May 15, 2024

Starliner Launch Delayed Again for New Issue (Source: NBC)
Boeing’s first Starliner mission carrying astronauts into space has been delayed again — until at least May 21 — over an issue with the spacecraft’s propulsion system. Starliner’s mission carrying two NASA astronauts had been scheduled for liftoff from Florida last week, until a technical issue with its Atlas 5 rocket prompted a delay to May 17 — the latest postponement for a program years behind schedule and more than $1.5 billion over budget.

A new technical issue, now concerning Starliner itself, has prompted another postponement to at least next Tuesday, Boeing said in a statement. “Starliner teams are working to resolve a small helium leak detected in the spacecraft’s service module,” Boeing said, adding that engineers traced the leak to a component on one of the propulsion system’s 28 control thrusters that are used for maneuvering in Earth’s orbit. (5/14)

Volcanic Planet is "Constantly Exploding" with Molten Lava (Source: Salon)
Like a giant exploding ember floating in space, a planet made of molten lava and covered in active volcanoes was recently described in The Astronomical Journal. Known as TOI-6713.01, the exoplanet was first spotted by UC Riverside astrophysicist Dr. Stephen R. Kane using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. It is part of a star system known as HD 104067, one which is already roughly 66 light years away from our sun.

Like Earth TOI-6713.01 is a rocky planet, but it is almost one-third larger than our home and has a temperature of 2,600 degrees Kelvin, making it hotter than even certain stars. The properties of TOI-6713.01 are perhaps most similar to those of the Jovian moon Io, where scientists recently discovered a lava lake as smooth as glass. (5/14)

This Giant Gas Planet is as Fluffy and Puffy as Cotton Candy (Source: AP)
Astronomers have identified a planet that’s bigger than Jupiter yet surprisingly as fluffy and light as cotton candy. The exoplanet has exceedingly low density for its size, an international team reported Tuesday. The gas giants in our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — are much denser.

Scientists say an outlier like WASP-193b is ideal for studying unconventional planetary formation and evolution. The planet was confirmed last year, but it took extra time and work to determine its consistency based on observations by ground telescopes. It’s thought to consist mostly of hydrogen and helium, according to the study. (5/14)

The Spacecraft Control Center of the Future (Source: ESA)
ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, is evolving. On 14 May, ESA signed a contract with Darmstadt-based architecture office H2S Architekten for the construction of a futuristic new satellite control center at its existing ESOC site. Preparations for the construction of the new building will begin in 2025. (5/14)

It's Time to Rebalance Funding Toward the Air Force and Space Force (Source: Defense News)
It is time to rebalance Department of Defense resources so that our men and women in uniform can fight, if necessary, and win in an increasingly dangerous world. Given the threats posed by China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and an array of nonstate actors, the United States is facing extreme challenges, the likes of which we have never confronted in our history. This threat situation drives a new security environment that requires a revised investment strategy.

Two decades of ground-centric operations saw a dramatic surge in Army spending to the exclusion of sufficient investment in air power and space power. It is time for a reset. Combatant commanders today require more air power and space power — and budgets need to reflect that. (5/13)

Newly Discovered Subatomic Particle May Be the Universe's Mythical 'Glueball' (Source: StudyFinds)
Protons and neutrons are part of a family of particles called hadrons. Most hadrons, including protons and neutrons, are made up of even more fundamental particles called quarks, which are held together by other particles called gluons. Gluons are the “glue” that binds quarks together. They carry the strong nuclear force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature.

Here’s where things get even more interesting. The theory that describes the behavior of quarks and gluons is called quantum chromodynamics, or QCD for short. One of the key features of QCD is that, unlike the other fundamental forces, the strong force actually gets stronger with distance! Imagine if the further you pulled two magnets apart, the harder they tried to snap back together – that’s kind of how the strong force works.

