By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: a trillion-dollar price tag for Golden Dome, the FCC approved sale of EchoStar spectrum to SpaceX, Starship set to launch next week and more.
If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know.
|
|
|
|
|
SPONSORED |
 |
ST Engineering MRAS is a leading manufacturer of complex aerostructures including nacelle systems and critical airframe components. Operating from a 2 million sq ft site near Baltimore, Maryland, the company houses design, engineering, manufacturing, and MRO operations under one roof. MRAS has been involved in the space industry since the 1960s, when it contributed components for the Gemini spacecraft as part of Martin Marietta Corporation. Today, MRAS applies its composite materials expertise to produce fuselage sections, external panels, heat shields, and technologies for reusable rocket structures and in-space satellite panels, supporting various space programs and projects. Read more. |
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the Golden Dome missile defense system will cost $1.2 trillion, far higher than the Pentagon's estimates. The CBO said Tuesday its 20-year cost estimate is driven by plans for Golden Dome to have space-based interceptors, which alone would account for about $743 billion. CBO emphasized that the study was not based on a detailed administration blueprint because the Defense Department has not publicly released the architecture it intends to build. Instead, the CBO used a notional missile defense system derived from the language of Trump's January 2025 executive order directing the Pentagon to pursue what became known as Golden Dome. The Pentagon has offered a cost estimate of $185 billion for Golden Dome. Separately, SpaceNews will host an event about the role software could play in such initiatives this afternoon. [SpaceNews]
The FCC approved the sale of EchoStar spectrum to SpaceX for direct-to-device services. The commission said Tuesday it would allow the geostationary satellite operator to sell around 115 megahertz of spectrum in separate deals that were announced last year with SpaceX and AT&T. Collectively, the pacts were worth more than $40 billion. However, EchoStar must set up a $2.4 billion escrow account for claims from infrastructure partners involved in the 5G network its Dish subsidiary abandoned following the spectrum sales. SpaceX's deal with EchoStar, valued at $22 billion, covers around 65 megahertz of nationwide spectrum that the FCC says promises "generational upgrades" for direct-to-device services. [SpaceNews]
SES has canceled orders for two GEO satellites being built by Thales Alenia Space. SES said Tuesday it canceled the satellites, ordered by Intelsat before its acquisition by SES, as part of post-merger fleet rationalization efforts. SES will instead extend the lives of existing satellites using on-orbit services ordered from SpaceLogistics, Starfish Space and Infinite Orbits. The IS-41 and IS-44 satellites were ordered by Intelsat in 2022 and planned for launch in 2027 to provide broadband across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The change comes after Eutelsat canceled its Flexsat Americas GEO satellite, also being built by Thales Alenia. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX is planning a first launch of the latest version of Starship next week. The company said Tuesday it set a May 19 date for the Flight 12 mission from its Starbase facility in South Texas. Flight 12 will be the first launch of version 3 of Starship, with various upgrades to the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage to improve performance. The company has called Starship version 3 the "production" version of the vehicle that will be used for deploying larger Starlink satellites and for Artemis lunar landings. [SpaceNews]
Varda Space Industries has signed a deal with a pharmaceutical company. Varda announced Wednesday it will collaborate with United Therapeutics to develop improved drugs in microgravity, starting with treatments for rare pulmonary disease. Those tests will be performed on Varda's spacecraft, which host pharmaceutical payloads and return the results in reentry capsules. Varda has identified the pharmaceutical industry as a key customer of its vehicles, citing interest in using microgravity to create novel drugs that can't be produced on Earth. [SpaceNews]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other News
China launched a set of broadband constellation satellites Tuesday. A Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 7:59 a.m. Eastern and placed into orbit 18 satellites for the Qianfan or Spacesail Constellation. The satellites join 126 others already in orbit for a constellation intended to ultimately have more than 10,000 spacecraft. [CGTN]
Google is in talks with SpaceX and other companies about launching orbital data center satellites. The discussions Google is having are focused with SpaceX, sources said, but also include other, unnamed launch providers. Google is working to demonstrate orbital data center technology with Planet on an effort called Project Suncatcher. Unlike other companies, including SpaceX as well as Blue Origin and Starcloud, Google has not yet publicly filed plans to deploy its own data center constellation. [Wall Street Journal]
Blue Origin is considering for the first time rasing outside capital. The company's CEO, Dave Limp, told employees in an all-hands meeting that it would need to bring in outside funding to significantly increase its launch rate. The company has been funded to date solely by founder Jeff Bezos and revenue from contracts. Limp did not state how much money Blue Origin would need beyond "a lot of capital," and added that while it was unlikely Bezos would sell Blue Origin, the company could go public at some point. [Financial Times]
TrustPoint won a Space Force contract to demonstrate a GPS-independent positioning, navigation and timing system. The $4 million award announced Tuesday is a Tactical Funding Increase, or TACFI, issued through SpaceWERX, the organization that manages the Space Force's Small Business Innovation Research contracts. Within the next 12 months, TrustPoint plans to manufacture and deploy a four-satellite system supported by four ground stations to test positioning, navigation and timing services independent of GPS. [SpaceNews]
Quantum Space announced plans to build its highly maneuverable satellites in Oklahoma. The company said Tuesday it will establish a manufacturing facility in Tulsa for its Ranger spacecraft, creating at least 50 jobs there. The Tulsa facility will be in addition to its headquarters in Maryland and a propulsion integration and test facility in California. The announcement came a week after Quantum Space hired former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who lives in Tulsa, as its new CEO. [SpaceNews]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Roaming Charges
|
"Many of us, myself and Ranking Member (Maria) Cantwell included, also recall the privilege of speaking directly with the crew during their mission on a call joined by bipartisan and bicameral legislators. I want to say to Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator… Jared, thank you very much for not charging us long-distance rates for that call."
|
– Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, in remarks Tuesday at a Capitol Hill ceremony honoring the Artemis 2 astronauts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
FROM SPACENEWS |
 |
Last chance to join the conversation: Missile defense has long relied on disparate systems to detect and track potential targets. Now, with the advent of the Golden Dome initiative and technological advances, software is playing a larger role as it aims to act as the glue for these programs and lead to unified decision-making and improved data-sharing. Join SpaceNews and Wind River today at 1 p.m. ET for a virtual event on software integration and strategic missile defense. Register now. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment