 | Top Stories
Terran Orbital is no longer counting a multibillion-dollar contract from Rivada Space Networks as part of its backlog. The satellite manufacturer disclosed in a quarterly filing with the SEC Monday that it had removed the $2.4 billion contract it received from Rivada a year and a half ago from its contract backlog, reducing that backlog to a little more than $300 million. Terran Orbital CEO Marc Bell said his company still expects to carry out the contract and blamed the removal on accounting measures. However, Terran Orbital has earned only $13.2 million to date on that contract amid questions about how Rivada will finance the 300-satellite constellation that Terran Orbital will build. More than 90% of the remaining backlog is work for Lockheed Martin. Terran Orbital reported about $30 million in revenue in the second quarter, down slightly from the same quarter a year ago, and it ended the quarter with only $31 million of cash on hand. [SpaceNews]
Chinese commercial rocket firm Deep Blue Aerospace announced new funding Tuesday as is prepares for a reusable rocket test. The company announced Tuesday the successful completion of its B3 strategic financing round without disclosing the amount of money it raised. Deep Blue Aerospace says it will use the funding to focus on breakthroughs in core technologies and the commercialization of its "Nebula" series of reusable rockets. The company is preparing to conduct a vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) test with a Nebula-1 first stage to an altitude of 100 kilometers by the end of the month. [SpaceNews]
Lunar lander developer Intuitive Machines said it is putting together a team to take over NASA's VIPER lunar rover. The company said in an earnings call Tuesday that it is working with unnamed companies, universities and international partners to respond to a request for information NASA released last week seeking details from those interested in operating VIPER. NASA said last month it planned to cancel the mission to save money, but would offer the nearly complete rover to potential commercial or international partners. Intuitive Machines said it would cover the cost of taking over VIPER by selling excess payload space on the lander that would deliver the rover to the moon. The company also said it now plans to launch its next lander mission, IM-2, in December or early January after updating the landing site for the mission with NASA in July. [SpaceNews]
General Dynamics will manufacture solid rocket motors for Lockheed Martin missiles. The companies announced a strategic partnership Tuesday where General Dynamics will manufacture rocket motors designed by Lockheed Martin for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), a GPS-guided artillery rocket system used by the U.S. military and allies for long-range fire support. The U.S. solid rocket motor market has traditionally been dominated by L3Harris's Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman, but several other companies have been seeking to enter the market recently. Solid rocket motors have been identified as critical chokepoints in the defense supply chain. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
Atlas AI, a geospatial intelligence startup, is working with Airbus. Airbus is relying on Atlas AI's geospatial platform, which pairs satellite imagery with artificial intelligence, to gain insight into travel demand, airport catchment areas and infrastructure change to support its aircraft manufacturing business. Atlas AI, spun out of a Stanford University lab in 2018, specializes in applying AI techniques to satellite imagery to measure local socioeconomic conditions in emerging markets. [SpaceNews]
Nearly half the satellites in India's regional navigation service are not operational. An Indian government minister told the country's parliament that three of seven satellites in the NavIC system are not able to provide positioning, navigation and timing services, but are able to be used for other applications, like safety-of-life messaging. NavIC uses satellites in geosynchronous orbit to provide navigation services across India and the surrounding region. The government plans to replace the faulty satellites "in the coming years." [News9live]
The Commerce Department's inspector general is worried about delays in the creation of a space traffic coordination system. In a recent report, the inspector general warned that the Office of Space Commerce's Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) may not be ready in even a scaled-down version by the end of September as currently planned. That risks a gap in spaceflight safety services, the report warned, if the Defense Department's priorities change because of a "national security concern." Officials with the office have said recently they still expect the initial Phase 1.0 of TraCSS to be ready by the end of September, with upgrades added over the next year. The report also called on the office to develop plans for creating binding rules for space traffic management, although the office noted it currently lacks Congressional authority to do so. [Breaking Defense]
NASA's Kennedy Space Center is turning to some unique local expertise to keep astronauts safe. Engineers working on Artemis met recently with counterparts at an unnamed "central Florida amusement park" to gain insights on technologies used in roller coasters called eddy braking systems. NASA uses similar technologies on the gondolas that are part of the escape system on the launch pad that astronauts would use in the event of an emergency before liftoff. The discussions, NASA said, provided insights on how to maintain and operate the gondolas. [Space.com]
| |  | He's Not Saying It's Aliens, But…
"I'd love to be able to say, like Independence Day and Will Smith, we're fighting off aliens. What I'll say, if that's true, I couldn't tell you anyway, because that's classified."
– Brig. Gen. Jacob Middleton, new commander of U.S. Space Forces in Europe-Space Forces Africa, on what the Space Force does. [Stars and Stripes]
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