January 21, 2022

Tom Cruise Space Movie Producers Sign Deal with Axiom to Build Studio in Orbit (Source: CNBC)
The producers of Tom Cruise’s future space movie on Thursday announced plans to attach a studio to the International Space Station in development by Houston-based company Axiom. U.K.-based studio Space Entertainment Enterprise, co-founded by producers Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, contracted Axiom to build the module. Called SEE-1, the module would be “the world’s first content and entertainment studios and multipurpose arena in space.”

SEE-1 is scheduled to launch in December 2024. It will attach to Axiom’s first module that the company plans to connect to its space station in September 2024. Financial details of the studio’s contract with Axiom were not disclosed, and little is known about Cruise’s unnamed project — including how much it will cost. (1/20)

EarthDaily Analytics Plans Multi-Spectral Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
EarthDaily Analytics is developing a $150 million Earth-observation constellation to collect imagery in 21 spectral bands. The Vancouver startup, formed by Antarctica Capital in February 2021 after the private equity firm bought parts of UrtheCast, announced it is hiring Loft Orbital to build, launch and operate a fleet of 10 Earth-observation satellites on its behalf. (1/19)

Air Force Awards $102 Million for Point-to-Point Cargo Launches (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force awarded SpaceX a $102 million contract for its "rocket cargo" program. The award, made with little fanfare last week, formalizes a government-industry partnership to help "determine exactly what a rocket can achieve when used for cargo transport, what is the true capacity, speed, and cost of the integrated system," the manager of the program said. The Air Force Research Lab will have access to data from SpaceX launches, while SpaceX will provide cargo bay designs that support rapid load and unload of intermodal containers used by U.S. Transportation Command. There is no timeline for a demonstration at this point. (1/20)

NASA Foresees Two Year Gap Between Artemis Lunar Landings (Source: Space News)
NASA foresees a gap of at least two years between the first crewed Artemis lunar landing and the second. In presentations at an advisory committee meeting this week, NASA said it's not planning a landing on the Artemis 4 mission, the first after the Artemis 3 mission lands astronauts on the moon. That mission will instead be used to deliver a habitation module for the lunar Gateway. Landing missions will resume with Artemis 5. Part of the reason for the gap is the transition from the Human Landing System program, which is developing the SpaceX Starship lander for Artemis 3, with a program to buy landing services for later missions. NASA has not set dates for Artemis 4 and 5, but NASA has discussed previously launching such missions at a pace of one a year. (1/20)

ABL Space Systems Rocket Stage Destroyed in Test Accident at Mojave Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A "test anomaly" destroyed the upper stage of an ABL Space Systems rocket Wednesday. An explosion took place at Mojave Air and Space Port in California, creating a plume of black smoke visible for miles. ABL Space Systems said the incident at a test stand there destroyed the upper stage of the RS1 small launch vehicle it is developing. No one was injured. The company is one of many developing small launchers, and RS1 was expected to make its first launch in the near future before this accident.

ABL has yet to attempt a first launch of RS1. In an October interview, Piemont said the company was hoping to perform a launch from Kodiak Island, Alaska, before the end of 2021, but the company has not provided an update since then on its launch plans. While the company has yet to launch an RS1, it has been successful in raising money and signing customers. ABL raised $200 million in October, an extension of a $170 million Series B round it raised seven months earlier. (1/20)

Kendall: Space Force to Remain "Tightly Coupled" with Air Force (Source: Space News)
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the Space Force will remain "tightly coupled" to the Air Force. Because of its small size, the Space Force needs significant support from the Department of the Air Force to perform its activities, Kendall said in a speech Wednesday. Kendall said his office is still reviewing the Space Force organization, its dependence on the Air Force, and where it might need additional help. He said while the Space Force serves an important role, "in order for it to be successful, it's going to need a lot of support from the Air Force."

The continued development of the Space Force is just one of several key issues for national security space this year. Administration officials say a top concern going forward is keeping space safe for military, civilian and commercial operations in light of threats from China and Russia. Other key developments will include an increased focus on low Earth orbit as the Space Development Agency launches its first satellites and progress on new launch systems like ULA's Vulcan Centaur. (1/20)

Cosmonauts Prep Prichal Module During 7 Hour ISS Spacewalk (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
Two cosmonauts completed work on a new Russian space station module during a spacewalk Wednesday. Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov spent 7 hours and 11 minutes outside the station during the spacewalk, which ended at 2:28 p.m. Eastern. The two completed their planned work to outfit the Prichal node module, added to the station in November. That work included setting up cameras, handrails, antennas and other equipment on the exterior of the module, allowing it to support dockings by Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. (1/20)

