Ten More Years for Voyager 1 - 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, Voyager 1 comes back to life, the Pentagon embraces SpaceX's Starshield, companies team up to monitor space traffic, and more. Our Top Story Voyager 1 returning science data again By Jeff Foust, June 13, 2024 WASHINGTON — The four instruments on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft are returning science data for the first time since a computer malfunction last November, as scientists hope to keep the mission operating for up to another decade. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced June 13 that the four instruments on the spacecraft, which measure plasma waves, magnetic fields and particles in interstellar space, have started returning data again. Two of the instruments started up immediately after commands were sent to the spacecraft May 19 while the other two required what JPL called "some additional work" to resume operations. Other News From the Week MILITARY U.S. to rely on commercial satellites to image spacecraft in orbit The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on June 12 released a request for information seeking input from companies in the emerging non-Earth imagery (NEI) market. According to the request, the agency wants to better understand unclassified non-Earth imaging capabilities and data analytics, including imagery of uncooperative platforms. Pentagon embracing SpaceX's Starshield for future military satcom The Defense Department plans to add more than 100 of SpaceX's Starshield satellites, a militarized version of its Starlink constellation, to its future satcom architecture. A key advantage of the Starshield architecture is its proliferated nature, with a large number of relatively small satellites able to provide global communications coverage. LeoLabs wins AFWERX contract to develop next-generation radar The S-band 2-D Direct Radiating Array will be particularly adept at tracking rocket launches and spacecraft in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), according to Dan Ceperley, LeoLabs founder and chief operating officer. Prior to winning the AFWERX contract, LeoLabs was investing its own money in Direct Radiating Arrays. COMMERCIAL Virgin Galactic announces reverse stock split to boost share price Virgin Galactic announced after markets closed June 12 that the company's board approved a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, which will take effect after markets close June 14. Under the plan, 20 current shares of Virgin Galactic stock will be converted into 1 new share. The goal is to keep prices above the minimum value set by the New York Stock Exchange. SIA reports more record growth for the global commercial satellite industry Global satellite industry revenue climbed 2% year-on-year to $285 billion for 2023, according to the Satellite Industry Association's 27th annual space economy snapshot released June 13. Satellite manufacturing revenue jumped 9% to $17.2 billion, driven by more flexible software-defined payloads, increasingly capable small satellites and scalable production processes. Thales, Spire and ESSP to develop air traffic surveillance constellation The constellation of more than 100 satellites will collect aircraft Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) messages and quickly relay them to ground stations. The partners aim to begin providing commercial services from the new constellation in 2027. AI AI transforming satellite imaging industry 'but it's not magic' Earth observation powerhouse Planet Labs says that it's utilizing artificial intelligence to generate insights from its daily imaging of the planet, but Troy Toman, Planet's senior vice president of product and software engineering cautioned against putting too much stock in flashy demos. With AI tools today, he said, "you can do some really powerful use cases in seconds … but when you get down to providing more than the superficial sort of 'wow' moment, for the things that people need every day, you need much more expertise and knowledge." OPINION What people don't get about space By Anastasia Nicolazo de Barmon, June 10, 2024 Space agencies around the world, but particularly in Europe, must work harder to communicate the myriad benefits of a robust space industry to people living their everyday lives down on Earth, argues European Space Agency analyst Anastasia Nicolazo de Barmon. While there has been a continent-wide hesitation to conduct "flashy" marketing and outreach campaigns, engaging the public to help them understand the realities — and opportunities — posed by space can help these agencies justify their own existence and operations, and help them help improve life on Earth. 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