September 6, 2022

On-Orbit Satellite Fuel Sale Agreement Signed (Source: Journal of Space Commerce)
Refueling service provider Orbit Fab and Astroscale U.S. have signed an on-orbit satellite fuel sale commercial agreement. Under the agreement, Orbit Fab will refuel Astroscale’s Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI) Servicer in geostationary orbit. LEXI is the first satellite designed to be refueled. Under the terms of this initial agreement, Orbit Fab’s GEO fuel shuttle will resupply Astroscale’s fleet of LEXI Servicers with up to 1,000 kilograms of Xenon propellant. With this purchase, Astroscale has greatly expanded LEXI’s scope and flexibility to perform on-orbit servicing missions — a benefit for every customer. (9/5)

Space In-Orbit Refueling Market to Reach $1.09 Billion by 2032 (Source: Journal of Space Commerce)
The global space in-orbit refueling market is expected to be valued at $7.5 million in 2026 and is projected to reach $1.09 billion by 2032, according to a new report from BIS Research. While the de-orbiting service segment is expected to be the largest in terms of quantum of demand, the refueling and life-extension segments are expected to remain prominent in the short term.” Arun Kumar Sampathkumar, Principal Analyst, BIS Research. (9/1)

Antarctica's "Doomsday Glacier" Could Raise Global Sea Levels by 10 Feet (Source: CBS)
The loss of a glacier the size of Florida in Antarctica could wreak havoc on the world as scientists expect it would raise global sea levels up to 10 feet. It's already melting at a fast rate — and scientists say its collapse may only rapidly increase in the coming years. The Thwaites Glacier is the widest on Earth at about 80 miles in width. But as the planet continues to warm, its ice, like much of the sea ice around Earth's poles, is melting. The rapidly changing state of the glacier has alarmed scientists for years because of the "spine-chilling" global implications of having so much additional water added to the Earth's oceans, sparking its nickname of the "doomsday glacier." (9/6)

Lunar Demo Mission to Provide “Stress Test” for NASA’s Artemis Moon Program (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The first unpiloted mission for NASA’s Artemis lunar program aims to prove out the most powerful rocket to ever launch from U.S. soil, and test the function of a human-rated spacecraft traveling more than 40,000 miles beyond the far side of the moon before blazing back through Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph.

It’s all designed to gather data and build confidence for NASA’s new 322-foot-tall Space Launch System moon rocket and Orion moonship before astronauts strap in on the next Artemis test flight. “We are stressing and testing this thing in a way that you would never do it if we had humans on board, and that’s the point,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Scotland’s Space Sector Set to Become Greenest on Earth (Source: Astro Agency)
Scotland’s space sector declared its commitment to reducing its impact on the environment through the publication of a new sustainable space roadmap, the first of its kind on Earth. The new roadmap sets out the steps needed to achieve the long-term goals of Scottish space missions, which are to be space debris neutral, zero emissions created from on-the-ground activities, and for Scotland to gain global recognition as a leader in sustainable space.

National and international expert interviews, in-depth study into other sustainability initiatives and consultation with the space industry informed the roadmap contents, which addresses areas such as the environmental impacts of building, fuelling, and launching satellites, as well as the importance of promoting satellite data for environmental monitoring. (9/6)

Environmental Groups Fight County Efforts to Conceal Georgia Spaceport Dangers (Source: SELC)
The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of One Hundred Miles, filed a motion to lift the stay in One Hundred Miles’ lawsuit against Camden County and spaceport consultant Andrew Nelson, demanding the release of documents about the risky and expensive spaceport that have been concealed from the public for over six years. One Hundred Miles filed suit against Camden County and Nelson after they claimed that the county’s recently invalidated option agreement with Union Carbide Corp. to purchase property for the spaceport allowed the parties to conceal the requested records.

