Tag: quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Live stream for the next ULA Atlas-5 launch tomorrow at 8:34 am (Eastern)

According to Jay, it might be delayed due to Hurricane Idalia

 

• Two images from India’s Pragyan rover on the Moon

The first shows it was heading directly to an unexpected crater. It backed up and was given a new route.

 

• A graphic of India’s proposed two module space station, targeting a 2035 launch

The concept is quite similar to the Soviet’s Salyut stations, which is no surprise as India’s space agency ISRO worked hand-in-glove with the Soviets/Russians for years when India’s government was controlled by the left.

 

• Video of SpaceX’s manned Endurance capsule as it docked with ISS yesterday

 

Jay also notes that China’s X feeds “have been quiet for the last two months on the technology fronts. They have been retweeting a lot of their old stories, especially now with Chandrayaan-3 landing, they are showing Yutu-2 pictures and videos,” which suggests to Jay something is impacting China’s pseudo companies. Possibly they are feeling the larger economic crunch that China is presently experiencing.

I also wonder if this is related to the way China’s state-run press purposely avoided mentioning the name of Galactic Energy in reporting its last two successful launches. Have the ChiCons decided its success meant it will soon be time to grab it? If so, this in turn will put a scare into all these pseudo-companies, which would certainly crimp their ability to function enthusiastically.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Sierra Space touts the installation of the rudder on Tenacity, its first Dream Chaser mini-shuttle

It also says this is the “first flight control surface” installed. As both I and Jay note, we thought this spacecraft was farther along than this.

 

• Video of Progress freighter docking with ISS

• Roscosmos head meets with officials of the Lavochkin design bureau that built Luna-25

They are considering flying a repeat of Luna-25, as India did when Chandrayaan-2 failed.

 

• Next American manned launch to ISS scrubbed today, now set for early tomorrow

The Falcon 9 is scheduled for launch at 3:27 am tonight, carrying four astronauts inside SpaceX’s Endurance capsule, flying for the third time.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, and posted early today because Diane and I will be out having dinner with friends this evening.

• ULA’s CEO touts the completion of modifications to the upper stage of its Vulcan rocket

This stage is for that first launch, still targeting the fourth quarter of 2023, but expected by many to slip in 2024. He adds in another tweet that ULA has seven upper stages being assembled, and of the two that were completed but needed modification, one has been modified and the other will be used for ground testing.

 

• The Canberra station in NASA’s Deep Space Network touts its part in Vikram’s landing today

• Comet P1 Nishimura might brighten to naked eye visibility in the next few weeks

And then again, it might not.

 

• Japan: North Korea gearing up for another orbital launch attempt

The window is from August 24 to August 31, and appears to be a second attempt to get orbit following the the failed orbital launch attempt from May.

 

• Video from Russian describing how students are designing its proposed space station

It is in Russian, but Jay was able to obtain an English translation. I could not. He says, “While they are at it, they can make a lunar lander too.” Both he and I believe this is a Potemkin village effort, and while good for educating students will lead nowhere for adding anything to Russia’s space program.

 

• Rocket Lab’s CEO shows off a picture of the company’s Electron production line

As Jay notes, “Blue Origin take note.”

 

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Video of Superheavy prototype #9 rolling to launchpad

• New graphics on the side of Blue Origin facility in Florida

My heart be still!

 

• Weather for next Electron launch in two days looks good

Scheduled for August 24, 2023 at 11:30 am New Zealand time, which is equivalent to 7:30 pm (Eastern) on August 23, 2023.

 

• Video from Astra touting its rocket assembly line

Interesting but also unintentionally hilarious, as the company posted this yesterday, but that assembly line has been shut down for weeks and the company is no longer focused on building rockets.

 

• Images taken by Vikram on August 20th

These images were taken after Vikram separated from its propulsion unit, and demonstrated that it could orient itself accurately and the camera was working.

