December 2, 2022

General Electric, L3Harris Competed For Aerojet Takeover (Source: Benzinga)
Industrial conglomerate General Electric and defense contractor L3Harris were among those competing to acquire rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings. Aircraft producer Textron and private equity firm Veritas Capital also vied to snap California-based Aerojet, which has a market value of about $4 billion, Reuters reported.

Aerojet ran a process to sell itself after its $4.4 billion sale to Lockheed Martin was thwarted by antitrust regulators in February. If the negotiations conclude successfully, they could forge a deal by the end of December. Aerojet does not see in the line-up of bidders the antitrust issues that led to the demise of its deal with Lockheed because none of the suitors are direct competitors or share much of the same supply chain. (12/1)

After Bankruptcy and War, OneWeb Turns to a Competitor for Help (Source: Ars Technica)
There's one thing that can be definitively said about broadband communications company OneWeb: It's a survivor. The company has persisted through several different owners, a bankruptcy, having its satellites taken as hostages amid a regional war, and nearly completing a satellite Internet constellation in low-Earth orbit. Now, the London-based company is set to take the next step in its meandering but persistent journey toward success. As early as Tuesday, December 6, a batch of 40 satellites is due to launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. SpaceX, of course, is a competitor in satellite broadband Internet. (12/2)

Astra Elevates Senior Leaders to Management Team (Source: Astra)
Astra Space announced the evolution of its management team to include program execution. “Key to delivering the full power of Astra to our customers is having a senior leadership team with deep experience, knowledge and connectivity across the entire company — what we call horizontal leadership”, said Chris Kemp, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Astra. Giovanni Greco will lead Launch System Delivery. Jonathan Donaldson will lead Astra Spacecraft Engine Delivery. Doug Kunzman will lead Launch and Test Operations. Bryson Gentile will lead Manufacturing.

Also, Benjamin Lyon resigned from his position as the chief engineer and executive vice president of operations and engineering of Astra to pursue another professional opportunity. (12/2)

FCC Approves SpaceX Second-Generation Starlink Deployment (Source: Space News)
The FCC will allow SpaceX to begin deployment of its second-generation Starlink constellation while it reviews the overall 30,000-satellite proposal. The FCC published an order Thursday allowing SpaceX to launch up to 7,500 satellites into three orbital planes while deferring consideration of the rest of the proposed system. The FCC said that decision allows SpaceX to begin deployment and provide services while giving the FCC more time to address concerns, such as orbital safety, posed by the full constellation.

SpaceX will have to coordinate spectrum used by the system with other operators, work with NASA to avoid conflicts with the agency's satellites, and cooperate with the NSF and astronomers to reduce interference with optical and radio astronomy observations. (12/2)

Eutelsat Orders Flexsat to Link Multi-Orbit Services (Source: Space News)
Eutelsat has ordered a geostationary broadband satellite to support multi-orbit services in the Americas from 2026. Eutelsat said Thursday the Flexsat satellite it ordered from Thales Alenia Space is designed to be interoperable with the LEO constellation operated by OneWeb, with whom Eutelsat is merging. Eutelsat has previously said its GEO satellites could provide more capacity to congested areas than OneWeb's LEO network. In contrast, OneWeb satellites offer reduced latency and pole-to-pole coverage. (12/2)

Rocket Lab Creates Unit to Focus on DoD and Intel Opportunities (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab is creating a separate entity to focus on U.S. defense and intelligence agency customers. Rocket Lab National Security, which will also work with U.S. allies, is designed to address what the company called "different bureaucratic requirements to commercial launches." Establishing a national security business follows Rocket Lab's recent introduction of a "responsive space" program aimed at government customers. (12/2)

Orion Begins Return to Earth (Source: Space News)
Orion started its return to Earth with a maneuver Thursday. The spacecraft fired its main engine for 105 seconds Thursday afternoon to depart the distant retrograde orbit around the moon it has been in since last Friday. Orion will perform a second maneuver, called the return powered flyby, on Monday as it swings by the moon, putting it on course to return to Earth. The Artemis 1 mission will conclude with a splashdown off the California coast on Dec. 11. Mission managers said this week that the spacecraft is meeting or exceeding expectations, allowing them to add additional test objectives to the flight. (12/2)

Cognitive Space Hires Retired USAF General (Source: Space News)
Cognitive Space, a startup developing software to manage spacecraft operations, has hired a former general as a strategic adviser. U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Aaron Prupas was most recently director for defense intelligence at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. Prupas will help guide the company as it seeks to expand its defense and intelligence business. Cognitive Space has won several SBIR contracts for its artificial intelligence-driven software used to manage and schedule satellite operations on a cloud platform. (12/2)

