May 13, 2024

Defense Space Policy Chief Calls Russia’s Space Nuke Threat “a Thing Apart” (Source: Space News)
The departing assistant secretary of defense for space policy says that Russia's pursuit of a nuclear weapon for use in space is a deeply troubling threat. In an interview, John Plumb said that the weapon stands apart from other feared "counterspace" weapons being developed by Moscow, Beijing and others, calling it "a thing apart" that must be dealt with differently from those other threats.

He said hardening all U.S. satellites against such radiation would be unrealistic and prohibitively expensive. Instead, the Pentagon and other government agencies should do further studies and modeling of the potential impact of a nuclear detonation in orbit, and develop options to increase the resilience of military systems. (5/13)

Serbia Joins China's Lunar Program (Source: Space News)
Serbia has joined China's International Lunar Research Station program. Serbia's Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation signed a memorandum of understanding with the China National Space Administration on ILRS, according to a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement last week. It is not clear how Serbia, with only modest space capabilities, will be involved in and contribute to the ILRS at this stage. Serbia becomes the 11th country to join the ILRS, following Nicaragua and Thailand in April. (5/13)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission on Sunday at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites Sunday evening. A Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and deployed 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. With the launch SpaceX has 5,999 Starlink satellites in orbit, although not all of them are operational. (5/13)

China Launches Space Environment Monitoring Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched a space environment satellite Saturday night. A Long March 4C satellite lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed the Shiyan-23 satellite into orbit. The satellite will be used for space environment monitoring, Chinese media said, but did not provide any additional details about its mission. (5/13)

NASA and JAXA to Operate XRISM As-Is Despite Instrument Issue (Source: Space News)
NASA and JAXA will operate an X-ray astronomy satellite as-is for the next year and a half despite a glitch affecting one of its instrument. A gate valve, or aperture door, for the XRISM spacecraft's Resolve instrument failed to open after launch last September. The instrument itself is working fine, but the valve's beryllium disk attenuates X-rays, particularly at lower energies. At a National Academies meeting last week, the head of NASA's astrophysics division said NASA and JAXA decided not to make any more attempts to open the valve for the time being, instead collecting science data for the next 18 months before trying again. (5/13)

Yahsat Restores Partial Service to Thuraya-3 Satellite (Source: Yahsat)
Yahsat has partially restored service on its Thuraya 3 satellite. The company said Friday that it was able to resume voice and data services in the Indochina region from the satellite, which suffered a problem last month. Yahsat said it is still working to restore service in other parts of the Asia-Pacific region where that satellite operated. (5/13)

Red Tape Leaves Space Force Without Targeting Satellites (Source: Air & Space Forces)
Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute argues in a new study that the US Space Force should develop its own targeting satellites instead of collaborating with the National Reconnaissance Office, highlighting that three years after a joint initiative was announced, bureaucratic delays have prevented the formal start of the acquisition process. Harrison's analysis points out that while the US currently leads Russia and China in space capabilities, they need to streamline acquisition and coordination to ensure this advantage. (5/10)

Startup Connects to Satellites in Orbit From Earth via Bluetooth — Using Off-the-Shelf Chip and a Software Update (Source: Tech Radar)
Tech startup Hubble Network has secured a $20 million for in-space connectivity. Their Transporter-launched satellites have managed to receive signals from Earth from a simple 3.5mm Bluetooth chip over an astonishing distance of 600 km, roughly the same distance from New York City to Boston, or London to Paris.

This development is significant because traditional networks often lag in delivering effective coverage in remote areas, consume too much power, and are prohibitively costly to operate at a global scale. Hubble’s approach directly tackles these problems by enabling standard Bluetooth devices to connect to their satellite network without cellular reception simply with a software update. (5/11)

Mayan Intercropping Could Be Key to Food on Mars (Source: Newser)
Researchers in the Netherlands are working to solve a food sustainability problem for space, when humans theoretically colonize the planet and won't exactly be able to rely on Uber Eats. In a new study that mimicked Martian conditions in a controlled greenhouse, attempts to grow food were boosted by using a technique pioneered by Mayans called intercropping. This agricultural method involves growing a combination of mutually beneficial crops together.

