TYB
Space Communications kicks off at SAASST
Thursday, November 7, 2024 4:33 PM
Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and President of the University of Sharjah (UoS), the University in collaboration with the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Science (AUASS) and the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organisation (APSCO), organised an international symposium on developments in space communications, themed “The Regional Balance and Challenges.”
This two-day event, supported by the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space Science, and Technology (SAASST) and the Inter-Islamic Network on Space Science and Technology (ISNET), aims to improve the usage of space resources in the Asia-Pacific region and foster a common understanding of space communications among the Member States.
The symposium featured a series of scientific sessions discussing over 25 research papers and included eight training workshops led by a group of experts, researchers, and specialists in astronomy and space sciences.
The sessions of the symposium covered various topics, including the applications of artificial intelligence in space communication, space law, Arab space cooperation, and the security risks and vulnerabilities of nano-satellite communication systems.
Additionally, the symposium addressed the expansion of international cooperation to develop space communications, the role of AUASS in promoting education and scientific research in space and astronomy, trends in the global satellite communications market and technology, as well as the competitive aspects of space communication and their impact on future telecommunications regulations.
Prof. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah and Director-General of SAASST, welcomed the distinguished guests and participants, expressing his deep gratitude and appreciation to H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and President of the University of Sharjah, for his continuous support and guidance.
He emphasised that this symposium serves as a source of inspiration and opens new avenues for collaboration in the fields of space sciences, communications, and technology, with participation from more than 15 countries, including representatives from the National Space Science Authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Emirates Space Agency, and the UAE Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.
He also noted that the University of Sharjah is committed to educating the new generation in the fields of astronomy and space sciences by offering a range of academic programs, such as the Master of Science in Astronomy and Space Sciences, the Master in Air and Space Law, and, in the near future, a PhD programme in Space Science and Technology.
Xu Yansong, Director-General of APSCO, added, “In our increasingly interconnected world, effective space communication systems are essential for fostering international collaboration, enhancing scientific research, and bridging the digital divide.
This symposium aims to provide a platform for the exchange of knowledge, expertise, collaboration, and innovation.
By highlighting successful regional initiatives that can serve as models for others, engaging in discussions, sharing insights, and exploring potential collaborations, we can forge partnerships that promote the greater good of humanity.”
Dr. Awni Al-Khasawneh, Secretary-General of AUASS, highlighted that the forum began with a two-day preliminary short training course on “Frequency and Orbital Elements in Satellite Design (ITU Regulations and International Standards),” which focused on enhancing practical skills and knowledge on various topics related to space communications.
He further explained that AUASS is committed to training Arab professionals by organising such events and conferences aimed at advancing astronomy and space sciences in the Arab region.
During the symposium, participants had the opportunity to watch a special show at the Sharjah Planetarium, which addressed the contribution of technology to improving space communication and the role of satellites in this field.
They also enjoyed stargazing and interactive telescope activities, allowing them to explore the stars and planets, further enriching their experience.
These activities are part of SAASST’s efforts to promote scientific culture. The symposium was concluded with the honouring of participants in the scientific sessions.
https://www.wam.ae/en/article/b62qzxz-space-communications-kicks-off-saasst
SpaceX's Dragon is about to do something to the ISS it's never done before
Nov, 7 2024
SpaceX will boost the space station for the first time Friday (Nov. 8), as the company prepares to eventually kill the orbiting complex.
A Dragon cargo spacecraft docked to the International Space Station (ISS) will fire its engines for 12.5 minutes on Friday (Nov. 8), NASA officials said at a press conference Monday (Nov. 4).
Other spacecraft have done this before, but it will be a first for a SpaceX capsule — and an important precursor to a bigger Dragon vehicle that will one day drive the ISS to its demise.
"The data that we're going to collect from this reboost and attitude control demonstration will be very helpful … and this data is going to lead to future capability, mainly the U.S deorbit vehicle," Jared Metter, director of flight reliability at SpaceX, told reporters at the livestreamed teleconference.
In July, SpaceX was tasked as the company to deorbit the ISS no earlier than 2030, once new commercial space stations are ready to step in for the ageing complex.
