May 22, 2023

US FCC Signs Off on Viasat Acquisition of Inmarsat (Source: Space Daily)
Viasat's proposed acquisition of Inmarsat has received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC's decision leaves the European Commission's (EC) competition review as the key ongoing regulatory process in relation to the transaction. The transaction is expected to close later this month, subject to required regulatory approvals, clearances and other customary closing conditions. (5/19)

Ohio Space Forum Held May 22-24 in Cleveland (Source: Ohio Space Forum)
The Ohio Space Forum brought together federal, military, industry, and academic leaders in the dynamic fields of space research, operations, intelligence, exploration and defense. Speakers addressed Ohio’s space history, and how the state continues to lead. Click here. (5/22)

North Korea Preparing New Space Launch Site (Source: SFA)
Recent commercial satellite imagery of North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station indicates construction is progressing rapidly at several of the key facilities within the complex, and a probable new launch pad is being built at the coastal construction site. The new construction site is located on the east coast approximately 1km north-northwest of the new seaport and was first observed in imagery on 30 April. North Korea has laid a new large concrete pad—approximately 135x40m—which could be a new launch pad. At the north end of the pad, there appears to be a possible launch stand and two parallel bars, suggesting where a strongback might be placed. (5/16)

AT&T Asks FCC to Block Starlink-T-Mobile Deal (Source: Ars Technica)
AT&T is asking the FCC to block a direct-to-handset satellite communications deal between T-Mobile and SpaceX. AT&T said in a filing last week that the agreement, which would use T-Mobile terrestrial spectrum to provide connectivity via Starlink satellites, goes against FCC rules and could "jeopardize or inhibit" AT&T services on neighboring spectrum. In a separate filing, the Rural Wireless Association said it also opposes the SpaceX/T-Mobile agreement because of potential interference in other bands. (5/22)

HASC Chairman Letter to DoD and USAF Chiefs Warns of Political Motives for Space Command HQ Re-Think (Source: Space News)
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee says he is concerned about delays in the selection of a permanent headquarters for U.S. Space Command. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) released a letter Friday he sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall requesting that they preserve all documentation concerning the selection of the command's headquarters location. He said he questioned the delays in the selection "due to apparent politically motivated interference from the Biden administration."

Colorado lawmakers of both parties have sought to keep the command in Colorado Springs rather than move it to Alabama's Redstone Arsenal. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said in a recent interview that the delay suggests the administration is "seriously reevaluating the decision" and ensuring they have all the facts. (5/22)

China Launches Science Satellites (Source: Space News)
China launched a pair of space science satellites Sunday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 4 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the Macao Science 1 mission. Its two satellites, carrying payloads from the Macao University of Science and Technology, will study changes in the Earth's magnetic field linked to solar activity The launch also carried Luojia-2, a Ka-band synthetic aperture radar test satellite for Wuhan University. (5/22)

EarthDaily Offers Imagery, Plans Constellation (Source: Space News)
EarthDaily Analytics is offering access to imagery from a French-Israeli satellite. EarthDaily says its customers can get visible and near-infrared medium-resolution imagery from the Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro-Satellite, or VENµS, satellite. It says that imagery is similar to the "scientific-grade data" EarthDaily plans to offer with its future satellite constellation. (5/22)

Astronauts Help Lobbying Push for NASA Budget (Source: Space News)
NASA's astronauts are helping the agency make its case for continued budget increases. The four-person Artemis 2 crew spent part of last week on Capitol Hill, meeting with members of Congress. The astronauts said they got a warm reception during those meetings. NASA has warned that progress on Artemis could be impeded if a debt-ceiling agreement results in spending cuts or if there is a long-term continuing resolution to start the 2024 fiscal year. In the longer term, there are concerns that NASA's funding profile is not sufficient for its exploration program. (5/22)

TransAstra Receives Space Force Contract to Explore In-orbit Propulsion Systems (Source: Space Daily)
U.S. orbital logistics and space mining company TransAstra Corporation announced Friday that the U.S. Space Force has awarded it a Phase One Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to explore new applications for the company's patented, propellant-agnostic Omnivore thruster. The groundbreaking propulsion technology provides thrust typically six times faster and eight times cheaper than electric systems, and enables vehicles to carry payloads several times larger than those using chemical rocket thrusters. (5/19)

