September 9, 2024

UK-US Integration Key to Future of Space Security (Source: Space Daily)
U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller, Jr., commander of Space Operations Command, and Chief Master Sgt. Caleb Lloyd, SpOC senior enlisted leader, met with Airmen, Guardians and UK counterparts to engage with members of the Space Force on morale, readiness, and interoperability with host nation partners. A key aspect of the command team's visit included emphasizing the importance of our allied partnerships and celebrating the contributions of Guardians in furthering the force's integration with the UK's national security space program. (9/6)

NASA Picks Eight Companies Earth Observation Data (Source: NASA)
NASA picked eight companies for a contract vehicle to provide Earth observation data. The Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract, announced Friday, allows the agency to acquire Earth observation data from BlackSky, Iceye, MDA Space, Pixxel Space, Planet, Satellogic, Teledyne Brown and Tomorrow.io. The contract has an overall maximum value of $476 million through November 2028. (9/9)

ICEYE and Aon Broaden Partnership with Global Flood and US Wildfire Data Agreement (Source: Space Daily)
ICEYE, a leader in satellite-powered disaster management, has announced an expanded data licensing agreement with Aon, a global professional services firm. This partnership now includes ICEYE's Flood Insights data globally and Wildfire Insights data for the United States. Through this agreement, Aon will integrate ICEYE's near real-time flood and wildfire data into its event response capabilities for Reinsurance clients, enhancing the analysis of catastrophic event losses. ICEYE's high-resolution data enables Aon to provide clients with detailed location-specific insights into flood and wildfire damage to properties. (9/6)

Floodbase's Enhanced Flood Mapping Technique Surpasses NOAA's Accuracy (Source: Space Daily)
A newly published study in 'Geophysical Research Letters' reveals that Floodbase's flood mapping technology achieves an 11% improvement in accuracy over leading methods, offering more precise flood monitoring and potentially lowering costs for parametric flood insurance. Floodbase, a key provider of flood intelligence and data for disaster management and re/insurance sectors, has developed an advanced AI technique that integrates satellite data with inputs from the U.S. National Water Model (NWM). The peer-reviewed study highlights the superior accuracy of Floodbase's large-area flood maps for California's 2023 atmospheric river, outperforming those created by NOAA's National Water Center. (9/5)

NOAA Creates Advisory Board for Space (Source: NOAA)
NOAA has selected the members of a new space advisory board. NOAA's Office of Space Commerce announced Friday the selection of 16 people to its new Advisory Committee on Excellence in Space (ACES), providing advice to the office on space matters. ACES will be chaired by Caryn Schenewerk of Georgetown University with David Gauthier of GXO Inc. serving as vice chair. The first meeting of ACES is planned for within the next two months. (9/9)

Singapore's Eartheye Raises $1.5 Million for Online Satellite Tasking (Source: Space News)
A Singapore-based startup has raised $1.5 million for its online satellite-tasking platform. Eartheye Space said the pre-seed funding will allow it to build out its capabilities and expand into Africa, the Middle East and the United States. The company has developed a platform that allows users to task more than 475 different Earth imaging satellites from various companies that provide imagery from multispectral to radar, an approach that it likens to the Uber Eats food delivery service. (9/9)

ESA Performs Targeted Reentry of Cluster Satellite (Source: Space News)
ESA performed a targeted reentry Sunday of the first of four Cluster space science satellites. The satellite, nicknamed Salsa, burned up Sunday afternoon over the South Pacific. Controllers took advantage of the spacecraft's highly elliptical orbit to target the reentry location far away from land to avoid any risk of falling debris. The reentry also provided an opportunity to monitor the breakup using an aircraft equipped with more than a dozen instruments. The other three Cluster satellites will renter over the next three years in a similar fashion. (9/9)

