Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said today that whatever caused the leak on the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft was an external impact.  A little over a week ago Progress MS-21 sprang a leak and lost its coolant to space, an event reminiscent of a coolant leak on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft two months earlier.  Investigations continue as to what happened, but Roscosmos is convinced the next spacecraft, Soyuz MS-23, will not suffer the same fate. Its launch is on track for Thursday EST.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of February 19-26, 2023 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in recess this week except for pro forma sessions.

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Russian engineers got a better look at the radiator on the Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft last night as it departed the International Space Station and saw no damage. After rechecking the radiator on Soyuz MS-23, which is awaiting launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Roscosmos said today it is recommending launch on February 23 EST (February 24 Moscow Time). Soyuz MS-23 will not have anyone aboard on the way to ISS. It is replacing Soyuz MS-22, which had its own coolant leak two months ago, and will bring the Russian-American MS-22 crew home later this year.

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Japan was just a moment away from the inaugural launch of its new H3 rocket when the launch was scrubbed. The main engine started, but not the side-mounted Solid Rocket Boosters. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and its industry partners are investigating what went wrong.

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NASA and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos are using the Canadarm2 robotic arm to take a look at Russia’s Progress MS-21 cargo spacecraft to help determine why all its coolant leaked into space on Saturday.  Yesterday the head of Roscosmos decided to delay the launch of Soyuz MS-23 to sometime in March until the situation is better understood. Soyuz MS-23 is replacing Soyuz MS-22, which suffered its own coolant leak in December, and will return a Russian-American crew to Earth later this year.

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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of February 12-19, 2023 and any insight we can offer about them. The Senate is in session this week. The House is in recess except for pro forma sessions.

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A Russian cargo spacecraft docked to the International Space Station suffered a coolant leak today, the second in as many months. In December, the Soyuz MS-22 crew spacecraft lost all of its coolant. Engineers concluded it likely was due to a micrometeorite strike, but now that Progress MS-21 seems to have a similar leak, they will have to look even more closely at the data to ensure there is no common defect that could affect other spacecraft. Soyuz MS-23, a replacement for Soyuz MS-22, is scheduled for launch next week.

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SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket is another step closer to launch today after a static fire test of its 33 first stage engines. In the end, only 31 fired, but company founder and CEO Elon Musk optimistically said that is still enough to reach orbit. The first orbital launch could take place as soon as next month.

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The Hague Institute for Global Justice unveiled a compact on norms of behavior for commercial space operations last night in Washington, D.C. and presented it to the United Nations today. The “Washington Compact” is a set of non-binding principles for responsible and sustainable commercial space operations. They are somewhat akin to the Artemis Accords for governments, but these are for companies and civil society. The document, signed by 53 individuals, organizations and companies so far, was submitted to the U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

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NASA is waiting for Congress to approve its plan for a Moon to Mars Program Office to comply with the 2022 NASA Authorization Act. Congress supports NASA’s current focus on returning astronauts to the Moon, but as a steppingstone to Mars, not the end goal, and required NASA to establish an organizational structure that will help ensure NASA keeps the long term goal top of mind.

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