SpaceX will use a monster Dragon for the effort, so the planned ISS reboost using the current generation of Dragon will be useful.
The ISS is in low Earth orbit, roughly 250 miles (400 km) above our planet. Stray molecules of Earth's atmosphere combine to drag the six-bedroom complex down over time, making it necessary to use spacecraft to "reboost" or push the space station to a higher altitude.
Traditionally, Russian Soyuz spacecraft have fulfilled that reboost capability, but things are changing rapidly.
Russia remains a partner in the ISS after its unsanctioned invasion of Ukraine in 2022; even though most other international space agreements ruptured, the ISS is a policy project and cannot operate as independent bits, NASA has emphasized.
Russia plans to forge ahead with its own space station no earlier than 2028, which so far is before the rest of the ISS partnership's commitments cease in 2030.
Should Russia pull away, this means that other vehicles will need to step in for Soyuz. NASA already tested boosting with a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft in 2022. Now it's SpaceX's turn.
"It's a good demonstration," Metter said of the reboost. He did not immediately have the expected delta v, or the impulse per unit of spacecraft mass that the maneuver would impart, but emphasized the duration would be enough to "gather a lot of data" for the U.S. deorbit vehicle.
SpaceX's historic push of the ISS will take place in the wake of several company hardware issues, which NASA and the company say are unrelated. These have led to problems during Falcon 9 rocket launches and landings, along with a Dragon splashdown, in recent weeks.
All problems were resolved quickly with no impact to crew or public safety, and NASA officials expressed confidence in SpaceX's capabilities after working alongside the company to scrutinize its performance.
"We work very closely with SpaceX on everything that we do relative to these Dragon launches.
They share data with us very freely, and we work through all the issues jointly," Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager of NASA's ISS program, told reporters at the Monday teleconference.
"We obviously always maintain a top priority on the safety of the vehicles coming to ISS, and so that really hasn't changed for us," he added.
The Falcon 9 rocket, which is the most prolific and successful booster in history, had three launch issues between mid-July and late September.
The first issue on July 11 saw 20 SpaceX Starlink Internet satellites lost after an upper-stage propellant leak.
Falcon 9 returned to flight two weeks later after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees regulatory activities in launches, approved SpaceX's plan.
On Aug. 28, Falcon 9 experienced a second issue; its first stage did not land as designed after a Starlink launch that was otherwise successful.
SpaceX returned to flight three days later, but on Sept. 28, Falcon 9 was grounded for a third time after an upper stage issue when it was launching the Crew-9 astronaut ISS mission for NASA.
The rocket was once again kept on Earth for two weeks, save for an FAA-granted exception to launch Europe's Hera asteroid-inspection probe on Oct. 7.
Falcon 9 returned to flight Oct. 11 and has launched successfully several times in recent weeks.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/spacex-dragon-spacecraft-will-raise-iss-orbit-tomorrow-in-1st-ever-reboost
Venus' 'missing' giant impact craters may be hiding in plain sight
November 7, 2024
Impact features on Venus may have been staring us in the face all along
That's the message from a team of planetary scientists, who have explained Venus' apparent dearth of large craters by discovering that impacts could have produced the mysterious "tesserae" formations on the Venusian surface.
Tesserae are large — sometimes continent-size — expanses of terrain that have been deformed and covered with wrinkle ridges, which make the landforms look like sheets of corrugated iron.
They are formed by lava welling up to the surface, where it cools and hardens, while denser material left in the mantle below a tessera forms a plateau made from a substance called residuum.
Sometimes that residuum can be swept away by the flowing mantle around it, allowing the tessera to sink back down to surface level.
Now, a team of planetary scientists consisting of Ivan LĂłpez at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Evan Bjonnes of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Vicki Hansen of Arizona's Planetary Science Institute, has connected these tesserae regions with impacts.
In searching for craters on Venus, "We had been looking for big holes in the ground," Hansen said in a statement. And indeed, about 1,000 craters on Venus are already known.
However, compared to the huge volumes of craters, particularly large craters, on Mercury, the moon and Mars, craters on Venus appear to be scarce, with none over 300 kilometers (186 miles) wide.