FAA Finalizing Regulations for Upper Stage Disposal (Source: Space News)
The FAA hopes to finalize regulations next year on the safe disposal of upper stages. The head of the FAA's commercial space transportation office said Friday that the agency is working on a final version of regulations released in draft form a year ago that call on companies that conduct launches licensed by the FAA to dispose of upper stages in one of five ways, from controlled reentries to placement in safe graveyard orbits, to minimize the risk of breakups or collisions that could create large amounts of debris. That came as another Centaur upper stage, left in a geostationary transfer orbit after a 2018 launch, broke up earlier Friday, creating at least several dozen pieces of debris. The cause of the breakup, the fourth involving a Centaur since 2018, is unclear. (9/9)

Planet Nine on the Horizon? Scientists Believe New Observatory Could Soon Spot It (Source: Deccan Herald)
Is there a planet beyond Pluto (which is now a dwarf planet itself) in the outer solar system? This is a question that has haunted astronomers for ages, and if all goes well, the answer will be out soon. “It is very possible that Planet Nine will be found within the first year of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory,” said California Institute of Technology astronomer Mike Brown. He is among scientists proposing the Planet Nine theory. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is currently under construction in Chile. (9/8)

Gravitational Waves Reveal the Hidden Depths of the Universe’s Strangest Stars (Source: SciTech Daily)
A new study reveals how tidal forces within binary neutron star systems can provide deep insights into the universe’s workings and the internal dynamics of these stars through gravitational wave analysis. A better understanding of the inner workings of neutron stars will lead to a greater knowledge of the dynamics that underpin the workings of the universe and also could help drive future technology, said Nicolas Yunes. A new study led by Yunes details how new insights into how dissipative tidal forces within double — or binary — neutron star systems will inform our understanding of the universe. (9/6)

New Measurements Reveal the Enormous Halos That Shroud All Galaxies in the Universe (Source: Phys.org)
Have you ever wanted to make a $150,000 gamble? If you're right, you open a new window to the universe. But if you're wrong, you've just wasted a lot of money and time. That is exactly what my team did when we pointed the Keck telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai'i at what looked like empty space, hoping to reveal the hidden gas that shrouds all galaxies in the universe. There were cheers in the control room when we realized our gamble had paid off. The team revealed the first detailed picture of the gas shroud around a galaxy, extending 100,000 light years out into "empty" space. If our own Milky Way has a similar halo, it is likely already interacting with the halo of our nearest galactic neighbor, Andromeda. (9/8)

Space Engine Pioneer Seeks Up To £20mn to Keep Hypersonic Plans Alive (Source: Financial Times)
Reaction Engines, the British aerospace pioneer hoping to make hypersonic flight a reality, has told investors it needs to raise close to £20mn in new capital or risk falling into administration. The Oxfordshire-based company has been in talks with its existing backers, including the UAE-backed Strategic Development Fund, about a much needed fundraising, according to people familiar with the situation.

The cash would provide new working capital. That would give Reaction Engines the 18 months it needs to fulfil key contracts and generate new revenue streams. Reaction Engines declined to comment on the talks, but people familiar with the situation said the company would probably need between £15mn and £20mn. Key to Sabre is the company's pre-cooling technology which dissipates heat and prevents engines from overheating. (9/8)

USAF Advances Magnetic Navigation as Unjammable GPS Alternative (Source: Aviation Week)
With GPS jamming and spoofing escalating around war zones, the US Air Force is funding a startup--SandboxAQ--to advance its quantum-sensor magnetic navigation system. This includes exploring a padded system that would enable deployment on a wide range of aircraft. Spun out of Google parent Alphabet in 2022, the company is developing the QANav system, which uses quantum magnetometers to sense the Earth's crustal magnetic field and provide GPS-free navigation. (9/8)

Arctic Satcom Program is a New Model for Allied Space Collaboration (Source: Aviation Week)
Governments operating in the High North are seeking greater connectivity for regional activity via high-speed, secure broadband and satellite communications. The recently launched Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM)--a unique partnership between the US Air Force and Norway--now offers that capability to government users as well as civil and scientific communities. The two-spacecraft constellation involves the first US military payload to be hosted on a commercial space vehicle while being operated b a foreign partner. (9/8)

