Astronomy Prints 🌌: Eutelsat exits Airbus OneWeb Satellites venture 💔

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A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Tuesday, January 30, 2024

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Eutelsat is reducing its projected revenues because of delays bringing the OneWeb constellation into full commercial service. The company said Monday that installation of gateways needed for OneWeb is behind schedule, with only 30 of the 40 needed for global service in place. Gaps in coverage include India and Saudi Arabia, where Eutelsat has significant "take-or-pay" contracts that require customers to take the OneWeb capacity once it is available or pay a penalty. Eutelsat reduced its revenue projections for its current fiscal year, ending in June, by 7% to account for the delays. Eutelsat expects global coverage to be in place in the second half of 2024. [SpaceNews]

Eutelsat has also sold its stake in the Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS) satellite manufacturing joint venture. Airbus is now the sole owner of AOS after purchasing Eutelsat's holdings for an undisclosed sum. Airbus and OneWeb established the joint venture to produce the satellites for OneWeb's first-generation constellation, establishing a factory near the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. AOS facilities have since been modified to accommodate Arrow, a satellite platform based on the 150-kilogram Eutelsat OneWeb spacecraft. Eutelsat said it will consider Airbus among other companies to build the second-generation OneWeb constellation. [SpaceNews]

PLD Space has secured funding from the Spanish government to support work on its Miura 5 rocket. The company said it won a $43.8 million award from the government after completing a preliminary design review for the rocket. The funding is a loan will be paid off over 10 years once Miura 5 begins commercial operations, currently scheduled for 2026. Miura 5 is a small launch vehicle designed to place up to 540 kilograms into orbit and features a reusable first stage. The company has not disclosed the projected cost of developing Miura 5 but said in November is was looking to raise additional funding to develop the rocket. [SpaceNews]

The U.S. Space Force says it will use a refueling port developed by Northrop Grumman on future spacecraft. The Space Force's Space Systems Command designated Northrop Grumman's Passive Refueling Module (PRM) as a favored interface to enable future in-space refueling of military satellites. The PRM has a docking mechanism to allow a refueling vehicle in orbit to transfer propellant to another satellite to extend its useful life. Space Systems Command will also aid development of a tanker capable of delivering 1,000 kilograms of hydrazine to satellites in geostationary orbit. The adoption of Northrop Grumman's PRM, while not exclusive, marks the first time the Space Force has publicly identified a preferred system. [SpaceNews]

China will attempt to land on the rim of a crater near the lunar south pole on a 2026 robotic mission. Chang'e-7 will target one of a handful of sites on the rim of Shackleton Crater thought to offer exceptionally long periods of illumination at the lunar south pole, according to a recently-published journal article. Such a site could offer favorable illumination while also being close to permanently shadowed regions which could host volatiles such as water ice. The region may be near a candidate landing site for NASA's Artemis 3 crewed landing. The multi-component Chang'e-7 mission will feature an orbiter, a lander, a rover and a mini-flying probe. [SpaceNews]

The former head of the NRO's launch office has joined defense and intelligence contractor Stellar Solutions. Retired Space Force Col. Chad Davis will be director of sigint, or signals intelligence, programs at Stellar. He spent 28 years in the Air Force and Space Force, including four years as director of the NRO's Office of Space Launch. The 30-year-old company specializes in systems engineering for ground systems and launch vehicles. It has more than 300 employees working with U.S. and international aerospace companies and government agencies. [SpaceNews]

Other News

An instrument on the latest series of GOES weather satellites could be useful in tracking atmospheric methane. With imagery from the GOES Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), researchers identified a large natural gas pipeline release and quantified total emissions from it, monitoring it through ABI images updated every five minutes. Methane emissions are tracked usually by satellites in low Earth orbit that can revisit the same source only a few times a day. By contrast, ABI images in GEO can provide continuous monitoring of methane emissions, scientists noted. [SpaceNews]

French startup Grasp said an instrument for monitoring atmospheric aerosols is working well. The company launched the GAPMAP-0 multi-angle multispectral polarimeter last April on an Austrian cubesat. The company says the instrument's performance is confirming their plans to develop a 10-satelite constellation with similar instruments, slated for launch by 2028. The instrument is able to provide high-quality observations of atmospheric particulates, clouds and surface properties. [SpaceNews]

Orbital Outpost X (OOX), a startup working on components for commercial space stations, has hired a new CEO. The company said Tuesday that Negar Feher, who previously held posts at Lockheed Martin, Maxar Technologies, Momentus Space and SpaceRyde, will be its CEO. OOX develops components, systems and subsystems for commercial space stations, such as a universal interface to transfer fluids, electricity and data. The company raised $5 million last May from Space Infrastructures Ventures of the Netherlands. [SpaceNews]

American and South Korean officials met last week to discuss potential space cooperation. First Vice Science Minister Cho Seong-kyung met with NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy in Washington last week to discuss how South Korean technologies could be used in projects for lunar exploration. The meeting comes ahead of the formal establishment of a South Korean space agency, the Korea AeroSpace Administration, in May. [Yonhap]

The space shuttle Endeavour is once again vertical. Crew overnight hoisted the orbiter to attach it to an external tank and two solid rocket boosters at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The assembly is part of efforts to create a new exhibit that will put the shuttle on display in its launch configuration. The exhibit building will be constructed around the shuttle over the next few years. [AP]

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Space Traffic Jam

"If you ever go somewhere on the Cape, give yourself plenty of time because there are only so many roads and you'll get caught behind booster traffic."

– Col. Shannon DaSilva, deputy director of operations at Space Systems Command, discussing infrastructure challenges at Cape Canaveral caused by the increase in launch activity during a presentation at the Global Spaceport Alliance annual meeting Monday in Orlando.