Astronomy Prints 🌌: Vulcan launch demonstrates new solid rocket boosters • Airbus and Voyager finalize Starlab joint venture

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A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Top Stories

The Space Force's Space Development Agency is planning to acquire another set of satellites with a new communications payload. The SDA announced last week plans for Transport Layer Tranche 2 Gamma, a set of 20 satellites that will host a new type of payload to transmit targeting information. SDA documents describe the payload, dubbed Warlock, as a communications node "specifically designed to close future kill chains." The description suggests the Gamma satellite program is pursuing advanced data-relay technologies to reduce sensor-to-shooter timelines, or the crucial flow of information in modern military operations. SDA plans to release a request for proposals for the Gamma satellites in the spring and will select a single vendor to produce them. [SpaceNews]

Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space have finalized a joint venture for developing a commercial space station. The companies announced last week that they completed the formation of Starlab Space LLC, a joint venture they announced last August for the Starlab space station. The joint venture will allow Starlab to seek business from American and European customers. Starlab Space also announced last week that former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was joining its board of directors. [SpaceNews]

The successful inaugural launch of ULA's Vulcan Centaur last week was also a milestone for Northrop Grumman. That company produced the GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters used on the Vulcan that provided nearly two-thirds of the vehicle's liftoff thrust. The GEM 63XL, a longer version of the GEM 63 booster used by the Atlas 5, is the largest monolithic, or non-segmented, solid rocket booster in service, providing greater thrust-to-weight performance. Northrop is working to scale up production of the GEM 63XL for the large backlog of Vulcan launches. [SpaceNews]

Other News

John Deere says it will incorporate SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellite system into its tractors and other farm equipment. Starlink will support John Deere's push into precision agriculture that includes driverless tractors. Deere tested satellite systems for eight months before choosing Starlink, citing the low latency the low Earth orbit constellation offers. [Wall Street Journal]

Remote sensing company Pixxel has opened a satellite manufacturing facility in India. The factory in Bengaluru, spanning nearly 2,800 square meters, will be used by the Indian startup to produce a line of hyperspectral imaging satellites. When at full capacity, the factory will be able to produce up to 40 satellites a year. Pixxel currently has three satellites in orbit and plans to launch another six this year and 18 in 2025 as it builds out its constellation. [Business Standard]

Dark streaks seen in the atmosphere of Venus are not necessarily a sign of life. Some scientists have argued that dark streaks seen in the planet's upper atmosphere when viewed at ultraviolet wavelengths are evidence of microorganisms living in relatively hospitable conditions in the upper atmosphere. A new study, though, found that the streaks can be explained by iron-bearing minerals in the atmosphere created through interactions with sulfuric acid. [Space.com]

The new display for the space shuttle Endeavour is taking shape in Los Angeles. Workers over the weekend installed an external tank, connecting it to two solid rocket boosters already in place outside the California Science Center museum. Endeavour, which had been on display horizontally at the museum for more than decade, will later be installed on the external tank, depicting the shuttle in its launch configuration. A new exhibit will be built around the shuttle that will open in a few years. [Los Angeles Times]

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