December 7, 2022

NASA Advances Artemis Rocket Production for Future Missions, Moving More Assembly to KSC (Source: NASA)
NASA is moving forward with Space Launch System (SLS) production and assembly activities for future Artemis missions. The agency is optimizing manufacturing capabilities by enabling SLS core stage lead contractor Boeing to use facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to perform some core stage assembly and outfitting activities beginning with the Artemis III rocket. In tandem, teams will continue all core stage manufacturing activities at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. (12/6)

Antaris Announces Launch Readiness of World's First Cloud-Built Demonstration Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
Antaris, the software platform provider for space, says that the first-ever satellite fully conceived, designed and manufactured using the company's end-to-end software is ready for launch. Creation of the satellite, dubbed JANUS-1, involved eight organizations spanning seven countries collaborating virtually through the Antaris cloud-based platform, which features open APIs and core open source elements. (12/6)

Kleos Partners with UP42 (Source: Space Daily)
Kleos Space has partnered with leading geospatial developer platform and marketplace, UP42, to offer Kleos' RF geolocation data to their platform users. Under the partnership, Kleos' geospatial data product, Guardian LOCATE, will be available on UP42's marketplace. Guardian LOCATE provides processed geolocated radio frequency transmissions collected over key areas of interest by Kleos' satellites, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of users. (12/2)

Blue Origin Teams with Lockheed, Boeing for NASA Moon Lander Pitch (Source: Reuters)
lue Origin is partnering with Boeing and Lockheed Martin to pitch a lunar lander to NASA as the agency seeks to send humans to the moon again, the companies announced on Tuesday. The joint moon lander proposal, led by Blue Origin, marks the companies' second attempt to win a coveted moon lander contract as NASA seeks more options for getting astronauts to the lunar surface under its multibillion dollar Artemis program.

The deadline for proposals was Tuesday. NASA is expected to make an award decision in June 2023. Blue Origin's team also includes spacecraft software firm Draper, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics, a manufacturer of military and civil robotic systems that was acquired by Blue Origin in January. (12/6)

Spain Selects Seville for Space Agency Headquarters (Source: Minister of Science and Innovation)
The Council of Ministers has adopted the decision that Seville be the headquarters of the future Spanish Space Agency, as it is considered the most appropriate candidacy for the operational needs of said agency, among 21 candidacies presented.

The Minister for Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, highlighted that the Spanish Space Agency is included in the Strategic Project for Aerospace Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), which will mobilize more than 4,500 million euros to generate great opportunities and benefits in different territories of our country. "We make a better Spain from all of Spain", she has affirmed. (12/5)

Dawn Raises $20M for Propulsion, Spaceplane (Source: Payload)
Kiwi startup Dawn Aerospace announced this week that it’s raised $20M from a group of New Zealand investors to accelerate satellite thruster and spaceplane development. Icehouse Ventures led the round, writing a $10M+ check to the New Zealand startup. Kiwi investors GD1 and Covac also participated in the round. (12/7)

Virginia’s Most Famous Court Clerk is Retiring, Eventually Going to the Moon (Source: Cardinal News)
The most famous court clerk in Virginia is retiring. This hasn’t really been a secret but Jack Kennedy made it official recently. He will not be seeking reelection next year as clerk of court in Wise County. He’d rather we not use the phrase “retiring.” From his point of view, he’s simply leaving the post and embarking on an entirely new career in a new place – the space business in Florida.

Gov. Tim Kaine – a fellow Democrat – appointed Kennedy to the state’s commercial space flight authority trying to promote commercial space launches from Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore; Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell reappointed him. Under later Democratic governors, Kennedy was named to the Virginia Aviation Board.

He bought a condo in Cape Canaveral from which he could view space launches. When another condo building went up, blocking his view, he sold the first one and bought in the new one. While clerk, Kennedy has developed a side hustle in Florida. His wife, Janette, has a travel agency (You Name It Vacations) that works with people coming to view rocket launches. Kennedy has signed on as an adviser to Celestis, a company that launches cremated remains into space. (12/1)

Leidos Dynetics Team and Northrop Grumman to Collaborate on NASA Human Landing System Bid (Source: Leidos)
Dynetics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leidos, today announced it has submitted a bid on the Human Landing System (HLS) Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) contract for NASA's Artemis Mission. Northrop Grumman will join the Dynetics team in this pursuit.

"As the only company to successfully build a crewed lunar lander, Northrop Grumman will be an excellent partner as we support NASA's inspiring efforts to return humans to the lunar surface. We will leverage their expertise and legacy of human space exploration, including their ongoing contracts to build the Habitation and Logistics Outpost for NASA's lunar Gateway and to provide commercial resupply services to the International Space Station, significantly bolstering our pursuit." (12/7)

Mangata Procures Scotland Factory for Satellite Production (Source: Space News)
Broadband constellation company Mangata Networks has signed a $100 million financing deal for a factory in Scotland to produce its satellites. The facility at Prestwick International Aerospace Park, located near Glasgow, will also serve as Mangata's engineering and operations hub as it aims to deploy nearly 800 broadband satellites starting in late 2025. These satellites would be spread across medium Earth orbit and highly elliptical orbits to provide high-speed internet services to aviation, cellular backhaul and other connectivity markets. (12/7)

China Considers TSS Expansion (Source: Space News)
China is considering adding modules to its recently completed Tiangong space station complex. Wang Xiang, commander of the space station system at the China Academy of Space Technology, said on Chinese television that a proposed expansion of Tiangong would start with an "extension module" that would be added to the forward section of the station and include a new docking hub.

Wang did not state that the plan to expand Tiangong had been approved but underlined that adding a new core module would open up avenues for more international cooperation in the future and provide a basis for future development of the space station. Tiangong currently has three modules, two of which were added to the station in recent months. (12/7)

Space Force Chief Emphasizes Acquisition Acceleration (Source: Space News)
The Space Force's procurement chief emphasized his desire to accelerate space acquisitions. Speaking at a conference Tuesday, Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said that threats posed by China and Russia "are too great" for current approaches, calling for faster development of new space capabilities. He added that the traditional contracts where the government bears the risks and pays for cost overruns would no longer be acceptable. (12/7)

Mynaric Partners with Redwire and BigBear for DARPA Laser Comm Terminal (Source: Space News)
Mynaric is partnering with two other companies on a laser communications terminal it is developing for DARPA. Mynaric selected a cybersecurity tool from Redwire and BigBear.ai called Space Cyber Resiliency through Evaluation and Security Testing, or SpaceCREST, for the terminal it is making for DARPA's Space Based Adaptive Communications Node program. DARPA aims to enable seamless communications between government and commercial networks in low Earth orbit through a low-cost laser communications terminal. (12/7)

Commerce and DoD Pick Six Companies for Space Traffic Management Pilot Project (Source: Space News)
The Commerce and Defense Departments will work with six companies on a pilot space traffic management (STM) project. COMSPOC Corp., ExoAnalytic Solutions, Kayhan Space, KBR, NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. and Slingshot Aerospace received contracts for a pilot project to demonstrate the use of commercial technologies for space traffic management.

The Space Data Association also is participating in the project. The project will examine how commercial services can augment or replace government capabilities for space traffic management in medium Earth and geostationary orbit. The project is a step towards transferring civil STM responsibilities from the Defense Department to the Office of Space Commerce. (12/7)

NASA NEO Search Moves to Next Phase (Source: Space News)
A NASA mission to look for near-Earth objects (NEOs) will move into its next phase of development. NASA announced Tuesday that the NEO Surveyor mission passed a review called Key Decision Point C, setting the cost of the mission at $1.2 billion with a launch no later than mid-2028. NASA originally proposed launching NEO Surveyor in 2026, but its budget proposal earlier this year said it would delay the mission to 2028 to support other planetary science missions.

Several Republican members of the House Science Committee wrote to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson last month, seeking information on the funding needed to move up the launch to 2026, a date they noted was set in a NASA authorization act passed this summer. (12/7)

Italy Plans Space Day in Washington DC (Source: ITA)
The Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C. and the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the Space Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and George Washington University, cordially welcome space industry players and shareholders to attend a first-of-its-kind full day of celebrating Italy’s “National Space Day” and exploring new opportunities.

The activities are planned for Thursday, December 15th. This event will be the perfect opportunity for U.S. space players to meet with Italy’s leading innovative companies, research centers and regional technology clusters. Don’t miss out on this unique occasion! Click here. (12/7)

SpaceX Mum on Launch Delay Details (Sources: Florida Today, ispace)
Two SpaceX launches have been further delayed. OneWeb said Tuesday that its Falcon 9 launch of 40 satellites, previously scheduled for late Tuesday, had been delayed to Thursday. Japanese lunar lander company ispace said early Wednesday its launch, previously scheduled for Wednesday, has been delayed to Sunday. In both cases, the companies said the launches were delayed for "additional pre-flight checks" of their rockets. SpaceX has not disclosed details about the recent delays of these and other missions. (12/7)

China Launches Experimental Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched an experimental satellite late Tuesday. A Kuaizhou-11 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:15 p.m. Eastern and placed the VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) satellite into orbit. VDES, Chinese media reported, will test technologies for ship-tracking communications. (12/7)

