January 18, 2023

New Explanation for Jupiter's Two Massive Asteroid Swarms (Source: Space Daily)
An international team of scientists has developed new insights that may explain the numerical asymmetry of the L4 and L5 Jupiter Trojan swarms, two clusters containing more than 10,000 asteroids that move along Jupiter's orbital path around the sun. For decades, scientists have known that there are significantly more asteroids in the L4 swarm than the L5 swarm, but have not fully understood the reason for this asymmetry.

In the current configuration of the Solar System, the two swarms show almost identical dynamical stability and survivability properties, which has led scientists to believe that the differences came about during earlier times of our Solar System's life. Determining the cause of these differences could uncover new details about the formation and evolution of the Solar System.

The researchers present a mechanism that can explain the observed number asymmetry. "We propose that an outward, in terms of distance to the Sun, fast migration of Jupiter can distort the configuration of the Trojan swarms, resulting in more stable orbits in the L4 swarm than in the L5 one," said Li. (1/18)

SpaceX Launches GPS Satellite for Space Force at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched a GPS satellite early this morning. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 7:24 a.m. Eastern carrying the GPS 3 SV06 spacecraft. The spacecraft deployed from the upper stage about an hour and a half after liftoff. The launch was SpaceX's second national security space launch in less than four days, and its fifth launch of a GPS satellite. The next GPS 3 satellite will launch on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket next year. (1/18)

Rocket Lab See Neutron Rocket as DoD Launcher (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab says it is cautiously optimistic about its ability to compete for future national security launches with its Neutron rocket. In a webinar Tuesday, company executives said they believe Neutron could compete for medium-lift launches, assuming future launch competitions are structured to allow the company to offer Neutron for only those missions. Rocket Lab has no plans to build a heavy-lift rocket even if that is what is required to compete for future military launch awards. Rocket Lab is on an aggressive schedule to complete the development of Neutron for a 2024 debut. (1/18)

China to Launch Lunar Relay Satellite (Source: Space News)
China will launch a relay satellite next year to support lunar missions. A Chinese official said the Queqiao-2 spacecraft would launch in early 2024, ahead of the Chang'e-6 mission which is currently scheduled to launch in late 2024 or early 2025. Queqiao-2 will enter a distant retrograde orbit around the moon, rather than operate around the Earth-moon L-2 point used by the first Queqiao spacecraft. Queqiao-2 will act as a communications relay between teams on the ground and lunar far side, support missions to the lunar farside as well as the lunar poles, like the Chang'e-6 sample return mission. (1/18)

China Foresees 70+ Launches in 2023 (Source: Space News)
China's state-owned and commercial space sector actors are planning more than 70 launches in 2023. That would be an increase from the record 64 launches conducted by China in 2022. Those launches will be spread over a wide range of vehicles, including launches of new vehicles being developed by Chinese startups. Some key launches include two Shenzhou crewed missions and a Long March 5B launch that could carry a space telescope, broadband megaconstellation satellites or a next-generation crewed spacecraft prototype. (1/18)

China Releases Report on Remote Sensing Monitoring for Global Ecology (Source: Space Daily)
China's Ministry of Science and Technology issued a 2022 annual report on the remote sensing monitoring of the global ecological environment on Tuesday in Beijing. The report contains two topics of "ice, snow, and vegetation change in the Arctic region" and "the production situation of global bulk grain and oil crops and the contribution of multiple cropping and irrigation."

The report aims to provide scientific data support for promoting sustainable development in the Arctic region and coping with climate change, as well as analyzing the impact of extreme weather and regional emergencies on food production and supply. (1/18)

Space Force Delivers Sensors to Fly on Japanese Satellites (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Space Force has delivered the first of two space sensor payloads scheduled to fly on Japanese navigation satellites. The optical sensor that the Space Force said Tuesday it delivered to Japan will fly on the QZS-6 satellite later this year, part of Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) constellation. A second will fly on QZS-7 in 2024. The sensors will be used to monitor assets in geostationary orbit. (1/18)
 
CesiumAstro Acquires UK's TXMission (Source: Space News)
Phased-array antenna startup CesiumAstro has acquired TXMission, a British company that develops software-defined radios and modems. CesiumAstro said the acquisition allows it to provide "complete end-to-end software-defined phased array systems" for customers. It also allows CesiumAstro to enter markets beyond satellites and aircraft, as well as work in the United Kingdom and Europe. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal. (1/18)

