SLIVER SPRING, Md (NOAA PR) — NOAA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) recently entered a new agreement, designed to improve global weather forecasts, while building upon a long, successful partnership between the two agencies.  The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Global Observing Satellite Missions, signed last month, will continue NOAA’s ability to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data that protect life and property in the U.S. 

Dr. Mitch Goldberg, senior scientist at NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, highlighted the key elements of the MOU and why it matters.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

SpaceX was not able to conduct a planned flight test of its SN9 Starship vehicle at Boca Chica in Texas this week because it didn’t have a launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

This time, instead of a rocket exploding, Twitter did.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NASA PR) — NASA plans to conduct a second Green Run hot fire test as early as the fourth week in February with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s core stage that will launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. The Green Run is a comprehensive assessment of the rocket’s core stage prior to launching Artemis missions.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, April 20, for launch of the second crew rotation mission with astronauts on an American rocket and spacecraft from the United States to the International Space Station.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission will launch four astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the space station. It will be the first mission to fly two international partner crew members as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

BRAMPTON, Ont. (MDA PR) — MDA today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to provide satellite flight operations and data management services for the Agency’s Earth observation and space situational awareness satellite missions.

MDA will provide spacecraft health monitoring and control, operational analysis, basic system maintenance, data order handling, image quality control and data processing and archiving for the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), SCISAT and NEOSSat from the CSA’s Multi-Mission Control Centre in Longueuil, Quebec.

WASHINGTON (Commerce Department PR) — The Office of Space Commerce published a report on the Commerce Department’s space commerce accomplishments under Secretary Wilbur Ross and the Trump Administration.

The report recaps the Department’s success in achieving its strategic objective to expand commercial space activities through a host of actions. The text of the report is below.

Department of Commerce Accomplishments Space and Space Commerce

Under the leadership of Secretary Wilbur Ross, the Department of Commerce emphasized the importance of space and space commerce to U.S. national and economic security, prosperity, and the growing role of the Department in this area. Strategic Objective 1.1 of the Secretary’s Strategic Plan for 2018-2022 was to increase U.S. commercial space activities; the Department’s efforts to improve space situational awareness were Agency Priority Goals in FY2020 and FY2021.

• The first complete Ariane 6 upper stage has just left the ArianeGroup site in Bremen, where it was developed and integrated, for hot-fire testing on the German Aerospace Center (DLR) site in Lampoldshausen
• This delivery represents a major step in the development of the new European Ariane 6 launch vehicle; its inaugural flight is scheduled for the second quarter of 2022

BREMEN, Germany (ArianeGroup PR) — The first complete upper stage of the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle has just left the ArianeGroup plant in Bremen, Germany. The stage is now complete, with its two liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks connected to the new re-ignitable Vinci engine and equipped with all lines, valves, and electronic and hydraulic instrumentation and control systems. It is now fully operational, following final assembly in October 2020 and successfully undergoing all functional testing (hydraulic, electrical, and avionics) at the ArianeGroup site in Bremen. This stage, called the Hot Firing Model (HFM), will now be transported from Bremen to Lampoldshausen in Baden-Württemberg, for hot-fire testing at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) facility.

As it approaches its first launch, Firefly Aerospace wants to raise an additional $350 million to expand its operations and develop a larger launch vehicle, SpaceNews reports. “In the next five years we want to take Firefly from a $1 billion company when we go out and fly Alpha and the SUV,” [CEO Tom Markusic] said, a reference to an upper stage called the Space Utility Vehicle that can serve […]

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — The Interdepartmental Commission (IAC) for the selection of cosmonauts and their appointment to the crews of manned spacecraft and stations within the framework of an open competition for the selection of candidates for cosmonauts of the Russian Federation (the competition started in 2019) decided to recommend the FSBI “Research Institute of the CTC named after Yu.A. Gagarin” appoint four people to the positions of test cosmonaut candidates of the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps. The decision came into force on January 27, 2021.

The cosmonaut profession will be mastered by Sergey Irtuganov, Alexander Kolyabin, Sergey Teteryatnikov and Harutyun Kiviryan. In the near future they will start studying the General Space Training (GST) course, which will take place over two years.

Versatile, autonomous logistics vehicle to support future lunar missions based on heritage from Orion ESM and ATV

Toulouse, 28 January 2021 – Airbus has been awarded a CLTV (Cis-Lunar Transfer Vehicle) study for a “Moon Cruiser” by the European Space Agency (ESA). According to the study concept (two parallel Phase A/B1), the CLTV is a versatile, autonomous logistics vehicle that could, for example, provide timely and efficient support to NASA and ESA in the implementation of the future Artemis Moon missions. The spacecraft will be based on existing and proven technologies and will complement the multipurpose European Large Logistic Lander (EL3).

Sirius XM’s newest satellite has suffered the failure of certain “payload units” following its launch last month, the satellite radio company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The Maxar-built SXM-7 satellite was launched on Dec. 13 by a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster. The spacecraft began in-orbit testing on Jan. 4. “During in-orbit testing of SXM-7, events occurred which have caused failures of certain SXM-7 payload units. An evaluation of […]

• On January 24, 2021, the SOMP2b small satellite was launched into space with a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:00 p.m. Central European Time.
• A key objective of the mission is to demonstrate that significant research can be done with small satellites.
• The special thing about SOMP2b is its innovative design: almost all functions of a satellite have been miniaturized and built into each individual side wall.

+++ The SOMP2b satellite launched into space on January 24, 2021 on board a Falcon 9 rocket +++

COLOGNE (DLR PR) — On January 24, 2021, the SOMP2b small satellite is scheduled to launch at 4 p.m. Central European Time (10 a.m. local time) with a Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida (USA). A key objective of the mission is to demonstrate that significant research – both scientific and technological – can be done with small satellites.