December 21, 2021

Are Black Holes and Dark Matter the Same (Source: Space Daily)
Upending textbook explanations, astrophysicists from the University of Miami, Yale University, and the European Space Agency suggest that primordial black holes account for all dark matter in the universe. Proposing an alternative model for how the universe came to be, a team of astrophysicists suggests that all black holes-from those as tiny as a pin head to those covering billions of miles-were created instantly after the Big Bang and account for all dark matter.

That's the implication of a study by astrophysicists at the University of Miami, Yale University, and the European Space Agency that suggests that black holes have existed since the beginning of the universe - and that these primordial black holes could be as-of-yet unexplained dark matter. If proven true with data collected from this month's launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the discovery may transform scientific understanding of the origins and nature of two cosmic mysteries: dark matter and black holes. (12/17)

Skin Cell Band-Aid, Monoclonal Antibodies Among Experiments Launched by SpaceX (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket beat the rain and launched at 5:08 a.m. Tuesday from Kennedy Space Center to bring 6,500 pounds of cargo that includes a variety of medical experiments to the International Space Station. The cargo mission is the 31st Falcon 9 launch in 2021, also a record, and the last planned for the year. It’s the 24th resupply mission for the company to the ISS since it began the service in 2012.

Among the experiments headed to space are a handheld bioprinter called Bioprint FirstAid that would use human skin cells to create a 3-D printed tissue Band-Aid of sorts. The experiment run for the German Space Agency looks to demonstrate how space travelers can use their own skin cells to create a tissue-forming patch to cover wounds and speed up healing.

NASA’s Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science program will send up a study on antibiotic resistance in microgravity from Columbia University and an experiment from the University of Idaho that looks at how microgravity affects bacteria-resistant materials. Other experiments headed to the ISS will look at heat-resistant alloys, potentially harmful microbe growth and human immunity, plant roots and shoots in microgravity in an effort to reduce stresses on their growth in space, and a commercial endeavor for Procter & Gamble’s product Tide Infinity, a fully degradable detergent specifically for use in space. (12/21)

German Microlauncher Competition: First Payload Winners Chosen (Source: Space Daily)
The satellite market is thriving and satellites themselves are becoming ever smaller and lighter. Around 90 percent of the satellites that will be launched into space over the next decade weigh less than 500 kilograms, which puts them in the 'small satellite' category. They span a wide range of applications, from telecommunication services and monitoring of Earth's land, air and water masses all the way through to the rapid and cost-effective testing of new technologies in space. Microlaunchers are now able to carry these small satellites to their target orbit.

Against this general backdrop, the German Space Agency at DLR launched its microlauncher competition in 2020, with the specific aim of promoting access to space via commercially developed small launch vehicles. The German Space Agency at DLR is providing a total of 25 million euros to develop innovative microlaunchers, while at the same time securing payload capacity on the first two flights for the winners from both main rounds.

Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH - a Munich-based start-up - won the first main round of the microlauncher competition with 'Spectrum', its small launch vehicle, in April 2021. Spectrum is set to make its maiden flight in late 2022. Five European research institutions won a free flight on Spectrum for their seven small satellites. They will use the launch to conduct scientific investigations and test new technologies in space. (12/20)

Production of Electricity on the Moon is in the Hands of Estonians (Source: Space Daily)
Katriin Kristmann, a doctoral student in chemical and materials science at TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology), began research aimed at developing technology for the production of monograin layer solar cells on the Moon. The results of the research activity are planned to be used to provide electricity to future lunar outposts of the European Space Agency (ESA) and its international partners. The lunar outpost is planned to be established on the South Pole of the Moon in the next decades.

The sandpaper-like solar cell is based on monograin-powder technology developed by TalTech researchers, where the solar cell consists of thousands of small crystals, with a diameter of 50 micrometres, embedded into a polymer in one continuous layer. The microcrystals absorb sunlight. To complete the solar cell these microcrystals are coated with a buffer and window layers.

In this way, each crystal works as a small individual solar cell and generates electricity. Such kind of solar cells have many advantages, such as the lightweight solar panel technology combining the advantages of highly efficient mono-crystalline material with low cost roll-to-roll panel production, enabling the manufacture of flexible, lightweight, and cost-efficient solar panels to cover vast areas with minimum cost. In principle there is no limitation on the solar modules size and shape. (12/20)

Fugro's Remote Space Operations Complex to be Located in Perth, Australia (Source: Space Daily)
Fugro confirms the Australian Space Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) will be located in the heart of downtown Perth's central business district (CBD). Housed in Western Australia's (WA's) largest telecommunications exchange, and thanks to an ongoing partnership with Telstra, Fugro's world-class facility will manage robotics and remote operations in Australia, around the world and in space. SpAARC will support the translation of terrestrial capabilities into space, while also providing innovative remote solutions here on earth.

