Southern Space - 21 July
Space Industry Association of Australia
SIAA is the voice of Australia's space industry
Southern Space is a weekly newsletter produced by SIAA to inform the Australian space industry?
Industry News
Rocket Lab Launch for NASA Starling Mission: This week, SIAA Member Rocket Lab successfully launched seven satellites into orbit aboard an Electron rocket from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The ‘Baby Come Back’ mission launched satellite payloads for NASA’s Starling mission, Space Flight Laboratory and SIAA member Spire Global. The four successfully deployed NASA Starling CubeSats will aim to prove capabilities for autonomous command and control for swarms of small spacecraft. The mission will test the Starling satellites’ capability to autonomously manouevre as a group, create an adaptable communications network, keep track of each other's positions, and respond to new information from onboard sensors.?
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Chandrayaan-3: Last week, the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 moon rover successfully launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. As planned, the unmanned spacecraft separated from the LVM3 rocket and entered into orbit 16 minutes after launch. A successful touchdown slated for August 23 or 24 would be historic, making India the fourth nation to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon. Previous ISRO missions, in 2008 and 2019 respectively, had failed when aiming to reach the moon’s south pole.?
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UK Government Case for Space: The UK Government has released a research report titled the ‘Case for Space’, capturing the economic value of space, the benefit to the UK of space activities, and the rationale that underpins government intervention in the space sector.?
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Raytheon and Northrop Grumman Secure DARPA Contract: SIAA Member Raytheon and SIAA Foundation Member Northrop Grumman Corporation have been awarded a subsequent contract from the US Defence Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). Under the contract, the companies will develop and progress hypersonic weapons systems through building and testing additional flight vehicles. The companies aim to integrate manufacturing improvements into the existing Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), in turn expanding the operational scope and validating system performance models.???
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Orbit and Viasat Collaboration: Orbit Communications Systems, a provider of SATCOM, tracking and airborne audio solutions, has announced a collaboration with SIAA Foundation Member Viasat. Under the arrangement, Orbit’s airborne terminals will be incorporated into Viasat’s expanded Ka-band network. The resulting integrated solution promises both military and commercial end-users ubiquitous access to the Ka-band capacity, with global coverage.??
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Virgin Galactic Second Commercial Mission: Virgin Galactic has released details of its second upcoming commercial space mission: Galactic ‘02. The mission is slated for August 10 2023, marking Virgin Galactic’s third mission of 2023 and its second commercial endeavour. The flight will carry three passengers into space.?
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China: In a speech on Wednesday, Yang Liwei revealed a 2027 or 2028 slated launch?timeline ?for China’s advanced manned spacecraft, which will play a critical role in China’s future moon missions. The spacecraft is currently being developed at the China Academy of Space Technology, aiming to support longer missions and withstand harsher space environments than the current Shenzhou series.?
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Space Debris Investigation: The Australian Space Agency has been investigating, and liaising with global counterparts for information, following the discovery of a ‘foreign space launch vehicle’ structure that washed ashore near Perth, Western Australia. There has been unverified speculation that the object may have originated from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has expressed confidence in identifying the structure as part of a rocket, noting it could be part of the PSLV. He has, however, stated that it cannot be determined if the object is of Indian origin until it is formally analysed.?
Industry Opportunities
Registrations Open: HEO Robotics T-Minus Webinar?
When: Wednesday 23 August: 7:00pm – 7:30 pm??
Where: Online?
Non-Earth imaging is changing how we look at space objects. HEO Robotics is hosting a webinar on August 23 to explore how we’re helping commercial, defence, intelligence, and government space players advance their knowledge of space objects and their environment to inform strategic decision-making through non-Earth imagery.?
Join the webinar to see how:?
- HEO’s software platform HEO Inspect allows customers to quickly task and receive images and analytics on key space objects?
- non-Earth imagery is supporting space resilience and bolstering space situational awareness?
- HEO?repurposes existing satellites during their downtime, reducing the need for additional hardware launches;?
- HEO Inspect is identifying and attributing the causes of debris such as hostile ASAT platform testing and collisions?
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2024 IAF Distinguished Service Award Call for Nominations now open:?
Nominations are now open for the 2024 IAF Distinguished Service Awards. Nominations are available in the following categories: IAF Technical or Administrative Committees members, Delegates/members of IAF member organizations in good standing, IAF Bureau members and IAF Secretariat.??
Nomination documents must be received by IAF Secretariat no later than 23:59 CET (Paris time) on Monday 14 August 2023. The call ends at least one month before the IAC to make sure that all committee members have enough time to review all applications and make their selection.?
Applications due 14 August 2023. Email applications to the IAF Secretariat at:?[email protected] ?
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Spire Global Webinar: "Why On Earth Should a Business Care About Space?"?
Spire Global invites interested viewers to watch the recorded session ‘Why On Earth Should a Business Care About Space’. Tune into the webinar presented by Spire in partnership with TerraWatch Space and OroraTech to learn how the development of a space strategy can act as a catalyst for growing your business. Discover how leveraging unique data sets from space assets can provide a competitive advantage and create new growth opportunities for your company. Discover insights about:?
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Spire Global Webinar: "Launch and Learn: The State of the Launch Industry"?
Spire Global invites interested viewers to watch the recorded session ‘W Launch and Learn: The State of the Launch Industry’. The Launch industry is developing at an unprecedented pace, yet there are still a lot of misconceptions regarding its state and volatility. Spire has a proven track record of successful management of launch missions, with more than 150 satellites launched, through 35 launch campaigns with various providers in 6 different countries at 11 launch sites!??
Tune in and watch the recorded session "The State of The Launch Industry" where Spire’s VP of Constellation Management Dr. Robert Sproles dives into:?
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Melbourne Space Drinks??
When: 7 September 2023 - 5:30pm??
Where: Morris House.?
Join SIAA and the Melbourne space community for drinks and an informal catch-up on the 7th of September at Morris House.?
Job Opportunities
View new job postings on?SIAA’s Southern Space Jobs Board ?to see what job opportunities are available in the space industry.?See new jobs from SIAA Member Av-Comm Space & Defence.?
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SIAA members can advertise job positions for free on the Southern Space Jobs board. For more information, please email?[email protected] ???
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Header Image Credit: Archive- Ireland and Wales (NASA.GOV, ISS, 04-28-11)
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