June 27, 2022

Virgin Orbit Subsidiary Making Progress Toward Brazilian Launches (Source: Virgin Orbit)
 Virgin Orbit alongside the Brazilian Space Agency (Agência Espacial Brasileira; AEB) is pleased to announce that Virgin Orbit has been formally granted an operator’s license to allow LauncherOne launch operations in Brazil. The license is granted to Virgin Orbit Brasil Ltda. (VOBRA), a newly formed and wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary dedicated to bringing the LauncherOne air-launch rocket system to the Alcântara Launch Center (Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara, CLA).

The formation of the VOBRA entity for dedicated Brazilian space activities is designed to bring an important new capability to the country and economic value to the region. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system, which uses a customized 747 aircraft, Cosmic Girl, as its flying and fully reusable launch pad, will conduct launches from the existing airbase at the Brazilian site, flying hundreds of miles before releasing the rocket directly above the equator — a global sweet spot — or at other optimal locations identified for each individual mission. (6/27)

INNOSPACE Moves Toward December Suborbital Test Launch From Brazil (Source: INNOSPACE)
On May 27, South Korea's INNOSPACE performed to verify interface integrity and systems compatibility with our new portable Coalesced Launch System (CLS) and the first test launch vehicle HANBIT-TLV. The HANBIT-TLV is launched to verify the flight performance of the 15-tonf thrust single stage hybrid engine developed by INNOSPACE with its own technology. It will lift off in December 2022 from the Alcântara Launch Center in Brazil, followed by a suborbital test flight up to an altitude of 100 km, and will fall into open seas. HANBIT-TLV is a 15-tonf thrust single stage hybrid rocket with a height of 16.3m, 1-meter-diameter, and weight of 9.2-ton. Click here. (6/3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXlO00vmsO4

More on NASA's New Spacesuit Contracts (Source: Space News)
The two companies NASA selected earlier this month for spacesuit contracts were the only companies to submit bids. NASA announced earlier this month it awarded contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to develop spacesuits for both the International Space Station and Artemis missions, which the companies will provide as services to NASA. According to NASA procurement documents, the two companies were the only ones to submit complete proposals. NASA rated both proposals highly, with the Collins proposal coming in at a total price 2% less than NASA's own estimate and Axiom's 23% below that estimate. NASA's evaluation, though, warned that both proposals relied on "rapid acceleration of technology maturation and resolution of key technical trade studies" to achieve their schedules. (6/27)

Telespazio to Play Key Role in Satellite Servicing Market (Source: Space News)
Telespazio intends to play a key role in the future in-orbit servicing market. The company says it can offer customers seeking satellite relocation, refueling, repair or removal the necessary space and ground-based capabilities. The joint venture of Leonardo and Thales says it can assist satellite operators with orbit-raising, repositioning, station-keeping and deorbiting now, and in the long run intends to provide services for spacecraft designed for in-orbit repair, refueling, assembly or deorbit. (6/27)

Orbion Developing Hall Thrusters for Space Force Weather Satellite (Source: Space News)
Propulsion startup Orbion Space Technology will provide Hall thrusters for a weather satellite being built by General Atomics for the Space Force. Orbion's Aurora thruster system will handle orbit raising and maintenance as well as deorbit the satellite at the end of its mission. The Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System satellite will launch no earlier than 2024. (6/27)

Russian May Fly on Next Crew Dragon to ISS (Source: TASS)
A Russian cosmonaut that may fly on the next Crew Dragon mission to the ISS is back in the United States for training. Roscosmos said that Anna Kikina traveled to the U.S. over the weekend to continue training on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. She could fly on the Crew-5 mission to the ISS, launching in September, if NASA and Roscosmos conclude an agreement in time to swap seats between commercial crew and Soyuz spacecraft. (6/27)

Lunar Orbiter Spots Rocket Impact Site (Source: NASA)
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted the crater formed when a Chinese rocket stage hit the moon earlier this year. The rocket body, believed to be the upper stage of a Chinese Long March rocket that launched the Chang'e-5T1 mission in 2014, hit the moon March 4, and the orbiter captured the image of the crash site in May. The impact, surprisingly, created a double crater, suggesting there were heavy masses on both ends of the stage. (6/27)

Italian Trade Agency Promotes Space Collaborations in US (Source: Italian Trade Agency)
The Houston-based Italian Trade Agency is in constant collaboration with ASI (Italian Space Agency) and the Italian Embassy in Washington, local partners in U.S. Aerospace Clusters. We are excited to report that Italian Aerospace in the U.S. is soaring positively into uncharted territory, opening more opportunities to U.S.-Italian aerospace industry interactions and business development opportunities than ever before!  Click here. (6/27)

No Quick Fix for Space Force Acquisition Problems (Source: Space News)
The Space Force's new acquisition executive says there is no quick fix for problems that have plagued defense procurements for years. In an interview, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, says he will seek to impose discipline on acquisitions using his experience from 30 years at the National Reconnaissance Office. Some Space Force programs are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, issues that Calvelli believes could be avoided by developing realistic cost estimates and timelines, staying with the plan and holding contractors accountable. That includes, he said, making "schedule realism and cost realism a major element in any competition." (6/27)

Telesat Requests UK License to Connect Lightspeed Terminals (Source: Space News)
Telesat has applied for a U.K. license to connect broadband terminals with Lightspeed satellites. The Canadian operator's application says the first of 198 Lightspeed satellites will be launched to low Earth orbit in the third quarter of 2025, with initial services starting in the U.K. in 2026. Starlink and OneWeb already have licenses that permit them to connect satellites to user terminals in the U.K. (6/27)

NASA on Track for August SLS Debut Launch (Source: Space News)
NASA says it's on track to launch the first SLS as soon as late August. SLS managers said Friday that the campaign of practice countdowns for the SLS, known as wet dress rehearsals, was complete, and it will roll the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building this Friday. Officials said only a handful of test objectives were not completed during the four rehearsals, but most of them had already been validated or could otherwise be tested, like hydraulic power units in the boosters tested over the weekend. NASA is targeting a launch in a window that runs from Aug. 23 through Sept. 6, depending on its progress over the next several weeks preparing the vehicle for launch. (6/27)

Lunar Science Stirring on Mount Etna (Source: Space Daily)
This image comes to you from Mount Etna, Sicily, where a lunar analog study focusing on robotic exploration is currently unfolding. The project - named the ARCHES Space-Analog Demonstration - is a multi-agency, multi-robot event brought to life by the German Aerospace Center DLR, and featuring significant ESA participation. ESA will be joining the project to run the latest and final part of the Analog-1 campaign, the completion of which will mark the culmination of one of the agency's long-term research endeavours, dating back to 2008. (6/24)

NASA Launches Suborbital Rocket From Australian Spaceport (Source ABC.au)
NASA conducted its first sounding rocket launch in decades from Australia on Sunday. A Black Brant 9 rocket launched from the Arnhem Space Centre in Australia's Northern Territory at 10:29 a.m. Eastern carrying an X-ray astrophysics payload. The launch is the first of three NASA plans from that site through mid-July, the first NASA sounding rocket launches from Australia since 1995. The launch was also the first from that commercial spaceport, developed by Equatorial Launch Australia. (6/27)

Iran Conducts Suborbital Test of Orbital Launcher (Source: RFE/RL)
Iran performed a suborbital test of a satellite launch vehicle. State-run media released footage of the launch of the Zuljanah rocket Sunday, although it was not clear when the launch took place. Zuljanah is designed to place small satellites into low Earth orbit, but could also support development of long-range missiles. The White House called the test "unhelpful and destabilizing" amid efforts to negotiate a new deal about Iran's nuclear program. (6/27)