January 25, 2023

How Canada is Shaping the World’s Future in Space (Source: Space News)
On the global stage of mature space powers, Canada has earned its place, though it does not always receive the public acclaim it is due. For those in the space community, however, Canada is not only an important stakeholder but also a vital partner. As Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said in a NASA preflight interview in 2012, “Canada has almost linearly built our capability and our responsibility and therefore our international respect over time.” Click here. (1/23)

Europe Increases Galileo Accuracy to 20 Centimeters (Source: ESA)
Europe has rolled out a high-accuracy service for its Galileo satellite navigation system. The service, announced Tuesday by ESA, will provide accuracy of 20 centimeters horizontally and 40 centimeters vertically for those with suitably equipped high-end receivers. The improved accuracy comes from realtime corrections in a data stream in the signal. (1/25)

Thales Alenia Developing Quantum Comm Tech for ESA (Source: Space News)
Thales Alenia Space is working on an ESA project to demonstrate quantum communications technologies. The satellite manufacturer is leading a consortium called TeQuantS, which aims to develop technologies needed to demonstrate quantum communication links from space in three years. TeQuantS won an $11 million contract from ESA to develop those technologies that could lead to a potential demonstration in 2026. Unlike another ESA project led by satellite operator SES aiming to develop a satellite to test the distribution of quantum encryption keys for cryptography, TeQuantS will also study ways to connect quantum computers and quantum sensors in a multipurpose network. (1/25)

Spaceport Flyover Video Provides Update on Florida Launcher Projects (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
KSC has Busy Launch Pads and Landing Pads, the first KSC Mechazilla is taking shape, and SpaceX seems to have gotten a discount on shipping by sea. Relativity's Terran 1 rocket has moved, Blue Origin continues construction, and much more in this KSC Flyover. Click here. (1/25)

Rocket Lab Achieves First Electron Launch From Virginia (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab conducted its first Electron launch from the United States Tuesday, placing three HawkEye 360 satellites into orbit. The Electron lifted off from the company's Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia, at 6 p.m. Eastern, deploying the three satellites into low Earth orbit an hour later. The launch was the first from the U.S. for Rocket Lab, which had conducted all its previous Electron launches from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The company had to deal with significant delays in certification of a NASA-developed autonomous flight termination system required to launch from Wallops, pushing back its use of the launch site from 2020. The launch is also the first of the year for Rocket Lab, which previously estimated conducting about 14 launches this year from its two launch sites. (1/25)

Lucas and Lofgren Introduce Bipartisan Bill on Commercial Remote Sensing (Source: Committee on Science Space and Technology)
This week, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced a bipartisan bill to support commercial remote sensing activities in the U.S. Remote sensing uses data collected from satellites to produce images of Earth, which can be used to improve operations in a wide variety of industries and advance our understanding of the environment. The bill renews an expired requirement for the Department of Commerce to send an annual report to Congress on the status of commercial remote sensing applications, regulations, and adjudications. (1/13)

Astronomers Confirm Age of Most Distant Galaxy with Oxygen (Source: Space Daily)
A new study led by a joint team at Nagoya University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has measured the cosmic age of a very distant galaxy. The team used the ALMA radio telescope array to detect a radio signal that has been travelling for approximately 97% of the age of the Universe. This discovery confirms the existence of galaxies in the very early Universe found by the James Webb Space Telescope. (1/25)

Milky Way Bigger Than It Should Be (Source: Newsweek)
The Milky Way, our home galaxy, has been discovered to be too big for its surroundings. Our galaxy is larger than should be expected for galaxies within our "cosmological wall," a local flat cluster of galaxies known as the Local Sheet. These cosmological walls are characterized by a flattened plane of galaxies with similar velocities relative to the expansion of the universe, with empty "voids" on either side of them. Galaxies in a cosmological wall influence each other's rotation. Our home galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy consisting of between 100 and 500 billion stars and measuring roughly around 100,000 light years in diameter. It was named due to its pale and milky appearance across the night sky.

