Astronomy Prints 🌌: FAA Delays Starship Review Amid Environmental Concerns 🌍

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

FAA Delays Starship Review Amid Environmental Concerns 🌍

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Top Stories

A Chinese-born cryptocurrency entrepreneur has purchased a Crew Dragon private astronaut mission. SpaceX announced Monday that it will fly the four-person Fram2 mission as soon as late this year, spending three to five days in polar orbit. The mission is led by Chun Wang, who founded cryptocurrency companies while in China but now is a citizen of Malta. Three others from Australia, Germany and Norway will join him on the mission, performing space physics experiments and studies of the effects of spaceflight on the human body. [SpaceNews]

The FAA has delayed a set of public hearings on a Starship environmental review amid allegations SpaceX has violated rules on wastewater discharges at its Starbase site. The FAA said Monday it was postponing public hearings this week and next to get input on a draft environmental assessment that would allow SpaceX to perform 25 Starship/Super Heavy launches annually from Starbase, up from five currently allowed. The FAA said only it was "seeking additional information from SpaceX" before setting new dates for the hearings. The announcement coincided with a CNBC report that stated that Texas regulators and the EPA had issued notices to SpaceX that it was discharging industrial wastewater without a permit through the deluge system installed on the Starship launch pad. The company denied the report, stating that it had been informed by both state and federal officials that it could continue to use the deluge system while it sought an individual permit for the system. [SpaceNews]

A fresh approach to space arms control is needed, a new report concludes. The study by the Aerospace Corporation's Center for Space Policy and Strategy noted space arms control faces problems trying to verify compliance with any agreements as well as the dual-use nature of many space technologies. The report argues that recent technological advancements have improved the capabilities of the United States and its allies to monitor space activities, potentially making verification more feasible than in the past. It also recommends more robust information-sharing on space activities among nations. [SpaceNews]

Airbus is expanding its partnership with in-orbit servicing venture Astroscale. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding Monday to focus on U.K.-based in-orbit servicing and manufacturing opportunities. Astroscale's U.K. subsidiary is already looking into using robotic arm technology from Airbus for future debris removal and satellite refueling missions. The agreement also covers maintaining, repairing and upgrading in-orbit satellites; constructing and assembling spacecraft components directly in space; and technologies for enhancing rendezvous and proximity operations. [SpaceNews]

Other News

A NASA payload will hitch a ride on Blue Origin's first lunar lander mission. In a procurement filing last week, NASA said it will fly a camera system intended to study plume-surface interaction on the Blue Moon Pathfinder Mark 1 Serial Number 1 mission. NASA selected Blue Origin because its Blue Moon lander was the only commercial mission going to the moon by the end of 2025 with thrust levels high enough for the instrument to collect data needed to inform future Artemis landings. Blue Origin said in separate FCC filings earlier this month that it plans to launch the mission as soon as next March. [SpaceNews]

NASA won't make a decision this week on whether astronauts will return from the International Space Station on Starliner. In a social media post Monday, NASA said it was now planning "decisional meetings" no earlier than next week on whether NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return on Starliner on remain on the ISS, returning with the Crew-9 mission in early 2025. NASA said last week it expected to make a decision by mid-August suggesting that it could come late this week. NASA plans to hold a media briefing Wednesday to provide an update on those deliberations. [X @NASASpaceOps]

Mars may have large volumes of water well below its surface. A study published Monday reached that conclusion based on analysis of seismic data of the planet's interior from NASA's InSight lander. The liquid water is believed to be located 10 to 20 kilometers below the surface, making it largely inaccessible for future robotic and human missions. However, those subsurface reservoirs could be potentially habitable, scientists said. [AP]

A California town is enjoying a surge in tourism, thanks to SpaceX. Businesses in the town of Lompoc, the closest to Vandenberg Space Force Base, said they are seeing an increase in customers attracted to the steady cadence of Falcon 9 launches there. Some are involved with the launches themselves, but many are tourists who come just for the opportunity to see a launch — provided the infamous thick fog that rolls in from the ocean allows it. [SFGate]

A Boring Job

"Drilling a hole 10 kilometers deep on Mars – even for Musk – would be difficult."

– Michael Manga, a professor at the University of California Berkeley, discussing the challenges in reaching the subsurface water reservoirs on Mars detected in research he was involved with. [BBC]

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