A judge paused the case on July 21, 2022, adding even further delay in providing the public with records that One Hundred Miles first requested in 2015. The judge stayed the case based on Camden County’s recent legal challenge to its own voters’ decision to invalidate the option agreement with Union Carbide through local referendum. One Hundred Miles’ motion to lift the stay argues that Camden County’s continued reliance on the option agreement to avoid sharing documents about the spaceport is unfounded, especially now that Union Carbide announced it now wants to dedicate the property for conservation purposes. (9/6)

Booz Allen Expands on Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
A relatively new player in the Space Coast's technology sector is making a big impression with its fast expansion. After technology and consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. acquired Liberty IT Solutions LLC in June 2021, it expanded the company's 200-employee Melbourne operations to more than 300. And it now could be hiring 100 to 150 more people within a year for the Melbourne operation. Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, said Booz Allen's acquisition of Liberty, followed by its expansion of the local operation, is a positive sign for the high-tech sector locally. (9/5)

mu Space Reveals 10-Year Plan to Build a Space Supply Chain in Thailand and Southeast Asia (Source: Space Daily)
mu Space and Advance Technology Co., Ltd., a satellite manufacturer and satellite communication service provider, reveals plans to advance the business in the next 10 years. The company announced their intentions to continue to invest in building a network for the aerospace industry with aims to being a leading aerospace manufacturer in Southeast Asia.

mu Space intends to build a supply chain for materials, equipment and goods related to the entire aerospace industry, from procuring satellite production materials and aerospace components, all the way to producing and assembling the product. This project has received attention from the mass media and many leading organizations in the country. (9/6)

SpaceX Launches 51 Starlink Satellites, Orbital Transfer Vehicle (Source: Space Daily)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 51 Starlink satellites to orbit as well as an orbital transfer vehicle for another company on Sunday night from Port Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, one day after NAA scrapped a mission to the moon. The payload was sent into a low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:09 p.m. EDT. The first stage separated and landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the booster's seventh flight. (9/6)

A Space Race, a New Cold War or a Bit of Both (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has delayed the launch of the Artemis I new moon program until at least Sept 19 after cancelling a planned launch on Saturday. The decision on Saturday was the second time in a week that the launch was scrapped. The first time it was cancelled was on Aug 29 because one of the four engines was not "cold enough" for take-off minutes before Artemis I was set to blast off to the moon. The "fault" was detected as part of vital systems verification and testing. With high-end engineering and technologies such as this, "hiccups" are to be expected.

Since close to nothing as is humanly possible should be left to chance, especially when the Orion space capsule on the top of the rocket is scheduled to carry human cargo in 2024, it was the correct decision to postpone the launch of Artemis I. These are exciting times in global space endeavors with the moon missions seen now as stepping stones to human's landing on Mars. So 50 years after the Apollo program that put "man" on the moon the United States is again trying to carry humans to a celestial body. But this time there is powerful competition from China.

Today, the geopolitical motivations of the 1960s, that spurred the US on to a space program unprecedented in human history, are very different. Back then, it was the height of the Cold War. But today the Soviet Union no longer exists. The Russian bear still has claws, although they may have been a bit blunted by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Lately, however, against the backdrop of an increasingly unstable international order, rising global inflation, an energy crisis in Europe and a looming climate catastrophe (as the unbelievable current flooding in Pakistan highlights), there has been increasing talk - at least from the Western "commentariat" - of a new Cold War. This is often mentioned in the same breath as a new space race. (9/6)

Latest Galileo Satellites Join Constellation with Enhanced, Faster Fix (Source: Space Daily)
Europe's latest Galileo satellites in space have joined the operational constellation, transmitting navigation signals to three billion users across planet Earth as well as relaying distress calls to rescuers. Their entry into service follows a summer test campaign and will result in a measurable increase in positioning accuracy and improved data delivery performance of the overall Galileo system.

