Thursday / 25 April 2024

International Lunar Observatory Association Selected for Chang’E-7 Galaxy Imaging Payload

ILOA Hawai’i is honored to be selected as a Chang’E-7 payload to conduct Galaxy / Astronomy imaging from Shackleton Rim on the surface of the Moon about 2026; ILOA advances its Moon missions, most especially its flagship ILO-1 destined for Malapert Summit for observation and communication, in the spirit of peaceful and productive cooperation, equality and mutual benefit – in Space, on Earth, and perhaps most importantly, on the Moon; ILOA, and ILOA-affiliated Space Age Publishing Company, also advocate that independent associations, business enterprises, universities and non-profits (NGOs) be encouraged and accepted for participation in the USA-initiated Artemis Accords, as they are in the UN and the China-led ILRS International Lunar Research Station

 
Credits: ILOA, CNSA, DSEL, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 Apr 2024

Africa Partnership Increasingly Sought by Space Powers USA and China

Space diplomacy in Africa is on the rise, according to London School of Economics analyst, evidenced by strong representation from both USA / NASA and China PRC / CNSA at NewSpace Africa Conference 2024; Angola, Nigeria, Rwanda are signatories to USA-led Artemis Accords, while Egypt and South Africa are participants of International Lunar Research Station, led by China and Russia; 270+ space companies in Africa projected to generate $22.64B by 2026; Africa resources such as cobalt, copper, chromium are essential for building space / lunar technology including craft & communications devices, and untapped reserves of rare earth elements (REE) have potential to disrupt current market in which China produces 70% of global supply

 
Picutred: Tidiane Ouattara Head of the Science, Technology and Space Division at African Union
Credits: NASA, African Union
 

Wednesday / 3 April 2024

China NewSpace Company Space Pioneer Prepares for Inaugural Launch of Reusable Tianlong-3

Space Pioneer (Beijing Tianbing Technology) working to complete build of first Tianlong-3 at factory in Suzhou following successful hot firing of all 9 first stage TH-12 engines powered by RP-1 / liquid oxygen (kerolox) propellant, together producing 7.6 MN thrust, slightly greater than SpaceX Falcon 9 (7.56 MN); Shipping to Wenchang Commercial Space Launch Site expected NET late April / early May for NET July launch; Tianlong-3 planned to provide 30 per year launch cadence with up to 10x first stage reuse; While Space Pioneer has not announced lunar mission plans to date, capacity of Tianlong-3 should be suitable for realization of first China domestic NewSpace Moon mission

Pictured: Space Pioneer CEO Kang Yonglai; Credits: Space Pioneer

Tuesday / 19 March 2024

Hopping Lunar Rovers Planned for USA, China and Europe Surface Missions

Unconventional mobility technology that achieve locomotion with bouncing maneuvers / thrusters rather than wheels is headed for the Moon; Intuitive Machines Micro-Nova (29 kg wet) developed with ASU under $41.6M NASA contract to investigate PSR within Marston crater using Canadensys 39°x51 and 186° FoV imagers following deployment from IM-2 Shackleton – de Gerlache connecting ridge landing site (89.5°S, 222.0°E) NET Q4 2024; CNSA Chang’E-7 mini-flying probe to carry Lunar Water Molecular Analyzer into PSR near Shackleton crater rim NET 5 March 2026; ESA-funded 10-kg hopper being developed by Astronika of Poland utilizes parkour-like flipping maneuver to traverse 3-9 meters vertically on Moon whereas IM and CNSA probes to be propelled via thrusters

Credits: Astronika / Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences, Intuitive Machines, CNSA via Inside Outer Space screengrab

Tuesday / 12 March 2024

Lunar Communication Infrastructure Being Prepared for Implementation by Space Agencies and Industry

Lunar LTE Studies initiative LunarLiTES enhancing Multiple Access Testbed for Research in Innovative Communications Systems (MATRICS) emulator at NASA Glenn Research Center with 4G / 5G wireless capabilities ahead of pioneering mission to demonstrate Moon-based communication on the lunar surface between Lunar Outpost Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover and lander via Nokia Bell Labs instruments during IM-2 NET late 2024; Lunar Pathfinder relay built by Surrey Satellite Technology to follow NET 2026 on Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2; CNSA Queqiao-2 relay at Wenchang SLC for launch this month

