 | Top Stories
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner will remain at the ISS through at least early July in the latest delay for its return to Earth. NASA announced late Friday that the agency and Boeing had decided to delay the spacecraft's departure, previously scheduled for this week, until after the second of two spacewalks at the station currently planned for July 2. NASA said that while the spacecraft could return with astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on board now, they want to keep the spacecraft at the station to collect additional information about the performance of its thrusters and helium leaks in its propulsion system. Starliner is able to remain at the station through at least mid-July if needed. Meanwhile, astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt are starting the first of those two spacewalks this morning, intended to carry out tasks planned for a spacewalk earlier this month called off because of a suit discomfort issue. [SpaceNews]
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft is on its way back to Earth with samples collected from the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-6 service module likely fired its engines for a trans-Earth injection around June 21, with the return capsule expected to land in Inner Mongolia early Tuesday based on airspace closure notices. China launched the mission last month, successfully landing in Apollo Crater on the lunar farside June 1. The spacecraft collected up to two kilograms of material that it launched back into lunar orbit, rendezvousing with an orbiter for return to Earth. Chang'e-6 is China's second lunar sample return mission and the first by any country to return material from the far side of the moon. [SpaceNews]
Lockheed Martin has won a $977.5 million contract extension for a missile warning satellite program. The Pentagon announced last week that it was extending an existing contract with the company for the continued development, testing and on-orbit support of two geosynchronous missile-warning satellites. This latest award brings the total value of Lockheed Martin's contract for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program to $8.2 billion. The Space Force originally planned to have three GEO satellites for Next-Gen OPIR but later reduced it to two. [SpaceNews]
Ariane 6 is ready for its launch next month after completing a practice countdown. ESA and its partners on the vehicle performed a wet dress rehearsal Thursday, fueling the rocket and going through a countdown that stopped just before engine ignition. ESA said Friday the test keeps the vehicle's inaugural launch on schedule for July 9, although analysis of data from the rehearsal will continue this week. [SpaceNews]
A Chinese organization has completed its highest altitude launch and landing test of a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator. The Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) said Sunday it launched the demonstrator from the Gobi Desert, reaching an altitude of 12 kilometers before performing a powered vertical landing. The vehicle is the prototype for a reusable booster SAST is developing for a medium-class launch vehicle whose first orbital flight is projected for 2025. [SpaceNews]
Northrop Grumman has delivered two broadband satellites for launch next month. The Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) satellites, ordered by Space Norway, are scheduled for launch on a Falcon 9 from California as soon as mid-July. The satellites will provide constant broadband coverage over the North Pole and high-latitude areas currently underserved by existing satellite networks, carrying communications payloads for the U.S. Space Force, Norwegian Armed Forces and Viasat. [SpaceNews]
A weather satellite scheduled for launch this week includes a new instrument for studying the sun. GOES-U, a geostationary orbit weather satellite slated for launch Tuesday, carries the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) instrument for solar observations along with others for monitoring the weather. CCOR will provide observations that will ultimately replace the aging Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, monitoring the solar corona for flares and coronal mass ejections that affect space weather. [SpaceNews]
Japanese radar imaging company Synspective has raised $44 million. The company announced last week the Series C round, led by several Japanese investors. Synspective, which raised $100 million in a Series B round more than two years ago, will use the funding to scale up its constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites and expand its operations globally. Synspective has four satellites in orbit now and signed a contract with Rocket Lab last week for 10 more Electron launches of its satellites. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
China launched an astrophysics satellite jointly developed with France Saturday. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off at 3 a.m. Eastern and placed the Space Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) satellite into orbit. SVOM, jointly developed by the China National Space Administration and the French space agency CNES, will study astronomical phenomena at X-ray and gamma-ray wavelengths. The first stage from the rocket, which uses toxic hypergolic propellants, fell near a populated area but with no reports of damage or injuries. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX performed two launches of Starlink satellites Sunday. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:15 p.m. Eastern, placing 22 Starlink satellites into orbit. The mission, designated Starlink Group 10-2, was scheduled to take place a week and a half ago but suffered a rare abort at engine ignition. SpaceX used a different booster for this launch. The mission also featured the first launch that flew a payload fairing half for the 20th time. SpaceX followed up that launch with a Falcon 9 liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:47 p.m. Eastern. The second launch put 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. [Spaceflight Now]
X-Bow Systems announced a contract from the U.S. Navy to build missile motors. The company received two contracts, one for $3.3 million to develop solid rocket motors for the Standard missile's Mk 72 booster, and $4 million for solid rocket motors for the Mk 104 second stage. The company specializes in solid rocket motors and small launch vehicles for orbital and suborbital launch services. The Navy in recent months also announced contracts with Ursa Major and Anduril for solid rocket motor development in an effort to diversify its supplier base of solid rocket motors. [SpaceNews]
A recent exercise examined how government agencies and other countries would respond to a long-term asteroid impact threat. The two-day tabletop exercise, held in early April, involved a hypothetical scenario where an asteroid posed a 72% chance of hitting Earth in 14 years. The exercise showed the challenges with winning support for spacecraft missions to characterize the asteroid and its threat that far in advance and with uncertainties in its trajectory and size, as well as coordinating an international response. Officials said at a briefing last week that the exercise's scenario may be the most likely one for any real threat as NASA works to better map the population of near Earth asteroids, none of which are known to pose any risk of impact for the foreseeable future. [SpaceNews]
Firefly Aerospace plans to return its Alpha rocket to flight this week. The company announced Friday that it is working towards a launch late Wednesday night of the rocket on the "Noise of Summer" mission for NASA's Venture Class Launch Services program. The rocket will carry eight NASA-sponsored smallsats. The launch is the fifth for Alpha and the first since a December launch where an upper stage malfunction stranded the payload, a Lockheed Martin technology demonstration satellite, in a low orbit. [Firefly Aerospace]
The Indian space agency ISRO completed the third and final landing test for a reusable launch vehicle technology demonstrator. The winged "Pushpak" vehicle was dropped from a helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers, gliding to a runway landing. The test, along with two previous ones, confirmed the performance of the vehicle on final approach and landing. Pushpak is part of efforts by ISRO to develop technologies for a future orbital vehicle that would be able to return to Earth for reuse, like the X-37B and similar Chinese spaceplanes. [PTI]
The family whose Florida house was hit by debris from the International Space Station has filed a claim for damages with NASA. The Otero family is seeking "in excess of" $80,000 for damage to their house when a piece of debris from a battery rack that reentered in March hit their house, plunging through the roof. NASA has six months to respond to the claim, and if rejected the family could file suit in federal court. The family's lawyer said it may set a precedent any future claims involving the agency. [Ars Technica]
| |  | The Week Ahead
Monday: Monday-Tuesday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Wednesday-Friday: - New Delhi, India: The India Space Congress conference will exmaine topics related to India's space industry.
Thursday: - Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Firefly Alpha rocket carrying several NASA-sponsored cubesats at 12 a.m. Eastern.
- Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 6:55 a.m. Eastern.
- Online: The Beyond Earth Institute holds a webinar on "Commercial Market Forecasts: Are They Credible? Who to Believe?" at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Friday: Saturday: - Tanegashima, Japan: Scheduled launch of an H-2A rocket carrying the ALOS-4 Earth observation satellite at 11:06 p.m. Eastern.
Sunday: - Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 3:11 a.m. Eastern.
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