By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Mars rock shows hints of past life, IHI partners with SatVu on thermal imaging satellites, Boeing uses 3D printing to speed up satellite production, and more.
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Top Stories
The Space Development Agency launched the first satellites for a communications constellation Thursday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:12 a.m. Eastern, carrying 21 satellites for Tranche 1 of the SDA's Transport Layer. The launch marks the beginning of the agency's ambitious effort to field a global network of data transport and sensor satellites known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The Transport Layer is designed to provide beyond line-of-sight connectivity essential for linking frontline forces globally. The satellites on this launch were built by York Space Systems, with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman also under contract to build Tranche 1 satellites. The Tranche 1 constellation consists of 126 Transport Layer data relay satellites and 28 missile warning and tracking satellites scheduled to deploy over the coming year. [SpaceNews]
NASA officials said a Mars rock sampled by the Perseverance rover offers the best evidence yet of past life on Mars, even as plans to return those samples remain in limbo. At a briefing Wednesday, agency officials and scientists discussed a newly published paper that found evidence of minerals in dark "leopard spots" spotted in a rock last year. Those minerals, they argue, could have been produced by primitive life early in the planet's history, when the planet was warmer and wetter. However, they acknowledged there are other mechanisms for producing the minerals that do not involve biology. Perseverance is collecting samples of rocks like this intended to be brought to Earth for further study, but NASA's 2026 budget proposal would cancel the Mars Sample Return program. NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy claimed at the briefing that the agency had found a better and faster way to bring the samples back, but did not provide any details about that alternative. [SpaceNews]
House appropriators added support for jeopardized NASA science missions in a funding bill. The House Appropriations Committee passed a commerce, justice and science (CJS) spending bill late Wednesday, sending it to the full House. Appropriators made few major changes to the version of the bill the CJS subcommittee passed in July, but did add language in a manager's amendment supporting the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Juno and New Horizons missions. All three operating missions are facing cancellation in the administration's budget request. Appropriators rejected an amendment that would have restored full funding to NASA's Office of Inspector General and revoked $85 million from the budget reconciliation bill to fund a transfer of the shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Space Center Houston. [SpaceNews]
Japanese company IHI is partnering with British startup SatVu on thermal imaging satellites. The companies announced a memorandum of understanding Wednesday where SatVu would provide an unspecified number of thermal imaging satellites to a sovereign constellation of 100 satellites IHI is developing. That constellation will include optical, radar, hyperspectral and other spacecraft. Under their agreement, IHI and SatVu will evaluate how this data can be applied in Japan, define requirements for a sovereign high-resolution thermal constellation and explore business structures for building and operating the satellites domestically. [SpaceNews]
Boeing is using additive manufacturing to accelerate production of satellite components. The company said Wednesday it has begun 3D-printing the structural panels that form the backbone of satellite solar arrays, a step the aerospace giant says will cut production times in half. The first 3D-printed arrays will carry Spectrolab solar cells aboard small satellites built by Millennium Space Systems, both subsidiaries of Boeing's Space Mission Systems division. The approach is designed to scale from small satellites to Boeing's larger spacecraft platforms, including its 702-class line, with market availability targeted for 2026. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Eutelsat is offering spare capacity on its ground station network to operators of Earth observation satellites. French satellite connectivity startup Skynopy announced Thursday it is working with Eutelsat to use excess capacity on OneWeb ground stations for companies operating Earth observation satellites. The partnership covers 600 Ka-band antennas across 42 sites worldwide, marking a major expansion from Skynopy's current network of 30 S- and X-band antennas across 15 sites. LEO Earth observation satellites will almost always be in view of at least one Skynopy ground station, enabling near real-time connectivity. Skynopy plans to add its own antennas at OneWeb sites in the S-, X- and Ka-bands. [SpaceNews]
A startup has raised an initial round of funding to commercialize a technology for building large structures in space. Rendezvous Robotics announced Wednesday a pre-seed round of $3 million from several investors. The funding will support its work to advance an MIT-developed technology called TESSERAE, involving tiles that can self-assemble and reconfigure in space. While TESSERAE were designed to be eventually used to make large space habitats, the company sees nearer-term applications making large arrays and antennas in space, avoiding the cost and complexity of deployable structures. [SpaceNews]
NASA is blocking Chinese nationals, even those with American visas, from working on agency programs. NASA moved last week to prevent Chinese citizens from participating in NASA projects, including accessing NASA facilities and networks. That includes people who have valid visas allowing them to work in the country. NASA said the move wad intended "to ensure the security of our work." [Bloomberg]
The Canadian government is extending the term of the head of the country's space agency. An order issued last week reappointed Lisa Campbell as president of the Canadian Space Agency for one year. Campbell's original five-year term was set to expire this month. She is only the third head of the agency to complete a standard five-year term. [SpaceQ]
A near Earth asteroid may have once had liquid water flowing through it. Analysis of samples of the asteroid Ryugu, returned by Japan's Hayabusa2 mission, showed evidence that water once flowed through the rocks. That liquid water may have come from ice inside an asteroid that was heated by an impact. Ryugu is believed to be part of a larger asteroid that broke off earlier in the history of the solar system. The findings suggest that asteroids retained water ice far longer after the formation of the solar system than previously believed. [Space.com]
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A Long Time Ago at a Space Center Far Away
| "At three and a half years old, I had my first visit to Kennedy Space Center. Between that, Estes rockets and Star Wars, this is the culmination of a dream."
| – Brian Hughes, NASA chief of staff, speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Aerospace Summit Tuesday about his background for the job.
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FROM SPACENEWS |  | Do you know an individual, company or breakthrough that's making waves in the space industry? Nominations for the 2025 SpaceNews Icon Awards are open through Sept. 12. Share who you think deserves to be recognized for innovation, leadership and impact in space. Categories include Lifetime Achievement, Emerging Space Company, Innovative Technology and more —view the full list and submit your picks. |
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