Plus: Starlink's role in Iran
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Crew-11 astronauts are back on Earth, Hydrosat raised money for thermal imaging satellites, Starlink's role in Iran protests and more.
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Top Stories
Four astronauts are back on Earth after a medical issue accelerated their return. The Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour splashed down off the coast from San Diego, California, at 3:41 a.m. Eastern, more than 10 hours after undocking from the station. The spacecraft returned the four members of the Crew-11 mission after five and a half months on the station. NASA announced last week it would bring Crew-11 home more than a month earlier than planned after one of the astronauts suffered an unspecified medical incident. All four crewmembers appeared to be in good health as they were taken out of the capsule after splashdown. [SpaceNews]
Thermal imagery startup Hydrosat raised $60 million to expand its satellite fleet. The company announced the Series B round Thursday, led by Hartree Partners, Subutai Capital Partners and Space 4 Earth, with several other participating investors. Hydrosat, founded in 2017, operates two thermal-infrared satellites and provides customers with imagery and data products that reveal water stress in agriculture. The company will use the funding to deploy additional satellites as well as expand its presence in key regions such as Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, India and Latin America. [SpaceNews]
Space infrastructure startup ThinkOrbital has raised a seed round of funding to advance in-space inspection technologies. The company recently closed a seed funding round of undisclosed value led by TFX Capital to support work to advance its in-space X-ray imaging system and broader efforts in autonomous construction and servicing technologies. The technology could support inspection systems, robotic tooling, welding and assembly in commercial and government missions. The company plans to test the technology on two demonstration missions scheduled for March and October. [SpaceNews]
An Indian startup is entering the satellite servicing market. Aule Space announced Thursday it raised a $2 million seed round from investors led by pi Ventures, an Indian venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage deep tech companies. The company is working on a "jetpack" spacecraft that can attach to GEO satellites to extend their lives. Aule Space plans to differentiate itself from others in the field on cost, noting its advantages from operating in India as well as avoiding costly lidar and radar sensors in favor of computer vision technologies to approach and dock with spacecraft. The funding will support ground testing for a demonstration mission planned for next year. [SpaceNews]
An ESA mission to visit a comet will launch earlier thanks to delays with another mission. Comet Interceptor, which will make a high-speed flyby of a long-period comet, was scheduled to launch in 2029 on the same Ariane 6 as Ariel, an ESA exoplanet mission. Delays with Ariel, though, have pushed its launch to 2031, so ESA has approved an alternative plan to allow Comet Interceptor to fly as a co-passenger on an Ariane 64 launch of a commercial communications satellite. That launch could take place as soon as August 2028, a project scientist said at a planetary science meeting Wednesday. The alternative launch will also allow the mission to carry additional propellant. Comet Interceptor is designed to loiter near the Earth for up to several years until the right comet is discovered to visit. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Chinese company CAS Space carried out a successful test of a suborbital vehicle that could be used for space tourism flights. Lihong-1 lifted off at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Monday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The mission used a solid rocket with grid fins at the base, reaching an altitude of around 120 kilometers before a landing of the capsule assisted by a parachute. The test verified the reentry and deceleration processes for the capsule, as well as guidance and control during the booster's descent phase, according to a CAS Space statement. The company has plans for a larger capsule capable of carrying seven people on suborbital flights, modeled on Blue Origin's New Shepard. The company is also planning an orbital version of the capsule for in-space manufacturing. [SpaceNews]
China launched an Algerian remote sensing satellite overnight. A Long March 2C lifted off at 11:01 p.m. Eastern Wednesday from the Jiuquan spaceport. It placed into orbit the AlSat-3A Algerian satellite that will be used for civil remote sensing. [Xinhua]
SpaceX set a new pad turnaround record with a Starlink launch Wednesday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:08 p.m. Eastern, placing 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch took place exactly 45 hours after the previous launch from the pad, also carrying Starlink satellites. The old record, set just last month, was more than 50 hours between launches at the same pad. [Spaceflight Now]
Iranian activists are using Starlink to get around a government shutdown of internet access in the country. SpaceX says it is offering free access to Starlink for people in Iran after the government there cut off internet access amid major, violent protests. Activists said that Starlink has been essential to getting out news about the protests that have reportedly killed thousands there. The Iranian government, though, has been working to try to jam Starlink. SpaceX recently pushed out a firmware update to terminals there to implement ways to get around the jamming. [AP]
Mitsubishi has signed on to be a customer of the Starlab commercial space station. The Starlab Space joint venture announced this week that Mitsubishi agreed to pre-purchase capacity on Starlab. Mitsubishi is already one of the partners on the joint venture and is increasing its investment in Starlab Space. The companies declined to disclose the size of that investment or the value of the contract for capacity on the station. [Starlab Space]
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FROM SPACENEWS |  | Join us in DC on Wednesday, Jan. 21: The U.S. Space Force of 2040 will operate in a far more contested, congested, and fast-moving domain than the Guardians of today — one where space control, speed and resiliency will define U.S. military advantage. The next installment in our series with Johns Hopkins University will examine what the Space Force must become to succeed against growing threats. SpaceNews' Sandra Erwin will sit down with Space Force Gen. Shawn Bratton following a panel discussion with leaders from Vantor, K2 Space and JHU APL. Register now. | | |
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| "The change is an upgrade from economy to business class."
| – Michael Kueppers, ESA project scientist for Comet Interceptor, discussing at a meeting of the Small Bodies Assessment Group Wednesday the agency's decision to change launch plans for the mission to enable an earlier launch while also allowing the spacecraft to carry more propellant.
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