HaleysComet

Space Force looks to energize industry with next round of launch contracts

"Anywhere from 60 to 70 missions are projected for the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 procurement."

"Companies expect to hear details about the Space Force’s plan to attract new launch providers to compete for as many as 70 missions projected for the 2025-2034 timeframe."

-https://bit.ly/3Zxmc6Y

Startup developing sea-based launch pads

"A startup is proposing one solution to the increasing congestion at major launch sites: build mobile launch pads that operate at sea.

The Spaceport Company is planning to demonstrate a sea-based launch platform in May, conducting four sounding rocket launches from a modified ship in the Gulf of Mexico."

-https://bit.ly/3SOzWbn

The future of Starship includes national security missions

"As SpaceX prepares to attempt Starship’s first orbital flight, the company is contemplating military applications for the super-heavy launch vehicle.

Starship holds the potential to become a mobility platform for the U.S. military, said Gary Henry, senior advisor for national security space solutions at SpaceX.

Speaking Feb. 21 at the Space Mobility conference, Henry said the experience SpaceX will gain launching Starlink satellites on Starship and developing the vehicle for NASA’s Artemis program will help the U.S. military better understand how to employ it for cargo delivery and other missions."

-https://bit.ly/3ICECvV

China unveils lunar lander to put astronauts on the moon

"China has revealed a concept for a lunar lander it hopes will put astronauts on the moon around the end of the decade.

A model of the Chinese lunar lander was unveiled at an exhibition to mark three decades of China’s human spaceflight program Feb. 24 at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

The model shows that China is working on a staged descent concept, which differs from the Apollo landings. A propulsion stage will be used for most of the descent, before the lander segment completes a powered descent and soft landing on the lunar surface."

-https://bit.ly/3xSSTzX

Abbott Budget Proposal Recommends $350 Million for Texas Space Commission

"Texas has been the leading state in space exploration and innovation, and a recent assurance from Gov. Greg Abbott seeks to continue that dominance into the future.
Abbott released his budget proposal for the 88th Legislative Session recommending that $350 million be provided for the creation of the Texas Space Commission.

The allocated funds will be used “to support the development of a coordinated strategic plan that will position Texas as a global leader in space travel, research, and technology,” stated Abbott in his budget document.

Texas has a projected $32.7 billion dollar surplus in its budget of $188.2 billion available in general revenue that can be used to fund these types of projects."

-https://bit.ly/3kEDSOZ

Interview with Bernard Harris, the 1st African-American spacewalker

"Improving STEM education for kids across the nation is Harris' "terrestrial mission."

"Harris was part of NASA's 13th astronaut class, which the agency selected in 1990. He became an astronaut in 1991 and flew for the first time two years later, racking up 10 days off Earth on the space shuttle Columbia's STS-55 mission.

He launched for the second and final time in February 1995, on the STS-63 mission of the shuttle Discovery. It was on this flight that Harris carved his name into the history books: On Feb. 9, he took a lengthy excursion outside Discovery, becoming the first African-American ever to perform a spacewalk."

-https://bit.ly/3Z4KtkT

The next space frontier: your backyard

"The cosmos is becoming accessible to new space programs around the globe, to entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers, and students. The next big event in the story will unveil political, economic, and social implications across a much broader spectrum with a geographic redistribution of space activities. The trend has gained momentum in the US, where the space economy is scaling beyond traditional hubs.

Until recently, most space-related activities revolved near NASA centers such as the ones in Florida, Texas, and California. There are thousands of space companies across the entire space value chain in the United States. Thriving commercial space activity is now easily observed across the country. There are exciting space startups in states such as Arizona, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Utah, and the list continues. Several factors explain the recent phenomenon; below are our two cents on the matter, having seen hundreds of pitch decks recently and through our experience talking to founders, fellow investors, government officials, and other stakeholders."

-https://spacenews.com/the-next-space-frontier-your-backyard/

NASA to Launch Israel’s First Space Telescope

"NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT). ULTRASAT, an ultraviolet observatory with a large field of view, will investigate the secrets of short-duration events in the universe, such as supernova explosions and mergers of neutron stars.

Led by the Israel Space Agency and Weizmann Institute of Science, ULTRASAT is planned for launch into geostationary orbit around Earth in early 2026. In addition to providing the launch service, NASA will also participate in the mission’s science program."

