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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
December 14, 2024
Apollo 17's Moonship
Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger was designed for flight in the near vacuum of space. Digitally enhanced and reprocessed, this picture taken from Apollo 17's command module America shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit. Small reaction control thrusters are at the sides of the moonship with the bell of the ascent rocket engine underneath. The hatch allowing access to the lunar surface is seen at the front, with a round radar antenna at the top. Mission commander Gene Cernan is clearly visible through the triangular window. This spaceship performed gracefully, landing on the Moon and returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting command module in December of 1972. So where is Challenger now? Its descent stage remains at the Apollo 17 landing site in the Taurus-Littrow valley. The ascent stage pictured was intentionally crashed nearby after being jettisoned from the command module prior to the astronauts' return to planet Earth.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
NASA Outlines Latest Moon to Mars Plans in 2024 Architecture Update
Dec 13, 2024
As NASA develops a blueprint for space exploration throughout the solar system for the benefit of humanity, the agency released several new documents Friday updating its Moon to Mars architecture.
The roadmap sets NASA on course for long-term lunar exploration under the Artemis campaign in preparation for future crewed missions to Mars.
Following an Architecture Concept Review, the 2024 updates include a revision of NASA’s Architecture Definition Document which details technical approaches and processes of the agency’s exploration plans, an executive overview, and 12 new white papers on key Moon to Mars topics.
“NASA’s Architecture Concept Review process is critical to getting us on a path to mount a human mission to Mars,” said NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free.
“We’re taking a methodical approach to mapping out the decisions we need to make, understanding resource and technological trades, and ensuring we are listening to feedback from stakeholders.”
One newly released white paper highlights NASA’s decision to use fission power as the primary source of power on the Martian surface to sustain crews — the first of seven key decisions necessary for human Mars exploration.
Fission power is a form of nuclear power unaffected by day and night cycles or potential dust storms on Mars.
New additions this year also include a broader, prioritized list of key architecture decisions that need to be made early in NASA’s plans to send humans to the Red Planet.
Two new elements are now part of the agency’s Moon to Mars architecture — a lunar surface cargo lander and an initial lunar surface habitat.
The lunar surface cargo lander will deliver logistics items, science and technology payloads, communications systems, and more.
The initial surface habitat will house astronauts on the lunar surface to extend the crew size, range, and duration of exploration missions and enable crewed and uncrewed science opportunities.
The newest revision of the Architecture Definition Document adds more information about NASA’s decision road mapping process — how the agency decides which decisions must be made early in the planning process based on impacts to subsequent decisions — and a list of architecture-driven opportunities that help technology development organizations prioritize research into new technologies that will enable the Moon to Mars architecture.
“Identifying and analyzing high-level architecture decisions are the first steps to realizing a crewed Mars exploration campaign,” said Catherine Koerner, associate administrator, Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.
“Each yearly assessment cycle as part of our architecture process is moving us closer to ensuring we have a well thought out plan to accomplish our exploration objectives.”
NASA’s Moon to Mars architecture approach incorporates feedback from U.S. industry, academia, international partners, and the NASA workforce.
The agency typically releases a series of technical documents at the end of its annual analysis cycle, including an update of the Architecture Definition Document and white papers that elaborate on frequently raised topics.
Under NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will establish the foundation for long-term scientific exploration at the Moon, land the next Americans and first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, and prepare for human expeditions to Mars for the benefit of all.
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-outlines-latest-moon-to-mars-plans-in-2024-architecture-update/
https://www.nasa.gov/moontomarsarchitecture/
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/acr24-compiled-white-papers.pdf?emrc=f2e28d
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/nasa-technologies-aim-to-solve-housekeepings-biggest-issue-dust/
=NASA Technologies Aim to Solve Housekeeping’s Biggest Issue – Dust
Dec 13, 2024
If you thought the dust bunnies under your sofa were an issue, imagine trying to combat dust on the Moon. Dust is a significant challenge for astronauts living and working on the lunar surface.
