#BALTIMORE – Vigil, a European Space Agency mission scheduled to launch in 2030, seeks to balance operational demands with the needs of the scientific community.

“We have not forgotten our science colleagues. In fact, they are important partners for the mission,” Giuseppe Mandorlo, Vigil project manager, said Jan. 29 at the American #Meteorological Society annual meeting here.

Vigil will provide space weather data from sun-Earth Lagrange point 5. Data gathered from L5 could provide notice of four to five days of solar winds streaming toward Earth.

#WASHINGTON — A Cygnus cargo spacecraft is set to launch on a #Falcon 9 #rocket for the first time, a combination that required more changes to the rocket than to the #spacecraft.

#NASA announced at a Jan. 26 briefing that it was targeting Jan. 30 at 12:07 p.m. Eastern for the launch of the NG-20 cargo mission from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40. That is a one-day slip from previous plans, which the agency said was to “accommodate launch pad readiness.” If Cygnus launches that day, it will arrive at the International Space Station early Feb. 1.

The launch marks the first time Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft has flown on Falcon 9. All previous launches of Cygnus have been on Northrop’s own Antares launch vehicle with the exception of two missions that launched on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 after an Antares launch failure in 2014.

#WASHINGTON — The #Space Force’s Space Systems Command announced Jan. 26 that additional vendors have been selected for the Sounding Rocket Program-4. This is a multiyear contract where companies compete for orders to launch small #rockets used to carry scientific instruments and experiments into suborbital space.

Kratos Space & #Missile Defense Systems, L3Harris’ Aerojet #Rocketdyne Coleman Aerospace, and Corvid Technologies were awarded indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts for Sounding Rocket Program-4.

#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.