🌖Intuitive Machines' $4.8B Lunar Contract - SpaceNews This Week

Top Stories of the Week from SpaceNews

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Welcome to our weekly roundup of the top SpaceNews stories of the week, brought to you every Friday! This week, Intuitive Machines receives a major NASA contract for lunar services, updates from WSBW in Paris, and more. Our Top Story NASA selects Intuitive Machines for lunar communications and navigation services By Jeff Foust, Sept. 18, 2024 Intuitive Machines has won a NASA contract worth up to $4.8 billion to provide communications and navigation services at the moon to support the Artemis lunar exploration campaign. NASA announced Sept. 17 it awarded a contract to Intuitive Machines to support its Near Space Network, an existing system that provides communications services for NASA missions in Earth orbit and cislunar space. The award, formally known as Subcategory 2.2 GEO to Cislunar Relay Services, has a maximum value if all options are exercised of $4.82 billion. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract has an initial five-year base period that begins Oct. 1, with an option for a second five-year period. The agency did not disclose how much had been initially obligated under the contract. Read More Other News From the Week News From WSBW in Paris Saudi Arabia plans space industry transformation Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund-backed Neo Space Group (NSG) is looking to lease multi-orbit capacity to bolster its foothold in the satellite market, ahead of likely owning and operating its own constellation. Read More Earth observation companies wary of Starshield Executives with several Earth observation companies said during a panel at World Space Business Week here Sept. 19 that they are keeping tabs on SpaceX's Starshield system, with some seeing competitive concerns and others opportunities for partnerships. Read More Infosys invests in Indian Earth-observation startup GalaxEye GalaxEye is preparing to launch in 2025 what it calls "the world's first" multi-sensor Earth-observation satellite. The satellite will be equipped with a synthetic aperture radar and a multispectral sensor. GalaxEye has demonstrated the performance of the sensors on drones, Singh told SpaceNews. Read More CIVIL China set to unveil long-term vision for space science The plan will see China's space science efforts—marked in recent years by successful dark matter, quantum and space physics missions—transitioning into an accelerated development phase. The long-term plan aims to solidify the country's role in global space science. Read More FAA fines SpaceX for launch license violations The FAA announced Sept. 17 that it notified SpaceX of $633,009 in proposed fines for violating terms of its launch licenses during the June 2023 Falcon 9 launch of the Satria-1, or PSN Satria, broadband satellite and the July 2023 Falcon Heavy launch of Jupiter-3, or EchoStar-24, broadband satellite. Both launches were successful. Read More SpaceX letter criticizes FAA for "systemic challenges" in launch licensing SpaceX fired back at the Federal Aviation Administration, blaming the FAA for dragging its heels on what the company considered minor changes. SpaceX released Sept. 19 a letter it sent to the leadership of the House Science Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, the two committees with oversight of the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST. Read More ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LEO takes center stage for communications at sea Ship owners are increasingly relegating geostationary satellites to the backseat and turning to low Earth orbit (LEO) networks for primary communications at sea, according to a panel of multi-orbit maritime service providers. Read More Anduril targets space domain with AI and autonomous systems Fresh off the introduction of next-generation drones and autonomous cruise missiles for the U.S. Air Force, the company announced plans to design, build, and launch its own fully integrated space systems by the end of 2025. Read More OPINION 35 years of SpaceNews: A trusted voice in a transforming space industry By Brian Berger, Sept. 18, 2024 Thirty-five years ago this week, SpaceNews published its first issue, defying naysayers who claimed the space industry circa 1989 was too small to justify a dedicated weekly publication. With a small but passionate team — much like today's — we set out to cover the business and politics of space at a time when commercialization was still in its infancy. Three and a half decades later, we find ourselves reporting on an industry that has grown and flourished beyond anything we could have imagined. From the early government-dominated space programs to today's bustling commercial ventures, the landscape has dramatically changed—but our mission remains the same: to provide clear, insightful, and authoritative coverage of the business, politics, and technology driving the space industry. Read More The expanding opportunity for American and Indian space cooperation By David Logsdon and Anil Prakash War game reveals Chinese attacks on communications could paralyze Taiwan By Henry Sokolski 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. A premier press release service designed to elevate your company's visibility and target our audience. Publish your company's press release with Stellar Dispatch today. Belgian spacetech gem VEOWARE secures €2.5 million euro to empower spacecrafts with next-generation agility By Veoware Space SpaceNews Celebrates 35th Anniversary as a Global Media Brand By SpaceNews Uniting Industry Leaders and Cutting-Edge Solutions to Shape the Future of Manufacturing By Manufacturo, Inc Leanspace secures €10.5 Million to Champion Next-Gen Satellite Constellation Operations By Leanspace Check out our latest Leading Women in Space interview! 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Earth observation companies wary of SpaceX’s Starshield

Plus: Saudi Arabia's new space ambitions and Infosys invests in Indian Earth observation startup

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Friday, September 20, 2024 Top Stories Earth observation companies are keeping a close eye on SpaceX's Starshield system. SpaceX announced Starshield nearly two years ago as a national security system based on Starlink satellites whose capabilities include Earth imaging. With an estimated two-thirds of commercial Earth observation revenues coming from defense customers, companies in the sector said at World Space Business Week (WSBW) Thursday that they are monitoring its development, with some expressing concern about having to compete with a system with the backing of the U.S. government. Others saw opportunities for partnerships and for growing the overall industry. [SpaceNews] Indian information technology giant Infosys is investing in an Earth observation startup in the country. Infosys announced Thursday it was a "strategic investor" in a Series A round for GalaxEye Space that raised $6.5 million in August. GalaxEye is preparing to launch in 2025 what it calls the world's first multi-sensor Earth-observation satellites. Each satellite will be equipped with synthetic aperture radar and multispectral sensors. The company's CEO said at WSBW that the company has tested that technology on drones. [SpaceNews] A company backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is seeking to lease multi-orbit satellite capacity ahead of developing its own constellation. Martijn Blanken, CEO of Neo Space Group (NSG), said the company is taking over the commercial activities of Saudi Arabia's share of the Saudi Geo Satellite 1/Hellas-Sat-4 satellite while looking to lease capacity on "third-party multi-orbit satellite constellation providers" as its builds up its capabilities. He said NSG is also planning to introduce an Earth observation wholesaler platform with a partner early next year. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, created NSG in May as part of plans to become a major force in space and further diversify its economy from oil. [SpaceNews] The U.S. Space Force awarded Astranis a contract to make its communications satellites compatible with military terminals. Astranis received the $13.2 million contract through a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) agreement, used by the military to help small businesses transition technologies from research and development to production. The funding will enable Astranis to add military Ka-band frequency compatibility to its next-generation Omega satellites. That would allow those satellites to be accessed by existing Department of Defense ground equipment, supporting high-capacity communications. [SpaceNews] The Space Force's Space Systems Command says it is exploring commercial partnerships and international collaborations to enhance its ability to monitor space activities. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, commander of the Space Systems Command, said at the AMOS Conference this week that the service is facing pressure to improve space domain awareness, or the ability to track and understand what is happening with satellites and other objects in space. The service is exploring nontraditional commercial options and international partnerships to fill critical gaps in space surveillance, particularly in GEO. That includes a pilot program underway to increase the use of commercial SDA data. [SpaceNews]   Other News SpaceX sharply responded to proposed FAA fines for launch license violations. In a four-page letter sent to the leadership of two key congressional committees, SpaceX defended its actions on two launches last year that led the FAA earlier this week to propose $633,000 in fines for violating the terms of the licenses. SpaceX argued in detail in the letter that the changes were minor, such as updating the location of a launch control center, and the FAA took months to review them. Those issues, SpaceX concluded, were evidence of "systemic challenges" by the FAA in launch licensing. [SpaceNews] Radio astronomers warn that the latest generation of Starlink satellites are impairing their observations. In a study published this week, Dutch astronomers said that Starlink "v2 mini" satellites produce up to 30 times the emissions of older satellites. The emissions are at much lower frequencies than those used by the satellites for communications, suggesting they are unintentional emissions from spacecraft systems. Nonetheless, those emissions are far stronger than the astronomical sources scientists try to study from radio telescopes, leading those researchers to warn that a full constellation of such spacecraft could make such observations at the impacted frequencies impossible. Astronomers are in discussions with SpaceX about ways to mitigate the interference. [Science] While the fifth flight of SpaceX's Starship is delayed, the company is already testing hardware for the sixth. The company performed a static-fire test of six Raptor engines in the Starship upper stage known as Ship 31 on Wednesday, part of preflight testing. That vehicle will be used on the sixth test flight of Starship. The fifth test flight is currently scheduled for no earlier than November because of FAA licensing delays. [Space.com] Brazil's Senate has passed a space activities bill. The legislation, approved by the Senate earlier this month, directs the Brazilian space agency AEB to regulate civil space activities, while the Brazilian Air Force Command will oversee military space activities. They would handle licensing and oversight of those activities, including procedures for investigating accidents. The bill, awaiting approval by the country's president, requires those regulations to be in place within a year of enactment. [Aeroflap] Landsat 7 has taken its final Earth images. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced Thursday that it is retiring the spacecraft 25 years after its launch. The spacecraft had been operating in a lower orbit since the 2021 launch of Landsat 9, which subjected the spacecraft to conditions that reduced its performance. USGS said it decided to retire the satellite, with Landsats 8 and 9 remaining in full operation. Landsat 7 took 3.3 million images despite a problem with a key sensor. [USGS]   Expired Excuse "Anyone that blames delays or being slow to the effects of the pandemic? It's Covid-19, ok? We're in '24." – Rafel Jordà, CEO of smallsat manufacturer Open Cosmos, expressing skepticism during a panel at World Space Business Week Thursday that supply chain issues in the industry today can be blamed on the pandemic.   A premier press release service designed to elevate your company's visibility and target our audience. Publish your company's press release with Stellar Dispatch today. 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