December 19, 2022

Space Florida: Leading in Space Commerce and the Future Lunar Economy (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida, the state’s aerospace finance and development authority, closes out 2022 with approximately $5.5 billion of statewide capital investment in its 150-project strong pipeline. Space Florida continued to expand its role in commercial spaceport operations by supporting two commercial launches at SLC-46, the only active multi-user launch pad on the Cape, and enabling 3,500 total flight operations at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) - including the arrivals of SpaceX’s Crews 4 and 5, the successful return of the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B unmanned spaceplane, and delivery of the heatshield for Artemis III.

Consciously innovating to further broaden the aerospace industrial base, Space Florida focused on diversifying the industry by working with new manufacturing operations across the supply chain as well as cutting-edge companies employing the industry’s top engineers and talent. Click here. (12/19)

Voyager Space Signs MoU with the Canadian Space Agency (Source: Voyager)
Voyager Space and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly explore how the CSA and the Canadian space sector could play a role in the planning and development of Starlab, Voyager's planned commercial space station, and the George Washington Carver Science Park, Starlab's on-orbit laboratory. This non-binding MOU also enables the two organizations to explore potential educational and commercial space research initiatives that could be conducted by Canadian and international astronauts on both the International Space Station and Starlab. (12/19)

Mars Has Enough Wind to Power Bases Near the Poles All Year Round (Source: New Scientist)
Wind turbines on Mars could theoretically provide enough energy for scientists to safely explore outer regions of the planet during crewed missions. Solar energy might be sufficient for investigating Mars near the equator, but to live nearer the poles all year round, other power sources are needed. In combination with solar power, well-placed wind turbines could supply enough energy for a group of six people to live and work on Mars all year round, without the radiation risks associated with nuclear energy, says NASAs's Victoria Hartwick.

Martian winds have about 99 per cent less force compared with the winds of the same speed on Earth due to the planet’s thin atmosphere. Studies of Martian winds since the 1970s have either concentrated on landing zones – which must be low-wind for safe landings – or on single assessments of mountainous ridges. These don’t provide the full picture of a region’s wind potential, which can vary considerably over a day, season and year, says Hartwick. (12/19)

Former SpaceX Executive Quits British Rocket Start-Up (Source: The Telegraph)
A former SpaceX executive has quit British rocket start-up Skyrora less than six months after he joined. Lee Rosen, who had joined Edinburgh-headquartered Skyrora as its chief operating officer, left the company in November, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Skyrora spokesman said Mr Rosen had left for “personal reasons” and planned to return to California. It is the latest blow to the space venture that is hoping to use a rocket base on the Shetland islands to fire small satellites into space. (12/18)

India Launched 177 Foreign Satellites From 19 Nations in 5 Years (Source: Hindustan Times)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has successfully launched 177 foreign satellites from 19 countries over the last five years, minister of state (independent charge) space, science and technology Dr Jitendra Singh told parliament. Singh said between January 2018 and November 2022, Isro via its commercial arms had successfully launched 177 foreign satellites from 19 countries — France, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. (12/19)

Good Housekeeping's 2023 Family Travel Awards Include KSC Visitor Complex (Source: Good Housekeeping)
Nothing beats taking a vacation with the people you love, but making it happen can be a ton of work. That's why the Good Housekeeping Institute launched its first ever Family Travel Awards. Travel experts, product analysts and vacation enthusiasts joined forces to find the best products, services and destinations for every preference.

Not only is the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex a fantastic side trip from Orlando, there's also much to do at this sprawling attraction. Operating a robotic arm, navigating simulators inside a Space Shuttle and seeing actual rockets up close will make your kids over the moon! Kids who are at least 44 inches tall can take the Space Shuttle Launch Experience and find out what it's like for astronauts in the minutes leading up to blast off. An indoor solar-system-themed playground (with an asteroid ring slide) helps burn off energy. (12/19)

Healthier Diets for Astronauts on Spaceflights May Improve Health and Performance (Source: Space Daily)
Astronauts could be given an enhanced diet during spaceflights that includes a greater variety and quantity of fruits, vegetables, and fish to improve their health and performance compared to standard spaceflight food, reports a study published in Scientific Reports. Although conducted in a spaceflight simulation chamber on Earth with 16 individuals, these findings may have implications for astronaut health and decisions about food resource priorities on spaceflights.

Long-duration spaceflight is known to impact human health, and spacecraft size and power constraints limit what can be taken into space. The food astronauts eat may have the potential to mitigate some negative health changes during spaceflight, but in turn the food can be limited by mass, volume, shelf-life, and storage requirements. (12/18)

Third US-Republic of Korea Civil Space Dialogue (Source: Space Daily)
Officials from the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) met in Seoul on December 15 and 16 for the third U.S.-Republic of Korea Civil Space Dialogue. The Dialogue was first announced in a joint statement by U.S. President Joe Biden and President Yoon Suk Yeol of the Republic of Korea during a May 2022 visit to Seoul. The two leaders committed to strengthen the U.S.-ROK Alliance across all sectors of space cooperation, including joint research in space exploration.

This commitment was reaffirmed during Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to Seoul in September 2022, where she and President Yoon discussed the ROK's decision to join the United States in committing to not conduct destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing. (12/18)

L3Harris to Acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 Billion (Source: Space News)
L3Harris announced Sunday it reached an agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion. L3Harris is buying Aerojet at $58 per share in an all-cash transaction expected to close sometime next year, pending regulatory approvals. The acquisition of Aerojet would give L3Harris a greater footprint in civil space, strategic defense systems and precision munitions. As the last remaining independent U.S. supplier of propulsion systems for tactical missiles, Aerojet, for the past two years, has been at the center of a contentious battle over the consolidation of aerospace and defense industry firms. Lockheed Martin planned to acquire Aerojet for $4.4 billion but dropped the deal early this year after the Federal Trade Commission stepped in to block it on antitrust grounds. (12/19)

NASA Delays ISS Spacewalk to Support Soyuz Coolant Leak Investigations (Source: Space News)
NASA has delayed an International Space Station spacewalk to support ongoing investigations of a coolant leak on a Soyuz spacecraft docked there. NASA said late Friday it delayed the spacewalk by astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio to install a solar array from Monday to Wednesday so it could use the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to survey the exterior of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft. That survey was intended to help identify the location of the coolant leak that took place late Wednesday, just before a scheduled spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts. Roscosmos said Saturday that conditions on the Soyuz were within acceptable limits despite the loss of coolant. The agency will decide on next steps at a meeting in late December, adding that it could accelerate preparations for the launch of the next Soyuz spacecraft if needed. (12/19)

Winds Cause Virginia Launch Scrub for Rocket Lab (Source: Space.com)
Upper-level winds scrubbed Rocket Lab's launch of an Electron rocket from Virginia Sunday. The company had aimed to launch Electron during a two-hour window that opened at 6 p.m. Eastern, but upper-level winds violated launch constraints, forcing the company to scrub the launch. Rocket Lab said it would not attempt a launch Monday, the last day of the current launch period, because of continued strong upper-level winds. The company said it is "assessing remaining opportunities" this month before holiday airspace restrictions go into effect. The company did note that the FAA and NASA had finalized range-related paperwork that had previously delayed the launch. (12/19)

North Korea Conducts Suborbital Launch to Test Reconnassance Satellite Tech (Source: Voice of America)
North Korea says it tested technology for a future reconnaissance satellite on a launch Sunday. The suborbital launch of a missile carried a camera that returned images of the South Korean capital of Seoul, according to North Korea's state news agency. The launch was designed to test that system for use on a satellite that will be completed in April, according to the government. The images released by North Korea are low resolution, with far better commercial imagery readily available. (12/19)

Space Council Advisory Group Members Named (Source: Space News)
The White House announced Friday a new roster for the National Space Council's Users' Advisory Group. The new lineup includes only a handful of people that served on the group in the previous administration, including its chairman, Les Lyles. The new members of the 30-person group include aerospace executives, people with backgrounds in climate science and the environment, and education and workforce experts. The White House did not announce plans for a first meeting of the new group or what it will be tasked to study. (12/19)

VentureScope Selected to Set Up US Air Force Business Accelerator (Source: Space News)
VentureScope, a consulting and venture investment firm, won a contract to set up an internal accelerator for the U.S. Air Force. The $750,000 SBIR will allow VentureScope to establish The Refinery, an accelerator to help innovators within the Air Force address problems and devise solutions that could be adopted throughout the Air Force and Defense Department. This is the latest in a series of efforts by the DoD to forge ties with commercial firms developing technology and services with promising military applications. (12/19)

South Korean Spacecraft Enters Lunar Orbit (Source: Korea Times)
South Korea's Danuri spacecraft has entered orbit around the moon. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute confirmed Monday that the spacecraft successfully performed a lunar orbit insertion burn Saturday, placing the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit. Four more maneuvers are scheduled for this month to lower the spacecraft into its final orbit at an altitude of 100 kilometers. Danuri, launched in August on a Falcon 9, used a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory to reduce the energy needed to enter lunar orbit. (12/19)

Philip Harlow Joins Telesat Government Solutions as President (Source: Satellite Evolution)
Telesat, one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators, today announced the appointment of Philip Harlow as President of Telesat Government Solutions, a US-incorporated, wholly-owned subsidiary of Telesat that is focused on providing resilient and secure satellite solutions to the US Government and allied nations. (12/19)

Advent to Make Maxar Private in $6.4 Billion Deal (Source: Space Daily)
The deal gives Maxar a value of $6.4 billion. Advent will take a $3.1 billion stake in the space company, with British Columbia Investment Management Corporation making a $1 billion equity contribution. Maxar shares closed at $23.10 on Thursday. The agreement with Advent at $53 represents a nearly 130% increase. (12/18)