Galaxies within a wall tend to be a certain size relative to the overall size of the wall. The Milky Way, however, is much larger than would be expected based on the size of our Local Sheet, despite not being an uncommonly large galaxy on a universal scale. Researchers described how they simulated millions of galaxies across a volume of space about a billion light-years across. They discovered that a galaxy as large as the Milky Way existing in a cosmological wall of the scale of our Local Sheet was uncommon. (1/24)

Tough Year Ahead for Space Businesses (Source: Space News)
This year could be a rough one financially for space businesses. Space businesses are more agile than ever in responding to changing market conditions, but private funding sources are drying up and those able to weather harsh financial climates will face operational challenges and dampened growth prospects this year. Macroeconomic trends like inflation and the risk of a recession will weigh on the sector. Industry early-stage investment rounds for these companies in 2023 will be fewer in number and smaller in size than in previous years. (1/25)

Astrobotic Completes Peregrine Lunar Lander Testing (Source: Space News)
Astrobotic has completed testing of its Peregrine lunar lander. The company announced Wednesday that the lander successfully passed thermal vacuum testing and is back at the company's Pittsburgh headquarters. The spacecraft will remain there until it gets the "green light" from United Launch Alliance to ship the spacecraft to Cape Canaveral for final launch preparations. Peregrine is flying on the first launch of ULA's Vulcan Centaur. (1/25)

SpaceX to Launch Asteroid Mining Spacecraft Alongside Private Moon Lander (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX customer Intuitive Machines says it will use spare capacity on one of its Moon lander launches to send startup AstroForge’s first asteroid prospector spacecraft into deep space. Intuitive Machines’ second Nova-C Moon lander is scheduled to launch no earlier than (NET) Q4 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The IM-2 lander is the primary payload but is only expected to weigh about 1.9 tons (~4300 lb).

To take advantage of the rocket performance left on the table by the relatively light payload, Intuitive Machines has opted to include a secondary payload adapter ring (ESPA) located below each lander. That gives companies like AstroForge an opportunity to hitch a ride to high Earth orbit, deep space, and the Moon for a likely unbeatable price. Built by UK startup Orbital Astronautics, AstroForge’s Brokkr-2 spacecraft will attempt to become the first private vehicle to prospect for resources on an asteroid. It’s also the third rideshare payload announced for Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission. (1/24)

Asteroid Mining in Space for Platinum: AstroForge Plans First Missions (Source: Bloomberg)
Asteroid-mining startup AstroForge Inc. plans to launch its first two missions to space this year as it seeks to extract and refine metals from deep space. The first launch, scheduled for April 2023, will test AstroForge’s technique for refining platinum from a sample of asteroid-like material. The second, planned for October, will scout for an asteroid near Earth to mine. Click here. (1/24)

Quindar Raises $2.5 Million for Satellite Constellation Mission Management Software (Source: Space News)
A startup has raised seed funding to provide mission management software as a service for satellite constellations. Quindar said Tuesday it raised $2.5 million in seed funding from several investors. The company has developed software that can handle the design and operation of satellite constellations, including working with ground station providers to schedule communications passes. Offering that software as a service, the company argues, allows constellations developers to save the time and money they would spend to develop their own systems. Quindar has signed several customers it plans to announce in the coming weeks. (1/25)

Boeing Posts a Big Loss (Source: CNN)
Boeing reported a $650 million operating loss in the fourth quarter, surprising Wall Street analysts who had expected the aircraft giant to turn a profit. The company blamed the unexpected loss on “abnormal production costs” as it tried both to deliver the remaining backlog of 737 Max jets and to step up deliveries of the 787 Dreamliners. The company’s revenue also fell short of forecasts, coming in at just under $20 billion. While it was Boeing’s highest revenue figure since the start of the pandemic, it was about $360 million less than analysts’ consensus estimate. (1/25)

