Plus: Vega launches a South Korean satellite
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Spire and Deloitte team up on cybersecurity satellites, Vega launches a South Korean satellite, NISAR begins science operations and more.
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Top Stories
Spire Global won a contract from Deloitte to build eight satellites for a space cybersecurity system. Spire Global will supply the spacecraft for Deloitte's planned constellation carrying Silent Shield, an intrusion-detection payload built to spot cyber threats targeting satellites. The satellites will also host advanced radio-frequency and geolocation payloads to support Deloitte's commercial and government clients. The deal expands a partnership that began earlier this year, when Deloitte launched Deloitte-1 and worked with Spire to test the Silent Shield payload. [SpaceNews]
Reditus Space is the latest startup to announce plans to develop reusable spacecraft. The Atlanta-based company announced Monday it raised $7.1 million in a seed round from several investors to develop the first version of ENOS, a spacecraft that will host microgravity research and manufacturing payloads in orbit and return them to Earth. The first ENOS spacecraft is scheduled to launch next summer and spend eight weeks in orbit before splashing down. ENOS is designed to be almost entirely reused, with upgrades planned to make it fully reusable. Reditus is one of several companies that have announced plans for spacecraft that can operate in space, return to Earth and be reused; several others are testing other spacecraft to support microgravity research applications and return their payloads in capsules not intended for reuse. [SpaceNews]
BAE Systems is partnering with a semiconductor manufacturer to produce improved chips for space applications. BAE Systems and GlobalFoundries said they will work together to bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing techniques to space-grade electronics closing the performance gap between space-rated chips and their terrestrial counterparts. The "RH12 Storefront" service pairs GlobalFoundries' production line with BAE's portfolio of pre-hardened circuit blocks that customers can use to create customized chips. [SpaceNews]
Isar Aerospace won a contract to launch a European tech demo satellite next year. Isar said Monday it signed an agreement with ESA to launch the ΣYNDEO-3 spacecraft on a Spectrum rocket in late 2026. ΣYNDEO-3, part of a program funded by the European Union and run by ESA, will test 10 payloads in orbit on a spacecraft built by Redwire Space's European subsidiary. Isar has performed one Spectrum launch to date, which malfunctioned seconds after liftoff, and said this fall it was preparing for the second launch "as soon as possible" but without a more specific launch date. [SpaceNews]
A Vega C launched a South Korean satellite on Monday. The Vega C lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 12:21 p.m. Eastern and deployed KOMPSAT-7 into low Earth orbit 44 minutes later. The spacecraft will be used to provide high-resolution imagery for the South Korean government. The launch is one of the last before responsibility for Vega launches shifts from Arianespace to Avio, the prime contractor for the rocket. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Another day means another Starlink launch. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:28 a.m. Eastern Tuesday, placing 27 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch took place less than 24 hours after another Falcon 9 launched from Florida, putting 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. [Spaceflight Now]
The Senate Commerce Committee has already scheduled a vote on Jared Isaacman's renomination to be NASA administrator. The committee announced Monday it will hold an executive session next Monday, Dec. 8, to vote on several pending nominations, including Isaacman's. The announcement came before his confirmation hearing, scheduled for Wednesday morning. Isaacman's first nomination was favorably reported by the committee at the end of April with all the committee's Republicans, and several Democrats, voting for him, but the White House pulled the nomination before the full Senate could vote. [Reuters]
One senator says he has assurances from Isaacman he will carry out plans to move a shuttle orbiter from Virginia to Houston. In a statement Monday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he met with Isaacman, who confirmed he would implement a provision of the budget reconciliation act passed in July that effectively directs NASA to move the shuttle Discovery from the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to Space Center Houston. That plan is opposed by the Smithsonian, which notes that Discovery is no longer property of NASA. [Office of Sen. John Cornyn]
A joint U.S.-Indian Earth science mission has started science operations. The Indian space agency ISRO announced last week that the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) spacecraft had completed commissioning and started regular science operations. NISAR launched in July and shortly thereafter successfully deployed a 12-meter radar antenna. NISAR's prime science mission, observing the Earth using L- and S-band radars, is scheduled to last five years. [The Hindu]
Scientists have detected a small-scale type of lightning on Mars. A study published last week said the lightning was detected not by seeing flashes of it but instead "hearing" electric discharges using a microphone on the Perseverance rover, which recorded the electrical interference in the microphone's electronics caused by the lightning. The bolts of lightning are only millimeters long and likely caused by friction between dust particles, particularly during dust storms. The lightning does not pose a risk to the rover but scientists speculate something like it could have damaged a Soviet lander that lost contact with the Earth seconds after touchdown in a dust storm in 1971. [Space.com]
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| That's a Relief
| "A supernova blowing up that close will light up the sky. It'll be very, very bright but far enough away that it won't be lethal."
| – Michael Shull, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado Boulder, on the ultimate ends of the stars Epsilon and Beta Canis Majoris, each about 400 light-years away. Fortunately, the stars aren't expected to explode for a few million years. [CU Boulder]
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