January 10, 2023

Moon Denied: the 1993 Early Lunar Access Proposal (Source: Space Review)
Exactly 30 years ago, General Dynamics unveiled a concept for returning humans to the Moon faster and less expensively than other proposals. Dwayne Day examines Early Lunar Access and why it demonstrated that there was no such thing as easy lunar access. Click here. (1/10)
 
To Go to Mars, Do a Backflip at Venus (Source: Space Review)
NASA is currently implementing a Moon-to-Mars strategy with lunar missions serving as precursors for eventual human expeditions to Mars. Jeff Foust reports on a recent study that argues that a human flyby of Venus could be a key intermediate step between the Moon and Mars. Click here. (1/10)
 
A COTS-Like Alternative for Planetary Exploration (Source: Space Review)
NASA is struggling to carry out an ambitious series of planetary science missions within a flat budget. Louis Friedman argues it’s time for NASA to take a page from other parts of the agency and consider public-private partnerships for some missions. Click here. (1/10)

Virgin Orbit Fails to Deliver Satellite to Orbit After First UK Launch (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit's first launch from the United Kingdom failed Monday. Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne rocket was released from its Boeing 747 aircraft at about 6:11 p.m. Eastern, a little more than an hour after the plane took off from England's Spaceport Cornwall. Despite glitches in the live telemetry from the rocket during the launch webcast, Virgin Orbit said the rocket reached orbit, only to withdraw that claim a half-hour later, announcing than an unspecified anomaly with the second stage prevented it from reaching orbit.

The rocket, on the "Start Me Up" mission, was carrying nine smallsats for government and commercial customers, and was the first orbital launch attempt from the U.K. The failure came after four consecutive successful LauncherOne missions over the past two years. Shares in Virgin Orbit tumbled as much as 25% in after-hours trading Monday. (1/10)

SpaceX Launches OneWeb Satellites From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched another set of OneWeb satellites Monday night. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:50 p.m. Eastern and deployed 40 OneWeb satellites into orbit. The launch followed another Falcon 9 launch of OneWeb satellites last month and brings OneWeb just two launches away from deploying its initial constellation. (1/10)

Weather Delays SpaceX Launch From California (Source: Space News)
SpaceX postponed another Falcon 9 launch of satellites for its competing Starlink constellation from Vandenberg Space Force Base that had been scheduled to take place within an hour of the OneWeb launch. SpaceX said poor weather prompted the delay of that launch to at least Tuesday. (1/10)

Sidus Space Awarded Subcontract for US Navy Propulsion Program (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced its selection by Craig Technologies for the manufacturing of 13 Propulsion Plant Team Trainer Maneuvering Area Panels for Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. (BPMI). Sidus will manufacture, assemble, test, and deliver the Manuevering Panel trainers for Craig Technologies who is leading the design of the Maneuvering Panels for BPMI and with a total project value of over $2 million. (1/10)

Space Force RFI Seeks Laser Comm for Higher Orbits (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force is requesting information on laser communications systems to connect satellites in medium and high orbits. Such systems are already being incorporated into satellites operating in low Earth orbit, but the RFI describes possible plans to expand the military's information highway in space to much higher orbits. The Space Force says it is researching options for a "future backbone of a resilient mesh network" to support military users of satellites in medium and geostationary Earth orbits. (1/10)

European Startups Collaborate on Satellite Collision Avoidance (Source: Space News)
Three European space startups are joining forces to demonstrate a satellite collision avoidance system. The concept will use data from Portuguese space traffic management (STM) company Neuraspace to guide electric thrusters developed by Spain's Ienai Space on a cubesat built by Endurosat, based in Bulgaria. That 12U cubesat will fly on the second launch of Germany-based Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, which is slated to debut this year. Once in orbit, the thrusters would be able to respond to simulated and real collision warnings and maneuvering suggestions from Neuraspace's STM platform. (1/10)

Porras Joins Rogue Space Systems (Source: Space News)
A former official with a space sustainability organization is joining a satellite servicing startup. Daniel Porras, former director of strategic partnerships and communications at the Secure World Foundation, is the new director of space sustainability policy for Rogue Space Systems. At the company he will advocate for standards and best practices from the standpoint of small businesses. Rogue is seeking venture funding to build out a fleet of satellite-servicing and debris-removal smallsats for commercial and government users. (1/10)

