November 29, 2022

L3Harris Provides Avionics for Artemis SLS (Source: L3Harris)
Space Coast-based L3Harris Technologies provided the booster, core  and upper stage avionics for NASA's launch of the Artemis I, enabling the safe launch of the Space Launch System and the United States’ first steps toward a return to the moon. From engine start through the first eight minutes of flight, as Artemis I accelerated to more than 17,000 mph, more than 30 L3Harris high-performance, advanced space launch avionics systems enabled command and control, trajectory and solid rocket booster jettison for the SLS. (11/16)

Surfing Santa in Space on Display (Source: Florida Today)
George Trosset Sr.'s small "Surfing Santa" soared into the Final Frontier late this summer, bringing back an official Blue Origin "Certificate of Flight" and inspiration for this year's Cocoa Beach event. The 14th edition of the ultra popular Surfing Santas exhibition takes place on Christmas Eve morning at the end of Minutemen Causeway and features some 400-500 holiday-attired surfers and thousands of spectators.

The plush toy, now encased in glass and recently displayed during a public reception at the Florida Surf Museum, traveled with Pineapples restaurant owner Steve Young some 63 miles up on the NS-22 (New Shepard) flight that launched from Texas. (11/29)

Virgin Orbit Abandons Securities Offering Amid Shrinking Cash Reserves, Financial Losses and Launch Delays (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Virgin Orbit has abandoned plans to sell additional securities “due to current market conditions” amid shrinking cash reserves, a declining stock price, financial losses and regulatory delays in launching satellites. "Any future capital raising transactions will depend upon future market conditions,” the company said.

Rising interest rates and weaker economic conditions have made raising funds more difficult. Virgin Orbit stock opened on $2.92 on Monday; it is presently down by more than 6 percent. The stock was worth $8.525 when it began trading on Nasdaq on Dec. 30, 2021. It peaked at $11.28 on Jan. 11. (11/28)

NASA to Cancel GeoCarb Mission, Expands Greenhouse Gas Portfolio (Source: NASA)
NASA announced Monday it intends to cancel development of its GeoCarb mission, and instead implement a plan for pursuing alternate options to measure and observe greenhouse gases. Newer options to make key greenhouse gas measurements are emerging that were not previously available for the agency when considering GeoCarb. For example, NASA’s newest instrument that launched in July to the International Space Station, the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), can measure methane. (11/29)

For ESA, a Good Enough Budget (Source: Space Review)
Ministers from the European Space Agency’s member states met in Paris last week to decide what programs would be funded, and by how much, over the next three years. Jeff Foust reports that while ESA didn’t get everything it asked for, agency leaders seemed satisfied with the funding they got given other challenges facing Europe. Click here. (11/29)
 
Evaluating America’s Green Energy Options Including Astroelectricity (Source: Space Review)
In the third part of his review of space-based solar power and alternative energy sources, Mike Snead examines whether wind and terrestrial solar power can meet future US green energy needs. Click here. (11/29)
 
Assembly Lines in Space: Enabling Construction of Rotating Space Settlements (Source: Space Review)
Space advocates have long dreamed of living in giant rotating habitats, but just how would you build one? John Strickland offers one proposal that brings the concept of the assembly line to microgravity. Click here. (11/29)

Strange Meteorite That Crashed Into Earth Contains Two Never-Before-Seen Minerals (Source: The Sun)
Two minerals that have never before been observed on Earth have been uncovered inside a meteorite. Dubbed El Alie, the 3,000 lb space rock was found in Somalia in 2020 and is the ninth-largest meteorite ever discovered. Scientists identified the two new minerals inside a single 2.5-ounce sheet of rock taken from the meteorite.

The two minerals have been named elaliite after the meteor, and elkinstantonite after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the managing director of the Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative. (11/29)

NASA Seeks to Address Aviation Emissions Through Aircraft Design Competition (Source: Executive Gov)
Aircraft makers are exploring blended-wing bodies, transonic truss-braced wing models, double-bubble concepts and other unconventional plane designs for passenger aircraft and NASA is advancing that to help improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions through a competition launched in June, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The NASA competition is seeking U.S. aircraft manufacturers that could help design and develop a full-scale demonstrator that could transport 150 passengers. The agency expects to have an aircraft prototype ready by 2027 and transition to mass production in the next 10 years. According to the report, submission of proposals for the aircraft design contest closed in September and NASA intends to announce in January the winning design with plans to use a portion of its space budget to fund construction and testing work on the selected aircraft. (11/28)

China Successfully Reignites Rocket Engine (Source: Space Daily)
China's rocket scientists and engineers have been working on creating reusable rockets for several years and have recently made substantial progress. The latest advance was the successful re-ignition test of the 130-metric-ton heavy-thrust liquid-propellant engine that will be tasked with lifting the reusable carrier rockets currently under development.

