WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA is seeking new partners to help the agency tell the story of human exploration at the Moon with the Artemis program in ways that engage, excite, and inspire a worldwide audience. Through the end of this decade, NASA will explore more of the lunar surface than ever before and will establish a sustainable human presence with Artemis in preparation for future human missions to Mars.

La Grange Park, Ill. (American Nuclear Society PR) — NASA aims to develop nuclear technologies for two space applications: propulsion and surface power. Both can make planned NASA missions to the moon more agile and more ambitious, and both are being developed with future crewed missions to Mars in mind. Like advanced reactors here on Earth, space nuclear technologies have an accelerated timeline for deployment in this decade.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., November 4, 2020 (Redwire PR) – Redwire, a new leader in mission critical space solutions and infrastructure for the next generation space economy, announced today the hiring of Thomas (Tom) B. Campbell as the new president of its subsidiary, Made In Space, effective October 26.

As a proven business leader and industry expert on space antennas and structures, Mr. Campbell will oversee Made In Space’s product and technology portfolio within Redwire’s broader innovation ecosystem, reporting to Redwire Chairman and CEO Peter Cannito. Campbell succeeds former Made In Space President Andrew Rush, who will fully assume his responsibilities as Redwire Chief Operating Officer.

• TRUTHS to provide benchmark of Earth’s Radiation budget by consistent calibration traced to a metrological reference
• Consistent calibration will also enhance existing satellite missions

TOULOUSE, France (Airbus PR) – Airbus has been awarded the lead in the European Space Agency (ESA) contract for the TRUTHS A/B1 (System feasibility Studies and Pre-Developments) as part of ESA’s Earth Observation Earth Watch programme.

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFRL PR) – The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Oct. 29 to celebrate the completion of its newest construction project, the Deployable Structures Laboratory, or DeSel, for short. 

Construction of the $4 million, 7,000+ square foot laboratory began in Dec. 2019. Scientists and engineers working in this new laboratory will continue the work of the Spacecraft Component Technology Center of Excellence that has a long history of technology development and transition in spacecraft structure materials.

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. (ULA PR) — Everything is progressing towards the ULA Atlas V launch carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.

The mission is set to lift off on Wednesday, Nov. 4 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch time is 5:54 p.m. EST.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly has won election to the U.S. Senate from the state of Arizona, joining a small group of space explorers subsequently elected to serve in Congress.

The Associated Press reports that with 83 percent of the votes in, Kelly has 1,444,645 votes (52.6 percent) while Republican Sen. Martha McSally trails with 1,300,119 votes (47.4 percent). Kelly has declared victory and McSally has conceded the race.

Kelly, a Democrat who flew aboard the space shuttle four times, and McSally competed in a special election to fill the last two years of the late Republican Sen. John McCain’s six year term.

• The mission will deploy 30 satellites to unique orbits using the Electron launch vehicle’s Kick Stage space tug
• The satellites will enable internet from space, test new methods of deorbiting space debris, and enable research into predicting earthquakes
• The launch will also feature a 3D printed mass simulator for Valve’s Gabe Newell to raise funds for Starship Children’s Hospital

LONG BEACH, Calif., November 2, 2020 (Rocket Lab PR) – Leading space systems company, Rocket Lab, has today announced its next Electron mission will feature a diverse range of payloads from the United States, France and New Zealand.

Unclear if this is casting for or competition to Tom Cruise’s feature film to be shot next year.

Dmitry goes to Hollywood(ski) as Roscosmos boss snags himself a producer credit.

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — The competition has started, the winner of which will receive the main role in the first feature film shot in space. The motion picture with the tentative title “Challenge” is a joint project of the State Corporation Roscosmos, Channel One and the studio Yellow, Black and White. Filming will take place at the International Space Station in the fall of 2021.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Satellite companies will be able to bid for up to $9 billion in subsidies over the next decade under the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) 5G Fund for Rural America if they can meet a high standard for 5G mobile wireless service.

“We believe that adopting a round-trip latency requirement of 100 milliseconds or better for all areas better achieves our goal of ensuring access to services reasonably comparable to those in urban areas,” the FCC said. “One of the key benefits of 5G over other mobile technologies is reduced latency.”

The News Minute reports the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to keep the failure report for its Vikram lunar lander under wraps. According to the TOI report, the [Right to Information (RTI)] query was filed by Sathish GN, a resident of Bengaluru. Sathish had sought the details of the FAC report on the hard landing of Vikram lander. However, the RTI response states that this information cannot be divulged […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Social media users are invited to register to take part in another global virtual NASA Social for our SpaceX Crew-1 mission launching on Nov. 14 at 7:49 p.m. EST. This launch will mark the first crew rotation mission with four astronauts flying on a commercial spacecraft, and the first including an international partner.