🚀 Galileo launches on rocket Europe would rather not name

Plus, a push to move AST out of FAA, China poised to launch new moon mission, and Space Force readies $8 billion satcom procurement

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Monday, April 29, 2024 Top Stories The U.S. Space Force is kicking off a major procurement of next-generation communications satellites. The Evolved Strategic Satcom (ESS) program, with an estimated cost of $8 billion, will supplement and eventually replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite constellation to provide critical jam-resistant communication channels for military needs including nuclear command and control. The Space Systems Command issued a pre-solicitation notice earlier this month alerting that a final request for proposals will soon be released for the ESS satellites. The Space Force is aiming to start production in 2025 and field a new constellation of at least four satellites in geostationary and highly elliptical orbits by 2030. Boeing and Northrop Grumman are the top contenders for this contract as both companies have been developing prototypes for ESS since 2020 under government contracts. [SpaceNews] China is preparing to launch a lunar sample return mission this week. The Long March 5 rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 spacecraft rolled to the launch pad at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center for a launch expected to take place Friday, based on navigational warnings. The Chang'e-6 mission aims to land on the far side of the moon, collect up to two kilograms of lunar material and return it to Earth. It would be the first mission to return samples from the lunar farside and only the second mission, after Chang'e-4, to land there. [SpaceNews] An advisory committee recommends that the FAA's commercial space office be moved out of the agency. At a meeting last week, the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) unanimously approved a recommendation calling for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation to be transferred from the FAA and made a standalone office under the Secretary of Transportation. Such a move, committee members argued, would give the office more access to resources and attention from senior leadership than it currently gets as a tiny part of the FAA, with less than one percent of the agency's overall budget and workforce. The office was created in 1984 as a standalone entity but moved into the FAA in 1995. The transfer could be done by the Secretary of Transportation unilaterally, or as part of an upcoming commercial space bill. [SpaceNews] NASA says SpaceX is making good progress on a key technology for its Starship lunar lander. At an advisory committee meeting Friday, NASA said SpaceX successfully tested propellant transfer on its latest Starship flight in March, moving propellant from one tank to another within the vehicle. That sets the company up to perform a refueling demonstration next year, where one Starship will dock with another in low Earth orbit and transfer propellant. On-orbit refueling is critical to SpaceX's plans for its Starship lunar lander, with multiple refueling flights needed to fill the lander's tanks for a lunar landing mission. [SpaceNews] NASA is looking for public input on space technology priorities. The agency has created a list of 187 technology shortfalls, where current technologies require additional development to meet NASA's needs. NASA has created a website where people can evaluate the importance of those shortfalls or suggest additional ones. NASA is accepting input until May 13, and will use the data as part of its overall effort to prioritize technologies to maximize the value of its budget. [SpaceNews] Agile Space will provide the propulsion system for a responsive space mission. Agile Space will supply the main engines, attitude control thrusters, propellant tanks and other critical propulsion components for True Anomaly's Jackal spacecraft that will fly on the Victus Haze mission. True Anomaly said it is developing an advanced "highly propulsive" configuration of the Jackal to enable in-orbit maneuvers as well as rendezvous and proximity operations that are required by the Space Force for the mission. The two companies are co-investing in a novel chemical propulsion system for the mission, but did not disclose details about it. [SpaceNews]   Footprints on the Moon Begin with L3Harris For six decades, L3Harris has teamed with NASA to develop technology that's been critical to the evolution of human spaceflight. In fact, our technology has been part of every crewed NASA mission: from Project Mercury to Apollo to the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station era and now beyond – as part of NASA's Artemis campaign. L3Harris' contributions to NASA's Artemis missions include propulsion, communications and launch avionics for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway lunar space station. Learn more. Other News A Falcon 9 launched a pair of European Galileo navigation satellites Saturday. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 8:34 p.m. Eastern from the Kennedy Space Center carrying two Galileo satellites. The European Union Agency for the Space Programme, the EU agency that handles Galileo operations, confirmed the satellites were in orbit and operating several hours later. The launch is the first of two that the EU procured from SpaceX because of a lack of available European rockets. European officials, in statements about the launch, studiously avoided mentioning that the satellites were flown on Falcon 9. The launch was the 20th and final flight of this booster, which SpaceX said it expended because of the performance requirements for the mission. [SpaceNews] Another Falcon 9 launched a set of Starlink satellites Sunday. The rocket launched at 6:08 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral and deployed 23 Starlink satellites. The flight was the 13th for this booster, which landed on a droneship in the Atlantic. [Spaceflight Now] A Dragon cargo spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Sunday. The CRS-30 Dragon undocked from the station at 1:10 p.m. Eastern and is slated to splash down off the Florida coast early Tuesday. The spacecraft is returning about 1,860 kilograms of science experiments and hardware from the station. The undocking will allow NASA to proceed with a move of the Crew-8 Dragon spacecraft from one port to another on Thursday, freeing up the preferred docking port for the CST-100 Starliner crewed test flight scheduled for next week. [Space.com] Yahsat shareholders have approved a merger with geospatial technologies company Bayanat. Shareholders of both companies voted in favor of the merger last week, with the merger expected to be completed by the middle of the year. The merged company, which will be called SPACE42, seeks to combine geospatial and space communications technologies for new space-based services. Meanwhile, Yahsat is continuing to address a problem with the Thuraya 3 satellite, which suffered a payload anomaly earlier this month. The company warned it expected the L-band services provided by it "to remain significantly diminished for a prolonged period." [Yahsat] The Hubble Space Telescope is once again suffering from a gyro problem. The telescope entered safe mode last week because of what NASA described as an "ongoing" issue with one of its three remaining gyros. The same gyro triggered a safe mode in November when it returned faulty data. NASA said it is looking at options to resolve the problem, including turning off they gyro and moving into an operating mode that requires only a single gyro. [NASA/GSFC]   The Week Ahead Tuesday: Tiangong Space Station: Scheduled undocking of the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft, landing in inner Mongolia. Washington: The Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable (STIGUR) meets to discuss NASA space technology prioritization efforts. Washington: The House Science Committee holds a hearing on NASA's fiscal year 2025 budget request at 10 a.m. Eastern. Washington: The Meridian Space Diplomacy Forum will discuss space policy and commercialization topics. Washington: The House Appropriations Committee defense subcommittee holds a hearing on the Department of the Air Force's 2025 budget request at 2 p.m. Eastern. Tuesday-Thursday: Tucson, Ariz.: The Interplanetary Small Satellite Conference will include sessions on smallsat missions throughout the solar system. Wednesday: Washington: George Washington University's Space Policy Institute hosts a book launch event for the Oxford Handbook of Space Security at 11 a.m. Eastern. Washington: The House Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee holds a hearing on the 2025 budget request for national security space programs at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 9:43 p.m. Eastern. Thursday: Online: The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies' Schriever Spacepower Series features Maj. Gen. Gregory J. Gagnon, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, at 9 a.m. Eastern. Online: The Brookings Institute hosts a webinar on "Exploring Mars and the moon" at 2 p.m. Eastern. Friday: Wenchang, China: Anticipated launch of a Long March 5 carrying the Chang'e-6 farside lunar sample return mission. Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10:59 p.m. Eastern. Sunday-Wednesday, May 8: Kissimmee, Fla.: The GEOINT 2024 Symposium will examine topics related to geospatial intelligence. Forward First Up to a friend or Subscribe for yourself Copyright © 2024 Multiverse Media Inc., All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Space Force's Tough Sell - SpaceNews This Week

