May 29, 2024

LEOcloud to Send Space Edge Datacenter to ISS (Source: Space News)
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages the International Space Station National Laboratory, is offering LEOcloud an opportunity to demonstrate its Space Edge Infrastructure as a Service. Under a cooperative agreement announced May 29, LEOcloud will install its first-generation Space Edge virtualized micro datacenter on ISS. “Our target is to get to the ISS by the end of 2025,” said Dennis Gatens, LEOcloud CEO and founder. (5/29)

Richard Branson Was Wrong About Space Travel (Source: Escape)
History has shown the Branson family did not, in fact, leave Earth in 2012. It was almost another decade – 2021 – before Branson and three Virgin Galactic employees (no children, notably) flew above the 50-mile mark that the US defines as outer space. (The rest of the world defines it as 100km, or 62 miles, above the Earth’s surface, but still. Minor details.)

Commercial space tourism is unlikely to become a reality in my lifetime. But I’m okay with that. Even if, by some miracle, one of the billionaires manages to make good on his extraterrestrial promises, there’s no way I could afford a flight. Since its inception commercial space travel has always been the pursuit of, in the words of CNN, “ultra-wealthy thrill seekers willing to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to experience a supersonic gut punch and a few minutes of weightlessness”. Which rules me firmly out of the space race. (5/28)

US Condemns Failed North Korean Launch as Breach of International Security (Source: Space.com)
United States officials condemned North Korea's latest attempt to put a reconnaissance satellite in orbit. "The United States condemns the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) DPRK's May 27 launch, which incorporated technologies that are directly related to the DPRK's ballistic missile program and took place in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions," the statement read. (5/28)

SpaceX Launches EarthCARE Satellite From California Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A Falcon 9 launched an Earth science satellite for Europe and Japan Tuesday. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and placed the EarthCARE satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. EarthCARE was developed by ESA with contributions from the Japanese space agency JAXA to study clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. The mission suffered lengthy delays in its development from technical issues as well as the pandemic. EarthCARE was planned to launch on a Soyuz but ESA shifted the mission first to a Vega C and then to Falcon 9. (5/29)

Japan's SKY Perfect Orders GEO Satellite From Thales Alenia (Source: Space News)
A Japanese company has ordered a GEO communications satellite from Thales Alenia Space in what continues to be a slow year for the industry. SKY Perfect JSAT said Monday it had ordered the JSAT-31 satellite from Thales Alenia Space for a launch in 2027 to provide broadband across Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. JSAT-31 will use the Space INSPIRE software-defined satellite platform. The spacecraft is just the third commercial GEO satellite ordered so far this year after Astranis won two orders in March, the same number ordered at this point last year. (5/29)

China's Chang'e-6 Readies for Lunar Landing (Source: Space News)
China's Chang'e-6 sample return mission is expected to land on the moon this weekend. The landing, in Apollo Crater on the lunar farside, is expected at about 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday according to ESA, which has a Swedish-built payload on the lander. Chang'e-6 is designed to collect up to two kilograms of lunar materials and place them into an ascent vehicle that will be launched into lunar orbit. That vehicle will dock with the Chang'e-6 orbiter to return the samples to Earth around June 25 if all goes according to plan. Chang'e-6 is China's second lunar sample return mission and the first by any country to attempt to bring back samples from the far side of the moon. (5/29)

Open Cosmos to Develop Smallsat Constellation for Greece (Source: Space News)
Open Cosmos has won a contract to build a smallsat constellation for the government of Greece. The company announced Wednesday it won a contract worth 60 million euros ($65 million) to build seven smallsats with optical and hyperspectral imagers, as well as Internet of Things and AIS receivers. The project is also a capacity-building effort by Greece, with Open Cosmos agreeing to build the satellites in the country. The company did not disclose when the satellites are projected to launch. (5/29)

ThinkOrbital's Robotic Arm Incorporates X-Ray Imager (Source: Space News)
ThinkOrbital is developing a robotic arm with an X-ray imager that could be used to repair satellites. The startup recently conducted an automated welding experiment in space, flying it as a hosted payload on a Falcon 9 booster. ThinkOrbital now plans to fly a robotic arm in October equipped with an electron beam welder that can also generate X-rays to inspect objects. ThinkOrbital has secured a U.S. Air Force Phase 1 Small Business Innovative Research contract to investigate satellite-to-satellite X-ray inspection and is applying for Phase 2 funding. (5/29)

