January 4, 2022

Russian Space Forces Tracked Over 400 Satellites Exiting Orbit in 2021 (Source: TASS)
The Space Troops of Russia’s Aerospace Force controlled the situation in the near-Earth space and tracked over 400 satellites terminating their ballistic existence in 2021, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. "Throughout the past year, specialists of the Main Space Monitoring Center detected and tracked over 1,700 space vehicles and monitored their exit from orbit and also issued forecasts and monitored the cessation of the ballistic existence of over 400 satellites," the ministry said in a statement.

Special attention was paid to the orbital clusters of foreign satellites to prevent dangerous near-misses of domestic satellites with other space vehicles, the statement says. "As part of their combat watch to monitor outer space in 2021, the Space Troops of the Aerospace Force carried out over 3,500 special missions to control changes in the space situation," Russia’s Defense Ministry reported. (1/3)

Everyone’s Going to the Moon—a New Space Race (Source: Economist)
A new age of lunar exploration is dawning, bringing opportunity and geopolitical jostling. We explore the science and economics of the next space race. Click here for the podcast. (1/4)

October 2021 South Korean Launch Failure Blamed on Upper Stage Design (Source: Space News)
Investigators have determined the cause of a failed South Korean launch in October. The upper stage of the KSLV-2 rocket shut down 46 seconds early on its inaugural launch Oct. 21, preventing a test payload from reaching orbit. A failure investigation led by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute concluded that improperly designed structures allowed helium tanks inside the upper stage to come loose during flight, resulting in a leak that deprived the rocket's KRE-007 engine of liquid oxygen. Work to correct the problem could delay the second KSLV-2 launch, currently scheduled for May. (1/4)

India Expects More Active 2022 in Space (Source: Space News)
The head of India's space agency ISRO expects a more active 2022 than 2021. ISRO attempted only two launches in 2021, one of which failed to reach orbit. In a New Year's message Monday, K. Sivan, chairman of ISRO, said the agency's "immediate task" was to carry out three launches of Earth science satellites, two on its workhorse PSLV rocket and one on the inaugural launch of its Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. ISRO is also working to perform the first uncrewed test flight of its Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft by August. The launch of Chandrayaan-3, India's second attempt to land on the moon, may slip to the middle of 2023. (1/4)

China Approves Next Phase of Robotic Lunar Exploration (Source: Xinhua)
Chinese officials have approved the next phase of the country's robotic lunar exploration program. That phase of the program includes three missions, starting with Chang'e-7, a spacecraft that will land in the south polar regions of the moon. It will be followed by Chang'e-6, originally built as a backup for the Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission and now will be used to return samples from the lunar south pole. Chang'e-8 will follow as "a step toward building a model of a lunar scientific research station." The announcement did not give launch dates for the three missions. (1/4)

Ariane 6 Makes Way to French Guiana for First Launch in 2022 (Source: Ariane Group)
An Ariane 6 is on its way to French Guiana for engineering tests. Ariane Group said a core stage and upper stage of the new rocket are being shipped to French Guiana, where they will be placed on the launchpad for tests that will include static firings of the core stage's Vulcain 2.1 engine. Those tests are set to begin in April, with the first Ariane 6 launch still scheduled for later this year. (1/4)

Enceladus Ice Plumes Could Be From Surface Slush, Not Subsurface Ocean (Source: Science News)
Plumes of water ice seen on Saturn's moon Enceladus may not come from a subsurface ocean. Those plumes, detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, had been linked to an ocean of liquid water below the moon's icy surface and thus seen as evidence that the interior of the moon could be habitable. However, research presented at a conference last month proposes the plumes could come from pockets of slush closer to the surface. That doesn't mean Enceladus doesn't have an ocean and is not habitable, scientists noted, only that the plumes may not provide samples of that subsurface ocean. (1/4)

