April 26, 2022

2022's First Ariane 5 Launch Planned in June (Source: Arianespace)
The first Ariane 5 launch of the year is scheduled for June. Arianespace announced Tuesday it would launch the Measat-3d and GSAT-24 communications satellites on an Ariane 5 on June 22. The launch will be the first Ariane 5 mission since it launched the James Webb Space Telescope on Christmas Day, and is the first of five remaining launches before that vehicle is retired. (4/26)

Capella Raises $97 Million for Constellation Expansion (Source: Space News)
Satellite radar imaging company Capella Space raised $97 million. With the additional funding, Capella will expand its seven-satellite constellation, enhance its Capella Console data platform and hire more staff. Capella says it's seen strong demand for its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery, with revenue doubling in the last year and projected to triple in the next year. The San Francisco-based company has raised $190 million since its founding in 2016. (4/26)

ManTech Tracking Foreign Influence Using Open-Source Intelligence (Source: Space News)
ManTech has developed a tool that uses open-source intelligence to measure the level of foreign influence in any country in the world. The company developed a foreign influence intelligence prototype in response to interest from the NGA. Its "Project Syracuse" takes in open-source information from a database to track foreign influence operations. (4/26)

Aphelion Aerospace Secures Contract of up to $10M in CubeSat Products for Global STEM Project (Source: Aphelion)
Aphelion Aerospace is proud to announce that it has been awarded a Master Service Agreement (MSA) of up to $10M for CubeSat products from One Voice 4 Change of Colorado. This MSA is a 5-year contract for CubeSat simulators, balloon launched CubeSats, and rocket launched CubeSats that can operate in space. (4/21)

Space Industry Launches Humanitarian Initiative to Support Ukraine (Source: HawkEye 360)
Leaders of the space community today announced the Space Industry for Ukraine (SIFU), an initiative designed to fund and execute efforts that provide immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. The initiative will be run by a steering committee, which includes HawkEye 360, National Security Space Association (NSSA), ABL Space Systems, ARKA, BlackSky, Capella Space, ICEYE, Insight Partners, Leidos, LeoLabs, Maxar, Raytheon Intelligence & Space, Rebellion Defense, Relativity Space, Riverside Research, Rocket Lab, Velos and Viasat.

The steering committee will fundraise, select and monitor the execution of critical humanitarian projects throughout Ukraine and its neighboring countries. Additional participating donor companies include The Aerospace Corporation, Cognitive Space and Shield Capital. Through the generous contributions of its members, the SIFU has fundraised to date nearly $1 million. In coordination with the international NGO community and with representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian governments, high-value projects have been structured to be undertaken on short notice to create immediate and material value for the Ukrainian cause. (4/26)

NGA: Commercial Satellites a Key Counterforce to Russian Disinformation (Source: Space News)
Geospatial intelligence in the form of commercial imagery and analytical services “have been instrumental to those fighting in Ukraine, and to shaping worldviews of the crisis,” said Vice Adm. Robert Sharp, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Sharp praised efforts by U.S. intelligence agencies, allies and commercial satellite operators “to provide context and clarity to complex situations.” Images collected by commercial spy satellites are “even being used effectively to provide transparency, and counter Russian disinformation,” he said. (4/25)

What Does Starlink’s Participation in Ukrainian Defense Reveal About U.S. Space Policy? (Source: LawFare)
Recent signal jamming and cyberattacks have battered Ukrainian digital network infrastructure and caused severe outages. Reports attribute these attacks to Russian actors. Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Federov appealed to Elon Musk for Starlink-enabled internet. In response, Musk’s company SpaceX activated Starlink service in Ukraine and sent additional network terminals.

While USAID posits that the terminals are necessary to “safeguard” public internet access, Starlink has reportedly enabled members of the Ukrainian Aerorozvidka to carry out sophisticated intelligence collection and fire support operations against Russian positions. One Ukrainian military official even said he “must” use Starlink in order to acquire Russian targets with thermal imaging. Are Starlink satellites now lawful targets?

In an age in which Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems are essential to enable military operations, the satellites that perform C4ISR functions almost certainly offer a military advantage. By Musk’s own assessment, the “probability of (Starlink components) being targeted is high.” While the National Space Policy clearly articulates the ramifications of an attack on U.S. space infrastructure, Starlink’s activities are inviting exactly such a threat. Click here. (4/26)

Axiom Astronauts Splash Down Off Florida Coast (Source: Space News)
Four private astronauts safely returned to Earth Monday after two and a half weeks in space. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour splashed down off the coast from Jacksonville, Florida, at 1:06 p.m. Eastern, concluding the Ax-1 mission by Axiom Space to the International Space Station. Axiom and SpaceX said the return to Earth was normal and the four private astronauts were in good shape after a stay in space that was a week longer than planned because of weather delays. Axiom Space says its next ISS mission, Ax-2, will launch in about a year, and it will soon announce the full crew for that flight. (4/26)