During the test, which took place in Xi'an in Shaanxi province on Saturday morning, the new reusable engine was successfully ignited twice and worked well both times, according to its developer the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (11/29)

China to Provide Training for Foreign Astronauts (Source: Space Daily)
The China Manned Space Agency is doing preparatory work for the training of foreign astronauts to fly aboard the nation's Tiangong space station, said Ji Qiming, assistant director of the agency. Ji said several nations have expressed to China their wish to send their astronauts to the Tiangong station.

"China is negotiating with relevant parties on this matter. We are actively preparing for training work for foreign astronauts," he said. After Tiangong's completion, China will continue to cooperate with foreign countries and regions that are dedicated to the peaceful use of space to carry out more joint projects, so that Tiangong's scientific and technological achievements can benefit all people around the world, Ji said. (11/29)

China Recruits New Reserve Astronauts, Open to Those From Hong Kong, Macao (Source: Space Daily)
hina is projected to recruit 12 to 14 new reserve astronauts, and the selection, which started in September, is open, for the first time, to payload experts from Hong Kong and Macao, according to the China Manned Space Agency on Monday. It will be the fourth batch of the country's reserve astronauts. The preliminary selection is currently in progress. The reexamination and confirmation processes will be followed.

Researchers and teachers from sci-tech institutions, universities, and colleges in Hong Kong and Macao in the field of biomedical engineering, machinery, electronics, material, chemistry, and astronomy enthusiastically applied for the selection, said Ji Qiming, assistant to the CMSA director, at a press conference on Monday. (11/29)

Nuclear Could Power China's First Lunar Base (Source: Bloomberg)
China plans to set up a base on the moon's South Pole by 2028 that will likely rely on nuclear power for long-term energy needs, per a report quoting Wu Weiran, chief designer of the country's lunar exploration program. China hopes to send astronauts to the moon within 10 years as it competes with NASA in the space exploration race. (11/25)

Space Force Orders Three GPS Satellites From Lockheed Martin (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has ordered three more GPS satellites from Lockheed Martin. The service announced Monday it was exercising an option in its contract with Lockheed for three GPS 3F satellites, designated SV 18, 19 and 20, valued at $744 million. GPS 3F is the newest version of the navigation satellites, with more advanced anti-jamming capabilities, an upgraded nuclear detection detonation system payload, an improved search and rescue payload, and a laser retroreflector array that provides greater geolocation accuracy. (11/29)

Artemis 1 Performing Well (Source: Space News)
Artemis 1 is in good shape at the halfway point of the mission. Agency officials said at a briefing Monday that the Orion spacecraft was performing well, with only minor issues encountered since its Nov. 16 launch. NASA is adding seven more objectives to the mission to test the vehicle's thermal performance and propulsion system. The spacecraft is in a distant retrograde orbit around the moon, where it will remain until a maneuver on Thursday. (11/29)

Space Force Readies Arctic EPS-R Payload for 2023 Launch (Source: Space News)
The Space Force has delivered the final communications payload that will launch on an Arctic broadband satellite. The Space Force said Monday it delivered the second and final Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) payload after providing the first in June. The payloads will go on Space Norway's Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission launching in 2023, providing military communications services in the Arctic region. (11/29)

Medium-Orbit Missile Warning Satellites Progressing Toward Launch in 2026 (Source: Space News)
Space Systems Command said Monday it is moving into the next phase of a program to demonstrate missile warning satellites in medium Earth orbit. The command said satellite designs by Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon Intelligence & Space each passed critical design reviews. Space Systems Command plans to conduct another review in summer 2023 of both companies' spacecraft designs, which, if passed, would allow the program to proceed into building "multiple" satellites for launch in late 2026. (11/29)

ESA Looks to NASA for ExoMars Support (Source: Space News)
ESA's decision to proceed with its ExoMars mission depends on support from NASA yet to be finalized. At the end of its ministerial meeting last week, ESA announced that member states funded a new path forward for the ExoMars mission, which was stranded after ESA terminated cooperation with Russia earlier this year.

