January 28, 2023

2 Big Pieces of Space Junk Nearly Collide in Orbital 'Bad Neighborhood' (Source: Space.com)
Low Earth orbit was the site of a near-miss on Jan. 27 that had the potential to create thousands of pieces of hazardous space debris. Satellite monitoring and collision detection firm LeoLabs spotted a near-miss between two defunct Soviet space objects, a rocket body and dead spy satellite, that missed one another by an incredibly small margin. According to LeoLabs the two objects missed one another by a distance of 20 feet, with a margin of error of "only a few tens of meters."

While the two objects luckily did not collide, LeoLabs says the incident was very close to being a "worst-case scenario" that could have generated thousands of more pieces of space debris in a ripple effect. According to LeoLabs, the two objects that narrowly missed one another were a defunct Soviet SL-8 rocket body and Cosmos 2361, a now-dead Russian spy satellite. The near-miss happened in what LeoLabs calls a "bad neighborhood" in LEO that spans from 590 to 652 miles in altitude. "This region has significant debris-generating potential in #LEO due to a mix of breakup events and abandoned derelict objects." (1/27)

Arriving at Titan: How Dragonfly’s Entry, Descent, and Landing Will Differ from Mars Missions (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Since the focus on Martian exploration ramped up in the mid-1990s, most of the familiarity with the Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) sequence of landers and rovers to the surface of other planets has taken place against the backdrop of Mars. But when NASA‘s upcoming Dragonfly mission arrives at Titan for its own EDL, it will experience a starkly different set of conditions that both add new complexity and ease some structural considerations for the system that will deliver the rotorcraft into Titan’s atmosphere. Click here. (1/27)

NASA Has Big Things Coming In 2023 (Source: Slash Gear)
The agency may have just wrapped up a very busy and very fruitful year, but that doesn't mean it's downshifting for 2023 — in fact, NASA is continuing on the momentum of several existing projects, plus kicking off some new ones. We expect plenty of activity to spectate this year as NASA brings astronauts — and us ground-dwellers, by proxy — one step closer to a Mars visit, to all-electric aerial travel, and more. Things never seem to slow down at Cape Canaveral and beyond, but here are the most significant milestones to look forward to from the U.S.' space agency, and from space itself, this year. Click here. (1/24)

NASA and the Space Force Should Catalyze the US Space Economy (Source: European Spaceflight)
Success in outer space is essential for American leadership and prosperity. Space holds infinite potential to strengthen America’s national power through scientific discovery, technological advancement, international cooperation, military advantage, resource extraction, and most importantly, economic expansion.

China understands the importance of economically developing space. China, which strives to become the leading space power by 2045, is actively pursuing the goal of developing and dominating an Earth-moon economic zone worth up to $10 trillion by 2050. The US should not stand by and allow China to assume leadership over the global space economy. Rather, the US should make strategic investments today to secure its global leadership and economic prosperity in space tomorrow. Therefore, NASA and the United States Space Force should employ commercial solutions over solutions made in-house to the maximum extent possible. Click here. (1/27)

An Author Believed Elon Musk Would Benefit Brownsville. Not Anymore (Source: Texas Monthly)
When I visited Brownsville on a breezy day back in February 2022, I drove to the SpaceX launchpad site, just meters from the Gulf of Mexico at Boca Chica, a beach on the city’s outskirts. I was shocked by how close I could get to the rockets. The only thing that stopped me from touching the towering metal cylinders was a sense that something was off. “It feels like you’re being monitored,” says Brownsville native Domingo Martinez, a 2012 National Book Award finalist for nonfiction. “The back of your neck is tingling.”

I had mentioned the incident while Martinez and I were discussing his August 2016 Texas Monthly article “Countdown to Liftoff.” The story braids a personal account of Martinez’s youth spent on the free and open beaches, where he and his family and later teenage friends would dig fire pits in the sand to cook freshly caught fish, with a report on SpaceX’s plans to establish operations near Martinez’s erstwhile paradise. “When I heard that SpaceX was considering Brownsville versus Florida, I was rooting for Brownsville,” Martinez says. At the time, SpaceX was promising to revolutionize extraterrestrial science. Its CEO, Elon Musk, was on a charm offensive. “And we all fell for it,” Martinez says.