-https://go.nasa.gov/3lXSt8C

Eutelsat nearly ready to seek bids for building OneWeb Gen 2

"A search for companies to build OneWeb’s second-generation constellation could kick off by summer, French satellite operator Eutelsat said Feb. 17 as it closes in on buying the British venture.

A request for proposals will “most likely” be issued in the three months to the end of June, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke said during financial results, enabling launches to start in 2025 or 2026 for a low Earth orbit (LEO) network estimated to cost $4 billion."

-https://bit.ly/3Sn3b4F

Relativity Space sets date for first Terran 1 launch

"Relativity Space announced Feb. 22 it will attempt the first launch of its Terran 1 rocket as soon as March 8 after securing a launch license and skipping a planned final test.

The company announced it received a Federal Aviation Administration launch license for its first Terran 1 mission. With the license in hand, the company says it is targeting a launch of the rocket March 8 between 1 and 4 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida."

-https://bit.ly/3lZNGDM

Space Force: Smaller launchers made case to compete for national security contracts

"The newly released a draft request for proposals for National Security Space Launch Phase 3 contracts was heavily influenced by new players in the launch industry that want a seat at the table and are investing in launch systems the government wants to leverage, Purdy told SpaceNews at the Space Mobility conference."

"The draft solicitation lays out a dual-track approach for the next NSSL round of contracts to be awarded in 2024. The first one, called Lane 1, allows “on-ramps” for newer launch companies that would have been left out if the Space Force had stuck with the NSSL Phase 2 approach that only selected two providers — United Launch Alliance and SpaceX — for five-year contracts."

-https://bit.ly/3xOuT0N

Opinion | Inflation’s squeeze on space and national security contracts

"Moving into 2023, the signs of economic health for the country are increasingly mixed. Every day the markets seem to swing drastically back and forth on the latest news about energy prices, China’s productivity, the Russian war in Ukraine, enduringly high inflation, the debt ceiling, and overall public sentiment about the state of the economy. For short-sellers and day-traders, the pessimism and volatility may be great – but for everyone else, and for our critical aerospace industrial base, these challenges continue to hit very hard."

-https://bit.ly/3Idzq1B

AI startup using satellite imagery to trace the path of Chinese balloon

"Days after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina, AI startup Synthetaic backtracked the balloon’s trajectory across the continental United States using Earth imaging data from Planet Labs satellites.

Synthetaic founder Corey Jaskolski said this is a novel way to use commercial satellite imagery to track aerial vehicles that might not be seen by radar or by ground observers. It’s also another way to exploit open-source data to independently confirm where the Chinese balloon or other objects came from, he said. “The map we put together overlays our sightings and all the social media reports of where the balloon was.”

-https://bit.ly/3lJm7yq

Space Force to change how it buys national security launches

"The U.S. Space Force on Feb. 16 released its procurement strategy for the next national security launch services contracts expected to be awarded in 2024.

The Space Systems Command issued two draft requests for proposals for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3. This is a “dual-lane acquisition approach” that marks a departure from the previous NSSL Phase 2 procurement and is intended to create more opportunities for emerging launch providers."

-https://bit.ly/3Iap16T

Virgin Galactic aircraft returns to flight

"The carrier aircraft for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital spaceplane made its first flight in more than a year Feb. 15 as the company moves one step closer to beginning commercial service.

The airplane, VMS Eve, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, flying for more than two and a half hours before landing back at the airport. The plane reached altitudes of up to 12,650 meters during the flight, according to flight tracking data.

The flight was the first for VMS Eve since it flew to Mojave from Spaceport America in New Mexico in October 2021. Virgin Galactic performed an extensive overhaul of the plane while in Mojave, including replacing the center pylon where the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is attached."

-https://bit.ly/40YpTUC

Orbit Logic acquired by aerospace and defense contractor Boecore

"Orbit Logic, a developer of mission planning and scheduling software for satellite ground systems, has been acquired by aerospace and defense engineering contractor Boecore..."

"Boecore, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, provides systems engineering, cybersecurity and software services to the Defense Department and contractors in the defense, space and missile defense sectors. The company in January 2022 was acquired by Enlightenment Capital, a private equity firm based in the Washington, D.C. area,

Enlightenment Capital principal Thomas Young said the acquisition of Orbit Logic will help Boecore expand its footprint in the space sector."

