Flying colors (2/21/23)

Good morning and happy Tuesday. It's great to be back. Quick programming note before we dive in: due to the holiday, Pathfinder #0036 will air tomorrow.

In today's edition...🚀 European launch landscape 🥽 A VR Martian simulator 🔁 On the move

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Europe Has Launched into 2023…Figuratively

The European launch industry is going through changes. Ariane 5 is set to be retired in a few months and launch startups are racing to debut the continent’s newest vehicles. The first two months of 2023 offer a glimpse into what could very well be a bustling year for the industry.

January

French launch startup Latitude completed the first hot fire test of its Navier engine at the end of January. The engine will power the company’s two-stage Zephyr launch vehicle, which will be capable of deploying 100 kg payloads to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at an altitude of 700 km.

January also saw a strong start to the year for Italian in-orbit logistics company D-Orbit. The company has already launched three ION Satellite Carriers. The company also signed a new contract with Thai software company Patriot Infovention for the launch of its LOGSATS 3U CubeSat, which will be the first Thai space-based IoT communications system and an aviation monitoring system.

February

February had a less ideal start. During a panel at the SmallSat Symposium on Feb. 8, Avio CEO Giulio Ranzo explained that the results of the Vega C failure investigation were expected soon. Despite declining to go into too much detail, Ranzo did confirm that the second stage had indeed been the cause of the failure. He also floated the possibility that the original Vega vehicle would return to flight so launches could continue through 2023.

German launch startup HyImpulse and partner Adamant Composites announced on Valentine’s Day that they’d successfully completed a hydrostatic burst test of a linerless carbon fiber-reinforced polymer liquid oxygen tank…we know, it’s a mouthful.

• Although the company declined to share at what pressure the tank burst, HyImpulse did say that it passed “with flying colors.”

• The tank will be utilized aboard the company’s SL1 launch vehicle, which will be powered by hybrid rocket motors and capable of deploying 500 kg payloads to LEO.

• HyImpulse first aims to launch its suborbital SR75 vehicle next year.

The prime: In its annual financial report published Feb. 16, Airbus revealed that its Defense and Space subsidiary saw a more than 40% drop in gross profits to €384M for 2022. The drop was attributed to Ariane 6 development delays; the loss of two Pleiades Neo satellites in December aboard that ill-fated second Vega C flight; and inflation.

Polish suborbital launch startup SpaceForest announced Feb. 21 that it had completed pre-launch testing procedures for its PERUN rocket. The tests were completed at the Air Force Training Centre in Ustka, Poland, and included preparation of the mobile launch pad, operation of the launcher, communication with the ground station, and refueling. All tests were completed successfully. PERUN is designed to be capable of launching 50 kg payloads to a max altitude of 150 km.

The upshot: With all this happening over just the first two months of the year, the next ten is shaping up to be quite formative. In addition to the maiden flight of Ariane 6 tentatively expected this year, Orbex, Skyrora, Isar Aerospace, and Rocket Factory Augsburg have all projected to debut their respective vehicles in 2023. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll all make it to the pad in 2023, but it all does promise some excitement in our near future.

Read Andrew's full online story, which includes info on additional launchers around Europe.

NASA Enters the Metaverse

Last week, NASA released a new crowdsourcing competition to build out a virtual reality (VR) Mars simulator. The agency would be able to use the simulator to prepare astronauts for the various scenarios they may encounter on a mission to the Red Planet.

The competition: Participants are given access to a pre-constructed digital world that emulates the terrain and gravitational conditions of Mars. They are then tasked with constructing specific missions within this realm.

The contest is divided into two phases:

• Phase 1­ (Storyboard): Design and outline the training scenarios.

• Phase 2 (Development): Develop VR functionality to bring the storyboard to life.

“These assets and scenarios will be essential to exposing researchers and test subjects to EVA-relevant scenarios, procedures, and informatics while on the Red Planet,” said Patrick Estep, human performance engineer at NASA.

The competition is conducted with crowdsourcing platform HeroX, Fortnite and Unreal Engine maker Epic Games, and immersive VR company Buendea. 2,300 participants have already entered the competition and $70,000 will be distributed to multiple winners.

Preparing for Mars: With NASA planning to send a crewed mission to Mars in the mid-2030s, it has begun taking the initial steps to ramp up crew preparation.

• NASA has already identified thousands of tasks that astronauts may need to carry out on the Red Planet.

• The jobs vary in complexity, from routine fuel tank inspections to complex habitat construction.

Pivot to virtual: To prepare astronauts for space, NASA has traditionally relied on expensive physical simulators, such as human centrifuges, analog missions, and large mock terrains. The pivot to virtual gives NASA much more flexibility to design comparably complex training scenarios at a fraction of the cost.

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The company is a prime contractor known for designing and building high-performance small satellites in incredibly fast timelines. Its small satellite constellations work across orbits on national security, science and other missions.

In Other News

• The three ISS crew members left stranded after a micrometeoroid damaged their return vessel will remain on the station until September—six months later than planned.

• A meteorite struck the ground near McAllen, Texas last week, NASA confirmed.

• China’s newest space-tracking ship, Yuanwang-5, embarked on its maiden voyage.

• ClearSpace passed an ESA program review for its planned debris removal mission.

• Iwaya Giken, a Japanese startup, announced plans today to launch a suborbital space tourism service via balloon flights.

• Vast, a space station startup that recently emerged from stealth, has acquired Launcher, TechCrunch reported this morning.

The View from Arizona