The Australian Government committed $4.5 million AUD to the development of SpAARC as part of the Australian Space Agency's mission to triple the size of the local sector by 2030 to $12 billion AUD and create 20,000 new jobs. Head of the Australian Space Agency Enrico Palermo said housing SpAARC within WA's largest telecommunications exchange would further enhance its impact. (12/17)

SpaceX Launches ISS Cargo, Makes 100th Droneship Landing (Source: Space News)
A Falcon 9 launched a Dragon cargo spacecraft early this morning as SpaceX set a milestone for booster landings. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 5:07 a.m. Eastern from the Kennedy Space Center, placing into orbit a Dragon spacecraft flying the CRS-24 mission for NASA. The Dragon, carrying nearly 3,000 kilograms of cargo, is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station early tomorrow. The rocket's first stage landed on a droneship, the 100th such landing by SpaceX and six years to the day from the first successful landing. The launch was the 31st and final mission for SpaceX this year. (12/21)

Eutelsat Picks New CEO (Source: Space News)
Eutelsat has selected an executive with a background in technology and telecommunications, but not space, as its next CEO. The satellite operator said it hired Eva Berneke as CEO, effective Jan. 1. She was the CEO of Danish IT and software company KMD, part of Japanese technology group NEC Corporation, before announcing plans to resign in March after seven years with the company. She previously held several positions at Danish telecoms operator TDC. She succeeds Rodolphe Belmer, who announced plans in October to step down to join French IT and consulting company Atos. (12/21)

Space Force Picks Boeing for $329 Million GPS Satellite Support (Source: Space News)
The Space Force awarded Boeing a $329.3 million contract to support operations of several GPS satellites for the next 10 years. The contract, announced Monday, is for on-orbit support of GPS 2F satellites, manufactured by Boeing, of which 12 are currently in operation. Those satellites were launched between 2010 and 2016. (12/21)

L3Harris Missile Tracking Satellite Prototype Passes Review (Source: Space News)
A missile-tracking satellite developed by L3Harris for the Missile Defense Agency passed a critical design review, the company announced Monday. The satellite is a prototype for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program. L3Harris won a $121 million contract in January for the satellite, slated for delivery in 2023. MDA is planning a constellation of HBTSS satellites, equipped with infrared sensors and on-orbit data processing systems, in low Earth orbit to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. (12/21)

Maxar Wins DIU Contract for Robotic Satellite Arms (Source: Space News)
Maxar won a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a pair of robotic servicing arms. The $9.3 million contract, announced Monday, is for arms intended for use for in-space assembly and servicing. The robotic arms for DIU are about two meters in length each and will be delivered within three years. (12/21)

DARPA Picks Mynaric for Laser Comm Terminal (Source: Space News)
DARPA selected Mynaric to work on a next-generation laser communications terminal. DARPA is pursuing a new laser terminal design that would be compatible with any constellation and make it easier for government and commercial satellites to talk to each other as part of a program canned Space-BACN. Mynaric, which makers optical communications terminals, will work on the architectural design of the terminal in the initial phase of the program. DARPA is expected to select other suppliers for the Space-BACN program. (12/21)

FAA Issues License for Georgia Spaceport (Source: Space News)
The FAA issued a license Monday for a proposed Georgia spaceport. The license for Spaceport Camden on Georgia's Atlantic coast comes after years of environmental reviews of the site. While the license is a major step forward for the spaceport, any launch company that proposes to launch from there will need to get its own launch license, which includes an environmental review. Opponents of the launch site, concerned about the effects of launches and launch failures in the area, have submitted petitions calling for a referendum on whether Camden County can purchase the land for the spaceport. (12/21)

Benchmark Space Systems Delivers Green Thrusters for Space Tug (Source: Space News)
Benchmark Space Systems has delivered its first green bipropellant thrusters for a Spaceflight Sherpa tug. The thrusters have been installed and fueled on a Sherpa-LTC tug that will launch on the SpaceX Transporter-3 rideshare mission next month, delivering 13 payloads to multiple orbits. The thrusters, which use peroxide oxidizer and hydrocarbon fuel, have performance similar to toxic hypergolic propellants. Benchmark is also providing a second set of thrusters for another Sherpa mission launching later next year. (12/21)

