June 5-11, 2023 / Vol 42, No 23 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Exolaunch, D-Orbit, Launcher, Varda Among Companies Hitching Rides on SpaceX Transporter-8

The eighth Transporter mission is set to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base (34.63°N, 120.61°W) in Southern California on June 8 via SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5. Transporter-8 is the 2nd SpaceX dedicated rideshare (44th overall for F9) to launch from VSFB SLC-4E pad, and the mission is to see the 11th first stage landing on Landing Zone 4 – formerly SLC-4W. Dozens of payloads are being carried to 500-600km sun synchronous orbit, with many continuing their journey to custom orbits via specialized third-party space tug operators. Exolaunch of Germany is to deploy 32kg in-space inspection precursor DROID.001 (Turion Space) via CarboNIX system. D-Orbit of Italy is sending its 11th ION orbital transfer vehicle carrying 3U cubesats Outpost Mission 0 and SpeiSat, the first orbital mission of the Vatican. Launcher (recently acquired by Vast) is to place 6 payloads with Orbiter on its SN3 mission: Otter Pup (Starfish Space), Pleiades-Squared (Cal Poly Pomona), Nightingale 1 (Cesium Astro), TRL11-SN3-Demo (TRL11), Remora (Millenium Space), and MDQSAT-1C/1D (Innova Space). The first Varda in-space manufacturing and re-entry capsule, a 120-kg craft, is riding on a Rocket Lab Photon exploration stage which will provide power, communications, and altitude control during 3-month mission during which protease inhibitor Ritonavir (used in HIV and COVID antivirals) is to be manufactured. Photon will also set the Varda manufacturing craft on a re-entry trajectory for retrieval on Earth at end of mission. (Image Credits: Exolaunch, Launcher, Varda)

MONDAY

☆ Jun 5 — International Space Station, ~415-km LEO: Expedition 69 seven-member crew working to transfer cargo from Dragon CRS 28 resupply vessel, continuing experiments and maintenance as Astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg prep for EVAs.

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Shenzhou 16 crewmembers Jing Haipeng (commander), Zhu Yangzhu (Flight Engineer), and Gui Haichao (Payload Specialist & first civilian Taikonaut) to conduct 50 experiments over 6 months.

☾ = Moon activity

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

CO School of Mines Event to Address Infrastructure Development, Resources for Moon and Mars Occupation

Space Resources Roundtable at Colorado School of Mines, Golden, June 6-9, to convene international experts addressing Lunar South Pole exploration, environment, sustainable infrastructure, resources in Cislunar Space, Moon, Mars, space manufacturing and construction with presenters from Japan, Luxembourg, New South Wales, Australia, South Korea, Scotland, Canada. Keynote speakers include Peter Garretson, Senior Fellow Defense Studies, on why space resources matter, and James L. Reuter, NASA Associate Administrator, with updates on Viper South Pole mobile robot mission by Kimberly Ennico, NASA Ames Research Center. Viper is planned for mission to South Pole of Moon to view concentration of water, ice. Other NASA updates to include ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization), plans, projects, A Martian Year of ISRU on Mars by Michael Hecht, MIT Haystack Observatory, and by Jun Shimada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Concept of a Lunar ISRU Plant. Peter Visscher, Director, Canadensys West, to speak on Canadian Lunar Rover Mission set to launch as early as 2026. Canadian Rover is to explore South Polar region of Moon searching for water, ice in lunar soil. Ben Bussey, Chief Engineer, Intuitive Machines, to address Commercially Enabling International Lunar Scientific Exploration. Intuitive is also working with NASA towards first exploration of Lunar South Pole. Kyla Edison, CO School of Mines, will address Casting and Annealing Experiments of Lunar Mare and Anorthosite Regolith Simulants. (Image Credits: AFPC, NASA, ResearchGate, Linkedin, The Ecomonic Times, Gunter’s Space Page)

☆ Jun 5 — Tiangong Space Station, ~390-km LEO: Today marks 1st full year / starts 2nd year of continuous Human occupation of TSS; Shenzhou 14 three-member crew launched on this day in 2022, beginning occupation.

● Jun 5 — NASA, JPL, Online: Teleconference on Psyche Mission Independent Review Board; corrective actions following Psyche missed 2022 launch to be discussed, 16:00 EDT.

o Jun 5-6 — Financial Times Live, ViaSat, Isar Aerospace, ESA, IAF, MVA, et al, Hybrid / London, United Kingdom and Online: Investing in Space: Balancing optimism with realism.

● Jun 5-7 — SSERVI-IMPACT Team at University of Colorado, Boulder CO: 4th Dust, Atmosphere, and Plasma Environment of the Moon and Small Bodies (DAP-2023).

Continued From…

● Oct 15 – Jun 15, 2023 — International Space Elevator Consortium, Online: Space Elevator Academic Challenge: Improving Humanity’s Future; for students 17-25.

● Jun 4-8 — American Astronomical Society, Albuquerque NM: 242nd Meeting of the AAS; at Albuquerque Convention Center.

TUESDAY

● Jun 6 — Moon Village Association, Online / Vienna, Austria: Cultural WG webinar – Deep Space: Awe Or Fright?; 3rd session on The Deep Space Effect.

● Jun 6-9 — Space Resources Roundtable, Colorado School of Mines, Golden CO: 23rd Space Resources Roundtable (SRR); technical presentations and roundtable discussions for space-resource activities in cislunar space, the Moon, Mars, and small bodies.

o Jun 6-9 — Infocomm Media Development Authority, Informa Tech, Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau, Euroconsult, NUS Enterprise, et al, Singapore: Asia Tech x Singapore.

☆ Jun 6 — Moon: At perigee, 13:14.

☆ Jun 6 — Apollo Asteroid 2023 KW2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.030 AU).

WEDNESDAY

● Jun 7 — NASA, Online / Washington DC: REDDI Technology Advancement Utilizing Suborbital and Orbital Flight Opportunities “TechFlights” Mandatory Preliminary Proposal (MPP) Due; 17:00 EDT.

o Jun 7-8 — Hub Exhibitions, Farnborough International, ADS, KTN, UK Space Agency, UK Space, Farnborough, United Kingdom: Space-Comm Expo 2023; featuring Astronaut Tim Peake.