TYB
Monitor Space Hazards new feature: Satellite Manoeuvre Support
1 August 2024
Summary
We monitor an average of 19,000 collision risks every month affecting UK satellites.
Satellites are critical to our way of life and helping satellite owners avoid collisions is a key mission for the National Space Operations Centre.
Our new Monitor Space Hazards platform, launched in June 2024, includes a new feature called Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots.
This helps UK satellite operators visualise collision risks and plan avoidance manoeuvres.
Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots
In Earth’s increasingly important and crowded orbital environment, the ability to plan and undertake precise satellite manoeuvres is essential for preventing avoidable collisions – which have the potential to be harmful to both the satellite itself and the orbital environment.
The National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) provides collision warnings to UK operators.
We have now made a significant advancement in this area with the launch of a new manoeuvre support feature called Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots.
These plots allow satellite operators to visualise the manoeuvre options available to them at any given time during a potential collision situation.
By enabling operators to identify the most effective collision avoidance strategies, these plots not only reduce the risk of in-orbit collisions but also ensure the efficient use of fuel and other resources for satellite longevity.
How does it work?
If a potential conjunction event has been assessed as having a chance of collision higher than 0.001%, further calculations are done to determine the probability of this event occurring after a range of possible avoidance manoeuvres.
This varying likelihood is depicted in the form of Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots (see image above).
These plots indicate the conjunction probability for this event from the time of identification up to the Time of Closest Approach (TCA) between the two objects.
Our analysts regularly review new data as it comes in to inform the results.
What are the benefits?
Manoeuvrable spacecraft have finite fuel reserves for undertaking critical movements to avoid oncoming debris and satellites.
This means flight dynamics teams must plan potential manoeuvres carefully to ensure enough fuel is available for future manoeuvres, for example, to avoid potentially catastrophic collisions or to de-orbit at the end of the mission.
Additional information around the risk profile of each manoeuvre can help operators understand risks and implications of their manoeuvre to make better use of their fuel and extend the lifespan of their satellite.
Operators can access further support by contacting the NSpOC orbital analysts.
Conclusion
Manoeuvre Trade Space Plots marks a significant milestone in NSpOC’s commitment to advancing space safety and operational efficiency in an increasingly congested orbital environment.
Monitor Space Hazards provides UK satellite operators with detailed visualisations of collision probabilities for various manoeuvres and downloadable data with additional miss distance information.
This feature not only enhances operator decision-making information to avoid collisions, but also supports ensuring mission success and long-term sustainability through the avoidance of a collision, efficient use of satellite resources, preserving fuel reserves and extending satellite lifespans.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/monitor-space-hazards-new-feature-satellite-manoeuvre-support
Expect Auroras, Solar Flares and More Space Weather from the Solar Maximum
August 1, 2024
Aurora sightings may become more common, and satellite communications and power grids could be disrupted, as solar activity peaks.
Our nearest star is always volatile, but its magnetic action waxes and wanes on an 11-year loop.
The sun is thought to be in a peak now, although scientists will need another year or two to analyze data before they can say for sure.
During this high point we should see more sunspots (dark areas where the sun’s magnetic field reaches the surface) and solar storms (ejections of energy from the sun that reach into space and can affect Earth).
During a storm, energy explodes from the sun in the form of light and particles (called a solar flare) and a plasma and magnetic field (called a coronal mass ejection, or CME).
If a CME hits Earth’s magnetosphere, it can wreak havoc on our planet’s magnetic field, injecting energy, plasma and particles and heating up and distorting Earth’s upper atmosphere, the ionosphere.
All of this chaos can hinder radio signals between satellites and induce strong electric currents that can damage power grids.
On the plus side, we often get a nice view of the Northern and Southern Lights as a surge of particles hits Earth’s atmosphere at the poles.
“We need to better prepare for space weather,” says heliophysicist Lisa Upton, who co-chaired the NASA/NOAA Solar Cycle Prediction Panel for the current cycle.
