If you could not make it to the annual International Astronautical Congress, underway in Paris this week, Aviation Week Intelligence Network has you covered.

On the Ground at the IAC

Sunday, September 18th

If you could not make it to the annual International Astronautical Congress, underway in Paris this week, Aviation Week Intelligence Network has you covered. Senior Space Editor, Irene Klotz, and Defense & Space Executive Managing Editor, Jen Dimascio, offer you an inside look at what's happening.

Space for All—Except Russia (and not so much China either)

The annual Olympics of space conferences opened on Sunday (more about why Sunday later) under the umbrella theme of “Space for @ll,” with more than 8,800 attendees from all over the world, except for Russia and with only a few delegates from China.

Although Russia remains a key and committed partner in the International Space Station program, the country is absent from IAC following Europe’s widely report split with its former space collaborator (which left ExoMars grounded and Soyuz payloads looking for new rides to space) due to the invasion of Ukraine.

At the traditional heads of space agencies press conference, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says he spoke with Yury Borisov, newly named head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and said he looked forward to seeing him “at [the] first opportunity.”

China National Space Agency (CNSA) Vice Administrator Yanhua Wu and delegates had planned to attend IAC, but withdrew.

“Unfortunately, there was a schedule conflict for the Chinese delegations so they could not attend,” says Silvia Antolino, senior communications manager with the International Astronautical Federation, which hosts the IAC.

A few representatives from CNSA were on site to accept an award Sunday morning, notes European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher. “So China is represented, but maybe not at the very top level.”

This year’s IAC is running from Sunday-Thursday, rather than the traditional Monday-Friday because the Paris Convention Center—which previously had the conference booked for 2021—did not have the facility available for Friday when IAC 2022 was reschedule due to the Covid pandemic.

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Meet SUSIE and the Ariane 6

SUSIE, the Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration, is ArianeGroup’s conceptual cargo hauler and future crew capsule. The reusable upper stage would replace the payload fairing of an Ariane 64 rocket and could also be used on a future reusable rocket. The design would be scalable, so it could be adapted to a future family of reusable, modular launchers with common elements such as the Prometheus engine.

Measuring 12 m long and 5 m wide and weighing in at 25 tons, SUSIE can carry 7 tons of cargo back to Earth within its 40-cubic meter cargo hold—or five people in its crewed configuration—more than a 20-cubic meter truck, notes Joost Van Tooren, human spaceflight program manager for ArianeGroup.

SUSIE is a one-stop-shop attempt by European industry to respond to a variety of competitors. It would be capable of tugging payload upgrades, conducting inspections and removing debris and could pave the way for in-space manufacturing and human spaceflight.

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Speaking of Europe...

European space leaders are gearing for the European Space Agency ministerial council. Director General Josef Aschbacher is laying the groundwork for a 25% increase in space spending since 2019. Aviation Week’s Thierry Dubois detailed comments from Aschbacher about the increase last week, but the ministers elaborated for the IAC audience

Key arguments are twofold: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is imperative for Europe to assure its own access to space. Second, ESA employs 1 million workers in Europe and posts a 5:1 Euro return-on investment.

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Back in the USA

NASA is preparing for another tanking test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, following scrubs on Aug. 29 and Sept. 3. A hydrogen leak (check out our podcast for more on that) which scuttled the last liftoff attempt has been repaired—hopefully—hence the tanking test. If successful, NASA could make a third launch attempt on Sept. 27, but only if the U.S. Space Force agrees to extend a waiver for certification of the rocket’s flight termination system.

Following a presentation on the Artemis program at IAC, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free says he is not expecting the Space Force to show its cards until after NASA gets through the tanking test, which is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 21.

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