Tag: quick space links

Thanks to BtB’s stringer Jay for digging these up.

• ULA installs engines on Centaur, the Vulcan upper stage

This Centaur will be on Vulcan’s inaugural launch, presently scheduled for next year.

 

• IAU issues statement complaining about the brightnees of AST Spacemobile’s BlueWalker-3 satellite

Essentially, astronomers are unhappy both about its brightness and its use of radio frequencies. The first could interfere with optical astronomy, the second with radio astronomy.

Once again, the solution is obvious: Stop building ground-based telescopes and build them in space, beyond Earth orbit, so these needed orbiting constellations won’t get in their way.

 

• South Korean leader pushes for unmanned landing on Moon by ’32, and on Mars by ’45

A decade to launch a lunar lander, eh? Both Israel and the UAE went from concept to launch in less than five years. South Korea should be able to do as well, if not better. If not, then this is really nothing more than a jobs program.

 

• Engineers continue efforts to communication with IceCube, launched on SLS

The cubesat was designed to go into lunar orbit, but engineers have so far failed to communicate with it since deployment.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• Shenzhou-15, with three astronauts, scheduled to launch at 10:08 am (Eastern) tomorrow

This will be the first time the Tiangong-3 station will be occupied by two three-person crews, performing its first crew rotation.

 

• Relativity touts 4-second video of one of its 3D printers

 

• Chinese government appears to prefer “Chinese Space Station” over “Tiangong-3”

I suspect officials decided they get more propaganda bang-for-the-buck with the more generic name. And on that note:

 

• China touts 9 international research projects to launch next year to its “China Space Station.”

Jay notes, with surprise, that this Twitter feed, China ‘N Asia Spaceflight, which mostly plugs China’s space achievements and thus should want to stay on that government’s good side, still tweeted about the lockdown riots in China.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer, trolling Tweeter so you don’t have to.

• Another update on the space junk remaining in orbit from Russia’s destruction of Cosmos 1408 in 2021

There is uncertainty here. An earlier update said only 18 pieces of debris would still be in orbit in three years. This update predicts 44 pieces in three years.

 

• Some unusual visitors tour SpaceX’s Starship facility

I think, but cannot prove it, that those are retired early Starship/Superheavy prototypes, not active ships.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Landspace sets December 3rd for first launch of its Zhuque-2 rocket

This is a liquid fueled methane-oxygen smallsat orbital rocket.

 

• Ground-based images of ISS and Tiangong-3, side-by-side

Jay correctly notes, “The scale is off, the picture shows Tiangong-3 as larger than what it is.” Comparing the Russian modules on ISS with Tiangong-3’s modules, I estimate that Tiangong-3 is about 30% smaller than shown.

 

• China plans a DART-copycat mission in ’25, impacting an asteroid

The tweet provides no information in English on the asteroid being targeted.

 

• SpaceX has begun attaching OneWeb satellites in preparation for Falcon 9 launch

This will be the first SpaceX launch of satellites for its competitor OneWeb, picking up the business the Russians intentionally abandoned.

 

• UK to build the new lander for ESA’s Franklin Mars rover

The launch of this long delayed rover is now targeting ’28. It was originally supposed to launch in ’20, was first delayed until ’22 because of parachute issues, then was delayed again when Europe and Russia ended their space partnership due to the Ukraine War.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Damage to mobile launcher from SLS launch

More damage can be seen here. NASA apparently considers this damage no big deal, other than demonstrating how powerful SLS is.

 

• Blue Origin touts cooperative agreement with Space Force.

The deal is a first step toward becoming a launch provider for the Space Force. As Jay noted to me, “Wait, how many rockets does Blue Origin have again? How many have made it to orbit? How is that BE-4 going?”

 

• Next Shenzhou manned capsule on Long March 2F rolled to launchpad

Launch is scheduled for November 29th, and will facilitate the first on-station crew rotation on Tiangong-3.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Orienspace says it will launch its solid rocket Gravitation-1 three times by early ’24

It also says it had ten more launches planned through ’25.