 

• Two “Images of the Week” from Perseverance, chosen by the public

 

• Eutelsat’s merger with OneWeb now only awaits shareholder vote

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Russian’s rolls next Progress freighter to launchpad

The launch is scheduled for 6:08 pm (Pacific) on August 23, 2023.

 

• A detailed report [pdf] describing the various space navigation systems developed by India’s space agency ISRO

Many of these systems I suspect will be taken over by India’s private commercial space sector as it slowly takes over the space business from ISRO.

 

• India’s Beyond Gravity touts its plan to build its own version of a Falcon 9 reusable rocket

This startup is only one example of the India’s commercial space sector that is beginning to pick up steam.

 

• Falcon 9 rocket with Endurance manned capsule rolled to launchpad

The launch is scheduled for 3:49 am (Eastern) on August 25, 2023. It is the first in SpaceX’s extended contract with NASA, and is likely one that either Boeing would have gotten or would have split with SpaceX if Starliner was flying. No Starliner, and SpaceX gets all the money.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• New images of the floor of Blue Origin’s BE4 rocket engine production facility in Alabama

Jay sent me a video of this same production facility in April. Compare the visuals in that video at around 42 seconds with today’s image. That nozzle on the platform appears to be the same nozzle in both shots, unmoved in four months. Moreover, the floor seems as inactive now as then. If I was ULA this data would make me very very worried about getting the engines I need for Vulcan on the scheduled required.

 

• China releases a photograph of part of Valles Marineris, taken by its Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter

The image covers a very large area. For high resolution close-up images of various features within this picture, see these cool images from July 2021, September 2021, May 2022, and July 2022.

 

• SpaceX lifted nearly 10 times as much mass to orbit as China in the second quarter 2023

The graph illustrates how false the notion has always been that you must have a heavy lift rocket to get a large amount of mass to orbit. All you really need is a cost-effective and efficient reusable rocket that can launch frequently, such as the Falcon 9. Heavy lift would be nice, but if it isn’t reusable and cost effective, it just won’t do the job.

 

• Russia and ESA are negotiating a new agreement for the use of Europe’s robot arm on Russia’s part of ISS

The arm is there already and installed. I wonder what they are negotiating.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA’s CEO says the welding to reinforce Vulcan’s upper stage is finished

He also says the first launch of Vulcan this year is “looking good.” Put no money on this promise.

 

• New Indian rocket company, Astrophel Aerospace, touts successfully static fire engine test

The company’s press release tied this test to India’s independence day, and added this nice touch: “Let us remember that the fire of freedom burns within us, inspiring us to keep striving, keep pushing boundaries, and keep shaping a brighter future.” Right on!

 

• Smallsat Alliance announces the winners of the first annual Collegiate Space Competition

The three runners-up developed concepts for removing space junk using cubesats, while first place was given to an instrument related to monitoring environmental conditions, with a nod to climate change.

 

• Luna-25 has officially entered lunar orbit

It took two engine burns. Next step, the landing burn, presently targeting August 21, 2023.

 

• According to a Coast Guard notice, SpaceX is now targeting August 31, 2023 for Starship/Superheavy orbital test flight

SpaceX always does this to pressure government paper pushers. It has now put the FAA on notice that it is ready to launch by the end of this month, and any delays thereafter will be entirely because of government intransigence. We shall now find out if (as I have been predicting) the FAA and the Biden administration intends to stall SpaceX, or instead it really wants to get Starship/Superheavy flying.

 

• Video of the SLS mobile launcher being rolled to launchpad today

Engineers want to test some systems while also doing crew rehearsal.

 

• Ursa Major press release outlines the importance of copper in its rocket engines

• Europa Clipper’s high-gain antenna is installed on spacecraft

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Russian official claims first flights of its new manned Oryol capsule will take place in 2028

Wanna bet? Oryol was first proposed in 2009, fourteen years ago. To take another five years to get it in space means the engineers working on it spent almost their entire careers flying nothing.