Raytheon Consolidates Defense Divisions, Seeks Better Profitability (Source: Aviation Week)
Raytheon Technologies will merge its two defense divisions under the Raytheon brand. The aerospace and defense leader is also formally promoting Chris Calio to president to carry out the restructuring as it seeks to be more operationally profitable in the face of stubborn cost challenges and end-market volatility. Under the reorganization, to be implemented in the second half of 2023, Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RIS) and Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD) will be merged. (1/24)

Slazer Retires from Deep Space Exploration Group (Source: CDSE)
The president of a space industry group, the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, has retired. The organization announced Monday that Frank Slazer had stepped down as president and CEO, effective last week. He had served as head of the organization since 2021 and previously worked for several aerospace companies as well as the Aerospace Industries Association. Andrew Allen, CEO of Aerodyne Industries, has taken over as acting president and CEO while the organization conducts a search for a permanent successor. (1/25)

Chinese Satellite Deploys Object in GEO (Source: Space.com)
A Chinese satellite in GEO has deployed a small object. The Shijian 23 satellite, launched earlier this month, reached GEO on Jan. 15 and deployed a small object a day later. While that object is listed in a Defense Department catalog as an apogee kick motor, it could possibly be a subsatellite designed to operate with Shijian 23 for some kind of on-orbit testing. China has not disclosed the mission of Shijian 23 beyond "scientific experiments and technical verification." (1/25)

Space Command Wants Greater Space Maneuverability (Source: Space News)
U.S. Space Command says its ability to monitor activities in geostationary orbit is constrained by limited maneuverability. Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander of U.S. Space Command, said in a speech Tuesday that a key concern for him is that U.S. surveillance satellites that monitor potentially hostile activities are increasingly at a disadvantage because of their maneuverability is limited by the propellant they carry. That makes it difficult for them to monitor Russian and Chinese satellites as they play cat-and-mouse games in GEO, trying to get closer looks at U.S. military satellites there. He said Space Command is thinking about approaches such as refueling satellites and using "commoditized" spacecraft that are cheaper and can be deployed more frequently. (1/25)

Colorado Rep Threatens to Hold Pentagon Nominees Over Space Command HQ (Source: Defense News)
Republican lawmakers spent the last year stalling President Joe Biden’s defense nominees, but the latest threat to filling the Pentagon’s top jobs is coming from the president’s own party. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-CO, said he’s threatening to delay the six remaining Pentagon nominees because Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin refuses to meet with him over the Trump administration’s decision to move U.S. Space Command from its current location in Colorado Springs to Huntsville.

During the final days of the Trump administration, the Air Force announced Huntsville, Alabama would serve as the new location for Space Command headquarters, moving it from Colorado Springs. The decision infuriated Colorado’s congressional delegation, who asked the Air Force to review the decision. Several Colorado Democrats argued it was an act of political retaliation because Biden won the swing state in the 2020 election.

A DoD Inspector General report in May found the Air Force followed all relevant laws and policies when selecting Huntsville. But the report also found the rules themselves may have been flawed, resulting in a less than optimal decision. A separate June report from the GAO found the Air Force did not follow best practices when making the basing decision. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is reviewing both reports’ findings and will make a determination about whether to revisit the basing process. SPACECOM Commander Gen. James Dickinson said in December he expects that decision “shortly,” but the service declined to provide a more specific timeline. (1/25)

DoD Says Goodbye to Large, Expensive Satellites (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department has no plans to return to the era of large, expensive satellites. Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said Tuesday that the Pentagon need to break from the past and embrace more agile ways to buy satellites in order to make U.S. systems more resilient to threats. That includes a shift to smaller satellites rather than what he called the "big juicy targets" of the past.

He said he envisioned using smallsats not just in low Earth orbit constellations but also in medium Earth orbit and GEO. He said the Space Force also needs to avoid developing new satellite buses for each program and instead use commercially available buses, focusing instead on the payloads. (1/25)

DIU Launches Vendor Solicitation for Next Phase of HyCAT Project (Source: Executive Gov)
The Department of Defense has issued a second commercial solutions opening for its ongoing Hypersonic and High-Cadence Airborne Testing Capabilities project. The notice posted by the Defense Innovation Unit stated that the CSO will focus on prototyping novel hypersonic technologies using the modular payload capability developed from HyCAT I, which was launched in September.