Pakistan Joins India in Blocking Starlink Service (Source: Space News)
Pakistan has followed India's lead in blocking pre-sales of SpaceX's Starlink service. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said Wednesday that "Starlink has neither applied for nor obtained any license from PTA to operate and provide internet services" in the country. It advised the general public to refrain from pre-booking the service in Pakistan through Starlink or associated websites. India's telecom regulator similarly advised people from making deposits for Starlink in November, and by early January SpaceX was refunding those orders. (1/20)

OneWeb Makes Moves Toward India Service (Source: PTI)
OneWeb is partnering with Hughes to provide services in India. The companies announced Thursday a six-year distribution agreement whereby Hughes will provide OneWeb's satellite broadband services throughout the country. The announcement didn't disclose when those companies would start offering services in India. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding last fall regarding such a partnership, and Hughes is a minor shareholder in OneWeb. (1/20)

Sony Cubesat Planned for Arts and Entertainment (Source: Space News)
Sony will launch a cubesat later this year equipped with a camera as part of a project with artists, entertainers and educators. The six-unit cubesat, developed by the University of Tokyo and JAXA, will be equipped with a Sony camera, enabling selected users to capture and record the Earth and stars. Sony hopes the project will help explore business opportunities in fields ranging from arts and entertainment to museums and amusement parks. (1/20)

JWST Mirrors All Deployed (Source: Space.com)
All 18 mirrors on the James Webb Space Telescope have deployed from their launch configurations. NASA said Wednesday that controllers had completed work to slowly move the hexagonal mirror segments into place. Months of work still lie ahead to fine-tune the mirrors so they provide a single image. JWST is scheduled to perform a maneuver this weekend to enter into a halo orbit around the Earth-sun L-2 Lagrange point. (1/20)

Kansas Cosmosphere Museum Partners with Brewery for Space Beer (Source: CollectSpace)
A space museum is brewing up a new project. The Cosmosphere museum in Kansas is partnering with a local brewery on Space Race IPA, a beer billed as an "off-planet experience for your palate." Some of the proceeds of sales of the beer and merchandise with the Space Race logo will support the museum. (1/20)

Former NASA JSC Chief Scientist Passes Away (Source: Twitter @v_wyche)
A former chief scientist for NASA's human research program at the Johnson Space Center has died. John Charles worked at NASA for 33 years, retiring as chief scientist and overseeing projects such as the biomedical studies associated with the one-year flight of Scott Kelly on the ISS. He also co-developed fluid-loading countermeasures for shuttle astronauts to avoid fainting after returning from orbit. (1/20)

Latin America's Bid on Space (Source: Quartz)
After decades of talk, Latin America is the closest it’s been to launching a regional space agency. Last autumn, 18 countries, including Mexico and Argentina, signed an agreement to create the Latin American and Caribbean Space Agency, or ALCE. It’s unclear whether those plans will materialize into a viable operation that regularly shoots satellites into space, never mind rockets or astronauts. But the accord’s mere existence is already giving the region’s emerging space industry a much needed push.

ALCE will also need funding, a tough ask in a region where about a third of residents are poor. Judging by the budgets of some of the national agencies, space so far has not been a spending priority (Spanish.) Though entrepreneurs say the space industry will help solve problems on Earth, whether by creating jobs or enabling fixes like monitoring Amazon deforestation, they still have to make their case to the public. There are potential risks to ALCE flopping, including an even worse case of brain drain. “If the region doesn’t make any concrete progress soon, it will lag further and further behind and lose human resources,” says Angel Arcia.

But the challenges ahead shouldn’t dissuade the launch of ALCE. If anything, the agency should set loftier goals to make sure Latin America doesn’t get left out of the next phase of space activity. (1/20)

Buzz Aldrin Turns 92, Oldest of Remaining Moonwalkers (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Buzz Aldrin has made it around the sun 92 times, one year shy of the number of minutes he spent walking on the moon. Aldrin, who landed with Neil Armstrong to become one of the first two, and to date, one of only 12 people, to walk on the lunar surface, was born on a Monday, on Jan. 20, 1930. At age 39, as a member of Apollo 11, he joined Armstrong stepping foot on the moon after they landed in the Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969.

