Stepping stone (8/9/23)

Good morning. We hope you’ll join us this morning for a webinar on automation in satellites hosted by our very own Jack Kuhr. Scroll down for more details and to register.

Today’s newsletter:
🌕 Artemis II update
🎙️ Pathfinder #0058
💸 The term sheet

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NASA’s Updated Road to the Moon

Artemis II crew, meet Orion.

NASA is gearing up for the second installment of its campaign to get humans back to the Moon. On Artemis II, four astronauts will ride the Orion capsule around the Moon to test its systems and pave the way for a landing on the next trip. Yesterday, that crew—made up of NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch and CSA’s Jeremy Hansen—got their first in-person look at their home-away-from-Earth for the 10-day mission.

NASA officials confirmed yesterday that they’re still targeting a November 2024 launch for Artemis II, though there are a few weeks of risk baked into that target already.

Round three: Artemis II isn’t going to land on the Moon, but Artemis III will—if (and that’s a big if) NASA’s contractors are ready to fly by the targeted launch date in December 2025.

• Artemis III intends to use Starship to land on the lunar surface, but the agency has doubts about whether the Human Landing System (HLS) will be ready in time.

• HLS also requires an in-orbit fuel transfer, which has never been done before.

• The new spacesuits designed for the program could also hold up the mission.

If those systems aren’t ready, NASA is prepared to “end up flying a different mission,” Artemis program head Jim Free said yesterday.

“What we should do is expect to fly safely and advance our cause of understanding, to do our science for the cause of understanding of our vehicles and systems,” Free said.

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Powering Space and Pathfinder #0058 with Tyler Bernstein

Nuclear technology is having its moment, according to Zeno Power cofounder and CEO Tyler Bernstein.

NASA has used radioisotope tech since the 1960s, but the systems have historically been too expensive and heavy to be widely used. Zeno Power, which develops radioisotope power systems (RPS) that are lighter, more efficient, and more cost-effective than legacy systems, is trying to change that.

How does it work? Zeno Power's RPS works by converting the heat from decaying radioisotopes into electricity. Its initial system uses Strontium-90 (Sr-90), an abundant and affordable fuel that has been used in thousands of legacy RPS. The core innovation is in the fuel design and shielding technology, a key issue given Sr-90’s radioactive properties.

The company has had a recent string of commercial successes, including a number of unannounced contracts, but some of the public wins are:

• A $30M STRATFI contract awarded in May to build a radioisotope-powered satellite for the US Air Force by 2025.

• A $15M NASA Tipping Point award to develop an Americium-241 (Am-241) radioisotope Stirling generator (RSG) for long-duration lunar missions.

A sneak peek…

This week’s Pathfinder episode features Tyler Bernstein, Zeno Power’s CEO. The company was founded in 2018 by Tyler and two other Vanderbilt undergrads after working on a project to design a nuclear reactor for a Boeing 777.

Today, Mo and Tyler discuss:

• Zeno Power’s origin story

• A brief history of nuclear power in space

• The benefits of using radioisotope power systems

• The future of fission and fusion

• And much more…

Pathfinder #0058 is live now…

…check it out on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or desktop.

Our Next Webinar is Just a Few Hours Away

The Payload team is excited to host a webinar on "Automation vs. Manual Action in Satellites." In this conversation, we will discuss how satellite companies are dealing with automation vs. manual tasks within their operations.

Space Opportunities

Here are the top government opportunities for space companies this week, as compiled by our partner TZero.

🛰️ NASA has released the 2023 Ignite Phase SBIR solicitation. This year it is focused on four specific topic areas, including orbital debris mitigation. Responses are due Sept. 21.

🚀 AFRL has released the annual update to its Rocket Lab Hermes solicitation, an open BAA focused on maturing technologies for operational applications.

📡 AFRL/RY has released a Call 2 for the Kaiju BAA focused on electronic warfare capabilities. White papers are due Sept. 13.

Additional opportunities and details can be found in the TZero Space Tracker, which is now offering new lower pricing and a one-month free trial.

In Other News

• Ariane 6 won’t make its debut until 2024, ESA announced.

• Firefly introduced its Elytra orbital vehicle, formerly known as its Space Utility Vehicle, and announced plans to launch it aboard Alpha next year.

• An AI model has spotted a 600 ft-wide potentially hazardous asteroid.

• A US commission will investigate China’s EO capabilities.

The View from Space

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has started beaming pictures of the Moon back to Earth ahead of its lunar landing attempt this month.