 | Top Stories
One of the companies that won NASA contracts to begin design work on Artemis lunar rovers has replaced a key team member. Lunar Outpost announced this week that Leidos had joined its Lunar Dawn team working on a rover design that could be used by future Artemis astronauts. Leidos will provide its experience in human factors, systems engineering and other capabilities to the project. Lunar Outpost later confirmed that Lockheed Martin, which had been the "principal partner" on the rover, is no longer involved after the companies could not reach an agreement on the statement of work for the project. Lockheed's departure resulted in changes in the rover's design to remove Lockheed's intellectual property. Lunar Outpost said work on the rover continues to go well despite the change in companies involved. NASA awarded contracts in April to Lunar Outpost, as well as Astrolab and Intuitive Machines, to advance the maturity of their rover designs and will later select one of them for development. [SpaceNews]
Outside Analytics, a software and data processing specialist, won a $25 million Space Force contract to integrate data from missile-warning satellites and other sensors. The $25 million award is the first task order under a larger five-year, $215 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract that Outside Analytics secured in June under the Small Business Innovation Research program. The company will use a software platform to provide 2D and 3D visualization of information from large structured and unstructured data sets. This technology is expected to improve the analysis of data from infrared sensor missile-warning satellites. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force is moving ahead with plans to use commercial antennas to augment its Satellite Control Network (SCN). The SCN, a global network of ground stations, communications links and control centers, has been in operation since 1959 and is increasingly strained as the number of satellites in orbit continues to grow. A Space Force official said a recent request for information seeks industry ideas on implementing a marketplace approach for antenna contacts. While pursuing commercial partnerships, the Space Force is also investing in its own infrastructure with a $1.4 billion contract awarded to BlueHalo for electronic phased array antennas. [SpaceNews]
Updated chipset standards due for release late next year could enable mass-market smartphones to connect with Iridium's satellites. The company said the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the consortium that sets global communications standards for 5G, approved its request to advance space-based Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) connectivity in an upcoming version of those standards. The approval paves the way for trials and demonstrations showing how devices using industry-standard chips could use Iridium satellites for messaging and SOS services outside cellular coverage. Iridium is working with 3GPP after an earlier effort to develop proprietary services with Qualcomm failed to secure interest from smartphone manufacturers. [SpaceNews]
Blue Origin test-fired the upper stage of its first New Glenn rocket this week. The 15-second firing of the stage's two BE-3U engines, on the pad at Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36, confirmed the integrated performance of the stage. The test was scheduled for earlier this month, and the delay appears to validate a NASA decision not to attempt a mid-October launch of the rocket carrying the ESCAPADE Mars mission. Blue Origin is instead pursuing a first launch of New Glenn in November carrying its own payload while ESCAPADE's launch has been pushed back to no earlier than next spring. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
Japan launched a reconnaissance satellite on the penultimate flight of the H-2A. The rocket lifted off at 12:41 a.m. Eastern from the Tanegashima Space Center after weather delayed a launch attempt last week. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries confirmed separation of the IGS-Radar 8 reconnaissance satellite from the launch vehicle in sun-synchronous orbit around two hours after launch. The launch was the 49th of the H-2A, with one more launch of that rocket planned for late this year carrying an Earth science satellite. The H-2A is being replaced by the H3 rocket, which made two successful launches earlier this year. [SpaceNews]
Congress passed a stopgap spending bill Wednesday to keep the federal government funded into December. The continuing resolution (CR), passed by the House Wednesday afternoon and Senate later in the day, will keep the government funded at 2024 levels when fiscal year 2025 begins Oct. 1, and runs to Dec. 20. The House had earlier rejected a proposed CR that would run through next March and included policy provisions opposed by Democrats. [Washington Post]
The government of Vietnam claims that SpaceX will invest $1.5 billion in the country to gain Starlink access there. The statement by the government came after Vietnam's president met with SpaceX executives in New York. The government provided no details about what that investment would involve, and SpaceX did not comment on the statement. SpaceX had been seeking access to the Vietnamese market for Starlink but previous discussions with the government bogged down regarding foreign ownership of the company SpaceX would have to set up in Vietnam to provide Starlink services there. [Reuters]
ESA has opened a facility to train for future missions to the moon. The LUNA facility, located at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany, includes a simulated moonscape slightly larger than a basketball court with 900 tons of regolith intended to duplicate lunar conditions. Astronauts and other equipment will be suspended to simulate the moon's lower gravity. ESA has three slots on future Artemis missions to the moon, but has yet to secure a commitment to land an astronaut on the moon. [AP]
Earth is getting a temporary "mini moon" this weekend. The asteroid 2024 PT5, discovered in early August, will pass close enough to the Earth to be captured into an orbit, but will be perturbed out of it by late November. The asteroid is about 10 meters across and could be a piece of lunar ejecta or even space junk, astronomers state. "It's as if you are taking a long walk in the woods and a dog comes along and joins you for a while, before wandering away," said one scientist. "During that time, you had a companion, but it is not your dog." [Sky and Telescope]
| |  | Hopeful Thinking
"I'm curious about those poor folks that seem to be trapped in outer space… Do we think they're going to get home safely, and soon?"
"It's a little bit outside my portfolio. My oversight—"
"I realize that, but that's kind of what everybody's talking about."
"All I can say is that I hope so."
– An exchange between Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker about Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during a hearing Tuesday of the House Transportation Committee's aviation subcommittee.
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