 

• Chinese pseudo-company Ispace lays off half its workforce

This reduction follows a failed rocket launch in May, the third in four attempts.

 

• ISRO preparing PSLV rocket for November 26th launch

The launch will place one Earth observation satellite and eight smallsats in orbit.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• Debris from “acoustic blanket” now thought to have caused Cygnus solar panel deployment failure

From the tweet: “Probably got snagged on the array when the fairing separated.” This conclusion is based on the images released two days ago.

 

• Anthony Zak at RussianSpaceWeb asks for donations & subscribers to keep his website going

 

• Video of a test article of Centaur, Vulcan’s upper stage, being inserted for testing

This was posted by ULA’s CEO, Tory Bruno. He does not say when this was done, nor provide clarity on a test or launch schedule.

 

• NASA declares inflatable heat shield test flown on Atlas-5 launch a success

And as the agency does so often, it now shuts things down, having no plans to fly it again. It could be scaled up for future Mars missions, but no such mission is presently planned. ULA, which partnered with NASA on the test, is likely to take this technology and use it to recover the 1st stage engines on Vulcan.

 

• China unveils a method using a net to capture the first stage of its proposed Long March 5G rocket

The tweet shows a picture of a small scale prototype test. An animation of the idea can be seen here. If built it would be a rare thing for China, a new concept not copied from others.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so we don’t have to.

• South Africa signs deal with NASA to build a communications ground station for Artemis Moon missions

The plan is for the dish to become operative in ’25. It remains a puzzle. Shouldn’t the recently upgraded Deep Space Network provide this service?

 

• First test launch of Russia’s new manned Oryol capsule delayed until ’25

Wanna bet they won’t meet this date either?

 

• Spacewalk on Tiangong-3 to install handrails and other hardware to facilitate future EVAs

The work was done yesterday, and was the third for the Shenzhou-14 crew.

 

• China publishes new five-year-plan covering 2021 to 2025, with a chapter outlining its space plans

The link goes to the Chinese language version, with only a small excerpt translated into English.

 

• Rocket Lab about to roll its Electron rocket to Wallops launchpad

The launch, set for December 7th, will the the company’s first from Wallops.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• A picture of Astrobotic’s almost completed Peregrine lunar lander

The tweet implies the company is about to ship this to ULA for launch on the first Vulcan launch, in the spring.

 

• Pictures comparing Cygnus on two different flights suggests debris caused the recent solar array deployment failure

It looks almost like an insulation blanket or tarp got caught there.

 

• Rocket Lab touts the solar cells it provide for Orion, now on the way to the Moon

Apparently Rocket Lab was a subcontractor for Europe’s service module.

Note that I have embedded NASA’s live stream of the SLS countdown to a 1:04 am (Eastern) launch tonight here:

Watching the first SLS launch tonight

As I also noted before, I advise waiting until after midnight before watching. Before that everything will be either NASA blather or watching paint dry.

The following quick links are courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• Sierra Space touts a ’23 inaugaral launch of Dream Chaser

The picture of Tenacity, the first Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft, is certainly encouraging.

 

• Europe to begin drop tests in ’23 of small scale prototypes of its own reusable unmanned mini-shuttle, dubbed Space Rider

This spacecraft is comparable in concept to Dream Chaser. It takes off on a rocket and lands on a runway. Its development however is far behind, with the first orbital flight not until the end of ’24, but probably much later. It is also intended for two month orbital missions only, not as a freighter for anyone’s space station.

 

• Space Perspective buys ship to use as an ocean launch platform for its high altitude balloons

The company claims the ship will give them greater flexibility on where and when to launch their stratospheric balloon flights.

 

• Today is the anniversary of the only flight of Buran, the Soviet Union’s version of a space shuttle

It completed only two orbits, landed safely, and never flew again. There is a short video at the link showing the liftoff.

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s on-the-ball stringer.

• Starlink now has a website allowing anyone to donate a terminal to charity

While you can pick some categories for where you’d like your donation to go, you cannot pick a specific charity. The final donation destination remains Starlink’s decision.

 

• Apple to soon provide emergency SOS service to phone customers

Initially it will only be available in the U.S. and Canada.