-https://bit.ly/3K8q0am

Saudi astronauts selected for Axiom private astronaut mission

"The Saudi Space Commission said Feb. 12 that Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Alqarni will be part of the Ax-2 mission to the ISS scheduled for launch no earlier than May on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. They will join the mission’s commander, former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, and a customer, John Shoffner, for the mission scheduled to spend 10 days at the station."

-https://bit.ly/3RXqZvN

World’s first space platforms utilising H2O2 in concentration above 98% – next level of green space propulsion

"With 25 projects from the European Space Agency (ESA) since Poland’s accession to ESA 10 years ago, Łukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation became a R&D hot spot in space propulsion in Central-Eastern Europe. Completed and ongoing projects with key spacecraft integrators (i.e. Airbus Defence & Space, OHB and Thales Alenia Space), as well as established players in space transportation systems (i.e. ArianeGroup, Avio, Nammo) and major new space companies – the institute have the ultimate goal of bringing new components, technologies and subsystems to the international market."

-https://bit.ly/3XoxWqJ

Firefly’s first U.S. Space Force launch targeted for May

"The mission will attempt to demonstrate industry capabilities to send a payload to orbit on 24 hours’ notice.

Firefly in September won a $17.6 million contract to launch a Millennium Space small satellite to low Earth orbit, a so-called Tactically Responsive Space mission that is part of a broader effort by the U.S. Space Force to accelerate the timeline for deploying payloads to orbit."

-https://bit.ly/3Xk5NBi

A Bold Plan to Beam Solar Energy Down From Space

"European Space Agency: Just put the solar arrays in space."

"The agency recently announced a new exploratory program called Solaris, which aims to figure out if it is technologically and economically feasible to launch solar structures into orbit, use them to harness the sun’s power, and transmit energy to the ground.

If this concept comes to fruition, by sometime in the 2030s Solaris could begin providing always-on space-based solar power. Eventually, it could make up 10 to 15 percent of Europe’s energy use, playing a role in the European Union’s goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “We’re thinking about the climate crisis and the need to find solutions. What more could space do to help mitigate climate change—not just monitor it from above, as we’ve been doing for the past few decades?” asks Sanjay Vijendran, who heads the initiative and plays a leading role in the agency’s Mars program as well."

-https://bit.ly/3RKrF7u

Every Company Has the Potential to Enter the Space Economy. Here's How.

"We are living through a new era of space activity, and the evidence is all around us. From striking images of private sector rocket launches to new satellite and data capabilities to the innovative tools that will permit lunar exploration, the space industry is more vibrant and ripe with opportunity than ever before — and this is true not just for "space companies," whose primary business is space activity, services and tools, but for every company.

This may at first seem counterintuitive. The current space economy is valued at $469 billion, according to The Space Report, and is expected to top $639 billion by 2026. This growing economy is fueled by thousands of businesses large and small worldwide, and many of these companies are not space-specific. Instead, they are "space adjacent," which means their products and services have applications in the space industry, as well as in other sectors, like high-precision manufacturing, data science and artificial intelligence, and life sciences and biology."

-https://bit.ly/3DN6JXV

Intuitive Machines moves landing site of first mission to lunar south pole

"Intuitive Machines is moving the landing site for its first lunar lander mission to the south polar region of the moon, a decision that will generate more revenue for the company but could delay the lander’s launch.

Intuitive Machines announced Feb. 6 that its IM-1 lander mission had been moved to the south polar region of the moon. The company had previously planned to land the spacecraft in a valley in Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms, citing flat terrain that was preferred for the landing and abundant sunlight throughout the two-week lunar day.

The company said in a statement that it worked with NASA to identify a new landing site to support the Artemis lunar exploration campaign, which plans to land crewed missions near the south pole as soon as 2025 where astronauts can access potential water ice deposits."

-https://bit.ly/3Yk6iwA

Supporting Sustainable Development Through Space Exploration

"Meet SWOT, the satellite that will teach us more about Earth's water than we've ever known. SWOT is NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite that will survey more than 90% of the planet's water, from small freshwater lakes to vast ocean depths. NASA says SWOT's high-definition instrumentation will provide researchers with an unprecedented view of how water resources are changing and how disaster-preparedness organizations can protect communities.

"The satellite will address some of the most pressing climate change questions of our time," according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Some have said that humans must leave Earth to save it. Actually, we've been doing that for decades. Space exploration played a role in responding to the 1970s U.S. energy crisis, developed a method to produce biofuel from algae, and contributed to water filtration methods."

