November 15, 2022

Terran Orbital Executives Resign in Protest Over Military Focus (Source: Space News)
Three top executives at smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital have left the company because of its focus on military projects. The company's chief technology officer, vice president of engineering and senior technology fellow resigned last week, the company's CEO confirmed. The company is currently focusing on building smallsat buses for Lockheed Martin as part of that company's Transport Layer SDA contracts. Terran Orbital has pulled back from other work, including its own PredaSAR radar satellite constellation. (11/15)

Jet Engine Installed on NASA’s X-59 (Source: NASA)
NASA’s quiet supersonic X-59 now has the engine that will power it in flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine took place at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, earlier this month, marking a major milestone as the X-59 approaches the completion of its assembly. The 13-foot-long engine from General Electric Aviation packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy and will power the X-59 as it flies at speeds up to Mach 1.4 and altitudes around 55,000 feet. (11/14)

ReOrbit Signs Contract with ESA’s InCubed Program (Source: SpaceWatch Global)
Satellite provider ReOrbit, has signed a contract with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) InCubed program to build the Muon product, a bundle which includes flight software together with avionics, to act as the backbone of the company’s spacecraft, ReOrbit said.

ReOrbit is aiming to launch a demonstration mission for the digital docking of two satellites allowing for reduced time-to-orbit and operational costs. The first phase of the “UKKO – Development and Demonstration of Technologies for Future Earth Observation Satellites” mission focuses on satellite performance. (11/11)

SFL Uses 'Flex Production' to Develop HawkEye Satellites (Source: Space News)
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) will continue to support HawkEye 360 even as that company takes manufacturing of its satellites in-house. Under a contract announced Monday, Toronto-based SFL will design, assemble and integrate HawkEye 360's Cluster 9 and support work on four other clusters of three satellites each HawkEye 360 is building on its own. SFL says the contract is an example of its "Flex Production" program that offers to help customers with any aspects of satellite design, assembly, integration and testing. (11/15)

China Launches Reconnaissance Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a reconnaissance satellite Monday night. A Long March 4C lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:38 p.m. Eastern and placed a Yaogan-34 satellite into orbit. Chinese media described Yaogan-34 as a remote sensing satellite for civil applications but  Western observers believe it to be a reconnaissance satellite. (11/15)

SpaceX Performs Super Heavy Test at Texas Starbase (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
SpaceX performed its biggest Starship static-fire test to date Monday. The Super Heavy Booster 7 vehicle fired 14 of its 33 Raptor engines in the brief static fire test at Boca Chica, Texas, which SpaceX CEO Elon Musk called a success. This was the most Raptor engines fired at one time, and brings the company closer to a test of all 33 engines, one of the final milestones before an orbital launch attempt. (11/15)

ABL Space Systems Scrubs Alaska Launch Attempt (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
ABL Space Systems scrubbed its first orbital launch attempt Monday. The company was preparing for the inaugural launch of its RS1 small launch vehicle from Kodiak, Alaska, but called off the launch because of "off-nominal" data during propellant loading. The company did not disclose a new launch attempt, although it has reserved launch opportunities daily through Nov. 21. The RS1 is capable of placing up to 1,350 kilograms into low Earth orbit. (11/15)

Benchmark Ramps Up Satellite Thruster Production (Source: Space News)
Benchmark Space Systems is rapidly expanding to ramp up the production of satellite thrusters. Benchmark staff grew from 30 to 83 people in the last 12 months with facilities in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Benchmark has booked more than 250 engine orders and looks to produce 1,000 engines over the next five years. (11/15)
 
A Pivot Point for Space Startups (Source: Space Review)
Space companies, like other startups, sometimes have to change direction because of issues with technology, markets, or funding. Jeff Foust reports on how two companies have had to make recent changes to keep going. Click here. (11/15)
 
Evaluating America’s Green Energy Options Including Astroelectricity (Source: Space Review)
With a transition from fossil fuels inevitable, what alternative sources of energy can meet the nation’s needs? In the first of a series of articles, Mike Snead examines future energy needs and the role space-based solar power can play to fill them. Click here. (11/15)

Kayhan and Morpheus Partner for Collision Avoidance Service (Source: Space News)
Kayhan Space and Morpheus Space announced a strategic partnership to offer satellite operators a "one-click" collision-avoidance service. The service, announced Tuesday, combines Kayhan's space traffic management software with Morpheus' pay-as-you-go propulsion service. Customers will have the option to put spacecraft on autopilot, enabling them to perform collision-avoidance maneuvers autonomously, as well as manual operations. (11/15)

Space Perspective Buys Ship for Launching Balloon Missions (Source: Space News)
Space Perspective is buying a ship that will serve as a launch platform for its stratospheric balloons. The company says the MS Voyager ship will be used for launching its Spaceship Neptune vehicles, which will carry eight passengers into the stratosphere to give them views of Earth like those seen from space. The ship will enable the company to perform flights from locations beyond its home on Florida's Space Coast and also at varying times of day. Space Perspective plans to start a new round of uncrewed test flights of the vehicle early next year with commercial service to begin as soon as late 2024. (11/15)

Bezos Girlfriend to Fly on New Shepard (Source: Fortune)
The girlfriend of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is planning her own flight to space. Lauren Sánchez said in an interview that she expects to go on a New Shepard suborbital flight sometime next year, flying with a "great group of females." New Shepard flights have been grounded since an anomaly on a September uncrewed flight, and the company has provided few details on the progress of the investigation. (11/15)