This unique property of QCD leads to some fascinating consequences. One prediction is that, in addition to the usual hadrons made of quarks, there could exist particles made entirely of gluons – glueballs. Just like quarks can combine to form composite particles, the thinking goes, so too could gluons bind together with no quarks involved. These glueballs would be a completely new class of subatomic particles. (5/13)

This Time, We Take It From No One: Why Opening the High Frontier of Space Can Be Different (Source: Space.com)
In the movements and expansion of civilizations and peoples of the past, it has often been the case that, as one group expanded, it was at the cost of another. We have been driven in the past by changes in climate, the pressures of our populations, the collapse of our economies, the oppression of our ideas and beliefs, or the greed of those with a lot of stuff to gather more stuff under their control. Societies have also been forced to move to new lands by the movements of others being driven by others moving into their own, and so on.

It appears that the solar system is empty of intelligence except our own. It is in that sense ours, as it belongs to no one else, not in the way that greed and the grabbing of finite resources and wealth have been taken or possessed in the past, but in the sense that we are responsible for it, We, All of Us — the entire human race. It may be possible there is primitive life to be found under a frozen rock on Mars or beneath the under-oceans of the Jupiter moon Europa or Saturn's Enceladus. (5/15)

Space Force Should Consider Alternative Launch Sites, Lawmakers Say (Source: C4ISRnet)
As U.S. launch rates surge at the Defense Department’s two coastal ranges, House lawmakers are pushing the military to consider alternative sites for sending space payloads to orbit. In the House Armed Services Committee’s draft fiscal 2025 defense policy bill, lawmakers raised concerns about the ability of DOD’s most in-demand spaceports at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California to meet military and commercial capacity needs in the coming years.

Growing demand has driven the Space Force to explore options to increase the number of launches its existing ranges can support and invest in the infrastructure at those bases through an initiative called Spaceport of the Future. But lawmakers also want them to consider the feasibility of launching NSSL payloads from other ranges as soon as 2025. The bill lists potential alternative sites, including Wallops Island in Virginia, Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska, and Spaceport America in New Mexico. (5/14)

Mystery of 'Impossible' Star Resolved by Three-Body Solution (Source: New Scientist)
The mystery of a star that seemed too small to exist has been solved – by the detection of another star hiding in the same system. In 2019, astronomers announced the discovery of an unusual system called KIC 8145411 in which a white dwarf – the dull, compact remnant left behind after certain stars exhaust their nuclear fuel – was orbiting a sun-like star every 450 days. The system is a rare example of a self-lensing binary. (5/14)

We are About to Hear Echoes in the Fabric of Space for the First Time (Source: New Scientist)
Astronomers saw the explosion of the Refsdal supernova. Then, 360 days later, it went bang again. This bizarre sequence of events was down to a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, in which massive objects warp the fabric of space enough to cause light to bend. The path of the flash from the supernova was changed in this way on its journey to us, so that portions of it took different routes and arrived at different times – almost a year apart in this extreme case. Gravitational waves can be lensed by massive galaxies so that they repeat, like an echo. (5/14)

Musk: Starship's Next Launch 'Probably 3 to 5 Weeks' Away (Source: Space.com)
We're likely still a month or so away from the next launch of SpaceX's Starship megarocket. That was the timeline Elon Musk offered in a post on X over the weekend, saying Starship's next test flight is "probably 3 to 5 weeks" away. "Objective is for the ship to get past max heating, or at least further than last time," the billionaire entrepreneur added. (5/13)

OneWeb Coverage Target Held Up by India Regulatory Delays (Source: Space News)
Regulatory delays in India have knocked Eutelsat off course for reaching 90% of the world with its OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation by summer, the French satellite operator said May 14. The company said last year it was the first to get permission to provide commercial satellite broadband services from IN-SPACe, India’s newly created space regulator, but radio waves from the country’s government still needed to be allocated. (5/14)

This is NASA's New Space Suit (Source: Cleo Abram)
These new suits will give astronauts the superpower to do more, for longer… and I’m one of the first civilians to put one on. In this video, we’re taking you behind the scenes to show how Axiom Space is designing, building, and testing NASA’s new space suits. I am going to put myself and this suit to the test, to give you a sneak peak into what it looks like, what it feels like, and how it could change what humanity can do in space. Click here. (5/14)

SpaceX Reveals Spacesuit With Heads-Up Display Inside Helmet (Source: Futurism)
The suit will make its first appearance during this summer's Polaris Dawn mission, which will see a crew of four space tourists stepping out of the capsule to go for a spacewalk. The suit is astonishingly slim compared to the bulky suits we've become accustomed to that allow astronauts to venture outside spacecraft like the ISS.

