October 11, 2022

Intelsat's Two Latest Satellites are First of Six This Year (Source: Space News)
The two Intelsat satellites launched by SpaceX over the weekend are the first of six C-band satellites the company expects to launch this year. SpaceX is slated to launch two more in November, according to Intelsat, and Arianespace is due to deploy another pair in the fourth quarter of this year. A seventh and final satellite will be launched by SpaceX in the second quarter of 2023. Those satellites are part of Intelsat's efforts to clear C-band spectrum for terrestrial 5G applications, securing billions of dollars in incentives from the FCC. (10/11)

Interest Rates May Hinder Space Financing (Source: Space News)
Rising interest rates could cause major problems for space companies seeking to raise money. Those interest rates drive money out of venture capital markets that thrived when interest rates were near zero, making it harder for startups to raise money. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire working with SpaceX on the Polaris Program of private astronaut missions, predicted "a lot of business failures as interest rates are now essentially going through the roof" as capital becomes more difficult to find. Others are turning to alternatives, like debt, to raise money. (10/11)

China Prepares for Station Module Launch (Source: Space.com)
A Chinese space station module is being prepared for launch later this month. The Mengtian module was fueled recently, Chinese officials announced, ahead of a launch expected late this month. Mengtian ("Dreaming of the Heavens") is a lab module that will join the Tianhe core module and Wentian experiment module. (10/11)

Virgin Orbit Transports Carrier Aircraft to England for Upcoming Mission (Source: Virgin Orbit)
Virgin Orbit is moving ahead with plans for its first launch from the United Kingdom. The company said Tuesday it is flying its Boeing 747 aircraft, "Cosmic Girl," to Spaceport Cornwall in England as part of final preparations for the "Start Me Up" launch. The plane, which flew from California to Florida on Sunday, is now en route to Cornwall, with the rocket and ground support equipment to follow later this week. The company has not yet set a launch date for the mission, which is pending a U.K. launch license. (10/11)

Sherpa Begins Orbit-Raising Maneuvers (Source: Space News)
A Sherpa tug has finally started raising its orbit more than a month after launch. Spaceflight launched the Sherpa-LTC2 tug more than a month ago, but the spacecraft had not started raising its orbit as expected. The spacecraft did fire its thrusters on Friday to boost its orbit slightly. Spaceflight said last week that the orbit-raising maneuvers would begin once spacecraft commissioning was completed. (10/11)

Satcom Body ISpA Says Space Spectrum Shouldn’t be Auctioned (Source: Economic Times)
India's satellite association ISpA has said that spectrum for space services should be given administratively as is done in the rest of the world, so that the nascent space industry in the country can grow. “As space industry, our request to the government is that spectrum should be allocated administratively as it is being done worldwide,” Indian Space Association (ISpA) director general AK Bhatt told reporters Monday. He was reacting to a question about the draft telecom bill, which says that spectrum for services including satellite must be given through auctions. (10/11)

‘Foreign Companies are Looking at India for Satellite Manufacturing’ (Source: The Statesman)
The satellite manufacturing business in India is expected to touch $3.2 billion in 2025 from $2.1 billion in 2020. New age low earth orbit (LEO) players are showing interest to leverage Indian companies for locally built satellite communications equipment, the report said. Foreign companies are looking to reap the benefits of satellite manufacturing services in India. Coupled with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, satellite manufacturers are ideally placed to capitalize on the growing demand for small satellites. (10/11)

Satellite Services to Lead India to $13 Billion Space Economy by 2025 (Source: Mint)
A boost in the volume of anticipated satellite launch services in India can catapult the country’s space economy to $13 billion in revenues by 2025, a report by consultancy firm EY India and industry body Indian Space Association (ISpA) said on Monday. The report projected satellite and space launch services from both Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and private space startups to grow the fastest - at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% in the next three years. (10/10)

OneWeb Founder is Back with E-Space, Another LEO Hopeful (Source: Light Reading)
Startup E-Space has hired the former CEO of satellite giant SES, Karim Michel Sabbagh, as its new head of strategy for strategy in Europe and the Middle East. The development is the latest indication that there's momentum behind Greg Wyler's latest satellite effort. Wyler, a longtime telecom executive, famously founded both O3b Networks and OneWeb. SES eventually acquired O3b Networks while OneWeb fell into a bankruptcy process that shed Wyler from the company's operations. O3b has launched 12 satellites so far, while OneWeb counts more than 400.

Now, Wyler is back in the satellite game with E-Space, a company he launched earlier this year. As noted by Space News, Wyler's E-Space has ambitions to launch up to 300,000 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. E-Space isn't the only startup with grand satellite ambitions. From Amazon's Project Kuiper to Rivada, there is no shortage of corporate interest in launching and operating thousands of satellites for Internet services. (10/10)

SpaceX Competitor Lynk Testing 5G Cell Phone Service From Space (Source: Space.com)
The rivalry for fast internet from space just entered a new stage. Lynk, a competitor to the much larger SpaceX, plans to offer an experimental 5G cellular base station aboard a mission in December, working alongside an undisclosed cellular partner. The experimental payload will launch on Lynk's second commercial satellite, company officials said.

