November 18, 2022

ULA Wants More DoD Block Buys (Source: Space News)
The head of United Launch Alliance is calling on the Space Force to make more block buys of launch services in its next procurement, given strong commercial launch demand. In an interview, Tory Bruno said there has been a shift to a "scarcity environment" in launch, with more demand than capacity for the first time in decades. Bruno said both ULA and SpaceX, which currently have National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts with the Space Force, will be hard pressed to meet government and growing commercial demand. He advised the service to do block buys "to avoid being caught in a position where they can't get on a manifest when they want to, or have the flexibility that they've had in the past." The Space Force and the Defense Department are still discussing a strategy for the next NSSL launch services procurement, called Phase 3. (11/18)

Boeing to Reorganize Space, Defense Divisions (Source: Space News)
Boeing is reorganizing the part of the company that handles space and defense work. The company said Thursday that Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) would consolidate its eight current divisions into four, including Space, Intelligence & Weapon Systems. That division will be led by space industry veteran Kay Sears, who joined Boeing in February as vice president and general manager of autonomous systems. Jim Chilton, who was senior vice president of space and launch, will continue to oversee space exploration and launch programs until February, when he will move into a new role advising Ted Colbert, head of BDS, on future space ventures. (11/18)

Japan Agrees to ISS Support Through 2030 (Source: Space News)
The Japanese government has formally agreed to extend participation on the International Space Station through 2030. The government announced the extension in a virtual signing ceremony for an updated agreement with NASA for cooperation on the lunar Gateway. The Japanese space agency JAXA will provide components for several Gateway elements and perform a cargo resupply mission. In return, NASA will fly a JAXA astronaut to the Gateway on an Artemis mission. Japan joins the United States in officially agreeing to participate on the station through 2030, although both Canada and Europe have expressed their intent to do so. (11/18)

NASA Declares Success for LOFTID Heat Shield Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA said Thursday a test flight of an inflatable heat shield last week was a success. NASA flew the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) on the Atlas 5 launch of a weather satellite Nov. 10, with the payload inflating a heat shield six meters across before reentering and splashing down in the Pacific. Project officials said they are only beginning detailed analysis of data collected during the flight, but that initial reviews show that the heat shield performed as planned, splashing down in "pristine" condition. NASA is considering larger versions of LOFTID for Mars missions, while ULA is studying the technology for recovering the engines of its Vulcan rocket. (11/18)

Microsoft Azure Aims to Ease Space Application Development (Source: Space News)
Microsoft is rolling out software to make it easier to develop space-related applications. The Azure Orbital Space Software Development Kit is designed to help software developers create applications that can run on spacecraft operated by Azure Orbital partners, including Ball Aerospace, Loft Orbital, Thales Alenia Space and Xplore. The hosting platform is designed to help applications securely communicate with spacecraft hardware, meaning developers can test code in space. Demands for rapid data processing are surging as Earth observation, communications and space domain awareness missions turn to artificial intelligence and machine learning to speed up operations and increase spacecraft autonomy. (11/18)

Japanese Lunar Lander Set for Nov. 28 Launch From Florida (Source: Space News)
A Japanese commercial lunar lander is now scheduled for launch late this month. Tokyo-based ispace said this week its HAKUTO-R M1 lander is scheduled to launch Nov. 28 on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The company had scheduled the launch for earlier this month but delayed it to provide additional payload processing time. The lander will spend up to five months traveling to the moon, landing in Atlas Crater at Mare Frigoris in the northern regions of the moon. The company also announced it obtained insurance for the mission from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a Tokyo-based firm that started working with ispace in 2019. (11/18)

European Union to Fund Connectivity Constellation (Source: European Commission)
European Union members have reached an agreement on their role in a secure connectivity constellation with a new name. The European Commission said Thursday that the European Parliament and member states reached a political agreement to contribute 2.4 billion euros from 2023 through 2027 on the secure connectivity system. That constellation of satellites will know be known as IRIS², or Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite. The European Space Agency and companies are also expected to contribute to the program, with a total cost of six billion euros. (11/18)

Cosmonauts Conduct ISS Spacewalk (Source: Space.com)
Two Russian cosmonauts conducted a spacewalk Thursday to prepare for moving components from one module to another. Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin spent 6 hours and 25 minutes outside the station, working to prepare a radiator that will later be moved from the Rassvet module to the Nauka module. In addition, they helped set up the move of an airlock, also attached to Rassvet, to Nauka. The radiator and airlock will be relocated using a robotic arm on later spacewalks. (11/18)

