#BAKU, Azerbaijan — A working group of nations signed up to the Artemis Accords aim to increase transparency and safety of civil lunar exploration missions.

The second agency meeting of #Artemis Accords signatories concluded on the sidelines of the 74th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in #Baku, Oct. 3. The meetings continued efforts to establish principles for safe and sustainable space exploration held for the first time at the 73rd IAC in Paris last year.

Representatives from three co-chairing nations presented findings from work groups conducted over the last year immediately after the meetings.

#Boeing’s Quantum Leap: #Satellites in Record Time, #Boosting National Security and Commercial Connectivity.
In 1963, #Boeing heritage company #Hughes Space and Communications launched into orbit a 78-pound #satellite called #Syncom that could receive signals from Earth and send those signals back down to different spots around the globe. That first communications satellite was built in the same El Segundo, California, facility where the Nash Rambler was built in the 1950s and where Boeing today produces satellites for commercial customers like SES and Viasat, as well as the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Syncom production was a ground-breaking effort that incorporated cutting edge technology of the day. Building the spacecraft took several years.

Since then, Boeing—which acquired #Hughes in 2000—has been delivering satellites on faster and faster timelines; production is now tallied in months, not years. But earlier this year, when Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing Company, delivered a satellite for U.S. Space Systems Command’s Space Safari Program Office in an astounding eight months, the industry took note.

#WASHINGTON — #NASA has agreed to extend operations of its New Horizons spacecraft through late this decade to support “multidisciplinary” science that could include another Kuiper Belt object flyby.

#NASA announced Sept. 29 that it would extend New Horizons, currently approved for operations through the end of fiscal year 2024, until the spacecraft exits the Kuiper Belt, which is expected around the end of the decade. The focus of the mission, starting in fiscal year 2025, will be collecting heliophysics data as the spacecraft heads out of the solar system.

#WASHINGTON — Mynaric’s laser communications terminals passed key ground tests required to be deployed on Space Development Agency #satellites, the company announced Sept. 28.

The company’s CONDOR Mk3 terminal was selected by Northrop Grumman, one of several manufacturers under contract to produce satellites for the Space Development Agency.

SDA, an agency under the U.S. Space Force, plans to deploy a mesh network of interconnected satellites. It includes a Transport Layer that will transmit data collected by a Tracking Layer of missile-detection sensor satellites. Each spacecraft is equipped with multiple laser communications terminals.

Optical terminals use lasers to connect satellites in orbit so they can transfer data in space.

Mynaric’s terminals will be integrated with Northrop Grumman’s 42 Transport Layer and 14 Tracking Layer Tranche 1 satellites to be produced over the next two years.

U.S. Space Force and #Astroscale to co-invest in a refueling satellite
The #SpaceForce awarded #Astroscale U.S. a $25.5 million contract for an on-orbit refueling vehicle. The company will fund an additional $12 million for the project.

#Beijing to foster commercial space and #satellite #constellations as key future industries.

#KIHEI, Hawaii — A capsule from a #NASA spacecraft landed in the Utah desert Sept. 24, completing a seven-year mission to return samples from a near Earth asteroid.

The sample return capsule from the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft touched down in the Utah Test and Training Range at 10:52 a.m. Eastern. The landing took place 10 minutes after the capsule, traveling at 44,500 kilometers per hour, entered the Earth’s atmosphere, four hours after the capsule separated from the main spacecraft.

U.S. Space Force and Astroscale to co-invest in a refueling satellite
The Space Force awarded Astroscale U.S. a $25.5 million contract for an on-orbit refueling vehicle. The company will fund an additional $12 million for the project

#WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force for the second time has taken ownership of a retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather #satellite to fill gaps in coverage for the U.S. military.

NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite known as GOES-15, originally activated in 2011, was transferred to the Space Force to extend weather coverage of the Indian Ocean region for the next several years, the Space Force announced Sept. 22.

Under a partnership between the Department of the Air Force and #NOAA, the Space Force uses residual #GOES #satellites to collect cloud imagery and other weather data over the Indian Ocean region. The military needs accurate weather data to plan operations in the air, land and sea

#WASHINGTON — A #Rocket Lab Electron failed during a launch of Capella Space radar imaging satellite Sept. 19.

The Electron lifted off at 2:55 a.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 1 in #NewZealand after a delay of about 20 minutes because of space weather conditions. The liftoff and ascent of the first stage appeared to go as expected, with “nominal” calls by controllers up until stage separation.

Live video from the second stage, though, was lost right after separation, when the single Rutherford engine ignited. Telemetry displayed on the webcast for several seconds after stage separation showed the vehicle’s velocity decreasing, suggesting the engine had malfunctioned in some way.

“All stations, we have experienced an anomaly,” the launch director said about 45 seconds after stage separation. Rocket Lab soon concluded the webcast without providing any additional information, but did acknowledge that the mission was a failure

#Spacenews, #WASHINGTON — CACI International’s optical communication terminal passed initial ground tests required to compete for Space Development Agency #satellite contracts, the company announced Sept. 18.

CACI, a defense contractor based in Reston, Virginia, said its optical terminal successfully completed an interoperability test, bringing it closer to meeting technical requirements set by the Space Development Agency (SDA) for its constellation of military satellites in low Earth orbit.

#SDA, an agency under the U.S. Space Force, plans to deploy a layered network of satellites. It includes a Transport Layer of interconnected #communications #satellites that will transmit data collected by a #Tracking Layer of missile-detection #sensor #satellites.

#spacenews, #WASHINGTON — Defense contractor General Atomics announced Sept. 15 it acquired EO Vista, a supplier of space and airborne electro-optical sensors.

The value of the acquisition was not disclosed. EO Vista, based in Acton, Massachusetts, will be integrated into the General Atomics #Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) group.

#BRUSSELS — Germany signed the #Artemis Accords Sept. 14, adding one of Europe’s largest space powers to a document outlining best practices for sustainable space exploration.

Germany became the 29th country to sign the accords during a ceremony at the German ambassador’s residence in Washington attended by U.S. and German officials. The document was signed by Walter Pelzer, director general for the German space agency at the German Aerospace Center, or DLR.