Aegis Aerospace Creates New U.S. Headquarters in Texas (Source: Aegis)
Aegis Aerospace has consolidated its Houston, Texas facilities by combining its corporate headquarters, previously in Nassau Bay, Texas, and its Space System Development and Operations Center (SSDOC). The new, combined facility is approximately two miles from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and includes all of the capabilities required to develop, integrate, and operate space R&D payloads and small space systems. (9/3)

Unseenlabs Orders Four Additional Cube Satellites From GomSpace (Source: GomSpace)
GomSpace has signed a contract with Unseenlabs to deliver four additional cube satellites. The contract value is 3.5 MEUR (40 MSEK) and delivery of the satellites will be in Q2/Q3 2025. These satellites will be similar to the eight cube satellites ordered in 2022 and 2024. Of those, five have already been launched, and the remaining three will be delivered by the end of 2024. (9/5)

5 New Kinéis Nanosatellites Will Be Placed Into Orbit (Source: Kineis)
Kinéis, satellite operator and connectivity provider for the Internet of Things (IoT), is continuing the deployment of the 1st European constellation dedicated to the IoT, comprising 25 nanosatellites. Kinéis is keeping to its announced schedule: the second of the 5 launches is scheduled during a
14-day launch window that opens onTuesday 17 September 2024, from New Zealand, with Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher. The aim is to place 5 new satellites into orbit. This second mission, “Kinéis Killed the RadIoT Star”, comes just three months after the success of the previous mission on 20 June. (9/3)

Mars Society Starts Congressional Campaign to Make NASA Produce a Humans to Mars Plan (Source: Mars Society)
The Mars Society announced today that it is beginning a nationwide grassroots campaign to get Congress to pass legislation compelling the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to produce a plan to get humans to Mars within a decade. As part of the campaign, the Mars Society has drawn up a draft Mars Exploration Act requiring NASA to produce a plan, and mobilizing its chapters across the nation to meet with their representatives and Senators in their home offices to explain its purpose and ask them to become co-sponsors. (9/4)

Martian Polar Caps Are Not created Equally (Source: Planetary Science Institute)
If Mars’ path around the Sun was a perfect circle, then all of its seasons would be equally long. But its eccentricity situates Mars farthest from the Sun during southern fall and winter – which is simultaneously northern spring and summer – meaning these seasons for each hemisphere are the longest for the planet. Mars’ southern hemisphere is also significantly more elevated than the northern hemisphere.

“So ultimately, southern fall and winter bring the most freezing and lowest atmospheric pressure,” since so much of the atmosphere is frozen as dry ice, Hansen said. “These are the major drivers of differences in seasonal behavior of carbon dioxide between the hemispheres.” Mars’ northern winter, by contrast, is not only shorter than southern winter, but it also coincides with dust storm season. As a result, the northern polar seasonal cap contains a higher concentration of dust than the south polar cap, making the ice less robust. (9/1)

Stottler Henke’s MARS Scheduling System Enters Operational Use by the U.S. Space Force (Source: Stottler Henke)
The MARS real-time, tactical command and control (C2) system, developed by Stottler Henke, has become operational and now manages U.S. Space Force’s Satellite Control Network (SCN) space-ground communications. Using MARS, U.S. Space Force schedulers can create, deconflict, visualize, validate, and disseminate highly efficient satellite communications schedules much more efficiently. These capabilities enhance the SCN’s effectiveness, responsiveness to changing demands, and resilience to adverse events.

The $11B SCN comprises 19 large, globally distributed, ground-based antennas which communicate with 190 government and commercial satellites to download health and status data and upload configuration and control data. These communications ensure that the satellites maintain their orbits and operate correctly. Because satellite and ground station resources are expensive, limited, and mission critical, their efficient allocation is both difficult and essential. (9/2)

Celestia UK Innovative Ka-Band eScan Technology Successfully Tracks JoeySat (Source: Celestia)
The Proto-1 Gateway developed by Celestia UK used innovative beam steering capability to track and process the signals sent from JoeySat satellite when pointing to the Gateway for a number of passes over Dundee Satellite Station. The successful operation, which was witnessed by ESA and Eutelsat OneWeb, showed that the signal-to-noise ratio was maintained without drops allowing reception and demodulation of the modulated signals.

