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The Pentagon's growing interest in space domain awareness (SDA) may not translate into many new commercial opportunities. SDA technologies are used to detect, track and characterize objects orbiting the Earth in order to prevent collisions, identify threats and determine the ownership and intent of satellites. A report by Booz Allen Hamilton identified SDA as one of the top 10 impactful technologies for national security in the coming years, but offered an uncertain outlook for commercial SDA businesses. It concluded that regulatory hurdles, dominance by established defense primes and existence of free public data services all pose challenges to SDA companies. [SpaceNews]
Congress has passed an FAA reauthorization bill that includes another extension of the "learning period" restricting commercial human spaceflight occupant safety regulations. The House passed the FAA bill Wednesday after the Senate did so last week. One of the provisions of the bill is to extend the learning period only through the end of the year, leaving a long-term extension desired by much of industry to a dedicated commercial space bill. The FAA bill also directs the GAO to perform a study on the effects launches and other activities have on airspace congestion, and authorizes $10 million a year through 2028 for work on technologies to better integrate launches and reentries into the national airspace system. [SpaceNews]
Lithuania is the 40th nation to sign the Artemis Accords. The country's minister of economy and innovation signed the Accords Wednesday in a ceremony in Vilnius. Lithuania is the seventh nation to sign so far this year and the 40th since the Accords were unveiled four years ago. At a recent event, officials with NASA and the State Department said they are seeing growing interest among countries to sign the Accords, which outline best practices for responsible space exploration and allow countries to discuss those issues in greater detail. Separately, the governments of Portugal and the U.S. said Wednesday they are starting discussions about Portugal signing the Accords. [SpaceNews]
British startup SatVu plans to launch two satellites next year to replace a thermal imaging satellite that failed several months ago. SatVu expects to launch its HotSat-2 in the first half of 2025 and HotSat-3 in the second half. Both carry thermal imaging payloads like the original HotSat, launched last June but which failed after just six months. An investigation into that failure is ongoing, with a power circuit malfunction the most likely cause of the loss of the satellite. [SpaceNews]
Unseenlabs is planning a new constellation of larger satellites to track radio-frequency (RF) emissions. The French company currently operates 13 cubesats that track RF signals for maritime domain awareness applications. It recently announced a new generation of 150-kilogram satellites scheduled to begin launching in 2026 that will be used for maritime and other other markets. The new satellites will be able to operate individual to track objects, rather than work in clusters. [SpaceNews]
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Seraphim Space has selected nine startups for its latest accelerator class. The startups from the United States, United Kingdom, Italy and India will participate in the three-month program, the 13th run by Seraphim. The startups are pursuing opportunities in propulsion, cybersecurity, space situational awareness, geospatial insights and in-orbit biotechnology manufacturing. Seraphim says that 93% of the companies that have completed the accelerator programs so far have secured funding. [SpaceNews]
United Launch Alliance is facing financial penalties from the Pentagon for launch delays. The Department of the Air Force said it is "holding ULA accountable for delays" but did not disclose the size of what it called "postponement fees." The penalties are linked to delays in getting the company's Vulcan Centaur rocket certified for national security launches, forcing the Pentagon to postpone launches of its payloads. ULA recently said it expects to conduct its second Vulcan launch, required to certify the rocket, by October. [Bloomberg]
France is weighing whether to join a U.S.-led effort to defend space assets. Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, said last month he invited France, along with Germany and New Zealand, to join Operation Olympic Defender, an effort to share intelligence about space threats and deter hostile actions. Gen. Philippe Adam, head of France's Space Command, said the country was still considering whether to accept the invitation but added that, if the country did, it would retain control of its military space assets. [Breaking Defense]
Engineers are troubleshooting a problem with the electric propulsion system on the BepiColombo mission. That spacecraft, a joint mission of ESA and JAXA, will go into orbit around Mercury after performing several flybys, using electric thrusters to adjust its trajectory. Those thrusters lost power last month just before the next scheduled maneuver. By last week the thrusters were back to 90% of their original power, but the spacecraft is still suffering from reduced electrical power. ESA said that BepiColombo should still be able to perform its next Mercury flyby in September as engineers work to determine how reduced power levels might affect future maneuvers if the problem cannot be fixed. [ESA]
An Australian state government's investment in an American stratospheric ballooning company is drawing scrutiny. Breakthrough Victoria, a venture fund run by the Australian state of Victoria, has invested $37 million Australian ($24.7 million) in World View Enterprises, a company that develops stratospheric balloons for various applications, including eventually near-space tourism. World View will set up an Indo-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne and a manufacturing facility in the state, with long-term plans to perform tourism flights above the Great Barrier Reef. Some in Australia oppose the investment, saying that the state government should not be investing in speculative ventures when it is cutting funding for medical research and mental health services. [Australian Broadcasting Corp.]
| | The Wrong Rocket
"They did let me push the button the first time to launch the first rocket. And, I got to launch the second rocket because, for the first one, they selected the wrong rocket. So I will now forever be known as the center director that launched the wrong rocket."
– Joseph Pelfrey, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, talking about attending a student launch competition during a luncheon Wednesday by the Space Transportation Association.
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