Plus: ISS crew closes Progress hatch after odor report, and FAA clears path for more Starship launches
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 11/25/2024 | | | | | DirecTV is calling off plans to merge its direct-to-home satellite TV business with rival Dish Network. Dish's parent company, EchoStar, said Friday that it had been informed by DirecTV it was terminating a deal announced in late September to buy Dish for $1, while assuming $9.75 billion in debt. DirecTV said it was unable to convince Dish bondholders to accept the deal, which would have reduced their holdings by more than $1.5 billion. Analysts expect that the two companies will make another attempt at a deal once lawsuits by bondholders over earlier EchoStar transactions are resolved, citing as much as $9 billion in "synergy value" from combining the two businesses. [SpaceNews]
The International Space Station crew had to close the hatch to a newly arrived Russian cargo spacecraft after noticing an "unexpected odor" from it. The Progress MS-29 spacecraft docked with the station's Poisk module at 9:31 a.m. Eastern Saturday, two days after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. However, when cosmonauts opened the hatch to the spacecraft they reported seeing droplets of an unidentified fluid as well as a strong odor. They closed the hatch while controllers turned on scrubbers to remove any contaminants from the station's air supply. ISS operations are otherwise unaffected by the incident, NASA said Sunday. [SpaceNews]
The FAA is a step closer to approving an increased flight rate for SpaceX's Starship vehicle. The agency released last week a revised environmental assessment that examined the impacts from performing 25 launches annually of Starship/Super Heavy from Boca Chica, Texas, along with up to 25 landings each of the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage. The document does not include a formal recommendation but notes that its assessment found "no significant environmental changes" from an increased flight rate. SpaceX is currently limited to five launches and landings a year from Boca Chica. The FAA will make a final determination after a public comment period closes in mid-January. [SpaceNews]
European officials called for regulatory and technology improvements to deal with orbital debris. In a panel at Space Tech Expo Europe last week, industry and government experts said an increase in both the number of active satellites and debris objects is complicating satellite operations, such as orbit-raising maneuvers. They recommended improvements in tracking debris and rules to limit the lifetime of satellites in orbit after the end of their missions. They also recommended incentives for operators who show responsible behavior versus penalties for bad behavior. [SpaceNews]
NASA plans to issue awards to Blue Origin and SpaceX for cargo missions using versions of the lunar landers they are developing for crewed missions. The agency announced last week it would assign one mission to SpaceX's Starship to deliver a pressurized rover being developed by the Japanese space agency JAXA as soon as fiscal year 2032, while Blue Origin's Blue Moon would deliver a lunar habitat module as soon as 2033. NASA said in January it had directed the two companies to start design work on cargo versions of Blue Moon and Starship, which the companies are developing for the Human Landing System program. NASA did not disclose the anticipated value of the cargo delivery awards. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | Blue Origin launched its latest New Shepard suborbital mission Friday. The New Shepard vehicle lifted off at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Friday, with the crew capsule landing a little more than 10 minutes later after reaching a peak altitude of 107 kilometers. The six-person NS-28 mission, the ninth crewed New Shepard flight, included returning customers Marc and Sharon Hagle, who flew on NS-20 in March 2022. It also included science communicator Emily Calandrelli, who said before the flight she would be the 100th woman to go to space. That count, though, includes women who flew on Virgin Galactic's suborbital spaceplane that does not reach the 100-kilometer Kármán Line that Blue Origin itself considers space. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab launched two Electrons less than 24 hours apart Sunday. One Electron lifted off at 1 a.m. Eastern from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a suborbital mission for an undisclosed customer. It was the second flight of the HASTE variant of Electron the company introduced last year for hypersonics testing. A second Electron launched at 10:55 p.m. Eastern from New Zealand carrying a third set of satellites for Kinéis, a French company developing an IoT constellation. This was the first time Rocket Lab performed two Electron launches within 24 hours. [SpaceNews]
China launched a pair of radar imaging satellites Sunday. A Long March 2C lifted off at 6:39 p.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed the SuperView Neo-2 03 and 04 satellites into orbit. The satellites will be used by China Siwei Surveying and Mapping Technology Co., Ltd., to provide synthetic aperture radar imagery at a resolution of 50 centimeters. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX conducted a pair of Starlink launches Sunday and Monday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:25 a.m. Eastern Sunday, deploying 20 Starlink satellites, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads. That launch was the 400th liftoff of a Falcon 9. Another Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:02 a.m. Eastern Monday carrying 23 Starlink satellites, 12 with direct-to-call payloads. The booster used for Monday's launch was turned around in less than two weeks, a new company record. [Spaceflight Now]
The first Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is on the pad for pre-flight testing. The company rolled out the completed rocket to Launch Complex 36 late last week for tests that will likely include a static fire of the seven BE-4 engines in its first stage. The company has not announced a date for the launch, but has stated it still hopes to perform that launch before the end of the year. [Florida Today]
| | | | | | The Week Ahead
Monday:
Tuesday:
Tuesday-Friday:
Wednesday:
Wednesday-Thursday:
Saturday:
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Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at about 12 a.m. Eastern.
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Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 3:08 a.m. Eastern.
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