September 3, 2024

ABL Layoffs After July Rocket Loss in Alaska (Source: Space News)
Launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems announced a round of layoffs on Friday. The layoffs come after the company's second RS1 rocket was lost in a fire after a static-fire test in July at its launch site in Alaska. The company is looking to cut costs given difficulties raising more money, with the CEO citing a desire to "reset the cost structure of the business to be sustainable in any environment." The company did not disclose how many employees were laid off or how it would affect the schedule of development of the rocket. (9/3)

NASA Reduces Crew-9 to Two, Making Room for Starliner Astronauts' Return (Source: Space News)
NASA selected a veteran astronaut and rookie cosmonaut to remain on the Crew-9 mission to the ISS. NASA announced Friday that Nick Hague will serve as commander of the mission and Aleksandr Gorbunov would be mission specialist. The two had been previously assigned to the mission, with Hague as pilot, along with commander Zena Cardman and mission specialist Stephanie Wilson. NASA took Cardman and Wilson off the mission to free up seats that will be used by Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are remaining on the station after NASA decided to bring their Starliner spacecraft uncrewed. Cardman and Wilson will be reassigned to future missions. Crew-9 is set to launch as soon as Sep. 24. (9/3)

Shaw to Advise Think Orbital (Source: Space News)
A retired Space Force general will be an adviser to space infrastructure startup ThinkOrbital. The company announced Friday that retired Lt. Gen. John Shaw will advise the company, which is working on in-space assembly technologies. Shaw, one of the first general officers commissioned into the U.S. Space Force, most recently served as deputy commander of U.S. Space Command. He has been a vocal advocate for increased use of commercial space technologies in military operations. (9/3)

OHB Readies to Go Private (Source: Space News)
German space company OHB says it has cleared all the regulatory obstacles for a deal that would effectively take the company private. OHB said last week that it received the final approvals for the deal announced a little more than a year ago with investment firm KKR where KKR would buy most of the shares of OHB not owned by the Fuchs family, which retains a 65% stake. That will allow OHB to delist from a German stock exchange. OHB had previously argued that the public markets didn't properly value smaller companies like it. (9/3)

China Launches Classified Satellites (Source: Space News)
China launched a new set of classified satellites Monday night. A Long March 4B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:22 p.m. Eastern and deployed a set of satellites designated Yaogan-43 (02). No details regarding the satellites were released, as was the case with the first Yaogan-43 satellites last month. Chinese officials did not disclose how many satellites were on the launch, but its mission patch contained six stars; the patch for the Yaogan-43 satellites launched in August had nine stars and, later, nine satellites were tracked from the launch. (9/3)

ESA Revises BepiColombo Trajectory to Mercury (Source: Space News)
ESA is revising the trajectory of its BepiColombo mission to Mercury because of reduced thrust from its electric propulsion system. ESA said Monday that the spacecraft's next flyby of Mercury on Wednesday will be somewhat closer than previously planned. That will set up changes to its trajectory that will delay its entry into orbit around the innermost planet by 11 months to November 2026. Engineers concluded that "unexpected electric currents" between the spacecraft's solar arrays and a power distribution unit were reducing the power to its electric thrusters, keeping them from producing enough thrust to maintain the original trajectory. The delay, ESA added, will not affect the science goals of the mission. (9/3)

Europa Clipper on Track for October Launch to Europa (Source: Space News)
NASA's Europa Clipper remains on track for a launch next month. NASA said last week that reviews concluded that transistors in the spacecraft will support its "baseline" mission that involves dozens of close approaches to Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter with a subsurface ocean. Testing earlier this year raised concerns that the transistors might fail in the harsh radiation environment around the planet. The mission is slated to launch during a three-week window that opens Oct. 10. (9/3)

Starliner Noises Not an Issue (Source: Ars Technica)
Weird noises coming from the Starliner spacecraft were just an audio glitch. NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore advised mission controllers over the weekend that he was hearing a "strange noise" from a speaker inside the crew cabin. The pinging noise sounded similar to a sonar. NASA said Monday that the noise was an "audio configuration" issue and would not affect plans for the spacecraft's uncrewed departure from the station on Friday. (9/3)