However, that plan requires contributions from NASA for components not available in Europe, including a braking engine for the lander and radioisotope heaters for the spacecraft, which in turn requires the spacecraft to launch on a NASA-provided rocket. While ESA and NASA have previously said they were open to cooperating on ExoMars, the agreement between the agencies, including what roles NASA will play in exchange for its contributions, has yet to be concluded. (11/29)

Soyuz Rocket Launches Russian NavSat (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
A Soyuz rocket launched a Glonass navigation satellite Monday. The Soyuz-2.1b launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia at 10:17 a.m. Eastern and placed a Glonass satellite, Cosmos-2564, into orbit. The satellite is the last of the Glonass-M design, with future launches using the newer Glonass-K model. (11/29)

French President Visits NASA With VP Harris (Source: CNN)
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday at NASA. The two will hold a working meeting at NASA Headquarters and be briefed on space activities. The meeting, an unnamed administration official said, is intended to "showcase our deepening collaboration on space," but the official did not indicate if it would result in any new agreements between the two countries on space activities. (11/29)

Space Force Establishes Regional Command in South Korea (Source: Chosun Ilbo)
The U.S. Space Force is establishing a regional command in South Korea. The command will be based at U.S. Forces Korea headquarters and follows the establishment of a similar unit at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The unit will share information on missile tests and related activities with Japan and South Korea. (11/29)

Development of UK's Shetland Island Launch Facilities Ahead of Schedule (Source: STV)
Construction of launch facilities in the Shetland Islands is ahead of schedule. SaxaVord Spaceport on the island of Unst is building two launch pads and other facilities to host small launch vehicles, with work going ahead of schedule, according to project officials. SaxaVord hopes to host its first orbital launch sometime in 2023. (11/29)

Sidus Space Receives NOAA Tier 1 License (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space has secured U.S. regulatory approval to provide global data services from its upcoming LizzieSat-1 mission through a Tier 1 license granted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Securing the NOAA Tier 1 license, which has the fewest conditions under a streamlined regulatory regime that came into effect in 2020, is an important milestone toward our readiness to launch,” stated Carol Craig, CEO of Sidus Space. (11/29)

Soyuz-2.1b Launches Final GLONASS-M Satellite From Plesetsk (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
On Nov. 28, a Soyuz-2.1b launched from Site 43/3 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, carrying the final GLONASS-M satellite to orbit, designated Kosmos-2564. This is the first of two planned launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in just three days, with a classified payload scheduled to launch onboard a Soyuz-2.1a on Wednesday, Nov. 30. (11/28)

When Orion Splashes Down, a Florida Tech Professor Will Be There to Help (Source: Florida Tech)
When the Orion Crew Module splashes down in the Pacific Ocean Dec. 11 at the end of its 1.3-million-mile Artemis 1 mission, a Florida Tech faculty member will be on the vessel waiting to pick it up. J. Travis Hunsucker, ocean engineering and marine sciences assistant professor, will provide support for NASA’s Landing and Recovery Team.

Through a contract with Jacobs Technology, Hunsucker will utilize his expertise in wave and ship dynamics in the offshore recovery effort near San Diego next month. With a multi-billion-dollar spacecraft containing cutting-edge (and delicate) technology, how Orion is recovered and secured safely is critical. Part of having that happen successfully involves understanding how the waves are moving on the ocean surface. That can help the retrieval vessel avoid hitting waves in a way that will impact the module. (11/28)

AAC Clyde Space: First it Was Supply Chains, Now it’s Launch Delays That Will Reduce 2022 Revenue (Source: Space Intel Report)
Small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space said it will not meet its forecasted revenue target in 2022 because of delays in the launches of several of its satellites, which will push revenue expected this year into 2023. The Sweden- and Scotland-based company, which earlier this year had blamed supply-chain bottlenecks for delaying its expected cash-flow break-even to 2023, said revenue for the second half of 2022 likely will be 120.7 million Swedish krona ($11.6 million), some 16% shy of where it had though it would be. (11/28)

Agnikul Cosmos Inaugurates India's First Private Rocket Launchpad (Source: Money Control)
Agnikul Cosmos, a space technology startup based in Chennai, inaugurated India's first-ever privately designed and operated launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. The facility, designed by Agnikul and built in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), is divided into two sections: the Agnikul launchpad (ALP) and the Agnikul mission control center (AMCC). (11/28)