Tag: quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Northrop Grumman and SpaceX set January 2024 as the target date for first Cygnus mission on a Falcon 9

Northrop purchased three SpaceX launches for Cygnus when its Antares rocket lost access to its Ukrainian first stage and its Russian engines. Until Firefly replaces both, it needs another launch vehicle.

 

• ESA successfully completes full dress rehearsal countdown of Ariane-6 first stage

• China reveals the crew for its next Shenzhou mission to its Tiangong-3 space station

Includes a short clip from the press conference, with English translation, that provides really no new information.

 

• Tiangong-3 solar panel hit by “small space debris”

According to this tweet, the damage was “predicted and controllable”, which really tells us nothing. All space stations in orbit experience micrometeorite hits, often very tiny. Anything larger is significant. If this impact was the latter they should release more information.

 

• U.S. officials have short discussions with Chinese officials coordinating the monitoring of orbiting objects, from space stations to space junk

This discussion would normally violate U.S. law, which forbids government employees and anyone using government money to initiate such discussions without much higher approval. In this case it appears the Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo likely gave her okay, as per the strong financial links that exist between Biden and the Chinese, including millions in payoffs. Remember, his loyalty is more to them than to us.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy releases results of its investigation into its Ceres-1 rocket failure on September 21, 2023

It appears a screw was screwed in incorrectly on one nozzle, which caused it to ablate abnormally.

 

• Despite allowing its pseudo-companies to bid to provide cargo to Tiangong-3, China picked four government agencies to do the work

The article at Space News appears to be designed to provide China some nice propaganda, as it makes believe these pseudo-companies are somehow identical to privately owned companies in the west. China might be copying NASA’s capitalism in space approach, using competition to foster innovation and lower costs, but if any of these companies is too successful or does anything the communists don’t like, the government will take over instantly. Note too that the communists weren’t really eager to give these somewhat independent companies any business, favoring government space agencies in awarding the bids.

 

• Dragonfly team touts wind tunnel tests of the rotors to be used by the spacecraft to fly on Titan

• NASA proposes a new framework for regulating “commercial missions not currently licensed by other agencies”

As Jay notes, “We’re the government, and we’re here to help you.”

 

• Details about the Russian spacewalk to inspect the Nauka leak on ISS

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Chinese video fantasizing about building an underground lunar base

Pure powerpoint engineering. The concepts are fun, but this is very removed from reality.

 

• Indian rocket startup Skyroot releases animation of launch of its proposed Vikram-1 rocket

The music track actually detracts from this, as it makes it look like all sizzle and no steak.

 

• International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is considering regulating communications on the Moon

Hey, what could possibly go wrong, especially as the FCC is also getting involved? They are representatives of the government, here to help!

 

• Russia is considering using a Soyuz rocket as a missile to attack the Ukraine

This is junk news that makes little sense. It is unconfirmed, could be disinformation, and besides, it makes no technical sense to use an orbital rocket in this manner.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• China touts proposed in-orbiting manufacturing technology, including 3D printing

This is merely engineering by powerpoint. No actual prototypes appear to yet exist.

 

• Heavy rains cause flooding at construction site of commercial launchpad at China’s Wenchang coastal spaceport

No other details provided, such as the impact this might have on the first launch

 

• NASA convenes team to reassess design of Mars sample return mission

Common sense would cause them to consider a major restructuring that even might include Starship. The track record of Washington suggests instead they will only make some superficial changes, claiming it saves money and addresses the problems outlined by the recent very critical independent review. And most important, they will ask for more money!

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• According to Pakistani officials, that country is joining China’s Moon base project

This confirms a June statement. China and Pakistan had in 2018 discussed flying a Pakistani astronaut to its space station (though no deal was ever announced). This new deal could make that astronaut flight a reality.

 

• Engineers are today uploading a software patch to help extend life of both Voyager spacecraft just outside the solar system

After checking to make sure the patch uploaded properly, they will activate it next week. The patch itself will help make fuel use more efficient. It will also prevent the communications issue that caused problems in 2022. Regardless, both spacecraft likely only have a few more years of operation, after which their nuclear power source will run out of power.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Suborbital Dutch rocket to be launched in 2024 from German ocean platform

The link is in German, requiring a translation tool. From Jay a translation of the lede: “In April 2024, a rocket from the Dutch company T-Minus will be launched for the first time as part of a demonstration mission from a mobile launch platform of the “German-Offshore Spaceport Alliance” (GOSA) in the North Sea.”