The EVA suit's helmet is made of 3D-printed parts and a visor. It also features a new Heads-Up Display (HUD) and camera that allow astronauts to keep track of the suit's pressure, temperature, and relative humidity without having to glance down at their wrists or take their gaze away from the Earth below. It can also show a mission clock to gauge the duration of various EVA tasks. (5/7)

DoD's Commercial Space Strategy Leaves Industry Wanting More (Source: Space News)
The recent release of Defense Department and Space Force strategic blueprints for the use of commercial space technologies has been met with cautious optimism by the industry. While acknowledging the importance of these vision documents, some executives remain concerned about the lack of a concrete roadmap.

Both documents offer a compelling vision for collaboration, but the strategies only highlight the intent to leverage commercial space capabilities and don’t detail how that will happen or commit funds, noted Ellen Chang, vice president of ventures at the consulting firm BMNT. Chang, who advises space startups that work with the U.S. government, said many companies have been eagerly awaiting these strategies, seeing them as important to unlock investments in the burgeoning commercial space industry.

However, she said, it’s unlikely that these high-level guidance documents will trigger an immediate overhaul in military space spending or a shift from established defense contractors to commercial ventures. (5/14)

Amazon Expanding Kuiper Footprint in Washington (Source: Seattle Times)
Amazon will open a new logistics center in Everett for its broadband satellite network, Project Kuiper, expanding its ability to design, test and manufacture satellites in the Puget Sound region. At the 184,000-square-foot facility, Project Kuiper workers will receive and sort supplies that will then be used to construct thousands of satellites. The new facility, set to open in June, will help streamline the manufacturing process as Project Kuiper prepares to launch its first production satellites later this year. (5/14)

TRAPPIST-1 Outer Planets Likely Have Water (Source: Universe Today)
The TRAPPIST-1 solar system generated a swell of interest when it was observed several years ago. In 2016, astronomers using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) at La Silla Observatory in Chile detected two rocky planets orbiting the red dwarf star, which took the name TRAPPIST-1. Then, in 2017, a deeper analysis found another five rocky planets. It was a remarkable discovery, especially because up to four of them could be the right distance from the star to have liquid water. (5/14)

Space Economics 101: Why the Math on Refueling Just Doesn’t Add Up (Source: Space News)
The chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force Gen. Chance Saltzman, told lawmakers at a recent hearing that the service is struggling with the math on satellite refueling. And we can’t blame him. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a Nobel economics laureate to discern the obvious: the newest generations of satellites, built and launched for the Space Force by dozens of commercial contractors and suppliers, are not meant to be refueled.

The vast majority of smallsats in orbit are simple, solar-powered computers with a five-year design life and a potential useful life of eight to 10 years before deorbiting. From a cost and technical perspective — the lifeblood of any profitable space company — refueling small satellites makes no sense at all. Redesigning these satellites for a 15-year design life so they can be refueled would compel the U.S. Space Force to rely on absurdly obsolete computers for most of the satellites’ orbital life while attempting to maintain space superiority against a menacing Chinese threat.

Bottom line, the cost of these satellites would have to more than triple with redundancies and extraordinary radiation hardening. All of this just to defer launch costs, which have dropped 80 percent in the last decade and are poised for further declines with reusable boosters from SpaceX and intense competition. (5/9)

SpaceX Gearing Up to Launch Starship-Super Heavy Rockets From KSC (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX Starship-Super Heavy launches from two nearby sites on the Space Coast continue proceeding to reality: Federal officials are now studying the two-stage mega-rocket's potential environmental impacts at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX — which touts Starship-Super Heavy as "the world’s most powerful launch vehicle ever developed" — has already installed a large-scale launch tower here for future use.

