The Moon’s Siren Call
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander finds its home on the moon, Japan ups their sovereign rocket game, and how the U.S. and U.K. are turning their focus to defense constellations.
Hello Celestial Citizens and Continuum readers,
Happy Friday to all! While much of the space community was busy debating the outcome of yesterday’s historic-not historic-historic again lunar landing, I found myself very unsuccessfully explaining yesterday’s events to a group of preschoolers. While picking up my middle son from school yesterday, I was (like any good space parent) multitasking and listening to the livestream. When the curious group of little kids asked me to explain what was happening, I was met with some confusion and mixed reactions.
Me: We might be landing on the Moon today!
Kid #1: For the first time?
Me: Well…no.
Kid #2: For the second time?
Me: Well…no, actually.
Kid #3: Are there people landing on the moon?
Me: No, not yet. This is just a lunar lander, but humans will hopefully land there in a few more years.
Kid #4: Did you make the lander?
Me: No, I did not.
Kid #5: I’ve already been to Mars and back.
Me: Blinks in defeat.
And that about wrapped up my attempt at science communication to a younger audience, leaving behind a thoroughly underwhelmed group of 4–5-year-olds. Must work on my delivery…
Anyway, onto the space beat you came here for!
Top Headlines
Lunar Odyssey – Unlike in Homer’s Odyssey, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus did not endeavor to land on Calypso; instead, it had its sights set on the moon. As luck – and hard work – would have it, the spacecraft’s tense yet ultimately successful touchdown yesterday at 6:23 PM Eastern made Intuitive Machines the first private venture to land upright on the lunar surface. What may surprise some is that the company’s Nova-C lander, known as Odysseus, is also the first American spacecraft to successfully soft-land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The great Odyssey to the moon was not all roses; in fact, Intuitive Machines watched three other companies fail their respective attempts at the same feat over the years. Moreover, the company had to quell any fears of bad omens when their love-day launch fell through due to a fuel-related issue. Despite the delay, SpaceX delivered Odysseus to its lunar trajectory the very next day via a Falcon 9 rocket. Fortunately, the revised launch date still fell within the company’s window to achieve the soft landing approximately 186 miles (300 km) from the lunar south pole, near the Malapert A crater on February 22nd. While there were some issues with the laser rangefinders upon final descent, mission control established communications with the spacecraft around 15 minutes after landing, followed by congratulations from the flight director and cheers from the company. As of last night, the company confirmed on X that Odysseus was able to maintain an upright attitude upon landing and is currently in the process of transmitting its first images. This accomplishment makes the mission, known as IM-1, a big step for commercial space, and a giant leap – as someone once said – for future lunar missions. Through their Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, NASA hitched lunar experiments to the IM-1 to take various measurements of the landing, test lunar navigation systems, and more – which we can only imagine will support Artemis and beyond.
Going Ballistic – SpaceX may not have made their Nova-C launch on Valentines Day, but they did make their military launch on February 14th from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission involved six classified missile-detection satellites divided between the Mission Defense Agency (MDA) and the Space Development Agency (SDA). While we may not know much about the secretive payloads, we do know that two of the satellites were designed – by L3Harris and Northrop Grumman – to conduct testing for the MDA’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Missile Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS). The others, all built by L3Harris, will supplement the SDA’s military constellation, specifically its Tracking Layer Tranche 0. These two sets of spacecraft will ideally form a symbiotic relationship, as the SDA spacecraft sensors detect heat signatures to establish threats, and the MDA spacecraft sensors can track that threatening missile’s trajectory. The launch was a big moment for L3Harris, who was able to support two defense agency programs simultaneously, using the same infrared technology, or phenomenology, that the company has developed for years in Earth monitoring satellites. And in life’s great poetic timing, the defense mission commenced only hours after the U.S. intelligence community published concerns regarding a potential Russian anti-satellite capability. No pressure, L3Harris.