 

• Europe posts revised Ariane-6 test schedule

The schedule as now planned:
October: Combined test, launch rehearsal with ignition of the main stage, Kourou, French Guiana
November: Combined test, long-duration firing of the main stage with Vulcain 2.1 engine, Kourou, French Guiana
December: Upper stage firing test, Lampoldshausen, Germany
They then hope to be ready for a 2024 launch.

 

• ESA says next Vega launch will not use the deployer mechanism that failed to deploy 2 of 12 satellites on October 9th launch

No other details about the investigation into the failure were released.

 

• ISRO provides viewing details of Gaganyaan launch abort test on October 21, 2023

The live stream will be here.

 

• Rocket Lab begins integration and testing of its dual NASA ESCAPADE satellites to study Mars’s magnetosphere

The launch is scheduled for 2024.

 

• Long March 2F rocket carrying next manned Shenzhou manned capsule rolled to launchpad

The launch is targeting October 26, 2023.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• FCC approves SpaceX revised Starlink satellite license [pdf]

SpaceX must launch half of this constellation, about 3,750 satellites, by November 19, 2024, and the other half no later than November 19, 2027.

 

• India targets its first manned landing on the Moon by 2040

This was simply Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opportunity to give his Kennedy-like Moon speech, something politicans have been doing over and over again since 1961. Only Kennedy met his goals. All the others have simply been empty political speeches that were never fulfilled.

This is not to say India won’t try, as it certainly appears that the new colonial movement in space is heating up. It just means we should not take his speech very seriously.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also deserves a hat tip for the Hubble budget story earlier today, that I had missed.

• Amazon reports its two prototype Kuiper satellites are functioning as expected

• Russia plan to modernize Gagarin launchpad has failed; now proposed as a museum

This will be a museum few will visit, because of Russia’s strict security controls at its space facilities.

 

• Two of the twelve satellites launched on Europe’s Vega rocket on October 9th failed to deploy, and burned up in the atmosphere

This failure says extremly bad things about the European manufacturer, SAB Aerospace, which built it for the Italian company Avio, which had its contract with Arianespace, which is the commercial arm of the European Space Agency. It also raises more questions about the entire governmental way of doing things in Europe.

 

• Five days before the Gaganyaan launch abort test, an image of the capsule being assembled

If this test goes well, India will be very close to completing its full checklist necessary prior to the actual manned mission.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Relativity signs multi-launch agreement with Intelsat

The launches are for Relativity’s new Terran-R rocket, not yet launched, and will begin as early as 2026. The deal likely also allows Intelsat complete freedom to go elsewhere if Relativity has problems delivering.

 

• Blue Origin confirms that Brent Sherwood, head of the company’s Advanced Development Programs, is retiring

This is likely part of the house-cleaning in connection with the exit of CEO Bob Smith. The company desperately needs new leadership willing to get something, anything, done.

 

• Astra considering selling 51% of its propulsion division as well as parts of other divisions

If so the company would be selling its most productive division at this point, suggesting its future is dim indeed.

 

• A picture of the outside of OSIRIS-REx’s sample collector

The rocks and dirt in the middle right are extra material from Bennu that were captured and retained outside the collector. The scientists say a preliminary look at the material has found carbon and water (held in molecules of other material), but that is not news, as we already knew both were there.

 

• Spacewalk on ISS cancelled as engineers assess the coolant leak from Russia’s Nauka module

This leak is far more serious than the previous two leaks, as it is part of ISS itself, not a Progress or Soyuz capsule that is there only temporarily.

 

• Sierra Space selected by DARPA for its “10-year lunar architecture study”

The tweet suggests merely that Sierra has been selected to enter contract negotiations, not that it has won a contract.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Axiom and ESA sign deal to do more business together

The agreement includes access to Axiom’s proposed station, training of ESA astronauts using its spacesuits, and possible future commercial astronaut missions.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company sold two remote sensing satellites to private Wagner military group

I suspect Russia now controls those satellites, since Wagner’s leader was killed in suspicious plane crash.

 

• Video of dismantling of Saturn-1B rocket at Alabama rest stop

The rocket had been on display there for decades and could no longer be maintained properly. The decision was made in January to remove it and renovate the rest stop entirely.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• B2Space touts its proposed balloon-based launch system in a short video

The concept of a “rockoon” is an old one, never implemented for orbital launches despite its potential.

 

• Amazon outlines the goals of its first two prototype Kuiper satellites

Now scheduled for launch on October 6th on an Atlas-5 rocket. Live stream here.

 

• China’s outlines rough development plan for its lunar base

Unlike a previous presentation, this presentation made no mention of Russia, China’s supposed partner in this project. No surprise, since no one ever expected Russia to contribute much anyway.