"This test will demonstrate the ability to send a 5G signal from space to standard mobile devices on Earth," Lynk officials wrote(opens in new tab) in late September.  The test is a shot across the bow to SpaceX, which has already signed a deal with T-Mobile for cellular service but, unlike Lynk, does not yet have Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. Lynk received the prized FCC thumbs-up just a few weeks ago. (10/10)

Arms Control and Satellites: Early Issues Concerning National Technical Means (Source: Space Review)
Reconnaissance satellites emerged in the 1970s as a key tool for verifying arms control treaties. Dwayne Day examines how the NRO dealt with this new use of their satellites and misperceptions about their abilities. Click here. (10/10)
 
Making a Modern Military Service (Source: Space Review)
As a new military service, the US Space Force has to develop its own culture while also preparing to defend the nation against new threats. Coen Williams and Peter Garretson argue that the Space Force needs to adopt an approach that gives servicemembers the ability to act more independently to be more agile. Click here. (10/10)

First Falcon Heavy Launch in Three Years Eyes Late-October Liftoff (Source: Teslarati)
For the second time in 2022, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has a firm launch date for the first time in more than three years. The rocket has been cursed by a seemingly relentless flood of delays impacting almost every one of its payloads. When JPL and Maxar were unable to properly test the Psyche spacecraft’s software in time its original launch window, they were forced to stand down and wait until July 2023. That left Falcon Heavy with three more possible payloads to launch in 2022, but all three were chronically delayed and there was little reason to believe that even one of them would be ready to launch before 2023.

However, Falcon Heavy’s single most delayed payload appears to have made a breakthrough, giving the most powerful rocket currently in operation at least one more shot at a 2022 launch. The US military has repeatedly offered implausible launch targets for USSF-44 with little to no official explanation for the mission’s delays. A USSF spokesperson revealed a specific target of October 28 for USSF-44. (10/10)

Stoke Space Aims to Build Rapidly Reusable Rocket with a Completely Novel Design (Source: Ars Technica)
Three years ago, Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman began to look around for a place to make a difference faster. They were animated by a desire to bring forward the era of low-cost, regular access to space and the future that might unlock for humanity. While the small Stoke team worked on engineering, Lapsa also started to learn the ins and outs of fundraising. As he had watched the commercial space industry attract billions of dollars in venture capital and later public investment through SPACs, Lapsa figured it wouldn't be all that difficult to raise money for an innovative launch concept. But he was wrong.

"The biggest surprise for me is that it’s really, really hard to raise money," he said. "You see a lot of headlines like XYZ raises a gajillion dollars, and I was like, 'OK, how hard can that be?' Well, really hard. You just have to have a very high level of conviction in what you're doing in order to mentally navigate that path." By the end of 2020, the company closed on a $9 million seed funding round that would enable modest growth in 2021.

With this initial funding and an engineering design in hand, the company hit the gas on development. In the 20 months since its initial seed round of funding, Stoke has built a second-stage engine, a prototype for the second stage, turbopumps, and manufacturing facilities. It also increased its headcount to 72 people and finalized the overall design for the rocket, which has a lift capacity of 1.65 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, in fully reusable mode. (10/10)

NASA Seeks New Rockets for Hurricane Satellite Launches After Astra Failures (Source: Space.com)
Citing "urgent" hurricane-tracking satellite needs, NASA is on the hunt for new rockets after a launch effort failed to deliver two cubesats to space in June. NASA is asking more companies to bid for launching its TROPICS satellite line in 2023 after its initial provider, Astra, lost a rocket carrying two TROPICS cubesats during the debut launch on June 12. (The cause remains under investigation.)

NASA officials say the TROPICS launch pivot is needed to for a "timely" launch(opens in new tab) of the cubesat constellation. September saw several huge hurricanes or intense tropical storms (like Hurricane Ian) slam into parts of Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico. Similar storms continue to intensify worldwide amid climate change, making the need for these satellites a pressing one. (10/10)

Novel Superconducting Magnet Thrusters to be Tested Out on Space Station (Source: Space.com)
A New Zealand research institute and U.S. commercial firm Nanoracks are combining to send a superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to the International Space Station to test a novel type of space propulsion. The Paihau—Robinson Research Institute intends to test a type of electric space thruster known as applied-field magneto plasma dynamic (AF-MPD) thrusters which uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology developed by the institute. (10/10)

Commercial Space Stations: Labs or Hotels? (Source: Space Review)
At last month’s International Astronautical Conference, companies working on commercial space station concepts talked up both the potential of their stations to support research and host tourists. Jeff Foust reports on how they’re preparing to handle two very different markets given uncertain demand for their facilities. Click here. (10/10)

Life May Have Thrived on Early Mars, Until it Drove Climate Change That Caused its Demise (Source: U. of Arizona)
Most Mars experts agree that the planet started out with an atmosphere that was much denser than it is today. Rich in carbon dioxide and hydrogen, it would have likely created a temperate climate that allowed water to flow and, possibly, microbial life to thrive, according to Regis Ferrière, a professor in the UArizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The authors are not arguing that life existed on early Mars, but if it did, Ferrière said, "our study shows that underground, early Mars would very likely have been habitable to methanogenic microbes."

