 | Top Stories
A SpaceX Falcon 9 suffered an engine malfunction on a Starlink launch Thursday night. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:35 p.m. Eastern with 20 Starlink satellites on board. The initial phases of the launch appeared to go well, but observers noted an unusual buildup of ice on the rocket's second stage engine. Two hours after launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the engine suffered a "RUD" or explosion when it attempted to reignite for a second burn. The stage was able to deploy its satellites, but in a low orbit that may not be salvageable. The incident is the first in-flight failure of a Falcon 9 in more than nine years, with more than 300 successful Falcon 9 launches since then. Any grounding of the Falcon 9, even for a matter of weeks, could have major implications for companies and space agencies who have come to rely on the vehicle for launching satellites and astronauts. [SpaceNews]
Microsoft is leading a funding round for a mobile data center startup that uses Starlink. The Microsoft-led round provided $40 million in fresh capital for Armada, a company that emerged fron stealth six months ago with $100 million. Armada is first focusing on deploying artificial intelligence computing tools designed to empower remotely connected devices. Ultimately, Armada aims to offer ruggedized data centers the size of shipping containers for its cloud computing ecosystem called Galleons, which would enable customers to process data faster and more efficiently on-site. Those data centers would be connected to the internet through Starlink. [SpaceNews]
The venture arm of Booz Allen Hamilton is investing in satellite operations startup Quindar. Booz Allen Ventures made an undisclosed strategic investment in Quindar, which raised $6 million earlier this year. The investment aims to support Quindar's platform for automating satellite operations. Satellite owners use Quindar's app to analyze, test and operate their constellation with minimal human intervention. [SpaceNews]
General Atomics has won a Space Force contract for a second weather satellite. Under a Space Systems Command contract modification announced Thursday, General Atomics will provide three years of operational services for two Electro-Optical Weather System, or EWS, satellites. General Atomics previously won a contract for one EWS satellite, part of a Space Force initiative to replace the aging Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites. [SpaceNews]
Spacecraft in lunar orbit have to deal with dozens of potential collisions. At a session of the Summit for Space Sustainability Thursday, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) noted there had been about 40 "red alarms," or warnings of potential conjunctions, over 18 months involving spacecraft in low lunar orbit, including its Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-2. In three cases, KPLO performed collision avoidance maneuvers. The situation shows the need for improved mechanisms for coordinating spacecraft around the moon and determining who performs maneuvers. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
Dawn Aerospace has obtained the regulatory approvals needed for supersonic test flights of its spaceplane. The company said Thursday it received a certificate from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority and a license from the New Zealand Space Agency for flights of its uncrewed Mark 2 Aurora spaceplane to altitudes of up to 70,000 feet and speeds of Mach 1.1. The company plans to conduct a campaign of eight test flights from July to September. The company eventually expects to fly the vehicle to altitudes of 100 kilometers for use in microgravity research or other applications. [SpaceNews]
NASA is investigating a potential problem with computer chips on the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The agency said Thursday tests show that some of the components on the spacecraft may be less resistant to radiation damage than expected. That could affect the performance of the spacecraft, which will be subject to energized particles during its planned flybys of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. NASA says it will continue work to prepare Europa Clipper for its October launch while studying potential ways to deal with the problem. [New York Times]
Leidos has won a contract to continue space station and exploration cargo work from NASA. The contract, valued at up to $476 million, extends work the company had been doing on cargo mission engineering and integration services. The company has been performing such work for NASA for two decades. [Leidos]
Scientists have developed a version of Dune's "stillsuit" for use on lunar missions. Researchers at Cornell University say they have developed a prototype spacesuit that includes systems to recycle urine into drinking water. That would allow for longer spacewalks without including additional water that can be difficult to accommodate within a suit's confines. [Science News]
Joe Engle, an Apollo-era astronaut who flew both the X-15 and the space shuttle, has died. Engle passed away Wednesday at the age of 91, his family announced. He was an Air Force pilot who flew the X-15 rocketplane in the mid-1960s, flying above the 50-mile mark that gave him Air Force astronaut wings. He joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1966 and was originally slated to be the lunar module pilot for Apollo 17, but was replaced by Harrison Schmitt in response to requests that a scientist be included on the final Apollo landing mission. Engle then went to work on the shuttle, flying approach and landing tests in the 1970s. He commanded the second shuttle mission, STS-2, in 1981 and STS-51I in 1985 before retiring from the agency. [collectSPACE]
| |  | She's Got a Point
"At the science fair, there was a little girl about yea big who wanted to know why there was space junk. And I said, 'Well, because nobody's been clearing up. We've just been leaving it.' She said, 'You are stupid. You are stupid. Why have you done that?' She was certainly convinced that space sustainability was important."
– Ray Fielding, head of sustainability and active debris removal at the U.K. Space Agency, discussing public outreach during a session of the Summit for Space Sustainability Friday in Tokyo.
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