China's Landspace Prepares for Orbital Launch (Source: Space News)
China's Landspace is in the final stages of preparation for the first launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket. The launch from Jiuquan is scheduled for as soon as early Saturday, according to airspace closure notifications. Zhuque-2 is the first commercially developed Chinese liquid rocket, much larger than anything attempted by its domestic rivals. If successful, it will be the first rocket worldwide to reach orbit using methane fuel. (12/7)

Virgin Orbit Prepares for First UK Launch NET Dec. 14 (Source: BBC)
Virgin Orbit is targeting next week for its first launch from the United Kingdom. The company says its LauncherOne mission, "Start Me Up," is scheduled for no earlier than Dec. 14, taking off from Spaceport Cornwall in southwestern England. The plane will fly to a point off the coast of Ireland, where it will release the rocket carrying several smallsats to sun-synchronous orbit. That launch date depends on weather as well as obtaining a launch license from the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority. (12/7)

Ingenuity Flies to Highest Altitude on Mars (Source: Space.com)
NASA's Ingenuity Mars helicopter set an altitude record on its latest flight. The helicopter flew 14 meters above the ground on the Dec. 3 flight, which lasted 52 seconds. The flight was the 35th for Ingenuity since April 2021 and the second since engineers completed a software update to allow the helicopter to better navigate rougher terrain. (12/7)

NOAA Approves Maxar to Provide Non-Earth Imaging Services to Government and Commercial Customers (Source: Space Daily)
Maxar Technologies announced that NOAA has modified Maxar's remote sensing license to enable the non-Earth imaging (NEI) capability for its current constellation on orbit as well as its next-generation WorldView Legion satellites.

Through this new license authority, Maxar can collect and distribute images of space objects across the Low Earth Orbit (LEO)-the area ranging from 200 kilometers up to 1,000 kilometers in altitude-to both government and commercial customers. Maxar's constellation is capable of imaging objects at less than 6 inch resolution at these altitudes, and it can also support tracking of objects across a much wider volume of space. (12/6)

Dmitry Rogozin may be in Some Trouble in Russia (Source: Ars Technica)
It has been nearly five months since Dmitry Rogozin was sacked as director general of Roscosmos, the Russian state-owned space corporation. Later, a Russian space official acknowledged that Rogozin was removed from this high-profile post to ease tensions with NASA and other partners on the International Space Station. It has worked, as international spaceflight relations have improved.

Since his dismissal, it has been speculated that Rogozin might take some sort of leadership position in Russian-occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine. This has yet to happen, however, so Rogozin declared himself the head of the "Tsar's Wolves" inspection group of volunteers. Rogozin's stated aim has been to test and supply the advanced weapons technology needed by Russian troops to win the war.

As part of his efforts, Rogozin has been posting images and statements to his Telegram account from the Donbas region of Ukraine. Recently, Russians have been picking apart these images of Rogozin because they show him wearing more expensive gear than is available to Russian troops. Some of his equipment, in fact, was made in NATO countries, which Russia opposes. Among Rogozin's new critics is none other than Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man known as "Putin's chef," who is one of the most dangerous people in Russia. (12/5)

Giant Mantle Plume Reveals Mars is More Active Than Previously Thought (Source: Space Daily)
On Earth, shifting tectonic plates reshuffle the planet's surface and make for a dynamic interior, so the absence of such processes on Mars led many to think of it as a dead planet, where not much happened in the past 3 billion years.

In the current issue of Nature Astronomy, scientists from the University of Arizona challenge current views of Martian geodynamic evolution with a report on the discovery of an active mantle plume pushing the surface upward and causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The finding suggests that the planet's deceptively quiet surface may hide a more tumultuous interior than previously thought. (12/6)

Terran Orbital Assists Demonstration of 1.4 Terabyte Single-Pass Optical Downlink for Pathfinder TD3 Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
Terran Orbital announced its contribution to the successful demonstration of a record-breaking 1.4-terabytes of data delivered from space to ground by an optical downlink in a single pass. The demonstration connected the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) laser communications payload aboard NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 Satellite (PTD-3) to the ground, transmitting 1.4 TB of test data in a single ground station pass lasting less than 5 minutes. (12/6)

Researchers Say Space Atomic Clocks Could Help Uncover the Nature of Dark Matter (Source: Space Daily)
Studying an atomic clock on-board a spacecraft inside the orbit of Mercury and very near to the Sun might be the trick to uncovering the nature of dark matter, suggests a new study. When dark matter particles have very small masses, they induce oscillations in the very constants of nature. These oscillations, for example in the mass of the electron or the interaction strength of the electromagnetic force, modify the transition energies of atoms and nucleii in predictable ways.

