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In the first half of 2023 I conducted a study on the future of the global space economy for the future studies institute 2b AHEAD. Being based on in-depth expert interviews from both inside and outside the space sector, the study contains some wild predictions for the upcoming two decades: private space stations, modular, repairable satellites, a permanent Moon base, and nuclear propulsion. But many of these predictions stand on the assumption that SpaceX’s Starship will, as promised, dramatically ease accessibility to space. What if Starship fails? In this article, I would like to provide an overview of the consequences of Starship’s failure for future human activities in space.

This episode of Space Café Radio is part of our Karman mini-series, produced in collaboration with the Karman Project. The Karman Project every year selects 15 fellows from around the world to foster trust, cooperation, and dialogue between global leaders in space. In this episode Editor in Chief Dr Emma Gatti interviewed Jacob Malthouse, the executive director of the Lunar Foundation and her co-fellow at the Karman Fellowship for 2023. In this intense talk, Jacob emphasizes the importance of collaboration, open standards, and informal dialogue to ensure a peaceful future on the Moon.

The Peregrine Lunar Lander is set to land on Christmas eve. It intends to touch down on a region of ancient lunar lava flows, Sinus Viscositatis, the Bay of Stickiness. This will be the first mission to launch under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. It will lift off on the first flight of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected 14 companies for the 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study, which aims to catalyze the setup of a future civil lunar framework for peaceful U.S. and international use. LunA-10 seeks to study the rapid development of technology concepts for a series of shareable, scalable systems that can operate jointly, creating monetizable services for future lunar users.

LeoLabs, a commercial provider of Space Traffic Management (STM) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA), announced on the 4th of December that it signed a partnership agreement with Aalyria, the software-defined and optical networking communications company. 

Arcfield, a government technology and mission support provider, announced on the 29th of November that it has completed its acquisition of Orion Space Solutions, a developer of end-to-end space mission capabilities and solutions. Arcfield intends for the acquisition to enhance their space exploration and hypersonic detection and tracking capabilities for agencies in the Department of Defence (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC).

by Christophe Bosquillon   At most conferences, there’s always the excuse of a plane to catch if you want to skip that last lunch keynote address. In the case of the latest von Braun Space Symposium thou, it would have been ill-advised. Mike Griffin delivered a compelling call to arms …

Spire Global, Inc. has announced the launch of its High-Resolution Weather Forecast model, a differentiated regional high-resolution weather forecasting service to meet the critical demands of the energy and commodity markets. The solution provides precise and customizable weather forecasts extending up to six days, with the capability to be run at resolutions as fine as 1 kilometre, covering any point on the globe, including the most remote regions and the open oceans.

Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing company, announced on the 27th of November that it has completed the critical design review (CDR) for its Missile Track Custody (MTC) space vehicle. The CDR investigated not just an individual spacecraft, but also the overall constellation design. The MTC program is part of Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Space Sensing Resilient Missile Warning, Missile Tracking, Missile Defense program office.

Lockheed Martin announced on the 27th of November that it will soon launch a Electronically Steerable Antenna (ESA) payload demonstrator. The ESA sensor intends to extend Lockheed Martin’s investment in scalable wideband ESA technology development to showcase on-orbit capability. The payload demonstrator will launch aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, under the mission Fly the Lightning.