June 26, 2022

IAI Extends Lifespan of VENµS Satellite (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) doubled the lifespan of the Venus satellite by adjusting its altitude in space from 410 km (255 mi) above Earth to 560 km (348 mi). The satellite, which was originally intended to return to Earth, will instead continue its mission to monitor vegetation on Earth using a camera with 12 spectral bands developed by EL-OP and a propulsion system built by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Venus (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite) was launched in 2017 by the Israel Space Agency and France's National Center for Space Studies and was meant to last only 2.5 years. However, the satellite, operated by IAI engineers, will continue on. (6/23)

CAPSTONE Launch No Longer Targeting June 27 (Source: NASA)
NASA, Rocket Lab, and Advanced Space are standing down from the June 27 launch attempt for the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon to allow Rocket Lab to perform final systems checks. Teams are evaluating weather and other factors to determine the date of the next launch attempt. The next launch opportunity within the current period is on June 28. CAPSTONE’s trajectory design means that the spacecraft will arrive at its lunar orbit on Nov. 13 regardless of launch date within the current period, which offers launch opportunities every day through July 27. (6/26)

Baikonur Workers Idled, Pay Cut (Source: Ars Technica)
Employees at the Baikonur-based offices of the Progress Rocket Space Center would be placed in "idle" mode from June 14 to July 17. This appears to be a cost-cutting move, as employees in the Kazakhstan-based facilities will be paid two-thirds of their average wage during this period.

No work for the workers ... The employees will be idled due to a lack of launch operations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome this summer, including previously planned OneWeb missions on the Soyuz rocket. Cooperation between Russia and Western customers broke down after that country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. According to the report, the Progress space center, which designs and develops rockets, has reduced its workforce by 20 percent during the last three years. (6/26)

Beyond Gravity Launches Start-up Program (Source: Beyond Gravity)
The international space supplier Beyond Gravity is launching its own start-up program "Launchpad" in October 2022. The incubator supports young start-ups and their promising ideas around space technology. In the process, teams are developed from an early stage to an initial investment opportunity. The application period runs until mid-August 2022. (6/25)

Abu Dhabi’s IHC and Alpha Dubai to Invest $50m in Elon Musk’s SpaceX (Source: Arabian Business)
Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company (IHC) and its subsidiary Alpha Dubai is investing $50 million (AED184 million) in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. IHC, which already has stake in SpaceX, will invest $25 million, while Alpha Dhabi will make its first investment in the California-based space company of $25 million.

The companies confirmed the investments via a statement and regulatory filing. SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. It is currently building new prototypes of its Starship, a next-generation re-usable rocket. (6/26)

Space Tourism Companies Could Undo Work to Repair Ozone Layer (Source: Sky News)
Chemicals which damaged the ozone layer were banned in the 1980s by the Montreal Protocol, and since then the protective shield has started to replenish. But the services being touted by Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos could threated the progress.

New research has probed the impact of craft leaving and returning to Earth on the atmosphere - in particular the upper parts. A combined study by UCL, the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found the soot given off by spacecraft was damaging the layer of protective ozone around the planet - and retains heat at 500 times the rate of other soot sources. (6/26)

Battlefield Moon: What Space Exploration Means For Developers (Source: The New Stack)
The Final Frontier has opened the door to technology prospectors. Engineers have advanced developments on earth that will have significant use in the heavens. As this happens, the moon comes into central focus as the astral body that is almost within reach.

Developers must meet the demands of technology to reach the stars. Meanwhile, if history is enough for us to speculate from, governments will continue to clash over resource management. Should they take their conflicts of interest to the stars, and should the guidelines that exist not hold for all nations, then the moon and near asteroids will become battlefields. Click here. (6/25)

Instant Tasking of CubeSats and Small LEO Satellites (Source: Spacecom)
Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications has launched InCommand with a transceiver from IQ spacecom, a division of IQ Technologies for Earth and Space GmbH of Germany at the ILA Air Show in Berlin (Hall 6 booth 432). The ELERA-powered InCommand capability from Inmarsat enables instant commanding and telemetry on-demand for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Inmarsat has already developed the Inter-satellite Data Relay System (IDRS with Addvalue), with more than two dozen IDRS-equipped satellites either in orbit or in production. IDRS delivers a significant capability to both task and transmit data from LEO satellites (6U+ categories) at higher speeds via Inmarsat’s geostationary (GEO) satellites. InCommand adds to this portfolio to address another segment of the market for smaller (3U to 6U) LEO satellites and cubesats. (6/22)

Software Testing Problem Delays Psyche Launch (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission will not launch this year as previously planned after the agency concluded there was not enough time to complete testing of the spacecraft’s guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software before its launch window closes Oct. 11. NASA had already delayed the launch from Aug. 1 because of the software testing issue. (6/24)

Cygnus Cargo Craft Fires Engine for Limited Station Reboost (Source: NASA)
On Saturday, June 25, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus completed its first limited reboost of the International Space Station. Cygnus’ gimbaled delta velocity engine was used to adjust the space station’s orbit through a reboost of the altitude of the space station. The maneuver lasted 5 minutes, 1 second and raised the station’s altitude 1/10 of a mile at apogee and 5/10 of a mile at perigee.

This Cygnus mission is the first to feature this enhanced capability as a standard service for NASA, following a test of the maneuver which was performed in 2018 during Cygnus’s ninth resupply mission. Cygnus arrived to the orbital outpost in February and is slated to depart from space station Tuesday, June 28, where it will burn up harmlessly in the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA TV coverage for the unberthing will begin at 5:45 am EDT on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. (6/25)

Crew Studies Aging in Space, Harvests Edible Plants Before Cygnus Reboost (Source: NASA)
Human research and space botany were the main research activities aboard the International Space Station today helping NASA and its international partners keep astronauts healthy on long-term missions. The seven Expedition 67 crew members also ensured the orbiting lab continues operating in tip-top shape at the end of the workweek. (6/24)

U.K. Government Announces New Space Sustainability Measures (Source: Space News)
The British government announced a series of measures June 23, from regulations to funding active debris removal projects, intended to make the country a leader in space sustainability. George Freeman, minister for science, research and innovation, announced a package called the Plan for Space Sustainability intended to create a standard that will encourage companies, along with investors and insurers, to adopt best practices for sustainable space operations.

The goal of the effort is to “set a global commercial framework for the insurability, the licensing, the regulation of commercial satellites so that we drive down the cost for those who comply with the best standards of sustainability,” he said in a speech at the Fourth Summit for Space Sustainability by the Secure World Foundation and the U.K. Space Agency. “We have to mainstream sustainability in our commercial sector.” (6/25)