Astronomy Prints 🌌: 👩‍🚀 ESA taps two for commercial cargo work

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Thursday, May 23, 2024

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The House Armed Services Committee has advance a defense policy bill with several key space provisions. The committee approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act late Wednesday on a 57-1 vote, sending it to the full House. The debate by the committee on the bill included one amendment from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) that would require state governors to approve any transfers of Air National Guard units in their states to the Space Force, a move that could affect the Space Force's plans to develop a new hybrid structure of full-time and part-time workforce. The committee also approved an amendment that directs the Pentagon to assess the impact on intelligence sources of leaked classified information about Russia's development of an anti-satellite nuclear weapon. Another amendment directs the Air Force to brief Congress on implementation of its commercial space strategy. [SpaceNews]

The Space Force projects awarding $1.7 billion in contracts in the next year for satellite communications. The forecast by the Commercial Satellite Communications Office identifies 10 upcoming contract opportunities, which it warns are subject to change. The largest potential deal, worth nearly $900 million over seven years, is for secure satellite communications services for U.S. government aircraft that transport the nation's highest-ranking officials and military leaders. The forecast also includes a potential $495 million to $505 million contract over seven years for commercial satellite services for the Marine Corps. [SpaceNews]

ESA has selected two companies to begin work on designs for commercial cargo vehicles that could be precursors for crewed spacecraft. ESA announced Wednesday it awarded contracts worth 25 million euros each to Thales Alenia Space and The Exploration Company for the first phase of a low Earth orbit cargo return service program. The contracts will allow the companies to advance their designs, with work to build and demonstrate the vehicles to be funded by a second phase pending support from ESA members at a 2025 ministerial meeting. ESA hopes to have at least one vehicle ready by 2028 to transport cargo to the International Space Station and commercial space stations. [SpaceNews]

Viasat says it is in talks with several operators of low Earth orbit broadband constellations to purchase capacity. Viasat recently announced it was buying OneWeb capacity for a multi-orbit maritime broadband service. Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said this week he expects similar agreements for planes and other enterprise markets, which his company will be "mixing and matching as appropriate based on the deals." One obstacle is that OneWeb and Starlink, the two operational broadband constellations, use Ku-band while Viasat is planning Ka-band for the GEO portion of its multi-orbit service. Viasat has no plans to deploy its own LEO constellation, executives said. [SpaceNews]

Airbus has won a contract to build a space science satellite. ESA and Airbus formally signed Wednesday the $369 million contract for the Vigil mission. The spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2031, will monitor the sun from the Earth-sun L-5 Lagrange point, trailing the Earth. That will allow the spacecraft to provide advance notice of solar storms before they rotate into view of the Earth. Airbus will build the spacecraft in the United Kingdom with instruments from Europe and the United States. [SpaceNews]

NASA now says Boeing's CST-100 Starliner vehicle will launch no earlier than June 1. The agency said late Wednesday that the Crew Flight Test mission has been rescheduled for that day after announcing Tuesday it had been delayed from its earlier May 25 launch date. Backup launch opportunities are available June 2, 5 and 6. Boeing has been working to resolve a helium leak in a spacecraft thruster that has led to a series of launch delays. NASA plans to hold a briefing Friday to provide more details on the status of the spacecraft. [NASA]

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Other News

SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Wednesday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:35 p.m. Eastern and deployed 23 Starlink satellites. SpaceX revealed earlier this week that it now has more than three million users of its broadband constellation. [Spaceflight Now]

The Space Force has picked six companies to develop proposals for a electromagnetic warfare training range designed to simulate space combat scenarios. Nou Systems, ExoAnalytic Solutions, TMC Design, HII Mission Technologies, Parsons Government Services and Lockheed Martin received six-month study contracts earlier this year to develop concepts for the training range, part of the service's Operational Test and Training Infrastructure program. It will be used to train Space Force guardians to defend critical satellites and other spacecraft from electronic attacks. [SpaceNews]

Reducing the post-mission lifetime of satellites could be one of the most cost-effective approaches to dealing with orbital debris. A report this week by NASA conducted cost-benefit analyses of various approaches to remove orbital debris, limit its creation and track it. The report found one of the most effective approaches was to reduce the post-mission disposal timeframe from 25 years to 15 years or less, creating up to $6 billion in net benefits over 30 years. "Just in time" concepts to prevent debris collisions are also effective, the report concluded. [SpaceNews]

Charles Beames is the new executive chairman of the board for space navigation startup TrustPoint. That company is developing a global navigation satellite constellation to complement GPS. Beames, a former U.S. Air Force officer and chairman of the SmallSat Alliance, said he believed companies like TrustPoint could provide "quicker-paced tech innovation" needed for positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services. [SpaceNews]

NASA will be counting on space weather warnings to protect astronauts on Artemis missions. While spacecraft like Orion will be designed to protect astronauts from solar storms, scientists said NASA will need improved space weather forecasts in order to plan spacewalks and other activities that might leave astronauts exposed. NASA says it it still drafting flight rules for missions to deal with solar events. [SpaceNews]

Two of ESA's newest astronauts now have flight assignments. ESA announced Wednesday that Sophie Adenot and Raphaël Liégeois will fly on separate missions to the ISS, with Adenot flying in early 2026 and Liégeois later that year. Adenot and Liégeois are two of five members of ESA's newest astronaut class, which graduated from basic training last month. ESA said that it expects all five to fly to the ISS before the station's scheduled 2030 retirement. [ESA]

Some Things You Just Can't Give Up

"Are you ready to lose all kind of personal life, not being able to enter a bar or restaurant without having a thousand people around?"

"I hope I will still be able to enter a restaurant — that we will still be able to enter restaurants and bars — because we are not planning on giving up on that."

– Philippe Baptiste, president of the French space agency CNES, and ESA astronaut Raphaël Liégeois during an event Wednesday announcing that Liégeois and fellow ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot have been assigned to missions to the ISS.