand space exploration, which encompasses crewed missions operating on long-term timescales. The proposal from the National Natural Science Foundation of China calls for an analysis of the mechanics of constructing an "ultra-large spacecraft spanning kilometers," according to a report from the South China Morning Post.

In other words, China just told the world it's interested in building a spacecraft that is miles long. Yes, miles. According to an outline of the project shared by the foundation, the work is being managed by an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Science and Technology. As if this massive project isn't impressive enough, this is just one among 10 other proposed research outlines released earlier this month by the mathematical and physical sciences department, which plans on funding five total projects with a maximum budget equivalent to $2.3 million (15 million yuan). (8/24)

Accelerated Digital Transformations on Earth are a Boost for Deep Space Missions (Source: Space News)
Efforts to digitize spacecraft manufacturing processes to support remote workers during the pandemic are also creating operational advantages for deep space missions, according to Lisa Callahan, Lockheed Martin Space’s vice president and general manager of commercial civil space. She said COVID-19 prompted the company to accelerate a “huge digital transformation road map” that was already in place to improve manufacturing workflows.

Lockheed introduced more online collaboration tools so that employees could work on spacecraft designs remotely to help shrink COVID-19 exposure rates. “That allows us to get together through Zoom and other technologies to be able to do peer reviews of some of those designs online,” she said. For Orion, the spaceship Lockheed is developing to take astronauts to the Moon, Mars and other deep space missions, Callahan said the company created a “digital twin” that engineers can use to review and test systems through simulations, before ordering parts.

Technicians can also access this digital representation with augmented reality glasses, enabling them to quickly measure and identify parts, where to place them and better manage workflows. Operationally, these digital twins can assist ground-based teams, enabling them to quickly diagnose and solve issues on spacecraft that are out of reach of real-time communications. This will be “critically important” for missions to Mars that have to manage significant communication delays, she added. (8/24)

SECAF: Space Force Acquisitions Reorganized (Source: Space News)
The new secretary of the Air Force announced a reorganization of the office that oversees Space Force acquisitions. In a speech at the 36th Space Symposium Tuesday, Frank Kendall said he put Brig. Gen. Steve Whitney, director of space programs at the Department of the Air Force, in charge of space acquisitions temporarily until an assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Whitney will report to Darlene Costello, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. He said he is also beginning to transition the Space Development Agency (SDA) into the Department of the Air Force ahead of the October 2022 deadline set by Congress. (8/25)

SECAF Meets With Blue Origin and ULA on Vulcan (Source: Space News)
Kendall said Tuesday he met with the chief executives of Blue Origin and ULA about the status of the Vulcan Centaur rocket. The main topic of the meeting was the delay in the development and testing of the BE-4 rocket engine that ULA needs in order to fly its new rocket. Kendall expressed confidence that they will be able to work through the problems, and that the delay showed the importance of having two providers in the national security space launch program. ULA CEO Tory Bruno tweeted Tuesday that he expected to receive flight-ready BE-4 engines before the end of the year, barring any test setbacks. (8/25)

Space Command Now Operational (Source: Space News)
U.S. Space Command has reached its initial operating capability, its commander announced Tuesday. Gen. James Dickinson made the announcement at Space Symposium Tuesday, declaring that the combatant command now has enough people and resources to protect U.S. satellites, deter aggression and provide space-based services to the U.S. military. Full operational capability may take several more years to achieve. Dickinson said in an interview that the command needs to have a permanent headquarters location sooner rather than later so it can move forward with its organization and plans. The location of that headquarters has become a political controversy. (8/25)

DoD's SDA Negotiates Lower Launch Price Within NSSL Contract (Source: Space News)
The director of the SDA says he was able to negotiate down launch costs for his agency's satellites. Derek Tournear said initially he did not want to use the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program because of its high costs, and separately awarded a contract to SpaceX for an initial set of satellites launching next year. But after extensive negotiations, the Space Force agreed to remove some additional markups and gave SDA a better deal, Tournear said Tuesday. The cost savings, he said, were "multiple tens of millions of dollars per launch." (8/25)

