North America

NASA has announced the end of life of its InSight mission after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. NASA reached this conclusion after mission controllers at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California could not contact the lander after two consecutive attempts. As a result, they concluded the spacecraft's solar-powered batteries had run out of energy – a state engineers refer to as "dead bus."

On December 19, the Outer Space Institute published an International Open Letter on Reducing Risks from Uncontrolled Reentries of Rocket Bodies. The letter was signed by nearly 200 leading experts, including former astronauts, foreign ministers, heads of space agencies, a Nobel Prize winner, and a recently retired Chief Scientist of NASA.

The Outer Space Institute (OSI) has published the International Open Letter on Reducing Risks from Uncontrolled Reentries of Rocket Bodies, the third international open letter that the OSI has developed and released. The Open Letter calls on governments to negotiate a multilateral agreement requiring controlled reentries and, in the meantime, demonstrate leadership by immediately and unilaterally committing to national controlled reentry regimes.

Saturn Satellite Networks has selected CesiumAstro’s Vireo-GEO active phased array RF payload for Saturn’s Space BroadbandNetworks-1 (SBN-1). The SBN-1 program consists of 6 high-throughput geostationary satellites (HTSs) that will provide satellite-based internet access services to satellite operators, capacity resellers, internet service providers, and end users.

Aerospace and defense technology innovator, L3Harris Technologies, signed a definitive agreement with propulsion systems and energetics provider, Aerojet Rocketdyne, for L3Harris to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for US $58 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at US $4.7 billion, inclusive of net debt, L3Harris said. The deal is expected to close in 2023.

SES has announced that it has successfully launched the first two O3b mPOWER satellites into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States. With a design that will deliver unprecedented performance with a first-of-its-kind software-driven payload, O3b mPOWER is SES’s second-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) system.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Chair of the National Space Council, announced the names of the selected individuals to serve on the Council’s Users Advisory Group (UAG) to help maintain a robust and responsible U.S. space enterprise and preserve space for current and future generations, The White House stated. The members are currently awaiting their official appointment by the NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

Maxar Technologies has announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement which will see Advent International (“Advent”), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, acquire the Company. The acquisition will feature an all-cash transaction that values Maxar at an enterprise value of approximately $6.4 billion. Following the closing of the transaction, Maxar will remain a US-controlled and operated company.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a National In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) Implementation Plan. The plan is to advance the United States’ strategic vision as in the first-ever ISAM National Strategy, which outlines ways to build capabilities and technologies in space, consistent with the U.S. Space Priorities Framework. 

The Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station experienced a coolant leak because of which Roscosmos had to cancel a spacewalk, NASA said. NASA and Roscosmos are currently evaluating the impacts of the leak to the integrity of the spacecraft. The crew members aboard the ISS are safe.