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China launched a pair of navigation satellites, with boosters from the rocket falling in an inhabited area. A Long March 3B lifted off Monday at 10:26 p.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center carrying two Beidou navigation satellites, placing them into medium Earth orbits. The spacecraft are the 57th and 58th Beidou satellites to be launched and will serve as on-orbit spares for the overall Beidou system. Two of the side boosters from the rocket appear to have fallen near inhabited areas in Guangxi region, downrange of Xichang in Sichuan province, with wreckage from one spotted next to a home. It is one of many incidents of boosters falling near inhabited areas associated with Beidou satellite launches. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk appears to have again ruled out spinning out Starlink into a publicly traded company. In an online discussion last week, Musk was asked about a possible Starlink IPO, but Musk said it didn't make sense for any company to go public unless it has a stable and predictable cash flow. He added that he has not had any problems raising money privately. Musk has in the past ruled out any near-term IPO for Starlink or SpaceX, but in June declined to comment on reports that SpaceX would turn Starlink into a public company. [SpaceNews]
The value of the U.K. government's stake in Eutelsat OneWeb has fallen by half. The U.K. government invested about $500 million into OneWeb as part of the effort to take the company out of bankruptcy in 2020. OneWeb has since merged with Eutelsat, but a sharp decline in Eutelsat's stock price means that the U.K. government's shares are now worth only about $250 million. Eutelsat is reportedly counting on a European Union satellite constellation project to help fund the next generation of the OneWeb constellation, but that could be complicated by the stake owned by the U.K., which is no longer part of the European Union. [The Telegraph]
The launch of a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station has slipped more than a week. Axiom Space announced that the Ax-3 mission, previously scheduled to launch Jan. 9, has been rescheduled for no earlier than Jan. 17. The company did not give a reason for the delay, but noted that the launch will take place from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, a pad currently set up to support a Falcon Heavy launch later this week. It takes up to three weeks to convert the pad from Falcon Heavy to Falcon 9 launches. [X @Axiom_Space]
| | Other News
Intuitive Machines announced leadership changes and a new strategic partnership Tuesday. The company said that its current CFO, Erik Sallee, is leaving the company effective Jan. 26 "for personal and family reasons and to pursue other business opportunities." He will be replaced on an interim basis by Steven Vontur, the company's current principal accounting officer. Peter McGrath, vice president of business development, will become senior vice president and chief operating officer effective Jan. 2. Intuitive Machines also announced a strategic partnership with Boryung Corporation, a South Korean healthcare investment company. The companies plan to explore "critical infrastructure partnerships" in and around the moon. Boryung is also working with, and has invested in, commercial space station company Axiom Space; both Axiom and Intuitive Machines were co-founded by Kam Ghaffarian. [Intuitive Machines]
Japan hopes to land an astronaut on the moon by the end of the decade. Japanese government officials said they expect to sign an agreement with NASA as soon as next month defining Japanese contributions to the Artemis lunar exploration campaign in exchange for opportunities to fly astronauts on Artemis lunar landing missions. Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed last week the intent of the U.S. to fly an astronaut from an international partner to the lunar surface this decade. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
Construction is set to start next year on a large industrial park on Florida's Space Coast to support the growing space industry there. The Space Coast Innovation Park will initially feature three buildings spanning 60,000 square meters for space industry and other aerospace businesses. The facility will ultimately grow to five buildings and 100,000 square meters. The industrial park will be located adjacent to Space Coast Regional Airport, an FAA-licensed spaceport in Titusville. [Florida Today]
| | Home Alone on Mars
"They called me up and said, 'Are you interested in playing Eli Hobson, the head of NASA?' and I put the phone down and laughed for about 20 minutes. I then told my wife and she was like, 'What are they drunk? You, as the head of NASA?'"
– Daniel Stern, the actor perhaps best known as one of the burglars in the movie Home Alone who is currently playing NASA Administrator Eli Hobson in For All Mankind. [collectSPACE]
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