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China's Chang'e-6 lunar sample return mission has entered orbit around the moon. The spacecraft completed a braking burn at 10:21 p.m. Eastern Tuesday, placing the spacecraft into an elliptical orbit with a low point of about 200 kilometers. The spacecraft's lander will separate to attempt to touch down in the Apollo crater on the far side of the moon likely in early June, collecting up to two kilograms of samples for return to Earth. If successful, Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to return samples from the lunar farside. [SpaceNews]
The first crewed launch of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner has slipped to late next week. NASA announced Tuesday that the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch Starliner will need to roll back to its integration building to replace a malfunctioning valve in the Centaur upper stage. That valve caused the scrub of a launch attempt Monday night. NASA is targeting no earlier than Friday, May 17 for the next launch attempt. [SpaceNews]
A new Space Force marketplace for commercial satellite data has resulted in $8 million in contracts over the last four months. About 25 defense, intelligence and civilian federal agencies are now buying data and analytic services from the Space Force-run marketplace, created to support a new program run by the Space Systems Command called Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking. That program seeks to leverage commercial data sources to deliver faster and more accessible unclassified intelligence to military personnel deployed around the world. Congress appropriated $50 million to the Space Force in 2024 for acquiring commercial space services. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab says its Neutron medium-lift rocket won't be ready for a first launch before the middle of 2025. The company said in an earnings call this week that it needs more time to test the Archimedes engine it is developing for Neutron, with the first such engine just now starting a test campaign. The company had previously said it hoped to have Neutron on the pad by the end of 2024, but noted that was a "green light" schedule that assumed everything went according to plan. The company also backed away from earlier forecasts of 22 Electron launches this year, citing shifting schedules by customers. Rocket Lab has conducted five Electron launches so far this year with the next scheduled for no earlier than May 22. [SpaceNews]
Redwire is seeing interest from government customers for a new satellite design intended for very low Earth orbit (VLEO). The company unveiled its SabreSat earlier this year, a dart-shaped spacecraft optimized for operating at altitudes below 350 kilometers. Those altitudes require a more aerodynamic design to minimize atmospheric drag as well as electric propulsion to maintain its orbit. The company sees advantages to operating spacecraft in VLEO, from improved sensor resolution to reduced hazards from orbital debris. [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
The National Reconnaissance Office says it remains committed to a strategy of buying more commercial capabilities. In an interview, Pete Muend, director of the NRO Commercial Systems Program Office, said his office was evaluating the changing capabilities of the commercial sector and how they be used by the NRO. Some obstacles to that effort he identified were cultural ones within the intelligence community to incorporate commercial services that are "a little bit different" than past government ones, as well as worries about foreign funding and influence on companies. He declined to say how much of the NRO budget goes to commercial services since the overall budget is classified. [SpaceNews]
A report recommends a major expansion of a seaport next to Cape Canaveral to meet the growing needs of the space industry. The report released last week by Space Florida called for both near-term and long-term improvements to Port Canaveral to better serve space companies that use the port for delivering hardware as well as recovering launch vehicles and spacecraft. The upgrades, which would include a significant extension of one part of the port to provide more wharf space, would cost $2.1 billion, which the report recommended be financed through a mix of government grants and user fees. [SpaceNews]
Russia's veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning nuclear weapons in space was the subject of a General Assembly debate Monday. In the debate, required when any U.N. Security Council permanent member vetoes a resolution, Russia said it was instead seeking a resolution banning weapons of all kinds in space, calling the resolution's sponsors, Japan and the United States, guilty of "hypocrisy and double standards." The U.S. countered that Russia has tested conventional anti-satellite weapons and that there is "credible information" it is developing a nuclear ASAT. [AP]
Eutelsat is considering selling its network of ground stations. The company has engaged financial advisers to study a sale of that network, which could provide $850 million for the satellite operator. Eutelsat on Monday confirmed it was studying a potential sale but cautioned there was no guarantee that a sale would go through. [Bloomberg]
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission has returned to normal operations after its second safe mode in a month. NASA said Tuesday that the spacecraft had resumed science observations last Friday after going into a safe mode April 23. The cause of this safe mode, the second in a month, was linked to a failure to unload momentum from reaction wheels used for attitude control. That failure was, in turn, caused by a propulsion system that was not properly repressurized when the spacecraft came out of an earlier safe mode. NASA says engineers are still investigating what caused TESS to go into the first safe mode earlier last month. [NASA]
| | Inspired by (Another) Apollo
"What got me into the library to pick up an astronomy book for the first time was a particular Star Trek episode during their second season called 'Who Mourns for Adonais.' It included a reference to a star named Beta Gem (Pollux) and I wanted to see if it was a real star. In the process of going to the library and confirming the name was real, I also picked up an astronomy book, which hooked me immediately. From that point on, I wanted to be an astronomer. I was around 13. Fifty-plus years later, I actually met the actor, Mike Forest, who guest starred in that episode as the Greek god Apollo, and my mind was appropriately blown!"
– Ken Carpenter, a NASA astronomer who works on the Hubble and Roman space telescopes, on how he got interested in astronomy. [NASA/GSFC]
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