As clock ticks on Amazon’s constellation, buying Starship launches not out of the question
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-27 18:27
Amazon’s Project Kuiper needs half of its internet constellation to be operating by 2026. Most of the rockets that are under contract to launch these satellites are new vehicles that have not yet flown. Amazon Kuiper is positioning to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation.
Russia escalates rhetoric on commercial satellites, calls them ‘legitimate targets for retaliation’
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-27 22:04
Russian official says commercial space systems "may become a legitimate target for retaliation" Russia in recent months has aimed its wrath at SpaceX’s internet satellite network Starlink. U.S. Defense and intelligence agencies have increasingly relied on commercial imaging satellites. Pentagon plans to increase its use of commercial space services.
Next Artemis 1 launch attempt on schedule for mid-November
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 11:27
NASA and industry officials say preparations for the next Artemis 1 launch attempt remain on track. A rollout of the rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39B on Nov. 4 would set up a launch attempt on Nov. 14. NASA has secured backup launch dates of Nov. 16 and Nov. 19, but those are close to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Psyche launch rescheduled for October 2023
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-29 04:24
NASA's Psyche mission will launch on a Falcon Heavy during a launch window that opens Oct. 10, 2023. The spacecraft will arrive at the asteroid in August 2029. Psyche was originally scheduled to launch in August, but was delayed first to a backup launch window.
Constellation antenna provider SatixFy goes public after SPAC merger
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 20:45
SatixFy started trading publicly Oct. 28 after its stock listing overcame waning investor interest. SatixFy listed on the New York Stock Exchange following its merger with Endurance Acquisition Corp. Satixfy forecasted revenues to soar from $22 million in 2021 to $374 million in 2026.
Chinese commercial remote sensing satellite firm to double size of constellation
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 10:31
Chinese commercial firm Changguang Satellite Technology says it will expand its under-construction Jilin-1 constellation. The 138 satellites will now constitute a first phase, to be completed by 2023. The second phase will then see the constellation to be expanded to 300 satellites by 2025.
Major Gomspace satellite customer withholding payments
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 02:14
Gomspace halted work on a contract accounting for just under half its annual revenues. The company has about $3.6 million in unpaid invoices and $1.6 million of work-in-progress. Gomspace expects 2022 revenue to total roughly $17 million to $23 million as a result.
SpaceX adds 53 more Starlink satellites to internet constellation – Spaceflight Now
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 00:00
SpaceX fired a Falcon 9 rocket off a launching stand in California at sunset Thursday, producing a twilight sky show visible as far away as Texas. The mission delivered 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit. Powered by a first stage booster making its eighth flight, the Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles. The deployment milestone concluded SpaceX’s 49th mission of the year, a record for any launch company.
Russian cargo ship docks at space station – Spaceflight Now
Original Publication Date: 2022-10-28 00:00
Russia's Progress MS-21 resupply spacecraft completed an automated docking with the International Space Station. The Russian spacecraft delivered more than 2.7 tons of cargo to the lab’s seven-person crew. The cargo delivery marks the 82nd launch of a Progress supply ship toward the space station.
NASASpaceFlight.com
OneWeb has resumed deployment of its satellite constellation with the launch of 36 satellites aboard India’s GSLV Mk.III rocket. The mission – which marks the first commercial launch for the GSLV – lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sunday, Oct. 23.
Commercial Archives
SpaceX's 49th Falcon 9 flight of 2022 has lifted off from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California with 53 Starlink satellites. The launch occurred on time on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:14 PM PDT (01:14 UTC on Friday, Oct. 28). Falcon 9 launched to the southeast into a 53.2-degree inclined orbit to help fill out the fourth shell of Starlink satellites orbiting at 540 kilometers in altitude.
International Archives
Roscosmos launched Progress MS-21 atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, at 8:20 PM EDT on Oct. 25. The Progress MS-21 spacecraft conducted a standard two-day autonomous rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS)
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 the 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.
News – Spaceflight101
Russia's Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. Europe's Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday with a Russian Rockot booster.
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.
Haunting Portrait: NASA’s Webb Reveals Dust, Structure in Pillars of Creation
Mid-infrared light excels at observing gas and dust in extreme detail. The densest areas of dust are the darkest shades of gray. The red region toward the top, which forms an uncanny V, like an owl with outstretched wings, is where the dust is diffuse and cooler. Notice that no background galaxies make an appearance – the interstellar medium in the densest part of the Milky Way’s disk is too swollen with gas and dust to allow their distant light to penetrate.
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight Ready to Search for the Moon’s Water Ice
Lunar Flashlight will be the first mission to use a four-laser reflectometer to look for water ice on the Moon. The reflectometer works by using near-infrared wavelengths that are readily absorbed by water to identify ice on the surface. It’s thought that molecules of water come from comet and asteroid material impacting the lunar surface, and from solar wind interactions with the lunar regolith.
NASA Continues Psyche Asteroid Mission
NASA says its Psyche mission will go forward, targeting a launch period opening on Oct. 10, 2023. Earlier this year, Psyche missed its planned 2022 launch period as a result of mission development problems. An internal review led to an internal review of whether the mission would be able to overcome these issues.
NASA and ESA Agree on Next Steps to Return Mars Samples to Earth
The next step in the unprecedented campaign to return scientifically selected samples from Mars was made on Oct. 19. The two agencies will proceed with the creation of a sample tube depot on Mars. The sample depot, or cache, will be at “Three Forks,” an area located near the base of an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater.
NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Stunning Meteoroid Impact on Mars
NASA's InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24. Scientists determined the quake resulted from a meteoroid impact. The impact, in a region called Amazonis Planitia, blasted a crater roughly 492 feet (150 meters) across and 70 feet (21 meters) deep.
Methane ‘Super-Emitters’ Mapped by NASA’s New Earth Space Mission
NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts. EMIT has demonstrated another crucial capability: detecting the presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In the data EMIT has collected since being installed on the International Space Station in July, the science team has identified more than 50 “super-emitters” in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Southwestern United States.
Edward Stone Retires After 50 Years as NASA Voyager’s Project Scientist
Linda Spilker will succeed Stone as Voyager’s project scientist. Jamie Rankin, a research scientist at Princeton University, has been appointed deputy project scientist. The twin Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, on a mission to explore Jupiter and Saturn. Voyager 1 continued its journey out of the solar system, while Voyager 2 continued on to Uranus and Neptune.