#WASHINGTON — Virgin #Galactic conducted its first suborbital mission of 2024 on Jan. 26 as the company prepares end flights of its current #spaceplane.

The VSS Unity spaceplane, attached the #VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 12 p.m. Eastern. Unity separated about 45 minutes later, igniting its hybrid rocket engine. The vehicle reached a peak altitude of 88.8 kilometers before gliding back to a runway landing at the spaceport at 12:56 p.m. Eastern, according to data provided by the company.

#WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman has taken another charge on its contract to build a module for NASA’s lunar Gateway, bringing its losses for the year on that program to $100 million.

In its fourth quarter and full year 2023 earnings release Jan. 25, the company disclosed a $42 million “unfavorable #EAC [estimate at completion] adjustment” on its contract to build the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module for the Gateway. The company recorded a similar $36 million charge in the second quarter and said the overall charge for the year on the contract reached $100 million. #spacenews

#Military, #DoD’s #satcom evolution The U.S. military is pursuing novel ways to harness commercial #satellite connectivity.

#Orbital Spectrum Clash #Satellite operators mostly held off attempts from terrestrial telcos to encroach on their radio waves at the 2023 World #Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) in Dubai, but a battle between orbits continues after one of the space industry’s most contentious clashes for spectrum yet

#SAN #FRANCISCO – Albedo raised $35 million to build and launch its first high-resolution Earth-imagery #satellite.

The Series A-1 investment round, led by Standard Investments, brings the Earth-observation startup’s total funding to $97 million.

The investments announced Jan. 23 will accelerate deployment of Albedo’s very low Earth orbit (VLEO) constellation. Albedo aims to “ultimately prove out and proliferate the world’s first high-resolution VLEO platform,” Albedo CEO Topher Haddad told SpaceNews by email.

#TAMPA, Fla. — #Viasat has successfully demonstrated a #satellite navigation signal on an airplane that could help the United Kingdom replace capabilities lost after leaving the European Union, the operator announced Jan. 18.

A Saab 340B turboprop plane used a positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) overlay signal from I-3 F5, Viasat’s 24-year-old satellite, to improve GPS accuracy during an hour-long test flight late last year over Cranfield, England.

“The test met expectations and was successful,” Viasat vice president of strategic programs and partnerships Gary Lay told SpaceNews, and involved four separate runway approaches.

#WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense is pushing to lower classification barriers and forge closer partnerships with the commercial space industry, John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said Jan. 17.

Speaking to reporters at the #Pentagon, Plumb shared that Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks late last year signed a memo that “removes legacy classification barriers that have inhibited our ability to collaborate across the U.S. government and also with allies on issues related to space.”

#WASHINGTON — #Astroscale is developing an in-space refueling vehicle that will shuttle back and forth between a fuel depot in #geostationary Earth orbit and a client #satellite.

The refueling vehicle will carry and transfer hydrazine to its client spacecraft, “rather than the client having to maneuver to a fuel depot, allowing client operations to continue uninterrupted,” the company said Jan. 17.

Astroscale, headquartered in Japan with a U.S. subsidiary based in Colorado, is a provider of space services to extend the life of satellites. The company last year won a $25.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to develop a refueling vehicle. Under the private-public partnership agreement, the project will get an additional $12 million in funding from Astroscale and its suppliers.

#WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency is gearing up for its next procurement of satellites for a #military communications network known as the Transport Layer Tranche 2.

SDA, an agency under the U.S. Space Force, plans to acquire 20 satellites carrying a new type of payload to transmit targeting information. SDA documents describe the payload, dubbed Warlock, as a communications node “specifically designed to close future kill chains.”

Unlike other payloads acquired by #SDA, which are commercially available, Warlock will have to be developed “for space systems to provide fire control solutions.”