Satixfy Completes its SPAC Merger (Source: SpaceWorks)
On October 28th, Satixfy Communications, Inc. (SATX) completed its SPAC merger with Endurance Acquisition Corp. (final close at $8.29) and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Opening at $20.92 per share, SATX reached as high as $52.59 but eventually closed at $29.39. The following trading days saw SATX’s stock perform similarly to other companies in the NewSpace Index that went public via SPAC merger: a sharp increase on the first day followed by a steady decrease in stock price over the following days, closing at $7.67 on November 3rd. (11/11)

ReOrbit Signs Contract with ESA’s InCubed Program (Source: SpaceWatch Global)
Satellite provider ReOrbit, has signed a contract with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) InCubed program to build the Muon product, a bundle which includes flight software together with avionics, to act as the backbone of the company’s spacecraft, ReOrbit said.

ReOrbit is aiming to launch a demonstration mission for the digital docking of two satellites allowing for reduced time-to-orbit and operational costs. The first phase of the “UKKO – Development and Demonstration of Technologies for Future Earth Observation Satellites” mission focuses on satellite performance. (11/14)

SpaceX, Relativity and Others Urge FCC to Stay in its Lane (Source: Tech Crunch)
Major space companies, including SpaceX and Relativity, are urging the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stick to its purview — spectrum usage — as it looks to potentially update its rules for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) missions.

There is plenty that the FCC could — and should do — to support ISAM missions that sit squarely within its regulatory bounds, the companies said. SpaceX and others, as well as startups like Orbit Fab, which wants to build refueling depots in space, and Starfish Space, which is developing a satellite servicing vehicle, submitted recommendations related to spectrum and ISAM. The commission also heard from Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance and other space companies and industry groups.

The FCC requested comments from industry after it opened a new proceeding on ISAM in August. In a statement, the commission said it specifically sought to understand how it could “update, clarify, or modify its rules and licensing processes” to support these emerging capabilities in space. SpaceX, Relativity and others said in their responses that the FCC should bring its considerable authority to bear on issues related to spectrum use and licensing — and only issues related to spectrum use and licensing. (11/11)

Private Rocket Vikram-S Puts India’s Space Economy in a New-Age Orbit (Source: Mint)
With the expected launch of Vikram-S, a rocket that will put three microsatellites into space at an altitude of 120 km, India’s state-run space program will evolve into a proper space economy with private sector participation. Vikram-S is a demonstration launch for Hyderabad-based start-up Skyroot, whose planned Vikram-1 rockets are intended to launch satellites into low-earth orbits.

Skyroot is far from the first private sector company to be part of India’s space programme, but it would be the first company to develop a launch vehicle and put satellites into space. One of the initial funders of Vikram-S’s developer Skyroot was Mukesh Bansal, who made his fortune selling the company he founded, Myntra, to Flipkart, and later selling Flipkart, whose shares he acquired while selling Myntra to Flipkart, to Wal-Mart. The space start-up is, thus, a success story of not just space ventures, but of start-up ventures, in general. (11/14)

U.N. to Hunt Sources of Climate-Warming Methane From Space (Source: Reuters)
The U.N.’s environment watchdog said on Friday it will launch a public database of global methane leaks detected by space satellites - part of a new program to encourage companies and governments to curb emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas. The system, dubbed MARS or Methane Alert and Response System, will build on a pledge signed by 119 countries since last year to cut methane emissions by 30% this decade, a goal scientists say is crucial to averting extreme climate change.

"The Methane Alert and Response System is a big step in helping governments and companies deliver on this important, short-term climate goal," Inger Andersen, executive eirector of the U.N. Environment Program, said in a statement issued at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. "Reducing methane emissions can make a big and rapid difference, as this gas leaves the atmosphere far quicker than carbon dioxide."

Methane, which has a much higher warming effect than carbon dioxide during its short lifespan, is responsible for about a quarter of the global rise in temperatures so far, scientists say. The MARS system will rely on an existing network of space satellites to spot methane plumes around the globe, estimate how big they are, and identify the company or government responsible, UNEP said. (11/11)

World’s Largest Solar Telescope Array is Now Complete (Source: Nature)
On the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, engineers just finished mounting the final pieces of hardware onto the world’s largest telescope array for studying the Sun. Construction of the Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope (DSRT), which consists of more than 300 dish-shaped antennas forming a circle more than 3 kilometres in circumference, was completed on 13 November. Trial operations will begin in June. The 100 million yuan (US$14 million) observatory will help researchers to study solar eruptions and how they affect conditions around Earth. (11/14)

AST SpaceMobile Deploys Largest-Ever Commercial Communications Array in Low Earth Orbit (Source: AST)
AST SpaceMobile successfully completed deployment of the communications array for its test satellite, BlueWalker 3 (“BW3”), in orbit. “The successful unfolding of BlueWalker 3 is a major step forward for our patented space-based cellular broadband technology and paves the way for the ongoing production of our BlueBird satellites,” said @AbelAvellan, CEO of AST SpaceMobile.

BW3 is the largest-ever commercial communications array deployed in low Earth orbit and is designed to communicate directly with cellular devices via 3GPP standard frequencies at 5G speeds. Now that it has been unfolded, the satellite spans 693 square feet in size, a design feature critical to support a space-based cellular broadband network. The satellite is expected to have a field of view of over 300,000 square miles on the surface of the Earth. (11/14)