Space News reports that the US military “has long relied on large, expensive satellites parked in fixed orbits above the Earth.” Some US Space Force leaders “believe it’s time to change that model in favor of more mobile and renewable satellites that can maneuver to avoid attack.” USSF Space Systems Command Commander Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said, “We’ve got to be better at dynamic space operations.” Speaking Dec. 13 at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower conference, Guetlein “said the strategic competition with China in space will require the U.S. to shift its reliance on fixed assets in preset orbits to more ‘dynamic’ systems – satellites that can move, be upgraded and adapt their tasks as needed.” The concept “was first unveiled by US Space Command’s deputy chief Lt. Gen. John Shaw, who recently retired.” He “described it as the need for satellites to maneuver away from threats or towards objects of interest.”
Full Story (Space News)
Tag: Considers
SpaceX Considers Spinning Off Starlink Via IPA Next Year
Bloomberg reports that SpaceX is “discussing an initial public offering for its fast-growing Starlink satellite business as soon as late 2024, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a bid to capitalize on robust demand for communications via space.” To get ready, SpaceX “has been moving the satellite unit’s assets to a wholly owned subsidiary that would ultimately be spun off in the IPO, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the conversations are private.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
NASA Considers SpaceX Astronaut Rescue in Wake of Soyuz Leak
SPACE reported that NASA “might use a SpaceX spacecraft to rescue three space station crew members depending on a leaky Soyuz to get home, a report suggests.” The Soyuz spacecraft “on the International Space Station suffered a severe coolant leak on Dec. 15 and a decision about whether it is safe to send the crew back to Earth on it will come in January, Russia has said.” If a rescue “Soyuz craft is needed[,] it could only come in February, two or three weeks before the normal changeover in March.” NASA apparently is “considering using SpaceX, the only company currently flying astronauts into space from American soil, as a backup if these options don’t work out.”
Full Story (SPACE)