TORONTO, December 16, 2021 (Kepler Communications PR) — Kepler Communications announced today the signing of a contract with Spire Global, Inc. (“Spire”) (NYSE: SPIR), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, to launch a test of Kepler’s ÆTHER network. This will serve as an initial test bed for Kepler’s ÆTHER service and will also help Spire evaluate how the technology can support its goal to collect accurate, timely and global data.

Announced at Satellite 2021, ÆTHER is the fulfilment of Kepler’s mission to enable the space economy by delivering the infrastructure for always-on, real-time connectivity to space-based assets. With ÆTHER, Kepler will solve one of the key challenges facing low earth orbit missions, which is limited connectivity with Earth, by relaying data through the ÆTHER network. Without an always-on, real-time communications link, operators must wait until the satellite is above a ground station to learn about the health of the asset, confirm satellite location, or identify anomalous behavior. In addition, the value of the data collected by satellites diminishes with time until it eventually reaches Earth. By providing an always on, real-time link to satellites, Kepler’s ÆTHER service delivers an important new service to the space community, while opening a new market for Kepler’s satellite technology.

• Payloads selected for Spectrum’s maiden flight scheduled for end of 2022
• Five institutions from Germany, Norway and Slovenia with a total of seven small satellites to launch on the first test flight of Isar Aerospace’s launch vehicle “Spectrum”
• For the first time in Europe, the German government entrusts a privately financed European space company with the launch of institutional payloads

MUNICH, 13 December 2021 (Isar Aerospace PR) – Isar Aerospace, the leading and most well-funded private European launch service provider focusing on small and medium satellites, and the German Space Agency at DLR have announced the selection of the institutional payloads for the maiden flight of the “Spectrum” rocket planned for the end of 2022 as part of the microlauncher competition. Among the winners of the Announcement of Opportunity are five institutions from Germany, Norway, and Slovenia with a total of seven small satellites that will be used to demonstrate various technologies in space such as communication or weather data measurement.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA commercial cargo launch provider SpaceX is targeting 5:06 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 21, to launch its 24th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff will be from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Before the MIRI instrument – one of four scientific instruments aboard the observatory – can operate, it has to be cooled down to almost the coldest temperature matter can reach.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Set to launch on Dec. 22, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is the largest space observatory in history, and it has an equally gargantuan task: to collect infrared light from the distant corners of the cosmos, enabling scientists to probe the structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

By Alison Gold
NASA’s Earth Science News Team

NASA will launch four Earth science missions in 2022 to provide scientists with more information about fundamental climate systems and processes including extreme storms, surface water and oceans, and atmospheric dust. Scientists will discuss the upcoming missions at the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) 2021 Fall Meeting, hosted in New Orleans between Dec. 13 and 17.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., December 15, 2021 (CASIS PR) – The microgravity environment on the International Space Station (ISS) has a profound impact on cells and tissues, allowing researchers to conduct life sciences research in ways not possible on the ground. SpaceX’s 24th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the orbiting laboratory will deliver a variety of life science payloads sponsored by the ISS National Lab. From stem cell research on neurodegenerative diseases to a tissue chip experiment studying the blood-brain barrier and an investigation testing the use of bacteria to protect DNA from the stresses of spaceflight—the research launching on this mission is helping to improve the quality of life for people on Earth.

RBC Signals will use the Inmarsat global mobile satellite network to drive IoT and other data and communications services and solutions for customers.

LONDON (Inmarsat PR) — RBC Signals, global provider of satellite data communication products and solutions, today announced a strategic agreement with Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications. The agreement will see RBC Signals use Inmarsat’s global network to connect its range of applications and solutions for enterprise customers.

The global multi-year leasing agreement pairs Inmarsat’s worldwide ELERA and Global Xpress satellite networks with RBC Signals’ range of new and existing data and Internet of Things (IoT) applications for use across multiple verticals, including oil and gas, maritime, agriculture and utilities. RBC Signals will incorporate these latest evolutions of Inmarsat’s L-band and Ka-band networks into its applications and solutions, enabling new levels of flexibility and service customisation.

SOLNA, Sweden (SSC PR) — Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) joins European space consortium UN:IO targeted at creating an independent European constellation of satellites for commercial and institutional communication channels. As a vital part of the infrastructure, SSC adds its significant heritage from satellite communications services as well as one of the world’s leading ground station networks. The mega constellation is set to be fully operational by 2025, supported by the European Commission who picked UN:IO out of the 10 consortia that applied.

The European Commission will support the UN:IO consortium with 1.4 MEUR for the preparations of critical infrastructure that will ensure secure broadband connectivity for mass communication and large data quantities.

NASA Mission Update The James Webb Space Telescope team is working a communication issue between the observatory and the launch vehicle system. This will delay the launch date to no earlier than Friday, Dec. 24. We will provide more information about the new launch date no later than Friday, Dec. 17.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Former SpaceX engineer Ashley Kosak has published an essay alleging rampant sexual harassment at Elon Musk’s space company, portraying a dysfunctional company where management is unwilling to respond to complaints or to discipline offenders.

The essay was published as seven women filed sexual harassment lawsuits against Tesla Motors, which is another company where Musk serves as CEO. The suits have accused the automaker of “fostering a culture of sexual harassment” against women. In October, Tesla was ordered to pay $137 million in damages to a former African American worker who alleged in a lawsuit he was subjected to racial discriminator and slurs “straight from the Jim Crow era.” Tesla has disputed the claims and is appealing the judgment.

In her essay published by Lioness, Kosak said she incidents of sexual harassment started when she was an intern at SpaceX and continued after she became a full-time mission integration engineer.

Engineers are developing the crucial hardware needed for a series of daring space missions that will be carried out in the coming decade.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Testing has already begun on what would be the most  sophisticated endeavor ever attempted at the Red Planet: bringing rock and sediment samples from Mars to Earth for closer study.

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (Roscosmos PR) — The seventh meeting of the Russian-Kazakh intergovernmental commission on the Baikonur complex, chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Russia and Kazakhstan, respectively, Yuri Borisov and Roman Sklyar, was held in Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan) on December 13, 2021.