Top Stories
The upper stage of Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket malfunctioned during a launch Friday, placing its payload into the wrong orbit. The Alpha lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:32 p.m. Eastern carrying a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration satellite. The upper stage reached its expected transfer orbit, but a problem during a second burn of the upper stage meant that the satellite was released into an elliptical orbit with a perigee of only about 215 kilometers. Firefly acknowledged the malfunction and said it would investigate it, but provided no other details. The company added that the satellite was working, although it was unclear if it could complete its mission before it reenters, likely in a matter of weeks. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab has won a contract from a U.S. government agency worth up to $515 million for 18 satellites. Rocket Lab disclosed the contract in an SEC filing Thursday, saying that it would design, build and operate the satellites, with launch planned in 2027. The contract has a base value of $489 million with $26 million in options. The company did not disclose the identity of the customer, but a likely candidate is the Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA). SDA Director Derek Tournear said earlier this month that the agency was negotiating a contract with an unspecified supplier for 18 satellites for the Transport Layer Tranche 2 Beta communications constellation. [SpaceNews]
A Japanese spacecraft has entered orbit around the moon ahead of a landing next month. The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft performed a three-minute engine burn early Monday to enter an elliptical orbit around the moon. SLIM will gradually lower its orbit to set up a landing attempt on Jan. 19. SLIM launched in September along with a Japanese astronomy spacecraft, and flew a low-energy trajectory to the moon. The spacecraft is designed to demonstrate precision landing technologies. [SpaceNews]
Two Chinese astronauts performed a spacewalk Thursday to perform repairs to the Tiangong space station. Mission commander Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie wrapped up a spacewalk lasting seven and a half hours at 8:35 a.m. Eastern. The astronauts conducted a repair test on one of the Tianhe core module's solar arrays that had previously suffered minor micrometeoroid damage. The third astronaut on the station, Jiang Xinlin, assisted operations from inside Tiangong through the use of the space station's robotic arm. [SpaceNews]
A NASA report studied options for continuing the national laboratory aspect of the International Space Station after the station's retirement. The report, released last week, looked at several models for allowing researchers to access future commercial space stations, from NASA leasing space on a station to allowing users to make their own payload arrangements. The report concluded none of the models on their own offered a "complete strategy" for a national lab in low Earth orbit, but that elements of several could be combined. The report also recommended approaches that CASIS, the nonprofit that runs the ISS National Laboratory, could use to prepare for the transition to commercial space stations. [SpaceNews]
Private equity firm Cerebus is among the bidders for United Launch Alliance. A report Thursday said Cerebus is among the companies seeking to buy the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture that operates the Atlas, Delta and new Vulcan rockets. Others include Blue Origin, which provides the BE-4 engines for Vulcan and is developing its own large rocket, New Glenn, as well as aerospace and defense company Textron. It is unclear when, or even if, a deal can be closed. [Wall Street Journal]
| | Other News
A Falcon 9 booster made a record-setting, but final, flight early Saturday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:33 a.m. Eastern and placed 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. The booster used on the launch made its 19th flight, a record for SpaceX, dating back to the Demo-2 commercial crew mission in 2020. While the booster landed successfully on a droneship in the Atlantic, SpaceX said late Monday that the booster tipped over on its way back to port because of high winds and heavy seas. The company added that newer boosters have systems to better handle such conditions. [Space.com | X @SpaceX]
Another Falcon 9 launched a pair of radar imaging satellite for the German military Sunday. The rocket lifted off at 8:11 a.m. Eastern from Vandenberg and deployed the SARah-2 and -3 satellites for the German military. The satellites are equipped with synthetic aperture radar imaging payloads. A similar satellite, SARah-1, launched on another Falcon 9 last year. [Noozhawk]
A Chinese Kuaizhou-1A rocket launched four weather satellites Sunday. The rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9 p.m. Eastern and placed four Tianmu-1 satellites into orbit. The satellites are part of a constellation to provide commercial weather services. [Xinhua]
A Long March 11 rocket placed three satellites into orbit Monday. The rocket lifted off from a platform in waters off the coast of Guangdong Province at 6:39 p.m. Eastern. It put into orbit three Shiyan-24C satellites that Chinese media said would be used for science and technology experiments. [Xinhua]
Russia launched a military satellite Thursday. A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 3:48 a.m. Eastern and placed its payload into its planned orbit, Russian officials said. The satellite is thought to be a version of a Bars-M spacecraft used for military cartographic imaging. [RussianSpaceWeb.com]
Two cargo spacecraft departed the ISS within 24 hours last week. The CRS-29 cargo Dragon spacecraft undocked from the station at 5:05 p.m. Eastern Thursday after weather at splashdown locations caused a one-week delay. The Dragon splashed down off the Florida coast 19 and a half hours later. The NG-19 Cygnus spacecraft was unberthed by the station's robotic arm at 8:06 a.m. Eastern Friday. The Cygnus will remain in orbit until early January to perform combustion experiments before burning up over the south Pacific. [NASA]
| | The Week Ahead
Wednesday: - Plesetsk, Russia: Projected launch of a Soyuz-2.1v carrying a military satellite at 1 a.m. Eastern.
- Jiuquan, China: Anticipated launch of a Kuaizhou 1A rocket carrying an unidentified payload at 2 a.m. Eastern.
Thursday: - Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: Rescheduled launch of a Falcon Heavy carrying the X-37B military spaceplane at 8 p.m. Eastern.
- Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 11 p.m. Eastern.
Friday: - Jiuquan, China: Expected launch of a Ceres-1 rocket carrying an unidentified payload at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Saturday: - Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10:17 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday: - Sriharikota, India: Scheduled launch of a PSLV rocket carrying the XPoSat astronomy satellite at 9 p.m. Eastern.
| | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment