Uruguay Joins Artemis - SpaceNews This Week

Top stories of the week from SpaceNews

View this email in your browser Forward Share Share A weekly roundup of the top SpaceNews stories from this week, every Friday. This week, Uruguay signed the Artemis Accords, Varda Space finally gets permission to bring its space manufacturing capsule back to Earth, SpaceX announces Starlink deorbiting plans, there was discussion of Russia's anti-satellite weapon, and more. Our Top Story Uruguay signs Artemis Accords Jeff Foust, Feb. 16, 2024 WASHINGTON — Uruguay signed the Artemis Accords outlining best practices in space exploration Feb. 15, the second country in as many weeks to do so. In a ceremony at NASA Headquarters, Omar Paganini, foreign minister of Uruguay, signed the Accords on the behalf of the country. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and other officials from both the United States and Uruguay attended the signing. "We are honored to have the opportunity to introduce space cooperation as a new chapter in the robust bilateral agenda between Uruguay and the U.S.," Paganini said in a statement about the signing, calling it "the beginning of a new bilateral track" of cooperation between the countries. Other News from the Week COMMERCIAL Iridium adds five years to constellation lifetime estimate Iridium Communications expects to get another five years out of its satellites, pushing out any need to complete a replenishment of the L-band connectivity constellation to at least 2035. Varda gets reentry license for space manufacturing capsule After months of effort and one rejected application, Varda Space Industries said Feb. 14 it has received a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to return a capsule from its first mission. SpaceX to deorbit 100 older Starlink satellites SpaceX plans to remove from orbit about 100 of its older Starlink satellites because of a design flaw that could cause them to fail. MILITARY White House confirms it has intelligence on Russia's anti-satellite weapon, but says no immediate threat The White House on Feb. 15 confirmed reports that Russia is developing an anti-satellite weapon capability, describing it as a serious threat. However, the administration insists that the weapon is not yet operational and does not pose an imminent danger.   Space Force seen as the more agile branch to adopt new tech A top official at the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit urged space industry executives not to underestimate the U.S. Space Force's commitment to adopting commercial products and services, despite some lingering challenges. Viasat completes first broadband upgrade on military sealift fleet Viasat announced it completed the first satellite broadband upgrade on board a Military Sealift Command ship, and  expects to update 105 vessels over the next year. The work is part of a $578 million contract that Inmarsat won in 2022 before it was acquired by rival satellite operator Viasat. LAUNCH Falcon 9 launches first Intuitive Machines lunar lander An Intuitive Machines spacecraft is on its way to the moon Feb. 15 in the company's quest to be the first commercial entity to successfully land on the lunar surface. SpaceX launches U.S. missile-defense satellites SpaceX launched a U.S. military classified mission Feb. 14, sending to orbit six missile-detection satellites: two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency. SPONSORED CONTENT Resilient Space Order of Battle: Flexible, Adaptable & Affordable Anyone who's played the board game "Battleship" is familiar with the notion of operational resilience. Gameplay is simple: Each player has a fleet of five plastic ships that they place secretly on a grid representing the ocean. Players then take turns guessing the coordinates of their opponent's ships. Correct guesses are "hits" marked with red pegs placed in holes on each vessel. When all its holes are filled with red pegs, a ship is sunk. It's not enough to sink a single ship. To win the game, you've got to decimate your adversary's entire fleet. Therein lies the essence of operational resilience. Conventional wisdom is that a player with five ships left can withstand more hits than a player with two. Read more Upcoming SpaceNews Event Webinar - Tuesday, Feb. 20, 1 p.m. Eastern Automating for SmallSat Success - Register Today The purpose of this webinar is to explore how today's smallsat leaders are employing automation in satellite operations and manufacturing. Panelists Chris Winslett, Blue Canyon Technologies Chuck Beames, York Space Marc Bell, Terran Orbital Chester Gillmore, Planet Moderator Jeff Foust, SpaceNews senior staff writer sponsored by Copyright © 2024 Multiverse Media Inc., All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Filmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.