So, NASA is developing technologies that mitigate dust buildup enabling a safer, sustainable presence on the Moon.
A flight test aboard a suborbital rocket system that will simulate lunar gravity is the next step in understanding how dust mitigation technologies can successfully address this challenge.
During the flight test with Blue Origin, seven technologies developed by NASA’s Game Changing Development program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate will study regolith mechanics and lunar dust transport in a simulated lunar gravity environment.
Why Is Lunar Dust a Problem?
With essentially no atmosphere, dust gets lofted, or lifted by the surface, by a spacecraft’s plumes as it lands on the lunar surface.
But it can also be lofted through electrostatic charges. Lunar dust is electrostatic and ferromagnetic, meaning it adheres to anything that carries a charge.
Kristen John, NASA’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative technical integration lead at Johnson Space Center said, “The fine grain nature of dust contains particles that are smaller than the human eye can see, which can make a contaminated surface appear to look clean.”
Although lunar dust can appear smooth with a powder like finish, its particles actually have a jagged shape. Lunar dust can scratch everything from a spacesuit to human lungs.
Dust can also prevent hardware from surviving the lunar night when it accumulates on solar panels causing a reduction in available power.
A buildup of dust coats thermal radiators, increasing the temperature of the equipment. Lunar dust can also accumulate on windows, camera lenses, and visors leading to obscured vision.
Dirty Moon? Clean It Up.
The projects being tested on the lunar gravity flight with Blue Origin include ClothBot, Electrostatic Dust Lofting (EDL), and Hermes Lunar-G.
When future astronauts perform extra-vehicular activities on the lunar surface they could bring dust into pressurized, habitable areas.
The goal of the ClothBot experiment is to mimic and measure the transport of lunar dust as releases from a small patch of spacesuit fabric.
When agitated by pre-programmed motions, the compact robot can simulate “doffing,” the movement that occurs when removing a spacesuit.
A laser-illuminated imaging system will capture the dust flow in real-time, while sensors record the size and number of particles traveling through the space.
This data will be used to understand dust generation rates inside a lander or airlock from extra-vehicular activity and refine models of lunar dust transport for future lunar and potential Martian missions.
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Electrostatic Dust Lofting
This technology will examine the lofting of lunar dust when electrostatic charging occurs after exposure to ultraviolet light. The EDL’s camera with associated lights will record and illuminate for the duration of the flight.
During the lunar gravity phase of the flight, a vacuum door containing the dust sample will release and the ultraviolet light source will illuminate the substance, charging the grains until they electrostatically repel one another and become lofted.
The lofted dust will pass through a sheet laser as it rises up from the surface. When the lunar gravity phase ends, the ultraviolet light source disables, and the camera will continue recording until the end of the flight.
This data will inform dust mitigation modeling efforts for future Moon missions.
Hermes Lunar-G
NASA partnered with Texas A&M and Texas Space Technology Applications and Research (T STAR) to develop Hermes Lunar-G, technology that utilizes flight-proven hardware to conduct experiments with regolith simulants.
Hermes was previously a facility on the International Space Station. Hermes Lunar-G repurposed Hermes hardware to study lunar regolith simulants.
The Hermes Lunar-G technology uses four canisters to compress the simulants during flight, takeoff, and landing. When the technology is in lunar gravity, it will decompress the contents of the canisters while high-speed imagery and sensors capture data.
Results of this experiment will provide information on regolith mechanics that can be used in a variety of computational models.
The results of Hermes Lunar-G will be compared to microgravity data from the space station as well as similar data acquired from parabolic flights for lunar and microgravity flight profiles.
The Future of Dust Mitigation
As a primary challenge of lunar exploration, dust mitigation influences several NASA technology developments.
Capabilities from In-Situ Resource Utilization to surface power and mobility, rely on some form of dust mitigation, making it a cross-cutting area.
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December full moon rises this weekend
Dec 13, 2024
The final full moon of 2024 lights the skies this weekend to welcome in the holiday season.