He spent one hour and 33 minutes outside the spacecraft. The only nonagenarian, Aldrin is the oldest remaining moonwalker, and last remaining Apollo 11 crew member alive. Armstrong died in 2012 and the command module pilot Michael Collins, who orbited the moon, died in April 2021. Those still alive are Apollo 15′s David Scott, 89, Apollo 16′s Charles Duke, 86, and Apollo 17′s Harrison Schmitt, 86. (1/20)

NRO to Work with Five Companies for SAR Data (Source: Space News)
The National Reconnaissance Office has signed agreements with five companies for commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. The agreements with Airbus U.S., Capella Space, Iceye U.S., PredaSAR and Umbra are study contracts that give the NRO access to the data collected by these companies' SAR satellites and are intended to help the agency better understand the quality of commercially available imagery. The NRO for years has purchased traditional optical satellite imagery from commercial suppliers but is new to the commercial SAR market. An NRO official said the agency is not yet committing to any long-term purchasing agreements for SAR data. (1/21)

Another Close Call with Russian Orbital Debris (Source: Space News)
A Chinese satellite had a close call with a piece of debris from November's Russian ASAT test. China's Space Debris Monitoring and Application Center issued a warning Tuesday of an extremely dangerous encounter between the Tsinghua Science satellite and one of more than 1,000 pieces of trackable debris from the ASAT test. Chinese officials claimed the debris came as close as 14.5 meters to the satellite, although the actual distance of the close approach is likely far more uncertain. The small, spherical Tsinghua Science satellite was launched in August 2020 on a Long March 2D rocket to make atmospheric density and gravitational field measurements. (1/21)

ESA Space Summit to Focus on Human Spaceflight (Source: Space News)
The head of ESA says he hopes a space summit next month will provide a political endorsement of a European human spaceflight initiative. Josef Aschbacher said he wants the one-day meeting of ESA and European Union ministers in France on Feb. 16 to provide a mandate for ESA to begin studies of a human spaceflight program. Since taking office last year, Aschbacher has emphasized the importance of creating a European human space exploration capability. Other topics of the space summit will include initiatives on climate change and space safety as well as the E.U.'s proposed secure connectivity satellite system. (1/21)

Lawmakers Support Declassification of Some DoD Space Capabilities (Source: Space News)
Lawmakers say they support efforts to declassify some national security space activities. A provision of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Defense Department to examine every Space Force program to determine if its classification level should be lowered or declassified entirely. That effort, members of Congress said, could support initiatives like FireGuard, which uses imagery collected by U.S. military satellites and drones to produce maps that help detect and monitor wildfires. "Sometimes when you keep things classified that don't need to be, you breed a lot of public conspiratorial thinking that may be at odds with the facts," added Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (1/21)

NASA Takes Official Ownership of Bigelow ISS Module (Source: Space News)
NASA has taken ownership of an inflatable module on the International Space Station developed by Bigelow Aerospace. NASA took ownership of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) last month when an engineering contract with Bigelow expired. Earlier this week, it awarded a new contract to ATA Engineering, a former Bigelow subcontractor, to provide engineering support. BEAM was installed on the station in 2016 and certified for use there to 2032. Once a pioneer in commercial space station development, Bigelow laid off its staff in early 2020. (1/21)
 
Latvia's Mission Space Plans Weather Satellite Constellation (Source: Space News)
A Latvian startup has plans to launch a constellation of satellites to provide commercial space weather data. Mission Space announced Thursday an agreement with Bulgarian startup EnduroSat to launch a set of high-energy particle detectors later this year on a cubesat. Mission Space plans to ultimately establish a constellation of 24 satellites to monitor space weather, using that data to quantify the risks to individual satellites and to correlate spacecraft anomalies with the intensity and type of recorded high-energy particles. (1/21)

InSight Mars Lander Exits Safe Mode (Source: NASA)
NASA’s InSight Mars lander has emerged from safe mode. JPL said the spacecraft resumed normal operations Wednesday after being in a power-conserving safe mode since Jan. 7 because of a dust storm that diminished sunlight reaching the solar-powered spacecraft. However, regular science operations won’t resume until controllers know how much power is available to the spacecraft after the dust storm has passed. In the meantime, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter suffered its first weather-related flight delay. Project engineers said a dust storm in Jezero Crater led them to delay the helicopter’s 19th flight earlier this month. That storm has since dissipated, and the project now plans to make the flight as soon as Sunday. (1/21)

Judge Denies "11th Hour" Citizens' Petition to Block Georgia Spaceport Land Purchase (Source: Brunswick News)
A judge has denied an effort by opponents of a Georgia spaceport to block the purchase of land for the site. A judge concluded that opponents of Spaceport Camden waited until the “11th hour” to file their suit seeking to block Camden County from acquiring the land for the spaceport, noting that they could have filed objections months or even years earlier. Opponents want to stop the purchase until a referendum about the project is held in the county. A court is reviewing whether a petition seeking that referendum is valid. (1/21)

Braun to Lead Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins (Source: APL)
A JPL official and former NASA chief technologist will be the next head of space exploration at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland. APL announced Thursday that Bobby Braun will take over as head of the lab’s Space Exploration Sector in March. Braun is currently the director for planetary science at JPL and previously held positions at the University of Colorado and Georgia Tech and served a term as NASA chief technologist. He succeeds Michael Ryschkewitsch, who is retiring from APL. (1/21)