Anthony Vinci, Former NGA Associate Director and CTO, Joins as Board Observer

BOSTON, Mass. – September 22, 2021 — Accion  Systems (“Accion”), a leading manufacturer of the world’s most advanced ion electrospray in-space propulsion systems, today announced that  former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) Administrator Dan Goldin has joined its Board of Directors. 

Dan was the longest-tenured Administrator of NASA, from April 1992 to November 2001. His deep experience with the space industry and direct experience in development and operation of electric propulsion systems will help Accion position its flagship ion thruster, TILE, for wider adoption in the market. Dan will also be invaluable in the development of future products and scaling the TILE technology to serve a wider spectrum of satellites and spacecraft.

By Jeremy Rehm
JHU APL

After five years of developing and testing a complex particle detection instrument for NASA’s Psyche mission, the world’s first mission to study a potentially metal-rich asteroid, the Psyche team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, can finally take a breather.

The team’s instrument — a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, or GRNS — safely arrived at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Aug. 2. There, it will be integrated with the Psyche spacecraft and prepped for launch next year.

ODENSE, Denmark (QuadSAT PR) – OneWeb, the low Earth orbit satellite communications company is working with QuadSAT to perform verification of its ground segment antennas ahead of the global rollout of its LEO constellation. In an initial stage, QuadSAT has carried out an antenna validation campaign at the Telespazio teleport in Scanzano, Italy.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Three residents of the International Space Station will take a short ride aboard a Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft Tuesday, Sept. 28, relocating the spacecraft to prepare for the arrival of the next set of station crew members.

This partnership aims at opening up a new frontier in resource exploration through the rapid access to space and cutting-edge radar technologies

TUCSON, Ariz. and Berlin, Germany, September 23, 2021 (Lunasonde & Exolaunch PR) –Lunasonde, a startup that focuses on subsurface imaging from space, and Exolaunch, a global leader in rideshare launch, deployment and integration services for small satellites, announce the launch agreements to fly a portion of the Gossamer satellite constellation to a sun-synchronous orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Transporter missions in 2022.

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Roscosmos PR) — September 19 saw the first preflight training session of the Soyuz MS-19 crewed spacecraft prime and backup crews under the program of the 66th long-term expedition to the International Space Station.

SAN MATEO, Calif., September 22nd, 2021 (Xona Space Systems PR) — Xona Space Systems, the leading innovator in precision LEO satellite navigation services, announced today that it has raised a new funding round co-led by Seraphim Space Investment Trust (LSE:SSIT) and MaC Venture Capital, with participation from Toyota Ventures, Daniel Ammann (co-founder of u-blox), and Ryan Johnson (former CEO of BlackBridge, operator of the Rapideye constellation). Follow-on investors also include 1517 Fund and Stellar Solutions.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS and Galileo have become the backbone of nearly every aspect of the modern connected world. However, threats to these legacy systems along with consumer demands for enhanced performance are increasing rapidly. 

LONDON (Seraphim Space PR) — Further to its announcement on 7 September 2021, Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc (LSE: SSIT), the world’s first listed fund focused on Space Tech, is pleased to announce the acquisition of the holding of Arqit Quantum Inc. (“Arqit”) from the Seraphim Space LP ( ” Seraphim Space Fund “) .

As set out in the IPO prospectus, Seraphim Space will acquire four assets from the Seraphim Space Fund for newly issued ordinary shares in the Company. This acquisition represents the second of those transactions to complete.

Arqit is a leader in quantum encryption technology designed to eliminate the threat of cyber-attack and data theft. The business has a unique quantum encryption Platform-as-a-Service which makes the communications links of any networked device secure against current and future forms of attack – even from a quantum computer.  On 7 September, Arqit completed its proposed merger with Centricus Acquisition Corp. The combined company has been renamed Arqit Quantum Inc. and its shares have commenced trading on NASDAQ under the new ticker symbol “ARQQ” for Arqit common stock.

LONDON (OneWeb PR) — OneWeb, the low Earth orbit satellite communications company, announced today a new Canadian distribution partner, Galaxy Broadband, to deliver OneWeb’s high-speed, low-latency communications services across Canada and the wider Arctic region.

Supported by a global network of gateways and user terminals, OneWeb’s global connectivity platform will provide high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity to expand Galaxy’s existing SDWAN connectivity capabilities in and across Canada. The partnership will enable a fibre-like experience to benefit end users, offering internet access no matter where users are.

Led by NASA JPL, Team CoSTAR will participate in the SubT final this week to demonstrate multi-robot autonomy in a series of tests in extreme environments.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — Eight teams featuring dozens of robots from more than 30 institutions, including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, will converge in a former Kentucky limestone mine from Sept. 21 to 24 to participate in a series of complex underground scenarios. The goal: to demonstrate cutting-edge robotic autonomy capabilities and compete for the chance to win $2 million.

Futuristic electric thrusters emitting a cool blue glow will guide the Psyche spacecraft through deep space to a metal-rich asteroid.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — When it comes time for NASA’s Psyche spacecraft to power itself through deep space, it’ll be more brain than brawn that does the work. Once the stuff of science fiction, the efficient and quiet power of electric propulsion will provide the force that propels the Psyche spacecraft all the way to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The orbiter’s target: a metal-rich asteroid also called Psyche.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Virgin Galactic’s recently fired flight test director claims that pilot error, not upper-level winds, resulted in the company’s SpaceShipTwo vehicle flying outside of its assigned airspace during a July 11 suborbital flight test that carried the company’s billionaire founder, Richard Branson. He suggested an independent investigation instead of a company-led one might be required to address the mishap.

Mark Stucky, who Virgin Galactic fired eight days after Branson’s flight, said his former employer put out an inaccurate statement about why VSS Unity flew unauthorized into Class A airspace for 1 minute 41 seconds during its descent. Class A airspace is primarily used by airlines, cargo operators and higher performance aircraft.