Archives for January 2020

Chris Forrester

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its commercial arm, Antrix, have had a tough few years with legal actions as well as allegations of fraud and malpractice that resulted in criminal convictions for some key individuals — those problems now seem to be in the past, according to a report by journalist Chris Forrester at the Advanced Television infosite.

ISRO saw overall revenues last year (financial year 2018-2019) of some $255 million. ISRO says that for 2020 that revenue could rise to more than $300 million, helped by a growing success of rocket-building and launching and never-ending growth in demand for satellite communications.

Antrix Corporation Chairman and MD Director Rakesh Sasibhushan said the revenue will be shared between the corporation and New Space India Limited, a new commercial arm of ISRO that was established in March 2019 to collaborate with the private sector for the manufacture of launch vehicles.

ISRO says that the organization also has foreign launch contracts in place for U.S. and Singapore-based businesses.

Such is the demand that ISRO is building a third launch pad near in the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu for smallsats. This need for additional launch pads has arisen as a result of the increase in the number of satellite launches from India. ISRO conducted 13 launches from its two launch pads since 2018.

The first-ever, plant-powered sensor has successfully transmitted to a satellite in space — the pilot service, using plants as the energy source, has been developed by Plant-e and Lacuna Space.

The sensor doesn’t need batteries, due to the internal storage in the system, it’ll reduce cost, maintenance requirements and environmental impact. As long as plants continue to grow, electricity will be produced.

Combining the innovative energy harvesting technology developed by Plant-e with the extremely power efficient devices from Lacuna Space, these devices are completely self-sustainable and operate independent from sunlight, day and night.

Photo of an M6P smallsat.

Image is courtesy of Lacuna Space.

The Internet of Things (IoT) prototype device, developed by the two companies, uses the electricity generated by living plants to transmit LoRa messages about air humidity, soil moisture, temperature, cell voltage and electrode potential straight to Lacuna’s satellite.

Plant-e schematic.

Future applications can be found in critical data gathering from agricultural land, rice fields or other aquatic environments without the need for any external energy sources. The pilot service is supported by the ARTES program from the European Space Agency (ESA).

Plant-e, a start-up from Wageningen, the Netherlands, has developed a technology to harvest electrical energy from living plants and bacteria to generate carbon-negative electricity. The output generates enough energy to power LEDs and sensors in small-scale products.

Lacuna, based in the UK and the Netherlands, is launching a LEO satellite system that will provide a global IoT service. The service allows collecting data from sensors even in remote areas with little or no connectivity. Currently, Lacuna Space is offering a pilot service with one satellite in orbit,and three more satellites are awaiting launch during the next few months.

Frank Zeppenfeldt, who works on future satellite communication systems at ESA, said the organization is enthusiastic about this demonstration that combines biotechnology and space technology. A number of new opportunities for satellite-based Internet-of-Things will be enabled by this technology.

Plant-e CEO Marjolein Helder added that this collaboration shows how effective plant-electricity already is at its current state of development. The company hopes this inspires others to consider plant-electricity as a serious option for powering sensors.”

Rob Spurrett, CEO and co-founder of Lacuna Space, noted that this opens up a new era in sustainable satellite communications. There are many regions in the world that are difficult to reach, making regular maintenance expensive and the use of solar power impossible. Through this technology, the company can help people, communities and companies in those regions to improve their lives and businesses.

The test was conducted and was described as a complete success according to Thales Alenia Space.

The first test of the ARGOS NEO instrument on the ANGELS nanosatellite, launched on December 20, 2019, was a complete success. Messages from Argos beacons were picked up by the ARGOS NEO instrument and then transmitted to the L-band receiving station in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The beacon sending the first signals picked up by the instrument was on a Japanese fishing vessel off the coast of Australia.  Thales Alenia Space supplied the ARGOS NEO instrument to French space agency CNES in partnership with the company SKYLINKS.  These initial results confirm Thales Alenia Space’s expertise in The Internet of Things systems operating on very low power, a market segment pioneered in part by the Argos system. 

