| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: SPACs return to the space industry, China issues commercial space regulations, SpaceX launches NASA smallsats and more.
If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know.
| | | | | | Top Stories
House appropriators want NASA to study alternatives for a new SLS upper stage. In a report accompanying the commerce, justice and science spending bill that funds NASA, the House Appropriations Committee directed NASA to evaluate alternatives for the Exploration Upper Stage, which NASA is developing for the Block 1B version of SLS that will first launch on the Artemis 4 mission. Appropriators said they are interested in options that reduce cost and schedule while maintaining performance. Other provisions in the report include $300 million for Mars Sample Return, a mission that the administration sought to cancel, and increased funding for development of commercial space stations. [SpaceNews]
Startup Innovative Rocket Technologies, or iRocket, says it plans to go public through a SPAC merger. The company said Wednesday it agreed to merge with BPGC Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company backed by Wilbur Ross, the former secretary of commerce. The companies said the deal would value iRocket at $400 million but did not disclose how much money iRocket would raise. BPGC Acquisition Corp. originally raised $345 million but has given back most of that money through shareholder redemptions. The company, founded in 2018, says it plans to develop reusable launch vehicles, but has announced little progress beyond engine tests. [SpaceNews]
The Chinese government wants to improve quality control in commercial space businesses. The China National Space Administration issued new rules this week with the aim of establishing a robust quality management and supervision framework for commercial space projects in China. The move will likely provide clarity in terms of regulatory frameworks and processes, such as pathways to launch site access and launch licenses, and lead to greater rigor at all stages of operations. However, it could also increase administrative burdens for commercial space companies and bring new barriers to entry to the commercial space sector. [SpaceNews]
Chinese startup Space Pioneer has completed a launch pad for its Tianlong-3 rocket. The company said Wednesday that its launch pad for Tianlong-3 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center had recently passed final construction acceptance. That acceptance included tests using a full-scale mockup of Tianlong-3, a two-stage medium-class rocket. The company has not provided a recent update on the schedule for the vehicle's first launch. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
A Falcon 9 launched a NASA space science mission and several other smallsats Wednesday. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:13 p.m. Eastern, placing several payloads into sun-synchronous orbits. The primary payload was NASA's Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS, mission, a pair of smallsats to study how the solar wind couples with the Earth's magnetic field. Several other smallsats on the launch included one to test a novel smallsat design and new Earth science sensor, as well as one that will test a terminal that can communicate with both NASA's TDRS and commercial communications satellites. [SpaceNews]
A new variant of Japan's H3 rocket completed a static-fire test Tuesday. In the test, the H3 first stage fired its main engines for 25 seconds, with the Japanese space agency JAXA announcing the test went as planned. The test involved a "Type 30" version of the H3 with three LE-9 engines in the first stage, rather than two, but with no solid rocket boosters. The Type 30 H3 will first fly later this year carrying test payloads. [Yomiuri Shimbun]
The Mexican government has criticized a SpaceX effort to salvage Starship rocket parts off the Gulf coast. SpaceX chartered a vessel that operated off the Mexican coast recently, retrieving the aft section of a Super Heavy booster that landed in the water in November. That debris was returned to port in Brownsville, Texas, earlier this week. At a press conference Wednesday, Mexican officials said that while the ship had permission to operate in Mexican waters, the ship didn't meet unspecified "international standards" for that work. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has argued that Starship launches have damaged the environment in Mexico and has considered suing SpaceX. She said Wednesday the government was preparing a report on those environmental impacts. [San Antonio Express-News]
A new study has raised more doubts about a potential biosignature discovered in an exoplanet's atmosphere. Astronomers announced in April that they had detected in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b the gas dimethyl sulfide, which on Earth is only produced by life. Other researchers, though, raised doubts about the detection. The latest study, using additional data, failed to make a definitive detection of dimethyl sulfide. The research also found there are ways to produce the molecule without life, meaning that even if it is found in the planet's atmosphere, it may not be a reliable biosignature. [New York Times]
| | | | | | In Vegas It's Pronounced "Comps"
| "How can we now leverage everything we learned from CLPS and put it into CMPS. It does not roll off the tongue like CLPS… Somebody called it 'compass' the other day and I was like, that's a stretch."
| | – NASA Associate Administrator for Science Nicky Fox discussing NASA's proposed Commercial Mars Payload Services (CMPS) program, modeled on its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS, or "clips") program, during a talk at the AIAA ASCEND conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | Fact or fiction on the future of the space economy: Drawing from their new book Space to Grow, authors Matthew Weinzierl (Harvard Business School) and Brendan Rosseau (Blue Origin) discuss how market dynamics, shifting public-sector priorities, and defense investments are driving a new era of space activity. Whether you're a policymaker, investor, operator, or observer, this Space Minds episode captures the critical questions facing the future of space enterprise. | | | | | | | ๐ ๐ ๐ง Don't miss SpaceNews' FirstUp Audio
The day's most important space headlines delivered in less than 10 minutes every Monday-Friday. Listen on our website, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.
| | | | | | Sign up for our other newsletters -
Military Space: Veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin delivers news and insights for the military space professional. Delivered Tuesday. -
China Report: Analysis of China's space activities and what it means as one of the United States' top competitors from correspondent Andrew Jones. Delivered every other Wednesday. -
SpaceNext AI: Exploring the intersection of space and artificial intelligence. Delivered Thursday.
-
SpaceNews This Week: A round-up of the week's top stories, including our conference coverage. Delivered Friday. -
Video & Audio: Upcoming live programs, scheduled guests, and recent Space Minds podcast episodes, webinars and other events. Delivered Friday. -
Marketing Minute: Covering PR, marketing, and advertising trends, upcoming SpaceNews opportunities, and editorial insights for communications and marketing leaders. Delivered monthly. | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment