Cygnus ready for first launch on Falcon 9

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. Northrop plans to launch at least three Cygnus missions on Falcon 9 rockets as it works with Firefly Aerospace on a new version of the Antares, replacing the Ukrainian-built first stage powered by Russian engines with a stage developed by Firefly using its own engines. That vehicle, the Antares 330, is slated to begin launches as soon as mid-2025. The shift to the Falcon 9 has been relatively smooth for Northrop. “We didn’t really have to make any modifications to the Cygnus,” said Cyrus Dhalla, vice president and general manager of tactical space systems at Northrop Grumman, during the briefing. The company did make minor changes to the cargo loading process, which he attributed to doing it in a new facility with different equipment.

The NG-20 Cygnus cargo spacecraft being encapsulated for launch on a Falcon 9. Credit: SpaceX

The shift in launch vehicles doesn’t alter the capabilities of the Cygnus, he added. The NG-20 mission will carry a little more than 3,700 kilograms of cargo, the capacity of the current version of the vehicle.

SpaceX, though, did have to make changes to accommodate Cygnus, specifically its ability for “late load” of cargo within 24 hours of launch. The Antares has a “pop top” opening at the top of the rocket’s payload fairing, allowing access to the Cygnus inside for cargo loading after the spacecraft has been encapsulated.

To provide a similar late load capability for Falcon 9 launches of Cygnus, SpaceX created what Bill Gerstenmaier, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, called a “gigadoor” in the fairing of the Falcon 9. That is a door 1.5 by 1.2 meters in the side of the fairing that can be opened to provide environmentally controlled access to the Cygnus inside.

“This will be the first time we’ve done that,” he said, as SpaceX’s own Dragon spacecraft launches without a fairing. “It’s taken a lot of modifications on our part to get this hardware ready to go fly.” He added that putting the door in the payload fairing does not affect SpaceX’s ability to recover and reuse it.

“We really appreciate how SpaceX has worked with us to accommodate the flow of cargo and integration, and we’ve been able to reuse a lot of our procedures,” Dhalla said.

Besides the development of the payload fairing door for Cygnus launches, SpaceX has been testing modifications to its transporter erector at Launch Complex 39A, enabling it to load liquid methane and oxygen propellants. That is required for the upcoming launch of the IM-1 lunar lander by Intuitive Machines, which will be fueled on the pad, inside the payload fairing, shortly before launch.

Gerstenmaier said SpaceX was doing testing of that equipment to ensure it is ready for the IM-1 launch, currently projected for mid-February. “That work is pretty much on track,” he said. “It’s a lot of interesting integration but, as you see even with this Northrop Grumman 20 mission, we at SpaceX like to do innovative and creative things.”

Orbit Fab and ClearSpace to develop in-space refueling service

On-orbit refueling startup Orbit Fab and in-space servicing specialist ClearSpace announced a multifaceted partnership Jan. 24. Initially, the companies will work together to pair an Orbit Fab fuel depot with a ClearSpace shuttle. “Customers can buy fuel from Orbit Fab and have it delivered by our partners like ClearSpace,” Daniel Faber, Orbit Fab founded founder and CEO, told SpaceNews. Over the long term, Orbit Fab and ClearSpace executives see additional opportunities to work together on mission extension, transportation and other mobility and logistics services. “Our initial goal is to put our Orbit Fab and ClearSpace hardware together, put it through its paces, and get that platform into orbit in the next two years,” Faber said. Orbit Fab has not ruled out the possibility of building its own fuel shuttles. The company is taking a “collaborative and open approach to building fuel shuttles, systems and solutions to fuel and refuel the bustling space economy,” Faber said. After working with ClearSpace on a U.K.-funded active debris removal (ADR) mission, Orbit Fab and ClearSpace executives realized the companies could rapidly build a refueling service that “leverages what ClearSpace is doing and means Orbit Fab can move faster,” Faber said.

Artist's render of a ClearSpace servicer using an Orbit Fab payload to refuel a client satellite. Credit: ClearSpace and Orbit Fab

New Global Markets

The partnership with Orbit Fab extends ClearSpace’s presence geographically. Established in Switzerland, ClearSpace has operations in the U.K. and U.S.

“We’re in very complementary situations with Orbit Fab having its foundations here in the U.S. and ClearSpace having its foundations in Europe and in the U.K.,” said Tim Maclay, ClearSpace chief strategy officer and U.S. general manager.

In addition, “we see Orbit Fab as being in an adjacent market and developing a very complementary set of services to ours,” Maclay said.

Orbit Fab’s expertise is in fuel transfer. The company’s RAFTI (Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface) refueling valve and GRIP robotic docking devices are being integrated on partner spacecraft.

ClearSpace has developed vision system and rendezvous and proximity operation capabilities.

ClearSpace won a European Space Agency contract to remove a Vespa payload adapter from orbit. Under a U.K. Space Agency contract, ClearSpace is designing a mission to capture two inactive U.K. satellites.

Orbit Fab, meanwhile, won a contract to provide hydrazine for the U.S. Space Force Tetra-5 spacecraft. The ClearSpace satellite for the U.K. ADR mission includes Orbit Fab’s RAFTI.

In-Space Services

“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of interest in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S. in mission extension, refueling and transport,” Maclay said. “Services having to do with mobility and logistics are really coming to the forefront.”

Luc Piguet, ClearSpace co-founder and CEO, called Orbit Fab “the clear leader in satellite refueling.”

“ClearSpace is excited to partner with them as we explore possibilities for advancing new servicing and refueling capabilities that will ultimately benefit everyone participating in the space economy and beyond,” Piquet added in a statement.

“ClearSpace is developing key technologies that will unlock opportunities for last-mile fuel delivery in both GEO and LEO,” Faber said in a statement. “We’re delighted to see our collaboration with ClearSpace push the boundaries of what is possible today.”

Google and AT&T join $155 million AST SpaceMobile investment

Google and AT&T have joined a $155 million strategic investment in AST SpaceMobile, which is set to raise double that to help fund its direct-to-smartphone connectivity constellation. The strategic investment also includes funds from existing shareholder Vodafone, one of Europe’s largest telcos with a significant presence across Africa. It comes alongside AST SpaceMobile’s plans to draw up to $51.5 million from an existing debt facility and raise at least $100 million by selling discounted shares. The capital injection will support AST SpaceMobile’s ambitions to deploy commercial services this year as the venture prepares to start producing spacecraft that would be twice as big as its first five 1,500-kilogram operational BlueBird satellites, known as Block 1 and slated to launch on a dedicated SpaceX Falcon 9 before the end of March. AST SpaceMobile has said each follow-on Block 2 BlueBird would have 10 times more capacity than a Block 1 satellite to deliver more performance for the low Earth orbit constellation, designed to enable AT&T, Vodafone, and other terrestrial mobile network partners to keep subscribers connected outside cell tower coverage. BlueWalker-3, the Texas-based venture’s 1,500-kilogram prototype, achieved download rates of around 14 megabits per second during tests in September. Those tests also saw BlueWalker-3 relay a brief 5G phone call to an ordinary smartphone in a cellular dead zone for the first time.

BlueWalker 3 has a 64-square-meter antenna, the largest deployed commercially in low Earth orbit. Credit: AST SpaceMobile

AST SpaceMobile said in August that the five Block 1 BlueBirds were fully funded after taking out $115 million in debt.

AST SpaceMobile raised $417 million in 2021 by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), a deal that brought the seven-year-old company to the Nasdaq stock exchange. The group has raised more capital since then, but has also quickly burnt through cash amid production delays and cost overruns that weighed on its share price

The venture priced its $100 million stock sale at $3.10 per share Jan. 18, a 25.5% discount over where the shares traded the previous day — and far from the $11.81 price reached at the end of their first day of trading April 7, 2021.