“Write your congresspeople and tell them to support solar physics.”
WHAT IS SPACE WEATHER?
The amount of energy, radiation and plasma streaming off the sun into space—collectively known as the solar wind—varies as the sun’s magnetic activity changes.
Extreme events, such as CMEs and strong solar flares or storms, generate space weather.
Earth’s atmosphere typically acts as an umbrella protecting us from the bulk of the sun’s influence.
During severe space weather, however, it can break through this boundary and affect our planet.
FORECASTING
Like the climate on Earth, space weather has its own seasons, referred to as solar cycles. About every 11 years the sun’s magnetic field reaches its maximum activity level.
During solar minimum we observe around one CME a week, but during maximum, where we are right now, we see about two to three a day.
Scientists can predict solar activity by observing the number of sunspots visible on our star.
During minimums we may see just a few sunspots or even none, whereas during solar maximum we can expect up to 200 at a time.
EFFECTS
Space weather affects the density and turbulence of Earth’s ionosphere.
As radio signals travel through this layer of the atmosphere, its changing thickness may send waves on distorted paths, affecting communications transmission.
And an influx of particles streaming toward Earth can cause brighter and more widespread auroras, as well as surges in power grids that lead to outages.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/expect-auroras-solar-flares-and-more-space-weather-from-the-solar-maximum/
VSFB Environmental Team Surveys Sea Lions at Base Beaches
July 31, 2024
Vandenberg members, working alongside Channel Island Marine & Wildlife Institute rescue personnel, rescue beached sea lions exhibiting signs of domoic acid poisoning on Surf Beach at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., July 29, 2024.
CIMWI conducts research on the causes of illness and injury to marine mammals to positively impact conservation and the health of the environment.
All activities were carried out under the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program permit (#18786).
Domoic acid poisoning in marine animals is a result of the consumption of prey contaminated by toxic algal blooms, which are increasingly driven by climate change and disruptions to the marine ecosystem.
Symptoms in affected animals include disorientation, seizures, and death, often causing them to become stranded onshore.
Efforts to address this issue at Vandenberg Space Force Base involves testing marine life for toxins as well as rescuing and rehabilitating affected animals across the installation.
https://www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3857350/vsfb-environmental-team-surveys-sea-lions-at-base-beaches/
>public understanding of events just around the corner
Northrop Grumman Completes Preliminary Design Review for the Latest Generation of Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Data Transport Satellites
July 31, 2024
REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – July 31, 2024 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) completed its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for 74 high-speed data transport satellites for the Space Development Agency (SDA), including satellites that integrate advanced technology from an earlier generation of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), providing increased capabilities to U.S. Forces.
The 74 satellites include the Tranche 2 Beta and Tranche 2 Alpha configurations.
Tranche 2 Beta satellites incorporate new communications technologies into the PWSA, including S-Band, Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications and Integrated Broadcast Service, while the Tranche 2 Alpha satellites are a continuation of Northrop Grumman’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites awarded in 2022.
Expert:
Blake Bullock, vice president, military space systems, Northrop Grumman: “Space Development Agency’s vision is to field critical capabilities at an extremely rapid pace, and Northrop Grumman continues to demonstrate that we are up to the challenge.
As we move into detailed design for our Tranche 2 satellites, we’re executing and on-track with our Tranche 1 offerings and evaluating future opportunities with SDA programs.
We are delivering on our commitments and are focused on helping SDA make the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture a success.”
Details:
Northrop Grumman is a leading contractor providing both space vehicles and ground systems for the SDA’s PWSA, a next-generation constellation in low-Earth orbit.
PWSA includes two major lines of effort:
The Tracking Layer: Designed to detect, track and ultimately target hypersonic and ballistic missiles.
The Transport Layer: Provides global data and voice connectivity to U.S forces defending the homeland and operating around the world.
To date, SDA has awarded Northrop Grumman more than 130 satellites.
