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NASA is defending plans to reduce the budgets of two venerable space telescopes amid sharp criticism from the science community. NASA's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal sought a 40% cut in the budget for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and a smaller reduction in the budget for the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA officials said at an advisory committee meeting Wednesday that the agency's overall budget can no longer support funding those missions at existing levels. NASA is planning to convene a "mini senior review" that, by the end of May, will make recommendations on ways to cut back operations of the missions to fit within reduced funding levels, which would involve turning off some instruments. Astronomers, though, remain sharply critical of the proposal, particular its effects on Chandra, which some argue could lead to the telescope's shutdown and jeopardize X-ray astronomy in the U.S. in general. [SpaceNews]
The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is funding three projects by companies to explore in-space services. DIU said this week it is funding projects by Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and Spacebilt to explore ways to create a more robust space infrastructure that can support military operations beyond low Earth orbit. That includes DarkSky-1, a flight of Blue Origin's Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle, as soon as this summer. The other projects include refueling interfaces developed by Northrop's SpaceLogistics subsidiary on military spacecraft and studies of in-space assembly and manufacturing by Spacebilt, formerly known as Skycorp. [SpaceNews]
Capella Space sees international governments as new customers for its radar imagery. While the U.S. government remains a key customer, Capella Space CEO Frank Backes said at the Satellite 2024 conference Wednesday that foreign governments are emerging as a significant driver of future growth, with the Japanese government the company's second-biggest customer after the U.S. The company is also pursuing opportunities to build SAR satellites for the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Both nations are looking to purchase satellites that they can operate independently and integrate into their national space architectures. [SpaceNews]
Lockheed Martin is seeking more commercial partnerships for its space business. Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, said in an interview that his company is looking for strategic partners in areas such as intelligence and surveillance payloads, as well as communications payloads, as it looks to meet growing government demand for resilient space-based capabilities. A growing focus on partnerships represents a shift for Lockheed Martin, traditionally a prime contractor that mostly works with commercial entities acting as subcontractors on its projects, with Lightfoot noting that Lockheed is willing to play a supporting role on other companies' projects as well. [SpaceNews]
Small GEO satellite manufacturer Swissto12 is expanding production facilities. The company announced plans this week to add 1,200 square meters of production space to an existing 4,500-square-meter site at its headquarters in Renens, Switzerland. The expansion will support the production of its dishwasher-sized HummingSat spacecraft and radio frequency subsystem products. The company has four of those spacecraft under construction for Intelsat and Viasat for launch in 2026. [SpaceNews]
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Rocket Lab conducted an Electron launch for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) early Thursday. The Electron rocket lifted off at 3:25 a.m. Eastern from Wallops Island, Virginia, on the NROL-123 mission for the NRO. The NRO did not disclose details about the mission other than it is "putting research missions into space." The launch was the second Electron flight in as many weeks and fourth Electron launch so far this year. [Rocket Lab]
China launched a set of military weather satellites early Thursday. A Long March 2D rocket launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 1:27 a.m. Eastern and deployed the Yunhai-2 02 group of satellites. The satellites are part of a system believed to be used by China's military for weather forecasting. [Xinhua]
The launch industry is continuing to negotiate a transition to new lines of launch vehicles. A panel at the Satellite 2024 conference this week featured two companies that recently successfully launched new rockets, ULA's Vulcan Centaur and MHI's H3, and four other developing new rockets. Arianespace said on the panel it is still on track for a first Ariane 6 launch in the latter half of June. While the new vehicles are intended to address a lack of launch capacity on the market today, companies said they are also working to find ways to set themselves apart through customized services. [SpaceNews]
The House Science Committee advanced four space-related bills Wednesday. The committee favorably reported the legislation, along with four unrelated bills by unanimous votes. The four bills would provide transportation for NASA astronauts after they return from missions until they are medically cleared to drive, formally authorize a NASA commercial remote sensing data purchase program, allow NASA to jointly fund research with other agencies and have NASA study the development of a space resources institute. The bills now go to the full House. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force's long-awaited commercial space strategy is slated for release within a month. Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein said at an event Wednesday that the Commercial Space Strategy should be published "within the next month." That strategy will outline plans for a Commercial Augmented Space Reserve, an approach modeled on the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to guarantee the military access to commercial space capabilities during a conflict. [Air & Space Forces Magazine]
| | Boring Can Be Good
"[Our solar system] seems a bit boring. It's not chaotic. All our planets are well ordered."
– Lorenzo Spina, an astrophysicist at the Astronomical Observatory of Padua, discussing a recent study that suggests that at least 8% of stars have consumed some or all of the planets orbiting them. [Scientific American]
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