Credits: NASA GSFC

Friday / 9 Feb 2024

Lunar Mining Company Interlune Plans NET 2026 Surface Operations

Interlune of Tacoma WA developing equipment to extract resources from Moon with US$18.19M funds including $246,000 SBIR Phase I grant; Led by former Blue Origin leaders (L-R) Rob Meyerson (CEO), Gary Lai (CTO) and Indra Hornsby (COO, formerly of Rocket Lab), Interlune is reported by TechCrunch to be targeting helium-3 (3He), a resource long considered for radiation-free fusion power and other medical and computing applications whose quantity was measured in Chang’E-5 samples; The company projects the market for 3He will be 4,000 kg / yr by 2040

Credits: Interlune, US Congress, Twitter / @blueorigin, UVic / Brandon Hill

Friday / 12 Jan 2024

China Lunar Sample Return Mission Chang’E-6 Prepares for NET May Launch to Moon Far Side

CNSA Chang’E-6 Moon spacecraft (orbiter, lander, ascender and re-entry module – totaling 8,200-kg launch mass) now at Wenchang, Hainan undergoing pre-launch tests ahead of 53-day mission to collect 2 kg of lunar regolith from Apollo crater within South Pole-Aitken Basin (~43°S, 154°W), expected to launch in May; International payloads include Detection of Outgassing Radon (DORN, France), INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI, Italy), Negative Ions on Lunar Surface (NILS, Sweden) and iCUBE-Q 3U Cube Sat (Pakistan); Chang’E-6 is the world’s first attempt at lunar far side sample retrieval

Credits: CNSA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 20-23 Oct 2023

Asia Space Powers China, India, Japan and S Korea Lining Up to Conduct Human and Robotic Moon Landings

CNSA to launch Queqiao-2 communications relay to an elliptical lunar frozen orbit NET March 2024 in support of MSP & far side Chang’E missions and as precursor for Solar System-wide interplanetary constellation; Inaugural launch of 92-m tall Long March 10 rocket expected NET 2027 ahead of 2020s human landings; ISRO tasked with human Moon landings NLT 2040 as Chandrayaan-3 data being analyzed and LUPEX, a south pole lander / rover collaboration with JAXA, planned for NET 2025; JAXA SLIM on route to Moon carrying LEV-1/2 surface probes with Lunar Obit Injection slated for late Dec; KARI Danuri orbiter continuing 1-year nominal mission ending 16 Dec, striving for lunar lander / rover mission NLT 2030

Credits: JAXA, KARI, CNSA

Tuesday / 17 Oct 2023

Space Leaders in Major Himalayan Neighbors, India and China, Call for Human Moon Landings

While Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander remains in sleep mode, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath (T) emphasizing independent access to space, telling students ‘It is not only ISRO, everybody can do it in space’, citing 5 India companies including Skyroot (Hyderabad) and Agnikul (Chennai) while sharing his prediction of a woman landing on the Moon during Chandrayaan-10, a sentiment shared by India Prime Minister Modi; CNSA Taikonauts preparing for 2020s lunar landings, inaugural launch of new-generation crew spacecraft set for 2027 per first China Taikonaut Yang Liwei in remarks commemorating 20th observance of the Shenzhou 5

Credits: SPC, CNSA, IISc

Friday / 13 Oct 2023

China Bolstering Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry Network With 2 New Telescopes for Cislunar / Deep Space Tracking

The 5th and 6th radio telescopes of the China VLBI Network are under construction following groundbreaking at sites in Changbai Mountains (near North Korea border) 11 Oct and in Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China in September; Shigatse station to feature 40-m radio telescope operating at 4,100-m; When linked to Nanshan 25m Radio Telescope (Ürümqi), Tianma 65-m Telescope (Shanghai), Beijing 50-m antenna (Miyun) and Yunnan Astronomical Observatory 40-meter radio telescope (Kunming), network will extend to 3800 km and allow observation of multiple spacecraft with 18% increased resolution

Pictured: SHAO Director Shen Zhiqiang; Credits: SHAO, NAOC, CAS, CNSA