Such microbes, which make a living by converting chemical energy from their environment and releasing methane as a waste product, are known to exist in extreme habitats on Earth, such as hydrothermal vents along fissures in the ocean floor. There, they support entire ecosystems adapted to crushing water pressures, near-freezing temperatures and total darkness. The research team tested a hypothetical scenario of an emerging Martian ecosystem by using state-of-the-art models of Mars' crust, atmosphere and climate, coupled with an ecological model of a community of Earthlike microbes metabolizing carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

"According to our results, Mars' atmosphere would have been completely changed by biological activity very rapidly, within a few tens or hundreds of thousands of years," Sauterey said. "By removing hydrogen from the atmosphere, microbes would have dramatically cooled down the planet's climate." Early Mars' surface would soon have become glacial as a consequence of the biological activity. (10/10)

First Ever Map of Milky Way's Galactic Graveyard Revealed (Source: Space.com)
The Milky Way is a gargantuan graveyard. Stars are born, burn out and die, but they don't just vanish — and the galaxy is haunted by their corpses. Massive stars in the Milky Way that died billions of years ago went supernova and morphed into two types of objects. With their outer layers blasted away by the force of the explosion, the cores that were left either entered the afterlife as extremely compact neutron stars or collapsed in on themselves and formed black holes. What remains of these ancient stars is known by scientists as the "galactic underworld" that has kept most of its secrets buried in the dark until now.

After virtually rewinding time to see how and when these early stars were born, lived and died, researchers have finally created the first digital map of the galactic underworld. They were able to do so by analyzing observations of dead stars scattered in the galaxy, such as neutron stars and black holes, and figuring out when they were born and how they evolved. What they found was a sprawling necropolis three times the Milky Way's current height. (10/10)

Spectrum Buyer Says Studies 'Super Clear' On 12 GHz Plan (Source: Law360)
With all signs indicating the Federal Communications Commission will soon decide whether the satellite-heavy 12 gigahertz spectrum is suitable for terrestrial wireless use, a major license holder in the band claims that "super clear" evidence backs a controversial plan to let both technologies share the band. (10/10)

Georgia Justices Hint County's Spaceport Referendum Suit Is Moot (Sources: Law360, Brunswick News)
Georgia Supreme Court justices struggled Thursday to reach the merits of a southeast Georgia county's bid to void as unconstitutional a referendum that repealed its plans for a spaceport, suggesting the way the county approached its case renders it moot. The outcome is grabbing the attention of lawyers across the state with no stake in whether a rocket is ever launched at the proposed spaceport. The court's ruling will determine if voters can challenge the oversight of local elected officials.

Lawyers for Camden County argued voters cannot veto a county commission's resolution. Spaceport opponents argued their challenge is valid under the state constitution. Jim Stein, a longtime Camden County lawyer who served as municipal attorney at the city and county levels in Georgia, said his concern is if the court rules in favor of spaceport opponents, it could create a precedent where any municipal government's decisions can be challenged by voters. (10/10)

ESA Develops Plan to Research Solar Power From Space (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Sun never stops shining in space, and sunlight is much more intense there than on Earth’s surface. So what if we could gather that energy up in space then beam it down to Earth? Recent studies funded by the Preparation element of ESA’s Basic Activities program, show the concept, called Space-Based Solar Power, is theoretically workable and could support the path to decarbonising the energy sector. However, significant uncertainties and technical challenges remain. In response ESA is proposing a R&D program to mature the concept and its critical technologies – SOLARIS.

The proposal comes at a point when global interest in Space-Based Solar Power is at its highest for decades, with in-orbit demonstrations being prepared in the US, China and Japan. The UK has established its Space Energy Initiative to develop Space-Based Solar Power, while the European Commission is funding a project investigating large lightweight reflectors redirecting sunlight onto solar farms on the ground called SOLSPACE. (10/10)

Did Russia Use Lasers to Target Satellites Over Ukraine Border? (Source: Newsweek)
Russian residents in the city of Belgorod have been left puzzled after a pillar of light was spotted rising up into the cloudy night sky. Numerous possible explanations have been put forward for the lights, including a Russian laser weapon or a natural phenomenon. Belgorod is located about 25 miles north of the border with Ukraine.

A suggestion that the lights may be lasers was published by Moscow newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets in an online article on October 5. The article claimed that military correspondent Andrey Rudenko had said the military was using "the latest weapons of the Russian Federation" that day. Rudenko added: "Due to the circumstances, we are unlikely to find out, but many people saw the glow in the sky today." (10/5)