January 26, 2022

Warpspace Wins JAXA Contract to Design Optical Cislunar Communication Architecture (Source: Space Daily)
Warpspace, a spin-out space startup from the University of Tsukuba, an optical inter-satellite communication service provider, announced that it has been selected to conduct a study on space communication for the lunar exploration by JAXA, which could be a part of the Artemis plan. Warpspace develops "WarpHub InterSat," the optical inter-satellite data relay communication service for the earth observation satellite operators. The three optical data relay satellites will be launched in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) to cover the whole Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Through this network, earth observation satellites can downlink their data at a high data rate in near real-time 24/7. Today, numerous national organizations and private companies including startups work on lunar exploration across the globe centering on the Artemis plan. In Japan, JAXA leads lunar-related activities in collaboration with private companies.

Together with other companies, Warpspace will cooperate with JAXA in the development of the optical cislunar communication system to support the lunar development activities in Japan and beyond. Warpspace aims to launch the optical communication service in the 2030s and the service which covers beyond the moon such as Mars in 2035 or later. (1/26)

Japanese Company Joins March Back to the Moon in 2022 (Source: New York Times)
A Japanese company is pushing ahead with plans to launch a private moon lander by the end of 2022, a year packed with other moonshot ambitions and rehearsals that could foretell how soon humans get back to the lunar surface. If the plans hold, the company, ispace, which is based in Tokyo, would accomplish the first intact landing by a Japanese spacecraft on the moon. And by the time it arrives, it may find other new visitors that already started exploring the moon’s regolith this year from Russia and the US. (Yutu-2, a Chinese rover, is currently the lone robotic mission on the moon.)

Other missions in 2022 plan to orbit the moon, particularly the NASA Artemis-1 mission, a crucial uncrewed test of the American hardware that is to carry astronauts back to the moon. South Korea could also launch its first lunar orbiter later this year. The M1 moon lander built by ispace is the size of a small hot tub. It is in the final stages of assembly in Germany at the facilities of Ariane Group. If structural tests go as planned in April, M1 will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a launch on one of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. (1/25)

Scientists Surveyed People About Space (Source: Vice)
The history of space exploration has never been dull, but we happen to be living through an especially eventful era of dazzling discoveries, ambitious missions, and emerging challenges. A wide-ranging poll of the American public, conducted by a team at the Outer Space Institute, queried more than 1,500 respondents about topics such as aliens, orbital debris, the US Space Force, and human missions to the Moon and Mars. The team also invited participants to provide feedback, in their own words, on the poll, with verbatim responses that ranged in tone from wistful to conspiratorial to zany.

The poll revealed overwhelming consensus on a few issues. A whopping 81 percent of participants agreed that “outer space should belong to everyone—no one country should be able to claim control over it,” with 49 percent indicating that they strongly agreed with that statement. The value of fundamental science, such as astronomy, was likewise broadly acknowledged, with 72 percent of respondents agreeing that it is important and deserves government funding (30 percent strongly agreed).

The participants also expressed high levels of optimism about the existence of alien life, as well as the odds that humans will one day encounter it. Seventy-one percent agreed that it is likely that there is other intelligent life beyond Earth in our galaxy, the Milky Way, with 40 percent strongly agreeing with that statement. Meanwhile, 75 percent said it is likely that we will detect microorganisms beyond Earth in our solar system (49 percent said “very likely”) while 77 percent said it is likely that we will detect microorganisms elsewhere in our galaxy (52 percent said “very likely”). (1/25)

Satellogic Completes Business Combination with CF Acquisition Corp. V to Become Publicly Traded Company (Source: Satellogic)
Satellogic, a sub-meter resolution satellite imagery company, has completed its previously announced SPAC merger with CF Acquisition Corp. V. The business combination was approved at a special meeting of CFV stockholders on Jan. 24. Satellogic’s shares and warrants will trade on the Nasdaq. In connection with the closing of the business combination and other transactions, Satellogic will receive gross proceeds of approximately $262 million. (1/25)

Comtech Rejects $790 Million Takeover Offer (Source: Space News)
Satellite communications equipment maker Comtech Telecommunications said Jan. 25 it has rejected a $790 million offer to take over the company. In October, investment firm Acacia Research Corp. made a $30-per-share offer for Comtech after the New York firm’s stock had fallen to around $21 amid declining revenue and a failed merger with Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks. Comtech’s shares hit $27 on the takeover news but fell back to around $21 in the months Comtech took to evaluate the offer. Comtech’s stock closed at $21.40 a share Jan. 25, up 3.7% on a down day for the Nasdaq Composite.  (1/25)

Melbourne Airport Hosts Job fair as Economic Growth Expands on Space Coast (Source: WESH)
The job boom is a product of the business rebound from the pandemic and the growth in the aerospace industry. “If you look at the types of jobs that are being created here, we are fortunate because they’re for everybody — for GEDs to PHDs, particularly in aerospace and engineering," Brian Baluta of the Space Coast Economic Development Commission said. Some of those newly created jobs were searching for applicants at a job fair at the Melbourne Orlando International Airport Tuesday. Of the 20 companies recruiting at the job fair, many are companies and manufacturers that operate on and around the airport complex. (1/25)

$5 Billion Moon-Themed Resort Is Coming to Las Vegas (Source: Travel + Leisure)
Space tourism is slowly becoming a reality with billionaires making seemingly regular visits to the stars and the world's first space hotel planned to make its debut in 2027. Despite the promising progress, it may take a while before space tourism is available at a more accessible price point. So what's the next best thing in the meantime? Perhaps this new moon-shaped hotel coming to the Las Vegas Strip.

Canadian-based company Moon World Resorts Inc. has announced plans for a $5 billion, 5.5-million-square-foot hotel whose signature feature will be a replica of the moon standing at 735 feet tall and 650 feet wide. The replica will only be 1/75,000 the size of the moon, but that's large enough to accommodate 4,000 guest rooms and suites. Plans for Moon Resorts Las Vegas also include a 75,000-square-foot spa, 50,000-square-feet of food and beverage offerings, 75,000-square-feet of retail, and 150,00-square-feet of clubs and lounges. (10/18/21)

FTC Confirms Decision to Block Lockheed Aerojet Acquisition (Source: Space News)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced Tuesday it would sue to block Lockheed Martin's acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne. The FTC said that the deal would allow Lockheed "to harm rival defense contractors and further consolidate multiple markets critical to national security and defense" by acquiring the last independent supplier of missile propulsion systems. The companies had argued that the deal should win approval on grounds similar to the earlier acquisition of Orbital ATK by Northrop Grumman. However, the Biden administration has taken a stronger stance on market consolidation in general. (1/26)

Newly Gerrymandered District Drives Space-Supporting Dem From Seeking Re-Election (Source: Space News)
An advocate for military space in the House will not run for reelection this year. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) said Wednesday he decided not to run after serving 32 years in office when the state legislature redrew his seat to make it likely a Republican would win it. Cooper is chairman of the strategic forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee and was one of the original proponents of creating a military space branch that became the Space Force. (1/26)

Lucy Solar Array Issue Blamed on Loose Lanyard (Source: Space News)
Engineers believe they understand why one of two solar arrays on NASA's Lucy spacecraft failed to fully deploy. One of the circular arrays, 7.3 meters in diameter, did not completely unfold and latch into place after the spacecraft's launch in October. A lanyard that is part of the deployment mechanism likely lost tension at some point during deployment, causing the array to stop just short of fully unfolding. Engineers are studying both restarting a deployment motor to pull the array into place or leaving it as is, with a decision likely no earlier than April. (1/26)

China Launches Radar Imaging Satellite (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
China launched a civilian radar-imaging satellite Tuesday. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 6:44 p.m. Eastern and placed the Gongjian Ludi Tance-1 01A, or L-SAR 01A, satellite into orbit. The spacecraft has an L-band synthetic aperture radar imaging payload that will be used for civilian applications such as disaster response. (1/26)

Xplore to Buy Cubesats From OrbAstro (Source: Space News)
Xplore will purchase nanosatellites from Orbital Astronautics Ltd. for a variety of Earth-observation and astronomical missions. Xplore intends to mount multiple instruments on OrbAstro cubesats, with the first mission scheduled to launch in late 2022. Those missions will precede Xcraft, Xplore's own multi-mission ESPA-class spacecraft under development. (1/26)

NOAA Plans Quick Activation of New GOES-T Satellite (Source: Space News)
NOAA plans to quickly bring into service a geostationary weather satellite scheduled to launch in March. NOAA expects GOES-T to arrive in GEO about three weeks after its scheduled March 1 launch, where it will be checked out before being moved to the GOES-West orbital slot. GOES-T will replace GOES-17, which is suffering a problem with its primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager. (1/26)

NASA Struggling to Place Payloads on Host Missions (Source: Space News)
NASA is struggling to find rides for hosted payload science instruments. NASA is looking for a geostationary commercial satellite to house the Geostationary Carbon Cycle Observatory or GeoCARB, an instrument to measure carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane over the Americas. GeoCARB was started when demand for commercial GEO satellites that could serve as hosts for the instrument was higher. Another hosted payload, the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols or MAIA, faces a launch delay because of issues at Firefly Aerospace, whose Alpha rocket will launch the General Atomics satellite hosting MAIA. (1/26)

AFWERX Picks Space Micro to Develop Laser Comm Terminal (Source: Space News)
AFWERX selected Space Micro to develop a laser communications terminal to connect military aircraft with geostationary satellites in orbit. Space Micro won the Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 contract to design the system, capable of communications at up to 10 gigabits per second. The work includes designing a pod placed under a fighter jet wing to host the terminal. (1/26)

Europe Narrows Hunt for Next Astronauts, Eyes Crewed Flights (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The European Space Agency has narrowed the candidate list for its next generation of astronauts, including dozens who have a physical disability. The agency announced last year that it had received a record number of 22,589 applications from people hoping to become the continent’s next generation of space travelers.

ESA said Tuesday it has reduced these to fewer than 1,400 — 29 of whom have a physical disability — and hope to cut the shortlist down to several tens of candidates by the end of the year for the four to six positions on its astronaut training program. The agency’s director-general, Josef Aschbacher, said the selection process would be accompanied by a feasibility study to determine the implications of choosing candidates with disabilities “but, yes, we are committed at ESA to open space to everyone.”

ESA has for decades relied on its Russian and American counterparts to launch astronauts into space. Currently the agency has several places booked on American commercial launches. But Aschbacher said Europe may finally get its own crewed spacecraft if ESA member states approve the idea at a meeting later this year. “We are not only talking of launches, we are talking of human exploration,” he said, adding that future missions would seek to send astronauts to the moon “and beyond.” (1/25)

Texas High School Gets Space Force JROTC Program (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Klein High School JROTC cadets will be looking past the sky and into the stars as the school has transformed its Air Force JROTC program to a Space Force JROTC program. The school held a ceremony celebrating the conversion Tuesday morning, attended by Air Force and Space Force officers, featuring a ceremony pinning the new Space Force lapel pins onto the school’s 118 JROTC cadets and unveiling the new Space Force pennant and patch. (1/25)

LEO Broadband: Will This Time Be Different? (Source: Space News)
In the late 1990s, I spent three years advising Teledesic on the business plan and customer requirements for the first LEO broadband satellite constellation. We had hoped to serve millions of small businesses and high-end consumers with a cost-effective broadband solution for suburban, rural, and remote areas. Teledesic was canceled during the dot-com bust when Craig McCaw could not convince himself that the proposed $10 billion system would deliver on its business plan.

The terminals were too expensive, and it was far from clear that traditional satellite contractors like Boeing and Motorola could meet either the timescales or budget. Other LEO projects, from Iridium, Globalstar and Orbcomm, were completed but quickly ended up in bankruptcy because the market for satellite phones and what we now call Internet of Things connectivity failed to grow fast enough to pay for the enormous cost of those constellations. These systems ultimately were saved after writing off almost all their development expenses. Click here. (1/25)

Environmental Advocates Oppose Sale of NASA-Owned Forest in Maryland (Source: Bay Journal)
NASA has used its orbiting satellites to help scientists understand the value of forests in fighting climate change. Closer to home, though, the space agency is moving to sell a woodland it owns in Maryland, putting the trees there at risk of being bulldozed by a developer.

The proposed sale of the 105-acre tract by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in suburban Greenbelt, MD, has drawn protests from conservationists and expressions of concern from state and even other federal agencies. They note that the woods surround a headwaters stream of the Anacostia River, providing wildlife habitat, soaking up nutrients in rainfall runoff and capturing climate-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (1/25)

Michigan Spaceport Licensing Efforts Moving 'Full-Speed Ahead' (Source: Iosco News-Herald)
From the perspective of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association (MAMA), things are moving full-speed ahead with the Oscoda spaceport endeavor, and MAMA is in the final steps of securing the funding for the licensing process. The association’s executive director, Gavin Brown, said one of the things they’re working on involves hypersonic technologies and missions, both commercial and military.

“I will tell you, I think the military is getting the bulk of the press on this, with China and Russia. And you’re finding out that the U.S. military is lagging in testing. We are making relationships with the Air Force research lab and others, for bringing technology into our project,” Brown advised.

“And what I mean by that is basically, as you may know already, horizontal launch – you get up to hypersonic speed. So that’s natural,” he elaborated. But the inclusion to bring the commercial companies and the government with the horizontal relationship that MAMA will be generating, will create a number of jobs in the area, and he’d like to see that expand out to Space Force and other government agencies. (1/25)

Stratolaunch Announces Research Contract with U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (Source: Stratolaunch)
Stratolaunch, in partnership with Booz Allen Hamilton, is on contract with AFRL to examine and assess the feasibility of hypersonic flight tests of a wide range of Air Force experiments and payloads on a frequent and routine basis. Stratolaunch supports national security objectives for hypersonic offensive and defensive weapons development through the design, manufacture, and operation of a fleet of reusable hypersonic aerospace vehicles air-launched from its globally deployable carrier aircraft, Roc. (1/25)

Movies Starring Affleck, DiCaprio, Hanks, Clooney Were Filmed on Space Coast of Florida (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard County has been a backdrop for films and television shows over the years. Brevard has a special advantage with its natural beauty and long history with the space industry. It's no surprise that many of the films shot on the Space Coast have to do with, well, space. NASA KSC has been a popular location for movies about space exploration and adventure. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll find other star-studded film projects on the list as well. Here's a roundup of 25 movies and television shows filmed in Brevard. (1/26)

Several Soyuz Spacecraft Crews with Tourists to Go Into Space in Coming Years (Source: TASS)
Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos expects several crews with space tourists to go into outer space in the coming years, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday. "I believe that we will send several crews of space tourists into orbit in the coming years," Rogozin said at a plenary session of the 46th Korolyov Readings conference on cosmonautics. Roscosmos has already received requests for flights of this kind, he said. (1/25)

Canada's SFL Wins NASA Contract for Two Small Spacecraft (Source: SpaceQ)
Toronto based Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has won a contract from the new NASA Astrophysics Pioneers Program for two spacecraft, the StarBurst and Aspera missions. SFL stated it “will provide the spacecraft platforms, perform system integration, and conduct system testing for the StarBurst and Aspera astrophysics missions, led by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the University of Arizona, respectively.” SFL will also “support the launch, commissioning, and operation of StarBurst and Aspera, which are tentatively scheduled for launch in 2025.” (1/25)

EU Launches 'Game Changer' Space Startup Fund (Source: Space Daily)
The EU launched Tuesday a billion-euro fund to support startups in the space sector with the hope it will be a "game changer" and attract private investors into the key sector. Named the Cassini fund after the 17th century Italian astronomer, it was launched as part of the European Investment Fund (EIF) which provides risk financing to small and medium-sized businesses across Europe.