The true cost of SpaceX’s move to Brownsville wasn’t yet known. Martinez read the FAA’s environmental impact statement while writing “Countdown to Liftoff,” but he says that despite the document’s hundreds of pages of research, appendices, and comments, it fell short of predicting the full effect launch failures would have on the area. There has been noise pollution that scares away the migratory birds that attract bird-watching winter tourists from all over Texas and beyond; the scattering of debris from equipment explosions; and fuel drops in the Gulf of Mexico. Martinez says that Brownsville residents expected there to be some environmental impacts, but few expected it to be so immediate. (1/27)

ESA Seeks More Use of its Logo, Mission Patches on Merchandise (Source: CollectSpace)
The European Space Agency wants to see its logo on your next t-shirt, cap or collectible. The intergovernmental organization, which is comprised of 22 member states, has now made it easier for individuals and companies producing merchandise to gain permission to use the ESA brand. The new process, which is essentially agreeing to some terms and submitting an online form, marks the first time that ESA has allowed branded products to be produced without the manufacturer first needing to enter into a collaborative agreement with the agency.

"This move is another step in trying to raise awareness and general visibility in Europe about ESA and the great space work we do, work for which we all can be proud," Josef Aschbacher, ESA's Director General, wrote in a social media post announcing the new program on Friday. Individuals and small companies that do not need extensive support from ESA for the development or promotion of their products can now visit the agency's new online Brand Center to request use of the ESA logo, astronaut insignia or mission patches. In doing so, they need to agree to abide by some basic design standards. (1/27)

Search for Gravitational Waves Set to Resume Following COVID-19 Setbacks (Source: Physics World)
The LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA collaboration has announced that the search for gravitational waves will resume in May. The next observational run – the project’s fourth – was meant to start last year but was postponed due to a series of engineering delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The run will be the longest to date, operating for 18 months. (1/27)

NASA Grants Arizona Space Facility $3,000,000 (Source: Arizona Public Media)
NASA is delivering a nearly 3-million dollar grant to the University of Arizona. The funding will help support deeper research into the origins and makeup of the universe. The money will be directed to the university’s Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility. The facility’s cutting-edge technology allows scientists to analyze meteorites and debris from asteroids and other planetary bodies that fall to Earth – helping them to decode the information archived in rocks and dust left over from the earliest days of the solar system. (1/27)

NASA’s ‘Mega Moon Rocket’ Aced First Flight and is Ready for Crewed Artemis II Launch (Source: Tech Crunch)
The enormous Space Launch System passed its first test with flying colors, NASA’s preliminary analysis concludes, and the rocket and Orion capsule are good to go for their next mission: Artemis II, which will carry a crew to lunar orbit. “Building off the assessment conducted shortly after launch, the preliminary post-flight data indicates that all SLS systems performed exceptionally and that the designs are ready to support a crewed flight on Artemis II,” wrote NASA. (1/27)

Cornwall Spaceport Chief Must Deal with Sexism (Source: Business Insider)
Melissa Thorpe, head of Spaceport Cornwall in the UK says it's challenging being a successful woman in the space industry. The space industry is male-dominated, but Thorpe said she's questioning how things are done. During her career, she's been left out of conversations and not asked opinions on things as much as others, Thorpe said. On top of this, she said she'd had backlash online from trolls. "I've been questioned even as a mother. It's pretty bad," she said. (1/28)

ISpA, US Consulate Lead Indo-Pacific Space Business Association (Source: The Times of India)
The Indian Space Association (ISpA) on Friday said it has partnered with IIT-Madras (IITM) and US Consulate General, Chennai and announced the formation of a working group of associations of various nations called Association of Space Entrepreneurs in the Indo Pacific (ASEIP). The working group will include one leading association from India, the US, Japan and Australia while ISpA would be the founding member representing India. (1/27)

Artemis Accords: International Cooperation in the Era of Space Exploration (Source: Harvard International Review)
Visions of future space travel usually focus on the utopian facets associated with breaking through the final frontier and exploring the great beyond, but what might happen when the international dynamics on Earth extend beyond the stratosphere? That is the question that the Artemis Accords aims to answer: they are a series of bilateral agreements signed in 2020. The agreements attempt to establish cooperation on a US-led endeavor to bring humans back to the moon by 2025 with the eventual goal of interplanetary exploration.