This could be just because we haven't recognized them, according to Hansen.
"Who would have thought flat, low-lying terrain or a big plateau is what an impact crater would look like on Venus?"
Venus has experienced a very different history compared to the other planets.
Episodes of global volcanism have eradicated large swathes of the surface as recently as half a billion years ago, removing evidence of many impact sites. Or so we had thought.
The team focused on a 1,500-km-wide (900 miles) Venusian tessera called Haastte-baad, and applied modeling to radar maps of the tessera (we can't see Venus' surface features directly because of the planet's thick, obscuring atmosphere) to try and better understand how it formed, factoring in how conditions on Venus were different in the distant past.
In particular, Venus' crust, called the lithosphere, was much thinner then than it is today.
On modern Venus, the lithosphere is a chunky 112 km (70 miles) thick, but billions of years ago, when the interior of Venus was hotter, the solid lithosphere was only about 10 km (6 miles) thick.
The modeling shows that, because of the thin lithosphere, a large asteroid impact could relatively easily punch through the crust and into the mantle below, allowing lava to flood upward and pool in the resulting crater, forming, in this case, the Haastte-baad tessera.
The residuum plateau has since been washed away by the convective flow of the mantle below Haastte-baad, causing the tessera's elevation to drop back down.
Hansen likens the tessera-forming process to "pea soup with a scum forming on top."
However, that's not the end of the story. Haastte-baad also features distinctive concentric rings that are somewhat reminiscent of some of the craters on the surfaces of the icy moons of Jupiter.
These rings form when an object impacts a surface with a harder crust and a softer layer below.
On the Galilean moons of Jupiter, the hard crust is the thick ice, and the softer layer is an ocean below, and the rings are ripples frozen in place.
Here's where things become really interesting, because the Haastte-baad rings imply a second impact, not onto ice and water, but onto a harder crust and a pool of lava that still filled the impact basin below.
Modeling by the team suggests that this second asteroid had a diameter of about 70 km (45 miles).
Two impacts in the same spot is perhaps not so unusual — there are many examples of other double impacts in the solar system, including on Earth — and Haastte-baad's size makes for a good target.
The modeling suggests that this all happened sometime between 1.5 and 4 billion years ago; we're fortunate that Haastte-baad is in one of the rare regions of Venus that hasn't since been covered in lava during a global eruption.
Whether all tesserae on Venus are impact features remains to be seen, but planetary scientists will be paying more attention to them now to be sure, because of how they can be windows into Venus' distant past.
"If this is really an impact structure, it would be Venus' oldest and largest, giving us a rare glimpse into Venus' past and informing early planet processes," concluded Hansen.
https://www.space.com/the-universe/venus/venus-missing-giant-impact-craters-may-be-hiding-in-plain-sight
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023JE008256
U.S. Space Command expands intelligence-sharing program with commercial firms
November 6, 2024
U.S. Space Command announced Nov. 6 it is expanding its commercial intelligence-sharing initiative, adding five new companies to a program that helps coordinate responses to space threats and satellite anomalies.
The Commercial Integration Cell (CIC), established in 2015, will now include Earth observation company Blacksky, space intelligence contractor Kratos, space tracking firm LeoLabs, radar satellite operator Iceye and satellite communications provider Telesat.
Radio-frequency satellite data provider Hawkeye 360 and space tracking specialist Exoanalytic Solutions are expected to join in the coming weeks.
Longstanding CIC members include Eutelsat America, Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat General Communications, Iridium Communications, Maxar Technologies, SES Government Solutions, SpaceX, Viasat, and XTAR.
Speaking at a Mitchell Institute event, Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess, commander of U.S. Space Forces-Space, said the addition of new members to the CIC reflects the growing importance of commercial space capabilities in military operations.
U.S. Space Forces-Space is a component field command under U.S. Space Command.
CIC members previously were primarily communications and imaging satellite operators, but new members now include space domain awareness specialists.
The CIC helps to ensure that military and private sector partners are aware of threats as they unfold, said Schiess.
The cell operates from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Members must have Department of Defense contracts and cleared personnel who can participate in sensitive intelligence discussions.