The FAA environmental study will consider Starship-Super Heavy launches; Super Heavy booster and Starship landings at pad 39A or on drone ships; and expendable Super Heavy booster and Starship landings in the ocean. Meanwhile, just to the south, SpaceX officials hope a different Starship-Super Heavy complex starts hosting launches by 2026 at adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Air Force is preparing a Starship environmental impact statement with NASA, the FAA and Coast Guard. Public meetings occurred in March in Cocoa, Titusville and Cape Canaveral. (5/14)

MIT Researchers Discover the Universe's Oldest Stars in Our Own Galactic Backyard (Source: Space Daily)
MIT researchers, including several undergraduate students, have discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they happen to live in our own galactic neighborhood. The team spotted the stars in the Milky Way's "halo" - the cloud of stars that envelopes the entire main galactic disk. Based on the team's analysis, the three stars formed between 12 and 13 billion years ago, the time when the very first galaxies were taking shape. (5/15)

ISS National Lab Offers Up To $750,000 for Technology Development in Space (Source: Space Daily)
The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory is calling for flight concepts for technology development that use the space environment of the orbiting laboratory. This solicitation, "Technology Development and Applied Research Leveraging the ISS National Lab," invites proposals in various technology areas, including chemical and material synthesis, translational medicine, in-space edge computing, and in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM). It also includes the use of space station remote sensing data for geospatial analytics. (5/15)

Report: Space Force Should Develop Its Own Targeting Satellites (Source: Air & Space Forces)
A new study argues the Space Force should build its own targeting satellites rather than try to collaborate with the National Reconnaissance Office. The risk is especially acute in space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, where bureaucratic processes are holding up progress, Harrison told Air & Space Forces Magazine.

In the three years since the joint Space Force-NRO effort was launched, he said, “They still have not passed Milestone B, and Milestone B is actually the formal start of the acquisition process…. they haven’t actually started the program yet. What that tells me is the traditional acquisition process and all the interagency coordination that they’re doing has effectively lost us three years in the competition." (5/10)

Terran Orbital Takes Charge After Switching Propulsion Suppliers on Satellite Program (Source: Space News)
Terran Orbital took a $13 million charge in its first quarter that the company blamed on problems with a supplier to deliver propulsion systems for a Space Development Agency program. Terran Orbital reported $27.2 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, down $1 million from the same quarter of 2023. The company said that the revenue included a $13.1 million negative impact from unfavorable estimate-at-completion adjustments, mostly from a single program.

Company executive explained in a May 14 earnings call that charge came primarily from having to switch propulsion systems subcontractors on that program. “Propulsion has been the number-one problem child here,” said Marc Bell, chief executive of Terran Orbital. “Unfortunately, we picked a propulsion manufacturer who was unable to deliver the product. That caused us to do some redesigns to accommodate a new propulsion manufacturer.” (5/15)

Commercial Space Stations Approach Launch Phase (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
A changing of the guard in space stations is on the horizon as private companies work toward providing new opportunities for science, commerce, and tourism in outer space.

Blue Origin is one of a number of private-sector actors aiming to harbor commercial activities in low Earth orbit (LEO) as the creaking and leaking International Space Station (ISS) approaches its drawdown. Partners in Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef program, including firms Redwire, Sierra Space, and Boeing, are each reporting progress in their respective components of the program. Click here. (5/10)

New Shepard's Crewed NS-25 Mission Targets Liftoff on May 19 in Texas (Source: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin announced its seventh human flight, NS-25, will lift off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Sunday, May 19. The launch window opens at 8:30 AM CDT / 1330 UTC. The webcast on BlueOrigin.com will start at T-40 minutes.

Sidus Space Joins $30M Intuitive Machines-led Moon RACER Team (Source: Sidus Space)
is a teammate on the NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services (“LTVS”) Contract which was awarded to the Intuitive Machines-led Moon Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover (RACER) team announced earlier last month. This contract represents the first phase of developing a crewed rover for human exploration of the Moon’s surface. The LTVS project aims to create a feasibility roadmap for developing and deploying a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (“LTV”) on the Moon using Intuitive Machines’ Nova-D cargo-class lunar lander. (5/14)

Pentagon Worried ULA Can’t Keep Pace (Sources: Washington Post, Ars Technica)
The Pentagon is growing concerned that ULA, one of its key partners in launching national security satellites to space, will not be able to meet its needs to counter China and build its arsenal in orbit with a new rocket that ULA has been developing for years. It has been nearly four years since the US Air Force made its selections for companies to launch military payloads during the mid-2020s. The military chose ULA, and its Vulcan rocket, to launch 60 percent of these missions; and it chose SpaceX, with the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy boosters, to launch 40 percent.

