Satellite News
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The boss of European satellite operator Eutelsat knows her task will not be easy: to forge a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink and provide superfast internet from space. “We have a lot of customers who want us to get there quickly,” Eva Berneke told AFP in an interview. “They tell us they took Starlink because there wasn’t anyone else. But they want competition too. Nobody wants a monopoly.” Eutelsat recently merged with British operator OneWeb and is aiming to add telecoms and connectivity to its main business of broadcast media.
India opens skies to Eutelsat OneWeb for satellite broadband services
In a significant development for India’s satellite broadband landscape, OneWeb India, part of the Eutelsat Group (Euronext Paris: ETL), has received the green light from IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre)
Amazon confirms 100% success rate for Project Kuiper Protoflight mission
Amazon’s Project Kuiper has validated all systems and subsystems on board its prototype satellites and has also demo’d the first, two-way video call over Amazon’s end-to-end communications network. Within 30 days of sending two prototype satellites into space, Project Kuiper has achieved a 100% success rate for its Protoflight mission.
Korean space race? North and South chase spy satellites
North Korea claimed Wednesday to have successfully put its first military surveillance satellite into orbit, with the South also preparing to send up its first spy satellite later this month
China conducts launch to test satellite internet capabilities
China sent an undisclosed number of satellites into orbit Thursday to test satellite internet technologies.
The most likely application for the satellites is testing for China’s national satellite internet megaconstellation project, named Guowang
Launcher News
Ariane 6 Core Stage fires up for long-duration test
In a significant step towards the maiden flight of Ariane 6, the collaborative efforts of ArianeGroup, the French Space Agency (CNES), and the European Space Agency (ESA) culminated in the successful execution of a long-duration hot-fire test of the Ariane 6 core stage. This test, conducted on November 23, 2023, at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marks a pivotal advancement in the launch vehicle’s development.
Starship Test Flies Higher: SpaceX Marks Progress Despite Late Test Incident
However, the test encountered a complication approximately eight minutes into the flight. Traveling over 24,000 kph at an altitude of 148 km, Starship experienced an issue at what was expected to be the second-stage engine cutoff (SECO) event, leading to a loss of signal and most likely loss of the vehicle. The details of this anomaly are currently unclear and will be the subject of a detailed investigation by SpaceX and regulatory authorities including the FAA.
ArianeGroup begins testing prototype of multirole Susie upper stage
The full sized Susie, measuring 12 meters tall, five meters wide and with a payload capacity of seven tons, is designed to launch atop of an Ariane 64 rocket. It could instead carry five astronauts, seated one behind another facing forwards towards the tip of the spacecraft. Susie is also intended to be fully reusable, potentially reducing long-term costs and increasing mission efficiency.
NASA Mars smallsat mission to be on first New Glenn launch
NASA selected Blue Origin in February to launch the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission, a pair of smallsats that will study the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere of Mars. The contract value was not initially announced but later disclosed in a federal procurement database to be $20 million.
China’s Landspace aims to build a stainless steel rocket
The Zhuque-3 (Vermillion Bird 3) will use stainless propellant tanks and clusters of Tianque methane-liquid oxygen propellant rocket engines, according to a presentation by Landspace CEO Zhang Changwu at the Mingyue Lake Aerospace Information Industry International Ecosystem Event in Chongqing, China, Nov. 21. The two-stage launcher will have a payload capacity of 20 metric tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) when expendable. Recovery of the first stage downrange will allow 16.5 tons to LEO, while a landing back at the launch site will offer a capacity of 11 tons to LEO. A render of the rocket shows grid fins and deployable landing legs on the first stage.
Exploration News
NewSpace News
Beyond Gravity unveils reusable payload fairing concept
The introduction of a reusable payload fairing by Beyond Gravity represents a significant stride in addressing major industry challenges like affordability and environmental impact
Satellogic receives NOAA license to expand US Govt business
Satellogic Inc frontrunner in the Earth Observation (EO) industry, has achieved a significant milestone in its U.S. expansion strategy. This license is a strategic move for Satellogic, aligning with its ambition to leverage high-value opportunities in the U.S. market.
Shanghai Sets Sights on Expanding Space Industry with Ambitious 2025 Goals
Shanghai, a growing center for technological advancement, has unveiled a bold plan to develop a comprehensive industrial chain for commercial rocket production, aiming to reach an annual production capacity of 50 commercial rockets and 600 commercial satellites by 2025.
Launch of Ireland’s 1st satellite is upcoming…
Watch the live launch broadcast of Ireland’s first satellite — EIRSAT-1 — on ESA Web TV Channel 2 and ESA YouTube, currently scheduled for November
Space Safety News
Spaceflux and UK Space Command to boost GEO monitoring
Spaceflux, a notable UK space technology company established in 2022, has recently been awarded significant contracts by the UK Space Command and the UK Space Agency. This collaboration is set to significantly enhance the United Kingdom’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities, focusing particularly on monitoring satellites in the strategically crucial geostationary orbit (GEO).
Lost in space: $100,000 tool bag from NASA spacewalk
Every construction worker who ever accidentally left their tools at their worksite now has something in common with NASA astronauts, who lost a tool bag worth $100,000 during a spacewalk on Nov. 1, the space agency announced.The white satchel, which can now be seen orbiting the Earth with a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, is hovering about 200 miles above the planet. The bag eluded astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara during a maintenance spacewalk on the International Space Station.
Science & Technology News
Deformable Mirrors in Space: Key Technology to Directly Image Earth Twins
Finding and studying Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars is critical to understand whether we are alone in the universe.