Earth, Wind & FirERS-2 – After nearly 30 years amongst the stars, a 5,000 lb Earth monitoring satellite from the European Space Agency fell back to Earth on Wednesday, burning up in the atmosphere over the Pacific. A “natural” reentry, ESA had no control over its passage location or exact time; the agency could only make estimates as they tracked the spacecraft’s descent, made difficult by unpredictable solar activity from a feisty sun about to reach its maximum. That being said, in the final hours of the satellite nearing Earth, ESA was able to publish live, accurate updates, providing a timeline and corresponding locations for the public to expect reentry. According to the agency, these natural, or uncontrolled reentries are sometimes safer than manipulated ones – using leftover fuel, say – when you’re dealing with older, outdated designs. Going forward, however, ESA spacecraft are set up for controlled reentries, when the time comes to say goodbye.
Houston, We Have Asteroids & Pretend Martians – This week, we have two NASA updates coming out of Houston, Texas. First, we’d be remiss not to mention the official final weight measurement for the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample, which totaled 4.29 ounces, or 121.6 grams. Let’s just say, the Bennu-bound spacecraft was a bit of an overachiever. With a mission requirement of 60 grams, the OSIRIS-REx delivered over 70 grams to the astromaterials processors – just in bits and pieces around the actual sample canister, known as the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head. Now that the canister is open and all 121.6 grams are on the table sample trays, the agency will distribute the goods to partner agencies and international research teams. Staying in Houston, however, is CHAPEA, NASA’s simulation for Martian living, which is about to wrap up its first year-long analog in July. So like ABC’s annual siren call for new Bachelor contestants, NASA is beckoning for its second CHAPEA crew, to enter its Texas-based 3D-printed habitat in Spring 2025. Also like the Bachelor, CHAPEA contestants will not have access to their phones or – *gasp* – social media. Unlike the Bachelor, CHAPEA applicants will require a background in STEM.
The JWST Download
The closer we look, the less we realize we actually know. New findings based on JWST imagery of an early universe galaxy – with a massive amount of stars and notable lack of dark matter structures – may seriously challenge our standard model for cosmology.
A sun a day keeps the doctor away, according to this quasar who hosts “the fastest-growing black hole known to date,” with a diet of approximately 370 solar masses annually. With a luminosity 500 trillion times brighter than our sun, the quasar evaded astronomers for over 40 years until the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) was able to pull back the veil. The upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will also peer at the quasar in the upcoming years. We have to wonder if the JWST feels burned or relieved from this rare lack of attention.
First suspected in July of last year, a neutron star collision and resulting kilonova blast did indeed produce gold. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the zillions of Earthlings preparing for the celestial gold rush.
A Global Space
Japan – Perhaps two is Japan’s new lucky number, because after a two-day weather delay, Japan completed its second launch attempt of its sovereign H3 rocket. The launch comes almost one year after the nation’s first attempt, which resulted in a tragic loss of the rocket and its expensive payload, a $200 million Earth observation satellite. This time, the liquid fuel launch vehicle performed flawlessly, delivering payloads such as an imaging satellite from camera expert Canon, and a large simulator – or “dummy satellite” – which replicated the mass of last year’s lost payload. With Flight 2’s success story – which is due to prime contractor Mitsubishi and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA)’s tireless assessment and revisions – Japan can say goodbye to the outdated H-2A, and hello to the H3 as the new normal for military and civil launches. And speaking of the H-2A, a wild, loose piece of the old rocket may soon meet its maker – a spacecraft known as ADRAS-J, or Active Debris Removal by Astroscale Japan. This is monumental not just for Japan but for the world and its trash heap of a LEO, as approaching an unpredictable piece of debris like this has not been done before. While rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) are not necessarily new, there’s a difference between “cooperative” spacecraft like the ISS and wildin’ objects like the H-2A’s defunct upper stage. Launched this past weekend on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, Astroscale’s ADRAS-J will essentially approach the space debris and gather data for the ground team to analyze, supporting a future mission during which the company will actually attempt a “grab” and controlled deorbit.