India Working to Loosen Regulations for Satellite Broadband (Source: LiveMint)
The Indian government is working to revise regulations to make it easier for companies like OneWeb and SpaceX to provide satellite broadband services there. A government official said recently that it was working to simplify the processes to request and receive licenses. The comments came after the Department of Telecommunication ordered SpaceX to stop pre-sales of Starlink services in India because the company does not have a license. SpaceX has since applied for an experimental license, and the SpaceX country director for India said the company will apply for a commercial license by the end of January. (12/21)

Mojave Air and Space Port Board Vote to Add Rutan Name (Source: AeroTech News)
The Mojave Air and Space Port may soon bear the name of aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan. The airport's board voted earlier this month to include Rutan's name in some way, although the final wording for the revised name has yet to be announced. Rutan came to Mojave in the 1970s and developed a series of aircraft; his company, Scaled Composites, later built and flew the SpaceShipOne suborbital vehicle and Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. The airport has been an FAA-licensed spaceport since 2004. (12/21)

Japanese Asteroid Samples are Exceedingly Old (Source: Space.com)
Samples that a Japanese spacecraft returned from an asteroid are the most primordial materials yet studied by scientists. Analysis of samples of the asteroid Ryugu, which the Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought back a year ago, show that the material is very dark and less dense than other carbonaceous meteorites. Scientists concluded in a paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy Monday that the material is among the most primordial material yet studied, altered little since the formation of the solar system. Scientists added, though, that their studies of the materials are just beginning. (12/21)

Several Ambitious Space Missions Will Blast Off in 2022 (Source: The Economist)
For a taste of forthcoming space missions, consider a European Space Agency (esa) probe due to blast off, in mid-2022, for Jupiter’s icy moons. The spacecraft, called juice, will use gravity assists from a series of planetary fly-bys to accelerate, reaching Jupiter in under eight years. Once it arrives, manoeuvring among Jovian moons 45 light-minutes from Earth will be complex—project manager Giuseppe Sarri describes the realm as “a mini solar system” with “not much margin for error.”

The probe will not be able to establish whether one of those moons, Europa, harbours life, but scientists hope to find clues in the vapours it ejects. And if a manoeuvre near Ganymede succeeds in 2032, the spacecraft will become the first to orbit another planet’s moon.

Earth’s Moon, for its part, will also see lots of action. Countries planning to launch lunar craft in 2022 include India, Japan, Russia and South Korea. NASA, America’s space agency, is sponsoring an astonishing 18 missions in 2022, as it paves the way for a return to the Moon by astronauts as part of a lunar program called Artemis. Thales Alenia Space, a Franco-Italian firm, is expected to deliver the shell of Gateway, a space station to be put in lunar orbit, to America in late 2022. (12/21)

COVID-19 Outbreak at SpaceX yields 132 Positive Cases (Source: LA Times)
At least 132 staffers at the SpaceX rocket factory in Hawthorne have tested positive for COVID-19 amid a large, active outbreak that coincides with a busy month of launches for the aerospace manufacturer. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health released the data as part of a summary of COVID-19 cases throughout the county. There has been at least one other outbreak at SpaceX’s corporate headquarters, where the Elon Musk-led company’s main design, manufacturing and engineering is done, including work on its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules.

An estimated 5,972 employees were working at the Hawthorne site as of May, according to court documents. In March 2020, shortly after California Gov. Gavin Newsom enacted the nation’s first lockdown amid the nascent pandemic, an employee who traveled abroad and an onsite healthcare provider tested positive for the virus. At least 12 employees who were in close contact with those people were sent home to quarantine for two weeks. (12/20)

Space-Bound Research a Step Toward Feeding Earth's People (Source: Space Daily)
Clemson researcher Chris Saski admits sending the University's iconic Tiger Paw to space aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is, quite literally, "an out-of-this-world experience." But it's the potential for the experiments in the flight hardware to which the Paw is attached that truly excites him.

Saski's cotton regeneration research took off Dec. 21 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center bound for the ISS. Upon arrival, Saski's research project titled "Unlocking the Cotton Genome to Precision Genetics" will be conducted in microgravity with the goal of facilitating the ability to directly edit the genome of elite cotton varieties, quickly adding traits like disease resistance or drought tolerance without the need for the lengthy conventional breeding process that can take over a decade.