ISS Spacewalk Focuses on Solarr Array Installation (Source: NASA)
Two NASA astronauts will perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Saturday. Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio will start the seven-hour spacewalk at about 7:25 a.m. Eastern to begin work installing two new solar arrays delivered to the station on a Dragon cargo spacecraft. The two will perform a second spacewalk Dec. 19 to complete the installation of the arrays. (12/2)

Hughes' President Kaul Retiring (Source: Hughes)
Pradman Kaul, the longtime president of Hughes Network Systems, is retiring. The company announced this week that Kaul would step down at the end of the year after serving as president of the satellite communications company since 2000. He joined Hughes as its tenth employee in 1973. He will continue to serve on parent company EchoStar's board of directors in a new role as vice chairman. (12/2)

JWST Used to Study Titan's Atmosphere (Source: Space.com)
Planetary scientists have used the James Webb Space Telescope to study clouds in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Images released Thursday, taken less than a month ago, showed cloud features and haze in the atmosphere of Titan. The same features were seen two days later in observations by the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, having changed in shape. JWST also collected spectral data that scientists are still analyzing to study the atmosphere's composition. (12/2)

Space Force Must Adapt to Strengthen Commercial Ties, Raymond Says (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Space Force must reform its business practices to take full advantage of the resiliency and innovation commercial industry has to offer, according to the former chief of space operations. In his first public appearance since retiring in early November, former Space Force chief Jay Raymond said that just as the U.S. Department of Defense depends on a strong relationship with international allies, it also relies heavily on commercial industry. “Our commercial industry is a strategic advantage for our nation,” Raymond said. (12/1)

Australia the ‘Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow’ in New Space Race (Source: ASPI)
One of America’s top space officials says Australia is ‘prime country’ as the strategic competition for space heats up. In Australia for a range of talks, including a dialogue held by ASPI, US Space Force director of staff Lieutenant-General Nina Armagno said that Australia’s strategic geography was a great asset when it comes to the sites needed for global space domain awareness and that northern Australia’s proximity to the equator could also allow for efficient launches into orbit.

‘Australia is sitting on a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for our common national security interests,’ she told a briefing to media alongside US Space Command’s Lieutenant-General John E. Shaw. ‘This is prime country for space domain awareness,’ she said, referring to the logging and tracking of objects orbiting the earth, ranging from small pieces of potentially dangerous debris to vital satellites. (12/2)

Branson: ‘I Had to Sell Pretty Much All of My Shares in Virgin Galactic’ (Source: The Telegraph)
We’ve seen a lot of sides to Sir Richard Branson over the years: the bumbling hippy, the reckless stuntman, the cut-throat mogul – but until now, with the release of his new biopic, we haven’t seen him cry. In the very first minute we see him attempt to record a farewell message to his family from his Caribbean home on Necker Island, ahead of his launch into space with Virgin Galactic last year, to be played from beyond the grave should it end in disaster.

Branson’s participation in the billionaire’s space race – which he won on July 11, 2021, after his rocket launch beat Jeff Bezos’s by a matter of days – has also tarnished his reputation in recent years. I ask him what he says to all the naysayers who accuse him of wasting money on going into space when there are so many problems to solve on planet Earth. “It’s a fair question,” he responds. “But space innovation has already transformed the world in positive ways and it will continue to do so.

He said he had to make some sacrifices to keep Virgin Atlantic going. “Our team then managed to swing an extremely expensive private loan to keep Virgin Atlantic afloat, but we’re now competing on a very tilted playing field. I also had to sell pretty much all of my shares in Virgin Galactic, which was obviously a great pity.” (12/1)

NASA Is Developing a Pressurized Lunar Rover for Artemis Mission Astronauts (Source: Popular Mechanics)
The Artemis mission is aiming to put astronauts back on the moon, but first, they’ll need a rover to camp around in. NASA teamed up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to test a prototype design for a pressurized lunar rover in the Northern Arizona desert in October, all part of a plan to have the rover ready for Artemis VII in 2030. The testing was led by NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) program, which tests technology at the Black Point Lava Flow near SP Crater. The researchers focused on “conducting pressurized rover operations,” a key element of future Artemis missions.

The design requires that astronauts can live and work comfortably inside the rover for and extended period of time, while periodically exiting the vehicle to collect samples or conduct experiments. The pressurized rover will function as a mini base for the astronauts to live in while away from the permanent lunar base camp that NASA is planning to build. There’s also another, smaller rover being designed for the Artemis mission, which NASA has dubbed the “lunar terrain vehicle,” to make it even easier to travel around the surface of the moon—but it isn’t pressurized.

For the pressurized lunar rover prototype, designers needed to learn how to keep the astronauts warm and the electronics cool, all while allowing astronauts to live and work inside. The rover needs to have self-sufficient energy sources, relying on solar power to recharge an onboard battery. With an expected lifespan of 10 years, engineers must determine the best set-up for batteries and charging capabilities. (12/1)

Humility 'Should Be the Frst Lesson Learned' in Space Exploration (Source: The National)
As scientists and astronauts focus on troubleshooting the tangible challenges of space exploration, experts on ethics and theoretical quandaries gathered in Saudi Arabia asserted that space explorers should not forget humility. This year's Riyadh Philosophy Conference was the optimal venue to address this human attribute, which some say is integral to a successful space expedition by the human race.

“Glory and power have been deciding factors in nations' quests to partake in space exploration, and both are detrimental to the altruistic focus of discovering other planets and becoming an interplanetary species”, said Dr Abdullah Al Ghathami, Prof of Criticism and Theory at King Saud University in Riyadh. (12/2)

Pop-Up Farming Pods to Help Colonizers Grow Crops on Mars (Source: WIRED)
As a kid, Barbara Belvisi daydreamed about life on other planets: giant domes filled with lush plants and exotic flowers like the ones she’d painted on her bedroom walls. But adult life beckoned: She studied finance and business and built a career investing in “deep tech”—VC speak for companies whose progress relies on innovations in science or engineering.

In 2014, she cofounded Hardware Club, an investment firm dedicated to physical, connected products and robotics. Now, she’s realizing her childhood fantasies as the founder and CEO of Interstellar Lab—which has set itself the ambitious goal of building inflatable pods that can support life on other planets. Belvisi says the company, which she founded in 2018, aims to “create the perfect climatic and atmospheric conditions for life”—whether that’s on Earth, in orbit, or on the surface of other worlds.

Interstellar Lab’s first product is BioPod—an inflatable dome where temperature, humidity, and the oxygen and carbon dioxide content of the air can be carefully monitored and controlled. With its all-white exterior and transparent roof, it looks like a shrunk-down version of the Eden Project—or something plucked straight from the pages of 1970s science fiction. “It’s a super-advanced autonomous greenhouse,” says Belvisi. (12/1)

NASA May Have Landed on a Martian Megatsunami Deposit Nearly 50 Years Ago (Source: Space Daily)
When NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down on the surface of Mars nearly 50 years ago, its cameras imaged a boulder-strewn surface of elusive origin. New research led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Alexis Rodriguez shows the landing site may be on the margins of a megatsunami deposit, formed when a 3-kilometer asteroid impacted a northern Martian ocean about 3.4 billion years ago. (12/2)

HFES releases Policy Statement on Human Space Flight (Source: Space Daily)
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) has issued a new Policy Statement on Human Space Flight and Exploration Programs. As both government and commercial space operations continue to evolve and expand, this statement highlights the urgency and fundamental necessity to focus more attention on human factors engineering and human performance in the design of the technologies, training and operational procedures of space travel. It is critical that human systems design issues be considered early during system design to reduce subsequent operations and maintenance costs, minimize accidents and incidents that negatively impact safety and costs, and improve the effectiveness of the combined human-system for achieving mission outcomes. (12/1)

Navigating the Sea From Space with Innovative Technologies (Source: Space Daily)
Shipping is the most energy efficient form of transport, and more than 80% of goods traded globally are carried via the oceans, with a doubling in volume during the last quarter of a century. Recognising the global need for seamless maritime navigation, ESA's Navigation Innovation and Support Programme, NAVISP - inventing the future of navigation with more than 200 R&D projects initiated to date - is therefore focused not only on the land but also the sea.

NAVISP's Grimaldi Satellite Assisted Berthing project (GSAB) project therefore aims to develop and validate the first satellite-based guidance system for docking maneuvers of large vessels purpose-built for the transport of large numbers of lorries and passenger vehicles. The project will make use of the latest innovations on satellite-based multi-sensor technologies, contributing to improve the efficiency of manoeuvres in the port to increase safety while reducing CO2 emissions in line with ensuring a greener and safer maritime transport sector. (11/21)

Southern Hemisphere's Biggest Radio Telescope Begins search for ET Signatures (Source: Space Daily)
Breakthrough Listen has begun observations using a powerful new instrument deployed to the MeerKAT radio telescope in the remote Karoo region of South Africa. The new search for technosignatures - indicators of technology developed by extraterrestrial intelligence - expands the number of targets searched by a factor of 1,000.

The astronomers and engineers on the Breakthrough Listen team have spent the last three years developing and installing the most powerful digital instrumentation ever deployed in the search for technosignatures, and integrating the equipment with the MeerKAT control and monitoring systems in cooperation with SARAO engineers. The new hardware complements Listen's ongoing searches using the Green Bank Telescope in the USA, the Parkes Telescope in Australia, and other telescopes around the world. But while Listen's programs at the GBT and Parkes involve moving these thousand-ton-plus dishes to point at targets all over the sky, the program on MeerKAT usually won't mechanically move the antennas. (12/2)