#WASHINGTON — As decision loom about its funding and architecture, a #NASA review about the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program concluded its problems illustrate ongoing challenges the agency has managing large missions.

NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) published an audit of the #MSR program Feb. 28 that concluded that spiraling cost estimates can be linked to a lack of a stable design for the key elements of the effort and “initial over-optimism” in its development

#WASHINGTON — Global communications company Viasat announced Feb. 29 it has signed an agreement with defense prime contractor Northrop Grumman to support an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) experiment using broadband satellite internet to connect military vehicles and aircraft.

The experiment is part of AFRL’s Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, which aims to demonstrate commercial satellite broadband services integrated on platforms ranging from ground vehicles to fighter jets.

Under the agreement, #Viasat will supply high-capacity modems that connect to the company’s geostationary #satellites.

#WASHINGTON — In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, warned that the U.S. faces a “window of vulnerability” over the next few years to defend critical space assets from potential aggression.

At a Feb. 29 hearing alongside Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, Whiting singled out #China and Russia as the leading threats the U.S. space architecture faces in the near future due to their ongoing development of anti-satellite weapons.

U.S. Space Command, established in 2019 in Colorado Springs, is the Defense Department’s combatant command responsible for space operations. It is tasked with monitoring space activity and threats, supporting U.S. and allied military units with space capabilities like communications and surveillance, and responding to crises involving the space domain.

#WASHINGTON — #NASA and Intuitive Machines declared the IM-1 mission, in its final hours, an “unqualified success” despite a hard landing that left the spacecraft askew.

At a press conference Feb. 28, agency and company officials said they had received data from nearly all the payloads on the Nova-C lander, named Odysseus, that landed six days earlier near Malapert A crater in the south polar regions of the moon.

“We had some very high level mission objectives to touch down softly on the surface of the moon — softly and safely — and return scientific data to our customers,” said Steve Altemus, chief executive of Intuitive Machines. “Both of those objectives are met, so in our minds this is an unqualified success.”

#RESTON, Va. — Frank Calvelli, the assistant secretary of the Air Force in charge of Space Force acquisitions, said a top concern for his office this year is the launch tempo of United Launch Alliance.

“I think it’s going to be really important for us to watch two amazing companies: ULA and Blue Origin,” Calvelli said Feb. 27. “They need to scale.”

Speaking at the National Security Space Association’s Defense and Intelligence Space Conference, Calvelli applauded the successful inaugural launch last month of ULA’s new Vulcan rocket and emphasized the need for the company to adapt swiftly to a faster-paced launch schedule

#WASHINGTON — #Rocket #Lab says it could launch its first Neutron rocket before the end of the year as it outlines a long-term vision for the company that involves its own satellite constellation.

In a Feb. 27 earnings call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter and 2023 financial results, Rocket Lab executives said development of its Neutron medium-lift reusable rocket was on schedule and budget, with a goal of a first launch before the end of the year.

“Right now, we have a schedule that closes for a launch by the end of the year,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said of Neutron. “But, we’ve got a lot of testing to get through.”

#WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Space Force continues to refine its plan to leverage commercial services, a top general said he expects space domain awareness to be one area where private sector capabilities will be increasingly needed.

With more congestion and threats to satellites in orbit, the Space Force will need more sophisticated space tracking data and analytics capabilities that can transform raw data into actionable intelligence on activities in orbit, said Lt. Gen. #David #Miller, commander of Space Operations Command.

Based at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, the Space Operations Command is responsible for training and fielding combat-ready forces.

#WASHINGTON — Intuitive #Machines said Feb. 26 it expects to communicate with its #Odysseus lunar lander, tipped on its side on the lunar surface, for only one more day, a much shorter timeline than previously expected.

In an update posted Feb. 26, the first since a Feb. 23 briefing where the company revealed the Nova-C lander likely tipped over while landing the previous day, the company released a low-resolution image taken by the spacecraft after landing. The image showed part of the lander and the shadow it cast on the surface, but few other details about the health and status of the lander. The company also released an image taken during the lander’s descent.

#WASHINGTON — In a departure from recent guidance, the Space Force will use cost-plus contracts for its high-priority strategic communications satellite program.

Space Force acquisition executive Frank Calvelli said Feb. 23 that the service has decided to not use fixed-price contracts for the Evolved Strategic #Satellite Communications System (ESS), a critical component of the U.S. military’s nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) #network that provides nuclear-survivable communications.

Calvelli has previously indicated a preference for fixed-price contracts as a means to control costs and incentivize efficiency in #satellite procurements. However, he said that an exception will be made for the ESS program.

#WASHINGTON — #NASA and SpaceX are proceeding with a commercial crew mission to the International Space Station later this week, part of a busy schedule of missions to the station this year.

#NASA completed a flight readiness review Feb. 25 for the Crew-8 mission to the ISS, announcing late in the day that the agency had approved plans for the launch, scheduled for 12:04 a.m. Eastern March 1 from the Kennedy Space Center. That would allow the Crew Dragon spacecraft to dock with the station at approximately 7 a.m. Eastern March 2.