July 2, 2024

Starliner Struggles (Source: Space Review)
Original plans called for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner to spend as little as eight days at the International Space Station, but its stay is now likely to last well over a month. Jeff Foust reports on the issues causing the extension and the difficulties communicating them to the public. Click here. (7/1)
 
The Overlap Between the Space and Longevity Industries (Source: Space Review)
NASA and others are doing research on the space station to improve the health of astronauts for long stays in space. Dylan Taylor notes such research has potential benefits extending the lives of people on Earth. Click here. (7/1)

Europe Urged to Spur More Space Startup Investment (Source: Space News)
Europe needs to do a better job providing capital to space startups, an investor warned. A recent study by the  European Space Policy Institute found that while the number of investment deals in space companies in Europe was not far behind the United States, American companies raised several times more money. Bogdan Gogulan, CEO of Luxembourg-based private equity firm NewSpace Capital, said that makes it more difficult for European space startups to scale, forcing them to look outside Europe for growth capital. He called on Europe's largest financial asset managers and pension funds to allocate funding to the space industry. (7/2)

South Korea's Innospace Shares Fall 20% Upon Going Public (Source: Space News)
South Korean launch startup Innospace went public Tuesday but its shares failed to lift off. In its first day of trading on the KOSDAQ exchange, shares in Innospace fell 20%. The company sold shares at 43,300 won ($31.18), raising $41.5 million. The company is developing a line of small launch vehicles that use hybrid rocket engines propelled by paraffin and liquid oxygen. Innospace has yet to attempt an orbital launch but had what it called a successful suborbital test flight in March 2023. (7/2)

Orbit Fab Tests Nozzle for In-Space Refueling (Source: Space News)
Orbit Fab has successfully tested a nozzle designed to enable in-space satellite refueling. The company tested its GRIP (Grapple, Reposition, and Interface Payload) nozzle at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, showing its ability to dock with a satellite equipped with the company's refueling port, called RAFTI. GRIP's active docking and fluid transfer mechanism is designed to work in tandem with RAFTI, which replaces traditional fill and drain valves on satellite propulsion systems and provides a simpler approach to satellite refueling than those that require robotic arms. The successful test comes as Orbit Fab positions itself in what appears to be a two-horse race with defense giant Northrop Grumman to capture the emerging military satellite refueling market. (7/2)

Turion Wins Space Force Work for Spacecraft Docking System (Source: Space News)
Turion Space has won a Space Force contract to develop an autonomous spacecraft docking and maneuvering system. The $1.9 million contract from SpaceWERX, the Space Force's technology arm, will allow Turion to advance technologies for engaging uncooperative space objects and facilitating the deorbit of inactive satellites. A test mission scheduled for as soon as 2026 will fly one of the company's Droid satellites hosting "micro-Droid" satellites equipped with the capturing device. The micro-Droid, partly funded by NASA, will use grapplers to capture debris objects. The company has a long-term goal of removing space debris as a service, but is focused in the near term on space domain awareness applications. (7/2)

Firefly Aborts California Launch for Ground Support Problem (Source: Spaceflight Now)
A problem with ground equipment forced Firefly Aerospace to scrub an Alpha launch overnight. The company halted the countdown for the 12:03 a.m. Eastern launch seconds before scheduled liftoff because of what the company called a "ground support issue." Firefly recycled the countdown to attempt a liftoff 30 minutes later, at the end of the window, but halted the countdown about 10 minutes before the new liftoff time. Firefly says it's working to attempt another launch as soon as tonight. The "Noise of Summer" mission carries eight NASA-sponsored cubesats under a NASA Venture Class Launch Services Demo 2 contract. (7/2)

China Preps for TSS Spacewalk (Source: Xinhua)
Chinese astronauts are preparing for another spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station. Chinese media reported Tuesday that the spacewalk is scheduled for the "next few days" but was not more specific; such notices usually mean spacewalk will take place within a day or two. The China Manned Space Agency did not disclose which astronauts will perform the spacewalk or their planned tasks. (7/2)

Ukraine Wartime Satellite Imaging Supported by Crowdfunding (Source: Politico)
A crowdfunded radar imaging satellite is supporting the Ukrainian military in its war against Russia. A crowdfunding effort in the early days of the war raised $20 million originally intended to buy drones, but when those drones were instead gifted to Ukraine, the funds went to buy an Iceye synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite and access to the company's database of SAR imagery. The Ukrainian military says the satellite has been very useful in helping it identify Russian military targets, from tanks to ships, in any weather or lighting conditions. (7/2)

