Private #satellite operators make case for helping military track ground targets. As the U.S. military looks to replace spy planes, companies tout commercial constellations for battlefield awareness

#WASHINGTON — AT&T is prepared to provide more funds to help get #AST #SpaceMobile’s direct-to-smartphone constellation plans off the ground.

#AST #SpaceMobile raised $155 million from AT&T and other investors in January, but the satellite operator needs more capital to provide 5G connectivity globally from low Earth orbit to phones and other devices outside cell tower coverage.

While AT&T is a conservative company that does not generally provide venture funding, Chris Sambar, head of network for the U.S. telecoms giant, said March 20 its investment in #AST SpaceMobile is unlikely to be its last.

Despite only investing recently, Sambar said during a Satellite Conference panel here with AST SpaceMobile CEO Abel Avellan that the telco has been working with the satellite operator for six years.

#HELSINKI — The People’s Liberation Army is working comprehensively on the technology and training tools for on-orbit satellite refueling for both peacetime and wartime scenarios.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is already integrating lessons learned into military doctrine and training tools, while a defense contractor has already demonstrated what it calls a space fuel tanker in geosynchronous Earth orbit ( #GEO ), according to a report published by the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) March 18.

The report underlines that the #PLA has a strategic focus on enhancing its on-orbit logistics capabilities and is integrating commercial enterprises into the space sector. These developments have potential implications for international space operations norms and should prompt action by the U.S. Space Force to attain similar capabilities and readiness

#WASHINGTON — A cargo #spacecraft launched towards the International Space Station March 21, hours after a rare last-minute abort of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launch to the station.

A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at 4:55 p.m. Eastern. The rocket’s payload, a cargo Dragon spacecraft, deployed from the Falcon’s upper stage 12 minutes after liftoff.

The Dragon is flying the CRS-30 mission to the ISS and is scheduled to dock with the station at about 7:30 a.m. Eastern March 23, remaining there about a month. The spacecraft is carrying 2,841 kilograms of cargo, including a mix of science experiments, crew supplies and station hardware.

#WASHINGTON — The Defense Innovation Unit announced March 21 it has signed an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to study the potential use of the company’s Elytra orbital vehicle for missions beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit.

The Pentagon’s commercial technology arm, DIU awarded Firefly a study contract that, once complete, could lead to as many as two flight demonstration missions in the region between GEO orbit and the moon, known as cislunar space.

The contract supports DIU’s Sinequone project that aims to deliver cost-effective, responsive access to cislunar space through both launch and orbital transfer services.

“The Department of Defense must be poised to foster safe and secure commercial and civil growth in this region,” DIU said of cislunar space.

#WASHINGTON — #Rocket Lab launched a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Virginia March 21, the company’s second launch in as many weeks.

The #Electron lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, at 3:25 a.m. Eastern. The launch took place at the end of a 45-minute window after controllers called a hold about four and a half minutes before liftoff for what the company described as an “out-of-family” data issue.

The launch, on a mission designated NROL-123 by the NRO, carried a classified payload. In a statement confirming the success of the launch about an hour after liftoff, the NRO suggested the mission was conducting technology demonstrations of some kind for the agency

#HELSINKI — #China has launched a new batch of Yunhai-2 meteorological satellites likely for use by its military.

A Long March 2D with a Yuanzheng-3 upper stage rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 1:27 a.m. Eastern (0527 UTC) March 21. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), confirmed launch success around three hours later, also revealing the payloads for the mission to be the Yunhai-2 (02) batch of satellites.

The satellites were likely released into a series of orbits following a series of burns by the YZ-3 upper stage. The launch follows a similar mission from 2018 which saw a first group of six Yunhai-2 satellites put into orbit by a Long March 2D and YZ-3 combination

#WASHINGTON — The #Pentagon’s commercial technology arm, the Defense Innovation Unit, announced March 20 it is funding three projects to explore ways to create a more robust space infrastructure that can support military operations beyond low #Earth orbit.

The projects were awarded to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and #Spacebilt. “Each of the companies selected for an award showed strong research and development investments into their particular solutions for use in the commercial market,” said DIU.

#DIU is partnering with Blue Origin on a space mission called Dark-Sky 1 that will send to orbit a heavy multi-orbit space tug based on the company’s Blue Ring platform. The vehicle will be launched as a rideshare payload on a U.S. Space Force national security mission.

#Capella #Space sets sights on international market for radar #satellites. CEO Frank Backes: ‘We’re seeing a real surge of interest from countries that want to build their own sovereign SAR capabilities’.

#WASHINGTON — The launch industry is negotiating a transition into new families of launch vehicles, working to bring additional capacity into the market while seeking out competitive advantages against a growing number of competitors.

A panel at the #Satellite 2024 conference March 18 features two companies that recently completed the first successful launches of new vehicles and four others working on new launch vehicles, in some cases while operating existing ones.

“Right now we’re in transition,” said Mark Peller, vice president of Vulcan development at United Launch Alliance, citing the successful inaugural launch of Vulcan Centaur Jan. 8. “We’ve wrung out the Vulcan system and now our focus is getting up to a steady launch cadence.”