McAuliffe Statue Rises in New Hampshire (Source: CollectSpace)
A statue honoring Challenger astronaut Christa McAuliffe is now on display at the New Hampshire state capitol. Officials, including Gov. Chris Sununu, unveiled the statue in a ceremony on the state capitol grounds on Monday, which would have been McAuliffe's 76th birthday. The statue depicts McAuliffe walking in her NASA flight suit as she did heading to the pad on the morning of the launch. (9/3)

Japan to Invest Billions on Satellite Monitoring (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Japan is planning to develop its own satellite network to monitor ships and military sites in response to increasing pressure from China, including recent airspace incursions. This initiative is part of Japan's plan to double defense investment in the coming years. (8/30)

Space Regulators Challenged to Balance Growth, Environment (Source: The Conversation)
As many countries, including New Zealand, are developing national space strategies focused on expanding venture capital, workforce, and regulatory frameworks, sustainability is often sidelined despite its importance in mitigating risks such as space debris and atmospheric pollution. New Zealand's Space Agency, which regulates launches and promotes commercial aerospace growth, is faced with the challenge of balancing sustainability and economic development. (8/30)

Inside the 'Golden Age' of Alien Hunting at the Green Bank Telescope (Source: Space Daily)
Nestled between mountains in a secluded corner of West Virginia, a giant awakens: the Green Bank Telescope begins its nightly vigil, scanning the cosmos for secrets. If intelligent life exists beyond Earth, there's a good chance the teams analyzing the data from the world's largest, fully steerable radio astronomy facility will be the first to know.

Today, the field is experiencing a renaissance and seeing an influx of graduates, bolstered by advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as recent discoveries showing that nearly every star in the night sky hosts planets, many of which are Earth-like. "It feels to me like this is something of a golden age," says Croft, an Oxford-trained radio astronomer who began his career studying astrophysical phenomena, from supermassive black holes to the emissions of exploding stars. (9/2)

European Drill and Mini Lab to Explore Lunar South Pole for Resources (Source: Space Daily)
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Prospect package, which includes a drill and a miniaturized laboratory, will be heading to the Moon's South Pole as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. This mission aims to uncover volatile substances, including water ice, beneath the lunar surface. NASA has chosen Intuitive Machines for a 2027 mission that will explore the Moon in greater detail and help answer critical questions about the location and abundance of volatiles on the lunar surface. (9/3)

Major Progress Reported in Next-Gen OPIR Missile Warning Program (Source: Space Daily)
Space Systems Command (SSC) has reached a significant milestone with the successful delivery of the first mission payload for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) sensing in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (NGG). This was made possible through a collaborative effort with Lockheed Martin Space and Raytheon. The NGG-1 payload has completed thermal vacuum chamber testing and has been shipped to Lockheed Martin for integration. (9/1)

Northrop Grumman Secures Contract for Second DARC Installation (Source: Space Daily)
The U.S. Space Force's (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to build the second of three planned Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) sites, marking a significant step in the ongoing efforts to bolster space domain awareness. The DARC system is an advanced radar technology designed to track and monitor objects in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), a critical area where many of the world's most important satellites reside. (9/1)

Orbit Secures $6 Million Contract for Advanced Naval Satellite Communication Systems in Asia (Source: Space Daily)
Orbit Communication Systems Ltd. (TASE: ORBI), a key global supplier of maritime and airborne SATCOM terminals, tracking ground station solutions, and mission-critical airborne audio management systems, has secured a $6 million contract with a major Asian integrator. The contract involves the supply of advanced satellite communication systems for new naval military platforms, with deliveries scheduled between 2025 and 2030. These OceanTRx 7MIL systems will ensure continuous satellite connectivity across multiple frequencies for a leading global naval fleet. (8/30)

Blue Ghost, a Robotic Moon Lander Built by Firefly Aerospace, to Launch Soon at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Blue Ghost, a 6½-foot-tall robotic moon lander constructed by Firefly Aerospace and packed with scientific equipment, is slated to launch during the fourth quarter of this year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The mission marks another moon lander developed by a private company under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Blue Ghost has arrived at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for environmental testing. Afterward, crews will ship the spacecraft to Florida, Firefly officials announced Monday morning. (8/26)

