by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) that will search for valuable water ice at the lunar south pole is running on schedule for a launch late next year, according to a review from the space agency’s Office of Inspector General (IG).

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., April 7, 2022 (COMSPOC PR) — COMSPOC and ThothX announced today a partnership to bring the first commercial geosynchronous radar to the Asia-Pacific region to expand space traffic management (STM) and space domain awareness (SDA) services.

This new deep space radar system will transform the Carnavon satellite dish in Western Australia to leverage COMSPOC’s global network of optical telescopes and partner-owned sensors that feed its world-leading SDA software solution. ThothX brings a deep space radar capability that is unique in the commercial sector, combining  hardware, radio frequency, and software that can process data in real time.

RESTON, Va., April 8, 2022 (AIAA PR) – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement: “On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate the entire Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1) team on their successful launch today. Axiom, NASA, and SpaceX have introduced a new model for commercial space exploration, expanding access to low Earth orbit that in turn increases […]

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded ANSYS Inc of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a contract to provide a suite of modeling and simulation tools including capabilities in the following engineering disciplines: structures, crash, thermal, fluids, photonics, semiconductors, electromagnetics, materials, mission, test, evaluation, and orbit determination. This is an agency wide single-award indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, with a potential five-year ordering period, which will offer a longer-term option for NASA to procure ANSYS and […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Sidus Space PR) — Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU), a Space-as-a-Service satellite company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch, and data collection, today announced financial and corporate results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2021.

Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue increased to $523,419 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2021, from $268,507 during the same period in 2020, an increase of 95%
• Loss from operations increased to $1,620,017 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2021 versus $363,472 in the comparable period of 2020.
• Net loss was $2,426,490 for the three-month period ended December 31, 2021 compared to a net loss of $364,575 during the same period in 2020. The loss was primarily a result of expansion of staff and costs associated with the Company’s initial public offering in December of 2021.

For the first time, Rocket Lab will attempt a mid-air helicopter capture of an Electron rocket as it returns to Earth from space, furthering the company’s program to make Electron the first reusable orbital small launch vehicle

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”), a leading launch and space systems company, has announced today that during its next Electron launch, a commercial rideshare mission currently scheduled in April 2022, the company will attempt a mid-air helicopter capture of the Electron launch vehicle for the first time.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA is planning to proceed with a modified wet dress rehearsal, primarily focused on tanking the core stage, and minimal propellant operations on the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) with the ground systems at Kennedy. Due to the changes in loading procedures required for the modified test, wet dress rehearsal testing is slated to resume with call to stations on Tuesday, April 12 and tanking on Thursday, […]

HOUSTON (Axiom Space PR) — The historic Ax-1 crew has arrived at the International Space Station. Commander  Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, Mission Specialist Eytan Stibbe, and Mission Specialist Mark Pathy entered the space station shortly after the hatch opened at 10:13 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 9.   

• Supports US Space Force efforts to protect satellites
• Maintains and upgrades space domain awareness and command and control systems
• Third-year option continues work first awarded in 2020

MELBOURNE, Fla., April 06, 2022 (L3Harris Technologies PR) — L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has been awarded $117 million for option-year three of a U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command contract to continue maintaining and modernizing infrastructure to track objects in space. The Maintenance Of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) program has an estimated contract value of $1.2 billion over 10 years.

TOKYO (Astroscale PR) — Our team has made excellent progress addressing the anomalies experienced starting in January during the ELSA-d Autonomous Capture demonstration, with most issues either resolved or mitigated. However, there remains one issue that we have not been able to resolve: four of the servicer’s eight thrusters have experienced technical difficulties and are now non-functional. This has impacted our ability to perform a capture of the client as planned for in this demonstration.

Hosted by JPL’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, the data can be used by the science community to better understand how asteroids break up when entering the atmosphere.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — An agreement between NASA and the U.S. Space Force recently authorized the public release of decades of data collected by U.S. government sensors on fireball events (large bright meteors also known as bolides) for the benefit of the scientific and planetary defense communities. This action results from collaboration between NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) and the U.S. Space Force to continue furthering our nation’s efforts in planetary defense, which include finding, tracking, characterizing, and cataloguing near-Earth objects (NEOs). The newly released data is composed of information on the changing brightness of bolides as they pass through Earth’s atmosphere, called light curves, that could enhance the planetary defense community’s current ability to model the effects of impacts by larger asteroids that could one day pose a threat to Earth.