Category Archives: Advanced Technology

Friday / 4 Nov 2022

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Astrobotic PM1 Advances with Precision Landing Validation as BE-4 Engines Being Integrated on Vulcan Centaur

100-km test flight of Optical Precision Autonomous Landing system aboard King Air B200 twin turboprop confirms functionality 9 km above mountainous northern region of Mojave Desert analogous to lunar surface while providing Astrobotic with data to be utilized for US$79.5M Peregrine Mission 1 to Lacus Mortis (NET Q1 2023) and $320.4M Griffin Mission One to Nobile Crater (NET Nov 2024); Meanwhile Blue Origin working with ULA to complete Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle with BE-4 LNG / LOX (“methalox”) engines at Decatur, Alabama ULA facility

Credits: Astrobotic, ULA

Tuesday / 1 Nov 2022

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Lunar Flashlight to Prospect for Water on Moon, Launch with ispace Mission-1 NET 22 November

Utilizing 4 shortwave IR lasers (1.064, 1.495, 1.85, 1.99 μm) and indium gallium arsenide spectrometer, 6U / 14kg Lunar Flashlight 2-month nominal cubesat mission led by PI Barbara Cohen of NASA GSFC to search for water ice hidden within permanently shadowed regions on Moon from 15 x 70,000 km elliptical near-rectilinear polar orbit with ~6 day period; Lunar Flashlight now launching with Hakuto-R M1, which has arrived at KSC for launch on SpaceX F9 NET 22 Nov carrying UAE Rashid rover, Canadensys-built 360° cameras, JAXA spheroid robot

Credits: NASA, ispace, Wikipedia

Friday / 28 Oct 2022

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Quantum Space Announces October 2024 Mission QS-1 to Earth-Moon-Lagrange Points 1 and 2 with Cislunar Superhighway Ambitions

NewSpace enterprise Quantum Space working toward self-funded launch of 400-kg satellite to collect space situational awareness data in cislunar space over 3-year mission; Main visible imager payload will be provided by GEOST, spacecraft bus to be built by Blue Canyon which will carry commercial customer payloads; Co-founded by Kam Ghaffarin (L), who also is Founder of IBX, Executive Chair at X-energy, Intuitive Machines & Axiom Space; QS-1 to utilize commercial deep space ground stations, modular cislunar communication / servicing waystations to follow

Also Pictured: Quantum Space CEO Steve Jurczyk, CTO Ben Reed;
Credits: NASA, X-Energy, IAF, Quantum Space
 

Tuesday / 11 Oct 2022

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Cislunar Development Policy to be Discussed at Beyond Earth Symposium 12-13 Oct

34 featured speakers in space policy, academia and industry to consider guidelines conducive to long-term human community & economy in space and on / around Moon at hybrid conference hosted by University of Arizona Center for Outreach & Collaboration in Washington DC; Toward a Cislunar Ecosystem with Human Presence panel on 13 Oct will be moderated by (L-R) Laura Forczyk (Beyond Earth Institute), feature speakers Scott Pace (George Washington University), Paul Stimers (K&L Gates), Vishnu Reddy (University of Arizona LPL), John Mankins (Moon Village Association) and Angeliki Kapoglou (ESA); In-person ($345) and online ($49) registration available here

Credits: BE, University of Arizona

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 7-10 Oct 2022

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Stalwart Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Continues to Contribute to Cutting Edge Moon Science and Exploration

Team led by Vishnu Viswanathan of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center manipulate LOLA data to determine effect of asteroid impacts that created 5,200 Moon craters 20–1,200m in diameter over 4.25B years on True Polar Wander; Modeling suggests 10° / 300km variance, with implications for polar water ice location; LRO also actively in use for commercial exportation initiatives – in calibration testing of Intuitive Machines Lunar Telemetry and Tracking Network, set to support IM-1 mission NET Q1 2023 and in upcoming test of Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System on CAPSTONE

Credits: NASA, Advanced Space

Friday / 7 Oct 2022

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CNSA Offering Payload Rideshares on Chang’E-7 MSP Lander Launching NET 2026

