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More than 40 members of Congress have asked the White House to reverse NASA spending reductions on Mars Sample Return (MSR). In a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget, 44 members of California's congressional delegation warned of job losses and a "decade of lost science" if the reductions are not undone. NASA slowed spending on MSR in November, citing the wide gap between the full request of $949.3 million for MSR in the House appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024 versus only $300 million in a Senate bill. The lead center for MSR is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which laid off 100 contractors last month in response to the spending reductions. The letter noted that House and Senate appropriators are working on a "compromise position" on funding for MSR as they work to complete 2024 spending bills in the next month. [SpaceNews]
Companies working on satellite servicing technologies are calling on the federal government to streamline regulations. In a session at the SpaceCom conference this week, industry executives said licensing uncertainties and export control regulations complicate development of vehicles to inspect and service spacecraft. They warned that without regulatory reforms, many of those activities may move to companies operating outside of the United States. [SpaceNews]
The U.S. Air Force is pressing forward with plans to demonstrate point-to-point rocket travel, perhaps in a few years. The Air Force Research Lab awarded SpaceX a $102 million five-year contract two years ago to study "rocket cargo" capabilities using SpaceX's Starship. That work is proceeding well, Air Force and SpaceX officials said at the Space Mobility conference this week, with the potential of a demonstration as soon as 2026. Others in the U.S. military are monitoring that work and seeing how they could take advantage of rapid delivery of cargo, while cautioning that it is unclear when, or if, this capability will be available. [SpaceNews]
Blue Ring says it's seeing strong interest in its Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle. In a talk Thursday at the SpaceCom conference, a company executive said it has engaged in many discussions with potential customers about the vehicle since it publicly announced it last October. Blue Ring is intended to both transfer satellites to their desired orbits and accommodate hosted payloads. It could also offer more advanced services, such as refueling other spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
Sierra Space is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice said Thursday that the company has been working for the last year and a half to get ready for an IPO, but has not set a date for going public. The timing of an IPO, he said, will depend on market conditions and when the company can get the "right credit for valuation." Vice spoke Thursday at an event at NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio where the company's Dream Chaser vehicle is undergoing testing ahead of its first launch later this year. [Bloomberg]
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A private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is set to wrap up this weekend. A farewell ceremony for the Ax-3 mission is scheduled for this morning on the ISS. According to ESA, which has one of its project astronauts on the mission, the Crew Dragon is scheduled to undock from the station Saturday at 6:05 a.m. Eastern, with splashdown off the Florida coast about 13 hours later. [ESA]
Two startups say they will work together on an orbital demonstration of space-based solar power. Orbital Composites and Virtus Solis Technologies said Thursday they will collaborate on a 2027 mission where they will assemble a solar array in orbit and beam more than a kilowatt of power to Earth. The companies did not disclose the cost of the mission or how they will fund it. [SpaceNews]
India's space program would get a modest increase in a proposed budget. The Interim Union Budget for 2024-25, released by the Indian government this week, offers nearly $1.6 billion for ISRO, a 4% increase from 2023-24. Much of the funding would go to support work on ISRO's Gaganyaan human spaceflight program and future robotic lunar missions. The budget also includes proposals to support development of Indian space startups through long-term interest-free loans. [The Hindu]
Japan's SLIM lunar lander has shut down at the end of the lunar day. The lander, which was revived over the weekend when sunlight reached its solar panels, returned a final set of images before powering down Wednesday as the sun set at its landing site. The spacecraft landed two weeks ago but in the wrong orientation, such that its solar panels were in shadow for much of the two-week lunar day. The Japanese space agency JAXA holds out hope that SLIM could be revive after the two-weke lunar night but cautioned that cold conditions are likely to damage the spacecraft. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
| | Astronaut For Hire
"I just keep waiting for the phone to ring. All these commercial guys, they need an extra astronaut? Well, I'm here. The flight suit still fits."
– Former NASA astronaut José Hernández, speaking Thursday at the SpaceCom conference in Orlando while wearing his NASA flight suit.
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