Top Stories
The U.S. Space Force has released a long-awaited strategy for how it will leverage commercial capabilities. In a speech at the 39th Space Symposium Wednesday, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said the strategy formalizes how the Space Force plans to move forward working with commercial industry to drive development of more resilient and combat-capable architectures while deploying them faster, in greater numbers and at a lower cost. He noted that the policy does not specify details like the amount of money available to spend on commercial systems in various mission areas, but instead outlines broad criteria that will be used to evaluate industry proposals. The Space Force's strategy comes a week after the Pentagon's recent guidance urging greater use of commercial space technologies. [SpaceNews]
Two Japanese astronauts will walk on the moon on future Artemis missions under a new agreement with NASA. NASA and the Japanese government announced Wednesday that Japan will provide a pressurized lunar rover to be delivered by NASA to the lunar surface ahead of the Artemis 7 mission in the early 2030s. NASA, in exchange, will provide seats for Japanese astronauts on two landing missions, making Japan the first nation after the U.S. to land its astronauts on the moon under Artemis. The announcement did not disclose what missions the Japanese astronauts will get to fly on. [SpaceNews]
Astranis is scaling up its small GEO communications satellites. The company announced plans Wednesday for Omega, a satellite 50% heavier than its current design and optimized to provide broadband services. Omega is intended to provide more than 50 gigabits per second of throughput, up to five times the capacity of the company's earlier satellites. Astranis plans to start launching Omega satellites in 2026 but did not disclose any customers for it. [SpaceNews]
The FAA says there are no concrete proposals to levy taxes on commercial launches. A report last week claimed that the Biden administration was proposing to tax launches in a manner similar to airline flights to cover the costs of the effects launches have on the national airspace system. An FAA official said at Space Symposium Wednesday that there is not a specific proposal to tax launches from the administration, although there are discussions about ways to ensure the FAA has sufficient resources for air traffic management. The FAA also says there is good cooperation between aviation and space users regarding access to airspace. [SpaceNews]
The State and Commerce Departments will start a review this summer on space technology export controls. That review will start this June with a rulemaking notice, seeking feedback on what technologies could be moved out of the purview of ITAR to the less restrictive EAR. Chirag Parikh, executive secretary of the National Space Council, said at Space Symposium this week that the upcoming review was needed to reflect rapid changes in space capabilities since the last time space export controls were reformed in the early 2010s. [SpaceNews]
A Pentagon official says industry should devote more resources to development of radiation-tolerant electronics. Heidi Shyu, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, made that request at Space Symposium this week, further evidence that the U.S. military is concerned about the possibility of a nuclear weapon detonation in space that could degrade or permanently disable individual satellites or entire constellations. Development of affordable rad-hardened electronics "can help to ensure the security and resilience of our satellite systems in orbit," she said. [SpaceNews]
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall says he remains opposed to a Space National Guard. Kendall said Wednesday that a National Guard space component "doesn't make any sense" and is the "worst option" for how to handle Air National Guard space units. The Air Force has proposed moving some of those units into the active-duty Space Force, a proposal that the governors of Colorado and Utah oppose. [Air and Space Force Magazine]
| | Scientific Discovery Begins with L3Harris
For more than 20 years, every U.S. Martian rover mission and orbiting spacecraft has relied on L3Harris' transceivers and power and propulsion technology, including NASA's Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and Perseverance vehicles. In fact, we've propelled missions to explore not only Mars – but every planet in the solar system and beyond. Learn more about our space capabilities here. | | Other News
The third time was the charm for Russia's Angara rocket. The Angara-A5 rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 5 a.m. Eastern Thursday after scrubs the previous two days. The launch was primarily a test flight for the rocket, intended to eventually replace the Proton, and the first Angara-A5 rocket to launch from Vostochny. [AP]
Spaceport infrastructure is finally moving into the digital age. The U.S. Space Force is now embarking on a comprehensive overhaul of the IT infrastructure used at mission control centers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The antiquated IT architecture at both major launch ranges means that critical software applications, such as those used for tracking vehicle telemetry data, monitoring environmental conditions and predicting weather, operate in disconnected silos rather than as an integrated enterprise system. Upgrades will help enable higher launch rates at the spaceports. [SpaceNews]
The Space Development Agency is working closely with Norway to test the communications network underpinning its constellation. SDA is installing an antenna in northern Norway to improve the geographic distribution of ground stations used by SDA satellites. SDA is also testing Link 16, an encrypted tactical data protocol used in NATO radios, with Norwegian forces. [SpaceNews]
Kepler Communications is partnering with Airbus Defence and Space and Tesat-Spacecom on an optical relay network in LEO. The companies signed an agreement at Space Symposium this week, seeking a bigger role in the European Space Agency's High Throughput Optical Network (HydRON) program. HydRON envisages a multi-orbit, terabit-per-second transport network for extending the reach of fiber networks on the ground. In the new consortium, Kepler plans to leverage technology it is already developing for its own LEO optical data relay network that will enable continuous communications with LEO satellites. [SpaceNews]
Mercury Systems announced a $31 million contract Wednesday to supply solid-state data recorders to L3Harris Technologies. Those data recorders will be used on 18 Tracking Layer Tranche 2 satellites L3Harris is developing for SDA. With the latest award, Mercury is providing primary data storage devices for all three L3Harris Tracking Layer constellation programs. [SpaceNews]
A company hopes to demonstrate how cubesat-class satellite can provide critical weather data for the military. Orion Space Solutions launched a 12U cubesat last month to test technologies for the Space Force's Electro-Optical/Infrared Weather System (EWS) program. The military is considering deploying a distributed architecture to monitor weather conditions from space in a more affordable way. A second, much larger EWS satellite is being developed by General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems for delivery in 2025. [SpaceNews]
Environmental groups are suing a Texas agency over a land swap agreement with SpaceX. Three groups filed suit last week against the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which approved an agreement last month to transfer 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park to SpaceX in exchange for 477 acres elsewhere. The groups allege the department failed to follow statutory requirements when approving the deal. The agreement would allow SpaceX to expand its Starbase facilities adjacent to the state park. [Texas Public Radio]
| | But What Is Typical for a Space Program?
"I am very relieved and happy that we came to this signature. It's a major stabilization of the program. Now, a lot of work remains to be done, but we are back on track in a nominal, typical space program."
– Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA's Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, at a briefing this week to announce a contract with Thales Alenia Space to restart work on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission.
| | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment