June 24, 2024

China's Lunar Craft Leaves Moon Orbit (Source: Space News)
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft is on its way back to Earth with samples collected from the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-6 service module likely fired its engines for a trans-Earth injection around June 21, with the return capsule expected to land in Inner Mongolia early Tuesday based on airspace closure notices. China launched the mission last month, successfully landing in Apollo Crater on the lunar farside June 1. The spacecraft collected up to two kilograms of material that it launched back into lunar orbit, rendezvousing with an orbiter for return to Earth. Chang'e-6 is China's second lunar sample return mission and the first by any country to return material from the far side of the moon. (6/24)

Lockheed Martin Wins $977 Million Extension for Missile Warning Satellites (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin has won a $977.5 million contract extension for a missile warning satellite program. The Pentagon announced last week that it was extending an existing contract with the company for the continued development, testing and on-orbit support of two geosynchronous missile-warning satellites. This latest award brings the total value of Lockheed Martin's contract for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program to $8.2 billion. The Space Force originally planned to have three GEO satellites for Next-Gen OPIR but later reduced it to two. (6/24)

Ariane 6 Ready for July Launch (Source: Space news)
Ariane 6 is ready for its launch next month after completing a practice countdown. ESA and its partners on the vehicle performed a wet dress rehearsal Thursday, fueling the rocket and going through a countdown that stopped just before engine ignition. ESA said Friday the test keeps the vehicle's inaugural launch on schedule for July 9, although analysis of data from the rehearsal will continue this week. (6/24)

China May Need to Adjust its Approach Toward SpaceX (Source: Space News)
It may be prudent for China to adopt an approach toward SpaceX characterized by strategic despise and tactical emphasis. For China’s aerospace sector, it’s necessary to evaluate SpaceX’s capabilities in a more objective manner, to avoid both underestimation and overestimation, and then draw more accurate comparisons to itself. Meanwhile, China should clearly define its strategic priorities while taking the entire U.S. aerospace industry as its primary reference frame, as a target for catching up, rather than allowing SpaceX to disrupt its overall plans. What’s more, China must make better sense of SpaceX’s limitations in the broader geopolitical context, as well as the zero-sum relationship between China and the U.S. (6/24)

China's SAST Lands Reusable Rocket (Source: Space News)
A Chinese organization has completed its highest altitude launch and landing test of a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) said Sunday it launched the demonstrator from the Gobi Desert, reaching an altitude of 12 kilometers before performing a powered vertical landing. The vehicle is the prototype for a reusable booster SAST is developing for a medium-class launch vehicle whose first orbital flight is projected for 2025. (6/24)

GOES-U Satellite Includes Solar Monitoring Instrument (Source: Space News)
A weather satellite scheduled for launch this week includes a new instrument for studying the sun. GOES-U, a geostationary orbit weather satellite slated for launch Tuesday, carries the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) instrument for solar observations along with others for monitoring the weather. CCOR will provide observations that will ultimately replace the aging Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, monitoring the solar corona for flares and coronal mass ejections that affect space weather. (6/24)

Lockheed Martin to Develop GeoXO Weather Satellite Constellation (Source: Space Daily)
NASA has selected Lockheed Martin to develop and build the nation's next generation weather satellite constellation, Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO), for NOAA. The contract includes three spacecraft with options for four more, totaling an estimated $2.27 billion. The GeoXO mission will extend the capabilities of the existing GOES-R Series geostationary satellites, adding new observations of oceans and air pollution. This will improve weather forecasting and address emerging environmental issues. GeoXO and the nation's weather satellites are critical for national resilience. (6/21)

SpaceX Launches 42 Starlink Satellites From Florida and California Spaceports (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX performed two launches of Starlink satellites Sunday. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:15 p.m. Eastern, placing 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The mission, designated Starlink Group 10-2, was scheduled to take place a week and a half ago but suffered a rare abort at engine ignition. SpaceX used a different booster for this launch. The mission also featured the first launch that flew a payload fairing half for the 20th time. SpaceX followed up that launch with a Falcon 9 liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:47 p.m. Eastern. The second launch put 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. (6/24)

Drone Racing Tests AI Systems for Future Space Missions (Source: Space Daily)
Drones are being raced at Delft University of Technology's 'Cyber Zoo' to evaluate neural-network-based AI control systems for future space missions. The research, conducted by ESA's Advanced Concepts Team and the Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory (MAVLab) of TUDelft, is detailed in the latest issue of Science Robotics. (6/21)

Air Force Hopes to Boost Cohesion, Innovation as Part of Broad Restructuring Plan (Source: FNN)
The Air Force is in the very early stages of a restructuring that could have a big impact on how airmen deploy for combat missions, and an even bigger one on how the service is organized. The overall goal is to get the Air Force more ready to fight against high-end adversaries, but there are still some big questions about how the concept will work.

The service first announced what officials called “sweeping” force structure changes in February. As to deployments, the biggest change is a new focus on wings, the Air Force’s largest collections of units. In the future, the idea is to deploy an entire wing to contingency or combat operations, rather than the current practice, which relies mostly on cobbling together personnel from various commands and locations to meet a given mission’s demands. (6/21)