 

• The Chinese delegation to the launch of Russia’s Luna-25 poses for a picture

The delegation included the chief designer of China’s deep space projects. He probably wanted to get a better idea of the fantasy component of all of the Russia’s space projects.

 

• NASA is developing a larger cubesat adapter for SLS

It will allow SLS to carry more cubesats that are bigger. Whether any commercial cubesat company will want to fly on it remains unknown, considering the uncertainty of any SLS launch. Jay also notes many comments on X about “cubesats dying while waiting for [an SLS] launch.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Safran, Terran Orbital to explore joint production of satellite propulsion systems
• BWXT to begin work on cislunar nuclear rocket engine and fuel

These two stories are from June and July. Though I thought I had covered them, I can’t find them on BtB. They both illustrate the growing diversification occurring within the new commercial space industry.

 

• Australian company Hypersonix wins contract to build 20 scramjet test vehicles for hypersonic test flights

The vehicles are for a U.S. company, Kratos, which is doing hypersonic test flights for the Pentagon.

 

• Sierra Space wins $22 million Pentagon contract to develop upper stage rocket engine

The new engine is based on Sierra’s Vortex engine that has already been successfully tested, and uses hydrogen as its fuel.

 

• Luna-25 successfully completed its last mid-course correction burn today

It will enter lunar orbit in two days, with the landing tentatively planned for August 21.

 

• First photos from Luna-25 released

Taken yesterday, the images confirm the camera and spacecraft are functioning as planned.

 

• Another image from China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter

The region of fissures shown, Sacra Sulci, is part of Kasei Valles, one the long valleys draining Mars’ giant volcanoes. See this post from May 2021 for more information.

 

• Rocket Lab will use the facility it obtained from the Virgin Orbit bankruptcy for scaling up production of its new Neutron rocket

The facility will mainly be used to build Neutron’s Archimedes engines. The target date for first launch of Neutron remains 2024.

 

• A list of the major meteor showers each year

Also includes an interesting animation showing the debris trail and orbit of the Perseid meteor shower, which comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Exolaunch gets new deal from smallsat company Muon to broker its launches

Exolaunch finds and manages launch services for satellite companies. With this deal Muon agrees to let it manage launches for at least another three satellites.

 

• Russia says by ’30 it will launch a nuclear-powered orbital tug to clean up space junk

This is simply another paper proposal by Roscosmos. The odds of it actually getting built are from slim to none.

 

• Firefly will donate any excess capacity on its rocket launches to student cubesat projects

The company is now accepting student or university proposals, contingent of course on when its Alpha rocket finally becomes operational. It has attempted two launches, the first a failure and the second reaching orbit but underperforming. Its next orbital launch attempt is presently scheduled for later this month.

 

• JPL touts its Mars sample return lander

As Jay notes, “The damn thing is not even assembled and it is still over budget.”

 

• New Horizons will look back at Uranus and Neptune in September, in conjunction with simultaneous Hubble observations

The science team is asking amateur astronomers to help by making their own observations of these two planets, at the same time.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Virgin Galactic completes its first commercial tourist flight

This suborbital hop no longer rates more than a mention here in quick links. Compared to the growing orbital manned tourism, who cares that Branson’s con job has finally begin flying passengers, two decades late?

 

• Japanese startup Interstellar aims for orbital launch in 2025

Japan desperately needs some new independent launch companies, as the big space launch systems provided by JAXA and Mitsubishi have certainly not served that country’s private aerospace industry well.

 

• Viasat not ready to declare Viasat-3 Americas a total loss

The antenna turned out to be defective. There were stories that the company made an insurance claim, but I suspect this story reflects some pushback from that insurance company.

 

• Ingenuity’s next flight, its 55th, has been scheduled for some time today

The plan is to fly 820 feet for 134 seconds.