"Many of our startups cannot get sizeable equity investment in the EU once they need to scale up," said Thierry Breton, the EU's internal market commissioner, at a gathering for the European space industry in Brussels. He said the firms are thus forced to turn to non-EU investors. "This is a major loss for Europe. The Cassini Fund will be a game changer," he added. (1/25)

Russia: How US Weaponizes NATO to Maintain Its Own Space Dominance and Deter Russia and China (Source: Sputnik)
NATO released its "overarching" space policy on 17 January, stipulating that any space-based attack on an ally could trigger the alliance's collective defence policy under the bloc's Article 5. What's behind the renewed US focus on space and expansion of NATO activities there? NATO's newly released space doctrine expands on the alliance's 2019 Space Policy - which recognized space as a new "operational domain", alongside air, land, sea, and cyberspace - and vows to help make its members' space capabilities compatible and interoperable.

According to NATO, space is becoming more "crowded and competitive" with satellites being vulnerable to interference from certain countries, including Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, which have developed and tested a wide range of counter-space and anti-satellite technologies (ASAT). The alliance proclaims that attacks in space against its members could lead to the invocation of NATO's Article 5, but falls short of defining what exactly constitutes an "attack". Instead, the doctrine says that decisions about this will be made on a "case-by-case" basis. (1/25)

China Tests New Engine, 'Likely to Power Hypersonic Aircraft' (Source: Space Daily)
China on Monday conducted a test flight for a new engine that experts said could power China's future hypersonic aircraft and near-space plane. The engine, developed by the Laboratory of Spray Combustion and Propulsion under School of Aerospace Engineering at Tsinghua University, successfully conducted a flight test on Monday morning, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

A two-stage rocket booster was used to assist the test flight, CCTV said, noting that after the separation of the first stage, the second stage sent the engine to the predetermined height and velocity, and that was when the air inlet of the engine began to breathe in air very efficiently, and the fuel supply system began to spray vaporized jet fuel into the combustion chamber. (1/26)

Two Launches Per Month Foreseen at Virginia Spaceport (Source: Shore Daily News)
The ESVA Chamber held its annual pre-General Assembly forum at the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club in December and Accomack Chairman Ron Wolff reported the Wallops Flight Facility could very soon be launching as many as two rockets a month. Paraphrasing: NASA Wallops, particularly Rocket Lab ... mentioned that through the year 2030, launch increases at Wallops will double to as many as 20-25 launches per year. The economic impact to the entire region will be phenomenal. (12/9)
 
Russian Ambassador: Russia and China Preparing to Sign an Agreement for Lunar Station (Source: TASS)
The intergovernmental agreement between Russia and China on cooperation in the creation of a lunar station is almost ready and can be signed soon. This was stated at a press conference by Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov. "The agreement is almost ready, it seems that it can be signed soon enough," the diplomat said. He recalled that all states were invited to participate in the creation of the International Lunar Station.

The diplomat noted that this is a long-term cooperation program. As previously reported in the Chinese media, unmanned flights are supposed to be made first, and only around 2035 will the actual lunar station begin to be created. On the whole, Russian-Chinese cooperation in space is developing "well and fruitfully," the ambassador said. Currently, the Russian Federation and China have a program of space cooperation for 2018-2022. According to Denisov, a new five-year program is being prepared to replace it. (1/25)

China's GalaxySpace Delivers 6 Broadband Communication Satellites (Source: CGTN)
The first batch of low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband communication satellites developed by China's private satellite producer GalaxySpace has rolled off the production line. Six satellites have been transported to the launch center and are planned to be launched atop a Long March-2C carrier rocket in the first quarter of 2022, the company said in a press release.

This is the first time that the country has completed the mass production of such satellites. The company said that these satellites are part of a testing network of satellite internet, nicknamed "Mini-spider Constellation," which will be able to provide uninterrupted low-orbit satellite broadband communication services for more than 30 minutes at a time. (1/19)

SpaceX Seeks to Deploy 'Ruggedized' Starlink Satellite Dish for Buildings (Source: PC Magazine)
The Starlink dish from SpaceX is already built to survive both freezing and sweltering conditions. But now the company is requesting FCC approval for a new "high-performance" Starlink dish for buildings that promises to withstand even bigger temperature swings. On Friday, SpaceX filed an application for the "HP" model Starlink dish, which it says is built with "features that ruggedize the unit for use in harsh environments."

