Baby Come Back
NASA makes progress on bringing its Crew Flight Test astronauts home, fresh ideas emerge around the Mars Sample Return, and all the other ways the space world is all about comebacks this week.
Hello Celestial Citizens and Continuum readers,
A big thank you to everyone that participated in the poll from our previous newsletter edition. The results were spread fairly even across the categories with climate research winning out as highest priority for a majority of folks. We also had a suggestion for space debris to be added to the policy topic areas. Always great to hear from this community! Sharing the results here for everyone:
And now, the space beat you came here for…
This edition of Continuum is brought to you by the Space Resources program at the Colorado School of Mines.
Top Headlines
I’m Back, Baby! – As soon as the Federal Aviation Administration gave the greenlight for SpaceX’s famed Falcon 9 to return to flight, the company was at the ready. In only a couple short weeks since an anomaly temporarily grounded the world’s hottest reusable launcher, SpaceX completed an investigation of the failure – a leak caused by a crack in the upper stage sensor line – carried out the necessary modifications, restored its license and launched three rockets back-to-back. The July 27th and 28th Falcon 9 missions delivered a total of 67 Starlink satellites to orbit over the course of a single weekend. The triumphant return was enough for NASA to confirm proceeding with an August launch of Crew-9 to the International Space Station. Between the rare Falcon 9 failure and Starliner’s helium leaks, the U.S. space agency may or may not have been a little, well, stressed. Certainly, with this progress from its problem children trusted vendors, NASA is relieved to restore traffic at the ISS, which is always a delicate docking dance.
Homeward Bound? – Speaking of problem children, NASA is making moves this week with its Crew Flight Test mission, commonly referenced by its associated spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner. After numerous helium leaks in June led to an…extended stay on the ISS, the mission team carried out a hot fire test of the spacecraft on July 27th, reportedly confirming a stable helium system and normal operation. The agency then released a statement on Tuesday referencing a “return readiness review,” from which it promises to establish a return date for the mission’s astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Despite the continued rumors about Williams and Wilmore being “stuck” in space, NASA maintains its gentle parenting of Starliner, claiming the lengthy ISS mission was actually an opportunity to test how the spacecraft would perform in space.
The Final Countdown – Also seizing its opportunity this week was ULA, which launched the nearly-retired Atlas V rocket on its final national security mission on Tuesday. In sunny Florida weather, the Atlas V rocket soared to geostationary orbit with a payload for the U.S. Space Force in tow. Although we don’t know details of the classified payload, the mission patch painted on the exterior of the rocket included the words “Alis Grave Nil,” Latin for “nothing is too heavy for those who have wings.” Not to dampen the grandeur of that statement, but we’d be remiss not to point out that winged rockets do, in fact, have payload capacities. But we digress. Although this may have been the final national security mission for the Atlas V, it’s far from the end of ULA’s government-funded missions. The Atlas V rocket will be succeeded by the company’s new Vulcan model, assuming its fall demonstration goes well.
MSR 2.0 – This week, we also saw important updates on less imminent missions, such as the Mars Sample Return. During the recent AIAA ASCEND conference in Las Vegas, a few companies previewed concepts they’re developing as part of a 90-day MSR study funded by NASA. The agency offered up to $1.5 million to each of the seven studies it selected in June, but concept details have been hush-hush, so far. One reveal from the ASCEND panel – a concept helmed by Quantum Space – includes an alternate plan for the ERO, or Earth Return Orbiter. With its development led by ESA, the spacecraft is currently meant to travel from Mars’ orbit to Earth. However, Quantum’s study will examine time and cost savings of splitting the journey into two parts. In theory, ESA would only have to construct a vehicle that travels from Mars’ orbit to lunar orbit, where a version of Quantum’s Ranger spacecraft could carry the sample the rest of the way. Offering a less piecemeal approach at the panel was Boeing, who despite not being selected for an MSR study, still shared its concept for a more comprehensive vehicle. Boeing’s theoretical lander would launch the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) directly back to Earth from the Martian surface. It sounds easy enough. But Boeing would like to get one thing straight now: a delayed MAV return would not mean the vehicle was stuck on Mars. It would be an intentional opportunity.
Honorable Mentions
Our final notable nuggets.
Aurora-struck – This week, auroras were serving as far South as Northern California. The geomagnetic storm-fueled colors were a result of a series of CMEs that took place over the weekend.
