NASA Reaches a Decision on Starliner Return
The Top Stories from The Journal of Space Commerce for the Week Ending 8/24
Starliner will make an uncrewed return to Earth, while her crew remains aboard the International Space Station until February, 2025. That was the announcement from NASA on Saturday that marked a major shift in the Starliner Test Flight Campaign.
NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters on June 6 as Starliner approached the space station. Since then, engineering teams have completed a significant amount of work, including reviewing a collection of data, conducting flight and ground testing, hosting independent reviews with agency propulsion experts, and developing various return contingency plans. The uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence does not meet the agency’s safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight, thus prompting NASA leadership to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission.
Starliner is designed to operate autonomously and previously completed two uncrewed flights. NASA and Boeing will work together to adjust end-of-mission planning and Starliner’s systems to set up for the uncrewed return in the coming weeks. Starliner must return to Earth before the Crew-9 mission launches to ensure a docking port is available on station.
The agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, originally slated with four crew members, will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24. The agency will share more information about the Crew-9 complement when details are finalized.
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Scout Space will participate in NATO’s newly launched SPACENET program. The initiative is designed to foster collaboration between NATO member states and commercial space enterprises, and aims to enhance space security and resilience through innovative technologies and strategic partnerships.
Unveiled by NATO earlier this year, the SPACENET platform serves as a vital connection point between NATO's operational needs and the cutting-edge capabilities offered by the commercial space sector. By joining this program, Scout will contribute its expertise in Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and in-orbit observation, bringing unique insights and advanced technologies to support NATO's space defense strategies.
Scout will work closely with NATO stakeholders and other program participants to identify and address emerging threats in space.
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The company also made news this week with the integration of its SpaceSight tool for virtualizing in-space observations being integrated into Saber Astronautics' Space Applications Marketplace (SAM), marking a significant milestone in advancing space technology and security.
The collaboration between Scout and Saber introduces enhanced tools to the space community. By integrating SpaceSight into SAM, users will experience enhanced mission planning efficiency, improved imaging precision, and a streamlined approach to Space Domain Awareness (SDA). This partnership underscores both organizations' commitment to advancing the space industry and bolstering global space security efforts.
The Space Application Marketplace gives companies with SDA tools and capabilities access to a USSF userbase of thousands of users.
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The SpaceX Transporter-11 mission which launched last week marked the 30th launch campaign for Exolaunch, which deployed 42 satellites for a variety of customers.
The mission brings the total number of satellites deployed by Exolaunch in its first decade of flight heritage to over 400. Over the years, Exolaunch has consistently demonstrated its expertise and dedication to advancing access to space for small satellites. This 30th mission milestone continues Exolaunch's participation in all SpaceX Transporter missions since the program's inception and is a testament to the company's unwavering commitment to supporting the global commercial space industry.
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This week on The Ex Terra Podcast, Tom Patton talked with John Priestland, founder of the C-Tech Club.
The C-Tech Club is a global community of founders and CEOs of construction technology start-ups. Founded in 2019, it has grown to cover 425 founders in 31 countries, creating a ‘safe space’ for them to collaborate and learn from each other. Now the C-Tech Club is getting involved with the space sector, with a Space Chapter specifically supporting founders focused on design and construction in space.
The Space Chapter’s mission is to support independent innovators whose technology is suitable for in-orbit or lunar deployment, or extreme environments or space facilities here on Earth.
The Space Chapter focuses on businesses involved in on-orbit, lunar, extreme environment and space facilities opportunities. Relevant technologies are likely to include: 3D printing of structures; new materials; structural design software; robotics; hyper-accurate sensors (to allow remote handling); physical/digital twins; and novel surveying and scanning techniques. There may also be spin-offs from space-related construction technology for conventional Earth-based construction.
The Ex Terra podcast gets a baby brother…
We have been publishing the Ex Terra podcast (audio and video) for the last 3 years, whereby we feature the exception folks that build, operate and propagate the Commercial Space Industry.
We’ve felt for some time that we also need to put the industry in perspective, at least so that you see where we are coming from, and to opine and speculate on what may be coming or not.
So, this week we are schedules to have Jules Ross, Founder & CEO of Joules Space Technology on our Ex Terra podcast, talking about his take on the technology of artificial gravity in future space stations.
This will be followed on Friday by a new podcast cast we call Ex Terra Xtra. This is audio only and will be found on our website and syndicated through our usual channels such as Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, YouTube podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Amazon among others.
Our opening salvo, the Boeing Starliner and traditional space vs. New space. Give it a spin and let us know how we do!
