First Tianlong-3 launch fails, Amazon and SpaceX duel over space safety in FCC filings
| By Jeff Foust
In this today's edition: first launch of a new Chinese rocket fails, optical crosslinks become a bottleneck for SDA's constellation, Amazon and SpaceX spar over satellite deployments, and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
The first launch of the Tianlong-3 rocket by Chinese company Space Pioneer failed on Friday. The rocket lifted off at 12:17 a.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Eyewitness videos showed apparent problems with the rocket during its ascent, amd both the company and Chinese state media later reported the launch had failed, without providing details about the failure. Tianlong-3 is a partially reusable medium-class rocket designed to place up to 22,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Tianlong-3 suffered an infamous static-test failure in mid-2024 when the rocket's first stage broke free and ascended several kilometers before crashing and exploding. [SpaceNews]
Artemis 2 is headed for the moon after a maneuver Thursday evening. The Orion spacecraft fired its main engine for nearly six minutes starting at 7:49 p.m. Eastern on its translunar injection burn. That maneuver put Orion on a free-return trajectory around the moon, with the closest approach occurring April 6. NASA officials said Thursday evening that the spacecraft is working well, with only minor technical issues being worked by the crew. Artemis 2 is the first crewed mission to fly to the vicinity of the moon since Apollo 17 in late 1972. [SpaceNews]
Raytheon won a $45.3 million contract modification for GPS satellite ground operations, even as officials weigh scaling back the program. The modification, announced Thursday, is intended to ensure the checkout of the next GPS satellite scheduled for launch later this month. The contract comes amid indications the Defense Department does not plan to continue full development of Raytheon's OCX ground system after years of delays and rising costs. Instead, officials are considering integrating portions of the Raytheon-developed software into the existing GPS ground system, known as the Architecture Evolution Plan, or AEP. To date, the Pentagon has awarded Raytheon nearly $4.6 billion for OCX development over roughly 15 years. [SpaceNews]
Optical terminals for intersatellite links have become a bottleneck in the development of the Space Development Agency's satellite constellation. When 21 Lockheed Martin satellites for the Space Development Agency's Tracking Layer Tranche 1 launched in October, each carried three laser communication terminals instead of the planned four because of the limited supply of the terminals. The supply challenge persists despite the agency placing orders for Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites more than four years ago, highlighting the difficulty of scaling production of a component that has historically been built in small numbers. SDA acting director Gurpartap "GP" Sandhoo acknowledged the constraint at a conference this week, describing optical terminals as an ongoing bottleneck in the agency's push to deploy a large constellation. [SpaceNews]
Amazon and SpaceX are arguing over whether deployment of Amazon Leo satellites poses a space safety risk. In a letter to the FCC Wednesday, SpaceX alleged that Amazon was inserting its broadband satellites into higher orbits than outlined in its FCC license. A February Ariane 6 launch of 32 Amazon Leo satellites put them into high orbits that SpaceX claimed created "unmitigable collision risks" for other satellites, requiring 30 collision avoidance maneuvers by Starlink spacecraft. Amazon Leo, in a response Thursday, said it is complying with rules and best practices, and noted that SpaceX complained only after it started moving Starlink satellites into lower orbits. Amazon said it is working with its launch providers on revised deployment plans to insert satellites into lower orbits. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Thursday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 7:55 a.m. Eastern and placed 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 15th for this Falcon 9 first stage. [Spectrum News]
SpaceX has raised the valuation it is seeking in its upcoming IPO. The company, which previously targeted a $1.75 trillion valuation, is now seeking a valuation of more than $2 trillion when it goes public, likely in June. A $2 trillion valuation would make SpaceX bigger than all but five publicly traded companies in the S&P 500: Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. [Bloomberg]
Former Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice is the new CEO of defense contractor Astrion. The company said Thursday it hired Vice as CEO and executive chair. He succeeds Dave Zolet, who has led Astrion since its formation in 2023. Astrion was created through the merger of engineering firms ERC and Oasis Systems; it later absorbed Axient, a space-focused contractor, in 2024. Astrion is working to grow its space-related business lines, including systems engineering and integration work tied to U.S. military and civil space programs. [SpaceNews]
Phantom Space has acquired satellite thermal hardware provider Thermal Management Technologies (TMT) to support its proposed orbital data center constellation. Phantom Space announced the acquisition Thursday, with TMT operating as a subsidiary. Phantom Space said bringing TMT in-house adds expertise in managing heat, which is a critical challenge for high-performance satellites designed to process data in orbit. The deal extends Phantom's vertical integration strategy, following its February purchase of legacy Vector Launch assets to support development of Daytona, a small, two-stage launch vehicle. Daytona, though, is years behind schedule, as is a planned satellite constellation. [SpaceNews]
A change in operations of NASA's Swift spacecraft has bought more time for a reboost mission. NASA awarded a contract last fall to Katalyst Space for a mission to reboost the Swift spacecraft, a gamma-ray observatory whose low Earth orbit is decaying. That reboost mission is scheduled to launch in June, but analyses earlier this year revealed there was a chance Swift's orbit would fall too low for that mission to work before it could launch. Spacecraft controllers have reoriented the spacecraft in its orbit to reduce drag, slowing its descent and providing a few months of schedule margin for the reboost mission. That reorientation, though, means that most of its instruments cannot operate since the spacecraft cannot reorient itself to observe targets. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | | FROM SPACENEWS |  | | The industry is always moving faster. SpaceNews reporting allows you to track every major development across the industry. Give yourself a head start – subscribe today and save 25% on a new subscription with code STAYAHEAD. Sale ends Friday, April 3. | | | | | | Space Plumber
| "I'm the space plumber. I'm proud to call myself the space plumber. I like to say that it is probably the most piece of equipment on board."
| | – Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch, describing late Thursday her work to repair the toilet on the Orion spacecraft.
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