December 11, 2022

SpaceX Launches ispace Lunar Mission From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX in the early hours of December 11 launched ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 – the first privately-led Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface – from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. Also onboard this mission was NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lunar Flashlight. The first stage booster supporting this mission was successfully recovered at a landing pad on the spaceport. It previously launched SES-22 and three Starlink missions. (12/11)

Orion Capsule Splashdown Ends Successful Artemis 1 Test Mission (Source: SPACErePORT)
NASA retrieved its uncrewed Orion capsule after a Pacific Ocean splashdown on Sunday. The Orion spacecraft was launched atop NASA's new SLS heavy-lift rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on a mission to orbit the moon and prove the vehicles' readiness for crewed missions that ultimately will land on the moon and establish a lasting presence there for astronauts. (12/11)

Biden Administration Drafting Executive Order to Simplify Space Rules (Source: Reuters)
President Joe Biden's administration is drafting an executive order intended to streamline approval for private rocket launches amid a broader effort to bring legal and regulatory clarity for American companies on everything from space travel to private space stations, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the effort.

The order would be part of a push by the White House's National Space Council to modernize U.S. space regulation, which has failed to keep up with the increasingly ambitious pace of private-sector investment and development. The order, slated to be ready for Biden to sign by early 2023, is meant to simplify licensing procedures under existing laws for more routine space activities like launching rockets and deploying satellites, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named.

The order will task the U.S. Department of Commerce with creating an online tool to help guide companies through various agencies' licensing processes for space-related activities, one of the sources said. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, has signaled her intention to codify new rules for private space activities, but the plan for the executive order has not been reported. (12/9)

Artemis, Tiangong Successes in US-China Space Race Leave Russia Eating Cosmic Dust (Source: South China Morning Post)
Space exploration, once a spirited rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, has now become a contest between the US and China. Recent weeks have seen advances in the space programmes of both countries, and these advances have left Russia in the cosmic dust. A powerful new US rocket propelled an uncrewed module to the moon and beyond while the ISS, primarily funded and run by the US, continues to do good science.

Meanwhile, China’s newly expanded Tiangong space station recently refreshed its crew with a visit from Shenzhou 15. On November 16, the US-designed Space Launch System (SLS) thrust an uncrewed Orion capsule on a trajectory for the moon in its inaugural test flight as part of the Artemis programme. The SLS was supposed to be an answer to Russia’s Proton rockets and the legendary Saturn rocket.

As for Russia, its space swagger is gone, even though it was a vital part of the ISS until recently. The US provided most of the oxygen, but the Russian section of the craft carried the thrusters necessary to correct its orbit and manoeuvre the craft, so it was a true joint venture. Moreover, until the recent success of the SpaceX crewed launches, the US had no indigenous means of ferrying its astronauts to and from the ISS. It required Russian support in the form of rocket launches that lifted Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan into space. (12/10)

China’s New Space Station Opens for Business in an Increasingly Competitive Era of Space Activity (Source: The Conversation)
Unlike the collaborative, U.S.-led International Space Station, Tiangong is entirely built and run by China. The successful opening of the station is the beginning of some exciting science. But the station also highlights the country’s policy of self-reliance and is an important step for China toward achieving larger space ambitions among a changing landscape of power dynamics in space.

Like China’s aircraft carriers and other spacecraft, Tiangong is based on a Soviet-era design – it is pretty much a copy of the Soviet Mir space station from the 1980s. But the Tiangong station has been heavily modernized and improved. Tiangong is strictly Chinese made and managed, but China has an open invitation for other nations to collaborate on experiments aboard Tiangong. So far, nine projects from 17 countries have been selected. Although the new station is small compared to the 16 modules of the International Space Station, Tiangong and the science done aboard will help support China’s future space missions.

It remains to be seen how the map of space collaboration will change in the coming years. The U.S.-led Artemis Program that aims to build a self-sustaining habitat on the Moon is open to all nations, and 19 countries have joined as partners so far. China has also recently opened its joint Moon mission with Russia to other nations. This was partly driven by cooling Chinese-Russian relations but also due to the fact that because of the war in Ukraine, Sweden, France and the European Space Agency canceled planned missions with Russia. (12/9)

British Radioactive Waste to Power Mars and Moon Missions (Source: The Times)
Nuclear waste from Britain’s power plants is set to be blasted into space as a new power source onboard the next generation of Moon missions and Mars rovers. For the first time a radioactive element called americium can be extracted from nuclear waste, instead of being buried underground, to create batteries that will power the future of space exploration. The development is the result of a collaboration between the UK Space Agency and National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). (12/9)

Missouri Company Supports NASA Artemis Program (Source: KQTV)
WB Industries is a custom metal fabrication and machining company based in O’Fallon just outside of St. Louis. While what they contributed didn’t leave earth’s atmosphere, it was still a critical component to building and transporting parts of the rocket.

“We actually designed, built, fabricated, and installed two, 200 foot long aluminum work platforms that were used, actually, to build this rocket.” Gary Bertolucci, President WB Industries says. “We also built some different transportation carts that held the rings that were used to go around the rocket. So everything we built helps them to build it more efficiently, safely and obviously at the highest quality.” (12/10)