-https://bit.ly/3WXPCJK

What future for the Space Launch System?

"To great jubilation, NASA’s Space Launch System performed a spectacularly successful first test flight beginning Nov. 16, 2022. Almost a month later, after multiple distant orbits of Earth’s moon, the Orion capsule returned Dec. 11 to a safe splashdown and recovery."

"SLS is a Saturn 5-class rocket, designed to return humanity to Earth’s moon with a launch architecture that includes minimal assembly or refueling in orbit. It studiously avoids all the experience and lessons learned building, refueling, and maintaining the International Space Station in orbit. Called Artemis and loosely modeled on the 1960s Apollo project that beat the then-Soviet Union to the lunar surface, the architecture uses space shuttle hardware and personnel to the degree possible. A second test with astronauts, Artemis 2, is now planned for no sooner than 2024. Based on the program’s history to date, no one should expect that date to be achieved."

-https://bit.ly/3WWgp97

NASA hits limits of space station utilization

"NASA has effectively reached full utilization of the International Space Station given limitations on crew time and the ability to get cargo to and from the station, an agency official said Jan. 30.

Speaking at a meeting of a National Academies committee working on the decadal survey for biological and physical sciences in space, Kirt Costello, NASA ISS chief scientist, said that the agency had reached the limits of its share of station resources to do research."

"For much of the station’s history, the limitation for doing research on the station has been available crew time. However, he said that has become less of a problem after the introduction of commercial crew vehicles that allow NASA to support four astronauts on the U.S. segment of the station, rather than three, providing more crew time."

-https://bit.ly/3DD9B9L

Orbital Sidekick raises $10 million from customers and existing investors

"Hyperspectral imaging startup Orbital Sidekick raised $10 million in an investment round led by Energy Innovation Capital.

“This round is a massive validation of our technology from the energy industry,” Dan Katz, Orbital Sidekick CEO and co-founder told SpaceNews by email. “We’re looking forward to helping our customers use the insights from our intelligence platform to minimize their emissions, meet regulatory requirements and reduce their carbon footprints as part of our collective transition to more sustainable energy systems.”

Energy companies Williams and ONEOK, the University of Minnesota Endowment, 11.2 Capital, Syndicate 708 and In-Q-Tel, the U.S. intelligence community’s strategic investor participated in the funding round. Williams and ONEOK are Orbital Sidekick customers. 11.2 Capital, Syndicate 708 and In-Q-Tel also participated in Orbital Sidekick’s Series A round announced in 2021.

The additional funding comes as Orbital Sidekick prepares to launch its six-satellite Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation, known as GHOSt."

-https://bit.ly/3Rl9RzG

The Top 10 Most Exciting Space Missions To Watch In 2023, Ranked

"After the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in late 2021 and Artemis-I in 2022 the next 12 months will see our Moon, the moons of Jupiter, Venus, bizarre asteroids and some landmark test flights and exciting one-off missions."

"Here’s everything you need to know about space exploration, NASA missions and more in 2023..."

The return to Earth of OSIRIS-REx
NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission launches
Europe’s new mission to Jupiter
SpaceX’s orbital flight test of Starship
Blue Origin’s orbital test flight of ‘New Glenn’ rocket
Astrobotic’s Peregrine mission to the lunar surface
Rocket Lab’s ‘Venus Life Finder’ probe
India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar rover
Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander
Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT)

-https://bit.ly/3wJXi7v

NASA meeting works to define exploration architecture

"NASA officials met last week to review its overall exploration architecture, although it was unclear exactly what they agreed to and when they will make it public.

Agency leaders met at the Kennedy Space Center for what NASA calls the Architecture Concept Review, a meeting linked to the development of 63 objectives for its lunar and Mars exploration plans released in September.

“Today is the start of NASA’s Architecture Concept Review, where we’ll gain concurrence on our Moon to Mars architecture amongst our colleagues, enabling us to work toward the same plan,” tweeted Catherine Koerner, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, on the first day of the meeting Jan. 23."

-https://bit.ly/3HHCsff

Europe seeks greater autonomy in space traffic management

"European officials say they’re making progress to achieve “strategic autonomy” in space traffic management by building up both capabilities and policy.

During a session at the 15th European Space Conference Jan. 25, representatives from the European Commission, European Space Agency and industry said they were making progress in building up European abilities in space situational awareness (SSA) and space traffic management (STM), reducing reliance on the United States.

