July 29 – August 4, 2024 / Vol 43, No 31 / Hawai`i Island, USA

China NewSpace Launch Providers’ Success May Bolster Further Commercial Aerospace / Lunar Developments

Expected mid-August is the launch of China Rocket Co. Jielong-3 (Smart Dragon-3) which has had 3 successful launches from East and South China Sea ocean platforms. i-Space (aka Interstellar Glory) has 3 successes and 4 failures of Hyperbola rocket from Jiuquan – next attempt in 2025. OrienSpace is planning Yinli-1 (Gravity-1) next flight in September; inaugural launch was from a Yellow Sea platform. Landspace is working toward a June 2025 launch of Zhuque-3 from Jiuquan. The company had 2 failures, followed by 2 successes. Galactic Energy has 13 successes and 1 failure with Ceres-1 from Jiuquan and from a converted ocean barge. Its next launch may be NET August with mission “How Far I’ll Go” from the Yellow Sea. Space Pioneer Tianlong-3 (Heavenly Dragon 3) hopes to launch from Wenchang commercial LC-2 pad this year. CAS Space Kinetica-1 rocket managed 3 launches from Jiuquan, while Deep Blue Aerospace is planning its first Nebula-1 launch in 2024 from Wenchang. Other companies are OneSpace, LinkSpace and ExPace. As commercial launch providers’ prosperity grows, future sectors in China are likely to contribute to lunar, LEO and deep space – the CMSEO 2023 solicitation for a lunar rover took proposals from universities, automotive enterprises and scientific research institutions; CMSA requested low-cost commercial cargo spacecraft ideas in 2021; and Origin Space, established in 2019, is the first commercial space mining company in China. (Image credits: CNSA)

MONDAY 

☆ Jul 29 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Two members of Boeing CST-100 Starliner coming up on 2 full months in space, working with Expedition 71 seven-member crew on thunderstorm studies, NanoRacks airlock payload installations, monitoring blood pressure and body fluid changes, inspecting and cleaning station modules.

☆ Jul 29 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 18 three-member crew undergoing emergency preparedness drills for station debris strike / decompression events; debris hit station earlier this year resulting in partial power loss – EVAs performed to fix external damage and install debris protection equipment.

● Jul 29 – Aug 1 — American Astronautical Society (AAS), Boston MA: 2024 International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC). 

☾ Jul 29 — Moon: 4.1° NNW of Uranus, 06:00; 0.26° E of Pleiades, 13:00; 4.9° N of Mars, 23:00.

☾ = Moon activity

★ = Space and… ☆ = International space / astro events; in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

American Astronautical Society and AIAA Advance Living and Working in Space

The ISSRDC is hosted by AAS, NASA and the ISS National Laboratory Center for the Advancement of Science in Space. Pre-conference July 29 and main conference July 30 – August 1 seek to foster knowledge of how to employ the International Space Station (ISS) for answering R&D questions. Keynote speakers are from NASA: Jim Free / Astronaut Warren Hoburg / Kate Darling, and White House representative Jinni Meehan. Research on essential science and space manufacturing are two possible uses of the ISS microgravity environment and harsh location. Events include networking, 15-minute “Lightning Talks,” and payload operations game show. AAS was founded in 1954 by 37 people wanting to promote space flight and now has 1,500+ members. ASCEND (Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration and New Discovery) is “the only community on the planet focused on building humanity’s off-world future — faster“. Key space topics at the July 30 – August 1 ASCEND event are: expanding the economy, infrastructure for living and working, security, interacting with society / education / workforce, sustainability and traffic management. Over 1,200 in-person and 500 virtual registrants are expected. Host American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, founded 1963, now ~35,000 members from ~80 countries, convenes yearly forums such as ASCEND, publishes aerospace books / journals and keeps an industry archive dating to the early 1900s. Its mission is “to advance the state of aerospace science, engineering, technology, operations and policy to benefit global society”. University-student memberships are US$30 annually. (Image credits: AAS, AIAA)

TUESDAY

☆ Jul 30 — Rocket Lab, Launch Electron / StriX 5, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Launch of mission dubbed “Owl for One, One for Owl” of synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japan Earth imaging company Synspective.

★ Jul 30 — ULA, Launch Atlas 5 / USSF-51, SLC 41, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Atlas 5 to launch classified payload for USA Space Force.

● Jul 30 – Aug 1 — American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Las Vegas NV: 2024 ASCEND Conference.

o Jul 30 – Aug 2 — University of Copenhagen Centre for ExoLife Sciences (CELS), Copenhagen, Denmark: Conference: Are we a Unique Species on a Unique Planet? – or are we just the ordinary Galactic standard?

☾ Jul 30 — Moon: 5.3° N of Jupiter, 13:00.

☆ Jul 30 — Southern Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak: Shower mostly visible in Southern Hemisphere, meteors appear to radiate from Aquarius constellation; may produce up to 25 meteors per hour with speed of ~41 km/sec; 14:00.

☆ Jul 30 — Aten Asteroid 2000 UK11: Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)