October 15, 2024

Musk Threatens to Sue California Coastal Commission (Source: Business Insider)
Elon Musk threatened to take legal action following reports that a California state commission cited his politics in a decision. The California Coastal Commission on Thursday rejected a request for more-frequent SpaceX launches. The request was filed by the US Space Force, seeking more launches from the state's Central Coast. It was rejected by six votes to four. The Space Force had asked the commission to allow SpaceX to carry out 50 launches a year of its Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base, up from 36. (10/15)

Europe Must Play to Win—Not Just Play Nice—in a New Space Race, Argues ESA’s Boss (Source: The Economist)
Seeing SpaceX’s super-heavy-lift Starship soar into the skies on Oct. 13, and then its reusable booster fly back to the launch pad in a world first, filled me with awe. NASA, America’s space agency, plans to use a human-rated version of the rapid-launch vehicle to return astronauts to the Moon in a couple of years. China—which has made astonishing strides—aims to put people on the lunar surface by 2030. India hopes to do the same by 2040. A new space race is under way. So says Josef Aschbacher, ESA's director-general. For Europe, keeping up is not enough. (10/14)

The Woman Who Helped Send a Spacecraft to Europa, Jupiter’s Icy Moon (Source: New Yorker)
Just after noon on Monday, a SpaceX rocket stood on the same launchpad that once sent men to the moon. Hurricane Milton had recently ripped across Florida, whipping up winds of a hundred miles per hour in Cape Canaveral, but now the skies were a featureless blue. From a restricted viewing area not far away, Louise Prockter, a graceful scientist with sandy hair, glanced at a countdown clock and then back at the rocket, which carried her lifework. "Surreal," she said softly. (10/15)

ViaSat-3 Supports Marine Corps Operations (Source: Naval Technology)
The ViaSat-3 F1 satellite is up and running for US government clients, specifically supporting the Marine Corps Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 and the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment. These units are using multi-mission terminals to enhance expeditionary and reconnaissance communication capabilities. (10/11)

Space Force Taps Into Small Businesses for New Ground System (Source: Defense News)
The US Space Force is transitioning its space domain awareness satellite programs to a new cloud-based ground system in partnership with a consortium of 20 small commercial firms. "We honed in on this small business approach because they've got the right experts to team with us to deliver this satellite operations software that we need for dynamic space operations," said Col. Greg Hoffman. (10/12)

Global Spaceport Alliance and FAA Host Inaugural International Spaceport Meeting in Italy (Source: GSA)
On October 13, 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation, in collaboration with the Global Spaceport Alliance (GSA), hosted the inaugural International Spaceport Meeting, held on the eve of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2024 in Milan, Italy. The meeting brought together spaceport operators and regulatory officials from over 20 countries, marking a pivotal moment for the global spaceport industry. (10/14)

Private Investments in Space are Essential, Head of Italian Space Agency Says (Source: Reuters)
Private investment in the space sector is essential for its growth and must not be demonized, but needs to be regulated, the chief of Italian Space Agency ASI said on Sunday ahead of a conference on the industry in Milan. "We must not demonize the arrival of private companies (in the sector)," ASI President Teodoro Valente said. "All the estimates about exponential growth of the space economy are hardly achievable if there was no substantial entry of private companies."

Valente added that "private input is essential because public resources (can then) be used as a multiplier". The global space economy is seen soaring to $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023, growing at an average of 9% per year or almost twice the rate of projected growth in global GDP, a report by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey has estimated. (10/13)

Warped Starship Booster Engines After Flight 5 Landing Will Easily Be Fixed, Says Musk (Source: WCCF Tech)
After SpaceX made history and successfully caught the world's largest rocket mid air for the first time, fresh images from the company and remarks from Elon Musk highlight the stress that the rocket experienced during its historic return to the launch tower. Starship is the only rocket in the world and in history designed to be caught by the launch tower, and SpaceX's images show its outer ring engine nozzles glowing red hot as the rocket made its way back to the launch site. Musk's latest comments about the rocket made after inspections provide details, as they share that heating deformed some of the engine nozzles during return.

