May 20, 2023

Terran Orbital Breaks Ground on New State-of-the-Art Satellite Manufacturing Facility (Source: Terran Orbital)
Terran Orbital broke ground on a 94,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing facility located at 4 Goodyear in Irvine, Calif. In partnership with Terran Orbital, W. P. Carey will redevelop one of its outdated office properties into a new, Class A industrial facility, which will serve as Terran Orbital’s fifth production facility. Demolition of the existing building commenced in February 2023, and the project is expected to be completed in January 2024. (5/19)

SpaceX Reveals Starship Flight Test 2 Launch Timeline (Source: WCCFTech)
SpaceX has filed a fresh application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which shares details for the firm's next test attempt. The application seeks authority to communicate with the rocket during the test, and its brief narrative shares: "This STA extends the information in previous grant 0145-EX-ST-2023 and is necessary to authorize Starship test flight 2 vehicle communications from the launch pad at Boca Chica TX, and the experimental recovery operation following the Starship test vehicle demo launch."

Along with the narrative, SpaceX also provides a timeline for its operations and seeks authorization for six months starting from the 15th of June. This suggests that the firm aims to be back on its feet in just two months after the shocking visuals of its launch pad 'captivated' attention. Footage from the launch site has also suggested that repairs are moving quickly, and unverified reports have claimed that SpaceX is testing its flight termination system. (5/17)

Russian Hypersonic Missile Scientists are Arrested on Treason Charges (Source: NBC)
Russia’s hypersonic missiles have taken a dual hit this week from Patriots fired by Ukraine and “patriots” arrested at home. Once touted as unstoppable, the program faces growing domestic fallout from treason charges against three scientists who worked on the technology, just as Kyiv claims its U.S.-supplied air defense systems have been able to shoot many of the missiles down.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that the scientists face “very serious accusations” after a rare public outcry over a wartime crackdown that has fueled a growing sense of unease across Russian society. In an open letter criticizing the arrests published Monday, colleagues of the three academics in hypersonic technology warned that Russia’s research on the subject faces “impending collapse.” They were all detained on suspicion of high treason. The letter professes the men’s innocence and praises their academic achievements, adding that all three chose to stay in Russia rather than accept highly paid and prestigious work abroad. (5/18)

How Space Companies Plan to Build Roads and Bases on the Moon (Source: Vice)
Science fiction is filled with dazzling cities constructed on the Moon and Mars, but it will be a huge challenge to bring these extraterrestrial bases into reality. Nonetheless, the dream of establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon has been gaining momentum, especially as NASA and its partners prepare to return astronauts to the lunar surface this decade as part of the Artemis program.

As part of the effort to deliver on this vision, space experts from a wide variety of fields convened in Washington DC this week for the 2023 Humans to Mars Summit (H2M), an annual conference on human space exploration organized by the nonprofit Explore Mars. Though the conference is named for the red planet, many of the panels also explored the human future on the Moon, which is seen by NASA and others as a gateway to Mars, and other locations in deep space. Click here. (5/19)

Head of Spaceport Cornwall Stepping Down (Source: Business Cornwall)
Melissa Quinn has announced that she will be leaving her position as head of Spaceport Cornwall later this month. Quinn joined the Spaceport team in its early stages, providing support for the UK Space Agency bid and took the head role in January 2021. Under her leadership, the team achieved a historic milestone with the first-ever UK launch in January. Despite the satellites not reaching their final orbit, the Spaceport and Cornwall Airport Newquay teams flawlessly executed ground operations, securing the UK’s first spaceport license. (5/19)

Georgia Tech to Lead NASA Center on Lunar Research and Exploration (Source: GA Tech)
Georgia Tech researchers have been selected by NASA to lead a $7.5 million center that will study the lunar environment and the generation and properties of volatiles and dust. The Center for Lunar Environment and Volatile Exploration Research (CLEVER) will be led by Thomas Orlando, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. (5/18)

Stoke Space has Received Repeated Investments From the Venture Arm for the U.S. Intelligence Community (Source: Tech Crunch)
Stoke Space has received multiple investments from In-Q-Tel, the strategic investor for the U.S. intelligence and defense community, TechCrunch has learned. Stoke Space and In-Q-Tel have not publicly announced their relationship before. While In-Q-Tel is legally a separate entity from any government agency, it receives all of its funding from government partners, including the defense and intelligence community.

