July 15, 2024

20 Starlink Satellites Lost in Last Week's Failed SpaceX Launch (Source: Space News)
The 20 Starlink satellites on last Thursday's Falcon 9 launch were lost as SpaceX and the space industry grapple with the fallout of the launch failure. SpaceX said Friday that the satellites, deployed in an orbit with a very low perigee, could not counteract the atmospheric drag and would reenter. That was the result of a malfunction of the upper stage engine when it attempted to perform a circularization burn. SpaceX said there was a liquid oxygen leak in that upper stage that led to the engine anomaly. The company has put Falcon launches on hold while it investigates the problem, a process that will take weeks to months. The FAA said it will be involved in the investigation and will only allow the rocket to return to flight after concluding there is no impact on public safety. NASA, one of SpaceX's biggest customers, said it is also involved in the investigation. (7/15)

NASA's Space Sustainability Strategy (Source: Space News)
NASA is making sustained progress on a space sustainability strategy. NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said the agency was working on several fronts to implement the Space Sustainability Strategy it announced in April. That includes developing frameworks for assessing space sustainability and an analysis of uncertainties in collision risk assessments. The agency has selected an official in its space technology directorate as an interim director of space sustainability, leading that work, as it continued the process to hire a person to take the job on a permanent basis. (7/15)

ESCAPADE Smallsats Being Readined for New Glenn Mars Launch (Source: Space News)
NASA's ESCAPADE Mars smallsat mission is on track to launch this fall. During a talk Monday at the COSPAR Scientific Assembly, the mission's principal investigator said the twin smallsats, built by Rocket Lab, are wrapping up final testing. The spacecraft are slated to launch on the first New Glenn rocket by Blue Origin, although NASA has not disclosed a specific launch date beyond this fall. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will go into orbit around Mars to study the planet's magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. (7/15)

Kuiper Seeks India License (Source: Economic Times)
Amazon's Project Kuiper is seeking a license to operate in India. Government officials say that Amazon has filed applications to get a license to operate satellite broadband services in the country, and could be approved in the near future. The Department of Telecommunications has already issued licenses to Eutelsat OneWeb and Reliance Jio, which uses SES satellites. SpaceX is also seeking a license for Starlink but the government reportedly has "unresolved concerns" with the company. (7/15)

"Planet" Definition Reconsidered Again (Source: Cosmos)
Some astronomers are reconsidering the definition of "planet" to include objects outside of our own solar system. The current definition formally approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2006 limits planets to objects that orbit our sun, and thus does not include thousands of known exoplanets orbiting other stars. One proposal would expand the definition to include objects orbiting other stars, including brown dwarfs and stellar remnants. It would also use a range of masses, from one-third of the mass of Mercury to 13 times the mass of Jupiter, to determine if the object was the right size to be a planet. The proposal could be taken up at an IAU meeting next month. (7/15)

Wilkerson Calls Out Space-Based Tracking Challenges (Source: Air & Space Forces Magazine)
Tonya Wilkerson, nominated to be the next undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, emphasized collaboration and information sharing at her Senate confirmation hearing, amid challenges in managing space-based tracking and targeting across multiple agencies. The Space Force, National Reconnaissance Office, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency are all involved, with ongoing tension about optimizing the use of targeting satellites and commercial data.  (7/12)

NASA Introduces Low-Cost Hybrid Rocket Motor Testbed (Source: Space Daily)
In June, engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, revealed a new 11-inch hybrid rocket motor testbed. The innovative testbed features variable flow capability and a 20-second continuous burn duration, offering a cost-effective and quick-turnaround solution for conducting hot-fire tests on advanced nozzles, rocket engine hardware, composite materials, and propellants. (7/15)

BAE Systems to Advance Stable Optical Technology for NASA's HWO Mission (Source: Space Daily)
BAE Systems, in collaboration with L3Harris Technologies and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), has been chosen as one of three teams to develop technologies for NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). HWO is an innovative telescope designed to search for signs of life beyond our solar system and conduct detailed astronomical observations.

Its primary objective is to identify and study Earth-like planets orbiting other stars to assess their potential to support life. The observatory will also explore stars, planets, galaxies, and the universe's evolution with unparalleled sensitivity and resolution. (7/15)

HKU and ILOA Join Forces for Chang'e-7 Moon Lander Mission Set for 2026 (Source: Space Daily)
The Laboratory for Space Research at The University of Hong Kong (HKU-LSR) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the International Lunar Observatory Association Hawai'i (ILOA) on May 16, 2024, marking a partnership to participate in the ILOA-led Chang'e 7 lunar mission. This mission features a small, wide-field optical telescope named ILO-C. The HKU-LSR telescope design has been selected, and development is underway. The ILO-C telescope will be installed on the Chang'E-7 lunar lander, set to launch in 2026. (7/15)