December's full Cold Moon will rise overnight on Saturday (Dec. 14) and remain in the sky all night until setting with the sunrise on Sunday (Dec. 15).
The full moon will rise in the Taurus constellation, just along the Bull's horns close to the neighboring Auriga constellation, the Charioteer. Close by will be a bright Jupiter.
The December full moon also coincides with the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, which should be most active on the night of Dec. 13.
The moon might make it difficult to see all but the brightest meteors, but skywatchers should be able to see a few "shooting stars" with a bit of patience and some warm clothing.
The exact moment of the December full moon occurs at 4:02 a.m. EST (0902 GMT) on Sunday morning, Dec. 15.
But even as early as Friday night (Dec. 13), the moon will be 97.9% illuminated, according to Timeanddate, making it appear fairly full to most observers.
For two days after the full moon, the moon will remain over 90% illuminated, although the moon will rise later and later each day.
Aside from Jupiter, December's full moon will also share the sky with a bright Venus, shining in the southwest as an "evening star" before setting a few hours after sunset.
Saturn will also be prominent, residing high in the sky in the Aquarius constellation for several hours after the moon rises. Mars will rise a few hours after the moon, just above the twins of Gemini.
December's Cold Moon gets its name from the fact that nights are generally long and cold in the year's final month.
Other names for the December full moon include the Oak Moon from some Celtic traditions, the Snow Moon in Cherokee traditions, or the Long Night Moon, a name from the Mohican people.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/december-full-moon-rises-this-weekend-how-to-see-the-last-full-moon-of-2024
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reaches Top of Jezero Crater Rim
Dec. 12, 2024
The road ahead will be even more scientifically intriguing, and probably somewhat easier-going, now that the six-wheeler has completed its long climb to the top.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has crested the top of Jezero Crater’s rim at a location the science team calls “Lookout Hill” and rolling toward its first science stop after the monthslong climb.
The rover made the ascent in order to explore a region of Mars unlike anywhere it has investigated before.
Taking about 3½ months and ascending 1,640 vertical feet (500 vertical meters), the rover climbed 20% grades, making stops along the way for science observations.
Perseverance’s science team shared some of their work and future plans at a media briefing held Thursday, Dec. 12, in Washington at the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting, the country’s largest gathering of Earth and space scientists.
“During the Jezero Crater rim climb, our rover drivers have done an amazing job negotiating some of the toughest terrain we’ve encountered since landing,” said Steven Lee, deputy project manager for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
“They developed innovative approaches to overcome these challenges — even tried driving backward to see if it would help — and the rover has come through it all like a champ.
Perseverance is ‘go’ for everything the science team wants to throw at it during this next science campaign.”
Since landing at Jezero in February 2021, Perseverance has completed four science campaigns: the “Crater Floor,” “Fan Front,” “Upper Fan,” and “Margin Unit.”
The science team is calling Perseverance’s fifth campaign the “Northern Rim” because its route covers the northern part of the southwestern section of Jezero’s rim.
Over the first year of the Northern Rim campaign, the rover is expected to visit as many as four sites of geologic interest, take several samples, and drive about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers).
“The Northern Rim campaign brings us completely new scientific riches as Perseverance roves into fundamentally new geology,” said Ken Farley, project scientist for Perseverance at Caltech in Pasadena.
“It marks our transition from rocks that partially filled Jezero Crater when it was formed by a massive impact about 3.9 billion years ago to rocks from deep down inside Mars that were thrown upward to form the crater rim after impact.”
“These rocks represent pieces of early Martian crust and are among the oldest rocks found anywhere in the solar system. Investigating them could help us understand what Mars — and our own planet — may have looked like in the beginning,” Farley added.
First Stop: ‘Witch Hazel Hill’
With Lookout Hill in its rearview mirror, Perseverance is headed to a scientifically significant rocky outcrop about 1,500 feet (450 meters) down the other side of the rim that the science team calls “Witch Hazel Hill.”
“The campaign starts off with a bang because Witch Hazel Hill represents over 330 feet of layered outcrop, where each layer is like a page in the book of Martian history.