Indian Startup Skyroot Launches Suborbital Rocket (Source: The Hindu)
An Indian startup successfully launched a suborbital rocket Friday. Skyroot Aerospace launched its Vikram-S rocket from ISRO's Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 1 a.m. Eastern. The rocket reached an apogee of 89.5 kilometers before splashing down in the Bay of Bengal five minutes after liftoff. Skyroot launched the rocket to test key subsystems it plans to use in its orbital vehicles. The launch was the first by a privately built rocket in India to go to space. (11/18)

ABL Scrubs Second Launch Attempt in Alaska (Source: ABL Space Systems)
ABL Space System scrubbed its second attempt to launch its first RS1 rocket Thursday. The company said that it aborted the launch during ignition, but did not disclose additional details about the problem other than to say the vehicle was "healthy." ABL has not announced when it will try again, but it has additional launch windows daily from Kodiak, Alaska, though Monday. (11/18)

UK's Skyrora Readies for Orbital Launch Before January (Source: Space News)
Skyrora says it is still on track for a first orbital launch next year despite a failed suborbital test last month. The company launched its 11-meter-long Skylark L single-stage vehicle from Iceland, planning to go to at least 100 kilometers, but the rocket flew only to 300 meters before crashing into the ocean. Skyrora says a software problem caused the failure, but it still achieved around 60% of what it hoped to accomplish with the flight. It will conduct another Skylark L launch from Iceland next April while preparing for a first orbital launch attempt with the Skyrora XL late next year from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. (11/18)

Precious Payload Partners with Launch Service Providers (Source: Space News)
Precious Payload has announced partnerships with a pair of companies to market payload slots and launches on its online satellite launch marketplace. Through one agreement announced this week with Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), launches of the RFA One rocket will be added to the launch schedule hosted on Precious Payload's Launch.ctrl marketplace. Under a separate agreement with Arkisys, Precious Payload will market upcoming hosted payload slots on Arkisys' Port, the orbital outpost that company is developing. (11/18)

Planetary Society's Solar Sail Spacecraft Reenters (Source: Planetary Society)
A privately developed solar sail demonstration spacecraft has reentered. The Planetary Society said its LightSail 2 spacecraft reentered Thursday, nearly three and a half years after launch. The spacecraft deployed a 32-square-meter sail used to slow down, and at times overcome, atmospheric drag. Over time, though, the spacecraft could not overcome increased drag and its orbit decayed. The Planetary Society said the mission was a success, and it shared data from it with other missions, including those developed by NASA, that use solar sails. (11/18)

SpaceX Fans Should Stand Behind NASA and Support Artemis (Source: Space News)
Do we want to see China and its allies take a space leadership role for the rest of this century? If not, we all must do our best to support the Artemis program. In particular, we don’t need a conflict between the supporters of NASA and SpaceX.

This is not the moment to criticize NASA. This is the moment to stand united behind NASA and support the Artemis program. By all indications, if pragmatic realpolitik keeps the program alive and successful for as long as it takes, the role of SpaceX will be reconsidered. According to the current plan Artemis 3 — the first Artemis mission to land astronauts on the surface of the moon — will use Starship as its lunar lander. SpaceX enthusiasts should see this as an encouraging first step toward the gradual integration of Starship into the Artemis program. (11/15)

SLS and Artemis Warrant Continued Robust Support (Source: Space News)
It’s important to remember the journey of how we got here. After the success of the Space Shuttle Program and a slump in American space activity, it was time for NASA to look forward. From there, many of our nation’s space leaders, including NASA, Congress, and Industry, joined forces to develop the Space Launch System. Building from existing technology and capabilities, the SLS not only revitalized American space ambitions for the 21st century, but also saved countless jobs and sustained our workforce for the challenges of today.

As the U.S. faces down existential adversaries unseen since the Cold War, this sustainment has proven vital as we seek to counter a rising China and a resurgent Russia. In this new era, STEM talent is a critical currency, and ensuring that the best and the brightest assisting these programs like Artemis remain at NASA and within our American space industry is of paramount importance. Additionally, as these adversaries seek to militarize space, SLS’s heavy-lift capability not only makes it a unique entity for NASA, but also for national security as well.

Therefore, it will be more important than ever for Congress to continue its robust support and funding for not just SLS and the near-term Artemis missions but also its future configurations and infrastructure. Specifically, Block 1B, Block 2, and the Mobile Launcher 2 Platform — all crucial aspects needed for the broader Artemis program to succeed. Without these items, other aspects of Artemis, including Gateway, and our efforts for sustained lunar habitation, may be at great risk. (11/18)

Artemis I Shook Off Hurricane Fears to Display Rocket’s Heartiness (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The fears that damage from 100 mph winds from Hurricane Nicole would derail NASA’s Artemis I launch proved unfounded as the $4.1 billion Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft blasted off from Kennedy Space Center early Wednesday morning. The SLS rocket used a record-setting 8.8 million pounds of thrust between its core stage and two solid rocket boosters to send into space Orion along with an upper stage that added its own 18-minute burn that sent the capsule even farther away from the planet’s gravitational pull and on its way to the moon like clockwork.

The core stage endured winds from Hurricane Zeta when it was testing at Stennis Space Center in 2020, part of a year in which the Gulf Coast and NASA facilities shut down because of threats from five hurricanes and a tropical storm. And this year, Artemis I’s bad hurricane luck continued with NASA choosing to roll back a launch-ready rocket to the safety of KSC’s Vehicle Assembly Building in September to avoid the threat of Hurricane Ian, which ended up carving a path in between Launch Pad 39-A and 39-B at Kennedy Space Center. (11/17)

Trump Tweeted an Image From a Spy Satellite, Declassified Document Shows (Source: NPR)
Three years ago, Donald Trump tweeted an image that left intelligence experts gobsmacked. The picture was of a rocket that had exploded on a launch pad deep inside of Iran. It was so crisp, that some initially thought it may not have been taken by a satellite.

"This picture is so exquisite, and you see so much detail," says Jeffrey Lewis, who studies satellite imagery at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. "At first, I thought it must have been taken by a drone or something." But aerospace experts quickly determined it was photographed using one of America's most prized intelligence assets: a classified spacecraft called USA 224 that is widely believed to be a multibillion-dollar KH-11 reconnaissance satellite. (11/18)

SPACECOM Reorganization Streamlines Command Structure (Source: Breaking Defense)
Space Command has announced a restructuring designed to streamline its unwieldly command structure to allow more rapid decision-making — a move presaged in an early draft signed off last year by SPACECOM Commander Gen. Jim Dickinson. “To outpace our strategic competitor, the People’s Republic of China, I am rapidly building the command to compete and win in the space domain, deter aggression from extending to space, and, when necessary, prevail in conflict,” said Dickinson.

The reshuffle, announced Tuesday, folds the two functional component commands responsible for day-to-day tactical operations — the Joint Task Force-Space Defense (JTF-SD) and the Combined Force Space Component Command (CFSCC) — underneath one new organization, called the Combined Joint Task Force-Space Operations (CJTF-SO). (11/16)

Iceland to Space Tourists: Save Money and Visit There Instead (Source: AdWeek)
The Nordic land of Iceland has become known in recent years for tourism campaigns that stand apart with some outlandish ideas featuring ponies and Mark Zuckerberg lookalikes. The country’s latest galactic focus follows that trend as it calls on space tourists to come there instead.

Following billionaires like Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ attempts to make space tourism a reality, Iceland’s natural landscape is the focus of the country’s latest campaign titled “Iceland. Better Than Space,” which highlights it as a viable alternative to otherworldly environments. Space tourists and astronauts are invited to make the cheaper and more environmentally friendly trip to the country where they will receive unlimited oxygen, fresh food and can partake in a geothermal spa in the process. (11/16)

What Are Your Passenger Rights in Space? (Source: Washington Post)
If you’ve been dreaming of a space flight on Blue Origin, SpaceX or Virgin Galactic, then you might have wondered about your passenger rights once you leave Earth. “It’s extremely complicated,” says Jane Reifert, a space tourism expert who runs the tour operator Incredible Adventures. She says passenger rights are near the bottom of the list of concerns. The contracts space travelers sign deal with life-or-death issues.

“Passengers on space flights will be required to sign their lives away — literally,” she says. “They’ll need to acknowledge and accept the risk of death. Before flying, they’ll need to agree to medical screening and some degree of preflight training. “Expecting commercial space flights to be anything like commercial air travel would be a huge mistake,” she adds.

The FAA is nominally in charge of regulating commercial space tourism through its Office of Commercial Space Transportation. There’s no mention of customer service or consumer rights on the FAA’s webpage for human spaceflight, and an agency spokesman told me that it does not have the authority to regulate customer service issues. For now, each commercial space company is free to set its own terms. And they do. Click here. (11/16)

Communication with Japan's Moon Lander Unstable (Source: Kyodo News)
Japan's space agency said Thursday it has been unable to establish stable communication with the country's mini moon lander launched on a U.S. rocket the previous day along with a mini satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it is now trying to control the position of the Omotenashi lander, adding its system of automatically turning to the Sun to gain solar power appears to be not functioning.