Meteor Rocked Pittsburgh on New Year's Day (Source: AP)
An explosion felt by residents of suburban Pittsburgh on New Year's Day was likely from a meteor. NASA estimated the explosion was a meteor that exploded in the upper atmosphere with the energy equivalent of 30 tons of TNT. The meteor was detected by satellite and felt by residents on the ground, but the flash was not seen because of cloudy conditions. (1/4)

Space Force Show Returns to Netflix (Source: Deadline)
Space Force — the TV show — is returning next month. Netflix announced that the second season of the comedy spoofing the new military branch will premiere Feb. 18. The seven episodes will be devoted to how the service responds to a change of administrations. (1/4)

Verizon, AT&T to Delay 5G Deployment, Averting Aviation Standoff (Source: Reuters)
Verizon and AT&T late on Monday they had agreed to a two-week delay in deploying C-Band wireless spectrum, averting an aviation safety standoff that threatened to disrupt flights starting this week. The carriers had faced pressure from the White House, airlines and aviation unions to delay the deployment amid concerns about potential interference of 5G with sensitive aircraft electronics like radio altimeters that could disrupt flights.

The agreement pushes back the deployment date to Jan. 19. Verizon said the delay "promises the certainty of bringing this nation our game-changing 5G network in January." AT&T said it agreed to the delay at the request of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Editor's Note: DoD had also expressed concerns about 5G and potential interference to frequencies used for national defense, including GPS. (1/3)

2021 Was a Huge Year for Space Exploration. 2022 Could be Even Bigger (Source: Seattle Times)
The year 2021 will probably go down in the annals of space history as a turning point, a moment when private citizens started leaving Earth on a regular basis. Multiple crews lifted off on several different spacecraft, and for a brief moment this month, there were a record 19 people in the weightless environment of space — and eight of them were private citizens.

But for all the achievements of 2021 — which include a rover landing on Mars, a small drone called Ingenuity flying in that planet’s thin atmosphere and the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space telescope ever — 2022 could hold just as much promise, if not more. If 2021 was the year of the private space tourist, 2022 could be marked by the first steps toward a return to the moon, as NASA and the growing space industry seek to maintain the momentum that has been building over the past several years in what has amounted to a renaissance of exploration. Click here. (12/31)

NASA’s Webb Telescope is a Joy. But it’s the Private Ventures That Push at Limits (Source: The Guardian)
After years of delay, and massive cost over-runs, the James Webb space telescope (the JWST) was launched on Christmas Day. It will need to perform complex automated operations now it’s in space. The first and most challenging is happening this week: unfurling a heat shield the size of a tennis court. After this, its 6.5-metre mirror must be assembled from 18 pieces packed within the launching rocket’s nose-cone.

There’s much that can go wrong and astronomers will remain anxious for the several months that will elapse before all necessary manoevres and tests are completed. After the Hubble Space Telescope was launched more than 30 years ago, its mirror turned out to be poorly aligned. But astronauts undertook a “rescue” mission to make adjustments and later made further visits to upgrade the instruments.

The stakes are higher for the JWST: it’s vastly more elaborate, but there is no prospect of a repair mission. The Hubble telescope was in a low (and accessible) orbit: in contrast, the JWST’s orbit will be several times further away than the moon – far beyond the reach of astronauts. Some might argue that we therefore need to instigate more ambitious plans for human spaceflight: to enable human assembly of large structures in deep space, to return to the moon, and eventually to reach Mars. But I don’t share this view. Click here. (1/2)

Transfer of Tension (Source: Space Review)
The Christmas morning liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope was only the start of its long-awaited deployment process. Jeff Foust reports on the progress since launch getting the $10 billion space telescope into operation. Click here. (1/3)
 
Blackbirds and Black Satellites: the A-12 OXCART as a Satellite Launcher (Source: Space Review)
In the early 1960s, Lockheed proposed using the A-12 aircraft, the forerunner to the SR-71, as an air-launch system. Dwayne Day examines that proposal and why it failed to take off. Click here. (1/3)
 