Dragon Capsule Undocks from ISS for Florida Coast Splashdown (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A Dragon cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Monday. The CRS-26 Dragon cargo spacecraft undocked from the station at 5:05 p.m. Eastern and is scheduled to splash down off the Florida coast at 5:19 a.m. Eastern Wednesday. The Dragon, which launched to the station Nov. 26, is returning experiments and hardware. (1/10)

NOAA's GOES-18 Satelite Enters Service (Source: Space News)
A new weather satellite has entered service ahead of schedule. NOAA declared the GOES-18 satellite operational Jan. 4 as the GOES West satellite, replacing GOES-17. GOES West observes weather and climate conditions over the western United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as Mexico, Central America and the Pacific Ocean. NOAA accelerated the timeline for making GOES-18 part of its operational fleet because of problems with the cooling system for  GOES-17's Advanced Baseline Imager. GOES-17 will move to an orbit over the central United States to serve as a backup for GOES East and GOES West. (1/10)

NOAA Plans Commercial Tech for Weather Satellite Ground Systems (Source: Space News)
NOAA says it will need to bring in innovative commercial technologies for its ground system to accommodate an increasing amount of weather satellite data. NOAA currently develops a unique ground system for each mission, an approach that threatens to become prohibitively expensive as the constellation expands, agency officials said at a conference Monday. NOAA will look to the private sector for advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud computing and digital twins as the agency transitions to an enterprise ground architecture to support its next generation of satellite observing systems. (1/10)

NASA and Los Alamos Plan Cubesat Constellation to Map Lightning (Source: Space News)
NASA and Los Alamos National Lab are working on a proposed cubesat constellation to map lightning. The six Cubespark cubesats, equipped with high-resolution optical imagers and a VHF sensor, would map not just the location of lightning but also its structure within clouds. The cubesats would complement detectors on the GOES-R series of weather satellites and a lightning instrument on the ISS due to be decommissioned later this year. The Cubespark concept is being studied with funding from NASA's Earth Science Technology Office. (1/10)

FCC Developing Space Bureau (Source: FCC)
The FCC is one step closer to creating a Space Bureau. The commission released an order Monday adopting the proposal announced two months ago by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel to replace the International Bureau, which has handled space activities, with a Space Bureau and a separate Office of International Affairs. The new bureau would provide more resources for and attention to space regulatory issues. The bureau still requires congressional and other approvals. (1/10)

JWST Wins Goddard Trophy (Source: NASA)
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has won the Goddard Memorial Trophy from the National Space Club. The 2023 trophy will go to the NASA and Northrop Grumman teams that built and deployed the space telescope, which continues to exceed expectations more than a year after its launch. The award is the latest in a series of accolades for JWST. (1/10)

Inside the Rockets That NASA and SpaceX Plan to Send to the Moon (Source: Washington Post)
Now that NASA has successfully completed the first flight of the SLS and Orion, a mission known as Artemis I, NASA is looking to put a crew of as many as four astronauts on Orion for a flight around the moon. That Artemis II mission could come as soon as 2024, with a landing on the lunar surface planned for a year or two later. SpaceX’s Starship could also soon hit a major milestone, with the first launch attempt to reach orbit expected later this year. Click here. (1/9)

Making Space Colonization a Reality (Source: Washington Post)
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission and its unmanned Orion spacecraft are designed to show that humans have the “commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.” But there are several challenges we’re going to face before we get there — and they’re not going to be easy. Along with its international and commercial partners like SpaceX and Blue Origin, NASA's pledged human expansion to the moon and beyond is just getting started. Click here. (1/8)

How to Travel to Space, Earth’s Hottest New Destination (Source: Washington Post)
The space just above our planet is booming. Off-world trips are rapidly increasing: 42 of the 51 commercial astronauts recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration left Earth within the past two years. The FAA predicts their ranks will balloon in the next decade — which may also bring new destinations, such as a rotating space hotel whose construction, planners claim, will begin in 2026 — and some experts have expressed optimism that relatively affordable space travel could be possible by the middle of this century. Click here. (1/9)

Maxar Technologies buys Aurora Insight (Source: Light Reading)
Aurora Insight has been acquired by Maxar Technologies after Maxar announced a strategic investment into the company roughly a year ago. "Aurora Insight's radio frequency (RF) spectrum mapping capabilities are a natural complement to Maxar's best-in-class geospatial data and AI analytics solutions, enabling us to deliver an industry-leading multisource GEOINT solution for government and commercial missions," wrote a company official.

