December 30, 2022

SpaceX Launches 61st Falcon 9 of 2022 at California Spaceport (Source: Space News)
SpaceX completed the busiest year in its two-decade history early Friday with the launch of an Israeli imaging satellite. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 2:38 a.m. Eastern and placed the EROS C3 satellite into orbit nearly 15 minutes later. EROS C3, built by Israel Aerospace Industries for ImageSat International, will provide imagery at a resolution of 30 centimeters. The launch was the 61st of the year for SpaceX, nearly doubling its previous record of 31 launches in 2021. More than half of SpaceX's launches this year were for its own Starlink constellation. (12/30)

South Korea Tests Solid-Fuel Launch Vehicle (Source: Yonhap)
South Korea conducted a test of a solid-fuel launch vehicle Friday. The government's Agency for Defense Development tested the booster, which it said will be used for a future small launch vehicle. It conducted the first test of that booster in March. The agency disclosed few other details about the test or when the vehicle would be ready to launch satellites. (12/30)

ESA to Hire 200 to Support New Projects (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency will hire 200 new employees next year to support new projects. ESA officials announced the plan to expand the agency's workforce, currently at about 6,000 people, at a briefing earlier this month. The decision comes after ESA won a 17% budget increase over the next three years at a November ministerial meeting. (12/30)

China Targets Persian Gulf Space Partnerships (Source: Space News)
China plans to grow space partnerships with countries in the Persian Gulf region. Space was named as one of a number of priority areas for the next three to five years during the first China-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month. In a speech at the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping said cooperation could include flying astronauts from GCC nations on China's Tiangong space station and payloads on future deep space missions. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. (12/30)

An Eventful 2022 in Space (Source: Space News)
Space in 2022 was about more than Elon Musk and the war in Ukraine. Highlights of the year include the successful first launch of the SLS and commissioning of the James Webb Space Telescope, China's growing ambitions in space and ESA's budget increase. The FCC increased its profile in the space industry with plans for a new Space Bureau and new orbital debris regulations, Amazon reshaped the launch industry with a multibillion-dollar order for more than 80 launches for its Project Kuiper constellation, and Globalstar found a new lifeline with a deal to provide satellite connectivity services for iPhones. It was not all good news, though: companies that went public in 2021 through SPAC mergers saw their share prices plummet in 2022 as the industry soured on that approach to raising funding. (12/30)

Russia and China Agree to Cooperate on Space Projects (Source: TASS)
Russia and China signed a space cooperation agreement last month. Roscosmos said Thursday that the statement, signed with little fanfare Nov. 25, covers cooperation on space projects from 2023 through 2027. In addition to previously announced plans to cooperate on lunar exploration, including setting up a research station at the moon's south pole, Russia will host ground stations for China's Beidou satellite navigation system in exchange for China hosting similar Glonass ground stations. (12/30)

Another Mystery Death in Russia as Space Chief Becomes Fourth Senior Official to Die in a Matter of Days (Source: The U.S. Sun)
One of Vladimir Putin's top engineers has died suddenly aged 74, the latest death among Russia's military and scientific elite this year. Vladimir Nesterov, who designed the Russian Angara rocket, was accused of massive embezzlement just before his death aged 74. Formerly the director of Russia's prestigious Khrunichev Centre, Nesterov was the brains behind the Angara rockets, which Putin hoped to use to pioneer Russian space travel. (12/30)

Canadian Astronaut Honored (Source: Canadian Press)
A Canadian astronaut is among the latest recipients of a government honor. David Saint-Jacques is one of 99 people appointed to the Order of Canada Thursday by Governor General Mary Simon. Saint-Jacques, a physician, spent nearly seven months in space on the International Space Station in 2018 and 2019, then two years working in a Montreal hospital during the pandemic. The Order of Canada recognizes people who have made "extraordinary and sustained contributions" to the country. Other recipients of the honor this year include hockey player Sidney Crosby and entertainer Rich Little. (12/30)

Let’s Go to Mars. Let’s Not Live There (Source: WIRED)
"Those first visitors [to Mars] will be trapped in one or two small structures with the same few people for something like 2.5 years, counting travel each way and around a year on the ground. Just going for a walk outside would be a huge ordeal. They would never see a single tree in any direction, never dip their feet in a river, nor fill their lungs with fresh air in the morning. Everyone will have a good chance of getting cancer (thanks to a high dose of space radiation) or losing bone and muscle mass (thanks to the long flights and the planet's weaker gravity). So why would anyone even want to go?" (12/28)

Montgomery ‘Blair’ Kirk Named Operations Director for NRO's Vandenberg Space Force Base (Source: GovCon Daily)
Montgomery “Blair” Kirk, program manager for the Joint Staff’s Deputy Directorate for Global Operations, J-39, has been appointed director of operations for the National Reconnaissance Office’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, he announced in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday. He will rejoin the NRO’s office of space launch in the summer of 2023. (12/29)