Colossus Flies Kestrel Processer on Loft Satellite (Source: Space News)
Space computing startup Colossus has gained flight heritage for a new processor. The company says its Kestrel processor, on Loft Orbital's YAM-6 satellite, is working well in orbit. Kestrel will serve as a compute resource for Loft’s virtual missions, supporting applications ranging from image processing to artificial intelligence. (5/29)

China's Galactic Energy Launches Four Satellites From Offshore Ship (Source: Xinhua)
A Chinese commercial rocket launched from a ship early Wednesday. The Ceres-1 rocket lifted off from a ship off the coast of Shedong province. The rocket placed four unnamed satellites into orbit, with support from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. (5/29)

Progress Cargo Craft Departs ISS (Source: NASA)
One Progress cargo spacecraft has left the International Space Station, clearing the way for another to launch to the station. The Progress MS-25 spacecraft undocked from the station's Poisk module at 4:39 a.m. Eastern Tuesday and reentered several hours later. Its departure frees up the docking port for the Progress MS-27 spacecraft, scheduled to launch Thursday at 5:43 a.m. Eastern. It will arrive at the station on Saturday. (5/29)

Japan's SLIM Lander Goes Silent on Moon (Source: Japan Times)
A Japanese lunar lander missed a window to communicate with Earth. JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM) did not respond to signals sent to it earlier this week during a brief period when the lander's solar panels were illuminated. SLIM landed on the moon off-kilter in January, limiting communications, but the spacecraft did come back to life in February, March and April despite not being designed to survive the lunar night. JAXA said it will try to make contract with SLIM again in June. (5/29)

New Old Evidence of Volcanism on Venus (Source: New York Times)
Scientists have found new evidence for volcanic activity in decades-old radar images. Researchers reported this week that new analysis of radar images taken by NASA's Magellan spacecraft in the early 1990s have revealed two lava flows on Venus' surface. The discovery adds to evidence that the planet is volcanically active today. (5/29)

Saudi Fund Launches New Group to Boost Space Industry (Source: Space Daily)
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) on Monday launched the Neo Space Group to work on the kingdom's nascent satellite and space industry, its first investment in the sector. One of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, the PIF has already invested heavily in sports, gaming and so-called Saudi giga-projects including Neom, a $500-billion futuristic megacity under construction in the desert. The Neo Space Group or NSG is the "PIF's first investment focused on the space industry", the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement. (5/27)

Starless and Forever Alone: More 'Rogue' Planets Discovered (Source: Space Daily)
The Euclid space telescope has discovered seven more rogue planets, shining a light on the dark and lonely worlds floating freely through the universe untethered to any star. Without being bound to a star, as the Earth is to the Sun, there are no days or years on these planets, which languish in perpetual night. Yet scientists believe there is a chance they could be able to host life -- and estimate there may be trillions dotted throughout the Milky Way. (5/29)

Advanced Satcom Technologies Revolutionize Aviation and Marine Industries (Source: Space Daily)
The aviation and marine industries are currently undergoing a significant transformation, thanks to advancements in satellite and communication technologies. Companies such as Intelsat, SES, MDA Space, Hughes Network Systems, Orbit Communications Systems, Collins Aerospace, and Gogo Business Aviation are pioneering these innovations, enhancing connectivity and operational capabilities. These developments are not just incremental improvements but represent a fundamental shift in how data is processed, shared, and utilized in these sectors. (5/29)

Starlink Licensed in Botswana (Source: Space in Africa)
Earlier this year, the Botswana Communications Regulatory Authority (BOCRA) announced that importing, using, or selling Starlink kits or services was illegal, with violators facing legal consequences. However, in a recent development, the Botswana Presidency announced that Starlink has been granted an operating license in the country. (5/29)

Artemis Accords Workshop Included Focus on Non-interference and Interoperability (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency hosted the second Artemis Accords workshop at its headquarters between May 21-23, 2024 and included a focus on non-interference and interoperability among other topics discussed. According to an update from NASA the workshop focus included a “robust discussions and conducted a tabletop exercise centered on further defining and implementing key tenets, including considering views on non-interference, interoperability, and scientific data sharing among nations.” (5/28)

Ad Astra, NASA Agree To Advance Plasma Rocket Development (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA and the Ad Astra Rocket Co. have entered an $850,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) agreement for continued development of a high frequency radio power source for the company’s Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr), a high power plasma engine for in-space propulsion. (5/29)

