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by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

A Norwegian industrial designer is continuing to train to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft and perform a commercial spacewalk amid Western sanctions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Nima Shahinian has been training at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City for a voyage to ISS at the end of next year. Shahinian — who is an industrial designer lead at Designit Oslo, a father of two and an Afghanistan veteran — is a client of the U.S. company Space Adventures.

The space logistics and orbital transportation company signed a contract with US launch provider Spaceflight Inc. to deliver the Kleos Patrol Mission (KSF2) satellites into orbit aboard the next ION Satellite Carrier mission, scheduled for April 2022.

FINO MORNASCO, Italy, March 1, 2022 (D-Orbit PR) — D-Orbit, the space logistics and orbital transportation company, announced today the signing of a launch contract with US launch provider Spaceflight Inc. to remanifest the four satellites of Kleos Space S.A. (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1, Kleos), a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data-as-a-service (DaaS) company, to be launched and deployed on the next mission of D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, on the SpaceX Transporter-4 mission. The mission will feature D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, the Company’s flexible and cost-effective satellite platform able to precisely deploy satellites in orbit and facilitate the testing of new technologies in space.

RESTON, Va., February 28, 2022 – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:

“As the world’s largest professional society for aerospace engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) condemns the Russian military’s recent invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. AIAA is an international organization of nearly 30,000 members. The Institute represents members from both Ukraine and Russia, who make significant contributions to the aerospace profession. We are gravely concerned for the health and safety of our members, as well as for their livelihoods. We recognize the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Russia will have an impact on organizations and companies in the aerospace industry and its supply chain. We sincerely hope these measures will influence the Russian government to change its course.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded three additional missions to Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, for crew transportation services to the International Space Station as part of its Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract. The CCtCap modification, following the agency’s notice of intent to procure the flights in December 2021, brings the total missions for SpaceX to nine and allows NASA to maintain an uninterrupted U.S. capability for […]

Approx. $700 Million Tranche 1 award expands initial SDA Transport Layer demonstration constellation

LITTLETON, Col., Feb. 28, 2022 (Lockheed Martin PR) – The Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a prototype agreement with a potential value of approximately $700 million to design and build 42 small satellites. These satellites are part of Tranche 1, the initial warfighting capability of the agency’s Transport Layer, which will connect space with other domains on Earth in a highly capable, networked environment of Joint All-Domain Operations.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (NOAA PR) — Today’s [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] IPCC report is crystal clear: We must urgently reduce our emissions while also increasing our efforts to adapt to the impacts we can no longer avoid. Simply put, societies and ecosystems need to prepare now for the increasing effects of extreme heat, drought, sea level rise, and other impacts of climate change. 

With Industry Onboard, National Defense Space Architecture Ready to Take Shape

WASHINGTON (SDA PR) — The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced the awards of three prototype agreements worth approximately $1.8 billion to establish the foundation for Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL), a mesh network of 126 optically-interconnected space vehicles (SV) that will provide a resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport communication system, and be ready for launch starting in September 2024. 

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA is funding the development of micro-robots to search for signs of life in the oceans of the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

MAHIA, New Zealand, March 1, 2022 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB), a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully deployed a second Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite to orbit for data and solutions provider Synspective, bringing the total number of satellites deployed by Rocket Lab to 110. ‘The Owl’s Night Continues” mission is Rocket Lab’s 24th Electron launch.

Construction to Begin on Neutron Manufacturing, Operations, and Launch Facilities in Accomack County, Bringing As Many As 250 New Jobs to Eastern Shore

Long Beach, Calif., February 28, 2022 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (Rocket Lab), a leading launch and space systems company, today revealed it has selected Wallops Island, Virginia, as the location for its first launch site and extensive manufacturing and operations facilities, for its 8-ton payload class reusable Neutron rocket.

The program leverages the company’s heritage MILSATCOM programs, commercial partnerships, and industry-leading laser communication technology to enable worldwide communications

REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Feb. 28, 2022 (Northrop Grumman PR) – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) today received an award with a potential value of $692 million from the Space Development Agency (SDA) to produce and field an innovative, proliferated constellation of 42 low-Earth orbit (pLEO) satellites for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) mesh satellite communications network.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected Howard Hu as the Orion Program manager, based at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. In this role, he will be responsible for the design, development, production, and operations of the agency’s Orion, which is poised to make its first uncrewed flight test around the Moon in the coming months. Hu begins his new position effective Monday.

Hu succeeds Catherine Koerner, who has accepted a position as deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

“The Orion team is comprised of highly talented and dedicated individuals across NASA, the European Space Agency, and industry,” Hu said. “It is an honor to have the opportunity to help lead our teams as we are set to begin our Artemis voyages to deep space. With the upcoming Artemis I mission, we are on the cusp of another major milestone toward NASA’s goals of landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and preparing for human missions to Mars.”