 

• JPL touts Curiosity images of mud polygons in Gale Crater

The full press release is here. Such features have been seen many times before on Mars, and this press release is merely rehashing a 2017 report.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Firefly unveils its own proposed space tug

The call it Elytra, and it comes in three versions designed to service satellites flying anywhere from low Earth orbit to other planets

 

• Rocket Lab signs contracts for ten Electron launches plus one suborbital HASTE launch

Black Sky bought five launches, Synspective bought two, and the other three were government purchases. In other words, private enterprise is beginning to dominate the smallsat rocket market.

 

• Chandrayaan-3 completes second burn to lower lunar orbit

All things continue to look good for a August 23, 2023 touchdown on the Moon.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA’s CEO touts reinforcements being added to Vulcan upper stage

These changes are for the first Vulcan launch, dubbed Cert1 and delayed until late this year. The name refers to the military’s requirement that ULA complete two flights of Vulcan before it will certify it to launch military satellites.

 

• China touts an educational facility in the Gobi desert that roughly simulates a Mars base

As Jay correctly notes, “Looks more like a tourist destination than a research facility.” It appears to me to be mostly designed as a facility to educate high school students, not to do real space research.

 

• Tianwen-1 image of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars

For more information about this crater, see this February 2023 cool image post.

 

• According to NASA the investigation into the Soyuz/Progress coolant leaks continues

It appears Russia still favors micrometeorite impacts as the cause, but no possibilities have been dismissed. If Russia concludes it was sabotage or some failure in the coolant system design, do not expect any public information release, though Russian officials might tell NASA officials, under an agreement that NASA will help Russia keep this info secret.

 

• SpaceX releases some additional snapshots of its Superheavy static fire test on August 6, 2023

Nothing very revealing however.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• InSight archival data suggests Mars’ rotation is increasing four milliarcseconds per year

If confirmed, this equals a shortening in time of about a fraction of one thousands of a second each year.

 

• Amazon confirms its first two Kuiper test satellites will launch on an Atlas-5 rocket, not on the first Vulcan

This change was first revealed in mid-July, but not confirmed by Amazon. The delays at ULA with Vulcan have put Amazon under real pressure, as its FCC license requires it to place in orbit about 1,600 satellites by July 2026.

 

• Tianwen-1 image of Martian southern cratered highlands, showing evidence of prevailing winds from the west

 

• Another Tianwen-1 orbital image of Mars, this time looking down the giant volcano Arsia Mons

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace says it has completed testing of its Gravity-1 solid-fueled rocket

The company is now targeting December ’24 for its first orbital test launch, lifting off from a sea platform.

 

• For Dropbox members, a translated press kit of Russia’s Luna-25 mission

The key takeaways: The lander is just that. It will operate for a year, excavating and analyzing soil samples, but it has no roving capabilities. The kit also includes thumbnail descriptions of Russia’s next three lunar missions, one orbiter and two more landers, all of which by the way are delayed.

 

• JAXA PR magazine publishes article showing a mini-shuttle launched by an H-IIA variant with four solid-fueled boosters

Pure fantasy, very typical for a government agency that has utterly failed to give Japan a thriving space industry. Instead, it can’t develop a competitive rocket, forcing all of the country’s space business to go elsewhere.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The second stage of ABL’s RS1 rocket has completed “acceptance testing”

The company attempted to launch this rocket late last year, but had two launch aborts at T-0. Since then there has been no word about when it would try again.

 

• Video of the berthing of the Cygnus freighter to ISS yesterday

 

• A video outlining China’s plan to land humans on the Moon

For transparancy we must note that this show, called Dongfang Hour, is state-sponsored by China.

 

• Four Indian startup satellite companies plan to put their first satellites into orbit by next year

One hopes to do it before the end of this year, with the other three targeting ’24. All illustrate the transition in India from government-built space to privately-built.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Northrop Grumman to upgrade Cygnus freighter

The changes will increase its payload capacity, allow it to dock directly to a port rather than being berthed by a robot arm, and — most importantly — refine is ability to raise ISS’s orbit using its engines. This last capability replaces the Russians, and will be a need that future commercial stations will require.

