Plus: The FCC approves licensing overhaul
Welcome to our roundup of top SpaceNews stories, delivered every Friday! This week, an Indian commercial rocketmaker reached orbit for the first time, the Federal Communications Commission approved broad licensing reforms, NASA cancelled a CLPS mission and more.
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OUR TOP STORY
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By Jeff Foust Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket successfully lifted off on its inaugural flight July 18, becoming the first commercial Indian rocket to reach orbit.
Vikram-1 lifted off at 2:35 a.m. Eastern from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India’s main spaceport. The liftoff was delayed by 35 minutes because of a technical issue found at the T-minus 5-minute point in the countdown.
The rocket closely followed its flight path after liftoff, with the three solid-fuel stages performing as expected. The rocket deployed a liquid-propellant kick stage, the orbit adjustment module, which fired for about six minutes. The company declared that the upper stage reached its planned 450-kilometer low Earth orbit 15 minutes after liftoff.
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CIVIL
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More than two dozen major NASA projects say they have been affected by the loss of one fifth of NASA’s civil servant workforce in the last year, raising concerns about delays and cost increases.
The pilot of the Artemis 2 mission says NASA’s return to the moon should start with human landings in less challenging equatorial regions rather than go directly to the south pole.
The Federal Communications Commission voted July 22 to push satellite operators out of more C-band spectrum for a 5G auction next year, while approving a licensing overhaul aimed at accelerating the commercial space economy.
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MILITARY
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The U.S. Air Force has taken control of the Pentagon’s long-delayed effort to field jam-resistant GPS receivers, an organizational shift intended to close a persistent gap between developing the technology and installing it aboard military aircraft, ships, vehicles and weapons.
The European Union has ordered a 24-hour delay in the release of some Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery following a request from the United States based on concerns that the Earth observation satellites’ output could pose a security risk.
The U.S. Space Force has more than tripled the ceiling of a major national security launch contract to $17 billion as the military prepares for a sharp increase in satellite missions. |
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COMMERCIAL
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Commercial space station and spacecraft developer Vast has established a new division intended to support work in national security space. The company announced July 22 that it hired Melanie Stricklan to the new position of senior vice president of special programs.
NASA and Draper have mutually agreed to terminate a task order awarded to Draper in July 2022 as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, or CLPS. The task order, designated CP-12, was valued at $73 million.
Space Florida, the state’s space development and financing authority, announced July 21 that it signed an agreement to help finance construction of a new production facility for Relativity Space’s Terran R rocket near Cape Canaveral.
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Someone you know belongs on this list: Whatever category fits — technology, sustainability, defense, advocacy or an entire career's worth of impact — the Icon Awards are built to recognize achievements across the industry. Tell us about the innovators, collaborators and change-makers whose contributions have left a lasting mark. Nominations for this year's awards are open now through Aug. 14, and we want to hear from you. Submit your picks. |
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