NRO, Space Force, Space Command Sign Cooperation Framework (Source: Space News)
The NRO, Space Force and Space Command have signed a cooperative agreement. NRO Director Chris Scolese said Tuesday the "Protect and Defend Strategic Framework" formalizes activities among the organizations on topics ranging from acquisition to operations. In a speech at the Space Symposium, he added that he was concerned about space security, including threats posed by China and Russia. "If we're not careful, it's going to become a knockdown, drag-out brawl, something we all want to avoid." (8/25)

DoD LEO Satellites to Support Missile Defense (Source: Space News)
The deployment of LEO satellites to fill blind spots in the U.S. missile defense system is finally moving from the drawing board to actual space hardware. U.S. defense officials worry that China and Russia are developing increasingly sophisticated hypersonic missiles that launch into space and glide back into the atmosphere on erratic trajectories that are difficult to track with existing satellites. Several companies have contracts to develop satellites for the SDA and Missile Defense Agency to better track such satellites. (8/25)

DoD Report Calls for Cislunar Space Monitoring (Source: Space News)
An upcoming report from the Defense Intelligence Agency calls for improved monitoring of activities in cislunar space.The agency believes that, with increased interest in missions to the moon, "there will eventually be some exploitation and not just exploration" of the space between the Earth and moon. The report calls for three tiers of requirements for cislunar activities by 2030, starting with space domain awareness and followed by communications and navigation. (8/25)

Orbion to Develop High-Thrust Satellite Propulsion under USAF SBIR Contract (Source: Space News)
Orbion Space Technology announced a U.S. Air Force contract to develop and demonstrate high-thrust satellite propulsion. A Phase 2 SBIR award from the Air Force AFWERX program supports Orbion's work on El Matador, a collision avoidance feature to allow spacecraft to quickly dodge satellites or space debris. Orbion offers the technology as an option on its Aurora Hall-effect thruster for small satellites, and consists of a high-thrust cold-gas nozzle inside the thruster head. (8/25)

Apollo Fusion Developing Electric Thrusters (Source: Astra)
An electric propulsion system developed by Apollo Fusion successfully fired in space for the first time. The thruster flew on Spaceflight's Sherpa tug launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission in June, and operated as expected. The test makes the Sherpa-LTE the first fully functional orbital transfer vehicle with electric propulsion. Small launch vehicle developer Astra acquired Apollo Fusion earlier this summer. (8/25)

Senate Appropriator Sees Opportunities to Plus Up NASA's Budget (Source: Space News)
A key senator says he has two shots to increase funding for NASA. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, said that committee will mark up a fiscal year 2022 spending bill late next month. The committee is awaiting overall budget allocations, so he could not comment on how much the agency might expect, but said that NASA will be a priority for him.

That spending bill is separate from a budget reconciliation package worth as much as $3.5 trillion, whose contents will be shaped by authorizing committees rather than appropriators. He said that, as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, he will attempt to get NASA priorities, such as agency infrastructure and lunar lander funding, included in that package. (8/25)

OneWeb Unveils Briefcase-Sized User Terminal (Source: Space News)
OneWeb unveiled a briefcase-sized electronically steered user terminal. The OW1 antenna, developed in partnership with South Korean antenna maker Intellian Technologies and Collins Aerospace, is the smallest yet that is capable of connecting to OneWeb's low Earth orbit constellation. OneWeb announced earlier this month a $300 million strategic investment from Hanwha, the South Korean conglomerate that bought British antenna startup Phasor Solutions last year. OneWeb is still studying how it could integrate Hanwha's antennas into its infrastructure. (8/25)

NorthStar Expects Canadian Approval for Imaging Constellation (Source: Space News)
NorthStar Earth & Space is closer to getting Canadian government approval for a space situational awareness and Earth imaging constellation. The company said Tuesday it received "approval in principle" from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), a key step in the Canadian spectrum application process. It puts the startup on track for getting a formal license ahead of launching the first satellites in this constellation in early 2023, as long as it continues to meet standard eligibility requirements.

