This is turning out to be a particularly busy year for flights to the moon, with commercial companies and universities taking leading roles. Let’s look at the status of spacecraft that are at, headed for, or being prepared for launch to our nearest celestial neighbor.

Bryce Tech has released an in depth look at how small satellites have become an extremely big business over the past decade.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The CubeSat format has dominated the small satellite industry for many years. Their small size – a 1U Cubesat measures a mere 10 x 10 x 10 cm (3.94 x 3.94 x 3.94 in) – has made spacecraft cheaper and easier to build. The ability to combine these units into larger spacecraft has given satellite makers a variety of options. CubeSats can be launched in large numbers on rideshare missions or as secondary payloads to larger satellites.

However, CubeSats do have limitations in terms of mass, power and other key aspects. Engineers at The Aerospace Corporation believe it’s time for small satellites to go in another direction. Instead of a cube, they are modeling their new spacecraft on a compact disc. They hope their design, known as DiskSat, will become a new standard for small satellites.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Of the six launches known to be scheduled to close out August, there’s only one – Artemis I — that truly matters in any real sense. The others will be duly recorded but little remembered in what could be the busiest launch year in human history.

The Wikipedia orbital launch page lists six launches to close out August. The big one, of course, is NASA’s Artemis I mission next Monday. The others, not so momentous but still worth listing. Disclaimer: This schedule is subject to change without notice. Parabolic Arc takes no responsibility for delays, changes, additions or what have you. And, as always, no wagering. Tuesday, August 23 Launch Vehicle: Long March 11Launch Site: Xichang […]

NASA Mission Update When Artemis I launches to the Moon and back there will be A LOT of science hitching a ride! From CubeSats designed to hunt for water deposits on the lunar surface to experiments on how life responds to space – and so much more. The Artemis I mission consists of the Space Launch System rocket that will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon and back […]

Artemis 1 will launch from Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital Corporation PR) — Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has delivered LunIR to Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. LunIR is a 6U satellite that will fly by the Moon and collect surface thermography as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 – a test mission for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). Offering more payload mass, volume capability, and energy, SLS, the world’s most powerful rocket to date, can carry more payload to deep space than any other vehicle. SLS also houses the Orion capsule – NASA’s spacecraft that will take humans deep into space. After the flyby, LunIR will conduct technology demonstrations related to deep-space operations.

The agreement covers the launch and deployment of 20 satellites, which are part of Astrocast’s growing constellation for the Internet of Things, over a three-year time span.

FINO Mornasco, Italy, August 9, 2022 (D-Orbit PR) — D-Orbit, a space logistics company, announced today the signing of a multiple launch and deployment contract with Astrocast, a leading Swiss IoT-focused nanosatellite company.

According to the agreement, D-Orbit will launch twenty of Astrocast’s satellites aboard ION Satellite Carrier, D-Orbit’s versatile and cost-effective orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) designed to precisely deploy satellites and perform technology demonstrations of third-party payloads in orbit. The satellites, which will join Astrocast’s constellation of satellites for the Internet of things (IoT), will be delivered to space over a period of three years, through multiple missions.

IQ Technologies for Earth and Space GmbH (IQ spacecom) and Addvalue Solutions Pte Ltd (Addvalue) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development and marketing of the recently announced Inmarsat ELERA based InCommand service.

BERLIN, Germany, Aug. 10, 2022 (Addvalue/IQ Technologies PR) — Addvalue is a Singapore-based company with extensive experience in providing communications solutions for terrestrial and aerospace applications, including the state-of-the-art Inter-satellite Data Relay (IDRS™) service for LEO satellites based on Inmarsat’s ELERA network. With its “always-on” and “schedule-free” connectivity, IDRS™ has demonstrated multi-year in-space reliability providing LEO satellite operators the ability to securely manage and task their LEO satellites in real time.

by Douglas MessierManaging Editor NASA is looking for a new way to launch the four remaining CubeSats in its Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) constellation in the wake of Astra’s decision to abandon its failure plagued Rocket 3.3. The first pair of TROPICS satellites were destroyed on June 12 when the second stage of a Rocket 3.3 failed. Astra announced last […]