Plus: Using lasers to transmit power to the moon
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 01/21/2025 | | | | | The second Trump administration started Monday with calls to send humans to Mars but also confusion about who was running NASA. In his inaugural address, President Trump said the U.S. would pursue its "manifest destiny" by "launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars," but did not set a timetable to do so or provide other details. As Trump took office, NASA updated its website to list Jim Free, the agency's associate administrator, as its acting administrator with the departure of Bill Nelson. However, later in the afternoon the White House said that Janet Petro, the director of the Kennedy Space Center, would serve as acting administrator. NASA confirmed late Monday that Petro was the acting administrator but didn't explain why Free was originally listed in that position. The White House also formally nominated Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator on Monday, a post that requires Senate confirmation. Trump had said in December he planned to nominate him to lead the agency. [SpaceNews]
Two European companies have secured government funding to develop a geostationary payload that uses quantum technology to distribute encryption keys. Satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space and operator Hispasat said Tuesday they obtained $108 million in European COVID-19 recovery funds to develop the first quantum key distribution (QKD) platform operating from GEO. QKD leverages the quantum properties of photons to create encryption keys that cannot be intercepted without altering their state. The new project builds on ongoing efforts to test QKD technologies in low Earth orbit communications. [SpaceNews]
China is planning to examine the feasibility of using lasers to transmit power to spacecraft on the surface of the moon. Researchers at Chinese institutes, in a recent paper, concluded that it could be feasible for satellites in orbit around the moon to beam power to the surface using lasers. That could enable spacecraft on the lunar surface to operate through the two-week lunar night and in permanently shadowed craters at the poles, where sunlight is not available for solar power. The paper concluded, though, that issues such as efficiency, transmission ranges, visibility and operational challenges stand in the way of effectively utilizing laser power transmission. [SpaceNews]
China astronauts performed a spacewalk outside the Tiangong space station Monday. Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong spent eight and a half hours outside the station during spacewalk that ended at 12:12 p.m. Eastern Monday. The two installed space debris protection devices and performed an inspection of the station's exterior. This was the second spacewalk by the Shenzhou-19 crew since arriving at the station last fall. [Xinhua]
| | | | | A Falcon 9 launched a set of Starlink satellites overnight. The rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 12:24 a.m. Eastern and placed 21 Starink satellites into orbit. Notably, the launch webcast started late and did not show telemetry from the launch or views of the upper stage, raising suspicions the launch carried additional, classified payloads. [Spaceflight Now]
A Ceres-1 rocket launched five satellites Monday. The solid-fuel rocket, operated by Chinese company Galactic Energy, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:11 a.m. Eastern. It placed into orbit four satellites for the Yunyao-1 constellation that collects navigation satellite radio occultation data for weather forecasting and JTX-A-05, a satellite with a hyperspectral camera. [Xinhua]
A doorbell camera captured a celestial intruder. The camera on a door of a house in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island witnessed the impact of a tiny meteorite on the walkway leading up to the house last summer. The family who lives in the house was not home at the time of the impact but noticed dust and debris on the walkway when they returned, prompting them to check the doorbell camera. The footage is believed to be the first to capture both the sight and sound of a meteorite impact. [AP]
An organization has put the moon on a list of "at-risk" heritage sites. The World Monument Fund announced last week it included the moon as one of 25 endangered sites on its World Monuments Watch list for 2025, citing concerns that a new wave of commercial missions to the moon might despoil or loot historic locations like the Apollo 11 landing site. The organization didn't explain why it decided to include the entire moon, versus specific sites there, on the list. [New York Times]
| | | | | | | | | "I had the chance to be at the Starship launch out of Boca Chica just a couple of months ago. By the way, if you haven't done that, I encourage you. It is awesome — not in the Valley Girl sense of the word, but the true, inspiring awe to see a 22-story Statue of Liberty blasting into the skies."
– Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, at a confirmation hearing last week for Sean Duffy to be Secretary of Transportation.
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