Friday, May 31, 2024

That's 42 For Artemis - SpaceNews This Week

Welcome to our weekly roundup of the top SpaceNews stories of the week, brought to you every Friday! This week, NASA and Boeing set a June 1 launch date for Starliner, two more countries signed the Artemis Accords, Europe launched an initiative to mitigate orbital debris, and more.

Our Top Story

Slovak Republic Minister of Education, Research, Development, and Youth Tomáš Drucker (center) signs the Artemis Accords as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (right) and Slovak ambassador to the U.S. Radovan Javorcik look on. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

By Jeff Foust, May 30, 2024

WASHINGTON — Peru and Slovakia signed the Artemis Accords outlining best practices for responsible space exploration, bringing the number of countries who have signed to 42.


In separate ceremonies at NASA Headquarters May 30, Peru's foreign minster, Javier González-Olaechea, and Tomáš Drucker, Slovakia's minister of education, research, development and youth, signed the Artemis Accords alongside NASA and U.S. State Department officials.

Other News From the Week

LAUNCH

Electron launches first NASA PREFIRE Earth science cubesat

Rocket Lab launched the first of two NASA Earth science satellites on an Electron rocket May 25. The first PREFIRE cubesat will measure the infrared emissions at the poles, filling in gaps in data about those regions that can be used to improve climate models. The next launch is expected for June 1, according to NASA.


NASA and Boeing moving ahead with Starliner test flight after propulsion issues

NASA and Boeing are moving ahead with a June 1 crewed test flight of Starliner. This decision comes despite a helium leak that was detected in one of the spacecraft's thrusters. After inspecting the issue, engineers concluded that the leak, traced to a damaged seal in a flange, did not need immediate repair and that Starliner is fit to fly even if the leak worsens. Additionally, they discovered a "design vulnerability" in the propulsion system that could prevent Starliner from performing a deorbit burn in an unlikely series of failures. NASA and Boeing have developed a backup deorbit burn mode to address this. Backup launch opportunities are available June 2, 5, and 6.


Falcon 9 launches ESA's EarthCARE mission

SpaceX's successful launch of EarthCARE, an 800-million-euro ($870 million) ESA-led mission to study clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere, signals Europe's current (and perhaps temporary) reliance on SpaceX.


SpaceX sets early June launch of next Starship test flight

This launch, expected June 5 at the earliest, will test SpaceX's ability to bring both stages of the Starship back intact — a major milestone toward Starship reusability.

MILITARY

China's secretive spaceplane releases object into orbit

China's experimental reusable spacecraft has released an unknown object into orbit. While China has maintained secrecy around the spacecraft, there is speculation that the payload was either a small satellite or hardware jettisoned at the end of a mission.


Space Force narrows anti-jam satellite contest to Boeing, Northrop Grumman

The PTS-R program aims to develop a constellation of satellites resistant to cyber attacks and jamming, ensuring U.S. forces can maintain secure communications in contested environments. Both companies won contracts for prototypes in 2020.


Ursa Major completes ground tests of new hypersonic rocket engine

Ursa Major announced it completed hot-fire testing of its 4,000-pound-thrust closed catalyst cycle Draper engine. Funded by the U.S. Air Force, the engine is intended for hypersonic missile defense, or could be used to simulate hypersonic threats.

CIVIL

Chang'e-6 set for weekend landing attempt as sun rises over Apollo crater

If all goes well, China will find itself one step closer to completing the first-ever sample return mission from the far side of the moon. China is targeting the Apollo crater within the vast South Pole-Aitken basin, and now plans to land on June 1 after waiting for optimal conditions.


ESA lines up initial signatories for Zero Debris Charter

The agreement calls on signatories to work towards a set of targets by 2030 intended to reduce debris. They include reducing the risks of a satellite creating debris through a collision or break up to no greater than 1-in-1,000 and keeping the risk of casualties on the ground caused by debris from a reentering satellite to "significantly" lower than 1-in-10,000.

AI

AI startup Wallaroo tapped to help Space Force operationalize machine learning

The New York-based startup is setting its sights on the military market and is participating in the U.S. Space Force's TAP Lab accelerator program. During the program, Wallaroo will focus on object detection, like identifying deceptive spacecraft behavior, and launch warnings using data like seismic signatures. 

OPINION

U.S. Space Force Gen. Stephen Whiting, U.S. Space Command commander (Center), standing with French Space Command Maj. Gen. Philippe Adam, French Air and Space Force space commander (Third from Left), and other senior leaders during a multilateral meeting about Operation Olympic Defender in Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 12, 2024. Credit: U.S. Space Force

By Jessica Martin, May 30, 2024

France is still mulling over the invitation to join Operation Olympic Defender (OOD), a U.S.-led military alliance meant "to deter hostile actions in space."


France has ties with both the U.S. and China, so its ultimate decision could send shockwaves through international space policy spheres.


With U.S. Space Command now fully operational, with North Korea's and Russia's nuclear threat levels escalating, and with France's renewed investments and fresh pair of agreements on space collaboration with the U.S. and China, there is bountiful reason for France to laboriously debate its OOD membership.

