12/20/2024 | View in Browser | Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, Chinese astronauts broke the record for longest spacewalk, T-Mobile opened beta registration for direct-to-smartphone Starlink service, NASA endorsed maintaining a "continuous heartbeat" in LEO after retiring the ISS, and more. | | |
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By Andrew Jones, Dec. 17, 2024 |
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Two Chinese astronauts completed a record-setting extravehicular activity outside Tiangong space station Tuesday.
Shenzhou-19 commander Cai Xuzhe, wearing a Feitian extravehicular activity suit marked with red, exited the Wentian experiment module hatch of the Tiangong space station at 11:51 p.m. Eastern, Dec. 16 (0451 UTC, Dec. 17).
Cai attached himself to Tiangong's robotic arm and retrieved equipment needed for the EVA from the airlock, assisted by crewmate Song Lingdong. Song, in a suit with blue markings, exited Wentian at 1:32 a.m. Dec. 17 (0632 UTC) to perform his tasks, according to China Central Television (CCTV). Signatures from previous users of the spacesuits are visible on the Feitian primary life support systems in video of the spacewalk. Read More |
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T-Mobile opens beta for Starlink smartphone connectivity
The free beta program is available to all T-Mobile customers with compatible devices and postpaid voice plans, the telco announced Dec. 16. Text messaging will be enabled early next year on select newer devices in most U.S. cellular dead zones with a clear sky view, although first responders will receive priority access due to limited initial capacity. Read More
Maxar signs $35 million satellite intelligence deals in Asia-Pacific region
The deals announced Dec. 19 will give two undisclosed Asia-Pacific governments access to Maxar's newly deployed WorldView Legion satellites, which provide high-resolution Earth observation imagery, as well as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from partner company Umbra. SAR technology allows for ground imaging through cloud cover and darkness. Read More
Three companies to partner on GTO rideshare launch services
Innovative Solutions in Space (ISISPACE), Maverick Space Systems and SEOPS announced Dec. 19 a partnership focused on launch opportunities to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The companies will remain independent but cooperate on GTO launch options for payloads. Read More
Axiom Space revises space station assembly plans
The company announced Dec. 18 a revised sequence of modules it will deploy through the end of the decade to assemble its Axiom Station, starting with a Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM) that will be installed on the ISS. The company says this will allow it to get to a free-flying station sooner while addressing NASA's needs to prepare for the deorbiting of the International Space Station. Read More | | |
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| | FAA updates Starship launch license for next flight
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation announced Dec. 17 that it issued a license modification for the suborbital Flight 7 mission. That flight will be similar to recent ones, with Starship/Super Heavy lifting off from SpaceX's Starbase facility at Boca Chica, Texas. The Super Heavy booster will attempt a return to Starbase while Starship will fly on a suborbital trajectory, splashing down in the Indian Ocean west of Australia. Read More
NASA endorses "continuous heartbeat" approach to human presence in LEO NASA published Dec. 16 the final version of a Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy, outlining the goals related to science, technology and other areas associated with a human presence in LEO. In the strategy, NASA endorsed the need to have humans in orbit continuously as it navigates the transition from the International Space Station to commercial stations at the end of the decade, resolving a debate between the need for a "continuous heartbeat" in LEO versus continuous capability to send humans to LEO. Read More
Firefly wins NASA contract for third lunar lander mission
NASA announced Dec. 18 it awarded Firefly a task order though its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program for a 2028 mission to the Gruithuisen Domes region on the near side of the moon. The task order is valued at $179.6 million. The mission, using Firefly's Blue Ghost lander, will deliver to the moon six payloads to perform imaging, spectroscopy and other observations, as well as sample lunar regolith. Read More | | |
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 | MILITARY |
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| U.S. military seeks commercial space technology for strategic edge
The U.S. Department of Defense is stepping up efforts to partner with emerging commercial space startups, viewing their dual-use technologies as crucial for maintaining military advantages, senior officials said Dec. 18. The push comes as China makes significant investments in its own commercial space sector, prompting concerns about technological competition between the world's two largest economies. Read More
Pentagon report highlights China's space advancements and AI-driven 'precision warfare'
The Pentagon's annual "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" report, released Dec. 18, underscores the accelerating pace of China's military modernization, with increasing focus on space and artificial intelligence technologies. The report, often referred to as the China Military Power Report, offers places new emphasis on China's use of satellites and AI to bolster its military operations. Read More
SpaceX launches U.S. Space Force 'rapid response' GPS mission
In a mission veiled in secrecy, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Dec. 16 at 7:52 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, sending a military Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to a medium orbit about 12,000 miles above Earth. Named Rapid Response Trailblazer-1 (RRT-1), this mission was a U.S. national security space launch and was also intended to demonstrate military capabilities to condense a typical two-year mission planning cycle to less than six months. Read More |
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| | OPINION |
|  | By Siamek Hesar, Dec. 16, 2024
| At this very moment, there are over 10,000 operational satellites in low Earth orbit, along with 3,500 decommissioned (or defunct) satellites, tens of thousands of pieces of debris 10 centimeters or larger, and more than 100 million smaller debris pieces — and the risks of conjunctions are increasing. These numbers will only multiply as the cadence of commercial and government launches rapidly increases. While there are varying forecasts for how many new satellites will enter orbit by 2030 that range from 20,000 to 58,000, there is no question that low Earth orbit (LEO) congestion is set to increase substantially.
With the growing traffic in space and the increasing number of alerts, conventional methods of risk assessment and collision avoidance that rely on manual processes and limited disclosure are no longer sufficient. For example, my company tracks, on average, more than 60,000 alerts per week for a constellation of around 100 satellites in a busy orbital environment. Or, consider that SpaceX's Starlink constellation performed nearly 50,000 collision avoidance maneuvers in just the first half of 2024. That amounted to 275 maneuvers per day. Read More
Why the Earth observation business model is flawed – and what must change By Jarkko Antila
Navigating the legal landscape of space mining: interpreting international space law
By Ethan Hutchings
The case to build a new ISS: the International Solar Sunshade
By Sita Sonty and Bruce Chesley
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