Peake: Lack of Agreement Over ISS Replacement is ‘Worrying’ (Source: The Times)
A lack of agreement about the future of space travel after the ISS is put into retirement is “worrying”, the astronaut Tim Peake has said. The ISS will cease service in 2030, ending more than 30 years of collaboration between the world’s most powerful nations. Peake believes this will lead to an increase in commercial space travel, which he said was a “good thing”. However, it also means Russia will work with China, while western countries collaborate separately on the Artemis program, a moon exploration project led by NASA. (5/28)

Space Force Advances GDIT Cloud-Based Environment (Source: DefenseScoop)
The US Space Force is advancing Project Enigma, a cloud-based classified environment designed to enhance collaboration with industry. This initiative builds on work by GDIT that started in 2023 with the goal of providing a secure, integrated digital ecosystem supporting various security levels. (5/28)

Virgin Galactic, AST SpaceMobile and Rocket Lab Stocks All Rocketed (Source: Motley Fool)
After a long holiday weekend, shares of U.S. space stocks took off like rockets on Tuesday. AST SpaceMobile (ASTS 44.67%) had gained 6.3% and seemed poised to resume its winning streak. Rocket Lab USA (RKLB -3.76%) wasn't far behind, up 5.6% after announcing a successful weekend rocket launch. Best of all was Virgin Galactic (SPCE -8.65%) stock. On Monday, multiple news outlets reported that the Swiss National Bank has been buying up Virgin Galactic stock, and investors have been doing the same. Virgin Galactic stock was up 22.1%. (5/28)

Petro Gives Aerial Tour of Kennedy Space Center (Source: NASA)
Watch KSC Director Janet Petro's aerial tour of Kennedy Space Center, describing how it plays a pivotal role in landing the next humans on the lunar surface and enabling a long-term human presence in deep space. Click here. (5/29) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWpoJpbYbPA

Russia Disrupts Ukraine's Starlink Connection (Source: PC Magazine)
Russia is disrupting Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service in Ukraine, a move that could have a big impact on the ongoing war between the two countries. Soldiers lost access to the web shortly before Russian troops pushed across the Ukrainian northern border this month. This made it difficult for the Ukrainians to share information about the surprise attack, according to The New York Times, which says "the new outages appeared to be the first time the Russians have caused widespread disruptions of Starlink." (5/27)

All Starlink Dish Locations Identified via AirTag-Like Tracking Bug (Source: Notebook Check)
Researchers from the University of Maryland, however, managed to exploit Apple's generous BSSID sharing function to discover 488 million devices already stored in its system. These included a subset of all Starlink satellite Internet kit locations, for example, and about the only places they couldn't geolocate anything were deserts, rainforests, and China. (5/27)

How the Space Force Plans to Surge a Commercial Fleet During Wartime (Source: Defense One)
In late 2022, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hamstrung a planned Ukrainian strike on Russian forces when he suddenly decided he didn't want his Starlink satellites involved. Now the Pentagon is trying to ensure that never happens again. A new program called the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, or CASR, will ensure the Space Force can rely on commercial vendors’ space systems throughout a “spectrum of conflict,” said Col. Richard Kniseley, director of the Space Force’s year-old Commercial Space Office. (5/28)

Has Terran Orbital Missed Its Chance to Sell Out to Lockheed Martin? (Source: Motley Fool)
Terran Orbital is a tiny, unprofitable, debt-laden satellite maker. Nevertheless, Lockheed Martin offered to buy it earlier this year. The company declined to take Lockheed's offer, and the latter withdrew the offer in April. Since then, Terran Orbital has reported continued losses, and its stock price has plummeted into penny stock territory. Unfortunately for Terran, selling out to Lockheed, and making all its debt problems go away, is apparently no longer an option.