The Artemis Accords are based on several principles including peace, transparency, interoperability, emergency assistance, and minimizing resource conflict. The Artemis Accords currently have 21 party nations, including the United States, who initially drafted the agreements. The most notable nations “involved”, however, are actually two non-parties to the agreement: China and Russia. Although one would hope that the technological progressions associated with space exploration would automatically ameliorate fraught international relationships, the reality is that they might exacerbate existing tensions. Click here. (1/27)

NASA Launches Aeronautics Spanish-Language Webpages (Source: NASA)
As part of its effort to provide more resources and information to new audiences, NASA has launched new webpages featuring aeronautics information in Spanish. The webpages aim to make aeronautics content more accessible to the Spanish-language community. “By presenting aeronautics information and educational materials in Spanish, we’re working to foster a diverse, bold and effective next generation of explorers. We’re counting on this generation to help NASA carry its vision into the future.” According to data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the United States, after English. The translation of NASA’s aeronautics content will help inspire the next generation of NASA explorers. (1/27)

Lessons From Shuttle Columbia Disaster Could Stave Off Next Tragedy (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
“Never again” is the phrase echoed among NASA leaders recalling the last major tragedy in the space program that occurred 20 years ago this week, when Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, never making its way back home to Florida. But with more spacecraft, more players and farther-flung destinations like the moon and Mars, the potential for another disaster has grown.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who as a member of Congress flew on the space shuttle on the mission immediately before the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, recalled this week how engineers at one of the shuttle’s contractors told their managers to call off the launch because of the weather. The cold was ultimately blamed for shrinking an O-ring that led to the explosion. “The management would not listen to the engineers begging them to stop the count, and that went up all the way to the top,” Nelson said.

The warning signs for Columbia on STS-107 were out there as well. Nelson’s mission’s shuttle commander, Robert “Hoot” Gibson, told Nelson how he would always inspect the orbiter in space during missions he flew in the time between the two shuttle disasters. The two shuttle accidents, particularly, led to changes in how NASA operates, with a safety-first mentality that can seem to slow down progress at times, Nelson said. (1/28)

L3Harris Satellite Billed as the ‘future GPS’ Begins Key Tests (Source: Space News)
L3Harris announced Jan. 26 it delivered the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) to the U.S. Air Force and the spacecraft is now undergoing final tests in preparation for a planned launch in late 2023. NTS-3 is an experiment funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory that will broadcast positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) signals from geostationary Earth orbit. The goal is to demonstrate next-generation PNT technologies for the U.S. military and provide an alternative to GPS.

The satellite is now going through a series of tests at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and will soon head to the Air Force’s Benefield Anechoic Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, California, for radio frequency testing. The 1,250-kilogram satellite was built by L3Harris under a $84 million contract awarded in 2018 by AFRL. The Air Force plans to launch it on the USSF-106 mission, projected to be the first national security launch by United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket.

AFRL and MITRE Corp. developed a reprogrammable software-defined receiver that will allow users to receive both legacy GPS and the new NTS-3 signals. Parsons Corp. is developing the ground system. 3Harris built NTS-3 on a Northrop Grumman ESPAStar commercial bus. (1/27)

L3Harris ‘Optimistic’ Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition will close in 2023 (Source: Space News)
Christopher Kubasik, CEO of L3Harris Technologies, said Jan. 27 regulators continue to review the company’s proposed $4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and expects the merger to close in 2023. L3Harris, headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, is a global defense and aerospace firm with more than $17 billion in annual revenue. In December it announced an agreement to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne, a Sacramento, California-based manufacturer of rocket engines and propulsion systems for space vehicles, ballistic missiles and military tactical weapons. (1/27)

Creative Destruction Lab’s Space Stream Expands, Goes Global (Source: SpaceQ)
The Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a familiar part of the Canadian innovation scene, providing a program that gives founders the opportunity to develop a viable, scaleable company. CDL announced that their Space Stream would be their first “global” stream, adding two new sites in Atlanta and Paris to “create a worldwide network of space innovators and investors that reaches around the world” and to “create a bridge between two continents — North America and Europe — that have different landscapes in space exploration and commercialization.”

CDL takes a very different approach to the task than other accelerators like Y-Combinator. While Y-Combinator is a short-but-intensive sprint among a small group of companies who are publicly announced, all of whom are expected to graduate, the CDL has a much longer process that lasts over nine months and the participating companies are kept confidential. (1/27)