So Far So Good For China's Lunar Sample Return - 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, China's far-side lunar sample return mission awaits a return to Earth, Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Starship saw successful launches, and more. Our Top Story Chang'e-6 spacecraft dock in lunar orbit ahead of journey back to Earth By Andrew Jones, June 6, 2024 HELSINKI — An ascent vehicle docked with the Chang'e-6 service module Thursday, in a critical step towards bringing the first lunar far side samples to Earth. The lunar orbit rendezvous and docking was completed at 2:48 a.m. Eastern (0648 UTC) June 6, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. Transfer of a lunar material container to a reentry module was completed at 3:24 a.m.   The Chang'e-6 orbiter will next jettison the ascent vehicle, which will then be deorbited into the moon. The orbiter, or service module, will remain in lunar orbit for around two weeks, awaiting a window for a return to Earth. It will release the reentry capsule for reentry and landing in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia around June 25. Other News From the Week LAUNCH Starliner docks with International Space Station on crewed test flight The first crewed Starliner flight successfully docked with the International Space Station June 6, transferring two crew members there. The docking was briefly delayed after software issues temporarily prevented several of Starliner's thrusters from firing. Starship survives reentry during fourth test flight SpaceX's Starship stuck its virtual landing into the Gulf of Mexico on June 6. Both the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage survived reentry. the booster was able to slow its velocity to zero, hovering over the surface of the water before splashing down. First Ariane 6 launch set for July 9 ESA revealed the date for the launch at the ILA Berlin air show June 5. The ESA still needs to conduct a wet dress rehearsal, scheduled for June 18, before it debuts the rocket intended to mitigate Europe's ongoing "launcher crisis." COMMERCIAL Space Pioneer raises $207 million for reusable rocket The funding for the Chinese company's Tianlong-3 rocket will help Space Pioneer reach its goal of launching megaconstellations. The funding round was termed "C+," as with another round secured in October last year. That round raised "several hundred millions of yuan." Firefly inks multi-launch deal with Lockheed Martin for Alpha rocket rides Firefly will provide Lockheed Martin with at least 15 and as many as 25 dedicated launches aboard its Alpha rocket through 2029, according to the company's June 5 announcement. ESA and Vast to study cooperation on future commercial space stations ESA and Vast signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) June 6 during the ILA Berlin air show, agreeing to study collaboration on the commercial space stations that Vast plans to develop, starting with the Haven-1 station Vast plans to launch in the second half of next year. AI AI powering commercial insights into the final frontier Military units are already experimenting with AI tools to help orchestrate sensor tasking based on specific threats or concerns. The goal is to leverage AI for broader data processing tasks, streamlining the process of sifting through vast amounts of data. Slingshot unveils AI that spots satellite anomalies and potential bad actors Slingshot Aerospace's new "AGATHA" AI system monitors the behavior of satellites in orbit and identifies anomalous spacecraft within large constellations. It's optimized to find anomalous behavior amid large satellite constellations and verify that the satellites are operating as intended. OPINION SpaceX and the categorical imperative to achieve low launch cost By Pierre Lionnet, June 7, 2024 Incumbent players in the launch sector have been looking at SpaceX, first with skepticism, then incredulity, and now with awe, witnessing the company unfolding its business model, initially sparked by Elon Musk's criticism that access to space was too expensive. Today it is generally recognized by all observers that SpaceX, with its partially reusable Falcon launch system, has achieved major cost reduction for orbital launch. However, a close look at the numbers suggests that SpaceX is marking up the cost of Falcon launches, perhaps in order to subsidize the launches for its Starlink broadband constellation. Remembering the humans in human spaceflight By Kathleen Mosier, June 6, 2024 Why we need to take satellite ground station security seriously By Matthew Heideman, June 4, 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