Two weeks later, the other shoe dropped. On Tuesday of last week, Terran Orbital announced its Q1 2024 earnings. And by "earnings," I mean "losses." Q1 sales at Terran dropped 3.5% year over year to $27.2 million, even as the company's cost of sales rose 13%. By cutting selling, general, and administrative spending, Terran was able to hold its net loss more or less steady at $53.2 million. But even so, this was not a great look for a supposed growth stock. For every $1 in revenue Terran took in, it lost close to $2. (5/29)

Musk's Starlink Back Online After Brief Outage (Source: Reuters)
Starlink, the satellite unit of SpaceX, is back up after an outage that affected thousands of users, the company said on Tuesday. Starlink's services were down for about an hour on May 28, affecting 41,393 users. (5/28)

UCF to Expand Space Medicine Research, Curriculum Aimed at Keeping Space Travelers Healthy (Source: UCF)
UCF’s College of Medicine has hired an internationally recognized space medicine expert to expand research into how spaceflight affects humans and create a space medicine curriculum for students across the university. Emmanuel Urquieta comes to UCF after serving as chief medical officer of the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) led by the Baylor College of Medicine. He will serve as vice chair for aerospace medicine in the college’s Department of Internal Medicine and hold the academic rank of associate professor. (5/28)

Elon Musk Dominates Space Launch. Rivals Are Calling Foul (Source: New York Times)
Elon Musk aggressively elbowed his way into the space launch business over the past two decades, combining engineering genius and an entrepreneurial drive with a demand that the U.S. government stop favoring the big, slow-moving contractors that had long dominated the industry. Today, it is Mr. Musk who is dominant. His company, SpaceX, is the primary provider of launch services to NASA and to the Pentagon. His rockets carry far more commercial satellites into orbit than anyone else’s, including those for his own Starlink communications network.

He has set new standards for reaching space cheaply and reliably. But in one striking way, the former outsider has come to resemble the entrenched contractors he once fought to topple: He is increasingly using his vast power and influence to try to keep emerging rivals at bay, his competitors say. The new generation of space entrepreneurs trying to emulate Mr. Musk is sufficiently concerned about what they see as his anticompetitive tactics that some of them are now willing to take him on publicly.

Tim Ellis started Relativity Space after being inspired by Mr. Musk’s pursuit of a rocket that could carry humans to Mars. Then he heard from other industry executives that individuals with ties to SpaceX were trying to block his efforts to raise money for his own Mars project. Jim Cantrell worked with Mr. Musk at the founding of SpaceX in 2002. When he started to build his own launch company, Phantom Space, two potential customers told his sales team they could not sign deals because SpaceX inserts provisions in its contracts to discourage customers from using rivals. (5/28)

Defense Innovation Unit Awards Funding for Sea-Based Launch Pad (Source: C4ISRnet)
The Defense Innovation Unit selected The Spaceport Company to demonstrate the ability to use a sea-based launch platform to quickly send cargo or satellites to orbit. The company, headquartered in Woodbridge, Virginia, builds floating launch pads that could allow commercial companies or the Defense Department to fly payloads offshore. The concept is particularly relevant amid unprecedented launch rates, which are increasingly causing congestion at U.S. ranges.

“A sea-based launch platform is a strategically significant capability that increases equatorial launch access while enabling responsive launch coordination and avoiding high-traffic airspace,” DIU said in a May 28 statement announcing the deal. The award is part of a DIU effort called Novel Responsive Space Delivery, which aims to prototype commercial solutions that support responsive and precise space launch capabilities. (5/28)

Chinese Astronauts Perform Record-Breaking Spacewalk (Source: Space.com)
Two Chinese astronauts just set a new spacewalking record for the country. Ye Guangfu and Li Guangsu, two members of China's three-person Shenzhou 18 mission, spent about 8.5 hours working outside the Tiangong space station on May 28. That's longer than any previous Chinese spacewalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA), according to the nation's state-run Xinhua news service. (5/28)

North Korea's Launch Failure Reveals Use of New Engine/Fuel Approach (Source: Mint)
North Korea suffered another fireball of failure on Monday, botching its third spy-satellite launch in just a year, but the latest misstep revealed a key ambition for one of Kim Jong Un’s marquee military projects. Pyongyang seems intent on developing a higher-thrust engine that is powerful enough to carry multiple satellites on a single rocket, weapons analysts say. In the past, North Korea appeared to rely on hydrogen as fuel and so-called "red fuming nitric acid" as the oxidizer. Monday's failure is attributed to the failure of a newly developed engine reliant on kerosene and liquid oxygen. (5/28)

SpaceX Launches Tuesday Morning Starlink Mission at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Tuesday morning at Launch Complex 40, SpaceX launched the Starlink 6-60 mission, which carried a batch of 23 Starlink internet satellites. After eight and a half minutes into the flight, the Falcon 9 booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship in the Atlantic Ocean. (5/28)

