| NASA is postponing the launch of three heliophysics missions by several months because of delays with the primary payload. NASA announced late Friday it was rescheduling the launch of the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft from spring 2025 to no earlier than September, citing the need for more time to complete "flight systems preparations" with the spacecraft. IMAP, once planned for launch in 2024, has suffered several delays. It will operate at the Earth-sun L-1 point, studying the heliosphere and solar wind. NASA is flying two other spacecraft on the IMAP launch, the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory and NOAA's Space Weather Follow-On L-1 spacecraft, which also will be delayed. [SpaceNews]
Turion Space has been awarded a $32.6 million contract by the U.S. Space Force to launch three small satellites designed to monitor and track objects in orbit. The contract is part of a Strategic Financing Initiative (STRATFI) agreement from SpaceWERX, the Space Force's technology innovation arm, that matches government funds with private investment to accelerate the development and deployment of commercial space systems. The satellites, scheduled for launch in 2026 and 2027, will carry payloads for space surveillance and debris tracking in LEO and GEO. The company launched its first satellite in 2023 to collect space situational awareness data. [SpaceNews]
Three in-orbit servicing companies won a U.K. government contract to help develop regulations for their planned missions. The British subsidiaries of Japan-based Astroscale, Switzerland's ClearSpace, and D-Orbit of Italy said Monday they jointly secured £690,000 ($869,000) from the U.K. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for an initial "regulatory sandbox" phase. The companies will prepare a report in the next three months discussing various types of rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and make recommendations for licensing and regulation of them. A year-long second phase would likely follow to help flesh out a broad regulatory framework for RPO missions in partnership with the British government. [SpaceNews]
A defunct U.S. military weather satellite broke up in orbit last week. The U.S. Space Force said it detected a "low-velocity fragmentation event" involving the DMSP-5D2 F14 spacecraft late Wednesday. Commercial tracking services confirmed the breakup, with LeoLabs reporting Friday they were tracking more than 50 pieces of debris. The satellite launched in 1997 into sun-synchronous orbit as part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), operating until 2020. Several other DMSP satellites from that era, along with NOAA weather satellites using a similar design, have suffered similar breakups in recent years, likely because of a battery design flaw. [SpaceNews]
NASA's Parker Solar Probe will pass closer to the sun than any other spacecraft tomorrow morning. The spacecraft will come within 6.1 million kilometers of the sun during the flyby, although it will be several days before controllers are able to restore communications with the spacecraft as it moves away from the sun. Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 and has been gradually lowering its orbit to achieve this final orbit, providing closeup views and other data of the sun and its corona. The spacecraft is protected by a heat shield that is working better than expected, project officials said earlier this month, and they believe that Parker can continue operating in this orbit for years. [SpaceNews]
Liechtenstein signed the Artemis Accords on Friday. The small European country signed the Accords in a ceremony at NASA Headquarters. Liechtenstein is the 52nd country to sign the Accords, which means the number of signatories is now more than half of the membership of the U.N.'s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), which debates space issues. The growth of the Accords, advocates argue, helps create a "true global consensus" on topics ranging from interoperability to use of space resources. [SpaceNews]
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