Axiom Crew's Return Paves Way for NASA Crew's Launch (Source: NASA)
The return of Ax-1 allows NASA to proceed with the launch of the Crew-4 mission to the ISS. NASA completed the launch readiness review overnight for the launch, with the mission on track to lift off Wednesday at 3:52 a.m. Eastern from the Kennedy Space Center. There is a 90% chance of acceptable weather at the launch site for that launch attempt. Crew-4 will deliver NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti to the ISS, where they'll stay until September. (4/26)

SLS Rolls Back to VAB at KSC (Source NASA)
NASA's Space Launch System is back in the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs. The agency rolled the rocket back from its launch pad overnight after three attempts earlier this month to perform a tanking test and practice countdown known as a wet dress rehearsal. NASA plans to perform a few repairs to the vehicle while also upgrading the gaseous nitrogen supply at the pad before rolling the vehicle back to the pad for another wet dress rehearsal attempt. (4/26)

War at Sea, Seen From Above (Source: Space Review)
The sinking of a Russian cruiser by a Ukrainian missile was monitored from space, in part by commercial satellites. Dwayne Day compares that event with the role space assets played 40 years ago in the Falklands. Click here. (4/26)
 
A Small Ban of ASATs, a Giant Leap for Space Security? (Source: Space Review)
Vice President Harris announced last week that the United States would no longer perform tests of destructive direct-ascent ASAT weapons. Jeff Foust reports that while the ban has limited practical effects, it could be a step forward for multilateral efforts to develop norms of behavior in space. Click here. (4/26)
 
Space Blocs: The Future of International Cooperation in Space is Splitting Along Lines of Power on Earth (Source: Space Review)
There’s a new trend of groups of countries working together in space, from regional space agencies to the Artemis Accords. Svetla Ben-Itzhak examines what it means for prospects of conflict in space. Click here. (4/26)

20 Women Who Helped Revolutionize Space Exploration (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Despite having more than half-a-century of human spaceflight experience, NASA wasn't prepared for the first all-female spacewalk. Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir's spacewalk was rescheduled for seven months later because there weren't enough medium-sized space suits. This is just one example of the challenges women in STEM fields have faced due to underrepresentation, sexism, and a lack of resources.

Still, throughout history, women have overcome these challenges. They've racked up an incredible number of impressive firsts, discovered never-before-seen phenomenon, and ensured they had a place in the room where it all happens. Oh, and they finally got spacesuits that fit. Here are the stories of 20 women who changed our understanding of space. Click here. (4/8)

China's First Female Astronaut Wang Yaping Encourages Space Exploration (Source: CGTN)
Wang Yaping, China's first female astronaut to work in the country's space station, told the young generation to "unleash their desire for exploring the universe" on Sunday, which is the country's national Space Day. It was her first public appearance since returning from space on April 16. (4/24)

Elderly Woman with Victory Banner to be Depicted on Russian Rocket (Source: RIA Novosti)
The image of an old woman who greeted Ukrainian servicemen with a Soviet Victory Banner will be depicted on a Roscosmos carrier rocket for one of the nearest launches, General Director of the Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin said.

Earlier, on social networks, a video went viral where an old woman with a Victory Banner was greeting Ukrainian servicemen assuming they were Russian soldiers. A Ukrainian soldier handed her a bag with food but took away the flag and stomped on it. Then the old woman refused to take the food and demanded to return the flag that her parents had fought for. (4/25)

A 4 Billion-Year-Old Comet 80 Miles Wide is Headed Near Earth (Source: BGR)
An ancient comet, believed to be over 4 billion years old is headed near Earth. The massive comet is at least 80 miles across, making it twice the width of Rhode Island. It’s currently speeding towards the Earth at 22,000 miles per hour. It’s hurtling inward from the edge of our solar system. Luckily, we won’t have to worry about the comet impacting the Earth.

Astronomers say it will never pass closer than 1 billion miles from the Sun. That’s a little farther than the distance between the Earth and Saturn. The ancient comet is expected to pass that close to the Earth sometime in 2031. That means we have a number of years before we even need to concern ourselves with this ancient celestial object. (4/19)

The Innovative Ways the United States Space Force is Leveraging Data and AI (Source: Forbes)
We are rapidly accelerating the adoption of Artificial Intelligence to preserve our competitive military advantages and to build a force fit for our time. Like electricity or computers, we expect AI capabilities to be useful across the broad spectrum of Space Force activities. This includes many activities that are common in commercial industry and many others that are unique to national security.