Stoke was founded in 2019 by Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman. They started the company after years-long stints as propulsion engineers at Blue Origin; when they left, Lapsa held a director-level position and Feldman was a senior engineer. Stoke is developing a fully reusable launch vehicle capable of returning both the booster and the second stage back to Earth. The rocket is being designed to fly daily, a feature that is likely especially attractive to defense customers. (5/19)

Disney Is Closing Its Immersive Star Wars Hotel, A Year After Opening (Source: Forbes)
In the end, it was perhaps a galaxy too far. Walt Disney World’s ambitious but ultra-pricey Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, the $1,200-per-person-per-night hyper-immersive sleepover experience, is being shuttered for good at the end of September, roughly 18 months after opening, the company announced Thursday. Reservations for the Star Wars-themed resort in Orlando do not exist beyond the Starcruiser’s final voyage taking place September 28-30, according to the Disney World website. (But availability remains for many dates up until then.) (5/19)

Dubai Wants to Build a 900-ft Moon Replica (Source: The Messenger)
Aproposed $5 billion real-estate project would include a 900-foot replica of the Moon on Dubai's soaring skyline. Michael Henderson, a Canadian entrepreneur, is the brains and money behind the ambitious architectural project, which is appropriately being called MOON, per the Associated Press. Inside the massive lunar structure would be a luxury resort that would include a 4,000-room hotel, an arena with a 10,000-person capacity, and even a "lunar colony" which would give visitors the opportunity to feel like they were walking on the real Moon. (5/19)

Chinese Researchers Prove Presence of Ocean on Mars (Source: Xinhua)
Chinese researchers have discovered direct evidence that proves the existence of an ancient ocean on the northern plain of Mars, according to the China University of Geosciences, Wuhan. Previous studies found evidence of a large amount of liquid on early Mars, but the claims have remained controversial due to the lack of in situ analysis. A research team led by Xiao Long, professor from the university, analyzed the scientific data from the multispectral camera of Mars rover Zhurong, and has for the first time found petrological evidence of marine sedimentary rocks on the surface of Mars. (5/19)

Axiom Crew to Conduct Allen Institute Research (Source: Allen Institute)
Astronauts from Axiom Space in partnership with Cedars-Sinai will blast off to the International Space Station carrying cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science, a division of the Allen Institute. There, Axiom Space astronauts will perform experiments and send real-time data back to researchers at Cedars-Sinai as part of their study on the effects of microgravity on human cells.

The experiments are part of the Ax-2 mission, funded by NASA and Axiom Space, and represent a major milestone: It will be the first time Allen Institute-generated cells are flown to space. These cells are part of the publicly available Allen Cell Collection, a suite of human induced pluripotent stem cells gene-edited to illuminate different parts of the cell. (5/18)

2023 Spaceport America Cup Will Host Students From 24 Countries (Source: KRQE)
Spaceport America has announced its 2023 Spaceport America Cup. In total, 5,900 students will participate, made up of members from 159 teams and 24 different counties. The event, which has been held in New Mexico since 2017, will be from June 19 to 24 this year in Las Cruces. The cup is in collaboration with the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and is sponsored by Blue Origin. (5/18)

Future Space Food Could be Made From Astronaut Breath (Source: MIT Technology Review)
The future of space food could be as simple—and weird—as a protein shake made with astronaut breath or a burger made from fungus. To solve the problem of feeding astronauts on long-duration missions, NASA started the Deep Space Food Challenge in January 2021, asking companies to propose novel ways to develop sustainable foods for future missions. About 200 companies entered—a field that was whittled down to 11 teams in January 2023 as part of phase 2.

The eight U.S. phase 2 teams were each given $20,000, and three additional international teams were also recognized. On May 19, NASA announced the teams that will progress into the final phase of the contest, with a handful of winners to be announced in April 2024 following more detailed tests of their proposals. Entrants had to show systems that could operate for three years and feed a crew of four on a prospective space mission. The proposals did not need to supply a crew’s entire diet, but they did need to create a variety of nutritious foods for the astronauts.

Earlier this year, judges then visited each company to “see the food and really analyze it,” says Herblet. One company took a particularly unusual approach to the task. Air Company, based in New York and one of the five US-based finalists, designed a system that could use the carbon dioxide expelled by astronauts in space to produce alcohol, which could then be used to grow edible food. The company already develops alcohols from CO2 for plane fuel and perfume. (5/18)

NASA Selects Blue Origin for Astronaut Mission to the Moon (Source: Blue Origin)
NASA on Friday announced its selection of Blue Origin to build a second Human Landing System for its Artemis program to return to the Moon. The space company, founded by Jeff Bezos, will lead the development of a fully reusable lander that could take flight as soon as the end of this decade. Blue Origin’s 'National Team' includes Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, and Honeybee Robotics). They will develop and fly both a lunar lander that can make a precision landing anywhere on the Moon’s surface, and a cislunar transporter.

