August 3, 2021

China's Hyperbola-1 Solid-Fuel Rocket Launches, But May Have Failed (Source: Space News)
A Chinese startup launched a rocket early Tuesday, but the success of the mission remains unknown. The Hyperbola-1 four-stage solid-fuel rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at around 3:50 a.m. Eastern. Neither the vehicle's developer, iSpace, nor Chinese media have reported a successful launch, and there are rumors on social media that the launch failed. If the launch has indeed failed it would be the second loss in a row for iSpace, which is one of China's first commercial launch companies and has significant financial backing. The first Hyperbola-1 rocket successfully sent a satellite into orbit in July 2019, but a launch in February failed because of falling foam insulation. (8/3)

DirecTV Completes Spinoff From AT&T (Source: LA Times)
Direct-to-home satellite TV company DirecTV has completed its spinoff from AT&T. The spinoff, announced early this year, turns DirecTV into a standalone company 70% owned by AT&T, with private equity company TPG owning the rest. The new DirecTV includes its satellite business as well as legacy AT&T cable and streaming services. AT&T paid $48 billion for DirecTV in 2015, but lost nearly 40% of its subscriber base in the subsequent six years. (8/3)

SpaceX Assembles Starship and Super Heavy Booster for Orbital Mission (Source: Space.com)
SpaceX is pushing ahead with the assembly of the first orbital Starship vehicle, even though it can't launch any time soon. SpaceX installed 29 Raptor engines into the base of the Super Heavy booster called Booster 4, which will carry a Starship vehicle called Ship 20 on a brief orbital flight. While SpaceX has been accelerating work on the vehicle in recent weeks, the company still lacks an FAA launch license, which is dependent on an environmental review that has no public timeline for completion. (8/3)

European Spacecraft Do Venus (Source: ESA)
Two European spacecraft will fly past Venus hours apart next week. ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft will pass within 8,000 kilometers of Venus early Aug. 9, while the BepiColombo mission will go past the planet 33 hours later, passing just 550 kilometers from the planet. Both flybys are gravity assist maneuvers to refine their orbits, allowing Solar Orbiter to get closer to the sun and increase its inclination, while BepiColombo heads towards Mercury. Both spacecraft will be collecting data during their flybs. (8/3)

New Russian Station Could Have Tourism Module (Source: TASS)
The head of Roscosmos suggested a future Russian space station could have a module devoted to space tourism. In a talk Monday, Dmitry Rogozin said he told designers of the Russian Orbital Service Station at a meeting last week that the station should have a separate module for commercial visitors. It's unclear how seriously that proposal is being considered, and the station itself is still in its early planning phases and may not launch until late this decade. (8/3)

Greece Promotes Space Economy with AWS Partnership (Source: Space News)
Amazon Web Services is partnering with the Greek government on initiatives to turn the country into a regional space hub. AWS announced an agreement Monday with the government to collaborate on promoting the country's space economy, supporting measures to attract and train aerospace professionals. This includes access to the AWS Activate program, which offers space and other startups tools and resources for using its cloud networking technology. (8/3)

Little Wizards: Signals Intelligence Satellites During the Cold War (Source: Space Review)
Through much of the Cold War, the US launched a series of small satellites to monitor electronic signals from the Soviet Union. Dwayne Day examines what we know about these spacecraft thanks to recent declassifications. Click here. (8/2)
 
Relaunching a Lunar Lander Program (Source: Space Review)
On Friday, the GAO announced it denied protests filed by two companies regarding NASA’s decision to award a single lunar lander contract in April to SpaceX. Jeff Foust reports on the dismissed protests and the prospects that one of those companies might yet get a lander contract. Click here. (8/2)
 
Six Things to Think About (Besides the Price) for Prospective Space Tourists (Source: Space Review)
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are entering commercial service for their suborbital space tourism vehicles as new orbital space tourism options emerge. Steven Freeland says prospective space tourists should consider several factors when deciding whether to fly. Click here. (8/2)

ISS Among the 25 Most Significant Works of Postwar Architecture (Source: New York Times Style Magazine)
The third brightest object in the night sky is not a far-off planet or a solar system but a building about the size of a football field. Designed and assembled by five space agencies representing 15 countries, the structure represents not only a triumph of engineering but also of politics, an unprecedented international effort in the name of science. Largely built over the course of some 30 separate missions beginning in 1998, it remains the closest humankind has ever come to creating a habitat in outer space.

Crafted from pieces manufactured in Russia, the European Union, Japan, Canada and the United States — with a new pod currently in the works by a private company looking to stake its claim to the next phase of space exploration — the I.S.S. is a complex structure of cylinders and passageways fabricated from lightweight materials like Kevlar, titanium and aluminum, and assembled in space, where it orbits 250 miles above Earth’s surface. Floating in close orbit, its solar panels fanned out among pinpricks of alien light, the structure resembles a deep-sea creature or a tropical insect more than a building in the traditional sense.