Aurora Insight launched in 2016 and raised a total of around $19 million in funding. It initially offered technology to track wireless network buildouts via transmissions in various spectrum bands, and subsequently expanded that to services stretching from network planning to network infrastructure tracking. (1/6)

Buzz Aldrin: Without Walt Cunningham, There Would Be No Moon Landing (Source: Washington Post)
Without Walt Cunningham, we would not have walked on the moon. Subsequently, we never would have beaten the Soviets and begun the process to end the Cold War. He knew it. I knew it. And America should know it, too. Walt, who died last week at the age of 90, was the lunar module pilot for the Apollo 7, the first successful manned operation of the Apollo missions. Without that “perfect mission,” our flight to the moon never would have happened.

It might be hard for people to grasp the pressure under which Walt and that Apollo 7 crew operated. The prior crew never reached space. The American public was restless, and Apollo 7 in some ways was a “go/no go” mission. During the 11-day flight in 1968, the crew had to test and adjust hundreds of systems — everything from life support, engines and communications to basic electrical hardware — on a spacecraft never flown before. The Soviets were hard on our tail. The mission had to be perfect — and it was.

He flew 54 combat fighter missions in Korea, logged more than 4,500 hours in 40 different planes and spent 263 hours in space. Less well known might be Walt’s wry wit, candor and depth. In a world of egos, Walt always had his in check. Walt’s other hallmark was gratitude, for everything — for the chance to fly for the Marines, for becoming an Apollo astronaut and for being able to serve the nation. (1/10)

NASA Names New Agency-Wide Chief Technologist (Source: NASA)
A.C. Charania is NASA’s new chief technologist, serving as principal advisor to Administrator Bill Nelson on technology policy and programs at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. He will lead technology innovation.

The chief technologist aligns NASA’s agencywide technology investments with mission needs across six mission directorates and oversees technology collaboration with other federal agencies, the private sector, and external stakeholders. The position works within NASA’s Office for Technology, Policy, and Strategy. (1/9)

The Moon Beckons Once Again, and This Time NASA Wants to Stay (Source: Washington Post)
In 2010, during a speech at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, President Barack Obama directed NASA away from its primary target, the moon, to focus its human exploration missions beyond the lunar surface to an asteroid and Mars. “I just have to say pretty bluntly here: We’ve been there before,” he said. “There’s a lot more of space to explore, and a lot more to learn when we do.”

The US has since reversed course, with the moon once again the centerpiece of NASA’s exploration goals. Under its Artemis program — born during President Trump’s tenure and embraced by the Biden administration — NASA has real momentum and bipartisan political support for one of the most ambitious human space flight efforts in decades. It began with the launch of its massive SLS moon rocket and Orion spacecraft on Nov. 16, a mission without any people on board. The Artemis I mission will be followed by subsequent flights with astronauts — first orbiting the moon and then eventually landing on the surface.

NASA has made establishing an enduring presence on the moon central to its future space ambitions. It will allow the program to practice how to live in space sustainably. It will allow scientists to tap into the moon’s considerable scientific value to learn more about how Earth was formed. And perhaps, it would also serve as a steppingstone to Mars and other deep-space destinations years in the future. Click here. (1/9)

Pair of Chinese Launches Put Classified and Commercial Satellites Into Orbit (Source: Space News)
China conducted its first two launches of 2023 over the weekend, sending three classified payloads into geosynchronous transfer orbit and five commercial satellites into sun-synchronous orbits. A Long March 7A lifted off from the coastal Wenchang spaceport at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, Jan. 8, with unofficial, amateur video footage showing the rocket lifting off despite rain. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success around 30 minutes later.

The rocket could replace the older, hypergolic Long March 3B, which launches from the inland Xichang spaceport in southwest China. CASC’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), the rocket manufacturer, stated Sunday that it is currently able to produce 4-6 Long March 7A rockets per year, and up to 8-10 by 2025, suggesting the Long March 3B will remain active for years to come. China’s second launch of the year followed early Monday, with a Ceres-1 commercial solid rocket from private firm Galactic Energy lifting off from Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China at 12:04 a.m., Jan. 9.

The company announced launch success within the hour, marking the firm’s fifth success from five launches. The first Ceres-1 launched in November 2020. Five satellites were sent into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Galactic Energy is now looking to ramp up its production and delivery rate and plans 8-10 launches of the Ceres-1 in 2023. The Ceres-1 rocket can deliver 400 kg to LEO or 300 kg to a 500-kilometer-altitude SSO. The company is also working on its Pallas-1 reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen launcher. Pallas-1 will be capable of lofting 5,000 kilograms to LEO or 3,000 kilograms to 700-km SSO. (1/9)