The fixed price contract is worth $3.4 billion, and NASA would like the "Blue Moon" lander to be ready for its Artemis V mission. Nominally, this landing of four astronauts will take place in 2029, but almost certainly, the schedule will slip out into the early 2030s. Blue Origin beat out another bidder, a team led by Dynetics, for the award. Friday's announcement represents a significant moment for NASA for multiple reasons. Importantly, it adds a second provider of human landing services.

Previously, NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX for its Starship vehicle to serve as a lunar lander. That vehicle will be used for NASA's first two lunar landing missions, Artemis III and Artemis IV. So NASA gets the competition it covets, which has been shown to spur commercial development. Perhaps more importantly, NASA is stepping into the future with this lander design. By selecting the revised Blue Moon concept, there are now two US companies developing an in-space propellant depot capability and fully reusable vehicles to put humans on another world. (5/19)

When the Culture Wars Came for NASA (Source: New York Times)
The James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful ever made, has revolutionized the way we see the universe. The name was chosen for James E. Webb, a NASA administrator during the 1960s. But when doubts about his background emerged, the telescope’s name turned into a fight over homophobia. Michael Powell, a national reporter for The Times, tells the story of Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist whose quest to end the controversy with indisputable facts only made it worse. Click here. (5/19)

Advanced Space Completes 6-Month CAPSTONE Primary Mission at the Moon for NASA (Source: Space Daily)
Advanced Space's pioneering commercial satellite has completed its primary 6-month mission operating in the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) that will be utilized by the Gateway lunar space station. CAPSTONE's enhanced mission will continue to focus on demonstrating lunar operations and navigation technology. To mark the end of the Primary Mission, Advanced Space is providing an update on the mission's accomplishments.

While the completion of the Primary Mission is a significant milestone, the CAPSTONE mission is not complete. The mission team, led by Advanced Space, is now planning and preparing to execute the "Enhanced Mission" phase, which will extend the CAPSTONE spacecraft's time in the NRHO up to 12 months. (5/19)

Space Missions Set to Improve Solar Storm Forecasts (Source: Space Daily)
Satellites launched into outer space could send back improved warnings of dangerous solar storms thanks to a breakthrough in the way scientists use space weather measurements. Experts from the University of Reading have found that using satellite data that is less reliable but is returned to Earth rapidly can be used to improve the accuracy of solar wind forecasts - which are harmful streams of charged particles sent from the sun - by nearly 50 percent.

Their research could pave the way for agencies, such as the Met Office, to provide more accurate forecasts for severe space weather, which can cause blackouts and harm human health. Lead researcher Harriet Turner said: "We know lots about how to prepare for storms that form on Earth, but we need to improve our forecasts of the dangerous weather we get from space. Space weather threatens our technology-focused way of life as it can cause power grids to fail, damage satellites, such as GPS, and even make astronauts ill." (5/19)

Australia's Arlula Secures $1.5 Million in Seed Funding to Enable Global Space Data Access (Source: Space Daily)
Australian space tech startup Arlula reports it has raised $1.5 million to expand access to Earth Observation (EO) data and imagery, allowing individuals, small businesses and large enterprises alike to harness its full potential. The funding was led by Main Sequence, Australia's deep tech investment fund founded by CSIRO, with participation from Black Nova Venture Capital. (5/19)

Umbra and Ursa Space Empower Global Market with Advanced SAR Analytics (Source: Space Daily)
Ursa Space Systems, a leader in satellite intelligence, and Umbra, a leader in advanced space radar technology, have jointly announced that they are partnering to bring advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) analytics to a global market through Ursa's suite of subscription and custom intelligence products. The two companies first teamed up to serve customers in late 2022 when Umbra initially began offering high-resolution SAR imagery for commercial use, and Ursa signed on as its first commercial customer. (5/19)

Momentus Deploys Qosmosys Satellite and On-Orbit Support of Caltech Hosted Payload (Source: Space Daily)
Momentus has deployed the Qosmosys Zeus-1 payload from its Vigoride-5 Orbital Service Vehicle and is now providing comprehensive hosted payload support services for Caltech's Space-based Solar Power Project payload. The Qosmosys Zeus-1 payload was deployed in orbit on May 10, 2023. Effective May 15, 2023, Momentus is providing on-orbit support to Caltech, including providing data, communication, commanding and telemetry, and resources for optimal picture taking and solar cell lighting. (5/19)