In Today’s Deep Space Extra… The UAE’s Hope spacecraft and China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter-lander-rover have maneuvered into orbit around Mars. NASA is looking at using a seat on Russia’s Soyuz as backup to send crew to the International Space Station.
Human Space Exploration
NASA picks the SpaceX Falcon Heavy for $332 million mission to launch Lunar Gateway components in 2024
Coalition Members in the News – Maxar, Northrop Grumman
Techcrunch.com (2/9): The first elements of the lunar Gateway are a Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) provided by Maxar, and the Human and Logistics Outpost (HALO) developed by Northrop Grumman. The two components will be integrated prior to their launch no earlier than May 2024 atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The PPE and HALO will serve as a command module for astronauts arriving aboard Space Launch System (SLS) propelled Orion crew capsules to shuttle to and from the surface of the Moon.
NASA wants a Soyuz seat this Spring as backup plan
Coalition Member in the News – Boeing
Spacepolicyonline.com (2/9): In order to ensure a continuing U.S. crew presence aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA is looking at obtaining another seat aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft planned for launch this spring, should there be any difficulty with the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission planned for April. If it’s a Soyuz, NASA intends to reach a seat swap agreement with Russia – a Soyuz seat for a NASA astronaut in return for a cosmonaut seat on a SpaceX Crew Dragon or Boeing Starliner, rather than providing millions of dollars in payment.
Space Science
Arab world’s first interplanetary spacecraft safely arrives at Mars
Spaceflightnow.com (2/9): Launched last July, the Arab World’s first planetary science mission to another world, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Mars Hope orbiter reached the Red Planet and maneuvered into orbit on Tuesday around 11 a.m. EST, data from the spacecraft indicates.
China, with Tianwen-1, begins tenure at Mars with successful orbital arrival
NASASpaceflight.com (2/10): The Tianwen-1 orbiter, lander, and rover mission from China has successfully entered Mars’s orbit. The orbit phase will evolve in May as the lander/rover departs for a descent and a surface mission that includes efforts to characterize the Martian subsurface ice environment.
Other News
Investors see multiple avenues for space sector exits
Coalition Members in the News – AMRO Fabricating Corp, NanoRacks
SpaceNews.com (2/9): There is an eagerness now among government agencies, private equity entities and public markets to invest in the space industry. Small companies, especially, have been successful in overcoming the coronavirus pandemic challenges of 2020, according to presenters at the SmallSat Symposium underway this week in San Francisco. Various companies also are combining to form more focused businesses.
Colorado-built Dream Chaser inching closer to future landings in Florida after space missions
Denver Post (1/9): Sierra Nevada, one of three NASA-contracted International Space Station (ISS) cargo providers, is celebrating the prospect of future landing of its Dream Chaser spaceplane at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility, as the site is now licensed by the federal government to host commercial spacecraft arrivals.