DIU is seeking companies that can deliver cost-effective, rapid and reusable hypersonic testing platforms, preferably with alternative guidance, navigation, control and communications systems. They should also feature propulsion capabilities such as air breathing and combined cycle functionalities. (1/24)

Timothy Bishop Appointed Director of Army Space & Missile Defense CoE (Source: Executive Gov)
Timothy Bishop, former deputy program executive officer for the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation, has been appointed as the Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s director of the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence.

In this role, he will be responsible for managing space and global ballistic missile defense doctrine and training, developments and decision support as well as the Training and Doctrine Command capability managers for space and high altitude strategic missile defense, the Space and Missile Defense School and the Army Personnel Development Office. (1/24)

U.S. to Test Nuclear-Powered Spacecraft by 2027 (Source: Reuters)
The United States plans to test a spacecraft engine powered by nuclear fission by 2027 as part of a long-term NASA effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of propelling astronauts to Mars in the future, the space agency’s chief said on Tuesday. NASA will partner with the U.S. military's research and development agency, DARPA, to develop a nuclear thermal propulsion engine and launch it to space "as soon as 2027," NASA administrator Bill Nelson said during a conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The U.S. space agency has studied for decades the concept of nuclear thermal propulsion, which introduces heat from a nuclear fission reactor to a hydrogen propellant in order to provide a thrust believed to be far more efficient than traditional chemical-based rocket engines. NASA officials view nuclear thermal propulsion as crucial for sending humans beyond the moon and deeper into space. A trip to Mars from Earth using the technology could take roughly four months instead of some nine months with a conventional, chemically powered engine, engineers say. (1/24)

ISS National Lab Annual Report (Source: CASIS)
In fiscal year 2022 (FY22), the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory made great strides in its mission to return value to the nation and enable a sustainable economy in low Earth orbit. This year’s successes are highlighted in the ISS National Lab Annual Report for FY22, which has been released by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc. (CASIS). Click here. (1/25)

Plasma Thrusters Used on Satellites Could Be Much More Powerful Than Previously Believed (Source: Phys.org)
It has been believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind of electric propulsion widely used in orbit, must be large to produce a lot of thrust. Now, a new study suggests that smaller Hall thrusters can generate much more thrust—potentially making them candidates for interplanetary missions. "People had previously thought that you could only push a certain amount of current through a thruster area, which in turn translates directly into how much force or thrust you can generate per unit area," said Benjamin Jorns.

His team challenged this limit by running a 9 kilowatt Hall thruster up to 45 kilowatts, maintaining roughly 80% of its nominal efficiency. This increased the amount of force generated per unit area by almost a factor of 10. Whether we call it a plasma thruster or an ion drive, electric propulsion is our best bet for interplanetary travel—but science is at a crossroads. Click here. (1/24)

Nova Scotia Spaceport On Track for First Small-Scale Test Launch, Says CEO (Source: CTV)
The man behind Canada's first commercial spaceport says the facility in northeastern Nova Scotia could see its first suborbital test launch sometime early this summer. Work that began last September on an access road to the launch site near Canso, N.S., is nearly complete, Maritime Launch Services CEO Steve Matier said Monday in an interview.

A small, concrete pad will then be poured to accommodate a small-scale launch to send a rocket briefly into space before it falls back to Earth, Matier said, adding that as things stand there's no rush to set a firm date. The company signed an agreement last year with Montreal-based Reaction Dynamics, a company that works on hybrid propulsion -- a system that uses at least two propulsion sources -- and is developing a suborbital launcher, Matier said. The CEO added that aside from Reaction Dynamics, his company is also looking at rocket launches built within the academic sector. (1/23)