Top stories of the week from SpaceNews

A weekly roundup of the top SpaceNews stories from this week, every Friday Welcome to our weekly roundup. This week, the Space Force challenged industry players to make a real use case for the technologies its developing before the military buys in, NASA launches a solar sail and more. Our Top Story Space Force to industry: Prove value of new commercial space services By Sandra Erwin, April 23 2024 WASHINGTON — The Space Force's new commercial strategy is an attempt to kick off real talks with the private space industry about partnering on new business opportunities, a senior official said April 23. While the military has been buying bread-and-butter commercial space services like launches and satcom for decades, it's still figuring out if — and how — it would actually put emerging offerings like in-orbit refueling to use. "We talk a lot about space refueling, but we don't really know what the case is for its military utility," Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said at an Atlantic Council event. Other News From the Week Artemis Accords vs. ILRS Recently, China's International Lunar Research Station initiative saw one new national membership compared to the Artemis Accords' three new signatories. Artemis: Switzerland: GDP: $818.4 billion. Space Flex: Contributed to first comet landing; launching privately-owned, global IoT connectivity constellation. Sweden: GDP: $591.7 billion. Space Flex: Operates space data lab for AI imagery analysis. Slovenia: GDP: $60.1 billion. Space Flex: "A rising leader in space," —Jamie Harpootlian, the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia. ILRS: Nicaragua: GDP: $15.7 billion. Space Flex: Opened domestic satellite navigation system monitoring station. Commercial Starliner crewed test flight passes key review The first crewed flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is a step closer to launch after completing a major pre-launch review April 25. Commercial space station module developer Gravitics wins Space Force contract Gravitics, a startup developing modules for commercial space stations, will use its technologies for tactically responsive space applications for the U.S. Space Force. CIVIL Companies offer proposals for Apophis asteroid missions Companies ranging from Blue Origin to a startup are proposing concepts for missions to visit an asteroid before it makes a very close flyby of Earth in five years. China's Shenzhou-18 crew arrive at Tiangong space station China's latest crew of three astronauts arrived at the Tiangong space station Thursday following launch from Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert. Major changes approved for ClearSpace-1 mission The European Space Agency has approved major changes in the ClearSpace-1 debris-cleanup mission. Under the new plan approved April 23 by ESA, OHB SE of Bremen, Germany, will provide the satellite bus in addition to leading systems integration and launch. China on track for crewed moon landing by 2030, space official says China is on target to reach its goal of putting its astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade, according to the country's human spaceflight agency. Electron launches South Korean imaging satellite and NASA solar sail Rocket Lab launched a South Korean smallsat and a NASA solar sail experiment on the company's fifth flight of the year April 23. Copyright (C) 2024 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 USA Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

