Plus: New leaders in NASA's science divisions
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 01/13/2025 | | | | | Blue Origin scrubbed its first launch attempt for its New Glenn rocket overnight. The company called off the launch shortly after 3 a.m. Eastern Monday, citing problems with an unspecified vehicle subsystem that could not be fixed before the day's launch window closed at 4 a.m. Eastern. Blue Origin did not elaborate on the cause for the scrub or announce a new launch date. The scrub is the latest delay for the long-awaited first flight of the rocket. The launch, called NG-1 by the company, will carry a technology demonstration payload for its Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle that will remain attached to the upper stage. [SpaceNews]
Astranis announced Friday that four small GEO communications satellites it launched last month have passed initial tests. The four Block 2 satellites completed initial commissioning and have started to use their electric propulsion systems to move from their initial transfer orbits to GEO. The company, which is operating the spacecraft on behalf of customers that have leased their broadband capacity, expects to bring Block 2 services online by the middle of the year. [SpaceNews]
Retirements and reassignments have led to new leadership at some of NASA's science divisions. Mark Clampin, director of NASA's astrophysics division, announced Sunday he was stepping in as acting deputy associate administrator for the agency's Science Mission Directorate for the next year after the retirement of Sandra Connelly. The astrophysics division will be led by Shawn Domagal-Goldman, deputy director of the science and exploration directorate at Goddard. That news came days after NASA announced it was hiring Louise Prockter as acting planetary science division director for the next year. Lori Glaze, the longtime planetary science division director, took a position in NASA's exploration systems directorate last year. [SpaceNews]
As the fire threat recedes for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, relief efforts are stepping up for affected employees. The Eaton Fire that burned more than 14,000 acres in the Los Angeles area near JPL is no longer an immediate threat to the lab. While the fire caused no damage to JPL itself, it's estimated that several hundred JPL employees are among those who had their homes damaged or destroyed by the fire. Relief effort for them and others are underway, including one fund specifically for JPL and other Caltech employees. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | SpaceX set another booster reuse record on a Falcon 9 launch Friday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 2:11 p.m. Eastern, placing 21 Starlink satellites into orbit. The mission marked the 25th launch and landing of the Falcon 9 first stage designated B1067, a new company record. [Spaceflight Now]
China launched a sea-based rocket Sunday night. A Jielong-3 rocket lifted off at 10 p.m. Eastern from a barge in coastal waters offshore from the city of Haiyang. It placed into orbit a group of 10 Microcentispace-01 smallsats for Chinese company Future Navigation designed to augment navigation services. The satellites are part of a constellation that will ultimately number 190 satellites in low Earth orbit. This was the fifth launch of the Jielong-3, a solid-propellant rocket designed to place up to 1,600 kilograms into orbit. [SpaceNews]
Pakistan is considering allowing three broadband megaconstellations to provide services in the country. The Pakistan Space Activities Regulatory Board is weighing requests from OneWeb, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology and SpaceX's Starlink to operate in the country, but the board has yet to formally approve any of the companies. SpaceX reportedly plans to invest millions of dollars to help build out a local network in Pakistan if approved. [The News (Pakistan)]
Two Indian satellites approached within three meters of each other Saturday in a trial run before a docking attempt. The Space Docking Experiment, or SpaDeX, spacecraft made a close approach to one another before withdrawing to allow engineers to analyze data. The Indian space agency ISRO did not state when it expected to attempt a docking of the two spacecraft, testing technology needed for future robotic and crewed missions. [PTI]
NASA has picked 15 early-stage technologies for initial studies. The agency announced Friday the selection of the concepts for Phase 1 studies as part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) with a combined value of about $2.6 million. The technologies include concepts for a fusion propulsion system for spacecraft and lunar habitats made of glass produced from local materials. One winner was Nobel laureate John Mather, who received a NIAC award to study an inflatable starshade that could be used with a space telescope to observe Earth-sized exoplanets. [NASA]
| | | | | | The Week Ahead
Monday:
Monday-Thursday:
Tuesday:
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Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 on the Transporter-12 rideshare mission at 1:49 p.m. Eastern.
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Washington/Online: The Space Policy Institute at George Washington University hosts Book Launch: China and the new Moon Race, featuring author Dean Cheng at 3 p.m. Eastern.
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
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