“There’s a high political awareness on the need to achieve strategic autonomy on SSA and STM in Europe,” said Pascal Faucher, chair of the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) partnership. EUSST is a group of 15 E.U. member states that have agreed to combine national capabilities to improve efforts to track space objects and provide warnings of potential collisions. It opened its collision avoidance service worldwide as of the beginning of the year."

-https://bit.ly/3WUk7Qt

Checklist For Next-Gen Entrepreneurs In Space-tech

"The time is ripe to start looking beyond the earth's orbits. There are opportunities to send hardware to other planetary bodies that can by themselves grow into a viable business, build sensors to map the moon better, figure out ways to extract and use lunar resources or create new ways of propulsion to speed up our interplanetary travel times. The years ahead will present unique business models for a lunar economy, a Mars economy and an economy that ties all these bodies together.

To truly lead the next space wave, one will need to move fast without compromising on reliability and find the right trade-off. And in the truest sense, it is on this journey that you can say Per Aspera, Ad Astra (Through Adversity, To the Stars) and literally mean it. Here's your opportunity to boldly go where no one has gone before and build what no one has built before."

-https://bit.ly/3kSmBSf

Forbes: Why Data Storage Is Mission Critical For The Future Of Space

"The space sector is taking a sizable commercial turn, making it more accessible for modern commercial enterprise. It’s not just billionaires launching themselves into space. Private investments in space companies, particularly from venture capital firms, have risen sharply over the last 10 years. According to a recent Space Capital report, space infrastructure businesses in 2021 received $14.5 billion in private investments.

One of the areas where space-developed technology could also benefit us on Earth is with data. According to Statista, global data creation is expected to reach more than 180 zettabytes by 2025 while a recent Raconteur report revealed that 463 exabytes of data will be generated every day over the next two years."

-https://bit.ly/40aDNTi

7 Space Stocks to Buy Now or You’ll Be Kicking Yourself Later

"Further, experts covering the space industry believe that the sky’s the limit. According to Morgan Stanley, the space economy may command a valuation of over $1 trillion by 2040. Even better, this exciting sector covers a range of relevant applications beyond just sending astronauts into orbit. From consumer broadband networks to government-sponsored communications devices to enhanced internet connectivity, the space economy undergirds countless innovations.

Therefore, even with the broader technology space suffering a beatdown last year, investors should look ahead. With this framework in mind, below are the space stocks to buy now."

AMZN Amazon
NOC Northrop Grumman
TER Teradyne
QCOM Qualcomm
INTC Intel
RKLB Rocket Lab
PL Planet Labs

-https://bit.ly/3kMBhCm

Op-ed | How Canada is Shaping the World’s Future in Space

"On the global stage of mature space powers, Canada has earned its place, though it does not always receive the public acclaim it is due. For those in the space community, however, Canada is not only an important stakeholder but also a vital partner. As Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said in a NASA preflight interview in 2012, “Canada has almost linearly built our capability and our responsibility and therefore our international respect over time.”

For decades, Canada has taken part in space research, exploration and defense, and while the nation’s contributions are not always the flashiest, they are almost always mission-critical. The legs of the Apollo Lunar Module were built in Quebec. The robotic arms on NASA’s space shuttles and the International Space Station were created by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), as were sensors and instruments currently observing the universe on the James Webb Space Telescope. And next, Canada is going to the Moon, with a Canadian astronaut scheduled to fly on the Artemis 2 mission, which will be the first crewed flight to the Moon since the Apollo program."

-https://spacenews.com/op-ed-how-canada-is-shaping-the-worlds-future-in-space/

SpaceX completes Starship wet dress rehearsal

"SpaceX conducted a fueling test of its full Starship launch vehicle Jan. 23, taking the vehicle one step closer to its first orbital launch attempt.

The fully stacked Starship vehicle, consisting of a Super Heavy booster designated Booster 7 and a Starship upper stage named Ship 24, was filled with liquid oxygen and methane propellants during the test at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas. The test, called a wet dress rehearsal, simulates a countdown without firing the vehicle’s engines.

SpaceX disclosed few details about the test while it was in progress, although observers could see frost accumulating on the vehicle as it was filled with cryogenic propellants. Only after the wet dress rehearsal was complete did SpaceX confirm that it took place."

-https://spacenews.com/spacex-completes-starship-wet-dress-rehearsal/