Week in images: 7 - 11 March 2022
Week in images: 7 - 11 March 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Op-ed | Ukrainian space companies are united in defending the country
As the world watches Ukraine fighting against Russian aggression, Ukrainian companies must ensure the safety of their employees. To do this, most companies have switched to remote work formats and flexible schedules.
AST SpaceMobile books more SpaceX rides months after canceling Soyuz reservation
AST SpaceMobile is expanding a launch deal with SpaceX for its cellphone-compatible broadband constellation following a 2021 decision to move its upcoming BlueWalker-3 prototype mission from Russia’s now-embargoed Soyuz to a Falcon 9.
Bahrain joins Artemis Accords
Bahrain became the latest country to join the Artemis Accords as the agreement regarding principles for cooperation in space exploration continues to expand beyond traditional spacefaring nations.
The post Bahrain joins Artemis Accords appeared first on SpaceNews.
'We want to be the UPS or FedEx of the moon': A startup's big moonshot
A California startup is joining much bigger players in the drive to explore settlement on the moon, as plans by NASA to send astronauts back there heats up the commercial lunar market.
Aerospace firm Venturi Astrolab Inc., better known as Astrolab, based in Hawthorn, California, is building an all-purpose truck that is intended to construct lunar infrastructure and also ferry astronauts around, enabling work that would make long-term settlement on the moon possible.
Companies are betting that NASA's drive to return to the moon in several years, along with technological and business advancements that have lowered launch costs, could be lucrative for businesses that get in there early and succeed.
"We are transitioning now from just the earliest phase of exploration to the early stage of settlement," said Chris Hadfield, a retired Canadian astronaut and advisory board member for Astrolab. "This is going to become part of human commerce and human geography," he said of early moon settlement.
NASA is aiming to launch astronauts to the moon no earlier than 2025 as part of its Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the moon.
Ingenuity still “as good as new” after nearly a year on Mars
After nearly a year of operations, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is still “as good as new” as it serves as a scout for the Perseverance rover.
The post Ingenuity still “as good as new” after nearly a year on Mars appeared first on SpaceNews.
From the archives | An untethered Ukraine seeks new orbits for its space industry
Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 meant Ukraine lost access to a major satellite ground station located there. That annexation, and ongoing unrest in eastern Ukraine, have also cut off most business Ukraine's space industry had with Russia.
From the archives | How Crimea’s annexation hurt Ukraine’s space program
Ukraine's space agency, and the country's small but highly specialized space industry, have been hit harder than Russia by the conflict over Crimea. The real problem was the political impact on Ukraine's industrial ties with Russia, the main customer for the two flagship enterprises of Ukraine's space industry.
Sanctions could cause space station to crash: Roscosmos
Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted.
According to Dmitry Rogozin, the sanctions, some of which predate Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS.
As a result, the Russian segm 