International science experiments / technology demonstrations encouraged to apply for space on Chang’E-7 Moon mission to a crater rim within South Pole-Aitken basin less than 5° from Moon South Pole; Announcement of Opportunity specifies payload parameters: 300mm×150mm×150mm maximum physical dimensions, -180°C to 80°C lunar surface operating temperature, ≤10kg mass, ≤50W power consumption; Applicants to submit letter of intent by 1 Feb 2023 for 1 April preliminary selection, full proposals due 1 June 2023

Credits: CNSA

Tuesday / 4 Oct 2022

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Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) Bolstering Global Ground Station Network Ahead of Lunar Mission Demands

Ka-band (26 GHz) deep space communication facilities in Chile and Australia to be added to SSC 10-station grid including Esrange (Sweden, 68°N), Inuvik (Canada, 68°N) Siracha (Thailand, 13°N), Clewiston (Florida, 26°N) South Point ‘Pete Conrad’ Ground Station (Hawaiʻi, 19°N), WASC (Australia, 29°S) and Santiago (Chile, 33°S); SSC to provide service for CLPS providers Astrobotic and Firefly during upcoming Peregrine (NET Q4 2022) and Blue Ghost (NET 2024) landing missions; SSC partnering with CNES, Safran Data Systems of France on new antenna systems and support

Pictured: SSC CEO Stefan Gardefjord, CNES Director of Strategy Jean-Marc Astorg; Credits: SSC, Twitter

Wednesday / 24 Aug 2022

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Several Lunar Businesses to Participate During NewSpace 2022 Conference in Seattle

Space Frontier Foundation continues annual NewSpace series with 49 speakers including dynamic Moon businesses & ventures: Gateway Habitation and Logistics Outpost contractor Paragon Space CEO (L-R) Grant Anderson; Xcraft interplanetary / lunar orbital vehicle builder Xplore of Seattle WA COO Lisa Rich; Breaking Ground trust lunar regolith contracted customer Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber; Ardoride spacecraft builder Momentus CTO Rob Schwarz (launching to Moon orbit NET 2024 with Qosmosys); Blue Origin, continuing to advance Blue Moon lander and lunar-hardened technology, will be represented by private Astronaut / keynote speaker Audrey Powers

Credits: SFF, Northrop Grumman

Tuesday / 16 Aug 2022

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CAPSTONE Team Celebrates 2022 Mission of the Year Award for Cislunar Orbital Pathfinder

AIAA Small Spacecraft Technical Committee honors Capstone at 36th SmallSat Conference in Utah; Partners on the <US$30M mission include Advanced Space / PI Bradley Cheetham, providing overall project management, Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System (set to interface with LRO) and Ballistic Lunar Transfer / Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit trajectories; Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems (founded by Jordi Puig-Suari of Cal Poly, co-inventor of the CubeSat standard) and parent company Terran Orbital, who designed, built and operate 25kg, 12U Capstone; Stellar Exploration, manufacturer of hydrazine propulsion system; Launch provider Rocket Lab

Credits: AIAA SmSTC, 2022 SmallSat Conference, Advanced Space, Terran Orbital, Rocket Lab, Stellar exploration

Tuesday / 12 July 2022

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Space Habitat, Biome and Transport System Envisioned by Japan Academic / Industry Partnership

Kyoto University Human Spaceology Center teaming with Kajima Corporation to realize sustainable human occupancy of Moon, Mars, and interplanetary space; Comprehensive 3-part proposal includes 396-m Luna Glass, generating 1g artificial gravity via 20-second rotations, Nature biome extracted from global ecosystem, harnessing “natural capital”, and interplanetary Hexatrack transit which would ferry people to / from LEO station, cislunar Gateway, Mars moon Phobos and have modular capsule design for surface transport, hybrid electromagnetic railgun / chemical propulsion; Researchers estimate a precursor system could be constructed within 50 years, full build-out NET 22nd Century

Credits: Kyoto University / Kajima Corporation