 

• A picture of a New Glenn fairing

The photographer says its a new fairing. Maybe. Either way, my heart be still.

 

• SpaceX Superheavy booster test apparently planned for tomorrow in Boca Chica

The company sent residents a warning notice.

 

• A six-second video of three exterior experimental payloads on the Tianzhou freighter docked to Tiangong-3

One of the payloads is a hydrogen-oxygen fuel-cell being developed for lunar manned missions.

 

• VERITAS managers lobby for reprieve from NASA decision to delay mission

There is a lot of political lobbying going on at NASA and at JPL right now for more cash from Congress (including a report that practically demands the taxpayers give JPL more, and give a lot), and this delay appears to be one of NASA’s bargaining chips. “Give us more and VERITAS won’t be delayed!”

 

• A new Chinese sea launch platform is experiencing a “significant delay.”

It was supposed to begin operations this year. Now construction is not expected to begin until next year.

 

• AST SpaceMobile has successfully deployed the largest orbital communications array ever

This deployment is a test satellite, dubbed BlueWalker-3, designed to demonstrate technology enabling standard cell phones to use satellites for broadband access in remote areas.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• The present state of the space insurance business

A very interesting and informative article on the state of the insurance business for rockets and satellites

 

• Images of China’s Tiangong-3 station, from in space and from the ground

Here, here, and here. The first was taken from the Tianzhou-4 cargo ship after it undocked. The second is a nice short movie. The third’s ground-based telescope was a bit unsteady, to put it mildly.

 

• NASA decides to continue Lunar Trailblazer, despite cost overruns

This might be throwing good money after bad, but then, that is what the government does routinely.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who also clued me into the two previous posts, which I decided to give more attention to. Thanks Jay!

• Chinese pseudo-company AAEngine tests landing legs for suborbital rocket

This sounding rocket is apparently based on the 2nd stage of an orbital version the company is building.

 

• Thales Alenia Space completes next Cygnus, ready for shipment to U.S.

I am not sure if Thales installs the solar panels. If so, I suspect they will want to wait before shipment in order get a report on why one panel did not deploy on the Cygnus now in orbit. It is also possible that Northrop Grumman installs the panels, and will handle any revisions after delivery.

 

• A closer look at Virgin Orbit’s financial picture

Apparently, the delays in the UK are seriously hurting the company. Because they only have one 747 carrier plane, Cosmic Girl, they can only do one launch at a time, which means later launches — and the revenue they produce — are pushed back. The company thus desperately needs a second 747 so the delays on one launch don’t impact others.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• OneWeb signs deal to build ground station in Angola

It will become operational in the second half of ’23, and will provide internet service to several nearby African nations. It also is planned as the first of several in Africa.

 

• SpaceX celebrates completion of 200th Raptor-2 engine

Just to get a little perspective, SpaceX built these 200 engines in about two years. In that same time, Blue Origin has struggled to build two BE-4 engines for ULA.

 

• Spain panics and shuts its airport in fear of Long March 5B core stage

Though I mince no words in my criticism of China for letting this stage crash uncontrolled, Spain’s action to shut down its airport was absurd.

There remains some uncertainty about the final impact point, which might actually be two, suggesting the stage broke in half early.

 

• China shows off its Merlin engine knockoff

Obviously, China’s ability to build this gives their space effort great capabilities, even if they steal the work of others.

 

Courtesy of Jay, BtB’s stringer.

• SpaceX celebrates completion of the 200th Falcon 9 second stage

Jay also notes that according to Elon Musk, “Falcon 9 now holds record for most launches of a single vehicle type in a year.”

 

• Rocket Lab completes solar panels for NASA’s Lunar Gateway space station

The panels were built by the company’s “New Mexico team.”

 

• SLS’s rollout to the launchpad for its first test launch to begin on November 4th at noon

The launch is still scheduled for November 14th, sending an Orion capsule around the Moon for a multi-week mission.

 

• Orbital sensors built by HEO Robotics capture images of China’s out-of-control Long March 5B core stage

There is a two frame movie at the link, made from that imagery.

