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Iridium announced Monday it is acquiring Satelles, a company that provides alternative positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services on its satellites. Iridium is spending about $115 million to buy the 80% of Satelles it does not already own in a deal they expect to complete by April 1. Satelles has been broadcasting PNT signals since 2016 through a channel on Iridium's satellites in low Earth orbit previously used for paging. These signals are far more powerful than those from GPS and other navigation satellite systems in higher orbits, allowing for greater use indoors while also being less susceptible to jamming. The acquisition is the first in Iridium's 36-year history as it works to achieve $1 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade. [SpaceNews]
An infrared sensor satellite that L3Harris designed for a future U.S. military constellation passed a preliminary review. The sensor is being designed for potential use in satellites the Space Force is planning for medium Earth orbit. Space Systems Command has ordered six satellites from Millennium Space Systems for an initial deployment known as Epoch 1, but could by up to three more satellites for that phase as well as 18 more satellites for Epoch 2. L3Harris would compete with Millennium and Raytheon for those future satellites. [SpaceNews]
BlackSky has won a defense contract to provide satellite imagery to train AI models. BlackSky said it won a $2 million contract from the Air Force Research Lab through defense contractor Axient for the images. Axient won a contract from AFRL in September 2023 worth up to $25 million for space experiments. Axient will use BlackSky's satellite imagery and data analytics platform to support studies and technology demonstrations focused on tracking moving objects from space. [SpaceNews]
China's main state-owned space contractor is preparing to start testing reusable rockets in competition with commercial efforts. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans to launch four- and five-meter-diameter reusable rockets for the first time in 2025 and 2026 respectively, an official said Monday. It's unclear what rockets that official was referring to; CASC had been working on a recoverable version of the Long March 8 but appears to have abandoned those plans. Several Chinese startups are in various stages of development of their own reusable rockets that could compete with CASC's designs. [SpaceNews]
NASA expects to know by this summer what roles commercial partnerships could play in its future robotic Mars exploration efforts. The agency plans to award several study contracts in April to companies to study proposals for the delivery of small and large payloads to Mars orbit, as well as providing imagery and commercial services. The studies, lasting about three months, will evaluate both the technical and commercial viability of those concepts. NASA has proposed using commercial partnerships as one part of a future Mars exploration strategy unveiled last year. [SpaceNews]
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A Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station early today with a new crew. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour docked with the station at 2:28 a.m. Eastern, a half-hour ahead of schedule, with hatches between the station and spacecraft opening less than two hours later. The Dragon delivered the Crew-8 crew of three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos cosmonaut to the station, where they will stay for six months. The Crew-7 crew will depart the station on another Crew Dragon spacecraft early next week. [CBS]
SpaceX launched its tenth Transporter rideshare mission Monday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 5:05 p.m. Eastern and deployed 53 satellites over the next two and a half hours. The Transporter-10 mission included a mix of returning customers, such as Iceye, Satellogic and Spire, as well as companies like Atomos Space, Quantum Space and True Anomaly that were launching their first satellites. The Transporter missions remain popular because of their low prices, although at a conference last week space situational awareness companies say such missions pose challenges because of the large number of satellites from different operators all launched at once. It can take weeks to identify all of the satellites launched on each mission, making it difficult for operators to identify their own satellites and creating space safety hazards. [SpaceNews]
Less than two hours after Transporter-10, SpaceX launched another set of Starlinks. A Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral at 6:56 p.m. Eastern despite foggy conditions, placing 23 Starlink satellites into orbit. Both the Transporter-10 and Starlink launches took place less than 24 hours after the Crew-8 launch. [Spaceflight Now]
Texas state officials are moving ahead with a land swap with SpaceX. At a meeting Monday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved a proposal to give SpaceX 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park near SpaceX's Starbase site in exchange for 477 acres near a wildlife refuge to the north. Local officials who previously opposed the land swap, causing the commission to delay consideration of the deal in January, now say they back the proposal. Some residents and environmental groups continue to protest the deal. [Texas Tribune]
A potentially habitable moon of Jupiter may have less oxygen than previously thought. A paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Monday used data from NASA's Juno spacecraft to estimate the amount of oxygen on the surface of Europa, an icy moon with a subsurface ocean. The spacecraft measured less oxygen than expected, although researchers said the amount is "not totally prohibitive" for life existing within that ocean. [New York Times]
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"I hope the ride was as awesome as a Cybertruck."
– A SpaceX launch director to the astronauts on the Crew Dragon spacecraft after they reached orbit Sunday night on the Crew-8 mission to the ISS.
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