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Hey everyone. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Sol 31.

The AI race in space is… on? Rivals Nvidia and Intel rode aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 11 mission yesterday, delivering the computing components for two AI-focused research missions. An ESA cubesat will use a modified Intel processor to perform “activities such as transforming a satellite image to a street map”, while San-Francisco-based startup Aethero sent one of Nvidia’s most popular GPUs into orbit to test shielding technology made from a “polymer interspersed with nanoparticles”. AI Overlords, we’re looking forward to being death-star-ed.

In all seriousness, there are benefits to introducing commercial AI tech to space. What do you think? Will AI help us challenge the final frontier? Or will we eventually be stuck with Star Wars Destroyer-esque datacenters in orbit? Let us know, we’d love to hear from you.

Headlines:

• Rocket Factory Augsburgs first production stage destroyed in testing (Video)

• Study finds potential massive underground reservoir of water on Mars

• Polaris Dawn: record-setting mission now set to launch on the 26th

Launch Tracker:

Noteworthy: Tanager-1 lifted off on Falcon 9’s Transporter 11 mission last Friday. The satellite, funded by nonprofit Carbon Mapper Coalition and built by Planet Labs PBC, aims to scan about 130,000 square kilometres per day once fully operational. Its mission goals include identifying methane and carbon dioxide gas plumes, and to make location data of greenhouse gas ‘super-emitters’ publicly available.

Also: Progress MS-28/89P (Russian and American designation) docked safely at the ISS with around 3 tons of supplies. Butch and Suni, our Starliner astronauts, send their thanks. They’re likely stuck up there until next year, NASA affiliates say.

Eurofocus

Juiced Up

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) hasn’t been up to much else than blessing us with superlative acronyms since it’s launch on Ariane 5 last April. After all, it has only passed through about an eighth of its long cruise to Jupiter, slated to arrive in orbit in 2031.

Now, though, it’s right in the midst of its first major milestone: the first of three gravity assists with Earth. The Earth-Moon flyby, which began on Saturday, is a “world-first” attempt at a double gravity assist. After Thursday, it leaves our home system and travels on towards Venus for flyby No. 2, before heading back home for two more Earth flybys that will raise its orbit to Jupiter. ESA ground stations will be in continuous contact with Juice through the rare encounter, ensuring the spacecraft stays on course.

Also, ESA reports Juicer’s Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) Instrument is being disturbed by noise within the spacecraft. The flyby will be used to collect data and conduct observations before a mediation algorithm is developed.

What’s interesting about this? RIME, a radar boom that Juice will use to study the surface of Jupiter’s moons down to a depth of 9 kilometres, has caused issues before: RIME got jammed in its mounting bracket for a month after launch due to a pin stuck in place. ESA teams spent the month of May testing solutions, until activating an actuator saved the 16-meter long boom. (Video) link

Rapid-fire

• ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite and ESA’s Φsat-2 launch into orbit

Ridesharing on SpaceX’s Transporter 11, the two satellites made it safely into orbit. ESA’s AWS aims to provide improved weather forecasts in the Arctic, and is the pathfinder for the proposed Eumetsat EPS-Sterna constellation. Φsat-2 has an AI computer on board to process images before transmission.

• Rabea Rogge to fly on SpaceX Fram2

Rogge is the first German woman to be selected for an astronaut mission. She will join a crypto entrepreneur, a cinematographer, and a polar adventurer on a 3 to 5-day mission in polar orbit focusing on researching, you guessed it, the poles.

Zooming out

Back and Forth

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are in talks to sell United Launch Alliance (ULA) to Sierra Space, insiders say.

The news comes as a strategic move for Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the helm in March this year. If brought to completion, a deal would allow Boeing to focus on its core aerospace and defence business while providing extra cash.

Sierra Space, a 2021 spin-off from Sierra Nevada Corp, is currently focused on its Dreamchaser spaceplane project, with a first launch expected in Q4 2024. The potential sale of the joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin could value ULA at up to $3 billion - an ambitious move for Sierra Space, which recorded a valuation of $5.3 billion in its last funding round late last year.

ULA’s future has been uncertain for some time. In 2019, Boeing and Lockheed Martin explored bids from multiple potential buyers but could not agree on terms. In 2023, Bezos’ Blue Origin placed an offer for ULA together with Cerberus Capital Management, Rocket Lab expressing interest also. None of the bids led to a sale.

A deal would mark a substantial shift in the launch industry, with an aerospace heavyweight and competitor to SpaceX potentially falling into private hands. Under Sierra Space, ULA could focus heavily on human spaceflight. An acquisition would allow Sierra to launch spacecraft and crew station components without relying on external launch providers. Sierra Space is expected to shell out over $110 million for the launch of its Dreamchaser spaceplane on a ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket. link

Headlines

• Good news: Intuitive Machines seeks to take over NASA’s canceled rover

IM executives stated in an earnings call that the company was planning to respond to a request for information the Agency issued August 9th with a plan to organize a coalition of organisations to own and operate the NASA VIPER mission cancelled in July, offering its own Nova-D lander for the job.

• Roscosmos deputy chief predicts lowest launch rate since 1961

Andrei Yelchaninov, deputy director of the Russian space agency, cites contract cancellations by unfriendly contacts as the source of a multi-billion dollar loss for the state space program.

Research Report

Blue pill red pill

With elections in the US coming up quickly, the space industry is considering the impact Kamala Harris’ nomination has on space policy and politics. How does Trump’s record stack up against Biden’s in vying to secure the future of in-space dominance for western nations?

Find out on Saturday, when we publish a weekend-round up together with our Research Report.

Oh, one more thing: we’d love to hear from you. Give us feedback, let us know if we’ve missed updates that you find exciting, or shoot us a message just because. DM us on social media (see links down below, in the footer), or just reply to this email.