#WASHINGTON — A #software glitch prevented the upper stage of Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket from completing a second burn during a December launch, stranding its payload in a low orbit.

In a Feb. 20 statement, Firefly said an error with the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software for the upper stage of the Alpha on the company’s “Fly the Lightning” mission Dec. 22 kept the upper stage from firing as planned to circularize its orbit. That left the upper stage and its payload, a #LockheedMartin technology demonstration #satellite, in an orbit with a low perigee.

#WASHINGTON — A United Nations committee will study the interference risks that satellite constellations pose to astronomy, a year after rejecting a similar proposal to do so.

At the conclusion of the meeting earlier this month of its scientific and technical subcommittee, the U.N.’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) agreed to add an agenda item titled “Dark and quiet skies, astronomy and large constellations: addressing emerging issues and challenges” to its meetings in 2025 through 2029. That agenda will need to be approved by the full COPUOS in June. #spacenews

#WASHINGTON — The U.K. Ministry of Defense awarded contracts to #LockheedMartin and #RheaGroup to develop #satellite control systems for the nation’s future remote-sensing constellation.

The awards announced last week, each worth about $2.5 million, are part of the U.K. MoD’s #ISTARI project, a next-generation constellation of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) satellites in low Earth orbit.

At the American #Meteorological Society’s annual meeting in Baltimore, frustration with government data purchases rose to the surface.

“In the private sector, it’s easy for us to sign a three-year deal or a five-year deal,” Michael Eilts, Spire Global general manager of weather and Earth intelligence, said Jan. 30 during an AMS panel on public-private partnerships. “Working with the government, our typical contract right now is six months.”

The National #Oceanic and #Atmospheric Administration has purchased radio occultation data through a series of short-term contracts. It’s part of the Commercial Data Purchase program, an initiative designed to improve #NOAA forecasts and bolster the commercial market for space-based weather data.

#WASHINGTON — The IM-1 mission by Intuitive Machines is on track to attempt a landing on the moon later this week after performing an in-flight test of its main engine.

The company announced late Feb. 16 that it fired the main engine of its Nova-C lander in a commissioning maneuver. The test was the first firing of the engine, which uses liquid oxygen and methane propellants, since its launch early Feb. 15 on a Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center.

That test was originally scheduled for about 18 hours after liftoff. The company said earlier Feb. 16 it postponed the maneuver after finding it took longer than expected to chill the liquid oxygen feed line. The company also blamed intermittent communications with the lander for the delay.

Updated 12:45 p.m. Eastern with confirmation of contact with #satellite after deployment.

#WASHINGTON — A #Rocket Lab Electron launched an Astroscale #spacecraft that will rendezvous with and inspect a spent upper stage in low Earth orbit as a precursor to removing it.

The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:52 a.m. Eastern Feb. 18. The launch was the second this year for the company after the Jan. 31 launch of four satellites for space situational awareness company NorthStar Earth and Space.

#WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency selected California-based EpiSci to develop a software tool capable of detecting #hypersonic #missiles in flight from satellite data, a challenging task given the extreme speeds of these weapons.

Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound, posing a significant challenge for current defense systems. The Space Development Agency (SDA), an organization within the U.S. Space Force, is building a network of satellites in low Earth orbit with the goal to provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats.

#SAN #FRANCISCO — Thales Alenia Space won a contract from Ball Aerospace, prime contractor for #NASA’s Near Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, to provide key communications components for the spacecraft destined Earth-sun #Lagrange point 1.

Under the contract announced Feb. 13, Thales Alenia Space will supply NEO Surveyor’s S-band transponder, K-band modulator and K-band traveling wave tube amplifier to transmit data 1.5 million kilometers between L1 and #Earth.

#WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched a U.S. #military classified mission Feb. 14, sending to orbit six missile-detection satellites: two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency. The mission, named USSF-124, flew to orbit on a #Falcon 9. The #rocket lifted off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.

The payload included five satellites made by L3Harris Technologies and one made by Northrop Grumman