Vantor wins non-Earth imaging contract, CAS Space files for IPO
| By Jeff Foust
In this today's edition: NASA on track for Artemis 2 launch attempt today, Vantor wins contract to image space objects, Virgin Galactic plans return to commercial flights, and more.
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| | | | | | Top Stories
NASA has started fueling the Space Launch System rocket for an Artemis 2 launch attempt later today. NASA managers gave the go-ahead shortly after 7:30 a.m. Eastern to begin loading liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants into the SLS. That keeps preparations on track for a launch during a two-hour window that opens at 6:24 p.m. Eastern today. Weather forecasts continue to call for an 80% chance of acceptable weather for the launch, and NASA said it is not working on any significant technical issues with the SLS or Orion spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
The Artemis 2 astronauts are ready to go after three years of preparations. The four astronauts on the mission — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — were announced almost exactly three years ago for a mission then planned for late 2024. At prelaunch events, the crew said that said they had handled the starts and stops of launch preparations in recent months but felt excited as the launch neared. The crew had bonded over the years of training and acknowledged the attention they got from the many firsts for this mission. [SpaceNews]
Vantor, an Earth imaging company, has won a contract to also provide intelligence on space objects in low Earth orbit. The $2.3 million contract from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is the first for non-Earth imaging, or observations of objects in orbit rather than the Earth's surface. The move reflects a broader push by the U.S. government to incorporate commercial capabilities into space domain awareness missions, traditionally handled by classified military systems. The award is the third for Vantor, the former Maxar Intelligence, under NGA's Luno program. [SpaceNews]
A Chinese commercial company has conducted an on-orbit demonstration of a flexible robotic arm. Sustain Space's Xiyuan-0 satellite, also known as Yuxing-3 (06), launched in mid-March. The satellite features a flexible robotic arm with the aim of testing simulated refueling operations, force-compliant manipulation and precision control. Sustain Space said all the planned tests of that robotic arm have been successfully completed. The tests mark apparent progress towards on-orbit servicing capabilities such as satellite life extension, in-space assembly and debris mitigation, although the company has not yet outlined detailed plans or timelines for next missions and the transition from demonstrations to operations. [SpaceNews]
Virgin Galactic expects to resume commercial suborbital launches by the end of the year. In an earnings call this week, the company said its first next-generation suborbital spaceplane is in final assembly, with ground tests starting in April and flight tests in the third quarter. Once in service, the vehicle will initially fly four times a month, ramping up to 10 or more flights monthly by mid-2027. The company, with a backlog of more than 650 customers, is reopening ticket sales, offering 50 tickets at $750,000 each. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
SpaceX won a Space Force task order for two launches of Space Development Agency satellites. Space Systems Command announced Tuesday it selected SpaceX to launch two sets of missile tracking satellites being built by Sierra Space starting in the second quarter of 2027. One Falcon 9 launch will take place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and the other from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The task order under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 contract is valued at $178.5 million. [Inside Defense]
Chinese launch company CAS Space is seeking to raise more than $600 million in an initial public offering. The company filed Tuesday on the STAR Market to raise 4.18 billion yuan ($607 million). CAS Space, spun out of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, would use the money to support work on reusable launch vehicles. The company successfully launched its first Kinetica-2 medium-lift rocket on Monday. [Reuters]
SpaceX will meet with the banks running its IPO next week. Morgan Stanley is leading the meeting next Monday alongside Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs. A syndicate of other banks will also participate in the IPO, which is expected in June. SpaceX is seeking to raise up to $75 billion in the IPO, valuing the company at $1.75 trillion. [International Financing Review]
Delta Air Lines has opted to go with Amazon, not SpaceX, for broadband services on its airliners. Delta announced Tuesday it will start outfitting its airliners in 2028 with terminals for Amazon Leo. It is a rare win for Amazon, which is still in the early phases of building out its constellation. JetBlue is the only other airline that has announced it will use Amazon Leo as other airlines in the United States and elsewhere sign up with Starlink. [Bloomberg]
The European Space Agency has a new head of space transportation. ESA announced Wednesday that Gรฉraldine Naja had taken over as its director of space transportation. Naja had previously been director of commercialization and industry partnerships at the agency, and will retain that role on an acting basis as she moves full time into leading the space transportation directorate. She succeeds Toni Tolker-Nielsen, who is retiring after nearly 40 years in various roles at the agency. [ESA]
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| "I am not aware of any pranks that anyone intends to pull on the flight crew or the launch team itself. I'll just leave it at that."
| | – Jeff Spaulding, NASA senior test director for the Artemis 2 mission, when asked at a briefing Tuesday about the possibility of any pranks during Wednesday's launch attempt, on April Fools Day.
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