Airbus unveiled plans for private space station modules, Axiom Space said it will offer nations customized space programs, and Sierra Space and ILC Dover announced a strategic partnership to build inflatable stations and next-generation spacesuits to further commercial human spaceflight during the 38th Space Symposium in Colorado.

NASA Mission Update

The Flight Readiness Review for NASA’s Artemis I mission has concluded, and teams are proceeding toward a two-hour launch window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday, August 29, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B in Florida. 

Live coverage of events will air on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Monday, Aug. 22. The launch countdown will begin Saturday, Aug. 27, at 10:23 a.m.

Jack Black, Chris Evans, Yo-Yo Ma and more to headline launch day coverage

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA will provide coverage of prelaunch, launch, and postlaunch activities for Artemis I, the first integrated test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This uncrewed flight test around the Moon will pave the way for a crewed flight test and future human lunar exploration as part of Artemis.

The SLS rocket is targeted to launch during a two-hour window that opens at 8:33 a.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 29, from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Europe’s first commercial satellite capable of being completely reprogrammed while in space is now in commercial use.

Satellite operator Eutelsat has sold six of its eight beams – used for data and mobile communications – to organisations including governments and other users. It is expected that the entire satellite capacity will be sold in the coming months.

PARIS (ESA PR) — A large data-driven telecommunications satellite that uses innovative technology to keep cool as well as other innovations – developed under an ESA Partnership Project – has started its commercial service.

The satellite will provide broadband connectivity for commercial shipping, aviation, governments and enterprises through its operator, SES, as well connecting underserved areas and accelerating digital inclusion.

• On July 5, 2022, the winners of this year’s INNOspace Masters competition were announced and awarded at a conference in Berlin.
• 337 companies, start-ups, universities and research institutions from 28 countries took part in the competition.
• The next round of the competition will start in early 2023.
• Focus: space travel, innovation, technology transfer

BERLIN (DLR PR) — On July 5, 2022, the winners of this year’s INNOspace Masters competition were announced by Dr. Peter Gräf, Director of Applications and Science at the German Space Agency at DLR, and Dr. Anna Christmann, Federal Government Coordinator for German Aerospace. Under the motto “Sustainable and Efficient Innovations for Space and Earth”, new ideas and concepts were sought that take up current challenges in space travel and other sectors and offer innovative solutions. The participants could choose from five competition categories – the “Challenges” – which cover different development and innovation phases along the entire innovation chain. Accordingly, there was an overall winner and five other winners – one per competition category.

• New separation mechanism will help to avoid space debris
• Sentinel-1 radars scan our planet and its environment for Europe’s citizens

FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany (Airbus PR) – Airbus has finished the third instrument for the Sentinel-1 satellite series. It features a world premiere of a new separation mechanism which will help avoid space debris. The C-band radar for the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite, is now on its way to “meet” its spacecraft at Thales Alenia Space facilities in Rome, Italy, where it will undergo integration and testing. The satellite is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2023.

NATICK, Mass. (Busek Co. PR) — The in-space propulsion firm Busek Co. confirmed its supply of BHT-350 Hall effect thrusters for a range of missions supported by Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS). The Busek thrusters have been engineered and qualified to rigorous standards and are suitable for high-reliability, long-lifetime applications where thrusters are used for orbit raising, maintenance, and end-of-life de-orbit.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (Viasat, Inc. PR) — Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today announced it has been awarded a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Validation of Supplemental Type Certificate (VSTC) to install its complete, advanced Ka-band satellite system on Airbus A320 series of aircraft. This CAAC validation, Viasat’s first in China, lays the foundation for Chinese airlines to install and deploy Viasat’s industry-leading In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) system, including antenna, radome, modem, server and WAPs, on Airbus A320s.

The CAAC VSTC was awarded based on an Airbus A320 STC previously certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It joins a portfolio of STCs that has been applied globally on 1,800+ commercial aircraft installed with Viasat’s in-flight connectivity system. In total, the Company’s current IFC solution has accumulated more than 16.5 million flight hours.

PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA is going to the Moon – in collaboration with its international partners – and seeks to build a lasting lunar link to enable sustainable space exploration.

The agency has now evaluated initial ideas to create a network of lunar telecommunications and navigation satellites.

Creating a commercial telecommunications and navigation service for the Moon will allow many of the dozens of planned lunar missions to share the same infrastructure to communicate with Earth, as well as to find their way on the lunar surface.

The service is needed because the planned missions are becoming regular trips to Earth’s natural satellite rather than one-off expeditions.