NASA Mission Update The Artemis I wet dress rehearsal ended today at 7:37 p.m. EDT at T-29 seconds in the countdown. Today’s test marked the first time the team fully loaded all the Space Launch System rocket’s propellant tanks and proceeded into the terminal launch countdown, when many critical activities occur in rapid succession. During propellant loading operations earlier in the day, launch controllers encountered a hydrogen leak in the […]

BEIJING (China Ministry of Foreign Affairs PR) — On May 25, the 1st meeting of the BRICS Joint Committee on Space Cooperation was successfully held virtually, marking the official establishment of the BRICS Joint Committee on Space Cooperation and opening the new chapter for joint observation and data sharing cooperation of BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation (RSSC).

Mr. ZHANG Kejian, Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), served as the chairman of the Joint Committee this year. Mr. Carlos Augusto Teixeira de Moura, President of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Mr. Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos”(ROSCOSMOS), Mr. Somanath S. , Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, and Mr. Hendrik Burger, Representative of the South African National Space Agency, attended the meeting.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Sample analysis of material returned from asteroid Ryugu through the efforts of the Hayabusa2 Project Team are being carried out by the Hayabusa2 Initial Analysis Team, which consists of 6 sub-teams, and two Phase-2 curation institutions, Okayama University and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) Kochi Institute for Core Sample Research. This paper summarises research results from the Okayama University Phase-2 curation that was published in the Proceedings of the Japan Academy on June 10, 2022.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — On Monday at 10:20 a.m. Central time, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG CRS-17 engine was scheduled to fire for 5 minutes, 1 second to test the cargo craft’s ability to reboost the International Space Station in the future. The engine firing was aborted after five seconds. Cygnus’ Mission Director at Dulles, Virginia reported the cause for the abort is under review. NASA and Northrop Grumman flight controllers […]

• In 2021, Isar Aerospace won the first ever microlauncher competition under ESA’s Commercial Space Transportation Services Program “Boost!” and the payloads for Spectrum’s first flight were selected
• Today, the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V. published the second Announcement of Opportunity, which will open a new application process for payloads to come on board Spectrum’s second flight
• This time, the call is open not only to European institutional customers but also start-ups and small to medium sized companies

Munich, 20 June 2022 (Isar Aerospace PR) – The German Space Agency DLR is launching the second round of competition for a free flight of small satellites on microlaunchers developed and built in Germany. This marks the start of the application phase for the second flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket. This time, the competition is not only aimed at European institutions, but also at start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

SWINDON, UK (UK Space Agency PR) — The UK Government will invest £30 million to secure the UK’s leading role in developing a space telescope to explore exoplanets.

Due to launch in 2029, Ariel’s mission is to understand the links between a planet’s chemistry, its evolution and its host star, by characterising the atmospheres of 1,000 known planets outside our solar system.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — NOAA’s JPSS-2 satellite has cleared a critical testing milestone, bringing it a step closer to launch. Last week, the polar-orbiting satellite emerged from the chamber after completing its thermal vacuum testing. This test is meant to show that the spacecraft and all of its instruments will perform successfully when exposed to the harsh environments of space. 

“I can absolutely say with 100% certainty that the observatory is working great,” said JPSS Flight Project Manager Andre Dress. “All the instruments are performing great, and we’re going to meet all our requirements – and then some.”  

NASA Program Update The launch team is making its way through countdown operations and wet dress rehearsal activities remain on track. The mission management team will meet this afternoon to review the status of operations. Overnight, engineers powered up the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System’s core stage. Teams also configured several systems on the ground, rocket, and spacecraft and performed activities to prepare umbilicals that connect the rocket […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

SpaceX completed a hat trick over the weekend with three satellite launches from different coasts in 36 hours.

Elon Musk’s company wrapped up a busy weekend when a Falcon 9 booster launched the Globalstar FM15 communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket lifted off at 12:27 a.m. EDT.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA has selected four projects focused on advancing microgravity research and manufacturing in Earth orbit for funding under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The Phase I awards, which are worth up to $150,000 apiece, were for projects proposed by: DSTAR Communications of Woodland Hills, Calif.; Sachi Bioworks of Louisville, Colo.; GOEPPERT of Philadelphia, Pa.; and Nanoarmor of Los Angeles, Calif.

DSTAR Communications is developing space-enhanced crystals that could be commercially manufactured on ISS.

CLEVELAND (NASA PR) — NASA innovators recently developed a new metal alloy using a 3D printing process that dramatically improves the strength and durability of the components and parts used in aviation and space exploration, resulting in better and longer-lasting performance.

PARIS (ESA PR) — The UK has secured a leading role in the development of a space telescope that will probe the atmospheres of distant worlds.

The mission – called Ariel – will study the gases that enshroud some 1000 extrasolar planets to address fundamental questions about how they formed and evolved.