The equity offering is due to close next week, AST SpaceMobile said, and $15 million more could be raised if its underwriter opts to buy all shares on the table.

Strategic partnerships

Most of the strategic investment announced Jan. 18, $110 million worth, is in the form of a debt instrument that pays interest to Google, AT&T, and Vodafone, but could also later be converted into shares in AST SpaceMobile.

AT&T and Vodafone also agreed to make $20 million and $25 million in prepayments, respectively, for a future AST SpaceMobile commercial service as part of their investment.

AT&T’s revenue commitment is tied to the successful operations of the first five BlueBirds, suggesting the U.S.-based telco was behind a recent decision to launch them to an inclination better suited to serving North America.

The telecoms giant has also been supporting AST SpaceMobile’s push for regulatory approvals in the United States, where direct-to-smartphone competitors such as SpaceX and Lynk Global are also waiting for permission to provide commercial services.

The revenue commitment from U.K.-based Vodafone is subject to a definitive agreement that remains undisclosed.

According to AST SpaceMobile, five BlueBirds are enough for intermittent connectivity services, suitable for government and commercial device monitoring applications, but 90 are needed for a 5G broadband service that ultimately includes voice and data capabilities.

The satellite operator said Vodafone and AT&T have also placed orders for network equipment for an undisclosed amount to support future commercial services.

The investment from Google, which is behind the Android operating system used in more than two-thirds of mobile devices worldwide, comes with an agreement to collaborate with AST SpaceMoblie on product development, testing, and implementation plans.

Competitor Lynk Global is also in the middle of raising a significant chunk of capital after launching partial commercial services with three satellites in parts of the Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, and Palau.

The Falls Church, Virginia-based venture is considering joining AST SpaceMobile on the public market by merging with Slam Corp., a SPAC led by former professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez.

SpaceX said last week it had successfully relayed text messages to and from unmodified smartphones for the first time after launching an initial batch of satellites to test the capability.

Astroscale reveals concept of operations for its in-orbit refueling vehicle

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. Named APS-R, for Astroscale Prototype Servicer for Refueling, the vehicle will be a small satellite about the size of a gas pump, designed to conduct multiple refueling missions in GEO. APS-R will rendezvous and dock with a fuel depot operated by Orbit Fab, a startup developing so-called gas stations in space. The company is working on a hydrazine fueling station to be deployed 36,000 kilometers above Earth, partly funded by a $13.3 million contract from the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit. The client satellite receiving fuel will be Astroscale’s Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI), designed to perform life extension services in geostationary orbit. Astroscale two years ago announced plans to launch LEXI in 2026 and signed an agreement with Orbit Fab for refueling services. In its Jan. 17 announcement, Astroscale said it plans to deliver the APS-R by 2026.

 

Satellite to be manufactured in Texas

The refueler will be an ESPA-class satellite, a ring-shaped platform that attaches to the primary payload on a launch vehicle. ESPA is short for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter.

Astroscale envisions deploying the LEXI client vehicle in a GEO orbit about 300 kilometers below Orbit Fab’s orbiting fuel depot.

APS-R will be manufactured at the Southwest Research Institute’s new smallsat assembly facility in San Antonio, Texas. Both the APS-R and LEXI will use Orbit Fab’s refueling ports to ensure they can dock properly.

“This innovation in on-orbit servicing will ultimately extend the range and mobility of satellites in orbit, allowing the U.S. Space Force to do more with their operational assets,” said Ron Lopez, president and managing director of Astroscale U.S.

Col. Joyce Bulson, leader of the Space Force’s space mobility and logistics program, said the collaboration with Astroscale “signifies a bold step forward in our efforts to secure and strengthen the U.S. Space Force’s position in an ever-evolving space domain, reinforcing our commitment to innovation and ensuring the sustainability of our space assets.”