Starlink’s Disruption of the Space Industry (Source: Space Review)
Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the first SpaceX launch dedicated to its Starlink constellation, which now has more than 6,000 satellites in orbit. Jeff Foust reports on how Starlink has, over those five years, had impacts from business to geopolitics. Click here. (5/28)
 
Columbia Retold, and Untold (Source: Space Review)
A recent four-part documentary examined the shuttle Columbia accident and its aftermath. Dwayne Day discusses how that show overlooked one key aspect of it: the investigation into the accident that uncovered its technical and other causes. Click here. (5/28)
 
Ed Dwight: The First Black Astronaut? (Source: Space Review)
When Ed Dwight flew on a Blue Origin suborbital flight earlier this month, it was billed as the fulfillment of a quest that started more than six decades ago. John Logsdon examines Dwight’s role as what many have called the first Black astronaut candidate. Click here. (5/28)
 
Why Planetary Protection Matters to the Future of Space Exploration (Source: Space Review)
Some have argued that planetary protection protocols, designed to prevent humans from contaminating other worlds and vice versa, are outdated. Dylan Taylor argues that planetary protection remains vital even in a new era of space exploration. Click here. (5/28)

SpaceX is Mostly Gwynne Shotwell's Empire, Org Chart Shows (Source: The Information)
While Elon Mush may get credit for SpaceX's ambitious mission to "make life multi-planetary," SpaceX's org chart confirms something long understood by insiders at the $180 billion rocket company--President and COO Gwynne Shotwell is running the show. Shotwell oversees nearly every single team at SpaceX, which has around 13,000 employees at facilities spread across California, Florida, and Texas. (5/28)

Spacecraft With Brilliant Blue Glow Trail Passes Mars, Moves Further Into Space (Source: AutoEvolution)
The thing with long-duration space missions is that just when you're about to forget all about them, some crucial update reaches your eyes and ears, bringing said mission back into the spotlight. Just like it happened last week with something called Psyche. First and foremost Psyche is the name of one "of the most intriguing objects in the main asteroid belt." An asteroid itself, the potato-shaped piece of floating debris is believed to be extremely rich in metal, with between 30 and 60 percent of its body made of such materials.

Psyche the asteroid is located three times farther away from the Sun than our own planet, or over 257 million miles (413 million km) further out from Earth, in the vast space between Mars and Jupiter. That means Psyche the spacecraft would need until 2029 (until recently the set date was 2028) to reach its destination. Psyche is far from being a simple explorer. It is also a testbed for various other technologies and systems, and that's why even from launch it has constantly been in the news.

After departing Earth, Psyche used the momentum provided to it by the carrier rocket to sort of coast its way past the orbit of planet Mars. Now that it passed that point, the solar electric propulsion system has come online to accelerate the ship. And it has been at it doing this for a while now, with plans to do so "nonstop" in the immediate future. (5/28)

Japanese Satellite Order Puts GEO Market on Par with 2023 (Source: Space News)
A communications satellite order from Japan’s flagship operator has brought the geostationary orbit (GEO) market back to par with last year. SKY Perfect JSAT said May 27 it had ordered the JSAT-31 satellite from Europe’s Thales Alenia Space for a launch in 2027 to provide broadband across Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. JSAT-31 will be based on Thales Alenia Space’s software-defined Space INSPIRE (INstant SPace In-orbit REconfiguration) platform. (5/28)

Quadrus Corp. Additively Manufactures World's First Bimetallic Rocket Engine Injector (Source: Metal-AM)
Quadrus Corporation, Huntsville, Alabama, USA, reports that its Quadrus Advanced Manufacturing Division (QAMD) has fabricated what is claimed to be the world’s first bimetallic rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) injector via Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing. The work is reported to be the culmination of a series of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II and Phase III Efforts, managed by engineers at NASA MSFC. (5/28)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Says Gigantic Starship To Get Even Taller With 3x More Thrust Than Saturn V (Source: Benzinga)
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Monday said the next version of its Starship launch vehicle will have about three times the thrust of the retired Saturn V. What Happened: Starship is touted as the world’s most powerful launch vehicle, standing 121 meters tall and weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes. It also stands taller than NASA’s retired Saturn V which was 111 metres tall. The next version of the Starship, Musk said, will be about 15 meters longer and have about three times the thrust of Saturn V. (5/28)