May 25, 2022

NOAA Predicts Above-Normal 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Source: Talk of Titusville)
Forecasters at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service, are predicting above-average hurricane activity this year — which would make it the seventh consecutive above-average hurricane season. NOAA’s outlook for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which extends from June 1 to November 30, predicts a 65% chance of an above-normal season, a 25% chance of a near-normal season and a 10% chance of a below-normal season.

For the 2022 hurricane season, NOAA is forecasting a likely range of 14 to 21 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 6 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence. (5/24)

NASA Astronaut Candidates Train at Naval Air Station Pensacola (Source: DVIDS)
Seven NASA astronaut candidates are undergoing flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola as part of a two-year training program to prepare them for participation in the Artemis lunar exploration program. The NASA Astronaut Candidate Basic Aviation Curriculum (ASCAN BAC) is administered by Training Air Wing Six (TW-6). The ASCAN BAC is designed for candidates without prior military aviation training. The class includes United States candidates Christina Birch, Andre Douglas, Deniz Burnham, Christopher Williams, and Anil Menon, who were chosen from a field of more than 12,000 applicants, as well as international candidates Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad Al Mulla of the United Arab Emirates. (5/17)

Spacesuits are Leaking Water and NASA is Holding off any Spacewalks Until They can Solve the Problem (Source: Universe Today)
NASA’s spacesuits are getting old. The extra-vehicular mobility units – EMUs for short – were designed and built for spacewalks outside NASA’s space shuttles, which flew for the last time in 2011. Nowadays, the EMUs are an integral part of maintaining and upgrading the International Space Station (ISS) exterior, providing the crew with the ability to live and work in the vacuum of space for extended periods of time (spacewalks regularly last from 6 to 8 hours). However, at the end of the most recent spacewalk on March 23, NASA astronaut Kayla Barron discovered water in the helmet of German astronaut Matthias Maurer while she helped him remove the suit.

In microgravity, water can bead up in clumps and cling to the face and eyes, causing serious danger to the astronaut inside a leaking suit. As a precaution and preventative measure, future spacewalks have been put on hold. NASA officials shared details of the decision to pause upcoming Extravehicular Activities (EVAs). “Until we understand better what the causal factors might have been during the last EVA with our EMU, we are no-go for nominal EVA,” said Dana Weigel (Deputy Manager, Space Station Program). “We won’t do a planned EVA until we’ve had a chance to really address and rule out major system failure modes.” (5/24)

Space Force Can Only ‘Mitigate’ China-Russia Space Cooperation (Source: Air Force Magazine)
The China-Russia relationship in space has serious security implications as the tenuous allies unite financing and know-how in an effort to displace U.S. space superiority and threaten America’s space architecture, according to a panel of experts at the recent China Aerospace Studies Institute conference. The two countries’ space cooperation, including in the military realm, has become inextricable since 2018 and works against U.S. interests, said Kevin Pollpeter, senior research scientist at the CNA think tank’s China Studies Division.

“I don’t think we can separate China and Russia. I just don’t think that’s possible,” Pollpeter said. “While the countries do not have completely overlapping security concerns, they do share a strong desire to counter U.S. leadership, including in outer space,” he said. (5/24)

OneWeb and TinSky Complete First West African LEO Satellite Gateway (Source: Space Daily)
TinSky Connect has successfully completed the installation of 15 OneWeb antennas and customer provided equipment at a Satellite Network Portal (SNP) or gateway facility in Accra, Ghana. The site is owned and run by ComSys who will continue to host the gateway on behalf of OneWeb. TinSky understood the complexity of the multiple satellite 'hand offs' each gateway has to achieve per second and deployed a highly experienced team of field engineers that provided advanced system engineering and technical services addressing OneWeb's mission critical SNP gateway needs. (5/25)

Varda Space Industries Orders 4th Photon From Rocket Lab for In-Space Manufacturing (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab and Varda Space Industries, the world's first In-space manufacturing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company, report that Varda will procure a fourth Photon spacecraft. The deal follows on a previous bulk-order by Varda in August 2021 for three Photon spacecraft from Rocket Lab. The Rocket Lab-designed and built Photon spacecraft will provide power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for Varda's 120 kg in-space manufacturing satellite which will produce high-value products in zero-gravity and return them to Earth in a re-entry (5/25)