SDA to acquire satellites with custom payloads to enable faster targeting on battlefields

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.” The description suggests the Gamma satellite program is pursuing advanced data-relay technologies to reduce sensor-to-shooter timelines, or the crucial flow of information in modern military operations, which requires real-time intelligence and rapid decision-making. The new procurement is called Transport Layer Tranche 2 Gamma. The agency on Jan. 10 announced it is holding a classified briefing for contractors next month in Chantilly, Virginia, to discuss details of the program. According to a draft solicitation, SDA intends to select one vendor to supply all 20 Tranche 2 Gamma satellites. A final request for proposals is expected to be released this spring.

 

Proliferated tactical network

The agency is building a large mesh network of military satellites in low Earth orbit known as the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The Transport Layer will serve as a tactical network to move data to users around the world.

SDA has already ordered 190 satellites for the portion of the architecture known as the Transport Layer Tranche 2 — 100 “Alpha” satellites to be manufactured by Northrop Grumman and York Space Systems, and 90 “Beta” satellites to be produced by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Rocket Lab USA.

The agency said all Transport Layer satellites will have at least three optical laser links, Ka-band communications relays and other networking payloads. But only the 20 Gamma satellites will have four optical terminals and the Warlock payload.

SDA said it’s buying just 20 satellites carrying the Warlock payload to “demonstrate an operational capability for proliferation in future tranches.”

The Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is a web of hundreds of small satellites in low Earth orbit that promises secure, high-bandwidth communications for warfighters on the ground, transforming how they share information and coordinate strikes.

The payloads envisioned for the Gamma satellites point to a future where the U.S. military relies increasingly on space-based sensors rather than aircraft to identify and track targets in contested battle spaces. In scenarios where rival anti-aircraft threats inhibit the deployment of manned and unmanned aerial intelligence platforms, satellites would provide persistent overhead surveillance even in denied environments.

By networking space-based sensors through laser cross-links between the satellites, SDA plans to overcome traditional limitations getting data to where it needs to go, agency leaders have said. Technologies like Warlock would enable rapid transmission and handoff so military commanders on the ground can react quickly to emerging situations and adjust targeting plans as needed.

Japan launches IGS-Optical 8 reconnaissance satellite

Japan launched a new optical reconnaissance satellite late Thursday to boost the country’s remote sensing capabilities. A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-2A rocket in a figuration with a pair of SRB-A3 solid boosters lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan at 11:44 p.m. Eastern (0444 UTC Jan. 12). MHI confirmed separation of the satellite from the launch vehicle half an hour later. Aboard was the IGS-Optical 8 (Information Gathering Satellite) optical reconnaissance satellite. The satellite is expected to enter a roughly circular 500-kilometer altitude Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). IGS-Optical 8 is reported to be both for tracking North Korean military activities and for civilian purposes including monitoring natural disasters. Japan’s Cabinet Satellite Information Center operate IGS satellites. The satellite series service Japan’s national defense and civil remote sensing needs. The launch was Japan’s first of 2024 and the 48th overall of the H-2A. Just two more launches of the rocket remain before its retirement. The first launch took place in August 2021. It suffered a launch failure in November 2003, resulting in the loss of an IGS satellite.

A H-2A rocket lifts off from Tanegashima space center Jan. 12 (UTC), 2024, carrying the IGS-Optical 8 satellite. Credit: MHI/via X

The previous H-2A mission launched the XRISM X-ray observatory and SLIM lunar lander. JAXA and NASA are currently troubleshooting XRISM. SLIM will begin its moon landing attempt at 10:00 a.m. Eastern (1500 UTC) Jan. 19.

The final launches of the IGS-Radar 8 and Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2 (GOSAT-2) are scheduled to fly separately on the final two H-2A rockets later this year.

H3 flight 2 next month

JAXA and MHI are currently preparing for the second launch of the new-generation, expendable H3 launch vehicle. The H3 is the planned successor to the H-2 series.

The first failed in March 2023 with the loss of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-3 (ALOS-3). That launch saw the second stage fail to ignite, triggering the launch vehicle’s flight termination system.