Rocket Lab's Victus Haze mate True Anomaly sheds staff

Boeing's CST-100 still go for May 6 crewed debut • Psyche's 226 million-kilometer laser transmission

A SpaceNews daily newsletter | Friday, April 26, 2024 Top Stories A new crew launched to China's Tiangong space station Thursday. A Long March 2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 8:59 a.m. Eastern and placed the three-person Shenzhou-18 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft docked with the Tiangong station six and a half hours later. The Shenzhou-18 crew of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will relieve the Shenzhou-17 crew of Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, who have been on Tiangong since late October. Shenzhou-17 is scheduled to return to Earth April 30. [SpaceNews] The first crewed flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is a step closer to launch. NASA completed a flight test readiness review Thursday for the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, giving approval to proceed with a launch scheduled for May 6. NASA said they are only dealing with a few minor issues with the spacecraft and launch pad, but the launch will also depend on the schedule of the departure of a cargo Dragon spacecraft from the International Space Station and relocation of a Crew Dragon spacecraft to free up a docking port for Starliner. The CFT mission, flown by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, is a final test of the spacecraft before certified by NASA for crew rotation missions to the station. [SpaceNews] True Anomaly, a startup that recently won a Space Force contract for a tactically responsive space mission, is laying off about a quarter of its workforce. About 30 people were laid off from the company this week, which the company said came after an assessment found "duplication of roles and functions across the company." True Anomaly raised $100 million in December and won a Space Force contract for the Victus Haze mission earlier this month. True Anomaly said the layoffs will not affect its ability to carry out that project or other work. The company is working on spacecraft intended for various military applications requiring in-orbit maneuvering and object interaction. [SpaceNews] Gravitics, a company developing modules for commercial space stations, has won a Space Force contract. The company announced Thursday it won a $1.7 million SBIR from SpaceWERX, the Space Force's innovation arm, and the Space Systems Command's Space Safari Program Office. The contract will cover work to use the company's technologies for tactically responsive space applications. The announcement provided few details about that work, but a Space Force official said the company's module technology "offers an unconventional and potentially game-changing solution" for tactically responsive space. [SpaceNews]   Footprints on the Moon Begin with L3Harris For six decades, L3Harris has teamed with NASA to develop technology that's been critical to the evolution of human spaceflight. In fact, our technology has been part of every crewed NASA mission: from Project Mercury to Apollo to the Space Shuttle to the International Space Station era and now beyond – as part of NASA's Artemis campaign. L3Harris' contributions to NASA's Artemis missions include propulsion, communications and launch avionics for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and Gateway lunar space station. Learn more. Other News Two cosmonauts wrapped up an ISS spacewalk ahead of schedule Thursday. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub were scheduled to spend up to seven hours outside the station installing equipment, but finished their tasks in about four and a half hours. The two completed the deployment of a radar antenna on the Nauka module that was started in a spacewalk last year, installed and adjusted other hardware, and fetched a biological exposure experiment. [Space.com] Japan is targeting the end of June for the next flight of its H3 rocket. The Japanese space agency JAXA said the next launch is scheduled for no earlier than June 30 and will carry ALOS-4, an Earth observation satellite. This will be the third flight of the H3 after a failed inaugural launch last year and a successful second launch in February. [AP] NASA has set a new distance record for an optical communications demonstration. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment on the Psyche spacecraft transmitted data to Earth using a laser earlier this month from a distance of 226 million kilometers. The test was also the first time that the experiment, which had only been transmitting test data, sent telemetry from Psyche. DSOC is designed to demonstrate the ability of laser systems to provide high-bandwidth communications at interplanetary distances. [NASA/JPL] NASA's TESS mission is back in safe mode. The spacecraft went into safe mode Tuesday during a "routine activity," halting science operations. Engineers are investigating the problem to see if it is related to one that triggered a safe mode earlier in the month. TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, was launched six years ago to map the sky and discover exoplanets. [NASA] Tree seeds flown on the Artemis 1 mission are starting to take root. The Orion spacecraft flew more than 1,000 tree seeds on that late 2022 mission, and a sapling from one of those seeds was delivered to the North Carolina governor's mansion this week by Artemis 2 astronaut Christina Koch, a native of the state. NASA is offering the seeds to educational and community organizations in a program modeled on Apollo "moon trees" grown from seeds flown on the Apollo 14 mission. [collectSPACE]   Awesome Spacecraft "This spacecraft is awesome. I worked with our other friends for a little while, too, and that spacecraft is also awesome." – NASA astronaut Suni Williams when asked Thursday to compare the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft she will be flying in next month with SpaceX's Crew Dragon.   Forward First Up to a friend or Subscribe for yourself Copyright © 2024 Multiverse Media Inc., All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.