Space manufacturing has been on the horizon for decades without success. However one major hurdle past efforts failed to overcome was obtaining regular and affordable access to low Earth orbit. This capability was expected to be provided by the space shuttle, though it never materialized. In recent years, however, the problem has been reduced due to a rapidly growing set of commercial launch providers. Because of this change, space manufacturing has the potential to rapidly become a reality.

Adam HugoJanuary 31, 2019article, 3dprinting, manufacturing, iss, terrestrialComment

Mining Thousands of Tons of Space Ice with Queen Bee

TransAstra Corporation proposed a spacecraft able to deliver five-thousand-tons of water-ice to cislunar space per two-year mission. This is the largest amount of delivered water ice proposed from any active group. They call their system the Queen Bee. It is part of the Asteroid Provided In-Situ Supplies (APIS; Apis) architecture. Queen Bee is a large scale version of their asteroid mining spacecraft design.

Mining, SpacecraftAdam HugoJanuary 22, 2019asteroid, water, article, asteroid miningComment

Swarm Preparing for 150 CubeSat Constellation

Swarm Technologies is making progress on launching its 150 CubeSat strong IoT constellation. As IEEE reported on January 3, 2019, Swarm submitted a request to the FCC for permission to launch its full constellation into low Earth orbit (LEO). Swarm has indicated that it will be ready to launch at least four more satellites as soon as March 1. Global competition in the IoT satellite field is fierce, with Swarm pushing hard to gain market share for itself.

SpacecraftJosh SchertzJanuary 19, 2019article, cubesat, satellite, iot, communication, terrestrial, spacecraft, engineeringComment

Where Did Chang'e 4 Go?

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has successfully landed Chang’e 4 on the far side of the Moon. This is the first time a human made spacecraft has landed on the far side. However, what exactly is the far side of the Moon and what do they expect to find there? In short, unique terrain that can answer fundamental questions about lunar and Solar System evolution.

SpacecraftJosh SchertzJanuary 15, 2019article, moon, china, robotics, science Comments

ESA Propelling CubeSat with Butane

ESA recently demonstrated the use of a butane based cold gas propulsion system to adjust the orbit of the GomX-4B CubeSat. GomX-4B was able to maintain formation with its twin, GomX-4A, up to the curvature of Earth, 4500 km away. This mission is verifying the operation for a planned CubeSat constellation. Refining CubeSat propulsion like this is key for future asteroid surveying and processing spacecraft.

Josh SchertzJanuary 10, 2019article, cubesat, satellite, engineering, thrusters, terrestrialComment

Ultima Thule May Answer NEO Questions

On Jan 1, 2019, the NASA New Horizons spacecraft flew by Ultima Thule, a 31 km wide Kuiper belt object (KBO) that is the most distant object ever visited by a human spacecraft. By studying unaltered KBOs, we gain a better understanding of how certain near-Earth objects formed and evolved as they traveled into the inner Solar System. This insight allows us to design and build more effective missions that can eventually prospect and mine NEOs for valuable resources.

MiningAdam HugoJanuary 8, 2019article, asteroid, science, nasaComment

Exploring the Kilometer Deep Ice in Korolev Crater

Korolev crater is an 81 km diameter impact crater located near the Martian north pole. It is unusual because it contains year round water ice even though it’s located further south than the perennial ice stability line. Recent Martian missions have investigated this crater, uncovering some of the mysteries hidden below the ice. Korolev may be an ideal location for a future water extraction system. It contains enough ice to make such a mission worthwhile.

MiningJosh SchertzJanuary 5, 2019article, mars, waterComment

Honeybee Robotics Demonstrates WINE

Kris Zacny of Honeybee Robotics made an exciting announcement on New Year’s Eve 2018; the successful demonstration of their WINE (the World Is Not Enough) spacecraft in vacuum. This prototype demonstration extracting water from asteroid simulants, heating it up to create steam, and using that steam for launching the system up. This prototype is paving the way for missions to eventually extract water from asteroids and return it to Earth orbit.

MiningAdam HugoJanuary 3, 2019article, robotics, asteroid, engineering, asteroid miningComment

SpaceX's Starlink Surging Starward

After raising $500 million in funding and receiving FCC permission for launch and operations, SpaceX is making good progress towards launching the first wave of satellites for its Starlink Constellation in 2019. The SpaceX Starlink was originally proposed by Elon Musk in 2015 to provide high bandwidth global internet using 11,927 satellites. If launched, Starlink promises to be the largest satellite constellation by a substantial margin.

Josh SchertzJanuary 1, 2019article, orbit, terrestrial, spacecraft, engineeringComment

Hayabusa 2 Begins Ryugu Exploration

On September 21, 2018 the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced that MINERVA-II-1’s two rovers, Rover-1A and Rover-B, landed on asteroid Ryugu. This was the first time humans have landed a mobile exploration robot on an asteroid along with capturing images from an asteroid’s surface. The photographs taken by the rovers showed a beautiful scene of boulders, without visible regolith.

MiningAdam HugoDecember 29, 2018article, asteroid, scienceComment

Digging Deep with InSight

NASA (and DLR) will soon be breaking new lows on Mars with the deployment of InSight’s Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3 by burrowing down deeper than any instrument ever deployed off Earth. HP3 main mission is to study Martian crust properties and evolutionary history. Though this may appear to only be a science based mission, gaining a deeper understanding of Mars' crust is essential for developing any mining system that will excavate material beyond the surface.

MiningJosh SchertzDecember 27, 2018article, mars, scienceComment

Prospecting on the Moon: Russia, Europe to Hunt for Ice

As part of the Russian Federal Space Agency’s (Roscosmos) Luna-Glob lunar exploration program, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) are teaming up to prospect for water at the lunar south pole. The Russian Luna 27 mission will be entering its detailed design phase in 2019, with launch planned for around 2022. Upon arriving at the moon, the Russian Luna 27 lander will set itself down in the South Pole Aitken basin, on the moon’s far side.

MiningAdam HugoDecember 25, 2018article, moon, scienceComment

Deep Space Cubesats with MarCO

NASA’s twin Mars Cube One (MarCO) cubesats successfully completed their demonstration mission of relaying telemetry from the Mars InSight lander during InSight’s descent into the Martian atmosphere on November 26, 2018. This is a major milestone for cubesats because it validates that they can survive deep space and provide unique capabilities to future deep space missions.

SpacecraftJosh SchertzDecember 22, 2018article, deep space, mars, engineeringComment

US Geological Survey Increasing Its Focus on Space Resources

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a United States government scientific agency which has long been tasked with studying the landscape of the United States, including mapping it’s natural resources. Recently, however, the USGS has signaled intentions of documenting and mapping certain space resources.

MiningAdam HugoDecember 20, 2018article, policy, generalComment

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