An international team of researchers saw potential in these oscillating signals. They claimed that in a particular region of the Solar System, between the orbit of Mercury and the Sun, the density of dark matter may be exceedingly large, which would mean exceptional sensitivity to the oscillating signals. (12/6)

Methods for Building Lunar Landing Pads May Involve Microwaving Moon Soil (Source: Space Daily)
Establishing a Moon base will be critical for the U.S. in the new space race and building safe and cost-effective landing pads for spacecraft to touch down there will be key. These pads will have to stop lunar dust and particles from sandblasting everything around them at more than 10,000 miles per hour as a rocket takes off or lands since there is no air to slow the rocket plume down.

However, how to build these landing pads is not so clear, as hauling materials and heavy equipment more than 230,000 miles into space quickly becomes cost prohibitive.

That's why University of Central Florida researchers are working on a NASA-funded project to find ways to build lunar landing pads that keep people and equipment safe but are also economical and easy to construct in space. The work is led by defense and space manufacturing company Cislune and includes research from Arizona State University. (12/6)

Dmitry Rogozin May Be in Some Trouble in Russia (Source: Ars Technica)
It has been nearly five months since Dmitry Rogozin was sacked as director general of Roscosmos, the Russian state-owned space corporation. Later, a Russian space official acknowledged that Rogozin was removed from this high-profile post to ease tensions with NASA and other partners on the International Space Station. It has worked, as international spaceflight relations have improved.

Since his dismissal, it has been speculated that Rogozin might take some sort of leadership position in Russian-occupied areas of Eastern Ukraine. This has yet to happen, however, so Rogozin declared himself the head of the "Tsar's Wolves" inspection group of volunteers. Rogozin's stated aim has been to test and supply the advanced weapons technology needed by Russian troops to win the war.

As part of his efforts, Rogozin has been posting images and statements to his Telegram account from the Donbas region of Ukraine. Recently, Russians have been picking apart these images of Rogozin because they show him wearing more expensive gear than is available to Russian troops. Some of his equipment, in fact, was made in NATO countries, which Russia opposes. Among Rogozin's new critics is none other than Yevgeny Prigozhin, a man known as "Putin's chef," who is one of the most dangerous people in Russia. (12/5)

Blue Origin Conducts Fairing Testing Amid Quiet New Glenn Progress (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Blue Origin has quietly been making progress on its orbital New Glenn vehicle, evident by new hardware and test sightings. This progress has been made alongside the ongoing investigation into an in-flight abort of the fourth suborbital New Shepard mission of the year, which continues to keep that program grounded. Monday morning, Blue Origin was seen testing fairings for New Glenn in the water at the KSC turn basin. While not publicly confirmed, this could be part of a series of tests to evaluate the possibility of reusing the fairings, similar to how SpaceX recovers and reuses Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy fairings.

New Glenn’s payload fairings are made out of carbon composite, measure seven meters in diameter, and are 21.9 meters tall. Compared to SpaceX’s fairings, measuring 5.2 meters wide and 13.9 meters tall, these fairings are much larger. While SpaceX is the only company to currently recover and reuse its payload fairings, partly due to the flight rate of the Falcon 9, it’s possible that Blue Origin could plan to attempt to recover their fairings. Blue Origin builds their fairings out of carbon composite, a pricey material, which could lead to ambitions to recover them to help with the price of a New Glenn launch.

Blue Origin may also be expanding its operations in Florida, with the possible acquisition of a building at Port Canaveral. Blue Origin vehicles have now been spotted multiple times by NSF at a facility previously used by SpaceX for fairing processing. SpaceX later moved those operations to HangarX at the Kennedy Space Center. It’s unclear what Blue could be using this building for, but one possibility is the company’s own fairing reuse processing. Blue Origin also plans to recover the first stage of New Glenn downrange, similar to how SpaceX lands the first stage of the Falcon 9 on drone ships. (12/6)

Sidus Space Conducts LizzieSat-1 Critical Design Review, Marking Significant Progress Toward 2023 Launch (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) of LizzieSat’s integrated system architecture which includes the LizzieSat bus with hosted payloads and sensors, the Sidus Mission Control Center, and the launch systems required for mission success.

As a result of the successful CDR, Sidus Space was formally approved to: 1) Complete final build and initiate environments test campaign for LizzieSat’s first generation satellites which support LizzieSatTM missions in 2023 and 2024; 2) Integrate approved hosted payloads and sensors into those satellites; and 3) Execute mission operations from the Sidus MCC in Merritt Island, Florida. (12/6)