August 18, 2024

Ovzon Receives First Order for Ovzon 3 from DoD (Source: Ovzon)
Ovzon has received, through Viasat Government Services, its first order for Ovzon Pegasus service on the new Ovzon 3 satellite. This represents the transition from current Ovzon SATCOM-as-a-Service delivered to the U.S. Department of Defense (U.S. DOD) using leased satellite capacity to now utilizing Ovzon 3. The order is for twelve months and the service was activated on August 1, 2024. The order value amounts to approximately 6.2 MUSD. (8/13)

Polish Companies Will Develop Satellite Refueling Technology (Source: SpaceAgency)
PIAP Space announced the launch of the INORT (In-Orbit Refueling Technology for Unprepared and Prepared Satellites) project. The initiative aims to analyze and develop solutions to extend the operational lifetime of satellites by designing in-orbit refueling technology. This technology will solve the problem of satellites being taken out of service due to lack of fuel while they are still fully functional. Poland's contribution to ESA funds the project, which is being executed in collaboration with two centers of the Łukasiewicz Research Network — Institute of Aviation. (8/14)

Exolaunch Celebrates its 30th Mission with Successful Deployments of 42 Customer Satellites During Transporter-11 with SpaceX (Source: Exolaunch)
Exolaunch announced the successful deployment of 42 customer satellites aboard the Transporter-11 Rideshare mission with SpaceX. This mission is particularly special for Exolaunch as it marks the company's 30th launch campaign, bringing its total to over 400 satellites launched for its customers. (8/16)

Lunar Outpost Announces New Space Collaboration with Castrol on Lunar Mission (Source: Lunar Outpost)
Lunar Outpost named Castrol the lead Mission Control Center collaborator for its Lunar Voyage 1 mission. The Mission Control Center will be the primary center of operations and decision-making during Lunar Outpost’s Lunar Voyage 1 (LV1), slated to launch in late 2024. Lunar Outpost’s LV1 mission will land at Shackleton Connecting Ridge near the lunar South Pole aboard Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander. This collaboration is a part of Castrol’s initiative, Castronomy, which promotes advancements in space mobility through collaborations with today’s innovators. (8/15)

HawkEye 360’s Cluster 10 Satellites Launched Successfully and Established Contact (Source: HE360)
HawkEye 360 announced that its Cluster 10 satellites have successfully deployed to orbit after launching aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-11 rideshare mission. HawkEye 360’s operations team has established communication with the satellites.

This trio of satellites will increase the company’s constellation to 31, significantly augmenting global RF monitoring capabilities. Cluster 10 will reinforce HawkEye 360’s capacity for frequent revisits to areas of strategic interest. Once operational, these satellites will enhance data collection, providing more comprehensive coverage and timely information across vital regions. Cluster 10 will advance HawkEye 360’s mission of delivering precise and actionable RF insights, ensuring expanded coverage and improved monitoring. (8/16)

South Australia's Kanyini Satellite Launched via SpaceX Mission (Source: Telco News)
In an unprecedented move for Australia, the satellite Kanyini, developed and manufactured in South Australia, was successfully launched into orbit. The mission, valued at AUD $6.5 million, aims to foster job creation in South Australia's high-tech space sector and advance the state's space technology capabilities. (8/17)

Lost in Space and Asleep at the Wheel: The US Space Program is Cratering (Source: The Hill)
If Starliner is brought back to Earth without astronauts, it is being reported that Starliner will require up to four weeks to update and validate its software to return to Earth autonomously. Who decides what to do next?  As a deputy administrator at NASA, I experienced the process first-hand. The White House — specifically the National Space Council and its chair, Vice President Kamala Harris, will heavily influence the decision. Understandably, no one around the vice president wants her to be blamed if things go wrong, especially now.

As president, Donald Trump increased funding for space efforts across the government, and leadership in space was not abdicated to China and Russia, both of which continue to develop and deploy offensive weapons in space. When the current vice president took the job, the Space Council soon became irrelevant. As a result, the Artemis program is delayed, systems integration is lacking, and costs are out of control.

To be fair, it is not easy making such programs work. The challenges are daunting, but that is why it is vital to create a vision for our future in space, develop it and move forward to responsibly fund and execute that vision. Editor's Note: OpEd author Jim Morhard was a deputy administrator appointed under Pres. Donald Trump. (8/14)

Orbex Invites Locals to Check Out UK's Sutherland Spaceport (Source: John O'Groat Journal)
Orbex, the orbital launch services company, is offering local residents a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes of the Sutherland Spaceport launch site, which is currently in development. The Spaceport Public Open Day, taking place on August 31, will allow a limited number of local residents to visit the Spaceport site as well as learn more about Orbex’s progress and the technology behind its Prime rocket. (8/18)

Saturn’s Ocean Moon Was Hiding in Plain Sight (Source: The Atlantic)
A briny ocean is concealed beneath the icy crust of Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, Europa—with more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. A subsurface sea on Saturn’s moon Enceladus spews plumes of water vapor into space. And there are tantalizing hints that oceans could exist on Ganymede, Callisto, Titan, and other distant moons, too. Now another moon appears to be secretly flooded. Saturn’s moon Mimas, known for its uncanny resemblance to the Death Star in Star Wars, might harbor liquid water beneath its icy shell. (8/17)