Satellite Data Enhances Understanding of Solar Power Generation in Asia Pacific (Source: Space Daily)
Amid the ongoing energy crisis and the growing threat of climate change, the need to harness renewable energy sources has become increasingly urgent. Solar energy, in particular, is emerging as a leading candidate, with experts predicting it could become the primary energy source by the end of the century. However, solar energy generation is not without challenges. Like wind power, solar irradiance - the amount of sunlight available in a given region - can fluctuate significantly due to weather conditions, leading to variations in power output.

These variations can disrupt power grids and make it difficult to consistently meet energy demands. Therefore, understanding how solar irradiance changes over time and across different locations is essential for determining the best sites for solar power plants. In response to this need, a research team led by Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Hideaki Takenaka from the Center for Environmental Remote Sensing at Chiba University has conducted a comprehensive study to better understand solar irradiance across the Asia Pacific region. (8/30)

Virgin Galactic SpaceshipTwo Crash Litigation (Source: Space Daily)
The crash of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, known as VSS Enterprise, on October 31, 2014, marked a significant setback in the emerging commercial space industry. The spacecraft broke apart mid-flight during a test run, leading to the death of co-pilot Michael Alsbury and severe injuries to pilot Peter Siebold. The accident occurred over the Mojave Desert in California and triggered investigations, litigation, and discussions about safety and liability in the commercial space industry.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation determined that the crash was caused by premature deployment of the "feathering" system, a braking mechanism designed to slow the spacecraft during descent. The co-pilot unlocked the system too early, causing aerodynamic forces to tear the vehicle apart.

The NTSB also pointed to inadequate design safeguards against human error as a contributing factor. The investigation also revealed gaps in Virgin Galactic's safety management, including insufficient pilot training and a lack of robust safety protocols to prevent premature deployment of the feathering mechanism. The NTSB criticized the company for not considering the possibility of such an error and for not implementing safeguards to mitigate the risk. (9/1)

NASA JPL Developing Underwater Robots to Venture Deep Below Polar Ice (Source: Space Daily)
On a remote patch of the windy, frozen Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California huddled together, peering down a narrow hole in a thick layer of sea ice. Below them, a cylindrical robot gathered test science data in the frigid ocean, connected by a tether to the tripod that had lowered it through the borehole.

This test gave engineers a chance to operate their prototype robot in the Arctic. It was also a step toward the ultimate vision for their project, called IceNode: a fleet of autonomous robots that would venture beneath Antarctic ice shelves to help scientists calculate how rapidly the frozen continent is losing ice - and how fast that melting could cause global sea levels to rise. (8/30)

Sentinel-2C Set for September Launch Aboard Vega Rocket (Source: Space Daily)
In preparation for liftoff on 4 September 2024, the Vega-Sentinel-2C upper-composite has been hoisted into the launch tower at Europe's Spaceport. The Sentinel-2 mission consists of a pair of identical satellites, Sentinel-2A, launched in 2015, and Sentinel-2B, launched in 2017. These satellites operate in the same orbit, positioned 180 apart to maximize coverage and reduce revisit times. (8/30)

Global Space Industry to Exceed $6.1 Trillion by 2064 (Source: Space Daily)
The space industry is expected to experience significant growth, with a market valuation projected to reach $6.1 trillion by 2064, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The report, titled "Future of Space Industry," provides an in-depth analysis of the factors driving this anticipated expansion and highlights the key areas of opportunity within the sector. The study outlines the increasing demand for satellite services, space exploration, and the development of new technologies as critical drivers of this growth.

Additionally, the report emphasizes the role of government and private sector investments in accelerating advancements in space infrastructure and commercial space operations. The report also identifies several emerging trends that are expected to shape the future of the space industry. These include the commercialization of space travel, the development of space-based internet services, and the growing interest in asteroid mining and other off-Earth resources. (9/1)