Plus: The latest industry movements on Golden Dome
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| A SpaceNews daily newsletter | 04/18/2025 | | | | A NASA safety panel warned Thursday of increasing risks to the operations of the International Space Station. At a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, members said they were "deeply concerned" as the ISS enters what they called the "riskiest period of its existence." They cited long-running concerns, such as small cracks in part of a Russian station module, as well as uncertainties about deorbit plans for the station and budget shortfalls in ISS operations. The panel did not make specific recommendations about addressing those concerns other than to ensure the station has "adequate budget and resources" through the end of the program. [SpaceNews] As NASA and its partners shift from the ISS to commercial space stations, some degree of multilateral coordination may be needed. At an event this week, former NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy said the ISS showed the benefits of high-level multilateral coordination bodies, suggesting something similar may be needed for the commercial stations that will succeed the ISS. She also emphasized the need for "harmonization" of space law among the countries participating in those stations. [SpaceNews] L3Harris is expanding its manufacturing facilities to support potential work on the Golden Dome missile defense system. The company announced this week a $125 million expansion of its manufacturing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, focused on increasing production of infrared sensing payloads, a central technology for the Golden Dome missile-defense shield that relies heavily on space-based capabilities. L3Harris, which already holds more than $2 billion in missile-tracking satellite contracts from the Space Force's Space Development Agency and the Missile Defense Agency, is looking to expand its industrial capacity to mass-produce payloads and satellites. [SpaceNews] SpaceX is partnering with two other companies to seek work on Golden Dome. SpaceX plans to collaborate with Anduril and Palantir on proposals to develop satellites to track and intercept missiles. The companies would reportedly offer the system as a service, with the government paying not for the satellites themselves but the services they provide. The proposal is seen as a frontrunner for the system, although the Pentagon is still working on an acquisition strategy and officials have said there will not be a single Golden Dome contract. [Reuters]
| | | | An Atlas 5 launch has been delayed by more than a week because of unidentified, and possibly classified, activities on the Eastern Range. United Launch Alliance scrubbed the Atlas 5 launch of Kuiper satellites last Wednesday because of weather and the launch has not been rescheduled. There are no issues with the rocket or spacecraft, and ULA said it is waiting for the range to approve a new launch date. That delay, along with a lack of SpaceX launch activity at Cape Canaveral this week, has led to speculation there are classified activities on the Eastern Range this week delaying launches. [Ars Technica] Lockheed Martin has named a new chief financial officer. The company announced Thursday that Jesus "Jay" Malave was stepping down as CFO, effective immediately, because he is "pursuing other opportunities," according to a company statement. The new CFO is Evan Scott, who has been at Lockheed for 26 years and most recently was CFO of the company's missiles and fire control business unit. [Breaking Defense] Scientists have found the "missing carbon" on Mars. Researchers had speculated that the planet should have large amounts of carbonate minerals created by taking carbon dioxide out of the planet's thick early atmosphere, but had struggled to find those minerals. In a paper published Thursday, scientists said they had finally detected those carbonates, in the form of a mineral known as siderite, thanks to data from the Curiosity rover inside of Gale Crater. The siderite, mixed in layers of sulfate materials, is in high enough concentrations to account for much of the carbon dioxide believed to be in the planet's atmosphere when Mars was warmer and wetter. [Science News] An Omega watch once owned by Neil Armstrong sold for $2.2 million. The 18-karat gold Omega Speedmaster was given to Armstrong after the Apollo 11 mission as a commemorative replacement for the NASA-issued Speedmaster he and other Apollo astronauts wore on their missions. The identity of the winning bidder at an auction Thursday was not disclosed. The $2.2 million is the third-highest price for a space-related artifact, after a Soviet Vostok capsule that sold for nearly $2.9 million in 2011 and Buzz Aldrin's flight jacket from Apollo 11 that sold for nearly $2.8 million in 2022. [collectSPACE]
| They're Not Saying It's Aliens, Yet
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"I'm not screaming, 'aliens!' But I always reserve my right to scream 'aliens!'"
โ Nikole Lewis, an exoplanetary scientist at Cornell University, on the discovery of a potential biosignature on the exoplanet K2-18b. [New York Times]
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