ROME (Avio PR) – The first two contracts of Italy’s implementation of the “Next Gen EU” initiatives for Space were awarded to Avio. In the past few months, the Italian Government had decided to invest around 340M€ [USD $346.3 million] to improve the technological capability of the Italian industry for “Access to Space”, entrusting the European Space Agency (ESA) as the Contracting Authority with the supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Italian Space Agency and the Ministry of Innovation & Digital Transformation. The goal is to leverage existing capabilities established in Italy since the early 2000s through the Vega, Vega C and Vega E programs to develop next generation propulsion technologies and launch system architectures.

The contracts were signed at the headquarters of the Ministry of Technological Innovation and Digital Transition in Rome, in presence of Minister Vittorio Colao, ESA Launchers’ Director Daniel Neuenschwander and Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo.

Advanced Space and NASA have announced that controllers have reestablished communications with the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft, which is currently on its way to the moon. The spacecraft is looking happy and healthy. Details to follow,” Advanced Space tweeted. No information was released on what caused CAPSTONE to lose contact with Earth. Advanced Space developed and is operating the spacecraft, which will test […]

MUNICH, GERMANY and MELBOURNE, Fla., July 5, 2022 (Mynaric/L3Harris PR) — Mynaric (NASDAQ:MYNA)(FRA:M0Y) and L3Harris (LHX) today signed agreements related to an investment in Mynaric by L3Harris and to future collaboration. With the strategic investment, the companies seek to build on their existing collaboration in the airborne domain and widen the scope to cover all domains including space, air, maritime and ground. Pursuant to the agreements, L3Harris will invest approximately EUR 11.2 million by means of a capital increase from authorized capital (under exclusion of subscription rights) and acquire 409,294 new bearer shares of Mynaric at a price of around EUR 27.37 per share. Following the capital increase, L3Harris will initially own 7.2% of Mynaric’s total shares.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab USA PR) — Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, today announced its next two launches will be responsive space missions for the United States Government’s National Reconnaissance Office.

Significant milestone achieved by SatixFy supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) using the OneWeb constellation, to successfully demonstrate a high-speed low-latency 5G-enabled link with a LEO satellite

The demonstration was enabled by SatixFy’s compact fully electronically steered multi-beam multi-orbit antenna terminal

The SatixFy terminal also demonstrated simultaneous multi-orbit communications with a LEO and GEO satellite using its multi-beam multi satellites capability

The demonstration validates the integration of space and ground networks using 5G links

5G is a potential large incremental market opportunity for SatixFy technology in the future – Northern Sky Research estimates $35 Billion in SatCom services revenue by 2030

HARWELL, England (SatixFy Communications Ltd. PR) — SatixFy Communications Ltd. (“SatixFy”), a leader in next-generation satellite communication systems based on in-house developed chipsets, today announced its critical role in enabling the first ever demonstration of a high-speed, low-latency link with a LEO satellite constellation incorporating 5G (video available here). SatixFy has partnered with OneWeb under the ESA Sunrise Partnership Project, with support from the UK Space Agency, to develop a compact electronically steered multi-beam array suitable for mobility services over both LEO and GEO satellites simultaneously. The terminal can also be integrated into 5G equipment to allow end-to-end access to a LEO constellation network via a 5G signal.

• DLR flies three-stage sounding rocket for the first time.
• Component structures, measurement methods and evaluation algorithms tested for the re-entry phase.
• A modular and distributed data acquisition system allowed the efficient recording of data from the different experiments.
• Focus: space travel, aerodynamics, sounding rockets.

ANDOYA, Norway (DLR PR) — Reusable carrier systems are exposed to high loads and temperatures when returning to the surface. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has now successfully tested component structures, measurement methods and evaluation algorithms for the re-entry phase with the flight experiment STORT (key technologies for high-energy return flights from carrier stages). 

In the early morning of June 26, 2022, the three-stage rocket experiment was launched from the Andøya Space launch site in northern Norway. At the apex of the trajectory at an altitude of 38 kilometers, the upper stage reached a flight speed of around 9,000 kilometers per hour, which corresponds to a Mach number of over eight. It then fell into the Atlantic Ocean more than 350 kilometers from the starting point.

