SpaceX to launch NASA gamma-ray mission 🚀

$69M contract for COSI satellite. Plus: Artemis 3 schedule concerns, Botswana's first satellite, advanced AI chip in space

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Top Stories NASA has selected SpaceX to launch an astronomy satellite on a Falcon 9. NASA announced Tuesday it awarded SpaceX a $69 million contract to launch the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) spacecraft, a small Explorer-class satellite with a gamma-ray telescope. The launch is scheduled for August 2027. NASA picked COSI for development in 2021 with plans to launch it in 2025, but delayed its development because of a budget crunch. [SpaceNews] NASA is pressing ahead with the Artemis 3 lunar landing mission in September 2026 even as the agency's assessment suggests it is likely the lander will not be ready in time. During a confirmation review, NASA set a 70% joint confidence level schedule baseline of February 2028 for the SpaceX Starship lunar lander, meaning there is a 70% chance that the lander will be ready by then. That baseline was set last December but not widely publicized by the agency until it was included in a GAO report last month. NASA confirmed that date was accurate but stated it was "a conservative approach that assumes broad risk realization" as it keeps the September 2026 date for the mission. [SpaceNews] EnduroSat has signed a deal to build Botswana's first satellite. The Bulgarian company said it will build a 3U cubesat for the country, working with engineers from Botswana International University of Science and Technology. Botsat-1 will have a hyperspectral sensor to gather ground composition data to support mining and agriculture businesses in the country. It is slated to launch on the Transporter-13 rideshare mission next February. [SpaceNews] Two companies are working to deploy the most advanced AI-enabled chip in space. Cosmic Shielding Corp. is supporting the upcoming launch of a radiation-hardened edge computer from San Francisco startup Aethero on Transporter-11 later this month. The mission will feature an off-the-shelf Nvidia chip surrounded by shielding to allow it to work in the harsh radiation environment of space. If successful, the demonstration could allow companies to use commercial components for advanced applications rather than more expensive radiation-hardened chips. [SpaceNews]   Other News SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell payloads this morning. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:55 a.m. Eastern and put 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. SpaceX has now launched more than 100 Starlink satellites with payloads that allow direct communication with unmodified smartphones. The launch also used a booster that suffered a rare abort at engine ignition during a launch attempt last month, requiring SpaceX to make unspecified repairs to it. [Spaceflight Now] Firefly further postponed an Alpha launch after a scrub early Tuesday. The company initially said Tuesday it would make another attempt last night to launch the rocket on the "Noise of Summer" mission after correcting a ground equipment issue that halted the original launch attempt. However, the company said later in the day that it would delay the launch to "evaluate data and test systems" from the original launch attempt. Firefly has not set a new date for the launch, which is carrying nine NASA-sponsored cubesats. [Noozhawk] Russian officials say they will launch the first elements of a new space station in 2027. Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos, signed a new schedule for the Russian Orbital Station on Tuesday that called for the launch of the first module in late 2027 on an Angara 5 rocket, followed by additional components through the early 2030s. The first crew would launch to the station in late 2028 on a new crewed vehicle Roscosmos says it is also developing. The cost of the station is projected to be about $7 billion, but with little evidence of both the hardware and funding needed to develop the schedule on that stated schedule. [TASS] The next Cygnus cargo spacecraft will be named after the commander of the shuttle Challenger on its final flight. Northrop Grumman announced this week that the Cygnus flying the NG-21 mission to the ISS next month will be called the S.S. Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, after the late NASA astronaut who commanded the shuttle on that tragic January 1986 launch. Scobee had flown two other shuttle missions before Challenger. The naming continues a company tradition of naming spacecraft after deceased astronauts. [collectSPACE] Note: Because of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, FIRST UP will not publish Thursday or Friday. We will be back on Monday, July 8.   Age Is in the Eye of the Beholder "I look as young as when I worked here but I look at other people and go, 'My god, that person is so old.'" – John Harmsen, 84, speaking at a reunion of people who worked at a NASA tracking center in Carnarvon, Australia, to mark the 60th anniversary of the center's establishment. [Australian Broadcasting Corp.]   Join our expert panelists as they dive into the growing race for moon resources. REGISTER HERE Forward First Up to a friend or Subscribe for yourself Copyright © 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 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.