"This project will lead to new understanding of the genes involved. As we understand it now, this genetic program is encoded in all crop genomes, but it is suppressed. This research could ultimately allow us to switch on this genetic program in other crops and be able to do genome editing and engineering more readily and directly on commercial varieties ... and eventually provide an accelerated path to food, fuel and fiber for a growing population of people on Earth." (12/15)

China Pursues Helium-3 on the Moon (Source: Space Daily)
Apparently, China sees the Moon as a future source of fuel for terrestrial power and space dominance. At the moment Chinese nuclear scientists are studying lunar surface material samples brought back by its Chang'e 5 lunar exploration mission late last year. One sample is believed to contain helium-3, an isotope. This particular isotope is very rare on Earth, but thought to be abundant in lunar surface material. Verification of the presence of helium-3 could be very important, because helium-3 is thought to be the ideal future fuel for fusion reactors.

In fact, over the past few decades lunar helium-3 has been cited as a major reason to return to the Moon. However, little research has been conducted on the complete potential of lunar helium-3 mining. One study, complete about seven years ago, of an end-to-end process for mining and delivering helium-3 to terrestrial reactors assumed a set of requirements for creating 10% of the global energy demand by 2040.

The assumed mission architecture included individual transportation elements such as Earth-to-LEO, LEO-to-lunar-orbit and lunar-orbit-to-lunar-surface. However, it was concluded that the most critical mission element was the lunar mining operation. This study concluded that to supply 10% of the global energy demand by 2040, roughly 200 tons of Helium-3 would be required annually. To do this would require a regolith mining rate of about 630 tons per second. (12/17)

Dark Side of the Moon: the Lost Surveyor Missions (Source: Space Review)
The Surveyor program sent a series of landers to the Moon as a precursor to the Apollo missions. Dwayne Day examines the history of what was originally a far more ambitious program that included many more landers, some with rovers, that were proposed but never flown. Click here. (12/21)
 
For JWST, the Launch is Only the Beginning of the Drama (Source: Space Review)
After decades of development and years of delays, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally scheduled to launch this week. Jeff Foust reports that, for all the tension around the launch itself, the liftoff will will mark only the start of the high-stakes effort to get the telescope deployed and commissioned. Click here. (12/21)
 
Growing the Global Space Community: Onboarding Spacefaring Nations (Source: Space Review)
More countries are interested in developing launch vehicles or hosting launches by vehicles developed elsewhere. Cody Knipfer discusses why this interest calls for efforts by leading nations, like the US, to help streamline that process to ensure safety while avoiding burdensome regulations. Click here. (12/21)

Russia Ready to 'Fight' for Space Tourism Supremacy (Source: AFP)
After a decade-long hiatus, Russia is relaunching an ambitious bid for dominion over the world's budding space tourism industry, jostling with zealous billionaires, the United States, and rising China. Russia flaunted its comeback this month dispatching two cosmic adventurers -- Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant -- to the International Space Station (ISS) in its first launch of tourists in 12 years.

Buoyed by the success, firebrand space chief Dmitry Rogozin talked up Russia's next steps to supremacy: a special module at the ISS for Russia's visitors, spacewalks outside the station, and -- down the line -- trips around the moon. "We will not give this niche to the Americans. We are ready to fight for it," he told reporters at a press conference as Maezawa was blasting towards the ISS on a 12-day mission. Yet Russia's path to industry dominance is dotted with new obstacles that have emerged since it was last in the game a decade ago. (12/19)

Starlink Expands but Q3 2021 Performance Flattens in Some Areas (Source: SpeedTest)
Satellite internet is making headlines across the globe as Starlink continues to launch service in new countries and Viasat plans to acquire Inmarsat. We’re here to check in on our ongoing series on satellite internet performance around the globe with fresh data from Q3 2021 to see if Starlink’s performance is holding up and how satellite internet compares to fixed broadband in 12 countries.

Consumers in the U.S. looking to use satellite service to connect to the internet will find that performance was mostly flat when comparing Q3 2021 to Q2 2021. Starlink’s median download speed decreased from 97.23 Mbps during Q2 2021 to 87.25 Mbps in Q3 2021, which could be a function of adding more customers. HughesNet followed distantly at 19.30 Mbps (comparable to the 19.73 Mbps we saw in Q2 2021) and Viasat third at 18.75 Mbps (18.13 Mbps in Q2 2021). For comparison, the median download speed for all fixed broadband providers in the U.S. during Q3 2021 was 119.84 Mbps (115.22 Mbps in Q2 2021). (12/20)