LONDON (Virgin Orbit PR) — Virgin Orbit’s next satellite launch will take place from the UK, following the success of the “Straight Up” mission, which lifted off from Mojave in California earlier today (2 July 2022).

Science Minister George Freeman and the UK Space Agency welcomed the news that Virgin Orbit has successfully completed its fourth mission from California, and its first night launch.

With this mission complete, Virgin Orbit is on track for launch from Spaceport Cornwall later this year. The UK Space Agency and Cornwall Council are supporting the launch, with Spaceport Cornwall set to create 150 jobs in the local area.

Science Minister George Freeman said:

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Dentsu Group, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, President: Hiroshi Igarashi, hereafter Dentsu Group) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Headquarters: Chofu City, Tokyo, Chairman: Hiroshi Yamakawa, hereafter JAXA) Under the Innovation Partnership (J-SPARC) (*1), we have started co-creation activities to create demand and optimize supply and demand through the sophistication of advertising by utilizing artificial satellite data.

Artificial satellite data has been used to increase the yield of agricultural products and predict the harvest time in the agricultural field, but there was a problem that the data was lost due to the influence of the weather and it was difficult to analyze. This initiative conducts technical research to solve the problem, and uses that information to adjust the timing of advertising placement according to the sales time of agricultural products and related products, in real time for sales and advertising measures. By reflecting this, we aim to actively create demand and optimize supply and demand. This new use case is expected to further expand the use of satellite data.

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (Advanced Space PR) — On July 4, 2022, CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) separated successfully from the launch vehicle and is heading to the Moon on behalf on NASA. The Advanced Space Operations Center and the Mission Operations Center at Terran Orbital are in full swing beginning mission operations, the DSN, and mission partners. We are proud of the hard work the operations team has been doing.

During commissioning activities an anomaly was experienced related to the communication subsystem; the operations team is actively working this issue with the Deep Space Network and determining the best next steps.

by David Bullock
Staff Writer

Former Deputy Administrator of NASA Lori Garver came out with a new book in June titled, “Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age.” The book is a memoir of her time in the space sector, particularly focused on her time in the Obama Administration where she spearheaded commercialization efforts. Here, we talk about the book and other topics about the government organization and the private sector.

Q. What is the most important thing(s) you want readers to take away from your book?

I think that the value of humans first exploring space was most directly tied to looking back and seeing our home planet and recognizing we are in this together. We often envision space being about just going to somewhere else, but we have learned so much about ourselves and our planet from just going to space. I would like people to recognize that the government program can focus on those priorities and reduce the cost of accessibility to space, so even more people, satellites can go to space for valuable purposes.

How has the move toward commercial space you led helped the U.S. space program?

NASA has always had commercial industry involved in our space program very closely. What we have been starting, decades before, was recognizing the things that are routine about space could be done by the private sector in ways that reduce the cost through innovation and opening new markets. Lowering the cost of space transportation by some of the policies that I helped drive has allowed us to take better advantage of the unique vantage of space and allowed NASA to focus, or should allow even more, NASA to focus on things that are uniquely important to the government.

MIDLAND, Texas, July 5, 2022 (AST SpaceMobile PR) — AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTS), the company building the first and only space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard mobile phones, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its majority ownership stake in NanoAvionics, a leading smallsat mission integrator and bus manufacturer based in Lithuania.

The transaction values NanoAvionics at an enterprise valuation of approximately $68 million and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, subject to customary closing conditions including any required regulatory reviews, and generate approximately $28 million in net proceeds to AST SpaceMobile at closing. AST SpaceMobile will sell its majority stake NanoAvionics to Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, the Nordic region’s largest industrial space company and global leader in maritime surveillance.

The CAPSTONE satellite launched last week to orbit the Moon is having difficulty communicating with controllers on the ground, NASA said in a mission update.

Following successful deployment and start of spacecraft commissioning on July 4, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft experienced communications issues while in contact with the Deep Space Network. The spacecraft team currently is working to understand the cause and re-establish contact. The team has good trajectory data for the spacecraft based on the first full and second partial ground station pass with the Deep Space Network. If needed, the mission has enough fuel to delay the initial post separation trajectory correction maneuver for several days. Additional updates will be provided as soon as possible.