First RFA Launch in a “Matter of Weeks” at UK SaxaVord Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is “a matter of weeks” away from attempting its first orbital launch, according to the chief executive of its corporate parent. In an earnings call Aug. 8 to cover the company’s financial results for the first half of 2024, OHB Chief Executive Marco Fuchs said preparations were going well for the inaugural launch of the RFA ONE rocket from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. OHB owns nearly 65% of RFA. (8/17)

McFall Hopes to See an ISS Astronaut with a Disability Fly by 2030 (Source: Space.com)
John McFall is a para-astronaut, and he hopes the first person with disabilities will enter the International Space Station by 2030 — before the complex is slated to retire from service later that year. A European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut, McFall was selected for the program in 2022 based on his experience as a trauma and orthopedic specialist, surgeon and exercise scientist. McFall also has lived experience with a disability as he has used prosthetics regularly since the amputation of his right leg at age 19. (8/18)

Rescuers at the Ready at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (Source: NASA)
If there’s an emergency at the launch pad during a launch countdown, there’s a special team engineers at Kennedy Space Center teams can call on – the Pad Rescue team. Trained to quickly rescue personnel at the launch pad and take them to safety in the event of an unlikely emergency, NASA’s Pad Rescue team at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has been in place since the Apollo Program. Today they help support crewed missions launching from Launch Complex 39A and B, as well as Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Stationed in mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, or MRAPs, the Pad Rescue team stands poised near the launch pad to assist with any emergency requiring the personnel to quickly leave the pad. If needed, they will head to the pad and break up into two separate teams – one that heads up the launch tower to aid personnel and another that is stationed at the perimeter of the pad for when crews come down the emergency escape or egress system. Once everyone is on the ground and inside the MRAPs, Pad Rescue will drive teams to one of the triage site locations at Kennedy. (8/16)

Scientists Discover Phenomenon Impacting Earth's Radiation Belts (Source: Phys.org)
Scientists have discovered a new type of "whistler," an electromagnetic wave that carries a substantial amount of lightning energy to the Earth's magnetosphere. The wave carries lightning energy, which enters the ionosphere at low latitudes, to the magnetosphere. The energy is reflected upward by the ionosphere's lower boundary, at about 55 miles altitude, in the opposite hemisphere. It was previously believed that lightning energy entering the ionosphere at low latitudes remained trapped in the ionosphere and therefore was not reaching the radiation belts. (8/17)

Unraveling ‘Oumuamua’s Anomalous Acceleration: Could This Interstellar Object Have Been Manufactured? (Source: The Debrief)
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in 2017 as it passed near Earth in its trajectory around the Sun. The trajectory exhibited an anomalous non-gravitational acceleration away from the Sun with no sign of cometary evaporation. When `Oumuamua passed near Earth, the magnitude of the anomalous acceleration as it moved away was of an order of five micrometers per second squared. A micrometer (micron) is a millionth of a meter (or a thousandth of a millimeter).

`Oumuamua was also tumbling with a rotation period of 8 hours. Based on the light curve from its reflection of sunlight, `Oumuamua was inferred to possess the shape of a flat disk (pancake) with a radius of order 100 meters, assuming an albedo of 10%. This size was a thousand times too small for our best telescopes to resolve its image.  `Oumuamua’s rotation and size imply a centrifugal acceleration of order five micrometers per second squared at its outer edge, which is surprisingly similar in magnitude to its anomalous acceleration away from the Sun.

Finally, assuming a solid density of order a gram per cubic centimeter, the internal gravitational acceleration from a spherical object of size 100 meters is five micrometers per second squared, once again surprisingly similar in magnitude to the centrifugal and non-gravitational accelerations. Does this coincidence in magnitude among these three accelerations provide an important clue about the composition or shape of `Oumuamua? (8/16)

Taiwan Satellites Launched on SpaceX Rideshare Mission (Source: Taiwan Times)
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Taiwanese satellites “Albatross” and “Nightjar” as part of the company’s Transporter 11 rideshare mission on Saturday. According to a Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) statement, both satellites entered orbit around 5:30 a.m., per CNA. The mission is part of the agency’s 10-year “star-chasing” program. (8/17)

Uzbekistan Ratifies the Outer Space Treaty (Source: KUN.UZ)
The Senate of Oliy Majlis approved the law “On the accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies”. This treaty, signed in London, Moscow and Washington on January 27, 1967, regulates international cooperation in space exploration. The treaty, which entered into force on October 10, 1967, has already been supported by 114 countries. (8/15)

UK Space Command Launches First Military Satellite on SpaceX Rideshare Mission (Source: Gov.UK)
A UK satellite to support military operations successfully launched into space last night. Named Tyche, the satellite is UK Space Command’s first satellite which can capture daytime images and videos of the Earth’s surface. The satellite will strengthen the UK’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. (8/17)