Taking Five Crewmates with Him to Space Through the “Sea of Stars” Campaign

GENEVA, Switzerland (TRON DAO Community PR) — H.E. Justin Sun, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO & Founder of TRON, today revealed that he placed the winning bid for the first seat on Blue Origin’s Inaugural New Shepard rocket. The full bid amount of $28 million went to Blue Origin’s foundation Club for the Future, which in turn benefited 19 space-based charities to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and help invent the future of life in space. Sun and five crewmates will fly on a New Shepard flight in 2022. H.E. Mr. Sun will be the first Grenadian, international diplomat, and blockchain industry leader to go up to space. He will be bringing the Grenadian flag with him on his voyage.

A Superior Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing Camden County from purchases a 4,000 acres tract from Union Carbide to construct Spaceport Camden. The order also scheduled an interlocutory hearing on a permanent restraining order for the purchase for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 5. Paul Harris and St. Marys council member James Goodman, who oppose the spaceport project as a waste of money, requested the restraining order on […]

PARIS (ESA PR) — Comet Leonard, a mass of space dust, rock and ice about a kilometre across is heading for a close pass of the Sun on 3 January, and the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been watching its evolution over the last days.

PARIS (ESA PR) — The next SpaceX resupply vehicle is packed with European science, ready for delivery to the International Space Station just in time for Christmas.

The Dragon spacecraft was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 11:06 CET (10:06 GMT) Tuesday 21 December. We take a quick peek at some of the European cargo it carries.

KOUROU, French Guiana (ESA PR) — Today, 21 December 2021, the Launch Readiness Review for flight VA256 to launch the James Webb Space Telescope has been successfully completed and concluded with the authorisation to perform the launch vehicle rollout and the start of the launch chronology. However, due to adverse weather conditions at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, flight VA256 – initially scheduled for 24 December – is being postponed. […]

EDWARDS, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected nine space technologies under the agency’s 2021 TechFlights solicitation for testing aboard parabolic aircraft, high-altitude balloons, and suborbital rocket-powered systems.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — Launched Tuesday to the space station, the COWVR and TEMPEST two instruments could lead the way to big improvements in gathering key information for weather forecasting.

Office of Science and Technology Policy Announcement

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is organizing a series of virtual listening sessions to hear about ideas, issues, and potential solutions related to the problem of orbital debris from members of the public who have an interest or stake in orbital debris research and development. Perspectives gathered during the virtual listening sessions will inform the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Orbital Debris Research and Development Interagency Working Group (ODRAD IWG) as it develops a government-wide orbital debris implementation plan, examining R&D activities as well as other considerations such as policy levers, international engagements, and other ideas outside of R&D solutions that may help build a cohesive implementation strategy. The implementation plan is a continuation of work done for the National Orbital Debris Research and Development Plan (January 2021), which was a response to Space Policy Directive—3 (June 2018), directing the United States to lead the management of traffic and mitigate the effects of debris in space.

WASHINGTON (FAA PR) — Today, the FAA posted a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for Sierra Space to conduct Dream Chaser reentry operations at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) in Florida. The public comment period ends on January 24, 2022. Sierra Space is seeking a Vehicle Operator License and is proposing up to 14 reentry operations at SLF during 2022-2026:  one in 2022, up to two in 2023, up to three in 2024, and up […]

LONG BEACH, Calif., 21 December 2021 (Virgin Orbit PR) – Virgin Orbit, the US-based responsive launch and space solutions company that has announced a planned business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (“NextGen”) (NASDAQ: NGCA), announced today the signing of a termsheet establishing a close and multi-faceted partnership with Horizon Technologies (“Horizon”), the UK-based global leader in innovative space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (“MDA”) through signals intelligence. According to the agreement, Virgin Orbit will become Horizon’s preferred launch partner, will take an equity stake in the company, and will appoint a Virgin Orbit representative to Horizon’s board of directors. Horizon currently plans to take advantage of LauncherOne’s unique ability to reach tailored orbits for at least five launches.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Virgin Orbit has delayed its next satellite launch, originally set for Wednesday, Dec. 22, to next month. The launch will come after shareholders of NextGen Acquisition Corp. II vote on Dec. 28 on whether to merge with Richard Branson’s launch services provider.

The merger with the special purpose acquisition company would allow Virgin Orbit to go public on Nasdaq under its own name. The deal will provide $483 million in capital to allow the company to grow.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — A SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft carrying more than 6,500 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and other cargo is on its way to the International Space Station after launching at 5:07 a.m. EST Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.