To the Moon (soon) (8/29/22)

Good morning. We’re infinitely jelly of those of y’all at KSC for the Artemis launch. Hopefully, you booked an open-ended trip and are flexible on travel plans, though…

Quick programming note: Payload won’t send next Monday, as it’s Labor Day in the states.

In today's newsletter:🚀 Artemis I update📶 T-Mobile + SpaceX🗓️ The week ahead

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

It's a Scrub

We’ll be waiting a few more days for NASA’s return to the moon. This morning, SLS’ debut flight was scrubbed at T-40 minutes after a handful of weather- and engine-related delays.

Artemis I: The first mission in NASA’s Moon-to-Mars program will be an uncrewed test flight, sending the Orion crew capsule on a 42-day trip around the moon, further than any crew-rated spacecraft has traveled before.

• The crewless crew capsule is equipped with a host of test dummies and sensors that will measure the onboard conditions.

• This equipment will ensure that the flight will be safe for humans later on.

• At the end of the mission, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean.

VP Harris was on site for the attempt, along with a number of celebrities who were scheduled to perform if the rocket were to launch.

Facing delays: The morning kicked off with a 45-minute delay due to thunderstorms down on the Space Coast. Tanking operations began at 1:14am ET, and both tanks on the rocket were successfully filled to 100%.

NASA identified a hydrogen leak shortly after beginning liquid hydrogen loading. After turning the hydrogen line off and on again (and manually chilling the line), loading restarted…

…until the team found that the third of four engines on the core stage was not within the temperature range required for launch. Launch controllers began funneling cryogenic fuel to engine 3 to cool it down enough, and after some troubleshooting, held the launch at T-40 minutes to discuss their options.

The hold at T-40 minutes lasted through the beginning of the launch window, at which point NASA decided to scrub the launch.

Wait for it…The next launch window opens Sept. 2 at 12:48pm ET for two hours. After that, there are daily opportunities to launch until Sept. 5. If the rocket can’t launch by then, it’ll have to roll back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be refurbished, and we’re looking at a longer delay.

Share this with someone who can't wait for the next attempt:

Magenta Starlink

ICYMI, and you probably didn’t, SpaceX and T-Mobile have teamed up to bring satellite-to-smartphone connectivity to mobile networks. SpaceX is working on connecting existing, unmodified phones to a new type of mobile network.

Big, if true: This technology could blanket the globe with a new layer of cellular connectivity. And the tie-up has the potential to eliminate cell “dead zones” in and around the US, SpaceX chief engineer/executive Elon Musk said Thursday.

Musk spoke on stage at Starbase alongside T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert, who commented that the US has over 500,000 square miles of cell dead zones.

• Working with Starlink is “a lot like putting a cellular tower in the sky, just a lot harder,” Sievert said. Starlink V2 sats will be fitted with 269 square-foot antennas to support the capability.

• They’ll be “extremely advanced, because they've got to pick up a very quiet signal from your cell phone and then be caught by a satellite that's traveling 17,000 [mph],” Musk said.

NB: This partnership, for now, doesn’t include broadband. The companies are starting small with messaging services and may later expand to voice.

• The initial service will splice coverage areas into large cell zones. Each zone’s connectivity will be rate-limited at ~2–4 megabytes.

• What that means: Each cell could support millions of text messages (or 1,000-2,000 voice calls).

• Therefore, users shouldn’t expect broadband-type services (so, no HD video streaming or on-the-go Zoom calls, at least to start).

For the reasons listed above, this technology should be thought of as connectivity that will be tapped as a last resort, rather than a stand-in for today’s terrestrial networks.

NB, pt. II: This is a tech partnership, not a product launch, Sievert noted. T-Mobile and SpaceX need to work with major messaging providers (Apple’s iMessage, Android, etc.) to iron out how exactly their technology would work on the network.

The timeline: The companies say they’ll kick off tests in remote, rural parts of the US by the end of 2023. Beta service could also begin next year.

The competition

AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) is preparing to launch its test BlueWalker 3 satellite in the coming weeks on a Falcon 9. $ASTS traded up 5.79% on Friday.

Lynk Global tells Payload it's signed contracts with 14 mobile network operators in 35 countries, is actively testing its space-based service in 10 separate markets (and on three continents), and will enter commercial service this year.

Finally, Verizon and Project Kuiper have teamed up in an arrangement that will see Amazon’s LEO constellation providing cellular backhaul connectivity to the US telco’s terrestrial 4G LTE and 5G networks.

+ Idle speculation: Apple is promoting its next iPhone event, taking place next Wednesday, with the “far out” tagline. Apple’s promo tweet looks and sounds…pretty spacey. See below.

The rumor mill is buzzing with talk that Apple will announce satellite connectivity for the iPhone 14 next week. Stay tuned…

Our full story online has more details on the competition. Share this story with someone who's always stuck in dead zones:

Sponsored 

Get Your Satellite Data From Ursa Space

One of the most difficult aspects of ordering satellite imagery is starting a relationship with a vendor. Yearly contracts, minimum spends, and limited archives can curb the consumer base.

What's worse, as Ursa's market research found, is that customers spend 90% of their time in the ordering process, from first engaging with a satellite analytics platform, to the final step of receiving an analytical result.

It has always been the mission of Ursa Space to get satellite imagery into as many hands as possible. In February 2022, the Ursa Platform was built with a focus to reduce the time a customer spends waiting for a satellite image, and to simplify the experience for these potential customers.

With more satellite data at the ready, accessibility is no longer only for the few. Accounts in the Ursa Platform are free to set up, and users only pay for the images they wish to use.

In Other News

• Inmarsat reported $363.4M in Q2 revenue (+5% YoY), with aviation division revenues jumping 48% YoY. The Viasat deal is tracking to close by the end of the year.

• The FCC’s decision to allow SpaceX to deploy more Starlink satellites at lower altitudes was upheld by a US appeals court.

• CASC, China’s space agency, announced that it successfully re-launched its reusable spaceplane on Friday.

• CAPSTONE reached apogee, its furthest point from Earth. The ‘lil spacecraft that could reached a distance of 1,531,949 km on Friday afternoon (near Gateway’s intended parking spot).

• Nichelle Nichols’ ashes will find their final resting place among the stars aboard the Vulcan Centaur’s inaugural flight. Celestis, a space memorial services company, organized the flight.