Galileo satellites 27-28 were launched at the end of last year and underwent their in-orbit test review at the end of April, held between ESA, satellite manufacturer OHB and navigation payload maker Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). Their key findings included the fact that both satellites' payloads are performing extremely well - among the best in the entire constellation - and that both satellites entering into service increase the position accuracy and robustness of the overall Galileo system. (9/2)

NASA Awards LISA Mission Laser Instrument Contract (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has selected Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colorado, to provide the Laser Prestabilizaton System (LPS) for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) laser assembly. The total value of the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is $11,906,675. The LISA mission is a collaboration of ESA (the European Space Agency), NASA, and an international consortium of scientists. The LISA mission is planned to launch in the 2035 timeframe. The LISA Telescope and laser systems are being developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. (9/5)

Russian ISS Spacewalk Focuses on European Robotic Arm (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Two Russian cosmonauts completed a spacewalk outside the ISS Friday. Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev spent 7 hours and 47 minutes outside the station on the spacewalk, continuing work on a European robotic arm attached to the Nauka module and some additional "get-ahead" tasks. The cosmonauts started that work on a spacewalk last month but had to cut it short because of a battery problem with Artemyev's spacesuit. (9/6)

New Zealand Pledges More Funding for Space (Source: New Zealand Herald)
New Zealand is promising more funding for its space industry as part of a policy update. Government officials said Monday they would provide $15.7 million New Zealand ($9.5 million) for space efforts, more than half of which would go to unspecified research partnerships with NASA. Officials also announced they would start a consultation on updating its space policy and creating a new national aerospace strategy. [New Zealand Herald]

Indian Space Chief Pland Reusable Launcher Collaboration (Source: PTI)
The head of India's space agency wants to work with industry on a reusable launch vehicle. Speaking at the Bengaluru Space Expo 2022 Monday, S Somanath said a reusable vehicle is essential to reducing the costs of putting payloads into orbit. He said the country's next rocket, after the GSLV Mark 3, would be reusable, but offered few details about the vehicle or a schedule for its development beyond saying it would be developed in cooperation with India's space industry. (9/6)

Astronaut Don Lind Passes (Source: Collect Space)
Former NASA astronaut Don Lind died last week at the age of 92. Lind was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1966 and trained for an Apollo lunar landing mission, but was not selected before the program ended. He eventually flew on the STS-51B shuttle mission in 1985, spending a week in space performing microgravity research. (9/6)

SETI Astronomer Drake Passes (Source: Scientific American)
Frank Drake, an astronomer and pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), died Friday. Drake undertook the first modern SETI effort, Project Ozma, in 1960, using a radio telescope to look for signals from two nearby stars. He is perhaps best known for the Drake Equation, which incorporates several factors to estimate the number of detectable civilizations in the galaxy. He also served as director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which ran the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Drake was 92. (9/6)

Chinese Duo Undertakes 7-Hour Spacewalk (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese astronauts on the Shenzhou XIV mission have carried out their first spacewalk, also known as an extravehicular activity, which finished early on Friday morning, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong opened an extravehicular activity hatch on the Tiangong space station at 6:26 pm on Thursday Beijing time and then floated out of the station. He was followed by female crew member Senior Colonel Liu Yang, the agency said.  (9/5)

China Launches New Test Satellites via Kuaizhou 1A Rocket (Source: Space Daily)
China sent two new test satellites into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on Tuesday. The CentiSpace 1-S3/S4 test satellites were launched by a Kuaizhou 1A carrier rocket at 10:24 am (Beijing Time) and they have entered the planned orbit successfully. This was the 17th flight mission of the Kuaizhou 1A rockets, according to the launch center. (9/6)

China Launches Reconnaissance Satellite (Source: Space.com)
China launched a reconnaissance satellite Friday night. A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:44 p.m. Eastern and placed a Yaogan-33 satellite into orbit. Little is known about the Yaogan-33 series, but an earlier satellite had a radar mapping payload. (9/6)

Space Force Extends Saber Contract for Domain Awareness (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has extended a Saber Astronautics contract to develop a space domain awareness tool designed for satellite operators. The company won a $540,000 small business contract known as a TACFI, or Tactical Funding Increase, to add new features to its Space Cockpit software tool. The award follows a $1.8 million U.S. Air Force SSBIR award that Saber Astronautics won in 2019 to develop Space Cockpit. The new funding supports upgrades to the orbit propagation algorithms to support cislunar spaceflight beyond Earth orbit, and adds a space collision warning system developed by Saber called Sentinel. (9/6)