AMAZON'S PROTOTYPE KUIPER SATELLITES OPERATING SUCCESSFULLY - Amazon.com said on Thursday its two prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper internet network have been operating successfully in orbit, with the project on track to start launching operational satellites by mid-2024. The Kuiper internet network is set to compete against billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink, the world's largest satellite operator, to offer broadband internet service globally to consumers, companies and governments. More (Source: Reuters - Nov 17)
DARK MATTER-HUNTING SATELLITE ARRAKIHS TO LAUNCH IN 2030. HERE'S HOW IT WILL WORK - Dark matter makes up some 80 percent of the universe’s mass, but whatever it is, astronomers don't exactly know what comprises this substance nor how exactly it behaves. The designers of a prospective European Space Agency mission hope to change that. The mission is known as "The Analysis of Resolved Remnants of Accreted Galaxies as a Key Instrument for Halo Surveys," or ARRAKIHS, and is slated to observe galaxies like our own Milky Way in the hopes of understanding what makes dark matter tick. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 16)
WHITE HOUSE LAYS OUT POSSIBLE RULES FOR PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS AND MORE - The White House has laid out a possible regulatory framework for humanity's spaceflight future. On Wednesday (Nov. 15), the National Space Council (NSC) released a draft bill that assigns oversight responsibility for novel space activities and infrastructure, including private space stations, off-Earth manufacturing and space junk removal. That responsibility would be split between the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Commerce (DOC). More (Source: Space.com - Nov 16)
SPACEX LAUNCHES SMALL SATELLITE YMIR-1 WITH SAAB’S TECHNOLOGY ONBOARD - Ymir-1 is a test satellite and part of the development of the next generation of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), a system used by ships to communicate position, speed, course, and other data. AIS is a requirement for all larger ships and boats in civilian traffic. Saab TransponderTech is a leading manufacturer of AIS transponders and has built the advanced transponder onboard the satellite. More (Source: SatNews - Nov 15)
QUANTUM SPACE REVEALS PLAN FOR SCOUT-1 SATELLITE AND SENTRY MISSION - Quantum Space plans to launch Scout-1, the space infrastructure and services company’s first satellite, no earlier than March 2024 on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare flight. From sun synchronous low-Earth orbit, the Scout-1 satellite will test a sensor Quantum Space plans to send to deep space as part of QuantumNet, a constellation to provide customers with communications, navigation and space situational awareness services in geostationary and cislunar space. More (Source: SpaceNews - Nov 15)
TRAILBLAZING NEW EARTH SATELLITE PUT TO TEST IN PREPARATION FOR LAUNCH - NISAR, the trailblazing Earth-observing radar satellite being developed by the United States and Indian space agencies, passed a major milestone on Nov. 13, emerging from a 21-day test aimed at evaluating its ability to function in the extreme temperatures and the vacuum of space. Short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR is the first space hardware collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO, on an Earth-observing mission. More (Source: NASA - Nov 15)
ILLUMA-T LAUNCHES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - On Nov. 9, a Lincoln Laboratory–developed laser communications terminal integrated on a NASA-built payload was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle. Cameras inside the launch vehicle enabled the laboratory and a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center team to watch as the payload headed for the International Space Station (ISS), a football-field-sized research platform orbiting Earth about 250 miles above its surface, an altitude known as low Earth orbit (LEO). More (Source: MIT News - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Nov 15)
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SIGNS ON TO UPCOMING 'STARLAB' SPACE STATION - Starlab, a commercial space station designed to maintain a human presence in low-Earth orbit and operated by Voyager Space and Airbus, has moved a step closer to reality. During the European Space Agency (ESA) summit in Seville, Spain, the two companies along with the ESA signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Starlab space station. The agreement outlined the station's focus on science and technology development as well as how the collaboration will offer an alternative low-Earth orbit destination. Right now, the International Space Station (ISS) is the go-to — however, the ISS is set to be retired in 2030 and scheduled to be totally deorbited in 2031. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 15)
OPEN COSMOS MANTIS + PLATERO SATELLITES REACH ORBIT WITH OPENCONSTELLATION LAUNCH - The launches mark a significant milestone for Open Cosmos as both satellites will join MENUT launched earlier this year as part of the OpenConstellation, a global, shared EO satellite infrastructure built and managed by the company. Data collected from OpenConstellation satellites can be accessed by organizations and businesses of all sizes, as well as national and regional governments to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy, natural resources and more. This is part of Open Cosmos’s wider aim to democratize access to critical space data, while keeping high levels of governance and security. More (Source: SatNews - Nov 14)
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