Dark clouds, silver linings: Five ways war in Ukraine is transforming the space domain
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-23 15:00
Russia’s flouting of international order set in motion a realignment with near, medium and long-term implications. The ongoing war in Ukraine has accelerated the U.S. Defense Department and intelligence community’s embrace of commercial satellite communications. With Russia’s Soyuz sidelined, possibly permanently, Europe is reckoning with gaps in its ability to deploy and maintain vital space infrastructure.
The Rest of 2022’s Notable Nine
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-23 15:18
The James Webb Space Telescope and the Space Launch System were albatrosses around the neck of NASA. China’s space program advanced at an impressive pace in 2022. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is simultaneously raising the profile of space within the FCC and the space industry.
Congress adds $1.7 billion for U.S. Space Force in 2023 spending bill
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-24 20:17
The 2023 omnibus spending package includes $26.3 billion for the U.S. Space Force. The bulk of the $1.7 billion added to the Space Force budget is for new satellites. More than $500 million of the increase is for the Space Development Agency.
Senate passes orbit debris cleanup bill
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-23 20:16
Senate passes Orbital Sustainability, or ORBITS, Act by unanimous consent. Bill would require NASA to establish an active debris removal remediation program. House did not take up the ORBITS Act before passage of the fiscal year 2023 omnibus spending bill. A bill on a related topic also died in the House.
Speeding up the satellite regulatory machine - SpaceNews
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-23 15:35
Regulators only gather once roughly every four years for the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) Satellite and ground-based networks are fast converging to unprecedented levels. This integration promises new business opportunities but also creates interference and other challenges threatening critical infrastructure. “The world is moving fast, and we need to be more nimble, more agile with respect to both technology and business,” said Rajeev Gopal, vice president for advanced systems at satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems.
NASASpaceFlight.com
India launches a new ocean monitoring satellite. PSLV C54 rocket launches at 11:56 local time (06:26 UTC) EOS-06 spacecraft into a low Earth orbit. It will monitor the ocean from a low Earth orbit on the Indian side of the equator.
Commercial Archives
Two NASA astronauts conducted a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, Dec. 22. The Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) follows a previous one on Dec. 2 that installed the third iROSA. The second EVA of the pair was scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 21, but was postponed at the last minute when controllers determined that a piece of Russian rocket debris would pass dangerously close to the ISS.
International Archives
2022 has marked another busy chapter for the International Space Station. The Station saw the first docking of Starliner, the all-private Axiom-1 mission, and new hardware installed to increase the lifespan of humanity’s collaborative space laboratory. Along with its constant plethora of scientific and engineering experiments, the Station also saw the all-privateAxiom-1 mission.
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 on Friday. The pair worked to finish the restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System that started last year and continued in January.
Featured – Spaceflight101
A SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. The Falcon 9 lifted a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft into orbit for a critical delivery of science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware. It is the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
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.
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 is NASA’s mission to understand lunar water and the Moon’s water cycle. 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 (HVM3), is one of two on Lunar Trailblazer.
NASA Explores a Winter Wonderland on Mars
Winter on Mars is a long way off. The Red Planet's elliptical orbit means it takes many more months for winter to come around. A single Mars year is around two Earth years. No region of Mars gets more than a few feet of snow, most of which falls over extremely flat areas.
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. It was placed there on Dec. 21 by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 tubes at the location.
Assembly Begins on NASA’s Next Tool to Study Exoplanets
The Coronagraph Instrument is being tested on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The instrument will block the light from each distant star it observes so that scientists can better see the planets around the star. It will demonstrate technologies needed to eventually study potentially habitable planets with future missions.