Virgin Orbit preparing for first U.K. launch
Original Publication Date: 2023-01-05 13:17
Virgin Orbit is gearing up for its first launch from the United Kingdom as soon as Jan. 9. A maritime navigation warning issued Jan. 4 identified a zone for hazardous operations. The zone is consistent with the drop zone for Virgin Orbit’s “Start Me Up” LauncherOne mission. Virgin Orbit had planned to conduct the Start Me Up mission last fall.
Senators seek funding boost for NASA and NSF astrophysics programs
Original Publication Date: 2023-01-07 00:50
Five senators ask White House to add at least $300 million in next budget proposal. Senators: Funding needed to implement recommendations of astrophysics decadal survey. Report recommended NASA pursue a technology maturation program for a series of space telescope missions. Report also backed NSF support for two large ground-based telescopes, Giant Magellan Telescope.
Delta throws down the gauntlet with free Wi-Fi plan
Original Publication Date: 2023-01-06 21:28
Delta CEO says Wi-Fi enabled by Viasat will be available for about 80% of domestic routes. Delta has invested “over a billion dollars’ in preparation for free Wi-Fi across its fleet. Viasat’s growing dominance of the IFC market is an area of concern.
NASA faces budget crunch for extended Earth science missions
Original Publication Date: 2023-01-06 13:04
NASA will allow three aging Earth science missions to participate in an upcoming senior review. The agency warns of budget pressures on its overall portfolio of missions. NASA requested more than $2.4 billion for Earth science in its fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. However, the omnibus spending bill enacted in late December provided just under $2.2 billion.
Independent review warns of cost growth on key Earth science mission
Original Publication Date: 2023-01-06 11:53
NASA is conducting reviews of three elements of its Earth System Observatory line of missions. An independent review concluded that AOS would cost $2.4 billion. AOS will include satellites both in polar and mid-inclination orbits. A major factor for the cost growth is the low technical maturity of two instruments.
NASASpaceFlight.com
India launches a new ocean monitoring satellite on Saturday morning. The EOS-06 spacecraft was put into a low Earth orbit by the PSLV rocket. The mission, PSLV C54, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11:56 local time (06:26 UTC)
Commercial Archives
SpaceX began another busy year with the launch of the Transporter-6 rideshare mission. Falcon 9’s first stage returned to land at Landing Zone-1 at CCSFS approximately eight and a half minutes after launch. The weather forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron showed a 90% chance of acceptable weather on Tuesday.
International Archives
China has completed its most successful spaceflight year yet. Another Gaofen-11 launched from Taiyuan on a Chang Zheng 4B on Dec. 27. The Shiyan 10-02 payload aboard a Chang Zheng 3B on Dec. 29 at 04:43 UTC. Remote sensing satellites were a common sight on Chinese rockets in 2022.
News – Spaceflight101
Europe’s Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday. A Russian Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
SpaceX Falcon 9 takes to skies over Florida's Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. First of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year. Dragon spacecraft will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the orbiting laboratory. Read more here.
Re-Entry: Long March 11 Rocket Body – Spaceflight101
The CZ-11 fourth stage used leftover propellant for a partial de-orbit maneuver, lowering its perigee to 120 Kilometers to significantly accelerate its orbital decay. It is reportedly built around a YF-50 main engine and in a nominal mission conducts the orbital circularization after the three CZ-11 stages.
Watch the Latest Water Satellite Unfold Itself in Space
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite launched into Earth orbit on Friday, Dec. 16. The solar arrays fully deployed shortly after launch, taking about 10 minutes. The mission monitors and controls the satellite using telemetry data, but it also equipped spacecraft with four customized commercial cameras.
Construction Begins on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. Now the mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase. The mission supports the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)
Moon Water Imager Integrated With NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer
Lunar Trailblazer, NASA’s mission to understand lunar water and the Moon’s water cycle, is one step closer to launching next year. Earlier this month, the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California delivered a key science instrument to Lockheed Martin Space in Colorado. The instrument, called the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, is one of two on Lunar Trailblazer.
NASA Explores a Winter Wonderland on Mars
The surface of Mars is covered in snow, ice, and frost in winter. Some of the coldest of these occur at the planet's poles. No region of Mars gets more than a few feet of snow, most of which falls over extremely flat areas. The Red Planet's elliptical orbit means it takes many more months for winter to come around.
Juno Spacecraft Recovering Memory After 47th Flyby of Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed its 47th close pass of Jupiter on Dec. 14. Afterward, as the solar-powered orbiter was sending its science data to mission controllers from its onboard computer, the downlink was disrupted. The issue was most likely caused by a radiation spike as Juno flew through a radiation-intensive portion of Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science
NASA’s InSight mission has ended after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were unable to contact the lander after two consecutive attempts. The last time InSight communicated with Earth was Dec. 15.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
A titanium tube containing a rock sample is resting on the Red Planet’s surface after being placed there on Dec. 21. Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 tubes at the location, called “Three Forks. The depot marks a historic early step in the Mars Sample Return campaign.