 

• China presents a global map of those international partners participating in its space station

The map overstates the level of cooperation from these other nations, since in many cases it is not the government but a few individual scientists participating. Moreover, Alaska is not part of Canada, as the map suggests.

 

• Russia releases final Luna-25 failure report

I hadn’t linked to this previously because it adds nothing significant from the earlier reports.

 

• Russia once again invites Brazil, Turkey, and South Africa to participate in its own unlaunched space station

Any announcement to partner with Russia is merely going to be for the photo op, as it is highly unlikely any independent Russian station will fly anytime in the near or even far future.

 

• A reminder that today is the anniversary of the launch of Sputnik in 1957

Thus, the space age began.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also clued me in on the Artemis Accords story I posted earlier today.

• The Washington Post takes a close look at Boeing’s Starliner

It doesn’t find much to be encouraged by, As Jay noted, “I read the whole article and it seems to me that Boeing is saying about Starliner- ‘To hell with it!'”

 

• Blue Origin reassigned a “majority of its employees working on Orbital Reef” earlier this year

This story confirms the rumors from last week as well as my speculations during the summer, that Blue Origin and Sierra Space are parting ways on this private space station, with Blue Origin’s failure to deliver once again the cause.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• China launches a new sea launch ship, able to accomodate liquid-fueled rockets

This platform allows China to avoid the bad press from crashing stages in inhabited areas of China. Sea launches eliminate that issue.

 

• China will allow international science payloads on its Chang’e lunar lander/rover

The mission is targeting a 2028 launch date, and is presently in its very earliest planning stages.

 

• New Horizons mission extended until the end of this decade

The plan is to operate the spacecraft until it leaves the Kuiper Belt. It will now be used not only to study the outer asteroids, but the Sun’s heliosphere and solar wind.

 

• Astroscale gets $80 million contract from Japan to rendezvous and inspect defunct space junk

The goal is to test rendezvous with an inoperable upper stage, which cannot provide any location data. What is significant is that the Japanese government is hiring a private company to fly the mission, rather than have its space agency JAXA do it. Capitalism in space!

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Nasdaq informs Astra it now in compliance with its rules, and will not be delisted

In other words, the reverese stock split allowed Astra to escape delisting even thought its value has dropped through the floor.

 

• China announces a few basic details of its Chang’e-6 sample return mission

All they say is it will launch on a Long March 5 rocket in May 2024, head to the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon, and operate for 53 days (which likely includes the return of the sample to Earth). Jay spotted one mystery however: The coordinates provided (“S43, W154”) are no where near the south pole, though it is likely in the northernmost part of Aitken Basin.

 

• ESA schedules briefing on Vega-C launch failure investigation to Monday

Jay adds that ESA has been delaying this briefing repeatedly all this week. Apparently they have had some late loose-ends to tie up, and it is taking longer than they expected.

Courtesty of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also deserves hat tips for the Ingenuity and Iran stories earlier today.

• Rocket Lab revises downward its third quarter revenue numbers because of recent launch failure

This revision is required to keep present and potential investors accurately informed.

 

• Related: Rocket Lab touts with a picture the many rockets ready to go, once the launch failure investigation is completed

This is just normal PR, not to be taken too seriously. However Jay adds this comment: “To the new CEO of Blue Origin, take note of this picture.”

 

• China to consider four capsule proposals for bringing cargo to its space station

All of the proposals come from government space agencies. This decision simply allows the four chosen to begin detailed design work.

 

• The most recent 22 Starlink satellites launched included next generation optical lasers

The lasers allow the satellites to connect to each other, creating essentially a communications mesh in space. More information here.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Chinese releases map of its 50 primary candidate landing sites on the Moon

Only two appear to be at the South Pole. The majority are in the mare regions on the Moon’s near side.

 

• Short video showing train bringing segments of the solid rocket boosters for the next Artemis launch

These were delivered to Cape Canaveral today. It is not clear how many segments were on this train.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The live stream for the OSIRIS-REx sample return in Utah on September 24, 2023

It goes live at 10 am Eastern.

 

• Short video of Ceres-1 launch, possibly capturing indications of the coming failure

Jay notes, “Looks like a gap in the fuel burn then that orange smoke a couple seconds later. Also looks like something fell out. Was there a bubble in the solid fuel or did the fuel fail to burn?”

 

• ISRO engineers have so far failed to re-establish communications with its Vikram lunar lander or Pragyan lunar rover

They are continuing their efforts, but sunrise occurred today, and the longer there is no contact the less chance the lunar rover or lander survived the long lunar night.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• New agreement between Axiom and Hungary strengthens the plan to send Hungarian to Axiom’s space station

This is simply a continuation of the ongoing negotiations from last year, whereby Hungary pays Axiom $100 million for its services.