 

• Rumors suggest Blue Origin is considering buying Ball Aerospace

Considering the other rumors that suggest it also is interested in buying ULA, it increasingly appears Blue Origin needs to buy other companies to get anything built.

 

• ESA will not live stream the long duration static fire engine test of Ariane-6 on the launchpad

The reporter is disappointed because he says NASA, SpaceX, and ULA “have live-streamed comparable tests.” It think he is overstating the number of such tests that have been aired live.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The Nautilus Array, a proposed space telescope designed to be cheap, easy to launch, and conceived for launch on Starship

This project is still in its early concept stage, but it clearly wants to harness the capabilities that an operational Starship will provide.

 

• Video of a new Falcon 9 booster being readied for testing at SpaceX’s MacGregor facility

It is believed this booster will be the next Falcon Heavy core stage.

 

• Russia’s Luna-25 Moon lander integrated with its Fregat space tug

Launch is presently scheduled for August 11th on a Soyuz-2 rocket, lifting off from Vostochny.

 

• Luna-25’s mission profile

Based on this profile, the spacecraft will head to the Moon on its first orbit after launch, and get there only a few days later. This means it will be attempting its landing only days before India’s already launched Chandrayaan-3, which is targeting an August 23rd landing date.

Courtesy of BtB’s stinger Jay.

• Paper outlining the China’s Chang’e-6 sample return mission to the Moon’s far side

The launch is scheduled for 2024. The paper not only details the mission, it discusses the geology to be studied.

 

• China outlines Chang’e-7 mission to get in situ data of possible ice in the Moon’s permanently shadowed craters at the south pole

The launch is scheduled for 2026, and will include a hopper to access the interiors of those craters.

 

• Launch of last Antares rocket using Russian engines and a Ukrainian first stage to occur shortly

The live stream can be viewed here, and is scheduled to go live at 8 pm Eastern.

For the next three Cygnus cargo missions to ISS Northrop Grumman has hired SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as its launch vehicle while it awaits a new first stage from Firefly.
 

• NASA and Boeing will hold update on Starliner status on August 7, 2023

Hopefully they will reveal a time frame for fixing the parachute issue as well as replacing the flammable electric tape installed throughout the capsule. No manned mission to ISS can proceed before these issues are resolved.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Video of booster separation test by Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace

The subtitles are all in Chinese, but still the countdown audio narration is in English. How strange.

 

• China unveils plan for 13,000 satellite constellation, what he calls “China’s Starlink”

This is one of several different proposed big constellations in China, none of which have begun launching.

 

• Overview video of test of launchpad water system to be used to deflect shockwaves during Superheavy launch

Quite impressive indeed.

 

• ULA’s CEO Tory Bruno whines about the military decision to allow more competition for launch contracts

The military is considering letting a third as yet unnamed rocket company compete for contracts against SpaceX and ULA. Not surprisingly, Bruno opposes this, probably because he knows ULS is having enough difficulty winning contracts now just against SpaceX. A third company would likely cut its market share in half.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Rocket lab touts its next launch, the 40th overall

Presently scheduled for July 30th (New Zealand time), or 10 pm (Pacific) on July 29, 2023.

 

• ISRO touts it next launch, a PSLV rocket carrying seven satellites

Presently scheduled for July 30th (in India), or 6 pm (Pacific) on July 29th. This will be first time India will have launched twice in a month since it panicked and shut down over the Wuhan flu.

 

• Europe’s Space Rider reusable unmanned capsule gets okay to enter next phase of development

The spacecraft is designed as a variation of Boeing’s X-37B. It will fly in orbit for two months and return to Earth for reuse.

 

• Russia’s first methane-fuel rocket with a reusable first stage, dubbed AmurSPG, is now targeting a 2028-2030 launch

This announcement actually reveals a delay in the program, from a 2026 planned launch. Want to bet it won’t launch in this decade at all?