As we drive down the hill, we will be going back in time, investigating the ancient environments of Mars recorded in the crater rim,” said Candice Bedford, a Perseverance scientist from Purdue University in West Layfette, Indiana.
“Then, after a steep descent, we take our first turns of the wheel away from the crater rim toward ‘Lac de Charmes,’ about 2 miles south.”
Lac de Charmes intrigues the science team because, being located on the plains beyond the rim, it is less likely to have been significantly affected by the formation of Jezero Crater.
After leaving Lac de Charmes, the rover will traverse about a mile (1.6 kilometers) back to the rim to investigate a stunning outcrop of large blocks known as megabreccia.
These blocks may represent ancient bedrock broken up during the Isidis impact, a planet-altering event that likely excavated deep into the Martian crust as it created an impact basin some 745 miles (1,200 kilometers) wide, 3.9 billion years in the past.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-rover-reaches-top-of-jezero-crater-rim/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1-nasajpl&utm_content=media-perseverance20241212
SpaceX rolls 7th Starship spacecraft out for testing ahead of next launch
December 13, 2024
The world's most powerful rocket is nearing its next test flight.
The seventh launch of SpaceX's Starship megarocket is expected within the next month or so. After a recent static fire of the vehicle's massive Super Heavy first-stage booster, the company has prepped the Starship upper stage for testing of its own.
"Starship ready for testing ahead of Flight 7," SpaceX said in a post on X on Wednesday (Dec. 11), sharing photos of the Starship vehicle on the move to its test stand at the company's Starbase facility in South Texas.
SpaceX has not announced a date for the upcoming integrated test flight (IFT), but an email from NASA to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration identifies Jan. 11as the likely target.
When the Starship upper stage is stacked atop Super Heavy, the integrated vehicle stands nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall — bigger than any other rocket ever built. The upper stage, known as Ship, measures 165 feet (50 m) tall by itself.
Starship is the first-ever fully reusable launch vehicle; both Super Heavy and Ship are designed to return to their launch sites to be caught mid-air by the Starship launch tower's "chopstick arms".
SpaceX first attempted to catch Super Heavy during IFT-5, which launched in October. That try succeeded; the chopsticks made a picture-perfect snag of the returning booster.
The company wanted to make another booster catch on IFT-6, which flew on Nov. 19. But communication issues with the tower scuttled that attempt, and Super Heavy instead diverted for a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
IFT-7 will be SpaceX's first Starship launch of 2025. This year saw the launch of four Starship flights, spaced out over March, June, October and November, and doubling the number of Starship flights from 2023.
The number of Starship launches in 2025 is expected to increase again, as Starship checks off boxes toward operational qualification.
SpaceX and NASA are eager for Starship's success, as the space agency has tapped the new SpaceX vehicle as the lunar lander for the upcoming Artemis 3 mission to put astronauts on the moon.
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-rolls-7th-starship-spacecraft-out-for-testing-ahead-of-next-launch-photos
https://x.com/SpaceX/status/1867048387348250707
Virgin Galactic signs agreement to study suborbital spaceflights from Italian spaceport
December 13, 2024
Virgin Galactic has signed an agreement with the Italian government that brings the company a step closer to operating its suborbital spaceplanes in that country.
The company announced Dec. 12 that it signed a cooperative agreement with Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile (ENAC), Italy’s civil aviation regulator, to study the feasibility of operating the company’s Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes from Grottaglie Airport in southern Italy.
“With momentum building as we look ahead, now, today, is the time for Virgin Galactic to take the critically important next step of assessing the location and the operational feasibility of our first spaceport outside of the United States,” said Michael Colglazier, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, at an event at the Italian Embassy here where the agreement was announced.
The agreement has two phases, said Mike Moses, president of spaceline at Virgin Galactic.
The first will examine technical and operational issues from operating at Grottaglie, a general aviation airport that the Italian government designated as a prospective spaceport in 2018.
“We’ll explore several key aspects of that new spaceport and cover our detailed technical and operational requirements, as well as evaluating the regulatory requirements,” he said.