China says Elon Musk’s Starlink is “Phenomenal,” but What is the Real Message? (Source: Space Review)
In a message to the United Nations last month, the Chinese government complained that it had to maneuver its space station twice to avoid close approaches by Starlink spacecraft. Michelle Hanlon and Josh Smith discuss some of the space law issues raised by that diplomatic note. Click here. (1/3)

‘Shatner in Space’ Puts Travel in Covid 2022 Into Perspective (Source: Skift)
You first need to get past the fact that Shatner in Space, an Amazon Prime documentary, is a public relations bone for Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. After all, William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor who played Captain Kirk on Star Trek and was Priceline’s The Negotiator advertising character for many years, got a free ride into space with three other passengers, two paying, on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft October 13, and the video is filled with sometimes cringe-worth, overly sappy moments with Bezos.

For example, in the run-up to the launch, Bezos shows Shatner some tricorders and communicator drawings, replicas of those used in Star Trek, that he crafted as a fourth grader in Texas, and he asks Shatner to bring them along on the suborbital voyage. But during the documentary, and in a New Year’s Eve interview that was not part of the video, Shatner’s relating of his space experience encapsulates the magic that travel, at its best, strives to be, and illuminates a slice of why the travel recovery, if it ever happens, could break out at unprecedented levels. (1/3)

Paso Robles CA Seeks FAA Spaceport License for Vandenberg-Area Airport (Source: Paso Robles Daily News)
Paso Robles Spaceport continues to receive support from individuals, businesses and agencies. The most recent example comes from REACH, an economic impact organization with a mission to increase economic prosperity on the Central Coast through big thinking, bold action and regional collaboration. REACH has already formed strong ties with Vandenberg Space Force Base and recognizes the value of having a potential horizontal launch facility in northern San Luis Obispo county.

“We write to offer our enthusiastic support for the City of Paso Robles’ application to the FAA for the Paso Robles Airport to become a licensed Spaceport,” said REACH President/CEO Melissa James in a recent letter to the mayor’s office. “The airport is well positioned for business development with its close proximity to major highways, uncongested air space, abundance of surrounding land, long runway, and the proposed Tech Corridor redevelopment project, The Landing.

These features combine to make the Paso Robles Airport a prime asset in the Central Coast region with great potential for expansion … the Paso Robles Spaceport plan aligns with the aims of REACH 2030, and enhances the efforts to create conditions for commercial space activity to advance on the Central Coast... We offer our full support of this endeavor.“ (12/30)

Fighting Comes Into Focus for the Space Force in 2022 (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Having now stood up all three of its field commands—two in 2021—the Space Force still needs to finalize where to base the headquarters of one. That process for Space Training and Readiness Command, temporarily at Peterson Space Force Base, CO, may be forthcoming. Likewise, at the combatant command level, U.S. Space Command waits to find out whether it will move to Redstone Arsenal, AL, as announced. Meanwhile, the Space Force will double the size of its Pentagon headquarters staff, expecting to add 300 people in 2022, said Armagno.

People and satellites from the Space Force’s sister services will transfer to the new service in 2022. This second batch of transfers will turn 670 Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers into Guardians. They, and 259 civilians also transferring, will have a new orientation class to help bridge cultures. The Space Force also plans to add another 521 enlisted Guardians and about 70 officers through recruitment in 2022.

Partnerships now formalized with 11 universities will get off the ground in 2022. Selected in part for having Air Force ROTC detachments, the 11 also feature aerospace research programs. Armagno predicted that the service will publicly unveil a new force design for missile warning and missile tracking in 2022, “and we’ll continue to evaluate force designs for other missions.” To help the Space Force prevent “bad actors” from causing more havoc in space, Armagno said globally accepted norms of behavior are the first step. “From a military perspective, what’s important about norms of behavior is that we’re going to be able to tell who’s not following them,” Armagno said. (1/2)