Living the Stream – Fans of cable will be forced to join the cord-cutters later this summer when NASA sunsets its television station in favor of the agency’s new streaming service, NASA+ .
Senate Appropriations – In usual fashion, the Senate and the House are at odds about NASA spending. While the House seeks cuts for FY25, the Senate’s CJS committee wants to give NASA more than what they asked for. We’re biased, but here’s hoping the Senate wins this fight – for the love of science!
Guardians of the Galaxy – It’s a great time to be a guardian – a Space Force Guardian, that is. The U.S. defense branch is making efforts to retain its talent by offering up to $180,000 as an incentive to workers who reenlist. A leaked list clarified which fields qualified for the incentive, including mainly cyber defense and cryptology.
The JWST Download
Adding to a relatively small group of images that exist of exoplanets, the Webb used its coronagraph to capture a gas giant located approximately 12 light years from Earth. Although the exoplanet, named Epsilon Indi Ab after its parent star, is slightly warmer than our own gas giant, Jupiter, it’s still one of the coldest exoplanets we’ve directly imaged to date.
It’s very fitting that Ariel, a Uranian moon, is now thought to harbor a hidden ocean. According to recently published findings from the JWST, a subsurface ocean might be the cause of a curious presence of carbon dioxide ice on Ariel. We have to say, a secret ocean sounds nice – so nice, we wish we could be part of that world.
This edition of Continuum is supported by the Open Lunar Foundation. Open Lunar's work sets precedents, creates pathways, and builds projects that enable a peaceful, cooperative lunar presence. Learn more about Open Lunar's work by joining their upcoming events.
A Global Space
ISRO & NASA – The first Earth science project between the Indian and United States space agencies has been pushed to next year after an optimistic launch projection for this past Spring. The NISAR spacecraft, which stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is an imaging satellite that intends to support natural resource management on a global scale. The hold-up seems to be the spacecraft’s antenna, which according to a recent assessment, requires additional protective coating to withstand high launch temperatures. While NASA, who is working on said coating, says the antenna is nearly complete, the agencies will not announce a launch date until the hardware is shipped back to India and reinstalled on the spacecraft. That said, NASA and ISRO have blacked out October to February due to temperature variables within that window, suggesting that February 2025 would be the earliest possible launch date.
Australia – SpaceX is courting Australia for permissions related to the recovery of Starship boosters, as the future of the powerful rocket begins to take shape. Essentially, in order for SpaceX to land and retrieve their Starship boosters from the waters off the coast of Australia, the company will need to alter the United States’ export controls on Australia-bound space technology. Of course, SpaceX won’t be able to do this on their own, so political conversations will need to happen – some already have.
China – While impressive, the Queqiao relay satellites orbiting the Moon are apparently only a piece of the puzzle for China, as Chinese scientists have now pitched an entire cislunar infrastructure. The plans, recently published in Chinese Space Science and Technology, involve a complex constellation that would support everything humans need to live life in cislunar space, from communication and navigation to maintenance. Of course, China is not the only country considering such an infrastructure. The United States is casting similar priorities, as is ESA with its Moonlight initiative. The race is on. Or, you know, we could all work together?
UK – It’s a good time to be a space startup in the United Kingdom, because local financial advising firm Citicourt & Co is initiating its first venture capital fund, for which they hope to raise 100 million pounds ($129 million). Citicourt’s resume includes advising Scottish developer SaxaVord, shepherding the company’s novel spaceport from concept to fruition. Now, the firm is putting on its investor hat, hoping to leverage the many “private equity and VC funds willing to participate in the space industry,” according to Citicourt founder and CEO Jodie Bartin. Specifically, Citicourt has its eye on sustainability-focused initiatives, not unlike fellow U.K.-based space investor, Seraphim. To make all this happen, Bartin brought in Stuart Martin, former CEO of a British nonprofit known as Satellite Applications Catapult. And we’d say he seems right for the gig: with Catapult, Martin raised approximately $1.7 billion for space companies in the name of expanding the UK space industry.
And that’s a wrap on this week in space news! A big thank you to Tess Ryan for writing this edition with me and for keeping up with the cosmos! We hope you enjoyed reading Continuum this week. And if you really, really like us, then consider making it official and becoming a paid subscriber or spreading the space gospel and gifting a subscription.
Keep it celestial people,
Britt
CEO of Celestial Citizen & Creator of Continuum