LONG BEACH, Calif. & BOCA RATON, Fla. (NextGen Acquisition/Virgin Orbit PR) — NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: NGCA) (“NextGen”) today announced the closing of its business combination with Vieco USA, Inc., the parent company of Virgin Orbit (“Virgin Orbit” or the “Company”).

As of the closing of the transaction, which was approved by NextGen stockholders on December 28, 2021, NextGen has changed its name to “Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc.” Virgin Orbit’s common stock and warrants are expected to begin to trade on the NASDAQ Stock Market (“NASDAQ”) on December 30, 2021, under the ticker symbols “VORB” and “VORBW”, respectively.

Webb’s Aft Momentum Flap Deployed
December 30, 2021

Shortly after 9 a.m. EST today, the Webb team completed deployment of the observatory’s aft momentum flap. In a process that took about eight minutes, engineers released the flap’s hold-down devices, and a spring brought the flap into its final position.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Over about the next two weeks, NASA will provide broadcast coverage, a media briefing, and other updates on major deployment milestones for the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope.

Broadcasts of milestone events will air live on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency’s website..

Bloomberg reports that Firefly Aerospace has stopped preparations for the second launch of its Alpha booster due to a decision by the U.S. government to force the company’s majority owner, Ukrainian entrepreneur, Max Polyakov to sell his majority stake in the company. Government and aerospace industry officials have expressed objections to Polyakov’s control of the company amid fears that valuable technology could make its way to Ukraine, Russia or other […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

In a clear sign of investor skepticism, Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit will receive only about $228 million of the $483 million in growth capital it expected after merging with the NextGen Acquisition II special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

Webb Team Begins Process of Extending Deployable Tower Assembly
Dec. 29, 2021

Shortly after 9:00 a.m. EST today, engineering teams began the process of extending Webb’s Deployable Tower Assembly (DTA). When deployed, the DTA will create space between the spacecraft and the telescope, to allow for better thermal isolation and provide room for the sunshield to deploy.

This deployment is expected to take six or more hours. It is a human-controlled process that provides the team with the flexibility to pause, assess the data, and make adjustments as needed.

• On December 25, 2021 at 9:20 a.m. local time (1:20 p.m. CET), the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest space telescope of all time to date, took off from the spaceport of the European Space Agency on an Ariane 5 launcher.
• A total of four instruments are housed on James Webb.  Two of them come from Europe and have German shares.
• The German Space Agency at DLR coordinates the German contributions for ESA and for an instrument in the national space program.

KOUROU, French Guiana (DLR PR) — James Webb Space Telescope – JWST for short – was launched from the European spaceport in Kourou (French Guiana) on its journey to Lagrange Point 2, 1.5 million kilometers away.  James Webb is the largest and most expensive space telescope of all time, which has now started its long journey into the depths of space with an Ariane 5 upper stage ‘Made in Germany’. In addition, MIRI (Mid Infrared Iinstrument) and Near Infrared ( Near Infrared Spectrograph) – two of the four instruments on board – German parts: The near-infrared instrument NIRSpec was built by Airbus in Ottobrunn and Friedrichshafen. With this instrument, scientists from all over the world want to analyze the ‘hours of birth’ of the universe. NIRSpec is primarily intended to detect the radiation from the first galaxies that formed shortly after the Big Bang. 

Teledyne’s infrared detectors are the “eyes” of the world’s most advanced space telescope

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Teledyne Technologies PR) — Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) congratulates NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Teledyne provided 15 extremely sensitive H2RG infrared detectors that are used in three of the four science instruments of JWST: the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS), and the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Ten Teledyne detectors in NIRCam will study the structure and morphology of the universe. Three Teledyne detectors in FGS will be used to point and stabilize the telescope. Two Teledyne detectors in NIRSpec will reveal information about chemical composition, temperature, and velocity of what JWST observes. Teledyne also provided the SIDECAR ASIC focal plane electronics that operate the H2RG detectors.

Forward Pallet Structure Lowered, Beginning Multiple-Day Sunshield Deployment
Dec. 28, 2021

Early this afternoon the Webb mission operations team concluded the deployment of the first of two structures that hold within them Webb’s most unpredictable and in many ways complicated component: the sunshield.

WASHINGTON (FAA PR) — The FAA plans to issue the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the SpaceX Starship / Super Heavy project on Feb. 28, 2022. The previous target date was Dec. 31, 2021. Under the oversight of the FAA, SpaceX is currently drafting responses for the over 18,000 public comments received on the Draft PEA and continues to prepare the Final PEA for the FAA’s review and acceptance. In addition, the FAA is continuing consultation and coordination […]