Russia – The latest in the world’s dangerous game of nuclear chicken, Russia set off alarm bells last week when intelligence leaked regarding the nation’s progress on an anti-satellite weapon. Having tracked Russia’s military launches for the last couple years, the American intelligence community fears that an upcoming launch could carry a nuclear capability. Now, the nuclear power in question may not be the Oppenheimer mushroom cloud we associate with the word. Nevertheless, Russia’s possible nuclear EMP, or electromagnetic pulse, could have the power to disable a huge range of satellites, in effect dismantling global communications. In addition, an attack from an EMP “might render large portions of particular orbits unusable,” creating a sort of permanent minefield of tainted satellites. While larger satellites in higher orbits – like GPS and military spacecraft – may hold their own against an EMP blast, smallsat constellations like Starlink would be at risk of total annihilation. Of course, a launch of a weapon like this would be a clear violation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty – the first ever. So, it’d be an incredibly big move by Russia, to say the least, even if the weapon is never detonated. While the nation’s plans remain a guessing game, we do know they’ve worried U.S. Secretary of State Blinken enough to raise the issue with China and India ministers at this past weekend’s Munich Security Conference.
Uruguay – In less conflicting news, last week, Uruguay became the 36th country to sign the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, following Greece who signed earlier in the month. The signing ceremony, held at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C., represented “the beginning of a new bilateral track” between the two countries, according to Uruguayan Foreign Minister Omar Paganini. While we may not know exactly how the pair plans to work together, we do know that Uruguay is working on establishing its own space agency in the coming years, and plans to transition its satellite company to the U.S.
UK – The United Kingdom is moving ahead with its Ministry of Defense project known as ISTARI – a 10-year, over $1 billion plan to construct an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance constellation. The latest update comes with two contracts worth $2.5 million each to Belgium-based RHEA Group and Lockheed Martin UK, for the companies to develop competing ground systems to support the constellation. According to RHEA’s press release following the deal, the contract will cover twenty months of development, including three phases for the companies to demonstrate different abilities. May the best ground system win!
Mongolia – A couple weeks ago, Mongolia revealed plans for its first national telecommunications satellite. The country has enlisted the help of American launch vendor SpaceX and French satellite specialist Thales Alenia Space for the launch of its “Chinggis Sat,” named after national hero Chinggis Khan. While the satellite endeavors to tackle specific issues from disaster management to internet access, it’s also a macro effort towards “fostering a thriving domestic space industry” in Mongolia, according to Uchral Nyam-Osor, the country’s Minister of Digital Development and Communications. Considering its current partnerships with heavyweights like SpaceX and Thales Alenia Space – not to mention its domestic deposits of copper and other minerals valuable for vehicle manufacturing – Mongolia is well positioned to become a major space force to be reckoned with.
India - Last week, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was busy with a “swap” of sorts, launching a weather satellite to GEO as well as deorbiting a retired satellite once used for urban planning. First, the space agency’s team that focuses on sustainable operations utilized leftover fuel to responsibly expedite the deorbit of the high resolution imaging Cartosat-2 – which operated from 2007 to 2019 – from the originally anticipated 30 years of naturally circling the drain, let’s say. The deorbit mission also allowed the team to test their tracking systems, successfully pinpointing the spacecraft’s eventual blaze over the Indian Ocean on February 14th. After making more room in the sky, India used their three-stage Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) to deliver a GEO imaging satellite known as INSAT-3DS, which will provide valuable data to the nation’s Ministry of Earth Sciences. For India, the pair of missions demonstrated the country’s commitment to responsible space activity. And that’s what we call a celestial citizen.
And that’s a wrap on this week in space news! Keep an eye out for a new Saturday Space Reads in your inbox tomorrow as well as this coming Monday for MOONSHOT, our paid subscriber newsletter covering the commercial space sector. 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 will share it with your friends. 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
Great update!