Those topics range from potential flight paths and access to airspace for flights at Grottaglie to infrastructure needs at the spaceport.
That work should be done by the end of 2025, leading to a second phase that will examine economic and related issues.
“It’s our priority that any expansion into Italy not only be technically feasible but beneficial to the local community as well,” he said.
Planning for suborbital spaceflights in Italy dates back a decade, said Fabio Nicolai, deputy director of ENAC, at the event.
His agency signed a memorandum of cooperation with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 2014 and has since developed performance-based regulations patterned on U.S. rules.
The new agreement with Virgin Galactic is a “significant step forward,” he said. “This work will lay the foundation for safe and sustainable commercial operation in Italy.”
This is not the first time that Virgin Galactic has signaled its interest in flying from Italy or even this specific spaceport.
In 2018, the company signed agreements with the Italian companies Altec and Sitael to examine flights from Grottaglie, two years after an earlier agreement between Altec and Virgin to begin examinations of SpaceShipTwo flights from Italy.
More recently, the Italian government and the government of the Puglia region allocated 70 million euros ($73.5 million) to build infrastructure at Grottaglie to support spaceport operations.
That would likely include a hangar and related facilities at the airport, which has a main runway 3,200 meters long.
Virgin Galactic did not disclose when the full study would be completed, but any flights from Grottaglie Spaceport will likely be several years away.
The company is currently focused on building out an initial fleet of Delta-class suborbital spaceplanes that will operate from Spaceport America in New Mexico.
In August, the company disclosed financial projections that saw that spaceport ultimately hosting 275 flights a year, using four spaceplanes and two mothership aircraft, generating nearly $1 billion in annual revenue.
Colglazier said in an earnings call in August the company was considering options for additional spaceports outside of the United States.
“I think that’s a four- to five-year effort to bring a new spaceport online,” he said then. “I think ’25 is the window when you would see us probably wanting to talk about something there.”
The company announced in November plans to raise $300 million to accelerate development of additional spaceplanes and a mothership aircraft for Spaceport America that Doug Ahrens, chief financial officer of Virgin Galactic, said would become “the economic engine that generates more than enough cash flow to expand to other spaceports around the globe.”
Colglazier said at the Italian Embassy event that the company was on track to begin assembly of the first Delta-class spaceplane in the first quarter of 2025 at a new factory near Phoenix.
https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-signs-agreement-to-study-suborbital-spaceflights-from-italian-spaceport/
China launches “laser diamond constellation test” satellites
December 13, 2024
China launched a set of satellites likely intended to test inter-satellite laser links early Thursday as the country moves ahead with major constellation projects.
A Long March 2D rocket topped with a Yuanzheng-3 restartable upper stage lifted off at 2:17 a.m. Eastern (0717 UTC) Dec. 12 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The rocket shed Insulation tiles as the rocket climbed into blue skies above the spaceport, propelled by a hypergolic propellant mix.
The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) confirmed launch success hours after liftoff, once the YZ-3 upper stage had released all payloads into preset orbits via a series of burns.
CASC, the country’s main space contractor and state-owned defense giant, revealed the payloads to be five satellites forming the “high-speed laser Diamond Constellation test system.”
While CASC did not elaborate on the satellites’ specifications, their designation suggests a focus on testing inter-satellite laser communication links.
U.S. space domain awareness tracked five payloads associated with the launch in three distinct orbits.
One satellite is in a 988 x 1,160-kilometer-altitude orbit, another in a 791 x 812-km orbit and the final three in roughly 975 x 990-km orbits. All orbits are inclined by 59.9 degrees.
Inter-satellite laser link capabilities would be highly applicable to China’s megaconstellation projects, the national Guowang constellation, and the Shanghai-backed Qianfan/Thousand sails constellation.
Inter-satellite laser links could mitigate China’s limited global ground station coverage — an issue that is apparent in its reliance on onboard space situational awareness capabilities.
