NASA’s Artemis I Mission Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean
Orion splashes down to end Artemis 1
Fifty years to the day after the last Apollo moon mission touched down on the lunar surface, NASA’s plans to return to the moon took a major step forward with the successful splashdown of the Orion spacecraft to end the Artemis 1 mission.
Satellite News
MTG-I never to be seen again
As preparations to launch Europe’s first Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite continue, the team at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, has bid farewell to their precious satellite
SpaceX requests permission for direct-to-smartphone service
SpaceX could provide “full and continuous” direct-to-smartphone services across much of the globe with less than a third of the 7,500 Gen 2 Starlink satellites approved last week, the company said in a request to add the capability to the broadband constellation.
Space Development Agency’s first launch slips to March due to satellite glitch
The first launch of the Space Development Agency’s constellation planned for mid-December will slip to March 2023 due to an anomaly detected in York Space’s satellites.
SES government unit rebranded as SES Space & Defense
The U.S.-based subsidiary of satellite operator SES has been renamed to reflect the company’s focus on the national security market.
Launcher News
SpaceX launches 40 Internet satellites for rival OneWeb into orbit
SpaceX launched its 55th flight of the year on Thursday, as its Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, carrying 40 Internet satellites for a competitor.
China launches 14 satellites with new solid rocket from mobile sea platform
China launched its new Jielong-3 rocket from a mobile sea platform in the Yellow Sea Friday, successfully sending 14 satellites into orbit.
Dawn Aerospace raises $20 million for propulsion and spaceplane work
Dawn Aerospace has raised $20 million to expand its line of in-space propulsion products and continue spaceplane development.
Exploration News
Perseverance’s Latest Sample is Just Crumbled Regolith.
The Mars Sample Return (MSR) part of Perseverance’s mission is picking up – literally. For the past few months, the rover has concentrated on picking up samples that will eventually be returned to Earth as part of the future Mars Sample Return mission. Back on Earth, plenty of advanced technologies can poke and prod the … Continue reading “Perseverance’s Latest Sample is Just Crumbled Regolith
Japanese billionaire Maezawa announces crew of artists for lunar voyage
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced Thursday eight crew members who will join him for a journey around the Moon planned for 2023 on a SpaceX rocket that is still under development
China is considering expanding its Tiangong space station
China is already considering adding modules to its recently-completed Tiangong space station complex, according to a senior space official.
Blue Origin and Dynetics bidding on second Artemis lunar lander
Teams led by Blue Origin and Dynetics, runners-up in NASA’s first competition to develop a lander to transport astronauts to the lunar surface, have submitted proposals for a NASA competition to select a second lander.
NewSpace News
Japanese startup launches historic Moon mission
The spacecraft, produced by Tokyo-based startup ispace and carrying a UAE-built rover, blasted off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:38 am (0738 GMT),
Terran Orbital creates new Optical Solutions Group
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite-based solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, has announced the formation of a new Optical Solutions
Antenna maker Anywaves plots aggressive US expansion
French satellite antenna maker Anywaves said Dec. 8 it has raised around $3 million to help capture more business from U.S. customers.
Cryogenics specialist orders first satellite for detecting methane leaks
Absolut Group, a French cryogenic technology provider, said Dec. 7 it has ordered a demo nanosatellite for a constellation that would use sensors at very low temperatures to detect greenhouse gas leaks.
Space Safety News
Science &Technology News
Collins Aerospace to Deliver New Spacesuits to NASA for ISS Missions
Building on more than 50 years of experience developing spacesuits for NASA, Collins Aerospace, a Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) business, along with its partners ILC Dover and Oceaneering, was awarded a contract to design, develop and demonstrate the next-generation spacesuit for the International Space Station. This is Collins’ first task order under NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contract which was awarded in May 2022.
NASA Missions Probe Game-Changing Cosmic Explosion
On Dec. 11, 2021, NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a blast of high-energy light from the outskirts of a galaxy around 1 billion light-years away. The event has rattled scientists’ understanding of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful events in the universe.
NASA’s retired SOFIA aircraft finds new home at Arizona Museum
NASA’s now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft will find a permanent home in the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