 

• Roscosmos shuts down the Russian Space magazine

It appears this magazine began publication in 2006, and was financed by Roscosmos. It also appears that the Russians no longer have the funds to pay for it.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Chinese pseudo-company Space Pioneer shows illustration of proposed rocket spaceplane for point-to-point transportation

This is one I’ll believe when I see something real, not an illustration.

 

• Last Ariane-5 launch delayed until June 2023 due to issues with payload

“The delays are the result of Covid-caused business slowdowns and the lingering effects of an arsonist attack at prime contractor OHB SE in Bremen, Germany.”

 

• Long March 3B launch window opens tomorrow

The payload is a Chinese communications satellite.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who reads Twitter so we don’t have to.

• Recent image of Tenacity, Sierra Space’s first Dream Chaser cargo spaceship

Maybe finally this spacecraft is getting close to launch, years late.

 

• Watching the November 6th launch of Antares carrying Cygnus cargo freighter

Jay says it succinctly: “This will be the second to the last flight of the Antares 220 rocket. After that, the next three flights of Cygnus be on Falcon 9 rockets, and then the new Antares 330 rocket powered by Firefly engines.” Antares 330 is targeting 2025 for first launch.

 

• ULA CEO Tori Bruno posts image of both flightworthy BE-4 engines, about to be mounted on Vulcan

Better late than never I guess. And these engines were certainly late.

 

• Chinese X-37B-copy spaceplane releases an object, suggesting an upcoming deorbit burn

Apparently on its previous flight it released an object also just prior to its return to Earth. No guarantee the same thing will happen this time, but the event is noted.

 

• Roscosmos official admits loss of foreign commercial business, creating budget shortfall

Gee, ya think maybe screwing OneWeb might not have been wise, from a business standpoint?

 

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. To my readers, I am having an off day, so please forgive the low output from me.

• China schedules December 3rd orbital launch of rocket fueled by oxygen-methane

The other methane-fueled rocket engines come from SpaceX (on Starship/Superheavy) and Blue Origin. ULA was supposed to have launched with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine two years ago. The launch won’t happen before 2023. SpaceX’s first Starship orbital attempt could happen any time before the end of the year.

This Chinese rocket could thus be the first methane-fueled rocket to reach orbit.

 

• Australia agrees to let the sample return capsule from Japan’s Mars Moon Exploration mission (MMX) to Phobos land there

The tentative return date is 2029. The launch itself is set for next year.

 

• ULA Atlas-5 launch of NOAA satellite on November 1st will include inflatable heat shield test

From the link:

Launching with JPSS-2 is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive re-entry.

 

• Firefly adds former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine to its own advisory board

This is merely the company bringing Bridenstine in to grease the wheels of Washington’s increasingly oppressive bureaucracy. He won’t add any engineering or management skills to Firefly, in the slightest.

Courtesy of stringer Jay, who trolls Tweeter so we don’t have to.

• Astrobotic to display its Peregrine lunar lander on November 3 in Pittsburgh

Peregrine is scheduled to launch on ULA’s first Vulcan launch, the date of which remains uncertain because of the long delay by Blue Origin of its BE-4 rocket engine.

 

• Dream Chaser’s cargo logistics module photographed inside the processing facility in Florida

I think the picture shows the interior of the equivalent of a cargo container that will be placed inside Dream Chaser

 

• Firefly receives the first payload to fly on its Blue Ghost lunar lander

Dubbed RadPC, it will demonstrate a radiation tolerant computer both on the way to the Moon as well as on its surface.

 

• China claims it is assembling more Kuaizhou-1A rockets to launch more satellites in the Xingyun “internet of things” constellation

More about the Xingyun constellation here.

 

• CNN claims Biden is negotiating with SpaceX to send Starlink terminals into Iran

This story, based entirely on anonymous sources, appears to be questionable, and could simply be an example of the Biden administration attempting before election day to make believe it is trying to help the protesters in Iran, something the Democrats have for years been loath to do.

 

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so we don’t have to.

