TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President: Keiichi Kobayashi, hereinafter “Furukawa Electric”) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Headquarters: Chofu City, Tokyo, Chairman: Hiroshi Yamakawa, under the “JAXA Space Innovation Partnership (J-SPARC) (*1)”, “JAXA”) have started co-creation activities through the development of power sources for next-generation electric propulsion machines (Hall thrusters) for small satellites.

Agency veteran brings skillset, drive to convert bold technology visions into new capabilities for nation

ARLINGTON, Va. (DARPA PR) — Stefanie Tompkins takes the reins today as the 23rd director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

With nearly eleven years of DARPA service under her belt, Tompkins, a former military intelligence officer in the U.S. Army, has an exceptional understanding of the agency’s culture. From 2007 through 2017, she held multiple positions, including program manager and deputy director of the Strategic Technology Office, a systems-oriented technical office; DARPA chief of staff; and director of the Defense Sciences Office, a highly exploratory office that identifies and accelerates new technologies. In 2017 and into the beginning of 2018, she served as the acting deputy director of the agency.

TOKYO (Synspective PR) – Synspective Inc., a SAR satellite data and analytic- solution provider, announced its first success on the first image acquisition from its first own SAR satellite StriX-α. This is the first success in Japan that a commercial SAR satellite (100 kg class) image has obtained from space.

SWINDON, UK (UK Space Agency PR) — Five UK organisations have been awarded a total of £300,000 [$416,884] from the UK Space Agency to speed up the development of innovative space technology.

Recipients include the University of Leeds, which will develop 3D printing methods and liquid-crystal technology, similar to that in our television screens at home, to develop far-infrared sensors for studying climate change and star formation.

Another project, led by Rocket Engineering in London, will create a compact propulsion system the size of a house brick for use in nano and small satellites. The engines use electromagnets to enable the satellites to move for in-orbit spacecraft servicing or space debris mitigation.

The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded SEAKR Engineering Inc., of Centennial, Colo., a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract worth nearly $60.5 million for the Blackjack Pit Boss Phase Two and Phase Three program.  Pit Boss is an autonomous, collaborative, distributed space-based enterprise designed to self-task, process, and distribute tactically relevant information to manned and unmanned subscribers.  Pit Boss will allow DARPA’s constellation of Blackjack satellites to operate autonomously. DARPA’s Blackjack program […]

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I Award
Funding: up to $125,000
Study Period: 9 months

Light Bender
Charles Taylor
NASA Langley Research Center
Hampton, Va.

Synopsis

Light Bender is a novel concept for the generation and distribution of power on the lunar surface within the context of the Artemis mission and the “Long-Term Human Lunar Surface Presence” that will follow. The innovative concept is based on a heliostat that utilizes Cassegrain telescope optics as the primary means to capture, concentrate and focus the sun’s light.

A Long March 4C rocket successfully launched a trio of Yaogan 31 spacecraft on Saturday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Gobi Desert. The booster lifted off at 10:19 a.m. local time. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) declared the launch to be a complete success. CASC described the Yaogan satellites as being used primarily for monitoring electromagnetic signals. Western analysts believe the spacecraft contain a […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins concluded their spacewalk at 3:01 p.m. EST, after 6 hours and 47 minutes. In the fifth spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two astronauts successfully completed tasks to service the station’s cooling system and communications gear.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — On Sunday, March 14 at 6:01 a.m. EDT, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink  satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX has now launched 1,426 Starlink broadband Internet satellites into Earth orbit. A total of 1,261 satellites are currently in orbit. This was the ninth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously supported launch of Crew […]

Three industry groups have written a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to emphasize the importance of the Office of Space Commerce in supporting the U.S. space industry.

“Given the constant developments, from start-ups to new technologies in the space sector, and the uncertainties of the post-pandemic and changing regulatory environment globally, the space industry requires a strong U.S. Office of Space Commerce to drive continued growth here and abroad for U.S. space industry,” the letter said.

The document was signed by the Aerospace Industries Association, Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Satellite Industry Association.

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I Award
Funding: up to $125,000
Study Period: 9 months

PEDALS: Passively Expanding Dipole Array for Lunar Sounding
Patrick McGarey
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, Calif.

Knowledge of the subsurface composition and structure of terrestrial planets is key to unveiling their geologic history, including crustal differentiation, volcanism, sedimentation, basin formation, and volatile transport and accumulation.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Umbra PR) — Umbra, a geospatial intelligence data provider, was granted a license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite with 1,200 MHz of bandwidth. This bandwidth allocation will allow them to generate images with as low as 15-centimeter (6 inch) ground sampling distance (GSD). At this resolution, Umbra’s satellites will be able to detect items as small as a soda can from space.

Umbra is the first commercial satellite provider in U.S. history to receive a license enabling this level of capability from space. Umbra, which recently raised $32 million, pushed their chips “all in” on capability and patented technology, which had never been attempted by a commercial firm or approved by a U.S. regulatory body.