November 8, 2021

Space Museum to Host Stott Book Signing on Nov. 20 (Source: ASM)
The American Space Museum in Titusville FL welcomes astronaut and self-identified "earthling." Nicole Passanno Stott will be here signing her new book Saturday, Nov. 20 from 11 am to 3 pm and will join us for a “Stay Curious” social media live conversation. Stott will sign her new book , "Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet—And Our Mission to Protect It." The book reads like a seven-chapter lesson plan on saving and caring for our “spaceship.” (11/4)

Delaware Court Refuses Firefly Effort to Dismiss Investor Lawsuit (Source: Hedgeye Risk Management)
Investors have claimed that they were defrauded by the principals of Firefly Space Systems as the company moved to re-incorporate and re-organize as Firefly Aerospace under a deal with Noosphere Venture Partners (led by Max Poyakov). Firefly Aerospace sought to have the California lawsuit effectively nullified by a Delaware court, where the new company was incorporated. The Delaware court rejected the request. (11/3)

Two Startups Awarded Projects Leveraging ISS National Lab Through MassChallenge (Source: CASIS)
The Center for the Advancement of Science and Space and Boeing are awarding up to $500,000 in grants to two startup companies through the Technology in Space Prize. The startups, krtkl inc. and Oculogenex, Inc., were identified through the MassChallenge (Boston) startup accelerator program. The companies will leverage the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, managed by CASIS, to further their research and technology development in low Earth orbit.

This marks the seventh time CASIS and Boeing have collaborated to fund research from startups through the Technology in Space Prize. To date, a total of $5 million has been awarded to 29 projects through the prize. (11/5)

Viasat to Acquiee Inmarsat (Source: Space News)
Viasat announced Monday a deal to acquire Inmarsat. The companies announced an agreement where Viasat will acquire Inmarsat in a transaction valued at $7.3 billion. The deal includes $850 million in cash, $3.1 billion in stock and assumption of $3.4 billion in debt. The merged company would combine its satellites and spectrum assets into a global high-capacity hybrid space and terrestrial network. Buying private equity-backed Inmarsat would transform Viasat into an operator of 19 satellites across Ka, L and S-band spectrum, with 10 more set to launch in the next three years. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2022. (11/8)

Tracking China's Debris Mitigation Mission (Source: Space News)
A new object has been spotted in the vicinity of a Chinese space debris mitigation satellite. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network detected the object last week next to Shijian-21 in geostationary orbit. It is currently unknown whether the object is an apogee kick motor, an object possibly related to space debris mitigation tests or part of potential counterspace operations tests. The object could be used to test rendezvous and proximity operations, refueling experiments or manipulation using a robotic arm or other means. Shijian-21 launched last month to "test and verify space debris mitigation technologies," according to official accounts, but the Chinese government has released no further details. (11/8)

Chinese Astronauts Perform Spacewalk at Station (Source: Xinhua)
Chinese astronauts performed a spacewalk Sunday, including the first by a Chinese woman. Zhai Zhifang and Wang Yaping spent six and a half hours outside the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station performing a series of tasks, including coordination of spacewalking work with the station's robotic arm. Wang, the second Chinese woman to go to space, is the first to perform a spacewalk. (11/8)

Draft RFP Seeks Input on DoD Constellation Ground Segment (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) will seek bids early next year for the ground segment portion of its low Earth orbit constellation. SDA last week issued a draft request for proposals for Tranche 1 ground operations and integration, a wide-ranging contract to integrate ground stations and operate a network of 144 satellites known as Transport Layer Tranche 1. The final RFP, expected in January or February, will come after the selection of contractors for the satellite, a timing intended to avoid any conflicts of interest among companies likely to bid on both the space and ground segments. (11/8)

Broadcast Satcom Revenues Decline (Source: Space News)
Lower broadcast revenues and the pandemic continue to drag on the financials of major satellite operators. Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat all recorded hits to their broadcast businesses in their latest quaterly financial results. Eutelsat and SES said that they are seeing an improving trajectory in their broadcast businesses, and operators overall pointed to growing demand for connectivity services. (11/8)

Companies Propose 38,000 Satellites Ahead of FCC Deadline (Source: CNBC)
Companies filed applications with the FCC for nearly 38,000 V-band satellites last week. The applications, ahead of a Nov. 4 deadline, included more than 13,000 from one company, Astra, alone. Amazon, Boeing, OneWeb and Telesat also filed applications for thousands of satellites each. One analyst called the filings a "land grab" for spectrum currently not utilized for space applications. V-band offers the potential for increased bandwidth, but also increased interference. (11/8)

Jah to Advise Privateer (Source: Space News)
A space tracking startup hired a noted "space environmentalist" as its chief scientific adviser. Moriba Jah, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who developed the AstriaGraph tool for tracking objects using multiple data sets, will advise Privateer as it develops a constellation of cubesats to collect improved space situational awareness data. Jah said that data will support not just predicting conjunctions between objects but also to support astronomers trying to avoid interference in their observations from satellites as well as companies developing space debris removal systems. Privateer plans to launch its first demonstration cubesat early next year. (11/8)

Amid National Security Concerns, US Slaps Overhead Time Limits on Satellites (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Commerce Department is placing new restrictions for how frequently US-operated mid- to high-resolution commercial remote sensing satellites can image any one spot on the Earth, prompted by concerns from the Defense Department and Intelligence Community over the potential impacts of repeated captures of key US national security facilities.