Initially conceived as a laboratory, manufacturing plant and servicing facility for off-planet exploration, among other uses, the I.S.S. today serves exclusively as a research laboratory. But the sheer ambition of the enterprise still inspires awe: It remains a powerful symbol of hope for a more peaceful, unified future, bright and distant as a star. (8/2)

New Mexico Space Industry Rockets Forward (Source: Albuquarque Journal)
While most public attention is riveted on Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America, a lot more space development is also gaining momentum in New Mexico, particularly in Albuquerque, where government entities and business organizations are partnering to build out state-of-the-art facilities and programs that could turn the city into a bustling center of production for new space technologies.

That includes plans by one large investor to create a massive complex to design and manufacture satellites in Albuquerque, plus another business-led effort to develop a separate, mixed-use complex on Kirtland Air Force Base that will house many space-related companies starting next year. Thunderbird Kirtland Development LLC – which is spearheading the planned MaxQ project on the base – expects to break ground this month on the first two buildings at the site for two different companies.

That includes the space-focused national engineering firm BlueHalo, which plans to invest $60 million in a 200,000-square-foot facility to design and manufacture new space technology. BlueHalo announced its investment on July 20 in a press conference with local, state and federal officials, who hailed the progress underway in building New Mexico’s commercial space industry. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state is reaching the tipping point in industry development, elevating New Mexico into a leadership position. (8/2)

Nanoracks Hires NASA Official to Lead Commercial Space Station Work (Source: Space News)
Nanoracks has hired a former NASA official most recently involved with planning for the Artemis program to lead its efforts to develop commercial space stations. Marshall Smith will be the company's senior vice president of commercial space stations. Smith retired from NASA at the end of July after more than 35 years at the agency, most recently as deputy associate administrator for systems engineering and integration in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

In his new role, Smith will oversee the company’s Outpost program, which seeks to convert upper stages of launch vehicles into modules that can be used for in-space manufacturing or habitats, as well as plans to develop free-flyer commercial space stations. Smith will run the company’s new office in Huntsville, Alabama. (8/2)

Charity Auction Offers Access to Inspiration4 Landing Party in Orlando (Source: CharityBuzz)
Attend the Inspiration4 "Galactic Cantina" themed welcome home party and celebration at a Hangar in Orlando, FL 48 hours after the crew splashes down from their mission! The party will most likely take place September 20 or after. The exact date is dependent on the launch lift-off day. Hear first hand from the world's first all-civilian crew Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski and Dr. Sian Proctor, about their mission to space. Click here. (8/1) https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/auction-inspiration4-splash-down-party-sept-2021-1-2246603

Military Communications Payloads Could Hitchhike on Future GPS Satellites (Source: Space News)
The next generation of Global Positioning System satellites could host additional payloads to provide communications services, the U.S. Space Force said in a request for information. The RFI issued last month by the Space and Missile Systems Center asks contractors to pitch ideas for hosting communications payloads on GPS 3F satellites, the newest version of GPS currently being developed by Lockheed Martin.

GPS satellites provide positioning, navigation and timing data. The Space Force is now deploying GPS 3 satellites. The first of the more advanced GPS 3F version is projected to launch in 2026. These new satellites will have more room and power to support hosted payloads. The Space Force is considering hosting satellite communications payloads on the GPS constellation starting in 2030.  The preferred frequency bands are X and Ka, but other satcom frequencies may be considered as well, said the RFI. (8/2)

Isle of Man Ground Station to Supply Starlink Broadband to UK (Source: The Telegraph)
Elon Musk’s space internet venture has set up on the Isle of Man with plans for a satellite station that will allow it to provide blanket coverage across Britain. The Tesla billionaire’s Starlink service is in the final stages of securing a licence to build a ground station on the island, a step towards providing satellite broadband coverage to rural parts of northern Britain.

Filings from the Isle of Man’s communications regulator reveal that Starlink, which aims to use a constellation of thousands of satellites to blanket the earth in high-speed coverage, has secured a telecoms licence and the right to use certain spectrum bands and install equipment on the island. In addition to bases in Buckinghamshire and Cornwall, it is believed the station would allow it to provide full coverage across Britain. (7/31)

Space Norms and US National Security: Leading on Space Debris (Source: War on the Rocks)
The rapidly changing space environment means that the new DoD memorandum on responsible behavior in space should be the first salvo in a renewed American approach to set standards and establish norms of behavior for public and private sector actors in space. The US has the world’s most advanced space capabilities, but those capabilities generate vulnerabilities. Locking in norms of responsible behavior in space now will create barriers for actors that seek to behave badly in space. Establishing norms can generate international cooperation and credibility to counter potential Chinese and Russian aggression while making it more likely that space remains a safe and accessible commons. (8/2)