The company is planning a 52-satellite constellation of which 12 will be devoted to tracking other satellites across multiple orbits, while 40 follow-on spacecraft will have infrared and hyperspectral sensors for monitoring Earth. (8/25)
 
Two China Launches Lift Three Satellites (Sources: Spaceflight Now, NasaSpaceFlight.com)
China performed two launches Tuesday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:15 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit three satellites. Two of the satellites are demonstrators for a future broadband constellation, while the third is a separate communications tech demo satellite. A Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 11:41 a.m. Eastern, placing the TJSW-7 satellite into orbit. The satellite is described as a communications technology demonstration, but may have military applications. (8/25)

Numerica Upgrading Ground-Based Telescopes for Space Object Tracking (Source: Space News)
Space data provider Numerica is upgrading its network of ground-based telescopes so they can track objects both in low Earth orbit and beyond. The company operates more than 20 space surveillance sites worldwide, which initially had been used for monitoring satellites in GEO. The company said those telescopes are now also able to monitor LEO satellites during twilight hours. The company argues that optical instruments can help enhance and add new details to the data collected by radar tracking of LEO objects. (8/25)

Space Force Recruiting Seeks to Attract Technically Skilled Guardians (Source: Space News)
The message of the newest ad for the Space Force: space is hard. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond unveiled a Space Force recruiting ad at Space Symposium Tuesday that highlights the complexity of space operations and systems, as well as the security threats to U.S. satellites such as cyber and jamming attacks, and orbital debris. Attracting technically skilled recruits, he said, will help ensure the Space Force can protect U.S. and allied orbital assets. (8/25)

SiriusXM Orders Another Maxar Satellite (Source: Maxar)
SiriusXM has ordered another satellite from Maxar Technologies. The SXM-10 satellite will be based on the 1300-series bus and provide satellite radio services for SiriusXM. The order, announced Tuesday, comes three weeks after SiriusXM ordered the SXM-9 satellite, also from Maxar. (8/25)

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha Rocket Ready for First Launch (Source: Space News)
Firefly Aerospace is ready to make its first orbital launch attempt next week as the company balances a transition to operations with plans to develop new rockets and spacecraft. Firefly announced Aug. 19 that it had set a Sept. 2 date for the first launch of its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The announcement came a day after the small launch vehicle performed a successful 15-second static fire test on the pad at Vandenberg. (8/24)

Why All the Hate? Looking at What Makes Blue Origin's Presence in Space so Different (Source: Space.com)
These days, it feels as though billionaire-backed space companies are launching off Earth all the time. So why does Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin seem to be in the hot seat? Despite a summer of success, recent competition and some controversial tweets — including some misleading infographics — have left many who follow the space industry feeling less than supportive of Jeff Bezos and his space company. Amidst a booming space sector, one company has drawn a majority of the ire — Blue Origin.

"There is also a fair amount of backlash to the [recent tourism] flights, and the industry more broadly, about the enormous costs of these flights," said Christian Davenport. "While these entrepreneurs are starting to take private citizens [to space], the passengers so far have been, by and large, extremely wealthy. That's raised questions about who ultimately is benefiting." Though fellow billionaire Branson also took a suborbital trip courtesy of his own company in recent months, a lot of the negative discourse circles around just Bezos.

Bezos "has been criticized in the space community for his dogged protest of NASA's award of the Human Landing System contract to NASA," Berger said. "I don’t know if the public is paying attention to this, but the space community sure is and the space community is reacting very negatively," Laura Forczyk, who owns the aerospace consulting firm Astralytical, told Popular Science. "It’s seen as pettiness—as throwing a tantrum." (8/25)

Blue Origin Readies “Project Jarvis” Test Tank at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Ars Technica)
On Tuesday, Blue Origin used a modular transport to roll its first stainless steel test tank to Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This tank is part of the company's efforts—under the codename "Project Jarvis"—to develop a fully reusable upper stage for Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.

Ars revealed the existence of this effort last month, and we are now publishing the first photos of the tank prototype. A source at Blue Origin said this tank could start to undergo a series of tests to determine its strength and ability to hold pressurized propellants as soon as next month.