The second launch, from Tanegashima, will carry a dummy payload. Liftoff is scheduled for 7:22 p.m. Eastern Jan. 14 (0022 UTC Jan. 15). The launch period for H3 Test Flight No. 2 extends through the end of March.

The failure of the first H3 launch has led JAXA to delay the launch of its Martian Moons eXploration mission (MMX). The mission aims to collect samples from the Martian moon Phobos and return them to Earth.

MMX was due to launch on an H3 in September this year. It will instead launch during the following Mars launch window, some 26 months later, in 2026, once the H3 has proved its reliability. A 2026 launch would see the samples collected from Phobos reach Earth in 2031.

JAXA is working on plans for a new, large and reusable launch vehicle as the core of its future space transportation plans. The agency is considering liquid methane as the fuel for the rocket.

SpaceX says propellant venting caused loss of second Starship

SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk says a propellant dump caused the destruction of the Starship upper stage on a November test flight, giving him confidence that the vehicle can reach orbit on its next launch. On that Nov. 18 launch, the Starship upper stage, or ship, was nearing the end of its burn to place it on a long suborbital trajectory when contact was lost. Hosts of the SpaceX webcast said it appeared the automated flight termination system was activated, but did not give a reason why, and the company provided few details since. At a recent event at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, video of which SpaceX posted on social media Jan. 12, Musk said the failure was linked to venting liquid oxygen propellant near the end of the burn. That venting, he said, was needed only because the vehicle was not carrying any payload. “Flight 2 actually almost made it to orbit,” he said. “If it had a payload, it would have made it to orbit because the reason that it actually didn’t quite make it to orbit was we vented the liquid oxygen, and the liquid oxygen ultimately led to a fire and an explosion.” That venting, he said, would have been unnecessary if the ship had a payload, presumably because it would have been consumed by the Raptor engines on the vehicle in order to reach orbit. He didn’t elaborate on how the venting triggered the fire, or discuss the explosion of the Super Heavy stage shortly after stage separation.

The Starship upper stage separates from the Super Heavy booster on a November 2023 launch. Credit: SpaceX

Musk said that failure mode gave him confidence for the next Starship test flight. “I think we’ve got a really good shot of reaching orbit with Flight 3,” he said.

That third flight is currently projected for February, SpaceX’s Jessica Jensen during a Jan. 9 NASA briefing, pending receipt of an updated launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration. Musk described a more ambitious flight plan for the mission with additional tests of Starship.

“We want to get to orbit and we want to do an in-space engine burn from the header tank” at the top of the vehicle, he said. Doing so would “prove that we can

China launches “lobster eye” Einstein Probe to unveil mysteries of X-ray universe

China launched its Einstein Probe early Tuesday to detect X-ray emissions from violent, fleeting cosmic phenomena using novel lobster eye-inspired optics. A Long March 2C rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China at 2:03 a.m. (0703 UTC), Jan. 9. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) confirmed launch success within the hour. The Einstein Probe (EP) is part of growing Chinese strategic space science efforts. The spacecraft will spend at least three years observing distant, violent interactions such as tidal disruption events—in which stars are pulled apart by supermassive black holes—supernovae, and detect and localize the high-energy, electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave events. By picking up soft band X-ray emissions from stars being ripped apart by massive black holes, the probe could provide new insights into how stellar matter falls into black holes and the complex and rare phenomena of formations of jets of ionized matter emitted by the events. The 1,450-kilogram EP spacecraft will operate in a 600-kilometer altitude, 29 degree inclination orbit. From there it will observe the sky with a Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT). WXT uses cutting edge “lobster eye” optics to allow the probe to view X-ray events more deeply and widely than previously possible. It follows a demonstration of a novel lobster eye optics module mission launched late 2022.

 

WXT combines 12 of the modules tested in 2022 to provide a field of view of 3,600 square degrees. The instrument uses a reflection technique, inspired by lobsters’ eyes, consisting of parallel square pores arranged on a sphere. The multitudes of square tubes guide X-rays down to a CMOS light detector.