Although the large Vulcan rocket was still in development at the time, it was expected to take flight within the next year or so. Upon making the award, an Air Force official said the military believed Vulcan would soon be ready to take flight. ULA was developing the Vulcan rocket in order to no longer be reliant on RD-180 engines that are built in Russia and used by its Atlas V rocket.

"I am growing concerned with ULA’s ability to scale manufacturing of its Vulcan rocket and scale its launch cadence to meet our needs," Frank Calvelli wrote to ULA's co-owners, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. "Currently there is military satellite capability sitting on the ground due to Vulcan delays. ULA has a backlog of 25 National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 Vulcan launches on contract." (5/13)

Virgin Galactic Sets June target for Next Commercial Spaceflight From Spaceport America (Source: Santa Fe New Mexican)
Virgin Galactic this month announced its seventh commercial spaceflight out of Spaceport America in Southern New Mexico for June 8. The flight will be Virgin Galactic’s second this year out of Spaceport America following a hardware issue when an alignment pin detached from the launch pylon of VMS Eve on its first commercial flight this year in January. (5/13)

Is Space Becoming the Next Front for War—and Traffic Jams? (Source: Yale Insights)
Constellations of satellites surrounding the planet enable everyday tools like GPS and weather forecasts, and allow militaries to track troop movements and target weapons—in fact, the war in Ukraine has been described as the world's first commercial imagery space war. But the most desirable orbits are increasingly crowded and vulnerable to attack. Jamie Morin, a Yale PhD and expert in space defense and policy issues, explains what's at stake and how we avoid squandering this shared resource. Click here. (5/13)

Draft House Subcommittee NDAA Language OKs Pentagon Commercial ‘Space Reserve’ Plan (Source: Breaking Defense)
The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee has given the thumbs up to DoD’s nascent plan to create a commercial “space reserve” to bolster military satellite capabilities during wartime.

“The Secretary of Defense may establish and carry out a program to be known as the ‘Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve’ program. Under the program, the Secretary may include in a contract for the procurement of space products or services one or more provisions under which a qualified contractor agrees to provide additional space products or services to the Department of Defense on an as-needed basis under circumstances determined by the Secretary,” states the subcommittee’s portion of the draft fiscal 2025 space policy bill.

DoD stated its intent to pursue CASR, first initiated by the Space Force, in its new Commercial Space Integration Strategy issued in April. The strategy explained that the Pentagon wants to “ensure” its “access” to commercial capabilities, including “being able to surge commercial capacity to meet military requirements and capability needs across the spectrum of conflict.” (5/13)

Central Florida Power Couple Seeks Student Journalists to Cover Return Trip to Space (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Winter Park power couple Marc and Sharon Hagle already flew to space with Blue Origin. They’re set for a return flight soon and want to corral some student journalists to cover the story. It’s part of a contest from the Winter Park-based national nonprofit SpaceKids Global that Sharon Hagle founded in 2015. It aims to stoke interest in the space industry among elementary-school children, focusing on STEAM education, which is science, technology, engineering, art and math.

If the stars align, they also will interview and watch the Hagles on their return flight to space on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. The Hagles would launch from Texas, and the contest winners would be covering the launch remotely from Blue Origin’s Rocket Park complex in Florida. (5/13)

MDA Space Holds Steady in First Quarter as New Contracts Announced (Source: SpaceQ)
MDA Space, the newly rebranded MDA, reported strong Q1 2024 results on the back of the Telesat Lightspeed constellation announced in late 2023, along with new contracts. The company reported a record backlog of $3.3 billion, roughly 169 percent more than at this period last year. It also reported revenues of $209.1 million (up 4 percent from this period last year) and an EBITDA of $42 million. Adjusted diluted earnings per share stood at $0.15, with adjusted net income of $18.1 million. (5/13)