Plus: The latest on the Orion spacecraft for Artemis 2
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 05/02/2025 | | | | | Twelve companies won Space Force contracts to develop and deploy smallsats. The awards are part of the Space Test Experiments Platform (STEP) 2.0 program, a 10-year effort worth $237 million that allows the companies to compete for a series of task orders to build satellite buses carrying experimental payloads. STEP 2.0 is designed to modernize the government's ability to test and evaluate new space-based systems by tapping into the commercial small satellite market. The 12 companies range from major contractors General Atomics and Lockheed Martin to smaller providers such as Loft Orbital, Spire and York Space Systems. [SpaceNews]
Lockheed Martin formally delivered to NASA the Orion spacecraft for Artemis 2 Thursday. The handover marks the completion of the assembly of Orion by Lockheed and start of final preparations by NASA's Exploration Ground Systems program for the spacecraft's launch in early 2026. Lockheed said it is working to accelerate production of future Orion spacecraft, ultimately reaching one per year. The company said it supports the current Artemis architecture that uses SLS to launch Orion as the fastest way to return humans to the moon, but that it would be open, if requested, to consider alternative vehicles. [SpaceNews]
A former Space Force officer nominated to be undersecretary of the Air Force faced tough questions at his confirmation hearing Thursday. Matthew Lohmeier is a former Space Force lieutenant colonel who was removed from command in 2021 after publicly criticizing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the military. Some Democratic senators read aloud Lohmeier's previous public comments that suggested he might seek retribution against officers who supported DEI programs if confirmed to the position. Lohmeier during the hearing sought to distance his nomination from those past statements and told senators he would push for a politically neutral military. [SpaceNews]
Ursa Major won an Air Force Research Lab contract to conduct flight testing of its Draper engine. The $28.5 million contract, announced Thursday, covers the flight demonstration and integration of the engine into a test vehicle, with work scheduled through early 2027. The engine produces 4,000 pounds-force of thrust and uses storable propellants that make it suitable for use in missiles. Ursa Major completed ground tests of Draper in 2024. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | Two NASA astronauts successfully completed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Thursday. Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers wrapped up the spacewalk, lasting five hours and 44 minutes, at 2:49 p.m. Eastern. The two completed their primary tasks of relocating a communications antenna and installing a mounting bracket for a new solar array. They also completed some additional "get-ahead" tasks while outside the station. The spacewalk was McClain's third and the first for Ayers. [AP]
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Thursday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:51 p.m. Eastern, placing 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The Falcon 9 booster for this launch completed its 18th flight with a droneship landing. [Florida Today]
Radian Aerospace announced plans this week to develop a reentry vehicle for hypersonic testing. The company said it decided to pursue the Radian Reusable Reentry Vehicle (R3V) to test technologies it needs for its future Radian One spaceplane. The vehicle, though, can also be used for hypersonic testing and flying experiments in orbit to be returned. The company said R3V could be ready for its first flight, launching on a small or medium-class rocket, as soon as 2026. [SpaceNews]
NASA's SPHEREx space observatory has started observations. The spacecraft, launched into Earth orbit in early March, completed six weeks of checkouts and has started its mission to map the entire sky at 102 distinct infrared wavelengths. It will create four such maps over its two-year primary mission. SPHEREx, or Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, will provide data for astronomers probing the origins of the universe and presence of water in the Milky Way, among other objectives. [NASA/JPL]
| They're Saying It's Not Aliens
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"If the ultimate result of this story is that the public is more circumspect about future claims of life detection, that's not a terrible thing."
– Eddie Schwieterman, an assistant professor of astrobiology at the University of California, Riverside, on followup studies that raised doubts about the discovery of a potential biosignature on the exoplanet K2-18b. [Space.com]
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