When the researchers tested intercropping different groups of tomatoes, peas, and carrots—grown in the same pots or alone—with soil that chemically and physically matched what's found on Mars, tomato yields were boosted when grouped with peas. The peas and carrots preferred to grow alone, but seeing tomatoes thrive with thicker stems, more and bigger fruit per plant, and faster maturation was an exciting find. "Now it's just a matter of adjusting the experimental conditions until we find the most optimal system. It can be different species, more species, different ratio of species." (5/12)

Lunar Lander Company ispace Sees Opportunities in Japan-U.S. Artemis Agreement (Source: Space News)
An agreement between the United States and Japan on contributions for the Artemis lunar exploration campaign could create additional opportunities for a Japanese lunar lander developer. Tokyo-based ispace cited the April 10 agreement between NASA and the Japanese government regarding roles in Artemis as a potential new market for the company. Under the agreement, the Japanese space agency JAXA will provide a pressurized rover for Artemis mission starting in the early 2030s, with NASA includes two seats on Artemis landing missions for JAXA astronauts. (5/11)

In the Race for Space Metals, Companies Hope to Cash In (Source: Undark)
Potential applications of space-mined material abound: Asteroids contain metals like platinum and cobalt, which are used in electronics and electric vehicle batteries, respectively. Although there’s plenty of these materials on Earth, they can be more concentrated on asteroids than mountainsides, making them easier to scrape out. And scraping in space, advocates say, could cut down on the damaging impacts that mining has on this planet. Space-resource advocates also want to explore the potential of other substances. What if space ice could be used for spacecraft and rocket propellant? Space dirt for housing structures for astronauts and radiation shielding?

Amid an otherworldly landscape outside of Hanksville, Utah, sits the Mars Desert Research Station. Facilities like these are intended to mimic how people might fare on Mars or the Moon, or on long-term orbital stations. Previous companies have rocketed toward similar goals before but went bust about a half decade ago. In the years since that first cohort left the stage, though, “the field has exploded in interest,” said Angel Abbud-Madrid, director of the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines.

A lot of the attention has focused on the moon, since nations plan to set up outposts there and will need supplies. NASA, for instance, has ambitions to build astronaut base camps within the next decade. China, meanwhile, hopes to found an international lunar research station. Still, the pull of space rocks remains powerful and the new crop of companies hopeful. The economic picture has improved with the cost of rocket launches decreasing, as has the regulatory environment, with countries creating laws specifically allowing space mining. Click here. (5/8)

Sierra Space Reinvents Space Transportation with Dream Chaser (Source: Sierra Space)
Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and emerging defense tech prime building a platform in space to benefit and protect life on Earth, announced today the successful completion of a rigorous environmental test suite on the revolutionary Dream Chaser spaceplane, Tenacity, at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

As the first Dream Chaser moves toward orbital operations, Sierra Space and NASA test team members are preparing the vehicle, along with its Shooting Star cargo companion, for shipment to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing and integration ahead of its inaugural launch later this year.

The final environmental tests – acoustic testing and electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing – will be performed onsite inside the SSPF. Remaining work on the thermal protection system will also be completed there. Dream Chaser Tenacity, the first in a fleet of spaceplanes, remains on track for a 2024 launch on the first of seven missions to resupply the International Space Station for NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract. A second spaceplane, named Reverence, is in production in Sierra Space’s Louisville, Colo., factory. (5/9)

SpinLaunch Board Announces Leadership Transition (Source: SpinLaunch)
SpinLaunch, a pioneering space company enabling rapid and sustainable low-cost access to space, today announced a change of leadership to align with the company’s next stage of growth to expand and commercialize its portfolio of disruptive space solutions. The SpinLaunch Board of Directors has appointed David Wrenn, the company’s current Chief Operating Officer (COO), as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. SpinLaunch’s Founder & former CEO, Jonathan Yaney, has completed his transition from the company, where he recommended and endorsed Wrenn’s elevation to CEO. (5/10)