The new restrictions, obtained by Breaking Defense and already piquing the fervor of critics in the sector, are being applied under the US commercial remote sensing licensing process managed by NOAA, which falls underneath Commerce. The restrictions prohibit imaging of a list of areas where sensitive national security operations are taking place unless an operator fulfills certain conditions, including notifying NOAA 48 hours in advance to get a waiver. There also are restrictions on the duration of time imaging can be conducted on any one terrestrial “target.” (11/5)

Harris Says National Space Council Will Develop “Comprehensive Framework” for Space Priorities (Source: Space News)
In her first speech devoted to space since taking office, Vice President Kamala Harris said she will direct the National Space Council to develop a “comprehensive framework” for national space priorities, with an emphasis on climate change. In a speech at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Nov. 5, Harris, as expected, announced that, as chair of the space council, she would hold the first meeting of the interagency body Dec. 1.

“As chair of the National Space Council, I will convene leaders from across our administration for an inaugural council meeting on Dec. 1,” she said. “At that meeting, we will outline a comprehensive framework for our nation’s space priorities.” That included civil and national security space activities as well as education and the “emerging space economy.”

Harris did not discuss additional details of that framework, but emphasized the need to use space capabilities to benefit society broadly. “While the exploration of space defined the 20th century, I believe that the opportunity of space will define the 21st century,” she said. “Today, our nation is more active in space than ever before and there are more ways than ever before that space can benefit humanity.” That includes addressing the climate crisis. (11/6)

Huntsville Celebrates NASA’s Upcoming Artemis Launch (Source: AL.com)
Huntsville turned out a crowd in its downtown courthouse square Saturday to celebrate the upcoming first launch of NASA’s Space Launch System, NASA’s Alabama-led rocket built to return Americans to the moon. The square has been the traditional spot for space celebrations since Wernher von Braun got a ride on city leaders’ shoulders after the first Apollo moon landing in 1969.

Von Braun led a team at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Today, a woman leads Marshall in developing SLS. So it was Jody Singer who said Saturday that America’s return to the moon is here. (11/6)

Amazon Seeks Another 4,538 Satellites to Challenge Musk’s SpaceX (Source: Bloomberg)
Amazon.com Inc.’s Kuiper Systems LLC asked U.S. regulators for permission to launch another 4,538 satellites that would bolster its constellation as it competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for broadband-from-space customers. The additions would bring Kuiper’s constellation to 7,774 satellites, the company said in a filing Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission. (11/5)

Covid-19: Māhia Residents Voice Concern as Rocket Lab Workers Given Auckland Border Exemption (Source: Stuff)
Hawke’s Bay residents have expressed concern over border exemption passes granted to nine Rocket Lab employees to travel from Auckland to a launch site in Māhia. Puti Moa​ (Ngāti Rongomaiwahine), a representative of the group O Rongomaiwahine Whanau​ is frightened for the health of her community.

“The situation is really intense in Tāmaki Makaurau. So to allow people to leave from there who are not essential workers is not right. There is no need for them to come right now. Can they not wait until the health risks are less?” Moa​ asked. Moa​ said it was unfair the health of a small community was being put at risk due to a rocket launch. (11/6)

OneWeb Founder Wants to Flood Space with 300,000 Satellites From Rwanda (Source: The Telegraph)
The founder of the taxpayer-backed broadband operator OneWeb is masterminding a controversial plan by Rwanda to lay claim to valuable swathes of the skies and scatter Earth's orbit with hundreds of thousands more satellites, it has been claimed. Greg Wyler, a former Google executive, is understood to be behind a filing to the United Nations by Rwanda’s space agency that calls for 327,000 small satellites in a low orbit to create a global wireless broadband network to challenge OneWeb and Elon Musk’s Starlink.

Mr Wyler, 51, is no longer involved with OneWeb following the unusual deal last year led by the Government which rescued it from bankruptcy. Now two industry sources said he is behind Rwanda’s project, codenamed “Cinnamon”, revealed last month. It has triggered concern and speculation in the space industry over its true origins and ultimate fate. If the plans are approved by the UN, even if Rwanda never launches a satellite it could sell its rights on. One source said the project was “strategically very serious… 300,000 satellites with minimal regulation up for sale to the highest bidder”. (11/7)

Satellite Operators Battle Broadcast Declines Amid Looming Connectivity Growth (Source: Space News)
Lower broadcast revenues and the pandemic continue to drag on the financials of major satellite operators as they point to the traction they are gaining in their new connectivity growth engines. Intelsat, SES, Eutelsat and Telesat all recorded hits to their broadcast businesses in the three months to the end of September 2021, compared with the corresponding period last year.

For Intelsat, the operator also had to grapple with nearly $100 million in professional fees and other costs related to its Chapter 11 restructuring for the quarter, up from about $36 million for the period last year. The company said its media revenue fell 11% to about $181 million for the third quarter of 2021. However, total revenue climbed 7% to just over $526 million, primarily driven by consolidating commercial aviation sales following last year’s acquisition of assets from Gogo, the in-flight connectivity solutions provider. (11/6)