Soon after Flight 5, Musk had taken to X to share that "outer engine nozzles are a little warped from high heating & strong aero forces" and maintained that the damage was "easily fixable." These fixes are essential for Starship's reusability as catching the booster is only one part of SpaceX's plans to ensure that the rocket succeeds the Falcon 9 as the next workhorse launch vehicle. (10/14)

Dark Matter Does Not Exist and the Universe is 27 Billion Years Old, Study Claims (Source: Earth.com)
The universe has always held mysteries that spark our curiosity. As we currently understand it, the fabric of the universe comprises three primary components: ‘normal matter,’ ‘dark energy,’ and ‘dark matter.’ However, new research is turning this established model on its head. Enter Rajendra Gupta, a seasoned physics professor who isn’t afraid to question the status quo. With years of research under his belt, Gupta is shaking up our understanding of the universe.

Gupta suggests we might not need dark matter or dark energy to explain the workings of the universe. This bold claim is turning heads in the scientific community. At the core of Gupta’s research is a model that combines two theories: covarying coupling constants (CCC) and “tired light” (TL). We’ve always been taught that the fundamental constants of nature — like the speed of light or the charge of an electron — are unchanging. But what if they aren’t fixed after all?

The CCC theory suggests these constants might actually vary across the universe. If that’s the case, it could alter our understanding of everything from the tiniest particles to the largest galaxies. Then there’s the “Tired Light” idea. Normally, we think the redshift of light from distant galaxies — the way light stretches into longer, redder wavelengths — is because the universe is expanding. But the TL model offers a different take: maybe light loses energy over vast distances. This energy loss would cause the redshift without needing the universe to expand. (10/14)

Ronald Reagan and a Goal Far, Far Away: Star Wars and the Strategic Defense Initiative in Simi Valley (Source: Space Review)
A exhibit that recently closed at the Reagan Library and Museum linked Star Wars, the movie franchise, with “Star Wars,” the nickname associated with the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Dwayne Day explores the exhibit’s attempt to describe the legacy of SDI. Click here. (10/15)

The Trials and Tribulations of Hera (Source: Space Review)
ESA last week launched its Hera mission to the same asteroid that NASA’s DART spacecraft collided with two years ago. Jeff Foust reports on the struggles the Hera project faced getting the spacecraft launched, from funding challenges to a hurricane. Click here. (10/15)
 
Space Isn’t All About the “Race”: Rival Superpowers Must Work Together for a Better Future (Source: Space Review)
The rhetoric around a new “space race” between the US and China has only grown stronger in the last year. Art Cotterell argues that competition should be tempered with some degree of cooperation. Click here. (10/15)

Sidus Space Receives FCC Approval for Remote Sensing Satellite Micro Constellation License (Source: Sidus Space)
Sidus Space announced that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted approval for the company to operate a micro constellation of remote sensing, multi-mission satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This regulatory milestone marks a significant step in Sidus Space's on-orbit expansion plans. The FCC’s approval covers LizzieSat 2-5, beyond the successful LizzieSat-1 mission. (10/15)

Army Pilot Project Explored SatComm Outsourcing (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Army has wrapped up a one-year pilot project exploring outsourcing satellite communications services to private companies. Under the pilot, the Army selected satellite operators Intelsat and SES to provide "satcom as a managed service," a model where the provider handles all satellite communications functions through a services contract. Companies said the project demonstrated the effectiveness of a services approach, but it is unclear if the Army will fully embrace this model for future satellite communications procurement. (10/15)

Army Sharpening Space Focus (Source: Space News)
The Army is working to bolster its space warfare expertise. Army officials argue that ground forces must be better equipped to defend against and, if necessary, disrupt an adversary's space capabilities in any future conflict. The Army is taking steps to improve training and potentially establish a formal career field for space for enlisted Army personnel, allowing them to specialize on space issues. Some have argued that those efforts run the risk of duplicating capabilities offered by the Space Force, but Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force's chief of space operations, said there was no competition with the Army: "We're all in this together." (10/15)

ULA Investigating SRB Anomaly During Vulcan Launch (Source: Space News)
ULA is still investigating a solid rocket booster that lost its nozzle on the second flight of the Vulcan Centaur. Speaking at the International Astronautical Conference (IAC) on Monday, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said that the core stage of the Vulcan compensated for the loss of performance from the SRB that lost the nozzle about 35 seconds after liftoff on the Oct. 4 flight. The rocket was still able to perform an orbital insertion that he said was likely more precise than any previous ULA launch. He added it will be up to the Space Force to determine any impacts of the incident on certification of the rocket for national security missions. (10/15)

D-Orbit Partners with ESA for GEO Satellite Servicing (Source: Space News)
D-Orbit is entering the GEO satellite servicing field through a partnership with ESA. D-Orbit signed a contract with ESA Monday at IAC valued at 119.6 million euros to help develop the General Expansion Architecture (GEA) spacecraft-servicing vehicle. Satellite life extension will be the first mission for GEA, which also will be designed to relocate and repair satellites. D-Orbit has not yet named the client satellite for the first mission, known as RISE, which is likely to occur in 2027 or 2028. (10/15)

EarthDaily Analytics Acquires Descartes Labs (Source: Space News)
Antarctica Capital has sold geospatial analytics provider Descartes Labs to EarthDaily Analytics (EDA). EDA said Oct. 15 it had bought Descartes Lab for an undisclosed sum to strengthen AI imagery analytics offerings in the insurance, energy, mining and U.S. defense markets. Antarctica formed EDA in 2021 after buying satellite designs, software, customer contracts and intellectual property during UrtheCast's restructuring process; Antarctica also owns Descartes Labs. The deal comes as EDA said a new satellite constellation it planned to launch last year will not be deployed until next year. (10/15)

SpaceX Launches Overnight Starlink Missions From Florida and California (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX performed a bicoastal launch doubleheader overnight. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 2:10 a.m. Eastern, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. A second Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 4:21 a.m. Eastern, deploying 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. The launches were the first for the Falcon 9 since an anomaly during the upper stage deorbit burn on the Falcon 9 launch of the Crew-9 mission Sept. 28. The FAA allowed SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 launches last Friday after giving approval for a single Falcon 9 launch of ESA's Hera mission early last week. (10/15)

Commercial Pads Planned at China's Inland Xichang Spaceport (Source: Space News)
China's inland Xichang launch center is set to build a commercial spaceport. Liangshan Prefecture, where the launch site is located, signed a strategic cooperation agreement last week with a company to establish the Sichuan Development International Commercial Spaceport Co., Ltd. That venture will develop a commercial launch facility at Xinchang, although the number and types of launch pads were not disclosed. The new spaceport appears to align with central government policy to promote commercial space and provincial plans to deliver local high-quality growth. (10/15)

OroraTech Raises ~$27 Million for Wildfire Detection Constellation (Source: Space News)
OroraTech has raised ~$27 million to expand a network of satellites for wildfire detection. The company announced Tuesday the Series B round led by Korys, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), and existing investor Bayern Kapital. The company plans to use a third of the funding for expansion of its satellite network from a current two satellites, with two sets of eight satellites set to launch in 2025. The rest of the funding will go to enhancing a data analytics platform for tracking wildfires and to expand into North America. (10/15)

Joint Space Defense Effort Gains Momentum, Despite Lack of Clarity on Roles (Source: Space News)
France and Germany have joined a U.S.-led initiative to improve international cooperation in space defense. The two countries joined Operation Olympic Defender, overseen by U.S. Space Command to coordinate efforts among partner nations to protect space assets from potential threats, including cyberattacks, satellite jamming and anti-satellite weapons. Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand had previously joined.

It's not clear in some countries which agencies are responsible for responding to a cyberattack on space assets. People working in the same institutions sometimes provided "completely different answers" about the roles of space and cyber commands in defending satellites, said a researcher discussing a study on the topic at IAC on Monday. It is clear, though, that a lack of defined roles and responsibilities could pose problems. (10/15)

Morrison Joins Australian Spaceport Project (Source: Sydney Morning Herald)
A former Australian prime minister is joining a controversial spaceport project. Scott Morrison is the new non-executive chairman of Space Centre Australia, a company proposing to build a spaceport in Australia's Cape York Peninsula. The company's CEO, James Palmer, had told employees that he had lined up $100 million from a government agency, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, but the agency says it never offered that funding. Space Centre Australia has also claimed to have had a "bunch of conversations" with SpaceX about launching there. (10/15)