How privacy-preserving technology can advance satellite collision detection

By Manuel Capel, May 28, 2024


SpaceNews is committed to publishing our community's diverse perspectives. Whether you're an academic, executive, engineer or even just a concerned citizen of the cosmos, send your arguments and viewpoints to opinion@spacenews.com to be considered for publication online or in our next magazine.

ESA’s Zero Debris Charter gains momentum with initial signatories 🛰️

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Friday, May 31, 2024

Top Stories


The U.S. Space Force will choose between Boeing and Northrop Grumman for a next generation of communication satellites. The Protected Tactical Satellite-Resilient (PTS-R) program aims to develop a constellation of satellites resistant to cyber attacks and jamming, ensuring U.S. forces can maintain secure communications in contested environments. Both companies won contracts in 2020 to develop PTS-R prototype payloads for on-orbit demonstrations planned for fiscal year 2025, and Space Systems Command, in a notice last week, said new market research concluded that the two companies are the only ones capable of meeting the program's stringent requirements. The companies are now competing for a follow-on cost-reimbursement contract expected to be awarded in December for technology maturation and risk reduction work. [SpaceNews]

A Chinese launch vehicle developer will partner with another company to develop a constellation of medium Earth orbit (MEO) communications satellites. Beijing Jianyuan Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Space Epoch, signed an agreement last week with satellite company Shifang Xinglian to work on MEO satellites. Space Epoch is developing medium and large fully reusable rockets akin to SpaceX's Starship but on a smaller scale. Both companies are in early stages of development, but the agreement further illustrates the growth of companies engaged in launch services and constellation plans in China with strong backing from the government. [SpaceNews]

Peru and Slovakia are the latest countries to sign the Artemis Accords. Officials from the two countries signed the Accords in separate ceremonies Thursday at NASA Headquarters, bringing the total number of nations that have signed the document to 42. U.S. officials said they are seeing growing interest in the Accords, which outline best practices in space exploration. The signings come a week after two dozen Artemis Accords countries met in Canada for a workshop to discuss issues related to the Accords, such as non-interference and interoperability. [SpaceNews]

ESA has lined up an initial set of countries and companies to sign a non-binding agreement to limit growth of orbital debris. Twelve European countries signed the Zero Debris Charter last week, and a ceremony next week at the ILA Berlin Air Show will feature companies signing the charter. The document outlines processes signatories will follow to limit creation of debris, including prompt deorbiting of satellites and reducing risks of collisions and explosions in orbit. [SpaceNews]
 
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Other News


China carried out two launches Thursday. A Long March 3B lifted off at 8:12 a.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and placed the Paksat MM1 satellite into geosynchonous transfer orbit. Paksat MM1, built by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, will provide multiband communications services for Pakistan's government. A Ceres-1 rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 7:39 p.m. Eastern. It placed into sun-synchronous orbit a pair of Jiguang Xingzuo laser communications test satellites and three Yunyao-1 meteorology satellites with radio occultation and infrared imager payloads. [SpaceNews]

The European Defense Fund is supporting development of a counterspace satellite program. The fund announced earlier this month is it allocating about $7 million towards development of an "Autonomous SSA Bodyguard Onboard Satellite," also known as Bodyguard. The system would be able to track threats to a satellite and even disable any approaching spacecraft. The program follows previous interest by France in particular on counterspace systems like lasers to defend satellites from attack, although experts note that this Bodyguard system could also be used offensively to attack other satellites. [Breaking Defense]

Controllers have lost contact with an aging Japanese Venus orbiter. The Japanese space agency JAXA said Wednesday that it has not been able to communicate with its Akatsuki orbiter since late April "due to an extended period of low attitude stability control mode." JAXA said it is continuing efforts to try to restore communications with the spacecraft. Akatsuki launched in 2010 but suffered an engine malfunction that prevented it from going into orbit as planned. Engineers developed an alternative approach and got the spacecraft into orbit in 2015 to study the planet's climate. [Space.com]

NASA astronauts are using Arizona as a stand-in for the moon as they train for Artemis missions. In an exercise earlier this month, astronauts Andre Douglas and Kate Rubins explored volcanic terrain in northern Arizona at night in spacesuits, simulating a spacewalk at the south polar region of the moon. The exercise was training for the astronauts as well as scientists who followed the EVA from a control room at the Johnson Space Center. While the terrain used for the exercise had many similarities to the moon, it also included some things not found there: ant hills and cow manure. [Nature]
 

Dreams (Sorta) Come True


"I must say that when I was a child, I was dreaming to work for NASA. It was my dream and today I'm here as a representative of the Slovak Republic."

– Slovak Republic Minister of Education, Research, Development, and Youth Tomáš Drucker, speaking at a NASA Headquarters ceremony Thursday where Slovakia signed the Artemis Accords.
 
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Thursday, May 30, 2024

Sponsored - Apogee Semiconductor Releases New ICs that Improve Reliability of Small Satellite Constellations

 
 
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