Plus: China's new crew arrives at Tiangong, and DoD eyes space supply chain security.
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The Pentagon has increased the value of a commercial satellite internet services contract by more than ten-fold. The military's Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services program, launched just last year with a $900 million ceiling over five years, has been expanded to $13 billion by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the Space Systems Command. The contract is used to buy broadband services from systems like SpaceX's Starlink. Before this increase, the PLEO contract had already spent about $660 million of its original $900 million ceiling. Most of the orders have been for Starshield, the militarized version of the Starlink service. The dramatic jump in funding underscores how vital high-speed satellite internet has become for military operations. [SpaceNews]
A new Chinese crew has arrived at the Tiangong space station. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off at 4:27 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft into orbit. Shenzhou-19 docked with Tiangong about six and a half hours later. The launch kicked off a six-month mission for Shenzhou-19 commander Cai Xuzhe and crewmates Song Lingdong, an air force pilot, and Wang Haoze, the country's first woman space engineer. They will relieve the Shenzhou-18 crew of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who are scheduled to return to Earth on Sunday. [SpaceNews]
China's human spaceflight agency has selected two proposals to develop spacecraft for low-cost space station resupply missions. The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced Tuesday it selected the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft from the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAMCAS) and the Haolong cargo space shuttle proposal from the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute under the Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) for development. The program, analogous to NASA's commercial cargo program, will support development of vehicles intended to resupply the Tiangong space station at a lower cost that existing spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
The Defense Department is looking for ways to improve the defense industrial supply chain, including for space. Officials said Tuesday they want to address critical vulnerabilities in that supply chain, like key components available from only a single supplier. The unclassified version of the plan highlights measures to strengthen domestic manufacturing for defense purposes and increase supply chain resilience against adversarial threats, but specific vulnerabilities were included only in the classified version. Those broader supply chain concerns extend to the space industry, where the military has become increasingly dependent on a small number of specialized suppliers even as demand for those capabilities has increased with the development of satellite constellations. [SpaceNews]
The NRO is continuing to explore the use of orbital transfer vehicles and improved satellite multimanifesting to carry out its missions. Speaking at the von Braun Space Exploration Symposium Tuesday, the director of the NRO's Office of Space Launch said such capabilities, which would allow satellites to change orbits or enable more flexible launch manifesting of satellites, remain topics of interest. Both were included in a broad area announcement (BAA) the NRO issued in March, and the agency plans to continue the use of BAAs on space launch technologies. The NRO is embarking on a dramatic increase in the number of satellites through a proliferated constellation that the NRO says will provide data "in seconds" to warfighters. [SpaceNews]
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SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites this morning. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:07 a.m. Eastern after a one-day delay carrying 20 Starlink satellites. Deployment of the satellites was scheduled for about an hour after liftoff. [Spaceflight Now]
Avio plans to start producing solid rocket motors in the United States. The Italian company, which makes the Vega rocket and solid motors for missiles, said Tuesday it has contracted with real estate development firm ACMI Properties to pick a location for the factory in the first half of 2025. That factory, slated to open in 2028, would focus primarily on missiles for U.S. government tactical needs, but could also provide motors for commercial rockets. [SpaceNews]
A South Korean developer of synthetic aperture radar satellites went public last week. Shares in Lumir rose when the company started trading on the KOSDAQ exchange Oct. 21, but have since fallen 24% from its IPO price. Lumir started in 2009 as a supplier of satellite components but is now building its first SAR satellite, LumirX-1, scheduled for launch in early 2026. That satellite will provide imagery with a resolution of 0.3 meters, and Lumir plans to operate up to 18 satellites by 2030. Analysts said the decline in Lumir's stock price reflected broader concerns about the country's space sector more than it did specific issues with the company. [SpaceNews]
Solstar Space plans to conduct the first spaceflight testing next year of its narrowband satellite data-relay transceiver. The company plans to fly its Deke Space Communicator to demonstrate how it can provide a continuous internet link when integrated with a satellite's telemetry, tracking and commanding system. Solstar developed the Deke Space Communicator with private funding and SBIR contracts, including $1.25 million from AFWERX in 2023. [SpaceNews]
A startup in the United Kingdom says it is working on a small reusable launch vehicle. Astron Systems is working on a vehicle whose two stages would both be reusable and would be able to place up to 360 kilograms into low Earth orbit. The company is aiming for a first launch as soon as late 2027, but its work so far has focused on development of key components. The company is one of 12 startups in the Fall 2024 class of the TechStars Space Accelerator and previously had backing from the European Space Agency Business Incubator Centre United Kingdom. [SpaceNews]
Thailand is planning to sign the Artemis Accords. The Thai government cabinet on Tuesday approved plans for the country's space agency, GISTDA, to sign the Accords at an unspecified date. Government ministers said signing the Accords would allow the company to improve its space industry and cooperate with other nations in space exploration. Thailand had previously joined the China-led International Lunar Research station (ILRS) effort and would become the first country to be a part of both ILRS and the Artemis Accords. [The Nation (Thailand)]
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Industrial Collision
"If you like really hard problems, this is the most interesting one that I've found. To watch the nuclear industry and the space industry come together is entertaining at its worst: different acronyms, different safety word meanings, different risk tolerance profiles."
– Pete Frye, space applications chief engineer at Westinghouse Electric Company, during a panel discussion about space nuclear propulsion at the American Astronautical Society's von Braun Space Exploration Symposium Tuesday.
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|  | Phillip joined Morgan Stanley more than two decades ago as an analyst in Australia but soon moved to New York, where he's been helping the investment bank cover large aerospace and defense companies. Several years ago, he helped Morgan Stanley fine-tune its focus on pure-play space companies. In addition to facilitating mergers and acquisitions, he has been helping space companies raise capital through the debt and equity markets. |
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