Spain's Fossa Systems Expanding Satellite Constellation for IoT (Source: Space News)
Spanish startup Fossa Systems plans to start offering improved internet-of-things services this year by adding to its fleet of small satellites. The three-year-old company currently has 13 picosatellites in low Earth orbit but plans to launch larger, more capable satellites later this year to allow the company to support more applications. The company plans a constellation of 80 satellites by the end of next year to provide near-realtime services. (1/18)

Raytheon Developing Mission Planning Software for Air Force Rocket Cargo Program (Source: Space News)
Raytheon has won an Air Force contract to develop mission planning software for a "rocket cargo" program. The four-year, $8.7 million contract covers the design of a planning tool that would allow the Air Force to coordinate a rocket cargo mission. The Air Force's rocket cargo project is studying the possible use of commercial space launch vehicles to transport humanitarian aid and other cargo payloads around the world. (1/18)

DARPA Proposes Collaborations to Monitor LEO (Source: Breaking Defense)
DARPA is proposing collaborations with satellite operators to monitor low Earth orbit. The Space-domain Wide Area Tracking and Characterization, or Space-WATCH, project is looking to work with satellite operators who would provide data in "an as-a-service fashion" to track objects in LEO. A future phase of the project will be to create a "fusion center" to combine and and analyze the data. (1/18)

IG Slams NASA’s Software Asset Management, Calling it ‘Basic’ (Source: FNN)
NASA is promising to take eight steps to improve how it manages and tracks its software. These assurances come after a scathing report from the space agency’s inspector general that called NASA’s current approach to software asset management “basic.” Among the changes NASA is undertaking is completing a software asset management pilot by October and revising policies and procedures for managing software by December. Auditors found that NASA had spent at least $15 million dollars over the last five years on unused licenses and lacked centralized management and inventory visibility for its software products. (1/17)

NASA IG Recommends More Attention on Managing International Partnerships (Source: Space News)
NASA's inspector general says the agency should improve the way it manages international partnerships for Artemis. In a report Tuesday, the Office of Inspector General said that there was strong international interest in participating in Artemis, with more than 50 agreements in place. However, the report said NASA was coordinating those agreements on an ad hoc basis with no overarching strategy, making it difficult for some partners to determine how they can contribute. Export controls also pose serious challenges to international participation. (1/18)

Santos Assigned to NASA Oversight Committee (Source: New York Times)
A controversial new congressman has been assigned to a committee that oversees NASA. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was assigned to the House Science Committee, according to Capitol Hill sources Tuesday. Santos is facing growing calls from Democrats and some Republicans to resign amid mounting evidence that he falsified many elements of his resume, along with questions about his campaign fundraising and spending. Santos had not requested being assigned to the science committee. (1/18)

Huntsville's Iconic Saturn 1B Rocket Display Coming Down (Source: Huntsville Times)
A Saturn 1B rocket that has stood at an Alabama highway rest stop for decades will soon be torn down. The rocket was installed more than 40 years ago at a rest stop off Interstate 65 just south of the Tennessee border, but the rocket is rusting and starting to fall apart. The rocket will likely be torn down as part of renovations of the rest stop, after state officials concluded it would be too expensive to repair. The rocket could eventually be replaced with something else marking NASA's efforts to return to the moon. (1/18)
 
Despite Tech Reset, the Space Economy is Here to Stay (Source: Space News)
The global space industry is expected to eclipse $1 trillion over the next few decades. And while casual onlookers sometimes express skepticism of this rapid growth — often due to their disdain for the billionaires in the captain’s chair of the industry’s most prominent players — the venture industry is clearly enticed by how space technologies can power the global economy. In that sense, the Kármán line has never been more illustrious for space entrepreneurs and investors.

The space economy’s growth journey has been anything but smooth. It’s been impacted by macroeconomic conditions, causing deal activity to slow down. The third quarter of 2022 was challenging, with venture capitalist investment in space down 44% versus the broader market’s 31% decline. VCs’ risk-off preferences have seen many shy away from this type of deep tech and refocus on enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS). Click here. (1/18)

SpaceX Starship Factory Aiming to Build Five Megarockets in 2023 (Source: Teslarati)
CEO Elon Musk says that SpaceX’s South Texas Starship aims to build up to five of the two-stage megarockets in 2023. SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas hardware endeavors began in an empty field in late 2018, kicking off Starhopper testing in 2019. In late 2019 and early 2020, the company began building the bones of the factory that exists today, relying heavily on several giant tents (“sprung structures”) similar to those used by Tesla. SpaceX has already begun the process of replacing those tents with larger, permanent buildings, but two of the original tents continue to host crucial parts of the Starship manufacturing process.