The Moon Has a Hidden Resource That Could Sustain Billions of Humans for Generations (Source: Inverse)
Although the Moon does have an atmosphere, it’s very thin and composed mostly of hydrogen, neon, and argon. It’s not the sort of gaseous mixture that could sustain oxygen-dependent mammals such as humans. That said, there is actually plenty of oxygen on the Moon. It just isn’t in a gaseous form. Instead, it’s trapped inside regolith — the layer of rock and fine dust that covers the Moon’s surface. If we could extract oxygen from regolith, would it be enough to support human life on the Moon? (5/21)

Webb Space Telescope Captures Nearby Planetary System in Breathtaking Detail (Source: SciTech Daily)
A new Webb Space Telescope image of the bright, nearby star Fomalhaut reveals details never seen before, including nested rings of dust that hint at the forces of unseen planets. A team led by University of Arizona astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image the warm dust around a nearby young star, Fomalhaut, to study the first asteroid belt ever seen outside of our solar system in infrared light. The image shows nested concentric rings of dust, some of which had never been seen before. These belts most likely are carved by the gravitational forces produced by embedded, unseen planets. Click here. (5/21)

SpaceX's Raptor Breaks Records (Source: NSF)
SpaceX’s Raptor engine broke new records, confirmed by Elon Musk last week, noting SpaceX had tested a Raptor 3 engine that had reached 350 bar pressure on its main combustion chamber. "Raptor V3 just achieved 350 bar chamber pressure (269 tons of thrust)," Elon Musk tweeted. "Starship Super Heavy Booster has 33 Raptors, so total thrust of 8877 tons or 19.5 million pounds." This places the engine’s performance 20 bars higher than their past record for highest chamber pressure and thrust. Musk later explained that SpaceX didn’t expect the engine to survive this test, which provides an additional positive benchmark. (5/19)

Planet Seeks Partners That Can Extract More Value From Data (Source: Space News)
The data analytics firm Royce Geo used imagery from Planet Labs and vessel-tracking information from Spire satellites to uncover illicit oil trading by Russian tankers around the globe. The analysis published May 16 also found that more tankers coming from Russian ports are now heading towards Chinese export destinations. Using artificial intelligence techniques to extract ships and classify tankers within satellite images, the company was able to explain how Russia continues to export oil and natural gas products while most nations have imposed sanctions and price caps.

Another analytics and AI company, Windward, combined vessel tracking data with Planet imagery to report on the alleged laundering of Ukrainian grain by Russian dark vessels. These are examples of how Planet works with partners to “get value out of our data,” Kevin Weil, Planet’s president of product and business. (5/21)

Canada's EarthDaily Analytics Offers VENµS Imagery Access (Source: Space News)
Vancouver-based EarthDaily Analytics is offering access to the French-Israeli Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro-Satellite mission, called VENµS, through Amazon Web Services. The VENµS imagery, captured twice per day in 12 visible and near infrared spectral bands, is similar to the scientific-grade data quality EDA plans to capture with its own constellation. (5/21)

Multiple Interstellar Objects Have Entered Our Solar System, Study Finds (Source: Science Alert)
Recent research showed us that the upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory could find up to five ISOs per year and that the Oort Cloud, if it exists, might contain more ISOs than native Solar System objects. Other research suggests that cosmic rays might erode most ISOs to nothing. Other papers have shown that many ISOs would be pulled into Jupiter and destroyed. (5/19)

Branson's Wealth Crashes Back to Earth (Source: Sunday Times)
Sir Richard Branson’s personal fortune has fallen sharply after a torrid few years for his Virgin empire and the bankruptcy of its satellite launch business. The British billionaire’s wealth dropped by 42.6 per cent to £2.41 billion over the previous 12 months, according to the 35th Sunday Times Rich List. His ranking slipped from 44th to 77th. Branson recently highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on Virgin Group, a sprawling network of businesses dominated by tourism — selling flights, cruises and holidays. It has spent almost two decades trying to launch a commercial space travel service. (5/20)

Large Constellations of Low-Altitude Satellites: A Primer (Source: CBO)
In recent years, commercial investment in space has greatly increased, with emphasis on low altitudes—about 300 kilometers (km) to 2,000 km (or roughly 190 miles to 1,240 miles) above the Earth. Today, several companies plan to build and launch very large constellations of satellites in orbits at those altitudes. Similarly, the Department of Defense (DoD) has begun to plan for new large constellations of satellites at lower orbits to make the performance of their satellite missions more resilient against interference and attack by adversaries.

In this report, the Congressional Budget Office provides an introduction to the advantages of and challenges for constellations of low-altitude satellites. In particular, the report describes the effects that orbital altitude has on the design of satellites and constellations of those satellites, focusing on DoD’s Earth-observation and communications missions. Click here. (5/19)