April 21, 2022

OneWeb to Launch Some Satellites on Indian Rockets (Source: Space News)
OneWeb announced Wednesday it signed an agreement to launch some of its satellites on Indian rockets. The contract with New Space India Limited, the Indian space agency ISRO's commercial arm, covers launches of an undisclosed number of satellites. The company did not disclose the number of launches, but an executive said at least one would be on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The agreement is in addition to a deal OneWeb signed with SpaceX for launches after halting use of Soyuz rockets in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. OneWeb still has a third of its initial 648-satellite constellation to launch. (4/21)

Crew Dragon's Splashdown Off Florida Coast Pushed to Sunday, Delaying Next Crew Dragon Launch to Tuesday (Source: NASA)
A Crew Dragon mission to the ISS will return to Earth this weekend, pushing back the launch of astronauts on another mission by several days. NASA said late Wednesday that the Ax-1 mission, whose return was postponed from Tuesday because of poor weather in splashdown zones, is now scheduled to depart Saturday evening, with splashdown at 1:46 p.m. Eastern Sunday off the Florida coast. That will delay the Falcon 9 launch of another Crew Dragon on NASA's Crew-4 mission, which was scheduled for Saturday. NASA says it's now targeting Tuesday at 4:15 a.m. Eastern for the launch, with backup opportunities next Wednesday and Thursday. (4/21)

Space Force Plans 2023 "Responsive Space" Launch (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force plans to conduct a "responsive space" demonstration next year. The demonstration will require private launch companies to place a satellite into orbit on short notice, said Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, head of the U.S. Space Systems Command. The test is part of a congressionally directed effort to create a "tactically responsive launch" program, with $50 million allocated in 2022. A demonstration of responsive launch took place last year when the Space Force flew the Tactically Responsive Launch-2 mission on a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, with the company given 21 days to integrate and launch the satellite. (4/21)

Pentagon Supports White House Move to Ban ASAT Tests (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon says it supports a ban announced by the White House this week on destructive direct-ascent ASAT tests. John Hill, deputy assistant secretary of defense, said such a ban "has been a long time coming" and that developing such norms of behavior is in the interest of the U.S. military. Hill pushed back on criticism from Republican lawmakers that placing a moratorium on ASAT tests weakens the U.S. posture in space, saying the U.S. was not "disarming" by enacting the ban. (4/21)

NASA Picks Six for Spacecraft Comms Services (Source: Space News)
NASA selected six companies for awards to demonstrate communications services for agency spacecraft. The Communications Services Project awards, totaling $278.5 million, went to Amazon, Inmarsat, SES, SpaceX, Telesat and Viasat for tests of how their commercial satellites could be used to communicate with NASA spacecraft and launch vehicles. The goal of the effort is to develop commercial services to succeed the existing TDRS satellite system NASA has operated since the 1980s. The demonstrations are set to take place through 2025, with a goal of shifting to commercial services around 2030. (4/21)

Astrobotic Unveils Lunar Lander (Source: Space News)
Astrobotic unveiled the lander it plans to send to the moon late this year. The company showed off the Peregrine lander Wednesday at its Pittsburgh headquarters that it expects to launch in the fourth quarter on the first Vulcan Centaur. While the lander is not yet fully assembled, the company says it should begin environmental testing in a couple months and is on schedule to launch this year if the Vulcan is ready. The lander is one of the first missions in NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to fly experiments on commercial landers. (4/21)

South Korea Boosts Space Spending (Source: Space News)
South Korea is boosting its space spending this year by 19% as it works to bounce back from a launch failure last year. The $619 million that South Korea will invest in national space programs in 2022 is not only higher than 2021 spending but also 15% more than originally proposed for 2022. The double-digit difference between the final budget and what was initially sought is rare, indicating the growth opportunity South Korea's government sees for its domestic space industry, one analyst noted. Close to 30% of the budget goes to launch vehicle development as the country prepares for a second flight of the KSLV-2 rocket in June after a failure in its inaugural launch last October. (4/21)

Canada Plans Space Force (Source: Space News)
The Canadian military will create its own version of a Space Force later this year. The Canadian Space Division proposal is making its way through various organizations in the Department of National Defence, with approval expected in six to eight months. The division would be responsible to the Royal Canadian Air Force commander for the generation of space capabilities for force employment missions, but not procurement of space systems. The division would have about 270 personnel assigned to it. (4/21)

Bill Establishing Maine Space Corp. Signed Into Law (Source: Press-Herald)
Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law on Monday that will help expand Maine’s budding aerospace economy and position the state as a leader in the fast-growing space industry. The bill, L.D. 1923, establishes the Maine Space Corp., a public-private partnership charged with building launch sites, data networks and the support operations for sending small satellites into space, as well as for developing new products based on the data collected.

This work will be accomplished through the formation of the Maine Space Complex, which will oversee three businesses: the Maine Space Data and Advanced Analytics Center of Excellence for computing; the Maine New Space Innovation Hub for vehicle manufacturing and ground control for satellite operations; and the Maine Launch Site and Services for launching nanosatellites into polar orbit.

Maine’s spaceport would be the only one in the country to offer all three components, said Terry Shehata, director of the Maine Space Grant Consortium. “To be clear, the Maine Space Complex is not about only launching small satellites on small rockets,” Shehata said in testimony supporting the bill. “It is about engaging students, researchers, businesses, state and local governments, and communities across the three segments of the new space economy value chain and the underlying infrastructure needed to support these segments.” (4/19)

Video: SpaceX's Florida Starship Factory Begins to Rise (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
SpaceX's Florida Starship factory construction has made rapid progress, Falcon 9 B1060-12 was spotted on the move, and the Starship launch mount at Pad 39A begins to rise out of the ground. Also an update on Blue Origin's facilities and the launch/landing facility formerly used for Space Shuttle landings. Click here. (4/20)