Chinese Researchers Start Planting Space-Bred Seeds Returned by Shenzhou-13 (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese researchers have commenced breeding experiments on 12,000 seeds that were bred inside the Shenzhou-13 crewed spaceship in space for six months. The seeds, including alfalfa, oats and fungi, were selected by multiple research institutions last year. They were brought back to Earth by the Shenzhou-13 on April 16. Space breeding refers to the process of exposing seeds to cosmic radiation and microgravity during a spaceflight mission to mutate seed genes and then send them back to Earth to generate new species. (5/25)

SpaceX Eases Starlink Sign-up for RV Users (Source: Space News)
A new Starlink plan lets customers pay more to skip waitlists to connect to its broadband satellites without a fixed address but at potentially lower speeds. Users willing to pay $25 more a month than Starlink’s standard service for its RV plan will be able to access the network "shortly after" the order is placed despite waitlists for standard service in many regions. However, SpaceX said the service is "always de-prioritized" compared to other customers, meaning slower speeds during peak hours. The new plan is mainly marketed to customers with a motorhome, campervan or other RV, or for those with seasonal homes. (5/25)

Microsoft Pursues More Space Applications (Source: Space News)
Microsoft is working with partners to identify commercial space applications for the latest software tools the tech giant has developed. NASA is testing a Microsoft tool called Custom Vision to see whether it helps simplify the task of inspecting astronaut gloves to identify signs of damage after spacewalks. Microsoft sees Earth observation as a promising application for Custom Vision, and is working with several companies to test space applications of Custom Vision and other software components. (5/25)

BlueHalo to Upgrade Space Force Satellite Control (Source: Space News)
BlueHalo won a $1.4 billion Space Force contract to upgrade military satellite control networks. The Space Rapid Capabilities Office said Tuesday it awarded BlueHalo, a privately owned defense and intelligence contractor based in Arlington, Virginia, an eight-year other transaction authority contract for the satellite communications augmentation resource program, which will "rapidly, responsively and affordably augment satellite control capacity" for existing systems. BlueHalo will install electronically steerable phased array antennas at ground stations to increase the communications capacity for satellites in geosynchronous orbit. (5/25)

New International Partnership on Satellite Maritime Monitoring (Source: Space News)
The "Quad" nations of Australia, India, Japan and the United States will cooperate on a satellite maritime monitoring initiative. The project is intended to help countries in the Indo-Pacific region track illegal fishing and other suspicious maritime activities. The maritime monitoring pledge is part of a broader set of peace, security, science and technology agreements reached during the four-nation Quadrilateral Security Dialogue's summit Tuesday in Tokyo. The four leaders also agreed to improve public access to Earth-observation satellite data and applications by opening a "Quad Satellite Data Portal" that aggregates links to respective national satellite data resources. (5/25)

LeoLabs to Support Japan's Space Situational Awareness (Source: Space News)
LeoLabs will provide space domain awareness data to Japan's military. The multimillion-dollar contract, announced Tuesday, gives the Japan Air Self Defense Force access to data gathered by LeoLab's global network of phased array radars as well as training on LeoLabs' tracking, monitoring and collision-avoidance services. LeoLabs said Japan is the first allied military to use its services and "sets a good precedent" for others to follow. (5/25)

Supply Chain Challenges Are an Opportunity for Innovation (Source: Space News)
Supply chain problems pose challenges to the space industry but also present opportunities. In a panel discussion at Space Tech Expo Tuesday, government and industry officials said supply chain challenges for electronics and other components are creating much longer lead times. However, they said they see the situation as an opportunity for innovation, such as the use of digital engineering and additive manufacturing technologies to speed up development as well as encouraging "onshoring" of production of components currently built outside the United States. (5/25)

Space Force Refines Approach for Linking with Industry (Source: Space News)
The Space Force's Space Systems Command is continuing to refine its concept for establishing a single point of contact for commercial innovators called the "front door." The command says it's making more efforts to be open to industry interested in selling products or services, directing companies to programs based on the maturity of their technologies. The service acknowledges it needs to do a better job taking advantage of commercial capabilities as those companies seek to deal with a "dauntingly complex ecosystem." (5/25)

Launcher Wins Space Force Funding for Rocket Engine Development (Source: Space News)
Small launch vehicle developer Launcher won a $1.7 million contract from the Space Force that will assist the company's development of a high-performance rocket engine. The award will help the company advance the development of the E-2 engine it plans to use on its Launcher Light vehicle starting in 2024, including testing of the engine's turbopump and combustion chamber. The company says E-2 is higher performance, in terms of specific impulse, than other American engines that use kerosene and liquid oxygen, and is behind only the Russian RD-180. (5/25)

Space Perspective Hauls In $17M Amid Hiring Spree (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Billionaire investor and businessman Henry Kravis is among the new investors backing Space Perspective Inc.'s vision of luxury space balloon flights. A new financing round will inject the Cape Canaveral-based company with $17 million, Space Perspective announced May 19. That money, which brings Space Perspective's total capital raised since its founding to $65 million, further funds the 3-year-old startup's hiring spree and buildout of its elevated space travel experience, founder and co-CEO Jane Poynter told Orlando Inno.