 

• The first stage of Relativity’s Terran-1 orbital rocket successfully completes static fire test of all nine engines

The company hopes to begin launches by 2026.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Space Force at Cape Canaveral touts the possibility tonight of SpaceX setting a new record for the shortest interval between two launches

Unfortunately, it ain’t gonna happen. The Falcon 9 Starlink launch is still scheduled for 10:20 pm (Eastern) (live stream here), but the Falcon Heavy launch on an adjacent launchpad of a commercial communications satellite at 11:04 pm (Eastern) has now been postponed until tomorrow.

 

• Impulse Space says it has raised $45 million in investment capital in funding round

The company was founded by Tom Mueller, one of SpaceX’s original employees who developed the Merlin engine. You can listen to an hour long interview with him here.

 

• ISRO completes another static fire test of the full propulsion system for the service module of its Gaganyaan manned capsule

This test simulated the de-orbit burn. It has two more static fire burns left in this test program.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Intuitive Machines gets $15 million NASA contractor to help develop radioisotobe power for lunar bases

This award was one of the eleven NASA contracts announced yesterday, and is in partnership with Zeno Power Systems

 

• Redwire touts its contract award to develop construction technology for lunar bases

Another one of the eleven NAS contracts awarded yesterday.

 

• Boeing: Starliner lost $257 million in 2nd quarter of 2023, part of a total $527 million loss

Other analysis says the total write-offs Boeing has had from Starliner now exceeds $1 billion, numbers that match reports over the last few years here at BtB.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace completes testing of various engines and parts of its solid-fueled Gravitation-1 rocket

The company claims it will launch before the end of the year.

 

• Video of vertical landing test by Chinese pseudo-company Galactic Energy, using a jet engine

The company claims the flight allowed it to test its landing software.

 

• NASA and DARPA select Lockheed Martin to build spacecraft to test nuclear thermal propulsion in space

More PR info here. Jay notes that he has seen many comments expressing doubt this will ever be built.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Ispace has begun assembly of Hakuto-R2 lunar lander

 

• Sierra Space used gold composite aluminum foil on interior of first Dream Chaser, Tenacity

The foil acts to prevent oxygen from leaking out.

 

• ULA CEO outlines planned schedule for first three Vulcan launches

He says, the first in the fourth quarter 2023, the second in the first half of 2024, and the third in second half of 2024. The first two flights are necessary before the military will certify Vulcan for its launches. Since the military is ULA’s biggest customer, it desperately needs those very delayed launches to fly as soon as possible.

 

• SpaceX has recently completed propellant load tests on Superheavy boosters #9 and #10

#9 is planned for the orbital test, targeting August but likely delayed by the FAA.

 

• Falcon Heavy passes launch readiness review, now targeting July 26th launch

Lift-off is set for 11:04 pm (Eastern).

 

• Kazakhstan delays any Russian Soyuz-5 launches from proposed Baiterek launchpad two years until ’25

The paperwork suggests the delay is due to “a difficult geopolitical situation in the world.” Without the launchpad Russia has no place to launch its proposed Soyuz-5, intended as a replacement for its Proton rocket.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Photos of GalaxySpace’s Starlink copy-cat satellites

As Jay says, “Talk about lazy.”

 

• A graphic comparison of the different rockets launching in the U.S. vs China

Eric Berger notes the greater variety in China, but fails to note that it is all government-built or controlled. In the U.S. everything is privately owned and built. While the variety in the U.S. is not yet there, give a few more years.

 

• Details on recently awarded NASA unfunded agreements with seven companies

Jay notes, “Only two of the seven companies have anything physical: SpaceX and Northup-Grumman.” I must add however that Northrop Grumman’s proposal has to do with things it hasn’t built yet. SpaceX as usual has the most compelling idea: reconfiguring Starship as an orbital space station.

Since NASA is providing no funds, I am not sure what the companies are getting from the agency in winning these contracts. Its engineers can provide some technical advice for sure, but in the end all they really can do is provide a second pair of eyes to review the work. Or to put it another way, someone whose only job will be to say “no.”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who is more awake than I on this Friday afternoon.

