MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — On August 24, Yuri Borisov, General Director of Roscosmos State Corporation, and Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC Gazprom, discussed the prospects for cooperation in the space sector during a working visit to JSC Gazprom Space Systems.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA and Axiom Space have signed a mission order for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station to take place in the second quarter of 2023.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA is targeting 2:17 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 3, for the launch of Artemis I, the first integrated test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There is a two-hour launch window for the next attempt.

The Artemis I flight test is an uncrewed mission around the Moon that will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.

MIAMI, Aug. 30, 2022 (Royal Caribbean PR) — Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) announced today its plan to implement SpaceX’s Starlink – making the Group the first in the cruise industry to adopt its high-speed, low-latency connectivity for a better onboard experience for guests and crew fleetwide. The innovative broadband internet service will be installed on all Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises ships, along with all new vessels for each of the brands.

Deployment of the Starlink technology across the fleet will begin immediately, leveraging the insights obtained from the trial onboard Freedom of the Seas, which has received tremendous positive feedback from guests and crew. The installation is slated to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) — Today’s NS-23 launch is scrubbed due to weather. We’re continuing to track the weather in West Texas. Our next launch window for NS-23 opens tomorrow at 8:30 AM CDT / 13:30 UTC. Live webcast starts at T-20 minutes.

New Shepard’s 23^rd mission, a dedicated payloads flight, will fly 36 payloads from academia, research institutions, and students across the globe.

Orbit Fab has announced plans for an orbital refueling depot. The Register reports: Spacecraft running low on fuel could get a refill from an orbital station by the year 2025, according to a startup named Orbit Fab that reckons it can charge $20 million to top up your tank…. Orbit Fab is therefore hoping to build, for want of a better word, a depot 300 km from Earth in geostationary […]

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser® Spaceplane to Bring Yuri’s Life Science Incubator to International Space Station for Microgravity Research

LOUISVILLE, Colo. & MECKENBEUREN, Germany (Sierra Space PR) — Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, and Yuri, a Germany-based space biotech company, announced today a new agreement to further medical research in microgravity for the benefit of life on Earth. The arrangement includes plans to launch Yuri’s ScienceTaxi on board Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane beginning in 2024, on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS), where the incubator will be used for a variety of life sciences experiments.

The satellite reached its highest altitude at an apogee of 1.538 million km from Earth – the highest any Terran Orbital developed vehicle has ever flown

BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, today announced the CAPSTONE spacecraft successfully achieved its highest altitude – a point known as apogee – at 2:35 p.m. E.T. on August 26. Terran Orbital developed and co-operates the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, otherwise known as CAPSTONE, in cooperation with NASA and led by Advanced Space.

CINCINNATI (Velontra PR) — Cincinnati/Dayton-based Velontra has partnered with Venus Aerospace in Houston, Texas, to develop a revolutionary propulsion system. Velontra’s after-burner system will enable Venus’hypersonic aircraft to take off from any airport in the world where it will travel to any destination on Earth in about one hour.

Leading American Rocket Propulsion Company to Provide 5,000-Pound Thrust Oxygen-Rich Staged Combustion “Hadley” Engine to Launch Satellites into Low Earth Orbit

DENVER (Ursa Major PR) —Ursa Major, America’s only privately funded company that focuses solely on rocket propulsion, today announced a contract under the U.S. Air Force Tactical Funding Increase (TACFI) program. Under the agreement, Ursa Major will provide a flight-qualified 5,000-pound thrust, oxygen-rich staged combustion “Hadley” rocket engine, suited for both the booster and upper-stage phases of launch for satellites into low-earth orbit.

COLUMBIA, Md. (USRA PR) — In 2020, Universities Space Research Association scientists and their team, using the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), announced they had discovered water on the sunlit surface of the Moon. Now, they’ve confirmed it – and found even more. The findings were published in Geophysical Research Letters. 

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) senior Republican member has criticized the commission’s decision to rescind $885.5 million in subsidies awarded to SpaceX to bring Starlink broadband service to underserved rural areas as part of a controversial 2020 auction criticized for including many already served urban areas.