Although Blue Origin has not publicly discussed this effort to build a reusable upper stage for the New Glenn rocket, sources said the company's primary goal is to bring down the overall launch cost of the New Glenn rocket. The vehicle's large upper stage, which has a 7-meter diameter and two BE-3U engines, is costly. Making New Glenn fully reusable is necessary for Blue Origin to compete with SpaceX's Starship launch system. (8/24)

L3Harris Expands Satellite Production Site, Adds Unclassified Satellite Line for National Defense (Source: L3Harris)
L3Harris is expanding its satellite production site to include advanced production of unclassified satellites, which will deliver experimental capabilities for national defense. The Central Florida location is home to more than 100,000 square feet of space used for development, manufacturing and testing of full satellites and components which already deliver complex, classified capabilities for national defense.

The increased production capability allows L3Harris to develop and test the experimental Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), which is a priority program for the U.S. Air Force. Facility investments also make it possible to develop and integrate three sizes of small-to-medium responsive satellites in support of urgent DoD missions addressing evolving threats.

Two of the company’s eight buildings have recently been upgraded to manufacture multiple end-to-end satellites per month. L3Harris has built eight satellites at the expanded Palm Bay facility that are currently on orbit and another 10 are in various stages of development. The company plans to add more production capacity by the end of the year to produce six satellites per month. (8/24)

In Leaked Email, ULA Official Calls NASA Leadership “Incompetent” (Source: Ars Technica)
In what appear to be legitimate emails from April and May, a senior official at ULA characterizes the leadership of NASA as "incompetent and unpredictable." The statement was made in one of six emails leaked on a hacking forum. The leaked emails all involve correspondence between Robbie Sabathier, the vice president of government operations and strategic communications at ULA, and Hasan Solomon, a lobbyist at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, a large aerospace union.

The emails make claims about the relationship between NASA, the Trump administration, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and China. The central argument put forth by ULA is that NASA, as led by Trump officials, favored SpaceX for political reasons. "Large NASA taxpayer investments are being thrown away due to the cozy relationship established by Trump political hacks throughout NASA," Sabathier wrote on April 23. "The US Government’s deep space exploration program is at risk: This large program which is the baseline for deep space exploration is being threatened due to political favors being offered to Elon Musk."

In response to a question about the emails, a ULA spokeswoman, Jessica Rye, declined to comment about their content. The emails were exchanged shortly after NASA announced its selection of SpaceX to build a Human Landing System for the space agency's Artemis program in mid-April. SpaceX beat out a team led by Blue Origin, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, and a team led by Dynetics. ULA was part of the Dynetics team, providing launch services with its new Vulcan rocket. (8/25)

Gilmour Space Signs First European Partnership Agreement with Exolaunch (Source: Space Daily)
Gilmour Space Technologies, a premier Australian rocket company pioneering new and innovative hybrid propulsion technologies for launching small satellites, and Exolaunch, a Berlin-based leader in rideshare launch and deployment services for small satellites, has announced a series of agreements for small satellite launch, deployment and in-space transportation services.

Under the agreements, the companies will join forces to provide tailored launch, precise deployment and in-space transportation services to the small satellite operators using Eris, a hybrid launch vehicle, developed by Gilmour. Gilmour partners with Exolaunch, a trusted and experienced rideshare specialist with a solid flight heritage, and gains access to Exolaunch's flight-proven cutting-edge small satellite deployment technologies and in-space transportation services via Exolaunch's Reliant orbital transfer vehicle to expand the capabilities of Eris in low Earth orbit and  (8/24)

Turkey Firm on 10-Year Ambitious Space Plans (Source: Daily Sabah)
Turkey continues to work tirelessly towards each target within the scope of its recently unveiled landmark National Space Program, although some missions like sending a Turkish citizen to the moon will take more time and effort, said Serdar Hüseyin Yıldırım, head of the Turkish Space Agency (TUA). Yıldırım, who participated in the Aksaray Astronomy and Space Camp, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Sunday that TUA is proceeding within the framework of the announced program.

Turkey aims to reach the moon, he said, while another goal is to send a Turkish citizen into space for the first time as part of a mission to the international space station in 2023. “We continue our rapid work on this subject.” TUA is only a 2-year-old institution, Yıldırım said, and it is important to keep that in mind as it continues to develop from here on out. (8/22)