June 23, 2024

Space-Adjacent Institute Developing Biomedical Complex in Pensacola (Source: IHMC)
A new $40 million biomedically-based research complex constructed by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) will be more than a striking addition to the Pensacola skyline. It will be an accelerant for the pace of discovery that will drive innovations in maximizing the healthspan for everyone from elite military operators and veterans to those with neurodegenerative diseases, musculoskeletal problems, and chronic metabolic conditions.

The Healthspan, Resilience and Performance Research Complex is another step in the evolution of the vision that has been the bedrock of IHMC since its founding by Dr. Ken Ford, the Institute’s Chief Executive Officer. The unique facility puts Pensacola and Northwest Florida at the center of a human and biological sciences economic ecosystem that did not exist before this $40 million research facility came out of the ground. It also serves as a draw for top research talent to the area from all over the world.

IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others. (6/18)

Firefly Aerospace Ready to Launch Alpha FLTA005 for NASA No Earlier Than June 26 (Source: Firefly)
Firefly Aerospace announced its Alpha Flight 5 (FLTA005) mission, called Noise of Summer, is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 26. The 30-minute launch window will open at 9 p.m. PST. Launching from Firefly’s SLC-2 complex at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, Alpha FLTA005 supports Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demo 2 contract with NASA that serves to validate the capabilities of launch vehicles that support a new launch class. (6/22)

Newest NATO Member Sweden Says Russia Disrupting Its Satellite Networks (Source: Bloomberg)
Swedish authorities say Russia is behind “harmful interference” deliberately targeting the Nordic country’s satellite networks that it first noted days after joining NATO earlier this year. The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority asked the radio regulations board of the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union to address the Russian disruptions at a meeting that starts Monday, according to a June 4 letter to the United Nations agency that has not been previously reported. (6/20)

Designing for Outer Space (Source: MIT News)
A new MIT course this spring asked students to design what humans might need to comfortably work in and inhabit space. The time for these creations is now. While the NASA Apollo missions saw astronauts land on the moon, collect samples, and return home, the missions planned under Artemis, NASA’s current moon exploration program, include establishing long-term bases in orbit as well as on the surface of the moon. (6/23)

India’s Reusable Spaceplane Aces Third Landing (Source: India Today)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Sunday successfully conducted the third and final Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX). The mission, known as RLV LEX-03, was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka. The RLV LEX-03 mission demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions and severe wind conditions. The winged vehicle, named Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km. (6/23)

Synspective Raises $44 Million (Source: Space News)
Japanese radar imaging company Synspective has raised 7 billion yen ($44 million) in a Series C round intended to fuel the expansion of its satellite constellation. Synspective, which has launched four synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites to date, says it will use the funding to ramp up production of satellites, develop satellite data solutions and expand its business globally. (6/23)

Mission Control and CSA Providing Rover Driving Academy for Canadian Students (Source: SpaceQ)
The Canadian Space Agency is taking a new student-focused “Rover Driving Academy” Canada-wide. According to an announcement from Mission Control Space Services, whose Spacefarer technology is used for the lunar rover simulation, the CSA is working with Mission Control “to provide the Rover Driving Academy for students across Canada.” (6/21)

Comcast, Starlink to Connect Businesses to Satellite Network (Source: Newsmax)
Comcast's enterprise services unit signed a deal with SpaceX's Starlink to provide satellite-based connectivity to business customers in regions with limited network access, the global media and technology firm said Friday. (6/23)

Spanish Space Balloon Set to Take-Off Next Year (Source: Supercar Blondie)
Believe it or not, space tourism will become a reality sooner than you have thought — and a Spanish company called EOS-X Space plans to launch its Spaceship capsules — or a space balloon, if you may — into space as early as next year. The company appears to be ready with the space balloon flights, and it will launch the capsules from two places. If everything goes according to plan, you could soon take a trip to space inside a tech-filled space capsule.

The company will launch the first space balloon flights from its headquarters in Seville, Spain, and from Abu Dhabi, UAE. EOS-X Space also claims it is spending more than $230 million on engineering and development to get the space balloon flying. Each capsule gets comfy, ergonomic seats with panoramic windows to experience the views during the five-hour flight. (6/22)

NASA Wallops Facility Plays Host to Asteroid Event (Source: WMDT)
NASA Wallops Flight facility hosted an event in preparation for National Asteroid Day. Families got to learn more about asteroids and how the Chesapeake Bay crater affected life here in Delmarva. (6/21)

Bonus Atmospheric Gas Will Come Back From Mars in Perseverance's Sample Tubes (Source: Gizmodo)
The Perseverance rover has been toiling on the Martian surface for over three years, collecting rock samples that will eventually be brought to Earth if all goes according to plan. But the rover has also picked up hitchhikers, in the form of traces of Martian atmosphere that are squeezed into the “headspace” of the sample tubes. (6/21)

Raytheon (RTX) Sued for Age Discrimination for Seeking Recent College Grads Over Older Workers (Source: Fortune)
A major defense contractor was sued Tuesday over allegations that it discriminated against older workers in job ads. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston accuses RTX Corporation of posting ads that target younger workers at the expense of their older peers in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Act, and the Virginia Human Rights Act.

RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The lawsuit alleges it posted ads seeking job applicants who are recent graduates or have less than two years’ experience, which excluded older workers from consideration or deterred them from applying in the first place. (6/12)

Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber Leads Advocacy Effort for Human Space Exploration (Source: Space Coast Daily)
The Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce played a pivotal role in leading a collaborative initiative during Citizens for Space Exploration’s annual advocacy journey to Washington, DC. Building on the triumph of its Second Annual “State of Space” event, the Chamber partnered with a diverse array of space-focused organizations to advocate for sustained funding for human space exploration.

Citizens for Space Exploration is a multi-state coalition comprising American taxpayers who ardently support the nation’s investment in human space exploration. Its membership encompasses private individuals, small business owners, students, educators, representatives from various industries, and local government officials.

Established in 1992 through the joint efforts of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (TX), the Cocoa Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (FL), the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce (AL), and the Partners for Stennis (MS and LA), Citizens has progressively expanded its influence. (6/22)

Phantom Space Environmental Result Supports Vandenberg Launch Plans (Source: Phantom Space)
Phantom Space has received a Finding Of No Significant Impact (FONSI) at SLC-5 on Vandenberg Space Force Base, where the company is approved to conduct up to 60 launches annually (48 at SLC- 5 and 12 SLC-8). This is the final hurdle before Phantom Space can start turning this former NASA Scout launch site into a two-pad site for Daytona launches. (6/19)

The Asteroid That Will Get Closer To Earth Than Any In Human History (Source: Forbes)
Friday the 13th may be considered an unlucky day, but at 5:45 EDT on Friday, April 13, 2029, it will prove the exact opposite when a massive asteroid passes safely past Earth. Everyone will be watching. Asteroid Apophis is, at about 1,230 feet across, larger than 90% of space rocks.

It will pass just 19,635 miles from Earth’s surface, the closest approach of an asteroid of this size that humankind has ever experienced. It will pass between Earth’s geostationary satellites and the Atlantic Ocean, just a tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon. Apophis will be visible to the naked eye. (6/21)

Chinese Rocket Debris Again Falls Over Populated Area (Source: Space News)
A Chinese launch of the joint Sino-French SVOM mission to study Gamma-ray bursts early Saturday saw toxic rocket debris fall over a populated area. A video posted on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo appears to show a rocket booster falling on a populated area with people running for cover. The booster fell to Earth near Guiding County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, according to another post. Editor's Note: The debris appeared to be a spent stage, falling with a trail of highly toxic N2O4/UDMH storable propellant. This is not an uncommon occurrence in China. Click here. (6/22)

France, China Launch Satellite to Explore the Universe (Source: Al Jazeera)
A satellite developed by France and China has blasted off on a hunt for the mightiest explosions in the universe, in a notable example of cooperation between a Western power and the Asian giant. On Saturday, the 930kg (2,050-pound) satellite carrying four instruments – two French, two Chinese – took off aboard a Chinese Long March 2C rocket from a base in Xichang, in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Developed by engineers from both countries, the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) will seek out gamma-ray bursts, the light from which has traveled billions of light years to reach Earth. (6/22)

'Ghost Particles' Could Be The Secret Behind The Heaviest Elements (Source: Science Alert)
Once atoms grow to around 55 nucleons in size – the mass of an iron nucleus – the addition of extra protons requires more energy than the process of fusion can possibly repay. This shift in thermonuclear economics means the periodic table's heavyweights can only form when additional neutrons stick to the congealing mass of nuclear particles long enough for one to decay and vomit out an electron and a neutrino, transforming it into the extra proton required to qualify as a new element. (6/22)

NASA Spinoff Building Self-Charging Sea Robots for Limitless Exploration (Source: Interesting Engineering)
California-based firm Seatrec Inc. uses technology developed by NASA to enable robots to explore the seafloor indefinitely without human intervention. The company’s new system for robots allows them to draw power while at sea. The technology could help explorers chart vast swathes of the ocean that have so far remained unexplored. (6/17)

SpaceX Dominating Worldwide Spacecraft Launches by Tremendous Margin (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX rockets launched a whopping 525 of the world's 626 spacecraft sent up during the first quarter of the year — exponentially blowing past the next-best entities, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (27 spacecraft) and Russia's Roscosmos (24 spacecraft). In a related comparison, SpaceX launched spacecraft weighing about 429,125 kilograms during the first quarter, which extended from Jan. 1 to March 31. That dwarfed CASC's 29,426 kilograms and Roscosmos' 23,782 kilograms.

"The takeaways are really not altogether surprising, right? SpaceX is the lead. China's in second. And then, there's a whole bunch that follow," said Phil Smith. As of Thursday, 45 Florida orbital launches have taken flight this year from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in 2024 — establishing a cadence that would easily surpass last year's annual record of 72 rocket launches. SpaceX has accounted for 43 of those 45 launches. (6/21)