#WASHINGTON — As NASA’s planetary science programs face reduced budgets this year and uncertain prospects for next year, advocates in Congress are banding together to build up support for them.

Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) announced March 6 that they were restarting a Planetary Science Caucus in Congress, serving as its co-chairs, with more than a dozen other members. The goal of the caucus is to educate other members and the public on the benefits of space exploration, in particular planetary science missions and related research.

#TYSONS, Va. — Despite #Russia’s troubles on the battlefield in #Ukraine and its relative decline as a space power, the head of United States Space Command warned against underestimating Moscow’s capabilities and intentions to challenge America’s dominance in the space domain.

“Russia’s struggles following their invasion of #Ukraine should not create a false sense of confidence that Moscow is fading in the space domain,” Gen. Stephen Whiting, head of U.S. Space Command, said March 5 in remarks at the Potomac Officers Club 2024 Space Summit.

Whiting, who is responsible for U.S. military space operations, did not mention recent U.S. intelligence reports alleging that Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon. But he noted that #Moscow “will remain a formidable and less predictable challenge to the United States in key areas over the next decade, while still facing many hurdles of its own making.”

#TAMPA, Fla. — #Satellite operators are being called in to help keep Europe and Asia connected after subsea internet cables in the Red Sea were severed last week.

Four of around 15 submarine cables in the Red Sea have been affected, according to Hong Kong-based cable operator HGC Global Communications, which is helping reroute affected traffic.

Two of these come together at the area of the cut, the Washington Post reported citing a subsea cable expert at research company TeleGeography, meaning just three cables have been severed.

#WASHINGTON — An #infrared sensor satellite that #L3Harris designed for a future U.S. military constellation passed a preliminary review, positioning the company to compete in the Space Force program known as Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Missile Warning and Tracking.

The Space Force plans to deploy a network of satellites in MEO to detect and track hypersonic missiles.

For the first deployment of #satellites, known as Epoch 1, the Space Systems Command has already ordered six spacecraft from Millennium Space Systems. But the Space Force said as many as nine #satellites could be procured for Epoch 1. In the next phase of the program, Epoch 2, it could buy as many as 18 additional satellites.

#WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is reviewing ideas from the private sector on how to augment the Global Positioning System constellation with smaller, lower-cost satellites.

The Space Force’s procurement arm, the Space Systems Command, last month issued a request for information probing the capabilities of the private sector to design a a more affordable #GPS #spacecraft that is also interoperable with existing GPS infrastructure.

A network of 31 GPS satellites 12,000 miles above Earth broadcast positioning, navigation and timing signals.

The military’s current GPS spacecraft are built by Lockheed Martin. The company last year delivered the 10th and final of the GPS III model produced under a 2008 contract.

#WASHINGTON — A #NASA safety panel says the agency is studying issues with the design of the side hatch of the Orion spacecraft that could affect its ability to be opened in an off-nominal situation.

During a Feb. 28 public meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), members said NASA has been looking at “a number of issues” with the Orion side hatch over the last six to nine months.

William Bray, the ASAP member who discussed the status of NASA’s exploration programs at the briefing, did not go into specifics about the hatch issue, only that it could affect “contingency operations” on the launch pad or after splashdown

#WASHINGTON — Boeing was awarded a $439.6 million contract by the U.S. Space Force to build a military communications satellite known as WGS-12.

The contract was announced March 1 by the Defense Department.

WGS-12 will be the 12th #satellite of the Wideband Global Satcom geostationary constellation that provides communications services to the United States and allies.

Boeing builds military #satellites in El Segundo, California. According to the contract announcement, #WGS-12 would be delivered in January 2029.

#WASHINGTON — #NASA has canceled a multibillion-dollar project to demonstrate satellite servicing technologies that had suffered extensive delays and cost overruns.

In a brief statement March 1, #NASA announced it was ending the On-Orbit Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM) 1 mission. OSAM-1 was being developed to refuel the Landsat 7 spacecraft and then perform the in-orbit assembly of a Ka-band satellite antenna.

NASA said it was canceling OSAM-1 “due to continued technical, cost, and schedule challenges, and a broader community evolution away from refueling unprepared spacecraft, which has led to a lack of a committed partner.”

#WASHINGTON — As decision loom about its funding and architecture, a #NASA review about the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program concluded its problems illustrate ongoing challenges the agency has managing large missions.

NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) published an audit of the #MSR program Feb. 28 that concluded that spiraling cost estimates can be linked to a lack of a stable design for the key elements of the effort and “initial over-optimism” in its development

#WASHINGTON — Global communications company Viasat announced Feb. 29 it has signed an agreement with defense prime contractor Northrop Grumman to support an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) experiment using broadband satellite internet to connect military vehicles and aircraft.

The experiment is part of AFRL’s Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, which aims to demonstrate commercial satellite broadband services integrated on platforms ranging from ground vehicles to fighter jets.

Under the agreement, #Viasat will supply high-capacity modems that connect to the company’s geostationary #satellites.