Top Stories
The first launch of a privately developed Japanese rocket ended in an explosion seconds after liftoff. The Kairos rocket lifted off at 10:01 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from the Spaceport Kii launch site on Honshu. The rocket, though, exploded about five seconds after liftoff, with debris falling back near the launch site. Space One, the company that developed Kairos, did not disclose details about what might have caused the explosion. Kairos uses three solid-propellant lower stages and a liquid-propellant kick stage and is designed to place up to 250 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Space One, whose shareholders include Canon and IHI Aerospace, has stated its goal is to launch Kairos up to 20 times a year but has offered few details about any customers for the rocket. [SpaceNews]
The launch failure comes as the Japanese government establishes a fund to support the country's space industry. Japan's cabinet approved a bill to establish a $6.7 billion (1 trillion yen) 10-year Space Strategic Fund in November to be administered by the Japanese space agency JAXA aimed at supporting development, technology demonstration, and commercialization of advanced technologies in the space field. New details about the fund disclosed last month defined three areas for support: satellites, space exploration and space transportation. It answers a call in the Space Basic Plan, revised in June 2023, for JAXA to be able to support entities from the commercial and academic worlds. [SpaceNews]
The U.S. Army has extended a contract with Maxar Intelligence for 3D terrain models. Maxar was awarded Phase 4 of the U.S. Army's One World Terrain (OWT) contract, which has a total value of $94.7 million if all options are exercised. The company uses data from its high-resolution Earth imaging satellites to make 3D mapping products including, for the OWT contract, models used to create immersive training environments for soldiers. [SpaceNews]
Airbus used its Beluga aircraft to transport one of its communications satellites to Florida for launch. The oversized aircraft transported the Eutelsat 36D satellite from France, where the spacecraft was assembled, to Florida for launch on a Falcon 9 at the end of the month. Eutelsat 36D has 70 Ku-band transponders and will replace the Eutelsat 36B satellite at 36 degrees east in GEO. It is the third time the manufacturer's alternative to Ukrainian Antonov aircraft has flown a large satellite across the Atlantic since Airbus started offering an outsized freight transportation service two years ago. [SpaceNews]
The FAA is seeking a large budget increase for its commercial space office. The FAA's fiscal year 2025 budget proposal released this week includes $57.1 million for its Office of Commercial Space Transportation, 36% above its 2024 budget. The additional funding would allow the office to hire more staff to oversee commercial launches and reentries, as well as prepare for potential new regulatory roles in human spaceflight and mission authorization for space activities not overseen by other agencies. The FAA is, in addition, requesting a $7 million increase for its Air Traffic Organization so it can hire more staff to coordinate airspace for commercial launches. [SpaceNews]
| | Other News
Rocket Lab launched a Japanese radar imaging satellite Tuesday. The company's Electron rocket lifted off from its New Zealand launch site at 11:03 a.m. Eastern and deployed the StriX-3 satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit 54 minutes later. StriX-3 is the fourth synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite for Synspective, a Japanese company with plans to deploy a constellation of 30 such spacecraft. All four have launched on Electron rockets under a multi-launch contract that includes two more launches. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX is preparing for a third Starship test flight as soon as tomorrow. The Starship/Super Heavy vehicle is ready on the launch pad at the company's Starbase site in South Texas, with airspace and maritime notices for a launch in place. SpaceX is still awaiting an updated FAA license for the launch. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the launch should take place at "end of week, pending weather," suggesting a possible delay to Friday or the weekend. [Space.com]
South Korea's president has vowed to nearly double the country's space budget. In a visit Wednesday to the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries, Yoon Suk Yeol said the government's spending on space would grow to more than $1.1 billion in 2027, nearly double current levels. That funding would go towards expanding satellite and launch vehicle production, including a new launch pad for commercial rockets. He set a goal of expanding South Korea's share of the global aerospace industry from the current 1% to 10% by 2045. [Korea Herald]
India's space agency ISRO has published the first images from a new weather satellite. The images, released this week, are from the INSAT-3DS spacecraft launched last month to geostationary orbit. The images confirm that the satellite and its instruments are working well, ISRO said. [India Today]
| | Smart Moon
"The main conclusion, working in the lunar business now for a long time, is that the moon is way smarter than I am, yet again."
– Mark Robinson of Arizona State University, discussing results from the ShadowCam instrument on South Korea's Danuri lunar orbiter during a presentation at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference this week.
| | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment