Space @ interstellar news

Proton launches two Russian communications satellites WASHINGTON — The first Proton launch of the year took place July 30 carrying two satellites for the Russian Satellite Communications Company.  Proton lifted off at 5:25 p.m. Eastern from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on an 18-hour mission to deploy the geostationary satellites, Express-80 and Express-103, according to Roscosmos.  The launch was originally scheduled for March, but was delayed to replace problematic components on the rocket. A one-day delay preceded the launch to allow for additional checks on the vehicle, according to Proton manufacturer Khrunichev.  Russia planned  three Proton launches for 2020  at the beginning of the year. It’s not clear if or how the three-month delay will impact the schedule of future missions. RSCC ’s Express-80 satellite is scheduled to separate from Proton’s Briz-M upper stage 17 hours and 59 minutes after liftoff. The satellite carries 20 transponders in...

Space Force acquisition reforms awaiting White House approval A point of contention is the Air Force proposing "incremental" funding for space systems like satellites WASHINGTON — A Department of the Air Force report proposing changes to Space Force acquisition programs was sent to Congress in May but  pulled back shortly after. Shawn Barnes, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, said on July 30 that the report is still under review. “I’m a little frustrated by that,” Barnes told reporters during a conference call. The congressionally mandated report titled “Alternative Acquisition System for the United States Space Force” has not yet been signed off by the White House Office of Management and Budget. “I think we’re very close with OMB at this point,” said Barnes. He declined to comment on specific items in the report that OMB disagreed with. He said there were “a couple of sticking points” but not significant. According to Capitol...

Astra ready for first in a series of orbital launch attempts WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer Astra says it’s ready for an orbital launch attempt as soon as Aug. 2, but warns that it’s “pretty unlikely” that launch will actually achieve orbit. Astra’s Rocket 3.1 vehicle is in final preparations for a launch from Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska on Kodiak Island. The company is targeting a launch on Aug. 2 during a two-hour window that opens at 10 p.m. Eastern, but executives said in a July 30 call with reporters that there’s a 60% chance of unfavorable weather that day. The company has additional launch opportunities each day through Aug. 7. The launch is the first in a series of three the company plans to carry out to demonstrate the rocket’s ability to achieve orbit. This launch is primarily focused on testing the performance of the rocket’s first stage. “We don’t intend to hit a hole-in-one here,” said Chris Kemp, chief executive and co-founder of Astra. “We intend to a...

Amazon’s Kuiper constellation gets FCC approval WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on July 30 approved Amazon’s request to operate a constellation of roughly 3,200 internet satellites in low Earth orbit.  The FCC said Amazon has until July 30, 2026, to launch at least 50% of its satellites in order to maintain its authorization, and until July 30, 2029, to orbit the full constellation.  Amazon, in a blog post, said July 30 that it will invest $10 billion in Kuiper — the same amount SpaceX has estimated it will need to invest in its rival constellation Starlink, which already has more than 500 small broadband satellites in orbit. Amazon has not outlined a launch plan for Kuiper, and told the FCC its constellation is still being designed. The company said it anticipates deploying Kuiper satellites in five waves, starting service once the first, comprising 578 satellites, is in orbit.  Amazon’s Ka-band system is “designed to increase the availability of ...

VOX Space president questions DoD’s handling of stimulus funding for small launch industry Mandy Vaughn said notifying companies of contract awards and immediately rescinding them shows “a little bit of discombobulation." WASHINGTON — The Pentagon earlier this month walked back on an earlier decision to award Defense Production Act contracts to six small launch companies. The about-face sends “mixed signals” to an industry that has been financially devastated by the virus-induced economic crisis, Mandy Vaughn, president of VOX Space, said July 28. VOX Space was one of the six companies that were notified in June that they would collectively receive $116 million in contracts to launch small satellites for the U.S. government. The other five were Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab and Space Vector. DoD cancelled the contracts and the funds were r Vaughn said notifying companies of contract awards and immediately rescinding them shows “a little bit of discombobulation” and sends a messa...

Aerospace Corp. to open new facility in Colorado for classified military space programs The new building is expected to open in spring 2022. WASHINGTON — The Aerospace Corp. announced July 22 it is investing nearly $100 million in a research and development facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that will focus on classified space technology. The company said construction of the 90,000 square-foot facility starts this month with a targeted opening in spring 2022. Aerospace, a federally funded nonprofit corporation, is based in El Segundo, California. It already has a facility at the Colorado Springs Airport Business Park. The second building will be adjacent to the existing location. Aerospace plans to hire about 200 engineers and technical experts for the new facility. The new building is expected to open in spring 2022. WASHINGTON — The Aerospace Corp. announced July 22 it is investing nearly $100 million in a research and development facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that wil...

Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo cabin as it prepares for commercial flights WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic showed off the interior of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane July 28 as the company prepares to wrap up the campaign of test flights of the vehicle and begin commercial operations. In an event held online because of the ongoing pandemic, the company highlighted the various aspects of the design of the cabin interior, from seats to cameras, intended to maximize the experience of customers who are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to briefly look down on the Earth and float in microgravity. “In many ways, the cabin is the design centerpiece of this transformational journey. It’s this cabin which will enable hundreds, and then thousands, of people to embark on one of the most unforgettable journeys of their lives,” Michael Colglazier, the former Disney executive who joined Virgin Galactic as chief executive earlier this month, said during the brief webcast. The cabin, c...

NASA and ESA outline cost of Mars sample return WASHINGTON — NASA and the European Space Agency expect to spend at least $7 billion to collect samples of Mars and return them to Earth, a process that will start with the impending launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. Mars 2020 will deliver to the surface of Mars a rover named Perseverance, whose primary mission will be to collect up to three dozen rock samples, placing them in tubes cached on the Martian surface or on the rover itself. The mission remains on track for a launch at 7:50 a.m. Eastern July 30 on an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Those samples will be returned by two future missions, currently projected to launch in 2026. One will be a NASA-developed lander carrying a European “fetch rover” that will pick up the sample tubes and return them to the lander. Perseverance may also deliver some sample tubes directly to the lander. Those tubes will be loaded into a container that is launched into orbit by a small rocket, cal...

Mars 2020 ready for launch WASHINGTON — NASA’s Mars 2020 mission has passed its final review ahead of a July 30 launch that will kick off an ambitious effort to return samples of the red planet to Earth. NASA announced July 27 that Mars 2020 completed its launch readiness review, confirming that the spacecraft and its Atlas 5 launch vehicle are ready for launch. The Atlas 5 will roll out to the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida July 28, with launch scheduled for 7:50 a.m. Eastern July 30. Weather is forecast to be favorable for the launch. At a July 27 briefing at the Kennedy Space Center, Jessica Williams, launch weather officer at the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Space Wing, said there was an 80% chance of acceptable weather for the July 30 launch attempt, improving to 90% if the launch slips one day. Nearly an hour after the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 541 lifts off, its Centaur upper stage will release the Mars 2020 spacecraft, having placed it on a Mars-bound trajec...

U.S. Space Force and U.K. Ministry of Defense to hold International Space Pitch Day SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. and U.K. defense agencies plan to award $1 million to startups at the first International Space Pitch Day in November during the Defence Space Conference in London. The event, backed by the U.K. Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Royal Air Force, U.S. Space Force and NATO, is designed to identify commercial technology with military space applications. “This is all about fast-tracking innovation and cutting-edge technology to the front line quicker than ever before, and fresh ways of working with industry to make sure we stay ahead of our shared adversaries and the threats they pose,” Director Space Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth said in a statement. The rapid pace of space technology development around the world is prompting military organizations to look beyond national borders to find promising technology. The Techstars Allied Space Accelerator established in 2019, for exampl...

NASA safety panel has lingering doubts about Boeing Starliner quality control WASHINGTON — Members of a NASA safety panel expressed continued concern about quality issues with Boeing’s commercial crew spacecraft while cautiously supporting SpaceX’s plans to fly reused spacecraft on future crewed missions. During a July 23 teleconference by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, members discussed several reviews of issues with the uncrewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft last December. NASA announced July 7  it had completed its reviews of that Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission , which resulted in 80 recommendations specific to the flight and several more from a separate “high-visibility close call” review carried out earlier this year by NASA. All of the recommendations specific to Starliner, including software issues that accounted for the majority of those recommendations, will need to be completed and approved before a second OFT mission, said Don McErlean, a membe...

China launches Ziyuan Earth observation and lobster eye X-ray astronomy satellites HELSINKI — China launched three satellites on a Long March 4B late Friday for remote sensing, novel lobster eye x-ray astronomy and commercial data acquisition. The Long March 4B rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:13 p.m. Eastern Friday. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the country’s main space contractor, confirmed launch success ( Chinese ) within the hour. The main payload was the Ziyuan-3 (03) remote sensing satellite, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) under CASC. The satellite has a trio of roughly 2.5.meter-resolution cameras for producing geographic information products and resource survey and monitoring. The new satellite will be networked with the Ziyuan-3 (01), (02) and  Gaofen-7  satellites in orbit to provide stable satellite data sources. A fourth and final Ziyuan-3 series satellite may be launched this year. Dar...

UK Parliament to scrutinize OneWeb purchase WASHINGTON — A U.K. parliamentary committee said it will review the steps that led to the government’s bid for struggling megaconstellation startup OneWeb, arguing that the $500-million investment decision was rushed and jeopardizes British taxpayer dollars.  Darren Jones, chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee in Parliament, said Wednesday that the decision to take a 45% stake in OneWeb appears to have been hurried through before the government could fully evaluate whether it was a smart move.  “This whole decision-making process seems unusual and doesn’t have the transparency that it requires,” he said in a video posted to Twitter. “Therefore, my committee will be holding an inquiry to understand the decision making behind this purchase.” Jones’ committee oversees the British government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which announced July 3 that it and partner Bharti Global, an In...