Changguang Satellite, a commercial remote sensing spinoff from the China Academy of Sciences, demonstrated space-to-ground laser links in 2023.
The launch was the fourth use of the YZ-3 upper stage, designed for use with the Long March 2D. The rocket was provided by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) under CASC.
A Yuanzheng-1A upper stage suffered a failure earlier this year on a Long March 2C rocket launch of the DRO-A and DRO-B lunar satellites. The satellites however used onboard propulsion to reach their intended lunar distant retrograde orbits months later.
The last failure of a Long March rocket occurred in 2020, more than 200 launches ago, when a commercial Indonesian communications satellite was lost due to an anomaly with a Long March 3B third stage.
Thursday’s launch was China’s 63rd orbital launch attempt of 2024. The country could surpass its national record of 67 attempts set last year with a series of Long March and potential commercial solid rocket launches scheduled for mid and late December.
A Long March 5B rocket appears set to launch what could be the first Guowang megaconstellation satellites from Wenchang Dec. 16.
A Long March 8 rocket could also launch from the new Hainan commercial space launch center.
The new spaceport hosted its inaugural launch Nov. 30 with what was also the debut flight of the Long March 12 — a first Chinese single-stick medium-lift launch vehicle, developed by SAST.
https://spacenews.com/china-launches-laser-diamond-constellation-test-satellites/
Space Force wants its own boot camp
Dec 11, 2024
Leaders of the U.S. military’s newest branch have said they want Space Force guardians to go through their own Basic Military Training, or BMT — one that is separate from the rest of the Air Force, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“We’re trying to figure out what’s the right scope, what’s the right scale, what’s the right evolution away from [having] the Air Force training our inductees and getting to a more guardian-focused environment,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said during the 2025 during the Spacepower Conference in Orlando.
No further information about the proposal for Space Force’s boot camp was immediately available, an Air Force spokesperson said. As of December, the Space Force has 9,523 Guardians in the force.
For comparison, the Air Force has an authorized end strength of 320,000 active-duty airmen, 108,300 Air National Guardsmen, and 67,000 reservists under the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which has been passed by the House of Representatives and awaits Senate approval.
Issues that need to be resolved include the location, curriculum, and physical requirements for Space Force’s boot camp as well as the timeline for establishing it.
As of now, guardians attend seven-and-a-half weeks of BMT at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas, where Space Force recruits have had their own space-oriented curriculum since May 2022.
After they graduate from BMT, guardians attend technical school to receive job-specific training before being assigned to an operational unit.
“There are approximately two flights of guardians going through training at any one time,” said Christa L. D’Andrea, a spokeswoman for Air Education and Training Command.
“Most of the training for Guardians is the same as what airmen experience. The only difference is some of the curriculum is specific to USSF [U.S. Space Force].”
Would you like to know more?
It makes sense for the Space Force to have its own boot camp, because it would introduce new recruits to the culture of the service and help the service more firmly establish and cultivate its own identity, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute think tank in Washington, D.C.
“The expectations and culture of enlistees in the Space Force are different than the Air Force,” Harrison said.
“The Space Force has a much smaller enlisted force relative to its officer corps (52% of the Space Force is enlisted compared to 81% in the Air Force), and the Space Force has a higher share of senior [noncommissioned officers] within its enlisted ranks.
Twice as many enlisted guardians have a 4-year college degree than in the other services.”
The Space Force also needs to further develop its own culture as a way to distinguish itself from the Air Force to foster a sense of morale and unit cohesion, so it is logical for the service to create its own boot camp to condition recruits for their careers as guardians, Harrison said.
“The expectation is that guardians will stay longer, build deeper subject matter expertise, and attain a higher level of education,” Harrison said, “The culture is also different in the Space Force because its forces are almost exclusively employed-in-place and focused around a single domain that is remote and dominated by orbital mechanics.”
Still, Harrison said he does not think that Space Force needs its own service academy. Rather, the service can recruit students majoring in science and engineering from top universities through a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.
In other words, no Starfleet Academy — for now.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/space-force-boot-camp/