Starbridge Weekly Update for 4/22/2022

Welcome to the Starbridge Weekly Space update for April 22, 2022. After a long hiatus due to closing Fund II and tax season, the weekly Starbridge Space Update is back! 

NASA announced Axiom Space’s Ax-1, launched April 8th, will now undock at 6:35 p.m. EDT Saturday, April 23 and splashdown off of Florida’s coast at 1:46 p.m. Sunday, April 24. The Ax-1 crew originally was scheduled to stay only 8 days at the ISS but will now spend 14 days. NASA ISS program manager, Joel Montalban, said NASA will track the Ax-1 splashdown with the usual tracking assets as they would for a NASA commercial crew mission. Following Ax-1’s splashdown, NASA will proceed with the Crew-4 mission launch to the ISS as soon as April 26th and will return the Crew-3 astronauts ~5 days after. 

Axiom Space and Mitsui announced a joint venture in Japan for on-orbit services. Mitsui invested in Axiom last year and previously acquired launch rideshare company, Spaceflight, Inc., in 2020. 

Lynk First Cell Tower in Space

Lynk announced on April 6, 2022, that their satellite completed its on-orbit check-out making it the world’s first commercial-ready cell-tower-in-space. They will begin extensive testing around the world and position Lynk to deliver commercial satellite-direct-to-phone service later this year.                           

An Oros Apparel customer has posted an excellent review of their latest products. The company is quickly approaching the deployment of Solarcore AP products as well as various contracts with US Government customers. 

General Space News

Amazon announced it purchased up to 83 launches from Arianespace, Blue Origin, and ULA to deploy a majority of their 3,236-satellite Project Kuiper broadband megaconstellation. “Securing launch capacity from multiple providers has been a key part of our strategy from day one,” Rajeev Badyal, vice president of technology for Project Kuiper at Amazon, said in a statement. “This approach reduces risk associated with launch vehicle stand-downs and supports competitive long-term pricing for Amazon.”

NASA halted their third attempt at an SLS practice countdown on April 14th due to several issues with the filling of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the tanks. It is unclear when NASA will continue with another attempt at another SLS test.

ULA ordered 116 RL10C-X engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne for their Vulcan rocket's upper stage. ULA plans to fly Vulcan’s first mission at the end of the year.

Kepler validated their inter-satellite data-relay terminal allowing satellites the ability to communicate on-orbit. They “successfully transferred the first [data] packet from one satellite to the other” four days after launch, CEO Mina Mitry said in an interview.

This week's picks of space sector news compiled from Jeff Foust's FIRST UP newsletter are:

• The new planetary science decadal survey recommended NASA continue its Mars Sample Return campaign and develop new missions to Uranus and Enceladus.

• NASA selected six companies for awards to demonstrate communications services for agency spacecraft.

• The Pentagon says it supports a ban announced by the White House this week on destructive direct-ascent ASAT tests.

• Two Russian cosmonauts performed a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Monday to begin activation of a robotic arm.

• South Korea is boosting its space spending this year by 19% as it works to bounce back from a launch failure last year.

• One Defense Department official is impressed with how SpaceX dealt with jamming of its Starlink system in Ukraine.

• A British startup that plans to use satellites as part of a quantum encryption network may be overstating its technology.

• Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth Friday night.

• Astronomers, meanwhile, are looking to the moon as a site for research, provided there's no interference from other missions.

• The billionaire funding a series of crewed SpaceX missions says the date of the first flight could slip.

• NASA and the Space Force are cooperating on near-Earth object (NEO) data.

• Astranis sees an opportunity to break into the defense market as the military considers diversifying its communications architecture.

• Kepler Communications has successfully tested inter-satellite links for its planned Aether data-relay constellation.

• U.S. Space Command says space domain awareness is its No. 1 need.

• ESA said Wednesday it was further cutting links with Russia by ending cooperation on a series of lunar missions.

• A top U.S. intelligence official says the government is not restricting the ability of commercial satellite imagery providers to share their data publicly.

• The Space Force is planning a test of refueling satellites in orbit.

• Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks says the Pentagon has to find ways to work better with startups.

• A new White House strategy seeks to bolster the nascent in-space servicing and manufacturing field.

• The governor of Texas says he will work to ensure SpaceX can perform Starship orbital launches from Boca Chica.