June 11, 2023

LeoStella Manufactures and Delivers its Twentieth Satellite (Source: LeoStella)
LeoStella delivered its third satellite to Loft Orbital Solutions. The spacecraft is the 20th satellite manufactured by LeoStella since its formation in 2019. This latest satellite was modeled on LeoStella’s LS-100 bus platform and delivered to Loft Orbital. Loft Orbital extended its production agreement with LeoStella to secure additional satellites in support of Loft’s mission to provide a reliable path to orbit for any payload for its customers. (6/5)

Momentus to Deliver Nine Satellites to Orbit for Apogeo Space Internet of Things Constellation (Source: Momentus)
Momentus has signed an agreement with Apogeo Space to provide orbital transportation services for nine satellites that are part of Apogeo’s planned 100-satellite Internet of Things (IoT) constellation. Apogeo Space aims to build a constellation of picosatellites capable of providing connectivity to IoT devices globally. The delivery with Momentus represents the second batch of nine satellites and another key step toward the creation of the 100-satellite network. (6/5)

Dying Stars’ Cocoons Could Be New Source of Gravitational Waves (Source: Northwestern Now)
New simulations suggest, for the first time, that cocoons of debris around dying stars likely emit gravitational waves. Cocoons form as a massive star sheds debris while collapsing into a black hole. LIGO might be able to detect these gravitational waves from cocoons in upcoming runs. (6/5)

Should the FAA Regulate All Space Activities? (Source: Space News)
The Outer Space Treaty (OST) requires nation-states to provide “authorization and continuing supervision” of the activities of their nationals in space. In recent months the National Space Council has asked federal agencies for their opinions on which agencies or departments should have this role for in-space activity. Here, “in-space activity” is basically everything other than launch and reentry operations, already regulated by the FAA; communications, regulated by the FCC; and Earth observation, regulated by the Commerce Department’s NOAA. Most of the input has centered around giving the additional authorization and continuing supervision role for all in-space activities to either the FAA or Commerce.

Recently there has been considerable discussion of how “supervision” under the Outer Space Treaty might be implemented in the United States, with some arguing that this important enabling function for space commerce ought to reside in the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) or elsewhere within NOAA or the Department of Commerce. Others argue that the FAA, which regulates space launch, should have this wide-ranging responsibility. 

The FAA would be a bad fit for the Authorization and Continuing Supervision Role that nation-states are required to perform for their nationals for in-space regulation, particularly in these extremely early years of the initial development of whole new commercial space industries. The implication of this new direction is that the FAA would assume the responsibility of “supervising” (i.e., regulating) all commercial activity in space, not just transportation through Earth’s atmosphere to and from space as is now the case. The FAA has no experience with or responsibility for the general regulation of commercial activity on the Earth outside the realm of transportation. Thus, extending an FAA already straining to support the rapidly growing space launch business seems unwise in the extreme. (6/10)

Space Can Make a Difference for European Citizens (Source: Friends of Europe)
Frederic Nordlund, Head of the External Relations Department at the European Space Agency (ESA), called for improvement in the space industry’s relationship with citizens at yesterday’s Making Space Matter Summit, hosted by think tank Friends of Europe in Brussels. The Making Space Matter initiative focuses on a range of urgent matters, from geopolitics, big data and innovation, to governance and cooperation. This year is pivotal for space matters as citizens prepare to cast their votes in the 2024 European elections.

As such, space matters should be a priority and more prominent in public policy and budget. Solidifying Europe’s presence in the solar system and further developing space-enabled technologies will require finding solutions to complex scientific and political obstacles. The summit reinforced the timely and crucial importance of Friends of Europe’s ambition to design a Renewed Social Contract for Europe that radically rethinks the process by which citizens, the private sector, civil society and public institutions interact. (6/7)

AAC Clyde Space Targets Profitable Growth with Expansion of its Own Satellite Fleet (Source: Clyde Space)
AAC Clyde Space has a strategic ambition to increase its operations in SDaaS, a segment with net margins of approximately 30-40 per cent. In 2022, SDaaS generated Group revenues of SEK 16.9 million from four satellites while the SDaaS order stock at year-end amounted to SEK 166.8 million. Over the next 18 months, AAC Clyde Space aims to add another seven satellites to its proprietary constellation, transforming the company into a space-based data company. In parallel, the company is building the four new satellites to provide multispectral data. (6/9)

Facts and Fiction of Final-Frontier Finance (Source: Financial Times)
The tagline of this week’s FT Investing in Space Summit was “Balancing optimism with realism” which was probably a first for the industry in recent history. Google “space investment bubble” and you’ll find a trove of articles written since about 2012, on the over-enthusiasm of investors. Every year, apparently, has been the year the bubble just has to burst. Well, it looks like interest rates may be nudging us closer to that realism. One of my favorite moments was a question to Space Capital's Chad Anderson: is there a danger that the future of the entire industry’s innovation relied on SpaceX reducing its prices?

Where does the 'trillion-by-2040' number come from? This number originally came from Morgan Stanley’s infamous sellside research which, admittedly, has done a great job at selling the industry. As they say themselves, if you read the report: it is not space stuff. Instead, it is from “second order impacts”. Cloud computing. Cybersecurity. Things that are enabled by the movement of data through space. (6/9)

UK Space Agency Deputy CEO to Step Down (Source: Gov.UK)
Ian Annett, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the UK Space Agency, has announced he will leave his role and the Civil Service at the end of August, after more than three and a half years leading the delivery of UK national civil space programs. (6/7)

Space Funding Boost for International Partnerships and STEM Education (Source: Gov.UK)
The UK Space Agency has announced £6.6 million funding for a range of international science partnerships and STEM education projects at the opening of this year’s Space Comm-Expo in Farnborough – one of the UK’s largest space events. The new Science and Exploration Bilateral Programme is designed to support science collaborations with international institutions that will progress space research and problem-solving around the world. (6/7)

Astrobotic and Westinghouse Team to Power Outer Space (Source: Astrobotic)
Westinghouse Electric Company and Astrobotic announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to explore collaboration on space technology programs for NASA and DoD. The collaboration will focus on the development of space nuclear technology and delivery systems. The joint effort will also include strengthening the space nuclear supply chain and workforce in the Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia region. Last year, Westinghouse received support from Astrobotic in capturing a $5 million NASA/DOE contract to provide an initial design concept for a fission lunar surface power system. (6/6)