The European Space Agency contributed to the mission with support for the testing and calibrating of the detectors and optical elements of the WXT.

ESA ground stations will also be involved in data download from EP. The mission will also utilize China’s Beidou navigation satellite constellation to allow rapid relay of alert data to the ground.

“The strength of Einstein Probe is to observe almost the entire night sky in about 5 hours with great sensitivity, thanks to the lobster-eye technique,” Erik Kuulkers, ESA Project Scientist, told SpaceNews. “It is thus able to catch any unpredictable transient event in X-ray light.”

“Powered by tumultuous cosmic events, X-ray light from astronomical sources is very unpredictable. Yet, it carries fundamental information about some of the most enigmatic objects and phenomena in our Universe,” Kuulkers explains.

“X-rays are associated with collisions between neutron stars, supernova explosions, matter falling onto black holes or hyper-dense stars, or high-energy particles being spewed out from discs of blazing material circling such exotic and mysterious objects.”

EP features onboard data processing and autonomous followup capabilities. This means the probe’s Follow-up X-ray Telescope (FXT)—a narrower view, yet more sensitive instrument developed in collaboration with Europe—can be quickly brought to bear after WXT detects an X-ray event.

Kuulkers adds that by enabling scientists to promptly study these short-lived events, EP will help identify the origin of many of the gravitational wave impulses that are being observed on Earth thanks to the emerging field of gravitational wave astronomy.

Kuulkers states that ESA will get access to 10% of the data generated by EP in return for the agency’s contributions to the mission. Data will be distributed to the European Einstein Probe Science Team members.

“Their interest is diverse, from auroral emission on Jupiter, to star-planet Interactions through X-ray observations, to outbursts on isolated neutron stars or in binary stars with a neutron star companion, and to the unstable swallowing of matter by supermassive black hole in other galaxies.”

EP could also provide insight into other phenomena including magnetars, active galactic nuclei, red shifted gamma-ray bursts, and the interactions between comets and solar wind ions.

China began launching dedicated space science missions in 2015 with its DAMPE dark matter probe. The mission was part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Strategic Priority Program (SPP). EP was approved in 2017 as part of a second phase of the SPP.

A broader, third round of SPP missions are currently under consideration by CAS. Proposals include a Venus orbiter, a constellation of lunar small sats, exoplanet-hunting telescopes, an asteroid sample return and more. Final selections have however been delayed without explanations.

The Sino-Franco Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is also planned for launch in Spring 2024.

India’s Aditya-L1 solar observatory enters orbit around Lagrange point

India’s Aditya-L1 solar observatory has reached its destination orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 around 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. Aditya-L1 entered orbit around Sun-Earth L1 at around 5:30 a.m. Eastern (1230 UTC) Jan. 6, following a burn by the spacecraft’s engines, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced via X/Twitter. The spacecraft is the country’s first dedicated mission to study the Sun. Its halo orbit at L1 will allow it to continuously study solar phenomena. Science objectives include studying coronal heating, solar wind acceleration, Coronal Mass Ejections, solar atmospheric dynamics and temperature anisotropy. The nominal lifespan of the spacecraft is five years, but this could be extended, according to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Aditya-L1 launched on Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C57) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota, Sept. 2 last year. The launch came days after India became the fourth country to land on the moon with the robotic Chandrayaan-3 lander. Aditya-L1 performed four Earth-bound orbital maneuvers before entering a transfer orbit for L1. Its arrival came 126 days later. The 1,480-kilogram spacecraft is equipped with seven scientific instruments developed indigenously for solar research.

Launch of the Aditya-L1 solar observatory on a PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: ISRO

 

Positioned approximately 1% of the Sun-Earth distance within the orbit of our planet, its payload includes an ultraviolet imaging telescope, soft and hard X-ray spectrometers, and a coronagraph for solar observations. Additionally, it carries a pair of particle analyzers and a magnetometer for direct in-situ measurements.

