Tag: Astronautical

DoD Innovation Unit to Study Firefly Vehicle for Missions Beyond Earth Orbit

Space News reports, “The Defense Innovation Unit announced March 21 it has signed an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to study the potential use of the company’s Elytra orbital vehicle for missions beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit.” According to the article, once the study contract is complete, as many as two demonstration flights could occur, “in the region between GEO orbit and the moon, known as cislunar space.”
Full Story (Space News)

SpaceX Preparing Rapid Turnaround for Next StarShip Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Space News reports, “SpaceX hopes to conduct the next launch of its Starship vehicle as soon as early May, a schedule that will depend on how quickly it can get an amended launch license.” According to the report, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said March 19 at the Satellite 2024 conference that SpaceX is “still reviewing the data from the vehicle’s third integrated launch March 14 but expected to be ready to fly again soon.”
Full Story (Space News)

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Ready to ‘Touch the Sun’

The Washington Post reports that a risky NASA mission is about to send a spacecraft hurtling practically within spitting distance of the sun. The Parker Solar Probe is designed to “touch the sun,” as NASA puts it. On Dec. 24 the probewill make its closest pass, coming within 3.8 million miles of the surface, having been accelerated by gravity to more than 430,000 miles per hour.
Full Story (Washington Post – Subscription Publication)

NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Comes Back Online on Mars After Communications Glitch

SPACE reports that Ingenuity has officially “regained communication with ground control.” According to a January 20 NASA post, Perseverance “had conducted long-duration listening sessions to help pinpoint Ingenuity’s signal.” Everything “seemed fine during the probe’s 72nd hop on Mars’ red surface, as it successfully climbed to an expected maximum altitude of 40 feet (12 meters) and communicated its ascension status with Perseverance.” But, during descent, NASA said that “communications between the helicopter and rover terminated early, prior to touchdown.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Report: Space Investment Bounced Back in 2023, Increased M&A Expected into 2024

CNBC reports that investment in the space sector “bounced back last year, rebounding closer to the record high of 2021, according to a report Tuesday by New York-based Space Capital.” The firm’s fourth-quarter report “found that space infrastructure companies brought in $2.6 billion of private investment during the period. That brought the sector to $12.5 billion in total investment for 2023, well above last year’s $9.3 billion raised but still below the $15.3 billion brought in during 2021.” Top raises during the “fourth quarter included funds announced by space companies Firefly Aerospace, Ursa Major, D-Orbit, Stoke Space and True Anomaly.” Anderson told the outlet “we expect to see even more” merger and acquisition activity in 2024.
Full Story (CNBC)

ULA’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket Set to Launch on January 8

Gizmodo reports United Launch Alliance’s “202-foot-tall (61.6-meter) Vulcan Centaur rocket is set to launch from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral” on Monday, January 8. According to Gizmodo, this is a “huge deal, as it marks the debut of ULA’s first new rocket design in 18 years. While the (mostly) expendable Vulcan Centaur may not be revolutionary from a technological perspective, it represents a significant evolutionary step for ULA.”
Full Story (Gizmodo)