• Chinese pseudo-commercial company Landspace successfully tests oxygen-methane engine

Most of China’s pseudo companies have ridden on the coattails of the military’s solid rocket missile technology, supervised by the military. Landspace is now trying to branch out into liquid fueled engines.

 

• Chinese scientists produce a tectonic map of the Moon

Their paper is here. From the abstract:

The map provides a state-of-the-art illustration of structures and tectonic units of different periods, the distributions of 9 types of linear structures, including 18976 elements (358 inferred deep faults, 1335 shallow faults, 11046 wrinkle ridges, 474 rillles, 816 grabens, 2583 crater-floor fractures, 227 lobate scarps, 1882 impact fractures and 255 impact crater chains), and 5 types of circular structures, including 2501 elements (271 volcanic vents, 47 domes, 46 mascons, 3460 impact craters and 81 impact basins).

 

• NASA history: 50 years ago the stacking and assembly of Skylab (America’s first space station) began

 

• NASA’s Super Guppy transport aircraft apparently suffered an engine failure, forcing a landing

No injuries or damage. The plane, after taking off from Orlando appears to have had to quickly turned around and land, about 22 minutes later.

 

• Rocket Lab prepares for first launch from Wallops in December

The company originally wanted to launch two years ago, but was blocked by NASA’s bureaucracy, which was incredibly slow in approving and updating the flight termination software.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

• Northrop Grumman delivers two strap-on solid rocket boosters for Vulcan’s first launch

Though the launch is now tentatively scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2023, no launch can occur until Blue Origin finally delivers to ULA the second flightworthy BE-4 engine, years behind schedule. In related news:

 

• Jeff Bezos receives the Galileo Prophets of Philanthropy Award at the Vatican this week

Jay’s comment: “Oh for the love of … I just ate. How much did that award cost? I think he spent more money on his chick-a-dee to his right than the BE-4!

 

• Amateur astronomer Philip Smith out of New York tracks Tiangong-3

The image at the link was taken on October 11th, right after the Wentian module was moved to the side port, in preparation for the arrival of the next module, Mengtian, at the end of this month. A second image of Tiangong-3 by Smith can be seen here.

 

• Chinese PR on twitter is likely run by China’s People’s Liberation Army, not its space or science institutes

This fact, obvious for years, was discovered by China ‘N Asia Spaceflight, which operates out of India and is one of Jay’s main China’s Twitter sources.

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls twitter so the rest of us don’t have to.

• Amazon will launch two Kuiper test satellites on first Vulcan launch

That launch is tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of ’23, but don’t bet on it. Moreover, this means Amazon is gambling its first Kuiper launch on an untested rocket.

Even if it does happen, Kuiper has taken years to get started, and is way behind SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, even though both were first announced at about the same time.

 

• Electron arrives at Wallops for December launch

This will be first launch by Rocket Lab from Wallops, only two years behind schedule because of delays from NASA’s bureaucracy.

Thanks to BtB’s stringer Jay, who trolls Twitter so I don’t have to.

• Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA, explains why Vulcan uses Centaur-4 instead of Centaur-3 for upper stage

He mentions ULA spent $200 million to manufacture Centaur-4. Yet, he still can’t launch the Vulcan rocket without the first stage, and the first stage depends not on his engines, but on Blue Origin’s long delayed and not yet flightworthy BE-4 engine.

 

• UK bureaucracy questions Viasat’s takeover of Inmarsat

I covered this in August, but now the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is setting a deadline, October 13, for the companies to explain why their merger won’t destroy Starlink. Otherwise it will initiate a full probe, blocking the merger.

Typical government stupidity. There is no way this merged company will destroy Starlink. If anything, these companies are merging to survive the competition from Starlink.

 

• China’s second lunar sample return mission, Chang’e-6, targeting a mid-2024 launch

It plans to collect samples from the Moon’s far side.

 

• Russians are targeting October 12, 2022 for Proton rocket launch

This will be the first Proton launch since December ’21.

 

• SpaceX scrubs commercial launch today, reschedules for tomorrow

The decision was made about 30 minutes before launch, and is attributed to a desire to provide time to do more checkouts of the rocket.