Plus: Worries about the future of SpaceX rideshare missions
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: former Starlink engineers launch a startup to produce satellite constellations, the satellite industry worries about the future of SpaceX rideshare missions, Rocket Lab wins NASA launch contracts and more.
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Top Stories
Former SpaceX engineers who helped build and scale Starlink have launched a startup aiming to deliver megaconstellations for governments and companies. Eclipse Space emerged from stealth Friday a year after its founding in Redmond, Washington, home to Starlink's main satellite production facility. Eclipse's business model is to design satellites and set up the manufacturing process, and also work with regional partners to assemble them, giving customers more control and ownership without first having to build a SpaceX-scale organization. Eclipse sees a future where every nation, along with most major enterprises, will want their own constellations, rather than buy capacity on other systems, as satellite networks become increasingly critical infrastructure. [SpaceNews]
Satellite companies are increasingly worried that SpaceX's rideshare program, which has offered low-cost access to space for several years, is going away. At least nine SpaceX partners and customers say that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029, and the manifest for the next couple of years is nearly full. The lack of capacity has left satellite companies scrambling to find a way to space, given limited and more expensive alternatives. While some look to SpaceX's Starship to provide new launch opportunities, others warn that the initial years of Starship operations may be focused on SpaceX's own programs, like Starlink and Artemis lunar landings. [SpaceNews]
A planned International Space Station spacewalk highlights concerns about the aging station. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams are scheduled to conduct a 6.5-hour spacewalk next Tuesday to replace a joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. NASA says the arm is designed for such repairs, with spare parts like replacement joints stored there. During a meeting of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, though, members warned of reduced margins for spare parts for the ISS that had reached "alarming levels," as well as the health of the spacesuits needed for spacewalks. [SpaceNews]
Boeing will use its 702MP bus for two military communications satellites. The company said Thursday that the two Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites it won as part of a $2 billion Space Force contract to build earlier this week will use that bus. The 702MP was introduced more than 15 years ago and is widely used for commercial communications satellites as well as the Space Force's Wideband Global Satcom satellites. The two new MUOS satellites are projected to launch in 2031 and 2032. [SpaceNews]
Commercial weather satellite operator Weather Stream says its latest satellite is now providing data. The company said GEMS2-Amethyst, launched on a Transporter rideshare mission in March, is now operational. It has a commercial microwave radiometer to provide 3D atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, key data for numerical weather models. Orbital Micro Systems, a subsidiary of Weather Stream, won a NOAA contract earlier this month to study potential commercial purchases of data from the satellite. Weather Stream plans to establish a GEMS commercial weather data constellation to gather data as frequently as every 15 minutes. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
NASA selected Rocket Lab to launch a pair of Earth and space science missions. NASA said Thursday it will use Rocket Lab's Electron to launch its Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer, or PolSIR, and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2, or TSIS-2, missions in 2027. PolSIR features a pair of cubesats, launched on individual Electrons, to measure the rise and fall of ice crystals in tropical clouds, as well as how those changes in ice affect storm development. TSIS-2 carries instruments to measure the amount of solar energy entering Earth's atmosphere as a successor to TSIS-1, an ISS payload. NASA used its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract to make the awards and did not disclose their value. [SpaceNews]
Botswana is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. The country's communications and innovation minister, David Tshere, signed the Accords at a NASA Headquarters ceremony Thursday. Botswana is the 68th country to sign the Accords and the ninth this year. The Artemis Accords outline best practices for space exploration, and NASA officials say they plan to use them as a vehicle for greater international participation in the Artemis lunar exploration effort. [SpaceNews]
Firefly Aerospace has acquired a space technology company. Firefly said Thursday it purchased Space-ng, a Colorado-based startup producing AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance systems. Its software was used by Firefly on its Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander mission last year. Firefly said it will incorporate Space-ng systems on its future lunar landers and orbital vehicles while continuing to sell them to other customers. The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal. [Firefly Aerospace]
Quantum Space has hired a new chief financial officer as it prepares to go public. The company said Thursday it hired Adarsh Parekh, who previously worked as CFO at Terran Orbital and Sidus Space. Quantum Space announced plans earlier this month to go public through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. [Quantum Space]
SpaceX is adding to its galaxy of star-themed brands. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on social media this week that its AI satellite constellation will be known as "Starmind." The company announced the planned constellation earlier this year, filing an application with the FCC for up to 1 million satellites. In a more down-to-earth milestone, SpaceX has filed plans with Texas regulators for a natural gas pipeline that will run from the Port of Brownsville to its Starbase launch facility as the company seeks to increase the cadence of Starship launches there. The pipeline is named "Starpipe." [Space.com | Reuters]
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Difficult Yet Easy
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"Of course, it proved to be extremely difficult but yet extremely easy all at the same time. Once we figured out how to do it, it worked well."
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– Dennis Jenkins, a former space shuttle engineer, describing the project he led to put the shuttle Endeavour on display in a vertical launch configuration, attached to an external tank and solid rocket boosters, at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, built around the shuttle, is scheduled to open in November. [collectSPACE]
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