ARKISYS AND PARTNERS TO SHOW HOW THEY WOULD BUILD A SATELLITE IN ORBIT - The U.S. Space Force awarded a $1.6 million contract to a team led by Southern California startup Arkisys to demonstrate robotic satellite assembly. Under a SpaceWERX Small Business Innovation Research contract, Arkisys, Novawurks, Motiv Space Systems, Qediq, iBoss and Texas A&M University will demonstrate how they would assemble a three-axis stabilized satellite with the robotic arm on the Arkisys Port Module.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 22)

NASA CLIMATE CHANGE SATELLITE BACK ONLINE AFTER INSTRUMENT SHUTDOWN - A multi-agency mission seeking to map Earth's water in incredible detail is back on track with commissioning following an instrument issue. NASA and the French space agency (CNES) found a solution to turn on the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite's main science instrument. The instrument, called KARIN (Ka-band Radar Interferometer), shut down suddenly in late January.    More
(Source: Space.com - Mar 22)

INDUSTRY SEES MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN DEORBITING ISS - NASA’s plan to spend up to $1 billion on a tug to deorbit the International Space Station is a missed opportunity to instead repurpose or recycle the station, some in industry argue. NASA announced plans as part of its fiscal year 2024 budget proposal this month to develop the tug to help deorbit the station at the end of its life in 2030. NASA is seeking $180 million in 2024 to start work on the tug, and anticipates spending as much as $1 billion to build it.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 21)

RUSSIA’S SPACE PROGRAM IS IN BIG TROUBLE - Crippled by war and sanctions, Russia now faces evidence that its already-struggling space program is falling apart. In the past three months alone, Roscosmos has scrambled to resolve two alarming incidents. First, one of its formerly dependable Soyuz spacecraft sprang a coolant leak. Then the same thing happened on one of its Progress cargo ships. The civil space program’s Soviet predecessor launched the first person into orbit, but with the International Space Station (ISS) nearing the end of its life, Russia’s space agency is staring into the abyss.   More
(Source: WIRED - Mar 21)

NASA ATMOSPHERIC SATELLITE ENDS RUN 16 YEARS AFTER LAUNCH - In 2007, NASA launched a satellite with a very specific mission into orbit. The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere project — otherwise known as AIM — was designed to monitor night shining clouds. This type of atmospheric phenomenon is of particular interest to scientists because it may not have existed before the 1883 explosion of the volcano Krakatoa. As the project’s official website declares, AIM’s “instruments monitor noctilucent clouds to better understand their variability and possible connection to climate change.” Unfortunately, that mission may be at an end after 16 years of operation due to the satellite involved developing power issues.   More
(Source: InsideHook - Mar 20)

CHINA TO LAUNCH LOBSTER EYE-LIKE X-RAY ASTRONOMICAL SATELLITE THIS YEAR - China has ambitious plans to launch a new X-ray astronomical satellite called the Einstein Probe (EP) at the end of this year. This is according to a report by the ChinaDaily published on Saturday and quoting Yuan Weimin, principal investigator of the satellite project.   More
(Source: Interesting Engineering - Mar 20)

AXIOM SPACE TO SEND THIRD PRIVATE MISSION TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - Axiom Space will be sending a third private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Announced this week by NASA, the Axiom-3 mission is scheduled for November of this year and will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Axiom was responsible for the first tourist mission to the ISS last year, and has a second mission scheduled for the second quarter of this year.   More
(Source: Digital Trends - Mar 20)

FLAMING SPACE DEBRIS RE-ENTERING ATMOSPHERE LIGHTS UP CALIFORNIA SKY - A mesmerizing display of lights streaking in the night sky over Northern California on Friday was caused by the re-entry of flaming space debris into Earth’s atmosphere, experts said. Specifically, flaming chunks of communications equipment, which were jettisoned from the International Space Station in February 2020, streaked across the sky at 17,000 miles per hour, said Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian and Harvard Center for Astrophysics.   More
(Source: The New York Time - Mar 20)

SATELLOGIC SELLS EARTH-IMAGERY SATELLITES - Satellogic, the South American company known for high-resolution multispectral imagery, is selling Earth-observation satellites for $10 million or less. Satellogic’s new Space Systems product is designed to appeal to customers eager to establish or expand their space capabilities rather than simply buying imagery.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Mar 19)

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