Plus: Space firms brace for Trump-era contracting changes, and NASA picks Falcon Heavy for Titan mission.
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 11/26/2024 | | | | | A motor for a Japanese rocket exploded in a test Monday, putting the future of a small launch vehicle into doubt. The Japanese space agency JAXA performed a static-fire test of the solid-fuel motor late Monday (U.S. time) at the Tanegashima Space Center, but the motor exploded 49 seconds into the two-minute burn. No injuries were reported, nor any damage beyond the motor itself. The motor was being tested for the Epsilon S, a small launch vehicle that was slated to make its first launch next year. A similar test of the motor also ended in an explosion last year, raising questions about the design of the vehicle. [Asahi Shimbun]
The incoming Trump administration could shake up traditional military space procurement. At the Baird Defense & Government Conference last week, defense and space industry executives said they expected the established defense contractor ecosystem might face disruption from newer, tech-focused players. One buzzword among the transition team is "cost minus," or "whatever the opposite of what we're doing now," one executive said, with a move away from "cost plus" traditional contracts. Elon Musk's influential role as the administration's government reform czar cuts both ways for space startups: his success proved commercial viability, but his company's market dominance gives pause. [SpaceNews]
A Space Force general acknowledges that the military underestimated the resilience of the defense supply chain. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command, said in a meeting with reporters last week that the service initially thought supply chain problems it saw were caused by the pandemic, but now realizes "this is more than COVID; there are true industrial base concerns." The Space Development Agency, for example, has taken unprecedented steps to address the problem by directly engaging with lower-tier suppliers and offering contracts to incentivize production capabilities. The Defense Department also has become increasingly concerned about foreign dependency in critical supply chains, particularly those tied to adversaries like China. [SpaceNews]
NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX for the launch of a mission to Saturn's moon Titan. NASA said Monday that it selected a Falcon Heavy to launch the Dragonfly mission in July 2028 under a contract valued at $256.6 million. Dragonfly will land on Titan in 2034 and operate as a nuclear-powered rotorcraft there, flying from location to location to study the moon and its habitability. NASA did not disclose if it considered other launch vehicles for the contract. [SpaceNews]
Bulgarian microsatellite manufacturer EnduroSat has ordered 100 electric propulsion systems from Austrian supplier Enpulsion. EnduroSat declined to provide financial details about the contract with Enpulsion but said the delivery timeline is flexible, based on customer demand and the propulsion maker's manufacturing capacity. The first 30 propulsion systems are scheduled for delivery within the next 12 months, including an initial batch due before the end of this year. The 16U Balkan-2 cubesat, part of the Balkan extension of Europe's Copernicus Earth observation constellation, is set to be one of the first EnduroSat satellites to use the thrusters. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | SpaceX called off a Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites overnight. SpaceX had been working towards a launch shortly after 1 a.m. Eastern from the Kennedy Space Center, but called off the launch as the liftoff time approached. The company did not disclose the reason for the scrub but said they will try again late tonight. [Florida Today]
Firefly Aerospace plans to launch its first lunar lander mission in January. The company announced Monday that it is working towards a launch during a six-day period in mid-January on a Falcon 9 for its Blue Ghost 1 lander. The spacecraft will land on the moon about 45 days after launch carrying 10 payloads for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Firefly had previously planned a launch in the fourth quarter and did not disclose a reason for the delay, although a company official previously said that SpaceX will still "sorting out its schedule" of Falcon 9 launches. Two other commercial lunar lander missions by Intuitive Machines and ispace, also previously planned for launch in the fourth quarter, have slipped to early 2025 as well. [SpaceNews]
NASA says it has resolved an "unusual odor" issue with a Progress cargo spacecraft. The International Space Station crew reported smelling the odor and noticing droplets of an unidentified fluid when opening the hatch to the Progress MS-29 spacecraft after docking Saturday, prompting them to close the hatch and scrub the station's air supply. In an update Monday, NASA said the odor "likely was outgassing from materials inside the cargo spacecraft" and that it dissipated quickly. Transfer of cargo from the station is now back on track, the agency reported. [NASA]
Rocket Lab has finalized a CHIPS Act contract to expand production of solar cells. The company said Monday it signed a $23.9 million contract with the Commerce Department to expand production of semiconductors at a New Mexico factory that makes solar cells for use on spacecraft. The company announced in June it had reached preliminary terms with the Commerce Department on the award. [Rocket Lab]
A "mini moon" has completed a brief stay in orbit around the Earth. The object, 2024 PT5, went into a distant orbit around the Earth in September, one that took the object back out of orbit on Monday amid gravitational interactions with the sun. The object, 10 meters across, may be a piece of the moon ejected in an impact. It will make another close pass of the Earth in January but will then not return until 2055. [AP]
| | | | | | But Do They Smell Like Potatoes?
"They look like asteroids, they smell like asteroids, as well as looking like potatoes."
– James O'Donoghue, a planetary astronomer at the University of Reading, about research that suggests the Martian moons of Phobos and Deimos may be debris from an asteroid captured by Mars and then broken up by the planet's gravity. [New York Times]
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