NASA to repair SLS liquid hydrogen leak on the pad
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 01:16
NASA will attempt to fix a liquid hydrogen seal that caused a Space Launch System scrub. That work will be done on the pad rather than rolling the vehicle back to the VAB. A problem with that seal resulted in a large leak of liquid hydrogen during the Sept. 3 launch attempt.
OneWeb takes $229 million charge for canceled Soyuz launches
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 11:35
OneWeb took a $229 million charge this year linked to the termination of its Soyuz launch contract. Dozens of satellites were stranded in Kazakhstan after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. OneWeb has since announced contracts with ISRO and SpaceX to launch its remaining first-generation satellites.
South Korean lunar orbiter succeeds in critical trajectory correction maneuver
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-06 13:36
South Korea's first robotic lunar orbiter is looping back to the moon from the L1 Lagrange point. The orbiter successfully conducted a critical trajectory correction maneuver Sept. 2. The orbiter, launched Aug. 5 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, is on a ballistic lunar transfer trajectory.
NASA selects Axiom Space to develop Artemis spacesuit
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-08 11:00
NASA awards $228.5 million task order to Axiom Space to develop spacesuit. The suit will be used on the first Artemis landing mission, although the design of the suit remains under wraps. Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace won contracts from NASA in June. Both companies will be eligible for future task orders that will include development of ISS spacesuits.
Ariane 5 launches Konnect VHTS satellite for Eutelsat
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-08 10:14
Arianespace launches the 6.5-ton Konnect VHTS satellite for Eutelsat Sept. 7. The Ariane 5 lifted off from the European Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana. The 8.9-meter-tall satellite will deliver 230 beams for high-speed broadband.
U.S.-French Earth science satellite ready to ship for December launch
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 23:07
Joint U.S.-French Earth science mission is ready to be delivered to California for a launch. Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft will carry out observations. Scientists plan to use SWOT to conduct a global survey of the Earth’s water.
GAO: Defense, intelligence agencies need a better plan to buy commercial satellite imagery
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 19:43
GAO: U.S. Defense and intelligence agencies are not taking advantage of available technology. Government Accountability Office: Slow and cumbersome procurement methods. U.S. Risks losing a technological advantage over emerging competitors, like China, report says. Report: IC and DoD should lay down clear roles and responsibilities for acquiring imagery.
NASA to repair Artemis 1 moon rocket’s leaky hydrogen connector at launch pad – Spaceflight Now
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 00:00
NASA will repair leak in a liquid hydrogen fueling line on the Artemis 1 moon rocket at the launch pad. The decision will enable teams to test the repair under cryogenic conditions. A leak in a quick-disconnect fitting on an 8-inch liquid hydrogen line forced managers to stop the countdown. The Artemis 1 mission will mark the first test flight of the SLS moon rocket.
Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket launches from French Guiana – Spaceflight Now
Original Publication Date: 2022-09-07 00:00
Arianespace’s live video webcast will begin approximately one hour before launch. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter @Arianespace and @SpaceX on Facebook and Instagram. The Eutelsat Konnect VHTS communications satellite will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket.
NASASpaceFlight.com
The SSLV or Small Satellite Launch Vehicle conducted its launch debut from Sriharikota, India on Sunday, August 7 at 03:48 UTC. An issue with the fourth stage resulted in the satellites being deployed in an unusable orbit. The SSLV program’s genesis was a December 2015 National Institute of Advanced Studies proposal to create a “Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-1” to launch small national security payloads on demand.
Commercial Archives
Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket returned to action on September 7, deploying a high-power communications satellite for French operator Eutelsat. Liftoff from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana occurred on time at 6:45 PM local time (21:45 UTC)
International Archives
Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket returned to action on September 7, deploying a high-power communications satellite for French operator Eutelsat. Liftoff from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana occurred on time at 6:45 PM local time (21:45 UTC) at the opening of an 86-minute launch window.
Chinese Long March 3B Launches APStar-6C Communications Satellite – Spaceflight101
China conducted a rare commercial launch of a Long March 3B rocket with the APStar-6C communications satellite for APT Satellite Holdings. Long March 3B lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:06 UTC on a mission of under half an hour to lift the spacecraft into an elliptical Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Confirmation of launch success was provided by APT Satellite around 40 minutes after liftoff.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reaches new Heights in latest Test Flight – Spaceflight101
Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard launch system reached new heights in a test designed to expand the vehicle’s operational envelope by sending it to a peak altitude of 107 Kilometers. Sunday’s flight marked the second for this particular set of hardware, following up on the successful December 2017 mission that debuted “Crew Capsule 2.0” The mission was the second commercial mission flown by New Shepard, carrying five utilization payloads from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, three German university payloads and a commercial tech demonstration payload flown by Solstar.
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 lifts off from Cape Canaveral with Dragon spacecraft. Dragon will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the International Space Station. This is the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
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.
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.
A Cosmic Tarantula, Caught by NASA’s Webb
The Tarantula Nebula has a similar type of chemical composition as the gigantic star-forming regions observed at the universe’s “cosmic noon,” when the cosmos was only a few billion years old. Webb will provide astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in the Tarantula Nebula with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies from the actual era of cosmic noon.
NASA’s Webb Takes Its First-Ever Direct Image of Distant World
Astronomers have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and is not habitable. The finding is detailed in NASA’s latest JWST blog entry.
Explore the Solar System With NASA’s New-and-Improved 3D ‘Eyes’
Learn the basics about dwarf planets or the finer points of gas giants. Ride alongside no fewer than 126 space missions past and present. Scroll through rich interactive journeys, including Voyager’s Grand Tour of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. You can rotate objects, compare them side by side, and even modulate the perspective as well as the lighting.
Engineers Solve Data Glitch on NASA’s Voyager 1
Engineers have repaired an issue affecting data from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft. Earlier this year, the probe’s attitude articulation and control system began sending garbled information about its health and activities. The team has since located the source of the garbled information: The AACS had started sending the telemetry data through an onboard computer known to have stopped working years ago.
NASA’s Webb Detects Carbon Dioxide in Exoplanet Atmosphere
First clear, detailed evidence for carbon dioxide ever detected in a planet outside the solar system. Understanding composition of a planet’s atmosphere is important because it tells us something about the origin of the planet and how it evolved. “Detecting such a clear signal of carbon dioxide on WASP-39 b bodes well for the detection of atmospheres on smaller, terrestrial-sized planets,” said Natalie Batalha of the University of California at Santa Cruz.
NASA Helps Minority-Serving Institutions Refine Tech Proposals
The FSU concept is dubbed Autonomous Systems With On-Demand Inference From Perception Pipelines. The Massachusetts team is working on a system of autonomous drones, recharging stations, and sensor nodes. The Massachusetts team, led by engineering professor Tomas Materdey, is working on an autonomous drones system.
NASA’s Perseverance Makes New Discoveries in Mars’ Jezero Crater
Scientists have offered various theories why olivine is so plentiful over such a large area of the surface. Perseverance abraded a rock to reveal its composition. Scientists homed in on the olivine’s large grain size, along with the rock’s chemistry and texture.