Companies sign non-disclosure agreements to protect proprietary information shared within the group.
Schiess said the value of such collaboration was demonstrated in February 2022, when satellite operator Viasat quickly alerted CIC members after detecting a Russian cyberattack on its network that disrupted internet service across Europe, including in Ukraine at the onset of Russia’s invasion.
More recently, the program proved crucial when an Intelsat satellite experienced an unexpected breakup in orbit.
The company’s prompt notification through the CIC enabled U.S. Space Command to quickly issue a public alert about potential debris risks to other spacecraft.
https://spacenews.com/u-s-space-command-expands-intelligence-sharing-program-with-commercial-firms/
The final FINAL countdown
Starship's Sixth Flight Test
November 6, 2024
The sixth flight test of Starship is targeted to launch as early as Monday, November 18.
A live webcast of the flight test will begin about 30 minutes before liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
The 30-minute launch window will open at 4:00 p.m. CT. As is the case with all developmental testing, the schedule is dynamic and likely to change, so be sure to check in here and stay tuned to our X account for updates.
Starship’s fifth flight test was a seminal moment in iterating towards a fully and rapidly reusable launch system.
On the first attempt, the Super Heavy booster successfully returned to the launch site and was caught by the chopstick arms of the launch and catch tower at Starbase.
Starship’s upper stage went on to demonstrate several improvements, resulting in a controlled entry and high accuracy splashdown at the targeted area in the Indian Ocean.
The next Starship flight test aims to expand the envelope on ship and booster capabilities and get closer to bringing reuse of the entire system online.
Objectives include the booster once again returning to the launch site for catch, reigniting a ship Raptor engine while in space, and testing a suite of heatshield experiments and maneuvering changes for ship reentry and descent over the Indian Ocean.
The success of the first catch attempt demonstrated the design feasibility while providing valuable data to continue improving hardware and software performance.
Hardware upgrades for this flight add additional redundancy to booster propulsion systems, increase structural strength at key areas, and shorten the timeline to offload propellants from the booster following a successful catch.
Mission designers also updated software controls and commit criteria for the booster’s launch and return.
Analogous to the fifth flight test, distinct vehicle and pad criteria must be met prior to a return and catch of the Super Heavy booster, which will require healthy systems on the booster and tower and a final manual command from the mission’s Flight Director.
If this command is not sent prior to the completion of the boostback burn, or if automated health checks show unacceptable conditions with Super Heavy or the tower, the booster will default to a trajectory that takes it to a landing burn and soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
We accept no compromises when it comes to ensuring the safety of the public and our team, and the return will only take place if conditions are right.
The returning booster will slow down from supersonic speeds, resulting in audible sonic booms in the area around the landing zone.
Generally, the only impact to those in the surrounding area of a sonic boom is the brief thunder-like noise with variables like weather and distance from the return site determining the magnitude experienced by observers.
Starship’s upper stage will fly the same suborbital trajectory as the previous flight test, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean.
An additional objective for this flight will be attempting an in-space burn using a single Raptor engine, further demonstrating the capabilities required to conduct a ship deorbit burn prior to orbital missions.
Several thermal protection experiments and operational changes will test the limits of Starship’s capabilities and generate flight data to inform plans for ship catch and reuse.
The flight test will assess new secondary thermal protection materials and will have entire sections of heat shield tiles removed on either side of the ship in locations being studied for catch-enabling hardware on future vehicles.
The ship also will intentionally fly at a higher angle of attack in the final phase of descent, purposefully stressing the limits of flap control to gain data on future landing profiles.
Finally, adjusting the flight’s launch window to the late afternoon at Starbase will enable the ship to reenter over the Indian Ocean in daylight, providing better conditions for visual observations.
Future ships, starting with the vehicle planned for seventh flight test, will fly with significant upgrades including redesigned forward flaps, larger propellant tanks, and the latest generation tiles and secondary thermal protection layers as we continue to iterate towards a fully reusable heat shield.
Learnings from this and subsequent flight tests will continue to make the entire Starship system more reliable as we close in on full and rapid reusability.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=starship-flight-6
Can we put everybody cool in the admin and make it all star-studded?