In terms of useful output, that manufacturing slowed down a bit in 2022. That slowdown can likely be partially explained by the need to move equipment and processes into the first finished section of Starfactory. But in general, SpaceX was simply focused on finishing and testing Starship S24 and Super Heavy B7 – both stages of the latest vehicle meant to attempt Starship’s first orbital launch. But if CEO Elon Musk’s forecast is correct, the company has plans to increase Starbase’s useful output in 2023. According to Musk, SpaceX aims to build “about five full stacks” this year, translating to five flightworthy Starships and five Super Heavy boosters. (1/16)

Space Florida Touts More Jobs in 2023 with 150 Projects in the Pipeline (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Florida’s burgeoning aerospace industry will grow at a juggernaut pace in the coming years, adding more jobs and other financial benefits to the state, according to the agency whose job it is to attract such enterprises. “We expect in the next five years to be making an economic impact on average of over a billion dollars a year to the state’s economy,” said Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida. About 6,000 jobs across 15 companies were added to the economy in 2022, including at least some of announced workforce additions of 250 jobs by OneWeb Satellites, 1,800 from Northrop Grumman, 52 from SIMCOM Aviation and an undisclosed number of new employees at SpaceX and other companies.

With 150 projects across an array of space-related industries in the works, DiBello said 2023 should see many more new jobs in the years ahead, noting that the state used to reach agreement on about six to eight projects, in general, a year. “We’re now much closer to 12 to 15. So as you close those projects, that number of jobs is going to come up and certainly this year should be above that 6,000,” he said. And not everything is focused around northern Brevard County, DiBello said, adding that only about 40% fall within the Melbourne-Orlando-Daytona triangle.

One portion of the overall economic benefit has been a significant infrastructure contribution by the variety of companies in the state, more than $2.7 billion since 2011. The goal is to increase that number to $10 billion by the end of the decade. And by the end of 2022, those prospective 150 projects could lead to $5.5 billion more toward that goal. Of note, that money is separate from funds invested by the state in building out infrastructure in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation, such as what is now known as the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at KSC, formerly where the space shuttles landed. Click here. (1/17)

Astroculture: A Quick, But Not-So-Easy Guide to Space Farming (Source: the Debrief)
Modern innovations in space travel are bringing the prospect of humans living off-planet for extended periods–and even residing for periods on planets like Mars–ever closer to reality. With the increasing number of possibilities we see coming to fruition with space exploration, scientists are becoming more convinced that humans can actually settle, and perhaps even thrive, in such environments. However, our success at survival under such conditions remains mostly dependent on Earth’s resources, especially when it comes to food.

Resupply missions are presently the only way astronauts can sustain themselves in space in the long term. To be truly self-sustaining in future space missions, we must find ways to produce nutritious food in environments that are less than ideal. Space farming–or “astroculture” as some call it–is emerging as one potential solution to this hefty challenge. However, while the prospects of space farming certainly bear a degree of promise, there are a number of reasons why it won’t be particularly easy to execute. Click here. (1/16)

NASA Partners Up with PNNL and WSU for an Out of This World Experiment (Source: KNDU)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, NASA and WSU partnered up for an experiment that's out of this world. PNNL submitted their experiment to NASA to see if it was something NASA was interested in. NASA responded back with a "yes" after going over their presentation. A piece of Washington went to space last July. PNNL collected soil samples from an area in Prosser that has not been disturbed in 50 years.
 
The samples were injected with eight different species of bacteria. 104 samples were taken to NASA. Half of those samples went into space and the other half stayed on earth. The scientists will compare the samples against each other to see what, if any differences there are in the samples. (1/16)

Commercialization of Space: The Final Frontier (Source: Texas Monthly)
Here in the U.S., private companies started chipping at that part of NASA that was comfortable in low-Earth orbit. The International Space Station is spawning other space stations, like Axiom Space, Bigelow, and Sierra Space and Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef. Space stations are going to be numerous, and they’re going to have their own business models.

We also have private companies whose vehicles are enabling humans to go into space much more inexpensively: SpaceX with the Dragon, Blue Origin with New Shepard, Boeing with Starliner. Astronauts are now a dime a dozen! You got a lot of money, you go buy a seat, you get launched, you go a hundred kilometers into space, you spend five minutes, and then go down. As we saw with airplane travel, what used to be exclusive becomes more available to the rest of us.

NASA needs to be in the exploratory environment, where you invest your money in finding new routes and new resources, exploring other planets, and pushing the envelope. The private funding is not for that. The private funding is to create the stuff that comes after NASA. (1/17)