 

• “Anomaly” during September Ariane-6 engine test causes cancellation of next first stage static fire test on October 3, 2023

Engineers need time to investigate, which now raises the question about when in 2024 Ariane-6 will finally fly. These issues might push that launch into the latter half of the year, further lengthening the time Europe will be forced to rely on non-European rocket companies for its large launch needs.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Sierra Space successfully completes the fifth test-to-failure of a subscale prototype of its inflatable LIFE space station module

You can watch the test here, cued to begin at the start of the test and after five minutes of PR blather. The success of the test now allows the company to proceed to full scale development.

 

• First satellite built in Hong Kong successfully completed

This satellite is the first in a proposed 360 satellite constellation for “communications and remote sensing,” with the first launch planned for November. I suspect the Chinese government’s take-over of Hong Kong, including the crushing of freedoms there, includes maintaining close control of this project as well.

 

• Rocket Factory Augsburg reveals its proposed unmanned cargo freighter for space stations, dubbed Argo

This German company is the second in Europe to propose such a cargo spacecraft, following the French company, the Exploration Company.

No political column from me today. I needed a break.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• SpaceX makes available at no cost its best practices for brightness mitigation as well as the dielectric mirror film it uses on Starlink satellites

The link opens a pdf. As Jay notes, “I bet Kuiper drove the eight miles to Starlink HQ and was knocking at their door.”

 

• For its proposed space station Russia plans a ground tracking station north of the Arctic Circle

Construction for the facility, on Sakhalin Island has already begun, though completion is significantly delayed. The map at the link above shows the flight paths launching from Russia’s Vostochny spaceport, as well as some upper stage drop zones.

 

• On Sept 13, a derelict Soviet-era payload barely missed a Chinese rocket body

According to LeoLabs, which tracked it, the two objects missed each other by about 120 feet.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Stoke Space successfully conducts vertical takeoff and vertical landing test of a second stage prototype of its reusable rocket

The video at the link reminds me of a smaller version of SpaceX’s first Starship hop of Starhopper.

 

• Gilmour Space is targeting a first launch of its Eris rocket from a Australian commercial spaceport before the end of the year

The company in December 2022 had been targeting April ’23, but not surprisingly things have been delayed. One worrisome part of their tweet was phrase: “pending all approvals.” I hope it doesn’t face the same kind of delays in Australia that destroyed Virgin Orbit in Great Britain.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Spanish launch startup PLD Space has announced plans to hire 150 new employees by 2024

The new employees are in connection with the development of its much larger Miura-5 rocket.

 

• China studying methods for building lunar bases in caves

The tweet includes a short video of a leg-walking lunar rover designed for travel over uneven surfaces where wheeled rovers couldn’t go.

 

• French startup The Exploration Company signs deal to launch a test prototype of its cargo capsule on ISRO’s PSLV rocket

The prototype is dubbed Bikini, while the full scale capsule will be called Nyx. The company already has a deal with Axiom to use Nyx to ferry supplies to its space station.

 

• Video from the Parker Solar Probe of a coronal mass ejection

What makes the data cool is that the event happened just as Parker made a close approach to the Sun in September 2022.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• NASA’s live stream tomorrow of Soyuz carrying three astronauts to ISS

The launch is scheduled for 11:44 am (Eastern) on September 15, 2023, with the Soyuz docking with ISS three hours later.

 

• Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro makes space deal with China to someday send a person to China’s Moonbase

Meanwhile, Maduro’s communist policies has resulted in starvation, bankruptcy, and people fleeing his country. No matter, Maduro will have lots of photo ops during such a mission, demonstrating his heroic right to rule unopposed.

 

• China establishes new division to improve its missile early warning abilities as well as identify, track, and analyze orbiting objects

This is essentially what the U.S. military has been doing since the dawn of the space, a task that most other countries have relied on. China wants its own capability.

 

• NASA begins installing old space shuttle engines on the core stage of the SLS rocket that will launch Artemis-2

As Jay rightly notes, “What a way to waste those engines! SpaceX has spoiled us on reusablity.” The crime is magnified in that these engines have been reused multiple times on the shuttle, and will now be thrown away by NASA on their next flight.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Germany to sign Artemis Accords tomorrow

I will put up a full post when this tweet is confirmed.

 

• First two test Kuiper satellites are now scheduled for launch in October, and will also test technology for reducing interference with ground-based astronomy

ULA switched the launch to an Atlas-5 because of the delays with Vulcan.

 

• Rocket Lab’s CEO recently sold $22 million in his stock holdings

The tweet suggests that this sale, plus the small profits in the last quarter, are the reasons why the stock has dropped in the past week. Longer term however the stock remains higher than the numbers prior to July.