The company’s trips, set to begin in late 2024, will take up to eight passengers on a six-hour balloon journey that peaks nearly 20 miles above Earth. The gradual, 12-mile-per-hour climb, along with a two-hour stop at the edge of space, gives passengers plenty of time to soak in the views of Earth from above. Meanwhile, the team is growing fast. The company now employs more than 70 people, and it expects to employ 100 by the end of the year, Poynter said. Space Perspective seeks to fill six high-wage positions like mechanical engineer, launch and fluids engineer, and quality technician. (5/25)

NASA Disputes Claim of Hypergolic Fuel Leak on Dragon Mission (Source: Washington Post)
A recent news report alleged that NASA and SpaceX experienced a worrying anomaly with the hypergolic fuel and heat shield used on a recent Dragon mission. In response, NASA says: "The data associated with Dragon’s recent crew reentries was normal–the system performed as designed without dispute. There has not been a hypergol leak during the return of a crewed Dragon mission nor any contamination with the heat shield..."

"In early May, a new heat shield composite structure intended for flight on Crew-5 did not pass an acceptance test...The test did its job and found a manufacturing defect. NASA and SpaceX will use another heat shield for the flight that will undergo the same rigorous testing prior to flight." (5/24)

In its Second Year, Amazon Web Services’ Space Accelerator Boosts 10 Far-Out Startups (Source: GeekWire)
For the 10 startups participating this year in Amazon Web Services’ Space Accelerator program, the sky is not the limit. One company is building the next generation of ultra-high-resolution satellites for Earth observation. Another startup is developing electric propulsion systems for spacecraft and satellites in low Earth orbit. And yet another venture is working on a new type of space capsule that could someday carry cargo and crew to the moon. Click here. (5/24)

Exclusive: Moon Exploration Company Raises $12 Million (Source: Axios)
Lunar Outpost — a company focused on building rovers and instruments to explore the Moon and mine its resources — has raised $12 million in seed funding. The Moon is poised to become a major geopolitical and scientific center of operation in space, as more nations and companies turn their attention to the lunar surface. A number of companies have plans to take advantage of that interest by figuring out how to extract resources from the Moon and get paid to do it. Lunar Outpost's seed round is expected to help fund the company's plans to build a new type of autonomous rover for the Moon and amp up its current offerings. (5/24)

NASA is Building a Mission That Will Refuel and Repair Satellites in Orbit (Source: Universe Today)
NASA is planning a mission to demonstrate the ability to repair and upgrade satellites in Earth orbit. The mission, called OSAM-1 (On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing-1), will send a robotic spacecraft equipped with robotic arms and all the tools and equipment needed to fix, refuel or extend satellites’ lifespans, even if those satellites were not designed to be serviced on orbit.

The first test flight of OSAM-1 is scheduled for launch no earlier than 2026 and will go to low Earth orbit to rendezvous, grapple and dock with Landsat 7, an Earth observing satellite that has been in orbit since 1999. The mission will conduct a first-of-its-kind refueling demonstration test, then relocate the satellite to a new orbit. While some parts of the mission are autonomous, human tele-operators will conduct much of the procedures and maneuvers remotely from Earth. (5/24)

Up in the Sky, NASA Air Operations Team Will Have Eyes on Orion (Source: NASA)
When the Orion spacecraft enters Earth’s atmosphere at the end of Artemis missions to the Moon, a joint NASA and U.S. Navy Air Operations team will strategically watch and await its return in two helicopters. The team’s main objective is to capture images of the spacecraft as it returns to Earth from as close as possible — about 10,000 feet in the air — with the helicopter cabin doors wide open.

The air operations personnel are part of NASA’s landing and recovery team, which will retrieve Orion and future crews after they splashdown from lunar missions. During return, Orion will enter Earth’s atmosphere traveling approximately 25,000 mph before air friction slows the spacecraft to about 300 mph. Its parachutes will then deploy and slow the crew module to approximately 20 mph for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California. (5/24)