That's 42 For Artemis - SpaceNews This Week

Top stories of the week from SpaceNews

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 Peru and Slovakia sign the Artemis Accords 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 Will France opt in or out of the U.S. Space Command's Operation Olympic Defender? 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. Copyright (C) 2024 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

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

Plus: Space Force satellite decision, China's dual launches, and Artemis Accords expansion 🌍

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]   ENABLING A SAFER, MORE WEATHER-READY WORLD   Extreme weather events, like hurricanes, flash floods, fires and tornadoes, are becoming more frequent, destructive and widespread than ever before.   That's why L3Harris is moving with urgency to deliver next-generation weather solutions that advance upon our proven on-orbit instrumentation and ground heritage to improve short- and long-range forecast accuracy and increase life-saving warning times globally.   These innovative solutions include a next-generation GeoXO imager and modernized GOES-R ground system for the U.S. and next-generation imaging and sounding technology for Japan.   Our technology is paving the way toward a safer, more weather-ready world. LEARN MORE 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.   Forward First Up to a friend or Subscribe for yourself Copyright © 2024 Multiverse Media Inc., All rights reserved. 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Sponsored - Apogee Semiconductor Releases New ICs that Improve Reliability of Small Satellite Constellations

Solutions for Harsh Environments Products      Technology      About Us      News   LEARN MORE   "Technologies for this world and beyond." Apogee Semiconductor is enabling earth's innovators to extend humanity's reach into the beyond. TID performance of our AP54RHC family is now 70 krad (Si) at 3.3V! Based on customer requests to extend the TID performance of Apogee Semiconductor's AP54RHC LEO family, we are updating our TID performance to include a TID rating of up to 70 krad TID at 3.3 Vdc. This change will enable our customers to use our LEO product family in tougher radiation environments.   New 300 krad (Si) Product Family for GEO and Deep Space     Apogee Semiconductor is announcing our AF54RHC GEO+ family with 300 krad (Si) TID performance and > 80 MeV SEE performance. This family is an extension of our popular AP54RHC LEO family, which now has flight heritage. The AF54RHC family is packaged in TSSOP 14 and 20 pin packages the devices follow a QML-P "like" flow. You may view the entire AF54RHC catalog or contact us for orders.     Visit Website             New 300 krad Schmitt Trigger Products       The AF54RHC14 Hex Schmitt Inverter and AF54RHC132 Quad Dual Input Schmitt Trigger NAND Gate are available as part of the AF54RHC GEO+ family.       AF54RHC14 Datasheet           AF54RHC132 Datasheet           AP54RHC288 Arbiter for Half-Bridge Shoot Through Protection is now Available for Ordering     The AP54RHC288 prevents cross-conduction and shoot-through in half-bridge applications by preventing FET drivers from seeing two high control signals, regardless of the state of the input control signals. The AP54RHC288 is SEE resilient and can be used to clean up "dirty" PWM outputs caused by radiation effects in mission critical applications.     Learn More         AP54RHC301 for Fault Containment The Only Standalone Voter IC! Also available as 300 krad (Si). The AP54RHC301 enables triple mode redundancy for mission critical applications by providing reliable arbitration between redundant channels. The AP54RHC301 is the first in the industry standalone voter IC that enables more reliable systems without customers resorting to purchasing a slew of radiation hardened components for their small satellite systems. The AP54RHC301 is designed to prevent fault propagation between non-radiation tolerant components in systems.     LEO           GEO         Looking for a SIPO?     Glue Logic to Simplify Your Designs Also available as 300 krad (Si).   The AP54RHC164 is an extension of our AP54RHC LEO family of radiation hardened and SEE resilient glue logic ICs and replicates the industry standard 74HC164 serial to parallel shift registers. While other companies are obsoleting their components, Apogee Semiconductor is saving customer from costly redesign effort by utilizing our RadFlex fabric to quickly and cost effectively develop higher performing versions of these critical components. If you are facing obsolescence issues, contact us as we may be able to help!   SPECS: TSSOP 14 or 20 package, QML-P "like" Flow TID rating of 30 krad at 5V and 70 krad at 3.3V SEE rating of 80 MeV LET with no SEL DICE Latches, Cold Sparing and ESD protection     LEO           GEO         About Us Apogee Semiconductor provides products and technologies for space and other extreme environments. We are focused on making the frontier of space more accessible by bridging the technology gap between commercial and high-reliability technologies. Our products and services are targeted towards enabling small-satellites and large constellations that require high performance, a small form factor and radiation resilience at a lower cost. Micross is the official worldwide distributor of Apogee Semiconductor products and services. Please visit at  Micross.com. Mouser Electronics also offers Apogee Semiconductor Logic products on line at Mouser.com.   MORE INFO     Apogee Semiconductor On the Road   Apogee Semiconductor will be presenting "The Analysis of a Power Via Failure" at Space Parts Working Group in El Segungo, CA. May 7-9, 2024 Contact Us to set up a meeting while we are there.     SPWG Website       We will be exhibiting and presenting at SEE/MAPLD in La Jolla, CA. Visit us to learn about our latest products. Booth 12 May 13-17, 2024 Contact Us to set up a meeting while we are there.       Conference Website         Apogee Semiconductor will be exhibiting at NSREC in Ottawa, Canada. Booth 314 July 22-26, 2024 Contact Us to set up a meeting while we are there.     Conference Website       CONTACT 840 Central Parkway East, Suite 140 Plano, TX   75074 sales@apogeesemi.com 972-559-4660 SOCIAL MEDIA    Linkedin

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