“Granting this application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based component for SpaceX’s satellite system that will enhance the range of broadband capabilities available throughout the United States —and most particularly, to those in challenging environments where ruggedization is appropriate,” the company added.

In August, SpaceX filed a similar application for a ruggedized Starlink dish capable of deliving high-speed internet in extreme environments. However, the application—which is still awaiting FCC approval—only requested operating the dishes on moving vehicles, such as planes, boats and cars. Friday’s application, on the other hand, requests approval to operate the ruggedized Starlink dishes as “fixed Earth stations,” meaning they’d be installed outside a building as stationary equipment. (1/24)

Ground Segment as a Service Provider Infostellar Closes Series B Round with $10.36M (Source: Infostellar)
Infostellar, a Japanese satellite Ground-Segment-as-a-Service (GSaaS) provider, has raised ¥500M ($4.32M USD) in the Final Close of its Series B financing round. This is in addition to ¥700M ($6.04M USD) raised in the First Close in October 2021, completing Infostellar’s Series B round of funding with a total new investment of ¥1.2B ($10.36M USD). (1/14)

Multi-Orbit Constellation Startup Mangata Networks Raises $33 Million (Source: Space News)
U.S.-based startup Mangata Networks has raised $33 million from an international mix of investors for its multi-orbit connectivity constellation plans. The Series A funding round was led by Playground Global, the U.S. venture capital firm which previously led Relativity Space’s $35 million Series B round in 2018. (1/12)

Atomos Space Secures Funding to Develop Space Tug Business (Source: Space News)
Denver-based startup Atomos Space announced Jan. 12 it has raised the $5 million it had first sought in 2020 to develop its space-tug business, following an investment from early-stage investor Cantos Ventures. Cantos joined an undisclosed aerospace investor in the funding round, which the startup said paves the way for launching its first two spacecraft in 2023. Quark, a reusable orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) that Atomos Space has said will be able to tow tens of customers to their orbital destinations over the tug’s five-year lifetime, was originally planned to launch in 2021. (1/12)

UCF Student Nanotech Team Designs Space Suit Material for NASA Competition (Source: UCF)
Agroup of six University of Central Florida students and alums from a range of fields designed and won the Best Technical Poster award as finalists in NASA’s recent Lunar Dust Challenge. They received the honor after NASA’s 2021 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge Virtual Forum in November 2021.

As part of NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge to conquer lunar dust, the project — titled Lunar Dust Mitigating Electrostatic micro-Textured Overlay, or LETO — provided an opportunity of a lifetime to design, form and test new innovations to get the researchers on NASA’s radar. With the theme centered around lunar dust, the UCF team designed a space suit material overlay for astronauts performing space exploration. The moon’s surface is covered in sharp, hazardous lunar dust that could be a danger to people and equipment. (1/25)

Honeybee Robotics to Join Blue Origin (Source: Honeybee Robotics)
Honeybee Robotics announced that it will be acquired by Blue Origin. With major operations in Colorado and California, Honeybee will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Origin. The deal is expected to close in mid-February. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed. Honeybee’s extensive experience in planetary robotics and mechanisms, drills, motors, actuators, drive electronics, and specialized space mechanisms is complementary to Blue Origin’s system capability’s goal of making space flight routine, and vision of opening space resources to benefit Earth.

Since 1983, Honeybee Robotics has delivered more than 1,000 advanced projects to government and industrial customers in the spacecraft, planetary exploration, defense robotics, medical devices, mining, oil and gas, and utility infrastructure sectors. Its innovative, reliable, and literally groundbreaking robotic systems operate throughout space: in commercial launch vehicles and satellites and doing innovative work on the Moon, Mars, and Titan. (1/25)