NASA Retiring NEOWISE (Source: NASA)
A NASA astronomy spacecraft repurposed into an asteroid search mission is being retired. NASA said Monday that the NEOWISE mission will conclude at the end of the month, with the spacecraft put into hibernation. The spacecraft launched as the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) in 2009 and concluded its astronomical survey mission in 2011. NASA reactivated the spacecraft in 2013 as NEOWISE with a new mission to look for near Earth asteroids, using different observing techniques to keep its infrared detectors cool after running out of coolant. NEOWISE has discovered 215 near Earth objects, of which 25 are comets. NASA is ending the mission as the spacecraft's orbit is decaying, with reentry projected late this year or early next year. Its successor, NEO Surveyor, is planned to launch in 2027. (7/2)

The Once-Dominant Rocket Maker Trying to Catch Up to Musk’s SpaceX (Source: Wall Street Journal)
When the Pentagon needed to get a satellite into orbit, United Launch Alliance for years got the call. These days, the military has a different number on speed dial: Elon Musk’s. United Launch Alliance, the Colorado-based company that long had a virtual monopoly on national-security missions, has been usurped over the past decade by Musk’s SpaceX. 

ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin is striving to reclaim its position by moving past problems that have hamstrung its new Vulcan Centaur rocket, leaving the vehicle years behind schedule. While it is pushing to speed production, the company’s struggles are drawing scrutiny from Congress and Pentagon officials, who want several companies capable of blasting off defense and spy satellites, as military powers jockey in orbit. The company has nearly 3,000 employees.

ULA has been preparing its Alabama rocket factory for higher Vulcan production rates, including by clearing space dedicated to older vehicles and deploying engineers to keep manufacturing lines moving, CEO Tory Bruno said. ULA’s future is in question as its owners have discussed selling the company to potential buyers. ULA now has 23 Vulcans in various stages of production, but the company’s struggles have cost it business and drawn attention from the Pentagon. A Space Force command recently reassigned three missions from ULA to SpaceX because Vulcan is behind schedule. Click here. (7/1)

Why Countries are Breaking the Outer Space Treaty (Source: Launchpad)
It’s safe to assume that the Outer Space Treaty no longer reflects the complex global priorities of the 21st Century, having been written in a time before rapid reusable rockets, expanding international and commercial involvement in space, and even the original Moon landings themselves. The treaty is still often cited as an ethical guideline, but modern governments and private entities alike seem to have no problem with skirting or amending the rules in the name of national security.

After all, “if we don’t, they will,” and when the bounty and authority of the solar system is at stake, change is inevitable. (7/2)

Face of Defense: Officer's Career Takes Off in Space Force (Source: DoD)
Space Force Lt. Col. Russell Smith began his military career in the Air Force, but his interests gravitated toward space as one of the most crucial warfighting domains. He quickly transferred to the Space Force and sees his role with the newest service branch as being a part of history as space operations become essential to U.S. security and global stability. Click here. (7/1)

Blue Origin Supports Democratization of Space Flight (Source: Reuters)
The U.S.-based Space Exploration and Research Agency announced that India will join its human spaceflight program, which aims to send six citizen astronauts from countries with limited spaceflight history into space. Collaborating with Blue Origin, the program will launch participants on an 11-minute journey aboard the reusable New Shepard rocket, following training in West Texas. (7/1)

Is the United States Losing Aerospace Engineers? (Source: Global Security Review)
In February the Federal Reserve Bank updated its list of labor outcomes by major for college graduates. Surprisingly, the data revealed that aerospace engineering is the fourth most unemployed college major, beaten only by fine arts, liberal arts, and art history. Conventional thinking argues that engineering jobs are some of the most stable and financially rewarding; so why does aerospace engineering make this list?

The statistic represents a worrying trend for a field (space) that is heavily reliant on aerospace engineers and at the center of American preeminence. More concerning, it is important to also ask if these known unemployment numbers are a deterrent for graduates entering into a dedicated space-focused workforce. Space is a critical part of national security and without a comprehensive understanding of how to entice applicants into priority positions, the new space race with China may not be so easily won.

On the surface, the situation does not appear dire. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated aerospace engineering jobs should grow by 6 percent between 2021 and 2031. However, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the number of space private-sector jobs is down 12,000 from a decade prior. Additionally, an article from major consultant McKinsey & Company noted an 8 percent decline in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering hires over the past five years within the broader aerospace and defense sector. It characterized the situation as an “intense competition for talent.” (6/22)