Northrop Grumman successfully completed a Critical Design Review for its first generation Transport and Tracking Layer satellites last year and is now integrating space vehicles both in California, and at the Airbus factory in Florida.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company.
Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe.
Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.
https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-completes-preliminary-design-review-for-the-latest-generation-of-space-development-agencys-proliferated-data-transport-satellites
Saudi space commission teams up with Boeing for aerospace engineering training program
Updated 31 July 2024
The Saudi Communications, Space and Technology Commission has launched a training program for aerospace engineering students, in collaboration with Boeing.
The month-long program aims to provide participants with valuable hands-on experience with space technologies and give them the chance to develop their skills in aerospace engineering and sciences, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Industry giant Boeing said it is participating in the program to help cultivate local talent and equip students and graduates with practical knowledge and experience in these important fields.
The space commission added that the initiative is intended to foster the professional growth of students and enhance their skills in space technologies, to better prepare them for the job market.
The program will take place in two phases. The first will be a theoretical phase at a Boeing facility in Texas, where students will explore advanced architectural design studies, including those relating to lunar and Martian missions, with insights provided by NASA.
During the second, practical phase, participants will work at a Boeing site in Alabama on real-world projects such as the development of a carbon dioxide-removal system for use in lunar and Martian environments.
This initiative is part of broader efforts by the space commission to work with local and international partners, tapping into a diverse range of expertise to enhance the Kingdom’s capabilities in the space sector while investing in the education and training of the next generation of professionals, to help the nation progress and boost the development of promising young talents.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2560311/saudi-arabia
Cryptoterrestrials: Aliens Walking Among Us? | TMZ Strange & Suspicious TV Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O_BHyW6joc&t=4s
Video game performers protest unregulated AI use at Warner Bros. Studios
Aug. 1, 2024 at 6:32 AM CDT
More than 100 video game performers picketed in front of the Warner Bros. Studios building on Thursday to protest against what they call an unwillingness from top gaming companies to protect voice actors and motion capture workers equally against the unregulated use of artificial intelligence.
The protest marks the first large labor action since game voice actors and performance workers voted to strike last week.
The work stoppage came after more than 18 months of negotiations with gaming giants, including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., over a new interactive media agreement stalled over protections around the use of AI.
Union leaders have billed AI as an existential crisis for performers.
Game voice actors and motion capture artists’ likenesses, they say, could be replicated by AI and used without consent and fair compensation.
The unregulated use of AI, the union says, poses “an equal or even greater threat” to performers in the video game industry than it does in film and television because the capacity to cheaply and easily create convincing digital replicas of performers’ voices is widely available.
Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers, said the companies have offered AI protections as well as “a significant increase in wages for SAG-AFTRA represented performers in video games.”
“We have worked hard to deliver proposals with reasonable terms that protect the rights of performers while ensuring we can continue to use the most advanced technology to create a great gaming experience for fans,” Cooling said. “We have proposed terms that provide consent and fair compensation for anyone employed under the (contract) if an AI reproduction or digital replica of their performance is used in games.”
SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee argued that the studios’ definition of who constitutes a “performer” is key to understanding the issue of who would be protected.
“The industry has told us point blank that they do not necessarily consider everyone who is rendering movement performance to be a performer that is covered by the collective bargaining agreement,” SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez said at a news conference last week, adding that some physical performances are being treated as “data.”
The union had been negotiating with an industry bargaining group consisting of signatory video game companies.
Those companies are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc. and WB Games Inc.
The global video game industry generated nearly $184 billion in revenue in 2023, according to game market forecaster Newzoo, with revenues projected to reach $207 billion in 2026.
“We are at the table because we want to include SAG-AFTRA-represented performers in our productions, and we will continue working to resolve the last remaining issue in these negotiations,” Cooling said.
“Our goal is to reach an agreement with the union that will end this strike.”
https://www.wsaw.com/2024/08/01/hollywoods-video-game-performers-head-picket-line-over-ai-protections/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdDv3l0988s