October 7, 2024

Cape Canaveral Space Force and NASA Prepare for the Arrival of Storm (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard's Space Coast was looking forward to double launches this week, which happens to be National Space Week — however the weather had different plans. Now, Hurricane Milton is on track to barrel through Florida on Thursday, with the storm's bands reaching Brevard on Wednesday as a possible Category 1 hurricane.

The local Space Force is preparing now ahead of the incoming storm. As of Monday morning, the Space Force − Space Launch Delta 45 − was in active HURRICON IV status. This status indicates that within 72 hours surface winds in excess of 50 knots (58 mph) could arrive in the area of Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is fully preparing for Hurricane Milton. While currently open, this could quickly change as the storm charges across the state. (10/7)

Mission to Asteroids: ESA Hera Mission Launches Atop a SpaceX Rocket From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
The skies over Brevard were covered by thick clouds, yet the familiar rumble of the Falcon 9 sounded as the European Space Agency's Hera mission lifted off on Monday. Weather improved to 60% favorable from only the 15% previously forecast, allowing the mission to get off the ground ahead of Hurricane Milton. ESA's Hera mission is visiting the asteroid system that NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) impacted two years ago − crashing the spacecraft into moonlet Dimorphos to measure the impact on its orbit around asteroid Didymos. (10/7)

Hurricane Delays ISS Crew Splashdown (Source: Florida Today)
NASA's Crew-8 astronauts were planning to splashdown Tuesday off the coast of Florida, however this has been delayed until no earlier than 3:05 a.m. on Thursday, October 10. NASA will be continuing to monitor weather conditions. Meanwhile, the crew will remain safe onboard the space station until good landing weather. (10/7)

Look Who's Supposedly Buying ULA! (Source: Motley Fool)
ULA's sale price is reported to be $2-3 billion. That's probably a bargain price. As I explained back in 2023, ULA generated $1.3 billion in sales in 2022, before a transition in launch vehicles caused a slump in launch rate in 2023. As 2024 rolls along, though, launch cadence is already increasing again. With four launches in the bag so far, ULA has already put more rockets in orbit in 2024 than it did in all of 2023. Plus, a big order book populated by launches for Amazon's Project Kuiper mean ULA's launch rate (and revenue) are only going up. It shouldn't be too long before ULA is raking in revenue at its usual rate, or better. At the usual valuation for space stocks of 3 or 4 times annual sales, that implies ULA should be worth $4 billion to $5 billion.

In any logical world, that should mean that someone will step up to the plate and buy ULA eventually. The company Reuters believes is now in talks to bid for ULA is a company no one even thought was in the running back when this sales process began: Sierra Space. Unless and until it conducts an IPO, Sierra Space is probably going to be strapped for cash, and unable to make a big bid to acquire ULA -- certainly not as big a bid as billionaire-backed Blue Origin could manage.

Indeed, as recently as late 2023, Sierra Space was reported to be laying off workers to conserve cash. Meanwhile, its available cash is probably needed for the multiple space projects it's already involved in, which include developing modules for a proposed private space station, building missile warning satellites for the Pentagon, and getting its Dream Chaser spaceplane ready for a (much delayed) first flight in 2025. If Sierra Space were to first buy ULA and then IPO the combined company, for example, then this would give space investors like me exactly what we're looking for. (10/7)

Italy's Spacewear to Develop Training Clothing for Virgin Galactic (Source: Reuters)
Italy's Spacewear has closed a deal with Virgin Galactic to design and develop a clothing range for the training of its astronauts and space tourists, the founder of the startup said. "With Virgin Galactic we will make innovative, performing suits to be worn during training by those who will fly with Virgin Galactic," Spacewear's Corinna Sperandini told Reuters.

Founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic offers wealthy customers the experience of supersonic rocket speed, microgravity and the spectacle of the Earth's curvature from space. The agreement also includes the production of made in Italy co-branded everyday clothing, inspired by spacesuits, for spring-summer 2025. Spacewear produced the first Italian interactive and wearable spacesuits approved by NASA and the FAA to be used in the ISS. (10/7)

Blue Origin Could Have a Commercial Space Station Running by 2030 (Source: Robb Report)
As NASA plans to decommission the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade, the next generation of orbital enterprise prepares to launch. Rocket-builder Blue Origin is aiming to have the first commercial space station—a solar-powered, “mixed-use business park” called Orbital Reef—operational by 2030.

Floating 311 miles above the Earth, the 29,300-cubic-foot installation will be self-supporting and feature sleeping quarters, social areas, and research facilities. Its central Core structure, with a volume of 8,228 cubic feet, is connected to an inflatable Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat from Sierra Space, a Colorado-based aerospace and space-technologies outfit.