Signal integrity was maintained, as the satellite signal was tracked from one phased array to another during JoeySat trajectory, and smooth phased array handover was demonstrated with no loss of modem lock nor degradation of the signal.  (9/2)

Equatorial Launch Australia Announces New Head of Business Development (Source: ELA)
Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), owner and operator of Australia’s leading spaceport, the Arnhem Space Centre (ASC), today announced Nina Patz as its new Head of Business Development. Nina’s appointment adds to the company’s senior commercial team as it approaches its next scheduled launches commencing in mid-2025 with South Korean rocket company, Innospace.

The role will be pivotal in developing customized launch contracts including launch, engine testing, payload and mission management, mission planning, and launch support services for international NewSpace commercial rocket companies looking to launch from the ASC. Patz will proactively identify and lead the conversion of commercial opportunities globally. (9/3)

Major Milestone for Maine's bluShift Aerospace Following Flight-Duration Test (Source: WABI)
BluShift Aerospace conducted a flight-duration test of it’s Modular Adaptable Rocket Engine for Vehicle Launch Friday night at Brunswick landing. The powerful blast from the engine lasted 63 seconds in full throttle. The bluShift CEO and founder says that this is a huge step as the longest previous time was 20 seconds. They say that engineers can now start analyzing the data collected from the test. (9/8)

Ovzon Receives Renewal From Swedish Space Corporation for SATCOM-as-a-Service (Source: Ovzon)
Ovzon has received a renewal for Ovzon SATCOM-as-a-Service from its partner Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). The 12-month order will be delivered from October 1, 2024. The order value amounts to approximately 115 MSEK ($11 million). This order is a renewal of the current services that was signed in December 2023. Compared to the initial order, this delivery includes SATCOM-as-a-Service excluding terminals. Ovzon’s highperforming SATCOM-as-a-Service ensures guaranteed, reliable and resilient satellite communications for customers with critical missions in the most challenging environments. (9/6)

NRO Continues Persistent Launch Cadence with NROL-113 (Source: NRO)
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), in partnership with U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 30 and SpaceX, successfully launched the NROL-113 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 5, 2024 at 11:20 p.m. EDT.  This mission is the third in support of the NRO’s previously-announced, next generation proliferated satellite architecture and highlights the rapid pace of deployment for this program. (9/6)

Behind the Scenes of the First Metal Part to be 3D-Printed Aboard the ISS (Source: Airbus)
After seven months in space, the first metal 3D part was printed onboard the International Space Station (ISS), 400 kilometres above the Earth. How did the team do it? In January 2024, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) metal 3D printer, the first to be installed on a space station, successfully arrived on board the ISS. Built by Airbus and its partners, the printer’s objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of metallic part production in microgravity, opening the way to new on-orbit manufacturing capabilities.

Once the printer had been installed on board the ISS’ Columbus module in May this year, and the printer door hermetically sealed by ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, the printing process began. Print operations were overseen at the French space agency CNES, from the control centre for ISS payloads. Two operators from Airbus and CNES ensured that the process ran smoothly. (9/6)

Musk is Turning Himself Into a Space Superpower (Source: Independent)
Musk is well aware of the power this affords him, especially when combined with his other ventures. “Between Tesla, Starlink and Twitter, I may have more real-time global economic data in one head than anyone ever,” he tweeted in April 2023. A single person with access to this much data, together with control of the world’s most vast satellite network, could be seen as an existential threat to the internet as we know it. But it has also provided lifelines at critical moments.

Whether Starlink is used as a force for good or harm on Earth remains Musk’s prerogative, but its impact on space may be irreversible. The size of the network has prompted fears from astronomers that it could fundamentally slow down scientific discoveries. “If the total number of LEO satellites becomes larger than about 100,000 then any mitigating measures, like predicting with high accuracy the position of all the satellites from any ground observatory, will become very difficult to implement and to be effective. This is the worst-case scenario.” (9/8)