For comparison, the James Webb Space Telescope operates at Sun-Earth L-2 Lagrange point, another gravitationally stable point, 1.5 million kilometers from the Earth but in the direction opposite to the Sun.

ISRO released full-disk images of the Sun in ultra-violet from the spacecraft’s SUIT payload in December.

Meanwhile in low Earth orbit, the upper stage of the PSLV rocket which launched India’s XPoSat X-ray observatory Jan. 1 (UTC), has hosted a series of experiments. Attached to the upper stage is a payload called PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) 3.

Experiments included testing tantalum-based coatings, fuel cells, small thrusters, interplanetary dust measurements and more. The experiments were arranged by ISRO and the National Space Promotion Authorization Center (IN-SPACe), a government agency set up to regulate and authorize commercial space activities in India.

POEM-3 is part of a wider initiative to spur commercial space development. India last year initiated reforms that officials say can help the country become a global space hub.

Two payloads on POEM-3 developed by private firm Bellatrix Aerospace are now space qualified after meeting mission success criteria. These are RUDRA 0.3, a green monopropellant thruster, and ARKA-200, a heater less hollow cathode for Hall thrusters. Bellatrix says it is now able to supply propulsion systems globally.

NASA pushes ahead with Earth System Observatory despite uncertain budgets

NASA is making progress on a multibillion-dollar series of Earth science missions amid uncertainty about their funding for the next year. In town hall sessions at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in December, NASA officials discussed work on the Earth System Observatory, a series of missions intended to implement the five “designated observables” recommended by the Earth science decadal survey in 2018. Four missions are currently in early phases of development for the Earth System Observatory: the Atmosphere Observing System (AOS)-Storm, AOS-Sky, Surface Biology and Geology, and Mass Change, which NASA recently renamed GRACE-Continuity or GRACE-C to emphasize its links to the GRACE and GRACE-Follow On missions. A fifth mission, Surface Deformation and Change, is an extended study phase so that the agency can incorporate lessons from the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission launching in the spring of 2024. These missions “are intended to answer a wide variety of questions” in Earth science, said Karen St. Germain, director of the Earth science division at NASA Headquarters, in one town hall session, and “to integrate observations, science and applications for societal benefit.” The Earth System Observatory represents the “core missions” of Earth science for NASA in the future, she said, alongside a series of smaller missions. “They exist in a larger ecosystem of competed missions.”

The Atmosphere Observing System (AOS) Sky and Storm missions are part of the Earth System Observatory. Credit: NASA

Those missions, though, will not be cheap. The first four missions have an estimated cost of $3.5 billion, including $1.8 billion to $1.99 billion for AOS-Storm and AOS-Sky. St. Germain, though, noted that several international partners will contribute an additional $1.2 billion in instruments and spacecraft for the effort. “It allows us to do more together than the sum of what we could do individually,” she said. “We’re trying to get the maximum science per U.S. dollar invested.”

Those missions are tentatively scheduled to launch from the late 2020s into the early 2030s. However, she acknowledged that is dependent on budgets. NASA requested $287 million for Earth System Observatory missions for fiscal year 2024, projecting that to grow to more than half a billion dollars a year by 2026 as the missions move into later phases of development.

“We are counting on an increase to cover that development,” she said of the budget for the missions. NASA requested more than $2.47 billion for Earth science in 2024, an increase of nearly $280 million from 2023.

That increase, though, has run into broader budget pressures facing NASA as part of a spending agreement passed in June that caps non-defense discretionary spending, like NASA, at 2023 levels for 2024. A Senate appropriation bill would provide a little less than $2.22 billion for Earth science, while the House bill offers only $2 billion.

The House bill is silent on funding for the Earth System Observatory, but the report accompanying the Senate bill noted that appropriators were “pleased” with the progress NASA was making on the missions. “The Committee expects NASA to continue formulation of the four Earth System Observatory missions,” it stated, “and provides the request level for these four missions.”

