September 16, 2022

FAA Grounds Blue Origin New Shepard After Emergency Abort During Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Something went wrong during a launch attempt of the uncrewed Blue Origin New Shepard rocket that sent the capsule jettisoning away to safety mid-flight, and now the Jeff Bezos rocket has been grounded by the FAA. Blue Origin later referred to the incident as a “booster failure” confirming it crashed on its Twitter account noting the “escape system performed as designed.”

The FAA, which is in charge of public safety during commercial space launches and landings, grounded the rocket pending an investigation to “determine whether any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety,” according to an FAA statement, although noted this is standard practice after any mishap. “The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system,” the FAA stated. “The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported.” (9/12)

A New Space race? China Adds Urgency to US Return to Moon (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It’s not just rocket fuel propelling America’s first moonshot after a half-century lull. Strategic rivalry with China’s ambitious space program is helping drive NASA’s effort to get back into space in a bigger way, as both nations push to put people back on the moon and establish the first lunar bases. American intelligence, military and political leaders make clear they see a host of strategic challenges to the U.S. in China’s space program, in an echo of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry that prompted the 1960s’ race to the moon.

That’s as China is quickly matching U.S. civil and military space accomplishments and notching new ones of its own. On the military side, the U.S. and China trade accusations of weaponizing space. Senior U.S. defense officials warn that China and Russia are building capabilities to take out the satellite systems that underpin U.S. intelligence, military communications and early warning networks. There’s also a civilian side to the space race. The U.S. is wary of China taking the lead in space exploration and commercial exploitation, and pioneering the technological and scientific advances that would put China ahead in power in space and in prestige down on Earth. (9/16)

Once in the Doldrums, Space Coast Hums with Launches (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A decade ago, Florida’s Space Coast was in the doldrums. The space shuttle program had ended, and with it the steady stream of space enthusiasts who filled the area’s restaurants and hotel and motel rooms during regular astronaut launches.

The Kennedy Space Center’s 7,400 laid-off shuttle workers struggled to find jobs in their fields, and many left for other states. The county’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to almost 12%, and foreclosures were rampant in the aftermath of a housing crisis that struck Florida harder than most states. The Miracle City Mall, a once-thriving shopping destination that had been around since the Apollo moon shots in the 1960s, was abandoned in the mid-2010s, and other stores and restaurants were shuttered.

“It was devastating. Along with the fact that our nation was going into a recession, we had lost our bread and butter. We had lost our economy,” said Daniel Diesel, the mayor of Titusville, which sits across the Indian River from the Kennedy Space Center. Nowadays, the county’s unemployment rate is under 3%, and the Space Coast is humming with jobs and space launches. Attempts to launch NASA’s new moon rocket have drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors like Ed Mayall. He traveled more than 4,300 miles from London to witness the first, scrubbed launch attempt last month. (9/16)

Delta IV Heavy Set to Launch From Vandenberg Space Force Base (Source: KSBY)
A National Reconnaissance Office mission (NROL-91) aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is set to launch from Vandenberg in September, a representative from Space Launch Delta 30 said. The launch window is scheduled to open at 1:50 p.m. on Sept. 24. Col. Bryan Titus, Space Launch Delta 30 vice commander, will be the launch decision authority. (9/15)

‘On the Table’: Hicks Says DoD, IC Considering Indemnifying Commercial Space Providers (Source: Breaking Defense)
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks today said that the department, including the Pentagon’s Intelligence Community partners, is looking at the possibility of indemnifying commercial space firms that become targets in conflict due to their support for US national security goals. “It does require us to think about how we contract effectively, to include issues like indemnification,” she told the Intelligence and National Security Summit co-sponsored by the Intelligence National Security Alliance (INSA) and the AFCEA. “That is absolutely on the table.”

The question of potential indemnification has been swirling around government and industry circles for some time as national security agencies have increased reliance on innovative, and lower cost, commercial capabilities. In particular, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in the last few years have greatly expanded use of commercial remote sensing — with commercial firms now being eyed as part of a so-called hybrid architecture to provide the IC and the US military with tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). But doing work for the government has raised fears that commercial providers could become targets during a conflict. (9/15)

Lost Moon May have Spawned Saturn’s Rings (Source: Science)
The rings of Saturn are lovely to look at but a colossal headache to explain. Now, planetary scientists have come up with a new theory about their origin. About 160 million years ago, they say, an icy moon was ripped apart when its orbit brought it too close to the planet. The lost moon, which they call Chrysalis, may also help explain the evolution of Saturn’s oddly tilted axis of rotation. (9/15)

Satellite Data Shows How Russia Has Destroyed Ukrainian Grain (Source: WIRED)
Almost 10 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain has been affected by the Russian invasion, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery. One in six of Ukraine's grain storage facilities— which have a total capacity of 58 million metric tons—have been impacted by the conflict, either through damage, destruction, or falling under Russia's control.

