Plus: China landed an orbital booster for the first time
Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, the mission to restore the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory's orbit began, China landed an orbital booster for the first time, environmental groups pushed the Federal Communications commission to pause orbital data center applications and more.
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OUR TOP STORY
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By Jeff Foust A Pegasus XL launched a mission to reboost a NASA astrophysics spacecraft on what may be the final flight of that rocket.
A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket was deployed from its L-1011 carrier aircraft at 4:36 a.m. Eastern on July 3, after three days of delays caused by weather and technical issues. The rocket placed its payload, the 425-kilogram Link spacecraft from Katalyst Space, into low Earth orbit nearly 13 minutes later.
Katalyst Space developed Link under a $30 million NASA contract awarded last September to attempt to save the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, or Swift, spacecraft in low Earth orbit. That gamma-ray observatory is in a decaying orbit and in danger of reentering late this year or early next year.
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SPONSORED |
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The Lee Company manufactures miniature, precision fluid control components designed and tested to withstand the extreme conditions associated with launch and operation in space. Lee isolation valves, check valves, flow restrictors, and filters are all recognized worldwide for superior quality, reliability, and performance. |
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CIVIL
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Environmental and scientific groups are calling for a halt to processing orbital data center applications, arguing the rush to move computing infrastructure into space has raised the stakes in a broader push for more megaconstellation oversight.
Singapore’s new space agency signed a cooperation agreement with its Japanese counterpart as part of its efforts to build up the country’s space industry.
NASA and the SBA signed a memorandum of agreement last week on the partnership, leveraging an existing SBA program that supports private investment in small businesses to help companies working on technologies needed for Artemis and other key programs.
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LAUNCH
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China launched its Long March 10B rocket early Friday and successfully recovered the first stage, marking a huge step for the country’s reusable rocket efforts.
China’s Tianwen-2 sample return spacecraft has arrived at the asteroid Kamoʻoalewa, revealing the near Earth asteroid to be a small, elongated rocky body.
Indian launch startup Skyroot Aerospace is preparing for its first orbital launch attempt as soon as July 12, with plans to quickly scale up to monthly launches. |
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COMMERCIAL
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Canadian company MDA Space is buying a French Earth data analytics company in its second big acquisition in recent weeks, part of wave of mergers and acquisitions in the space industry.
Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based propulsion startup developing rocket engines for hypersonic flight and space transportation, said July 8 it raised $91 million in a Series B funding round to expand development and production of its rotating detonation rocket engine technology.
Iridium Communications has completed its takeover of Aireon, bringing the aircraft-tracking venture fully in-house ahead of the satellite operator’s planned $8 billion sale to Rocket Lab. |
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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