AI technology will change much about the battlefield of the future, but nothing will change America’s steadfast record of honorable military service or our military’s commitment to lawful and ethical behavior. The focus on AI follows the DoD’s history of making investments to preserve our most precious asset, our people, and to limit danger to civilians and collateral damage to civilian infrastructure. All of the AI systems that we field will have compliance with the law of war as a key priority from the first moment of requirements setting through each step of rigorous testing and continuous evaluation.

Guardians see and experience our warfighting domain through data, so it’s extremely important to us: we view data as a strategic asset. One of the challenges we experience is sifting through massive amounts of data to build an accurate operating picture in real time. We are investing in immersive visualization technologies and customizable dashboards that give our operators ready access to data, as well as the ability to interact with that data in real time. (4/23)

Harris’s Latest Mistake: Giving Russia and China More Control Over Space (Source: National Review)
Banning American anti-satellite missile testing won’t decrease space debris, but it will let our enemies do more of what they want in space. By unilaterally banning anti-satellite missile tests in the mere hope that other countries will follow suit, Harris is putting America at a competitive disadvantage and effectively handicapping the country’s defenses.

Harris’s only justification for this radical policy change was that she hoped other nations would follow America’s lead, calling the pledge “a first step in getting the international community on the same page regarding what is considered responsible behavior in space and, perhaps even more importantly, irresponsible behavior.” (4/24)

The Coming Anarchy in Outer Space (Source: National Interest)
To the Pentagon, U.S. domination of the space domain is key to national defense. The Space Force is prepared to use force in this new, much larger, and increasingly contested space environment. Clearly, we have entered a new space era, projecting all the Earth’s great power pathologies—ambition, fear, and greed—into the heavens.

The United States and China are in an increasingly bipolar competition with traditional space powers such as Russia, the EU, Japan, and India playing a secondary role, tilting in one direction or the other. Thus, the terrestrial competition between Washington and Beijing is creating fresh facts and separate rules to guide their respective space policies and those of commercial actors, eclipsing the universally agreed Outer Space Treaty (OST) principle of space as “the province of all mankind.” Call it the new tragedy of the commons.

There’s no better illustration of this predicament than Russia’s anti-satellite (ASAT) test last November blowing up one of its own defunct military satellites and creating a cloud of more than 1,500 pieces of space debris. Russia’s test followed a similarly dangerous Chinese ASAT test in 2007, and a U.S. ASAT test (though designed to minimize long-term orbital debris) in 2008. (4/24)

'Scammed by Starlink': Customers are Frustrated with Price Hikes (Source: Business Insider)
Starlink customers told Insider they're frustrated with the price hikes announced in March. Two said they'd had trouble getting their $100 deposits returned for uplink kits they haven't received. A common complaint about Starlink is its lack of customer service.

In March, SpaceX told its customers it was raising prices because of inflation, among other things. The price of a Starlink uplink kit rose from $500 to $550 for customers that had already paid a deposit, and from $500 to $600 for new customers. The monthly Starlink subscription cost climbed from $99 to $110 for all users. (4/24)

Can We Grow Meat in Space? (Source: BBC)
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk both want to colonize space. NASA is also trying to put people on to the dusty surface of Mars. But if humans do want to set up communities on the moon or planets, what will they eat? Plenty of experiments have been conducted to see whether plants can flourish in space. And as of last week, a new test has begun to see if meat cells can grow.

It was a small pilot step for trialling a potential nutrient source, one possibly big leap - at least the experimenters hope - for the future of space travel. The experiment was dreamt up by Aleph Farms, an Israeli company that specialises in growing meat from cells and is being carried out by the first all-private astronaut team to visit the International Space Station. (4/24)

There Will Be a Microburst of Space Mergers and Acquisitions (Source: Aviation Week)
Rocket Lab is turning the kick stage from its Electron low-Earth-orbit lofter into a spacecraft capable of offering satellite-based services. Satellites will incorporate parts and subsystems from its recently acquired companies, including solar panels and structures via SolAero Technologies, software from ASI and reaction wheels from Sinclair Interplanetary.

Conjunctions in space are to be avoided at almost all costs, but on Earth, space-business mashups are increasingly expected and sought after. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the space sector are making headlines, and industry executives and dealmakers see more coming for at least the rest of this year. (4/25)

Florida DEP to Hold Public Meeting on Proposed SpaceX Wastewater Facility (Source: MyNews13)
After hearing written and spoken requests from Brevard County residents, a meeting is set to be held on Monday to discuss a proposed expansion by SpaceX at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX has large plans for the property it leases from KSC as it hopes to build and operate an industrial wastewater treatment facility at the site where it processes Falcon 9 first stage boosters, known as Hangar X.