 

• Rocket Lab says it has begun upper stage tank tests for its new Neutron rocket

• Arianespace chart suggests Vega-C will not return to fly any earlier than mid- to late- 2024

The chart also suggests that Arianespace plans two launches of the older Vega rocket first.

 

• Video showing how SpaceX fishes a Falcon 9 fairing half from the water

The footage was taken next to a pier, so this was likely not part of a recovery right after launch.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Firefly wins $18 million NASA contract to provide “radio frequency calibration services” from lunar orbit

This is Firefly’s third contract in connection with NASA’s lunar projects, totaling almost $230 million.

 

• Short interview with head of The Exploration Company, a French company which has signed a contract with Axiom to provide a cargo freighter for its space station

You need to turn on closed captions with translation set to English. Not much information, being a standard shallow TV interview, though she does make clear the irony that a European space company has to go to an American space company to get business.

 

• Axiom announces AX-3 crew, to fly in January ’24 with all-European crew

The mission will go to ISS, ferried there by SpaceX.

 

• Air Force secretary has no problems with SpaceX and its present commercial dominance

This kind of blather really means little, as they can say anything when asked. It is what the Air Force actually does down the road that matters. However, the article at the link seems written so as to gin up friction between SpaceX and the Air Force.

 

• Stoke Space completes static fire testing on the first prototype of its reusable upper stage, ready to finalize its orbital design

The company’s goal is to build a completely reusable upper stage using its radical rocket design of small nozzles set in a ring around the outside of the spacecraft.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Video describing SpinLaunch’s plan to throw payloads into space

This is 42 minutes long so I haven’t watched it yet. I assume it includes a lot of details.

 

• SpaceX gets contract for 14 launches from Telesat, beginning in 2026

Telesat hopes to have its low orbit constellation operational and serving customers by 2027. With Starlink, OneWeb, and this new constellation, it appears that Blue Origin’s Kuiper system is getting to the pier long after the ship has sailed.

 

• Tianzhou freighter undocked from China’s Tiangong station today

It will remain in orbit until tomorrow, when it will be de-orbited to burn up over the ocean.

 

• China tests ground prototype of electromagnetic propulsion, obtaining speeds of 145 mph

The tweet claims this technology is being developed for launch technology, but that’s absurd based on the speed obtained in a 1,246 foot long track. More likely it will be used for ground transportation.

 

 

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Chinese turn crashed rocket debris into souvenirs for sale

At the link is a commercial for this “jewelry,” showing the rocket debris as found in the desert. As Jay notes, “Why go out to the desert? They deliver first stages right to your neighborhood!”

 

• ULA’s Atlas-5 launch for NRO now scheduled for September 9 for 8:51 am (Eastern)

Weather scrubbed the previous launch attempt. The live stream can be found here.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Spin Launch signs partnership deal with Japanese company

The deal says it involves investment from the Japanese company, Sumitomo Corporation, but no amounts are given. It does allow Sumitomo to represent Spin Launch in any deals in Japan.

 

• Japan’s XRISM X-Ray telescope appears to be operating as planned

Its solar panels have deployed and the first data has now been received on the ground.

 

• ISRO releases two images from its Aditya-L1 solar observatory

One image shows several instruments on the spacecraft, and the other shows the Earth with the Moon in the background. Both demonstrate that the solar observatory is functioning properly as it works its way toward the L1 point a million miles from Earth and closer to the Sun.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Another report indicating SpaceX has switched all live streams to X

The problem so far isn’t that SpaceX has switched its live streams to X. The problem is that the company is so far not providing any links on its webpage to the live streams, which makes it difficult to find them and watch.

 

• Astrobotic gets two NASA contracts to investigate the interaction of rocket plumes and the lunar surface

• Short video showing ESA’s successful September 5th dress rehearsal 4-second static fire test of Ariane-6’s first stage

This was the test that it was unable to complete in both July and August. Testing to continue, including a full 8-minute firing to simulate a full launch, with a final announcement on an actual launch date to be made in October.

 

• Mitsubishi posts picture of H-2A rocket on launchpad, carrying XRISM X-ray telescope and SLIM lunar lander

The launch is scheduled for 7:42 pm (Eastern) today, or 8:42 am in Japan on September 7th. Live stream is here.

 

• Vodafone signs agreement to test Kuiper’s satellite constellation in Europe and Africa

No details were released, which is not surprising as Kuiper has yet to launch even one of its 3,200 satellites. I doubt Vodafone committed any money. I also doubt it agreed to restrict itself from making deals with others, such as Starlink.