Parabolic Arc

BOCA RATON, Fla., May 18, 2022 (Terran Orbital PR) – Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in small satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry, today announced that its subsidiary, PredaSAR Corporation, received a contract award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under an Other Transaction Authority for Prototype Agreement. Specific terms of the Agreement were not disclosed.

This Agreement aims to research synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite formation flying concepts and joint data collection techniques. The potential prototype will provide data products from at least two SAR satellites flying in formation and demonstrate novel data processing algorithms. The conceptual design work is expected to take several months and may lead to follow-on opportunities for prototyping and demonstrations.

SOUTH AYRSHIRE, Scotland (Prestwick Spaceport PR) — A new campaign which aims to educate thousands of young people across Ayrshire and beyond about careers in the UK’s growing space sector is to be launched by Prestwick Spaceport and affiliated aerospace businesses.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA will host a media teleconference with partners Advanced Space and Rocket Lab at 3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 25, in advance of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) launch, scheduled for no earlier than Tuesday, May 31. The teleconference audio will be livestreamed on NASA’s website.

Participants will discuss and answer questions about CAPSTONE launch preparations, its technology demonstrations, and how CAPSTONE will serve as a pathfinder for Gateway and future Artemis missions.  

The teleconference participants include:

• Christopher Baker, Small Spacecraft Technology program executive, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate
• Bradley Cheetham, Advanced Space CEO/principal investigator, CAPSTONE
• Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO
• Nujoud Merancy, chief, Exploration Mission Planning Office, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston

The microwave oven-size CubeSat will serve as the first spacecraft to test a unique lunar orbit that has never been flown before. The orbit, formally known as a near rectilinear halo orbit, is an elongated orbit located at a precise balance point between the gravities of Earth and the Moon. CAPSTONE will help reduce risk of future long-term deep space missions – like the Moon-orbiting outpost Gateway – by validating innovative navigation technologies and verifying the dynamics of this orbit. 

For more information about CAPSTONE, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/3PteW7P

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft are slated to return to launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early June for the next wet dress rehearsal attempt.    

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch for the first time to Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at 12:04 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 21, on its uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2.

BOCA RATON, Fla. (Terran Orbital PR) – Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry, today announced it delivered its CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration (CPOD) satellite to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for integration into the SpaceX Transporter-5 launch vehicle.

Space Perspective announces new additions to its team of accomplished and dynamic luminaries including the world’s leading SpaceBalloon™ manufacturer, the SpaceX Dragon capsule marine operations lead, the lead for Boeing’s 787 composite fuselage and window system, and an award-winning documentarian

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.–(Space Perspective PR) — Space Perspective, Earth’s leading luxury spaceflight experience company, today announced additional financing from a group of investors including Silicon Valley Bank, Trinity Capital, and investor and philanthropist Henry Kravis. The financing brings the company’s total capital raised to date to more than $65 million.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. EDT. Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on a flight test to the International Space Station at 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

by David Bullock
Staff Writer

NewSpace Global conducted a Q&A with Kimberly Slater, the Commercial and Science Space Lead at Draper Laboratory, about the guidance, navigational and control software she has worked on for Stratolaunch’s Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle.

Tell me a little about yourself, your engineer and career background and how you got to work for Draper.

Right now I currently lead our civil commercial science space work at Draper, but my history before Draper was all in human space flight. My engineering degree is in man machine interface design. And everything I did before Draper was building, developing, testing, and flying scientific experiments on the space shuttle and space station. So, I did everything from design and build to writing software, writing the interface training manuals to the software—the procedure that the astronauts use on orbit—and then I did crew training for both the American and Russian crew for both space station and shuttle and then mission support and then mission control centers in both Moscow and Houston to support the mission. You know that whole ‘Houston we have a problem’ question when things on orbit and any anomaly has happened during that real time fast paced mission support. 

Boeing Mission Update

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is proceeding toward the International Space Station on the NASA-Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2).

Boeing and NASA met as an ISS Mission Management Team (IMMT) this afternoon to review the status of the flight test and approved a plan to proceed toward the final phase of rendezvous and docking, which remains scheduled at 7:10 p.m. EDT.

Docking broadcast coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on www.nasa.gov/live.

Tim Farrar has a long thread that looks at SpaceX’s valuation and ability to raise money — both of which are crucial to its continued development of the Starlink satellite broadband constellation and the Starship/Super Heavy rocket. A lot of that valuation is dependent on confidence in the company and its founder, Elon Musk.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been publicly accused of exposing himself to and propositioning a flight attendant for sex on his corporate jet. SpaceX subsequently paid the woman a $250,000 severance package to keep quiet about the alleged sexual harassment, according to a story published by Insider.

SAN FRANCISCO (Planet Labs PR) —Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, today announced that their PlanetScope data is now available through Leaf, an agricultural data infrastructure company. Through Leaf’s imagery service, developers can access Planet’s satellite imagery to better inform their agricultural products.

SILVER SPRING, Md., May 19, 2022 (NOAA PR) — Today, NOAA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to conduct a Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) Study of commercial space weather data sources and related capabilities that may help NOAA meet its space weather mission objectives. For this pilot study, NOAA is seeking measurements from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers that will enable NOAA to derive ionospheric products that meet the current and anticipated needs of operational space weather models and applications.  

NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) supports CWDP studies to demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on NOAA’s weather forecast models. Successful CWDP studies subsequently may lead to sustained commercial data purchases by CDP to support NOAA’s operational forecasting endeavors. 

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA is funding a company to develop technology capable of 3D printing nanocarbon-infused metals in space for use in advanced electronics.

NASA selected Faraday Technology of Englewood, Ohio, for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award worth up to $750,000 to continue development of the technology. The company previously received a SBIR Phase I award.