The draft proposal was first filed back on February 2, 2022. It requests permission from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to create a facility that would “discharge up to 3,000 gallons per day of non-process potable water to a stormwater management system that, under specific conditions, discharges to a ditch leading to the Indian River Lagoon.” The lagoon is a prized natural resource, with residents and regulatory agencies concerned about any industrial discharge into it. (4/23)

Maine’s Planning to Build a Spaceport. Here’s How it Could Become a Leader in the Industry (Source: Press Herald)
Maine took a small but crucial step last week toward a starry-eyed vision to become a leading national hub for the space industry with a new law aimed at building a multimillion-dollar spaceport. Supporters say such a project could create thousands of jobs and contribute as much as a billion dollars annually to the economy, an impact that would rival lobster fishing.

The state officially launched this effort to boost its budding space economy on Monday, when Gov. Janet Mills signed into law a bill to create the Maine Space Port Corp., a public-private partnership charged with building launch sites, data networks and support operations for sending small satellites into space, as well as for developing new products based on the data collected.

Governed by a 17-member board, the corporation would accomplish its work through the formation of Maine Space Complex, which likely would be built at Brunswick Landing within the next 10 years. It would house a satellite launch and a manufacturing facility for equipment to support it, intended to bolster the 85 space-related businesses operating in the state and attract as many new companies here. (4/24)

The Plan to Make Michigan the Next Space State (Source: The New Yorker)
Granot Loma has been selected as the location for a proposed rocket-launch site, as part of a plan called the Michigan Launch Initiative. If built, the site, along with two other facilities, would constitute the first spaceport in the Midwest. The site planned for Granot Loma would host vertical launches, through which rockets carrying satellites and other payloads—not human passengers—would be sent into low-Earth orbit.

The second facility is a horizontal-launch site at the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport, about two hundred miles north of Detroit, where aircraft carrying satellites would take off from runways. Operations for both sites would be supported by the third facility, a command-and-control center, which would be situated in the Upper Peninsula. The spaceport plan is the brainchild of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association (mama), a trade association founded in 2007. mama estimates that the command-and-control center will be operational by 2023, and that all three sites of the spaceport will be up and running by 2026.

Their initiative has been polarizing: some locals believe that the spaceport will benefit the economy and attract more talent to the state, while others, particularly those who live close to Granot Loma, worry about the potential disruption of having rocket launches in their back yards. Many are also distressed about the potential environmental risks, given that the rockets for the vertical site would launch near the shoreline and likely fly over Lake Superior. (4/24)

NASA’s High-Tech Lunar Backpack Aims to Map Surface of Moon (Source: Digital Trends)
NASA and industry partners Torch Technologies and Aeva have developed a remote-sensing mapping system called the Kinematic Navigation and Cartography Knapsack (KNaCK) that uses mobile lidar scanner technology to create ultra-high-resolution maps in real time as an astronaut walks across the surface of the moon. The gear can make millions of measurement points per second and can also be used for navigation to improve safety for astronauts crossing the lunar surface on foot and also in a rover. (4/21)

Starlink to Provide Wi-Fi on Hawaiian Airlines Flights with Free Service for Passengers (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX will start providing wireless internet on Hawaiian Airlines flights from the Starlink satellite network as early as next year, a service the airline said it plans to offer to passengers for free. The deal marks the first for Elon Musk’s space company with a major airline. Starlink is SpaceX’s network of about 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers and businesses anywhere on the planet. (4/25)

Aphelion Completes Rocket Engine Test and Continues Toward Suborbital Launch Demonstration (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Aphelion Aerospace is proud to announce reaching a major milestone in developing the company’s commercial launch services with the completion of critical propulsion system testing. The team recently spent two weeks at the company’s test facility in Wyoming integrating a rocket engine and support systems on a ground test stand and conducting a series of hot fire tests. The test activity was conducted with support from Aphelion Aerospace’s propulsion R&D partner, Frontier Astronautics, at their facility near Chugwater, WY. (4/22)

Orbital Insight Announces Partnership with Satellogic to Bring Planetary Scale Insights to Customers Globally (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Orbital Insight announced that it has partnered with Satellogic to integrate Satellogic’s high-frequency, high-resolution collections of satellite imagery and full-motion video into Orbital Insight’s platform and offer customers better access to high quality data, improve the revisit rate and reduce the cost of running analytics. (4/25)

How to Win the Next Space War: An Assessment (Source: Air University)
The future of space warfare is rapidly approaching. There is significant buildup of space warfare capabilities by some major countries that rely on space systems for their defense or perceive that their potential adversaries depend too much on space capabilities to conduct terrestrial warfare. Because of the lack of significant experience by countries in this new military domain, it is difficult to fully understand what the best doctrine, strategies, and tactics are to win the next space war. Click here. (4/4)