Japan's space agency said Thursday it has been unable to establish stable communication with the country's mini moon lander launched on a U.S. rocket the previous day along with a mini satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said it is now trying to control the position of the Omotenashi lander, adding its system of automatically turning to the Sun to gain solar power appears to be not functioning. (11/16)

NASA’s Rules for Astronaut Posting: No TikTok, Don’t Embarrass Us (Source: Vox)
The line between astronaut and influencer is only set to grow more complex as we enter this next space age. Along with a surging number of private space launches for the ultra-wealthy, companies like Virgin Galactic and Axiom are preparing to bring influencers, media productions, and even an entertainment studio to low-Earth orbit. And while social media posts will become demonstrations of conspicuous consumption for rich space tourists, professional astronauts traveling for NASA will still be the ones charged with putting a face on humanity’s ventures into outer space.

The stakes are incredibly high. Social media is just one small part of the upcoming era of space exploration, but platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok are set to be one of the primary ways that the vast majority of people here on Earth will experience space, and even the lunar surface.

Astronauts have branched out onto other platforms as they’ve become more popular. When Wiseman was on the ISS in 2014, for example, he posted the first Vine from space, a looping video of the ISS’s circulation around the Earth. Two years later, Mark Zuckerberg hosted the first Facebook livestream with astronauts in space. Social media strategists at the European Space Agency (ESA), meanwhile, are in touch with astronauts on a daily basis, according to Marco Trovatello, a communications officer at the ESA. (11/16)

Companies Have Diverging Views on the Future of European Launch (Source: Space News)
Arianespace and German launch startups Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg are moving towards first launches next year but have mixed views on how the European launch sector has and should develop. Arianespace will launch its final three Ariane 5 missions next year, including ESA’s Juice mission to Jupiter, and then transition to the first launch of the Ariane 6.

Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg meanwhile are working towards their own, first flights, with their respective new, light lift orbital launchers. That the new launch vehicles are not ready is problematic, Guillen notes. “We don’t have the capacity that we need, especially in Europe. More than 50 launches are happening from the US when in Europe we launch what, four or five so far. So I think we need the capacity and we need to lower the cost to access space. (11/16)

On the NRO’s Wish List: AI Technologies to Manage Satellites and Data (Source: Space News)
The NRO wants to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to orchestrate the operation of imaging satellites and to analyze data in orbit. “We are taking seriously the need to move faster in all the things that we do,” said Chris Scolese. Scolese said the NRO today can take satellites from the drawing board to the launch pad in less than three years. It is launching satellites on multiple commercial rockets in the U.S. and overseas.

The next innovation the agency has set its sights on is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to orchestrate the operation of imaging satellites and to analyze data in orbit. Scolese said AI and machine learning are key areas where he could use more help from the private sector. In-space analytics would allow the NRO to deliver critical intelligence to users on the ground faster “by reducing the amount of data that comes down to just what’s needed,” he said. (11/16)

SpaceX Is Recruiting People To Live And Work At Its Starbase In Texas (Source: Forbes)
Sun, sand and Starships. That’s the pitch SpaceX is offering to anyone looking to start a new career in the commercial space industry and maybe just hungering for proximity to the world’s richest man and his obsession with orbit, Mars and beyond. SpaceX currently lists over 1,000 job openings at its US locations via its website and job sites like Indeed. Of those, nearly fifteen percent are located in Brownsville, Texas near the company’s Starship development center, also known as Starbase or the sleepy Gulf Coast village once called Boca Chica. (11/16)

SpaceX Employees Say They Were Fired for Speaking Up About Elon Musk (Source: New York Times)
In June, about 20 engineers were invited to a meeting hosted at the headquarters of the rocket manufacturer SpaceX. The subject of the conversation: the company’s founder and chief executive, Elon Musk. The day before, the company had moved to fire five employees who had written a letter calling on SpaceX to condemn the “harmful Twitter behavior” of Mr. Musk, who had used the social network to make light of a news report that SpaceX had settled a sexual harassment claim against him.

Several of the engineers filed into the meeting expecting a sympathetic ear, as some managers and executives had indicated that they did not condone Mr. Musk’s behavior. But the meeting, which has not been previously reported, quickly became heated, according to two SpaceX employees in attendance.

They said Jon Edwards, the vice president leading the meeting, had characterized the letter as an extremist act and declared that the writers had been fired for distracting the company and taking on Mr. Musk. When asked whether the chief executive could sexually harass his workers with impunity, Mr. Edwards did not appear to answer, the two employees said. But they said the meeting had a recurring theme — that Mr. Musk could do whatever he wanted at the company. (11/17)

Spire Global Reveals Larger, New-Gen 16U Satellite Bus (Source: Space News)
Spire Global has unveiled a new-generation satellite bus to meet demand for larger and more capable satellites. The 16U platform was announced at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany, Nov. 15. It is focused on meeting demands of Earth observation and space domain awareness customers with missions that require larger payloads and more power, volume, and data capabilities than a conventional 16U, according to Spire. (11/16)