St. Germain acknowledged the fiscal uncertainty that the Earth System Observatory and other Earth science programs face, as NASA operates under a continuing resolution holding funding at 2023 levels until Feb. 2. “This is an ongoing conversation,” she said, guided by the direction given by the decadal survey. “We’re moving forward in a budget environment where we will work very hard and do our best to maximize what we can accomplish with the budgets that we end up getting.”

However, at a meeting of a National Academies committee Nov. 29, she said NASA was hitting the limits of the advice the decadal survey provided on dealing with budget challenges, including balancing large directed missions with smaller competed ones. “We find ourselves in a position where we’ve exhausted most of the guidance the decadal gave us,” she said.

“It is going to be a challenging year,” Nicola Fox, NASA associate administrator for science, said of 2024 at an AGU town hall meeting, citing the budget uncertainty. “We look forward with hope to an appropriation that we will immediately be ready to implement.”

She asked scientists at the town hall meeting to work together to advocate for NASA Earth science budgets overall and avoid internecine sniping that pits programs against one another. “The worst thing we can do is not go forward as a community,” she said.

India launches X-ray astronomy satellite

India launched an astronomy satellite to start a year that will feature key tests for its human spaceflight program and a potential joint crewed mission with NASA. A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) lifted off at 10:40 p.m. Eastern Dec. 31 (9:10 a.m. local Jan. 1) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. It deployed its primary payload, the XPoSat spacecraft, into a 650-kilometer orbit about 22 minutes later. The 469-kilogram satellite carries two instruments to conduct X-ray polarimetry measurements. Astronomers plan to use the data collected by XPoSat to study neutron stars, black holes and supernovae. After deploying XPoSat, the PSLV’s fourth stage maneuvered to a 350-kilometer orbit. Attached to the upper stage is a payload called PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM) 3. It carries 10 experiments, such as fuel cells and thrusters, from ISRO, universities and companies expected to operate for about a month. Lowering POEM-3 to 350 kilometers is intended to mitigate debris by reducing the orbital lifetime of the upper stage. “As a responsible space agency, we decided to bring the fourth stage to a lower orbit so that the life of the stage in the orbit is much less, so we don’t create debris in that process,” said S Somanath, chairman of ISRO, in remarks after the launch. The launch was the first of 2024, based on Universal Time. It comes after a record-setting 2023 with about 220 orbital launch attempts worldwide. India conducted seven of those launches using the PSLV, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, all of which were successful.

ISRO expects to roughly double that launch rate in 2024, with 12 to 14 launches planned for the year. Among them will be the GSLV launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Earth science mission, a joint effort of the two space agencies. That mission is slated for launch on March 30, NASA officials said at a session of the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December.

The highlight of 2024 for ISRO, though, will be a series of test flights for its Gaganyaan human spaceflight program. The agency conducted the first such test in October, launching an uncrewed capsule on a suborbital flight to test its launch abort system.

“2024 is going to be the year of Gaganyaan,” Somanath said after the launch, starting with additional abort tests. “This year we are expecting two more such test flights of the test vehicle, followed by the unmanned mission.” That would be an orbital test of the Gaganyaan spacecraft without a crew on board.

That schedule would mean the first crewed Gaganyaan flight would take place no earlier than 2025. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he announced the program in August 2018, set a goal for the first launch to take place in 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence.

The next Indian astronaut to go to space, though, may do so on an American spacecraft. As part of a June 2023 summit meeting between Modi and President Joe Biden, the countries announced they would develop a “strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation” by the end of the year. That would include, according to a joint statement, training of Indian astronauts at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and “a goal of launching a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024.”

Neither government has released additional details about those plans, including that strategic framework, since then. A Nov. 9 fact sheet by the U.S. State Department on relations between the United States and India reiterated the goal of a joint mission to the ISS in 2024 and training of Indian astronauts at JSC.