Plus: Golden Dome courts tech companies
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Vast expands into satellite manufacturing, Golden Dome courts tech companies and investors, a launch leaves European and Chinese space scientists with a SMILE and more.
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Top Stories
Commercial space station developer Vast is expanding into satellite buses. On Tuesday, the company announced Vast Satellite, a line of high-power satellite buses leveraging technologies the company developed for its space stations. The first bus will produce 15 kilowatts of power and host payloads of 350 kilograms or more, with projected applications ranging from broadband communications to orbital data centers. Vast said a confidential customer has agreed to buy four satellites, with Vast planning to launch an initial set of 10 satellites in late 2027. [SpaceNews]
European imaging companies are stepping up to fill a gap in imagery of the Middle East. American companies have largely stopped the sale of images of the ongoing conflict involving Iran and the United States. Industry leaders at the third ESA EO Commercialization Forum in Seville, Spain, last week said the crisis created an opening for European Earth observation companies. Those companies said they have seen interest from global energy traders, insurers, shipping firms and news organizations, all of whom depend on commercial satellite imagery to monitor traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. However, it also highlighted Europe's remaining limitations, such as near-real-time capabilities available from larger American operators. [SpaceNews]
Pentagon officials are trying to convince commercial technology companies and their investors to participate in the Golden Dome missile defense system. At conferences, industry meetings and investor gatherings, Golden Dome officials have signaled that the Pentagon cannot build the system using conventional defense acquisition models alone. The Pentagon's outreach reflects a recognition that many of the technologies relevant to Golden Dome are now emerging from commercial firms rather than exclusively from traditional defense contractors. The Golden Dome program office is trying to create an environment where startups, venture-backed firms and traditional defense companies can work together while the Pentagon evaluates which industrial capabilities and pools of private capital are available to support the effort. [SpaceNews]
Lynk has won regulatory approval to test how its direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services can extend private utility networks. The one-year FCC license allows Lynk to test satellite links over 900 megahertz spectrum from Anterix with smartphones, computers, advanced routers and other communications devices across seven areas in the U.S. Using mobile network operator spectrum from space, Lynk is currently enabling intermittent messaging and alert services outside terrestrial coverage in a handful of island nations using seven satellites. The company plans to ramp up satellite deployment to improve services after closing its merger with Omnispace, which holds satellite S-band spectrum once earmarked for its own D2D constellation. [SpaceNews]
The Senate confirmed Matt Anderson on Monday as NASA's deputy administrator. The Senate voted 46-43 on party lines to confirm a set of nominees that included Anderson. He was first nominated to be deputy administrator last May and renominated in January, winning approval from the Senate Commerce Committee in March. NASA said in a statement that Anderson, as second-in-command of the agency, will help oversee NASA's operations and strategic initiatives. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
A European-Chinese space science mission successfully launched overnight. A Vega C rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 11:52 p.m. Eastern, placing the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) spacecraft into orbit. SMILE was jointly developed by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study how the Earth's magnetosphere interacts with solar storms. The launch was the first of the Vega C where Avio, the vehicle's prime contractor, also served as the launch operator. Arianespace had previously been the launch operator for Vega. [SpaceNews]
Four NASA payloads will fly on a lunar rover built by Astrolab. The company announced Monday it worked with NASA field centers to identify the payloads, including a laser retroreflector, lidar sensors, dust experiment and helium-3 instrument, for its FLIP rover. The payloads are flying through non-reimbursable Space Act Agreements. FLIP is scheduled to launch late this year on Astrobotic's Griffin-1 lander. [SpaceNews]
Federal regulators are investigating the death of a worker at SpaceX's Starbase. The worker died at a construction site at Starbase early Friday, but local authorities have not disclosed the identity of the worker or the cause of death. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Monday it is investigating the accident, which took place days before SpaceX plans to launch its next Starship test flight. [San Antonio Express-News]
NASA has transferred management of two lunar cameras to Intuitive Machines. NASA said Monday it handed over operations of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera on the LRO spacecraft and the ShadowCam instrument on South Korea's Danuri orbiter to Intuitive Machines after the principal investigators and science team members joined the company. The instruments had been managed by Arizona State University. Intuitive Machines said it received contracts worth $20 million over three years to continue operating the instruments. Images from the instruments will continue to be stored in NASA's Planetary Data System but Intuitive Machines plans to also use the images for orbital and surface navigation services. [Intuitive Machines]
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New Shuttle Smell
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"Endeavour was a little cleaner because the paint hadn't been chipped on the inside as much, but other than that, you almost couldn't tell. It had that new space shuttle smell."
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– Former NASA astronaut Tom Akers discussing the shuttle orbiters he flew on. He and fellow former astronaut Joe Tanner were inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday. [Orlando Sentinel]
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