Space @ interstellar news

  House space subcommittee chair still seeking NASA plan for 2024 lunar landing The chair of the House Science Committee's space subcommittee says she has not yet seen a plan from NASA that convinces her a human return to the moon in 2024 is possible. Credit: NASA WASHINGTON — The chair of the House space subcommittee says NASA has still not convinced her that the agency has a viable plan to return humans to the moon by 2024. Speaking at a Wilson Center event Oct. 6 about the geopolitics of space, Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.) said she was waiting to see a plan from NASA that explained how the agency’s Artemis program could meet its goal of a human return to the lunar surface in four years. “We still haven’t seen a plan that shows us we can get to the moon on the 2024 schedule,” she said, including the ability of NASA to manage “multiple, simultaneous, large” development programs and the various demonstrations leading up to that crewed landing. Such a plan was an element of a NASA aut...

  Boeing cleared to continue development of WGS-11+ military satellite Artist concept of the WGS 11+ satellite. Credit: Boeing The $600 million WGS-11+ will join the WGS constellation that provides broadband communications to the U.S. military and allies. WASHINGTON — Boeing has been given the go-ahead to continue the development of a new satellite for the U.S. military’s Wideband Global Satcom constellation, the company announced Oct. 7. The new $600 million satellite , known as WGS-11+, is expected to be completed by 2024. It is the 11th of the WGS constellation that provides broadband communications to the U.S. military and allies. The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center said Boeing passed a key engineering design review and will proceed to the next phase of development. Production is scheduled to begin next year at Boeing’s factory in El Segundo, California. “This engineering design review is a key milestone because it means we are one step closer to delivering ...

  Slingshot Aerospace to develop virtual space simulation for military schools Slingshot Aerospace teamed with Hollywood studio The Third Floor to develop a simulation tool for U.S. military space operators. Credit: The Third Floor and Lucasfilm Slingshot received a $1 million Small Business Innovation Research contract and an additional $1 million from ATX Venture Partners WASHINGTON — Space startup Slingshot Aerospace announced Oct. 8 it has won a U.S. Space Force contract to develop an immersive simulation of the orbital environment. Military students will use the tool to learn the mechanics of space operations. Slingshot for this project teamed with Hollywood studio The Third Floor, which created the virtual reality graphics for space-themed movies like  The Martian  and  Gravity . The company received both government and private funding to develop the simulation tool. Slingshot was awarded a $1 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 contract f...

  Europe’s P120C booster completes third and final static fire test A Europropulsion P120C booster is test fired at Europe’s Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana producing over a million pounds of thrust. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace VALLETTA, Malta — A solid rocket booster designed for Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 and Vega C launch vehicles completed a third and final static fire test Oct 7. Developed by an ArianeGroup and Avio joint venture called Europropulsion, the P120C is a multipurpose solid rocket booster designed to be used as the first stage of the light-lift Vega C and as strap-on boosters for the heavy-lift Ariane 6. Both Vega C and Ariane 6 are expected to launch for the first time in 2021. Europropulsion built three versions of the P120C for testing. The first was a development model configured for the Vega-C and  test fired in July 2018 . The second was a Vega C qualification model that completed a static fire test in January 2019. The booster used ...

  Momentus deal could mark new wave of space companies going public Virgin Galactic used a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public last year. Credit: Virgin Galactic WASHINGTON — The merger of in-space transportation company Momentus with a special-purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC) could encourage other space startups seeking large amounts of capital to follow its lead. Momentus announced Oct. 7 it would merge with Stable Road Acquisition Corp. , a SPAC created by venture fund Stable Road Capital. The deal will value Momentus at $1.2 billion with about $310 million of cash on hand, the companies announced. The deal is expected to close by early next year. A SPAC, or “blank check” company, goes public to raise money that is then used to acquire a privately held company. For startups, a SPAC can offer an alternative to a traditional initial public offering of stock that can be completed more quickly. Momentus is not the first space company to go pub...

  UAE to develop small lunar rover The UAE plans to send a 10-kilogram rover to the moon in 2024, hitching a ride on a lander from another country or company. Credit: Dubai Media Office WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates plans to send a small rover to the moon in 2024, the latest step in the country’s growing space ambitions. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and ruler of Dubai, formally announced the Emirates Lunar Mission Sept. 29. That mission will place a small rover on the moon carrying several instruments that officials with the country’s space agency say will complement lunar missions by other nations. “Primarily, we would like to advance our capabilities and technologies,” said Hamad Al Marzooqi, project manager for the Emirates Lunar Mission at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, in an Oct. 5 interview. “Since we’re going to the moon, it would be a shame if we don’t do interesting science there.” The rover, weighing only about 10 kilograms, will carry three m...

  SpaceX launches Starlink satellites as it deorbits original ones A Falcon 9 carrying 60 Starlink satellites lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Oct. 6. Credit: SpaceX webcast WASHINGTON — As SpaceX launches a new batch of Starlink satellites, the company is quietly deorbiting the original set of satellites less than 18 months after launch. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 7:29 a.m. Eastern Oct. 6. The launch suffered a series of delays because of poor weather and  one abort at T-18 seconds Oct. 1 because of “out-of-family” data from a ground sensor . The rocket’s payload of 60 Starlink satellites deployed from the upper stage 61 minutes after liftoff, nearly 20 minutes after a brief second burn of the upper stage to circularize its orbit, a maneuver SpaceX said is designed to speed up the process of moving the satellites into their final orbits. The Falcon 9 first stage, making its third flight, succ...