 | Top Stories
The Space Force's X-37B spaceplane will perform a series of aerobraking maneuvers to adjust its orbit. The Space Force announced Thursday that the X-37B, launched in late December into a highly elliptical orbit, will perform the maneuvers to adjust its orbit while conserving propellant. Those maneuvers, the service said, will enable it to jettison its service module in a way to comply with guidelines for mitigating orbital debris. The X-37B has been conducting space radiation experiments and testing space domain awareness technologies. The announcement did not disclose when the spaceplane itself would return to complete its seventh mission. [SpaceNews]
A Chinese capsule landed late Thursday after two weeks of on-orbit experiments. The Shijian-19 satellite touched down at 10:39 p.m. Eastern at the Dongfeng landing site near Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The spacecraft launched Sept. 27 carrying space science and biology payloads as well as experiments for technology verification. The mission also verified the performance of the spacecraft itself, which Chinese officials said was a next-generation "high-performance reusable returning space test platform." [SpaceNews]
The Space Force used a commercial satellite imagery program to support disaster relief after Hurricane Helene. The Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Tracking (TacSRT) program supplied U.S. Northern Command with detailed analyses of road closures, conditions and bridge statuses along key routes between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina, the service said Thursday, as well as supported the rescue of four injured civilians in North Carolina. TacSRT operates as a marketplace where government organizations can request specific data, including both imagery and analysis, on disaster-affected regions from commercial satellite providers. [SpaceNews]
The first ViaSat-3 satellite is now providing services for the U.S. Marine Corps. The ViaSat-3 F1 satellite, which covers the Americas, is supporting the Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 and the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, utilizing existing military multi-mission terminals for access. The Marine Corps is the first U.S. government user of the new spacecraft, which experienced antenna deployment issues after its launch last year. [SpaceNews]
The UAE has selected Japan's H3 rocket to launch an asteroid mission. The UAE Space Agency announced Thursday it signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the launch of the MBE Explorer spacecraft in the first quarter of 2028. That spacecraft will fly by six asteroids in the main belt from 2030 to 2033 before arriving at a seventh asteroid in 2034 and deploying a lander there. UAE previously selected MHI for the launch of its Emirates Mars Mission orbiter spacecraft on an H-2A in 2020. [SpaceNews]
A startup has unveiled plans to provide power services at the moon. Volta Space Technologies said it is developing a network of spacecraft called LightGrid that will collect solar power while orbiting the moon and transmit it to landers and rovers on the surface using lasers. That could allow those spacecraft on the surface to operate through the lunar night and travel into permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. Volta plans to demonstrate its technology in Earth orbit in 2026 and start deploying spacecraft around the moon in 2028. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
China launched a new communications satellite towards geostationary orbit Thursday. A Long March 3B lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 9:50 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit the High orbit internet satellite-03 (Weixing Hulianwan Gaogui-03) spacecraft. The first two such satellites were launched in February and August, but Chinese officials have provided few details about their capabilities and applications. The lack of publicly available information raises speculation about their potential uses, which could include military applications. [SpaceNews]
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft could launch as soon as Sunday as the Kennedy Space Center cleans up from Hurricane Milton. The agency said late Thursday that KSC remains closed as post-storm assessments were underway, but initial checks showed only minor damage so far. NASA said it is protecting a launch opportunity as soon as Sunday for Europa Clipper, launching on Falcon Heavy from KSC's Launch Complex 39A, with additional opportunities daily through Nov. 6. [NASA]
The return to flight for Europe's Vega C rocket is now scheduled for early December. Arianespace said Thursday it is planning for a Dec. 3 launch of the rocket from French Guiana carrying the Sentinel-1C radar imaging satellite. The launch will be the first for the Vega C since launch failure in late December 2022 that was blamed on the nozzle in the second-stage Zefiro-40 motor of the solid-fuel rocket. The Zefiro-40 motor has been redesigned and passed two static-fire tests, including one last week. [Arianespace]
An environmental group is suing SpaceX regarding wastewater discharges from its Starbase launch site. The group SaveRGV filed suit in federal district court this week, asking the court to prevent SpaceX from using a launch pad deluge system until the company receives a federal permit for it, and to assess fines for previous unpermitted use of the system. SpaceX counters that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded the deluge system does not pose an environmental risk and has allowed the company to use the deluge system while it gets an EPA permit. [Bloomberg Law]
NASA is extending the mission of the CAPSTONE cubesat orbiting the moon. Advanced Space, the company that runs the mission, said this week that NASA granted an extension to continue mission operations and perform additional tests of its Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System, as well as analyze the feasibility of "high-priority experiments in support of NASA's technology needs." CAPSTONE has been in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the moon, the same orbit to be later used by the lunar Gateway, since November 2022. [Advanced Space]
A hyperspectral instrument on a Planet satellite has made its first measurements of emissions. The instrument on the Tanager-1 satellite, launched in August, has provided measurements of carbon dioxide and methane emissions for Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit organization. The instrument is able to pinpoint "super-emitters" of those greenhouse gases, such as from power plants and oil fields. The effort is part of a partnership that also includes NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and other organizations. [Carbon Mapper]
| |  | Understatement of the Week
"We've all been watching SpaceX. They work a little differently than traditional industry."
– Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator in NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, discussing SpaceX's work on Starship at a meeting this week of the National Academies' Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
| | | 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. Announcing DSI's 11th Annual Space Resiliency Summit
By Defense Strategies Institute | | | |
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