The initial version will accommodate a total of 10 scientists, international astronauts, and tourists, shuttled back and forth via multiple craft. As for the modular Tinkertoy design, it allows Orbital Reef to expand into a much larger base camp over time. Here’s the vision of what life on low-Earth orbit will be like. (10/6)

Proposed Moon Rescue Capability May Pave Way for Space Exploration Safety (Source: The Mandarin)
A team of Australian researchers has joined with other international scientists to develop a lunar distress monitoring and rescue system that could be expanded to serve astronauts undertaking deeper space exploration. ‘Safety from space’, the proposed lunar distress monitoring and rescue beacon for astronauts, uses satellites for communication and geolocation on the moon’s surface. The project, led by the University of South Australia (UniSA), aims to meet a critical need for a safety alert system in support of NASA’s plans to establish a long-term human presence on the moon. (10/7)

Why We Should Invest in Space Exploration (Source: Technician)
For the sake of the human species, we need to take measures to journey through the galaxy and eventually settle our solar system. Brand Fortner, astrophysicist and physics research professor at NC State, said space exploration is necessary for the long-term survival of the human species. “All our lives are balanced between long-term and short-term,” Fortner said. “There are some benefits today, but most of them will show up hundreds, thousands of years from now. We need to protect and support our lives here on the planet, but we need to plan for a spacefaring future.” (10/7)

To Boldly Go: John McFall Hopes to be the First Astronaut with a Disability (Source: Guardian)
When a colleague sent John McFall a job advert for would-be astronauts, his reaction was swift. “To be honest all I had in my head was: ‘It would be awesome to go to space.’” Doing so, however, would entail shattering through a glass ceiling – one that has held firm during more than six decades of space exploration.

Even so, he pushed ahead. Three years after spotting the job posting from the European Space Agency, McFall is now on track to become the world’s first astronaut with a disability. After losing his right leg at the age of 19 following a motorcycle accident, the Briton went on to become a Paralympian sprinter, winning bronze in Beijing, and later becoming a trauma and orthopedic surgeon. (10/7)

FAA Okays ESA Asteroid Mission Launch on Falcon-9 From Florida Spaceport (Source: Space News)
The FAA has given the green light to SpaceX for a Falcon 9 launch of an ESA asteroid mission today. The FAA said Sunday it cleared SpaceX to conduct the launch of the Hera spacecraft this morning, the first for the Falcon 9 after an anomaly on an upper-stage deorbit burn on the Crew-9 mission Sept. 28. The FAA noted its approval was only for the Hera mission because the upper stage will not deorbit on this launch and thus there is no public safety risk of a similar incident. The FAA is still reviewing SpaceX's investigation into the incident and has yet to authorize other Falcon 9 launches. The Hera launch is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. Eastern but with only a 15% chance of acceptable weather. (10/7)

Hurricane Delays ESA Asteroid Mission Launch From Florida Spaceport (Source: NASA)
A hurricane is delaying other launches from, and spacecraft returns to, Florida. NASA said late Sunday it was delaying Thursday's scheduled launch of the Europa Clipper mission on a Falcon Heavy because of Hurricane Milton, which is scheduled to make landfall Wednesday as a major hurricane on Florida's Gulf coast and pass directly over Cape Canaveral by early Thursday. NASA said it will wait until after the storm passes to reschedule the launch. NASA is also delaying the return of the Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station on a Crew Dragon. That spacecraft was scheduled to undock Monday from the ISS, but NASA has delayed its departure to at least Thursday because of weather conditions at splashdown zones off the Florida coast. (10/7)

Impulse Space Wins Two DoD Missions (Source: Space News)
Impulse Space won a Space Force contract for two in-space transportation missions. Under the $34.5 million contract announced last week, Impulse Space will deploy two orbital transfer vehicles, one to low Earth orbit and the other to geosynchronous transfer orbit, that will carry space surveillance payloads for missions intended to enhance U.S. military capabilities in space domain awareness. One of the missions, Victus Surgo, will fly on the inaugural mission of Impulse Space's new Helios kick stage. These efforts are part of the U.S. Space Force's Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) program. (10/7)

Heritage Foundation Bombards NASA with FOIA Requests to Ferret Out Musk Critics (Source: Reuters)
A conservative think tank is bombarding NASA with open records requests to see what NASA employees are saying about Elon Musk and Donald Trump. The Heritage Foundation has filed what the agency says is an "unprecedented" number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, including 150 in a two-day period, seeking emails and other records. Heritage says it wants to determine if NASA is stymieing progress by SpaceX and other private companies in space. Critics of the effort say it is an attempt to compile an "undesirables list" of NASA employees that a future Trump administration could seek to fire. (10/7)

FCC Authorizes Starlink Services in Hurricane-Hit Areas (Source: The Verge)
The FCC is allowing SpaceX to provide direct-to-device Starlink services in regions hit by Hurricane Helene. The commission announced Sunday that it provided temporary authorization to SpaceX and T-Mobile to provide services to cellphones in North Carolina using direct-to-device payloads on Starlink satellites. SpaceX said the satellites will be able to broadcast emergency alerts and potentially offer basic texting services, all on a "best-effort basis" since the constellation is still being deployed. (10/7)
 
Dawn Aerospace Flies Twice in One Day in New Zealand (Source: Dawn Aerospace)
Dawn Aerospace has performed two flights of a rocket-powered plane in one day. The two flights took place in late September from the New Zealand airport the company has been using for tests of the uncrewed Aurora Mark 2 vehicle. The flights, eight hours apart, reached speeds of Mach 0.9 and altitudes of 19,200 meters. The company performed the flights as part of a test program that seeks to eventually reach supersonic speeds. (10/7)

Iran to Launch Three Indigenous Remote-Sensing Satellites into Space by Yearend (Source: PressTV)
The head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) says the country plans to launch three homegrown remote-sensing satellites into orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2025. Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the World Space Week in the capital Tehran on Saturday, Hassan Salariyeh stated that his agency aims to send Kowsar, Tolo-3 (Sunrise-3) and Zafar-2 (Victory-2) Earth observation satellites into orbit soon so that they would form a satellite constellation and work together as a system. (10/5)