Drops of Jupiter (4/14/23)

Good morning. Shout out to the 201 of you who joined the Payload rocket ship this week. We’re glad to have you on board.

In today's edition...🍊 JUICE heads to Jupiter🛡️ Global counterspace report🚀 Falcon Heavy goes expendable💫 Payload's picks 

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JUICE Lifts Off Aboard Ariane 5 and Heads to Jupiter

The JUICE is Jupiter-bound. 

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft launched aboard an Ariane-5 rocket this morning from the European Spaceport in French Guiana. The probe will perform four gravitational assist fly-bys of Venus and Earth before heading to Jupiter, where it’s scheduled to arrive in July 2031. 

The squeeze: JUICE will spend three to four years in the Jovian system, primarily exploring Jupiter’s Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto moons. 

The three moons are believed to contain large bodies of liquid water underneath their icy surfaces. Scientists are eager to determine whether these oceans could host conditions conducive to forming life. 

The primary objectives of the mission are:

• Search for biosignatures and signs of habitable conditions 

• Map the geology, magnetic fields, and atmosphere of the moons

• Analyze Jupiter’s dynamic environment, specifically its magnetosphere

Weighing 2,400 kg, the spacecraft is equipped with 10 advanced scientific instruments to assist with its analysis. The instruments include remote sensors, geophysical detectors, and in-situ tools. 

A closer look: The probe will spend months orbiting Jupiter and complete multiple fly-bys of the three moons before inserting into Ganymede’s orbit for a closer look. Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system and the only one with a magnetic field. It’s believed to harbor oceans ten times deeper than Earth’s. 

Last drop: When the spacecraft finally runs out of juice in 2035, it will say its final goodbye before impacting into Ganymede. ESA estimates the total cost of the mission to be €1.6B ($1.8B).

NASA’s trip to Jupiter: In 2024, NASA will launch its own probe to Jupiter, the Europa Clipper. The spacecraft is expected to arrive in the Jovian system in 2030, a year ahead of JUICE, and will focus its studies on Europa.

Secure World Foundation Releases 2023 Update to Counterspace Report

Russia has used space assets in its assault on Ukraine, including using electronic warfare capabilities against targets in orbit and interfering with European Sentinel-1 SAR satellites over the country, according to a new report evaluating the counterspace capabilities of 11 countries.

The Secure World Foundation on Friday released the 2023 version of its annual Counterspace Report, which details the space capabilities of the US as well as adversaries like China and Russia. Though multiple countries are capable of both destructive and non-destructive counterspace activities, no one has used destructive capabilities in military operations.

Counterspace= the set of capabilities or techniques that are used to gain space superiority. 

“Global Counterspace Capabilities: An Open Source Assessment” takes a look at publicly available information from 11 countries to assess their near-term and future counterspace capabilities in five categories: 

1. Direct-ascent: weapons that use missiles to destroy satellites, but are not placed into orbit themselves

2. Co-orbital: weapons that are placed into orbit and then attack the target by destructive or non-destructive means

3. Electronic warfare: weapons that use radio frequency energy to interfere with satellite communications

4. Directed energy: weapons that use focused energy (think laser, particle, or microwaves)  to harm space systems

5. Cyber: weapons that use software/network techniques to harm computer systems

The covered countries are: the United States, Russia, China, India, Australia, France, Iran, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. 

The lowdown: The US, Russia, and China are the most advanced in their counterspace efforts, with capabilities ranging from ASAT to directed energy weapons to the capacity to develop co-orbital technologies. India’s shift from a civil to a military focus on space is relatively recent, but the country has demonstrated ASAT capability. Australia, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK have also only recently begun expanding the military focus on space but have historically specialized in things like hosting ground infrastructure and satellites. Japan also has latent ASAT ability via its missile defense system. Iran and North Korea both have nascent space programs, but can interfere with satellite signals and jam civilian GPS signals. North Korea’s technological abilities are less well known. 

Falcon Heavy Goes Expendable

What goes up won’t come down. 

SpaceX is preparing its Falcon Heavy rocket to launch a ViaSat-3 satellite on April 18—the first mission for the rocket in which all three boosters will be expended. 

The mission: The Falcon Heavy, which consists of three Falcon 9 boosters, will deploy the ViaSat broadband communication satellite to GEO. It will be SpaceX’s sixth Falcon Heavy launch. The satellite is the first of three 6,400-kg birds in the ViaSat-3 constellation. 

A fully expendable launch: ViaSat has opted to take the direct-to-GEO route, requiring SpaceX to modify the Falcon Heavy for max velocity generation. 

• The launch vehicle will use up all its fuel for the deployment mission and reserve none for the boosters to power themselves safely back to Earth. 

• Since all three rockets are expendable, SpaceX did not install landing gear on the vehicle. 

While SpaceX has previously expended the Falcon Heavy’s center core, this will be the first time the rocket is configured to be fully expendable. Although they have not revealed the final costs, ViaSat is expected to pay a premium for the disposable rocket. 

Falcon Heavy: The Falcon Heavy debuted in 2018 with the iconic launch of a red Tesla Roadster into a heliocentric orbit. Since then, the launch vehicle has completed four launches. After the April 18 launch, Falcon Heavy has three additional launches scheduled for 2023.

Sponsored

Meet ITA at Symposium 

The Italian Trade Agency, in collaboration with ASI, Italian Space Agency, is proud to announce its participation at the latest edition of Space Symposium, Colorado Springs. from April 17-20.

The Italian pavilion will be spotlighting an industry-leading delegation (Booth #603) of 10 Italian companies including:

[AIKO], [APR], [ALTEC], [CEI PIEMONTE], [D-ORBIT], [LEAF SPACE], [EIE GROUP], [OFFICINA STELLARE], [PICOSATS], and [SABELT].

Don't miss the chance to experience Italian hospitality and learn more Italy in Space during our Italian Space Hours networking events. 

These events will be held at the pavilion, booth 603 on Tuesday, April 18, and Wednesday, April 19, at 3:30 pm.

Tuesday, we will be honored to have Giorgio Saccoccia, President of ASI, as our special guest, presenting IAC 2024 in Milan, Italy.

Wednesday, Kelli Kedis Ogborn, Space Economy Strategist at Space Foundation, will be our special guest, presenting a new collaboration with Italy in Space. 

In Other News

• Firefly completed a full-duration static fire ahead of the VICTUS NOX mission for USSF.

• 2.6B people were unconnected to broadband at the end of 2022, a Euroconsult report found.

• NASA believes Blue Origin’s New Glenn remains on schedule for the 2024 ESCAPADE launch to Mars.  

• Intelsat will install a Mission Pod Extension on one of its GEO satellites to increase its lifespan. 

• ULA CEO Tory Bruno released a video of the recent hydrogen leak explosion during Centaur V testing.  

• Russia announced it will participate in the ISS until 2028.

The View from Space

Curiosity rover snapped a photo of spikes jutting out from a rock on the surface of Mars.. Researchers believe it’s likely rippled mudflats.