Top Stories
LeoLabs has raised $29 million to further development of its space object tracking system. The company announced the fundraising round Monday, led by new investor GP Bullhound, bringing the total raised by LeoLabs to $120 million. The company operates a network of radars that track more than 20,000 objects in low Earth orbit, and the funding will allow the company to scale existing systems and develop new ones to analyze the data to provide guidance to satellite operators. The company is also exploring new radar technologies to provide "provide more comprehensive, continuous coverage" of small orbital debris. [SpaceNews]
Aalyria has successfully tested software to manage a mesh network of satellites. The startup, spun out of Google's parent company Alphabet, said Monday it demonstrated its Spacetime software in December at the Naval Research Laboratory in a test funded by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of a larger effort to create a multi-layered satellite architecture of different vendors and orbits. The company said it showed how its software could manage a hybrid network involving satellites from different constellations. Such a hybrid network provides wider coverage and lower latency, crucial for time-sensitive intelligence and defense operations. Aalyria has an $8.7 million contract from DIU to implement the Spacetime software. [SpaceNews]
True Anomaly, a startup developing spacecraft for proximity operations with other satellites, is preparing to launch its first mission. Two of its Jackal satellites are scheduled to launch on SpaceX's Transporter-10 rideshare mission in March. True Anomaly, founded in 2022 and fresh off a $100 million fundraising round, intends to demonstrate the capabilities of its Jackal spacecraft to perform in-orbit activities known as rendezvous and proximity operations. The two spacecraft will maneuver around each other while taking high-resolution images and video on the mission. [SpaceNews]
The first flight of the Polaris program of private astronaut missions has slipped again. The program, backed by billionaire Jared Isaacman, said last week that the Polaris Dawn mission was now scheduled for no earlier than this summer. The Crew Dragon flight, originally planned for late 2022, will conduct the first spacewalk from that spacecraft, and development of spacesuits needed for that has been a pacing item. The mission will also go to a higher altitude than any crewed mission since Apollo 17 and test the use of Starlink for spacecraft communications. [SpaceNews]
Several companies have formed a new organization to promote the use of satellite spectrum for direct-to-smartphone applications. Viasat, Terrestar Solutions, Ligado Networks, Omnispace and Yahsat announced Friday the creation of the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA), a non-profit aiming to harmonize mobile satellite services for integrating with standardized devices. Those companies hold more than 100 megahertz of L- and S-band spectrum that they say could help extend terrestrial cellular networks worldwide. They stand in contrast to other companies, including AST SpaceMobile, Lynk Global and SpaceX, which plan to offer direct-to-device services using terrestrial spectrum in partnership with mobile network operators. [SpaceNews]
Greece is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. Greece's foreign minster signed the Accords at a State Department ceremony on Friday. The Artemis Accords, which outline best practices for safe and sustainable space exploration, have now been signed by 35 countries, and Greece is the 12th member of both the European Union and European Space Agency to join. [SpaceNews]
| |  There's a new MILSATCOM operator in town: Astranis.
In 2023, Astranis launched the world's first MicroGEO communications satellite — and used it to demonstrate end-to-end connectivity for a national security customer. Astranis has also successfully demonstrated passing the Space Force's Protected Tactical Waveform through our proprietary Software-Defined Radio.
This makes Astranis one of just a few operators capable of supporting government waveforms on commercial satellites. And it makes MicroGEO the smallest, most agile satellite to do so by a wide margin.
Learn more here. | | | Other News
Tory Bruno says the successful Vulcan launch is a vindication of ULAs's transformation. Speaking at the recent SpaceCom conference, Bruno said the inaugural Vulcan launch last month was "perfect" with no issues, contrary to many other first launches of new rockets. He said the success demonstrated the transformation of ULA after he took over as CEO nearly a decade ago to make the company more competitive. His comments come as rumors continue to swirl about a potential sale of ULA, currently a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, to either Blue Origin or private equity firm Cerberus. [SpaceNews]
Russia launched a military satellite Friday. A Soyuz-2.1v lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 2:03 a.m. Eastern and placed the Cosmos-2575 satellite into orbit. Russian media released no details about the satellite, but the launch was similar to one in December that placed another satellite, Cosmos-2574, into the same sun-synchronous orbit. [RussianSpaceWeb.com]
SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites Friday after several days of delays. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 7:34 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and deployed 22 Starlink satellites. Weather delayed the launch by several days, including scrubs on Tuesday and Thursday. [Spaceflight Now]
Beijing's local government has released a five-year plan for developing the region's space industry. The Beijing Action Plan for Accelerating the Innovation and Development of the Commercial Space Industry includes 18 policy measures, including support for research and development and fostering a high-quality industrial ecosystem. The plan calls for the creation of "Beijing Rocket Street" that will have a reusable rocket technology innovation center to assist breakthroughs in related key technologies. Several other Chinese municipal governments have their own plans to support aerospace industry development. [SpaceNews]
Amateur satellite observers have found the U.S. Space Force's X-37B in an unusual orbit. Satellite trackers said last week they found the spacecraft in a highly elliptical orbit of 323 by 38,838 kilometers and an inclination of 59.1 degrees. The uncrewed spaceplane launched in December on a Falcon Heavy into what was widely expected to be a higher orbit than past flights of the vehicle, and the orbit it was found in closely matches some pre-launch predictions. The Space Force has not disclosed what the X-37B is doing in that orbit or how long it will remain there. [Ars Technica]
| | The Week Ahead
Monday-Tuesday: Monday-Wednesday: Tuesday: Wednesday: - Kennedy Space Center, Fla.: Scheduled Falcon 9 launch of the Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar lander mission at 12:57 a.m. Eastern.
- Washington: The House Science Committee's space subcommittee holds a hearing on "ISS and Beyond: The Present and Future of American Low-Earth Orbit Activities" at 10 a.m. Eastern.
- Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 on the USSF-124 mission for the U.S. Space Force at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
- Tanegashima, Japan: Scheduled launch of an H3 rocket on its second flight at 7:22 p.m. Eastern.
- Baikonur, Kazakhstan: Scheduled launch of a Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station at 10:25 p.m. Eastern.
Wednesday-Thursday: Wednesday-Friday: Thursday-Saturday: Saturday: - Sriharikota, India: Scheduled launch of a GSLV rocket carrying the INSAT-3DS weather satellite at 7 a.m. Eastern.
Sunday: - Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Scheduled launch of an Electron rocket carrying Astroscale's ADRAS-J inspection satellite.
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