The Conflict Observatory, the organization that conducted the analysis, found substantial evidence of damage to grain silos from either indiscriminate or targeted bombardment. And as the conflict rolls on, concerns are being raised about crops that need planting now. “If Ukraine does not have enough storage capacity, farmers may not plant a winter wheat crop,” says Nathaniel Raymond, a coleader of the Humanitarian Research Lab and lecturer at Yale’s School of Public Health who led the project. “If they can’t store the upcoming harvest, it’ll be a crisis of availability.” (9/15)

Intuitive Machines Going Public with SPAC (Source: Space News)
Commercial lunar lander developer Intuitive Machines will go public in a SPAC merger. Intuitive Machines said Friday it will merge with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp., a SPAC trading on the Nasdaq exchange, giving the merged company a value of $815 million. The company has lined up $105 million in funding in addition to the proceeds of the SPAC, which it says will fund the company to profitability in two to three years. Intuitive Machines is developing a series of lunar lander missions, with the first launching early next year, and is working on lunar communications satellites and other services. (9/16)

Rocket Lab Launches Japanese Radar Imaging Satellite From New Zealand (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite Thursday. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch site at 4:38 p.m. Eastern and deployed Synspective's StriX-1 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit an hour later. The satellite joins two others owned by the Japanese company, which plans to ultimately deploy a 30-satellite constellation. The launch was the seventh Electron mission of the year and the 30th overall for the company. Rocket Lab did not attempt to recover the Electron first stage but said it will do so on a launch later this year. (9/16)

U.S. Weighing Options to Compensate Commercial Companies if Satellites are Attacked (Source: Space News)
U.S. government agencies that rely on commercial satellites are considering how they would compensate companies if those satellites are attacked in a conflict. Officials with defense and intelligence agencies said Thursday that they have "some obligation" to compensate companies if those satellites, supporting those agencies, are damaged. A recent report by the Aerospace Corp. warned that, during crises and conflicts, commercial space actors risk getting caught in the crossfire, and an attack could occur either because a commercial system is misidentified as a military system or because that commercial system is operating in support of the United States. (9/15)

Plenty of Disruption in Satellite Industry (Source: Space News)
Major satellite operators are bracing for disruption as consolidation and new entrants shake up the industry. Those operators of GEO satellites face competition from LEO constellations like Starlink, prompting discussions of potential mergers. Intelsat CEO David Wajsgras did not address a rumored merger with SES during a World Satellite Business Week panel, but said the company is "considering various types of opportunities that will help support our growth path." (9/15)

Elected Officials Want Details From FAA on New Shepard Investigation (Source: Space News)
Two members of Congress are asking the FAA for more information about its investigation into the New Shepard launch accident. Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Brian Babin (R-TX), the chair and ranking member of the House space subcommittee, sent a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen Thursday, asking for a staff briefing about the investigation into the launch failure that took place Monday. Neither the FAA nor Blue Origin have released many details about the accident or investigation. The House members said transparency is important since New Shepard is designed to carry people, although no one was on board Monday's flight. (9/16)

Spain's PLD Space Test Suborbital Rocket (Source: Space News)
Spanish launch vehicle developer PLD Space has completed static fire testing of a suborbital rocket. The company said Thursday it performed a full-duration burn of its Miura 1 vehicle as the final step in static-fire testing. A suborbital launch of the vehicle could take place as soon as December. Miura 1 is primarily a technology demonstrator for a small orbital launch vehicle, Miura 5, that PLD Space plans to start launching in 2024. (9/16)

SpaceX Scrubs Thrice for Poor Weather (Source: Spaceflight Now)
For the third night in a row, SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch because of weather. SpaceX halted the countdown for the launch of 54 Starlink satellites at T-30 seconds because of poor weather at Cape Canaveral. It also postponed launch attempts Tuesday and Wednesday because of weather. The launch has been rescheduled for 9:05 p.m. Friday, with a 50% chance of acceptable weather. (9/16)

Spire Building GHGSat's Methane Measurement Satellites (Source: Space News)
Spire Global will build greenhouse gas monitoring satellites for GHGSat. The companies announced a contract Thursday where Spire will build and operate three 16U cubesats carrying GHGSat payloads to measure methane emissions. GHGSat had previously acquired satellites from the University of Toronto's Space Flight Laboratory, including three scheduled for launch in early 2023. The deal is part of Spire's "space-as-a-service" line of business where it builds and operates satellites for other companies. (9/16)

EarthDaily Constellation Offers Multi-Spectral Imagery (Source: Space News)
EarthDaily Analytics says it will differentiate its imaging constellation from others based on the quality of imagery. The company is working on a constellation of 10 satellites being provided by Loft Orbital, based on the OneWeb satellite platform, that will launch starting in late 2023 or early 2024. The satellites will collect imagery with a native resolution of five meters per pixel and processed resolution of 3.5 meters per pixel. The company says it is paying special attention to calibration across 22 spectral bands to maximize the quality of the imagery. (9/16)

Perseverance Rover Finds Organic Compounds on Mars (Source: New York Times)
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has found organic compounds that might be evidence of past life. Project officials said Thursday the rover detected organic compounds in rocks in Jezero Crater, which scientists believe once hosted a lake. They stopped short, thouugh, of calling the materials proof there was once life on Mars, instead referring to them as "potential biosignatures." The rover has cached samples of those rocks that will be returned to Earth in about a decade through the Mars Sample Return campaign of missions. (9/16)

Meteor Streaks Over Britain (Source: The Guardian)
A bright streak seen Wednesday night in British skies was just a meteor, and not space junk. There were hundreds of reports of the fireball, seen around 10 p.m. local time Wednesday. Astronomers initially speculated it was debris, perhaps linked to the Starlink constellation, but later calculations showed its speed was consistent with it being a meteor. Any material that survived passage through the Earth's atmosphere fell in the ocean. (9/16)