• Amazon to build $120 million Kuiper satellite facility in Florida

The plan is to have this facility pumping out satellites for launch by early 2025. This will give Amazon less than two years to get 1,600 satellites in orbit, as required by its FCC licence.

 

• NASA Powerpoint presentation touting the two Artemis manned lunar landers

The link downloads the pdf. Lots of empty blather, but the side-to-side comparison of SpaceX’s Starship with Blue Origin’s Blue Moon is quite educational.

 

• ISRO announces July 30th as next PSLV launch date

The rocket is carrying a radar Earth observation satellite and six smallsat second payloads

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, helps make sure nothing gets missed.

• A reminder that today is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing

Just remember, Americans made it point to “come in peace for all mankind.”

 

• ESA touts its proposed Argonaut lunar lander, to be launched by its Ariane-6 rocket

No launch date revealed, and in fact, few hard details. This is PR. Jay has doubts it will ever launch, and I tend to agree.

 

• Video of the Kuaizhou-1A launch today

For some reason the tweet includes a picture of cars parked near the rocket, as if it is also a car commercial. Jay also adds this interesting drone photo of the launch, taken from above.

 

• Video of ISRO’s static fire test of Gaganyaan’s service module propulsion system

 

• NASA project to develop lunar fission power systems faces uncertain future

The politics at NASA and in Congress make funding this project difficult, if not impossible. As Jay notes, “They are gun shy politically on this subject. How many times have they started a ‘NERVA Study’ and just moved the money over to another project?”

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who acts as a second pair of eyes to make sure we don’t miss anything.

• Insurance rep says Viasat’s $420 million claim for satellite failure will impact other customers

In plain English, insurance companies might have to raise rates to satellite companies to cover Viasat’s claim, an entirely ordinary situation when it comes to satellite insurance.

 

• Video of NASA press conference in advance of the last Antares/Cygnus launch using Russian engines

The launch date is presently August 1, 2023 at 8:30 pm (Eastern). After this launch Northrop Grumman will not be able to launch an Antares rocket until it gets new engines and first stage from Firefly. In the meantime it will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to launch three Cygnus capsules to ISS.

 

• Another Chinese pseudo-company, Nayuta Space, proposes a methane rocket dubbed “Space Chaser-1”

The company also claims it will have a reusable suborbital launcher that sounds awfully like New Shepard, with variations.

 

• A new “ultra-high-speed” wind tunnel in China

It appears designed above all to simulate conditions needed for the hypersonic testing.

 

• Analysis suggests private investment in the past year has shifted to smaller space firms

 

• Video of first test of SpaceX’s Superheavy launchpad deluge system

It was a partial test, but indicates again that SpaceX will be ready for another Starship/Superheavy orbital test launch in August, as promised. Will the FAA? I remain doubtful.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• ULA’s CEO says Blue Origin is manufacturing two BE-4 engines per quarter

8 engines a year, eh? New Glenn requires seven to launch. ULA will need two for each Vulcan launch. I don’t see this working as planned. If true ULA has a serious problem, and New Glenn will not fly for years.

Jay adds this link for comparison: SpaceX produces one Raptor-2 engine every two days, and was previously manufacturing 400 Merlin engines per year (before the reuse of the Falcon 9 first stage reduced the need for so many engines).

 

• The extra steel being added to Vulcan Centaur upper stage to prevent a recurrence of the another failure equals 300 pounds

Since the rocket is designed to take 60,000 pounds into orbit, this extra weight is not significant. The real question is why this issue was not discovered until now, after decades of using that Centaur upper stage.

 

• Roscosmos introduces an official mascot for its Luna-25 probe

It is asking for name suggestions. Submit yours here! (though it appears you’ll have to do it in Russian.

 

• Orbital Composite gets $1.7 million Space Force contract to test 3D printing antennas in orbit

This work, in partnership with Axiom, will also aid the development of Axiom’s station.