The French Space Agency, CNES, launched the first Argos nanosatellite, creating the beginning of a revolution in the Argos system. This nanosat is the prototype mission for Kinéis, a constellation of 25 nanosatellites with Argos instruments onboard that will be launched in 2022. This new constellation will receive data from around the globe with only 10-15 minutes between satellite passes, and is fully backward compatible with existing Argos beacons. It will also allow for more data transmission and two-way communication. This constellation represents a revolution in satellite telemetry. It will be the ultimate constellation for space IoT data collection and tracking, covering a wide-range of environmental applications.

Celestia Technologies Group has announced the company has acquired the satellite ground systems division of Antwerp Space, part of the Bremen-based OHB SE Group, in a deal that will boost Celestia’s existing expertise in EGSE and ground systems.

The Celestia Technologies Group is a pan-European network of SME’s based on innovation and development of high technology products for the space, defence, telecom and scientific markets.  The addition of the Belgian business adds further capability to the group, enabling Celestia to offer customers a wider product portfolio of EGSE products alongside complete turnkey solutions and also boosts annual group turnover by 4 million euros.

All the ground segment activities previously carried out by Antwerp Space will continue in a newly created Belgian entity Celestia Antwerp BV, a fully owned subsidiary focusing on the EGSE and ground segment activities that have been the cornerstone of the Antwerp Space business for the last 50 years.

Celestia already owns C-STS, formerly part of the SSBV group, also with a strong market position in satellite EGSE and modems for ground stations.  This latest move reinforces Celestia’s overall standing in the ground systems market, opening up a more extensive product portfolio alongside important technology and cost synergies.

The combined yearly turnover for both companies will be 8 million euros, representing 25% of the Celestia group turnover.

In welcoming the 17-strong team of Antwerp Space engineers to the business, Celestia group chairman José Alonso said the firm is delighted to announce the inclusion of one of Belgium’s most well-established and experienced ground station specialists into the Celestia fold. This strategic move brings together the best of two formerly competing companies, allowing the company to exploit synergies and knowledge while providing greater integration capabilities and expertise to customers.

Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has been selected by MethaneSAT LLC (“MethaneSAT”) to develop and build the spacecraft bus for this groundbreaking mission.

MethaneSAT is a subsidiary of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The donor-funded mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2022, will provide global, high-resolution detection and quantification of methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, as well as measure emissions from other human-generated methane sources.

Artistic rendition of MethaneSAT on-orbit.

Image is courtesy of MethaneSAT™.

This comprehensive data will be made available to the public, and provide companies, governments and other stakeholders with a new way to track, quantify and take actionable steps to reduce methane emissions.

Human-generated methane emissions are responsible for more than 25 percent of global warming we currently experience. EDF calculates that reducing global oil and gas methane emissions 45 percent by 2025 would deliver the same near-term benefit to the climate as closing 1,300 coal-fired power plants.

Blue Canyon Technologies’ X-SAT.

Blue Canyon’s diverse spacecraft platform has the proven capability to enable a broad range of missions and technological advances for the New Space economy, further reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently building more than 60 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. The company has doubled in size over the past 12 months and plans to open its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility in 2020.

The satellite will be designed using BCT’s newest X-SAT line of spacecraft, specifically the X-SAT Saturn-Class which can carry payloads up to 200 kg. As with other BCT X-SAT buses, the X-SAT Saturn-Class is a high-agility platform, enabling the onboard instrument to collect data and revisit sites frequently. The X-SAT Saturn-Class’s compact profile is designed to maximize the volume, mass and power available for the methane measuring instrument.

George Stafford, President and CEO of Blue Canyon Technologies, said that reducing methane emissions is critical to slowing the pace of climate change, and the firm is proud that the company’s small satellite technology will help MethaneSAT [and Environmental Defense Fund] with this important mission. Blue Canyon’s technology will make it less expensive and quicker to launch, allowing them to collect more data sooner.”

Dr. Steven Hamburg, MethaneSAT project co-lead, added that MethaneSAT has a unique and demanding mission involving some of the most seasoned, innovative organizations and individuals from both the commercial and public aerospace sectors. Blue Canyon Technologies is a best-in-class bus provider and the organization is in their ability to deliver a spacecraft that meets the demanding performance requirements of this mission.

Aerospace company York Space Systems has announced their Hydra Mission Series, slated for launch later this year.

The Hydra series leverages York Space Systems’ fully qualified operational spacecraft design and standardized payload interfaces, as well as an enhanced production and integration facility for government and commercial manifested payload missions. Entry to orbit timelines for the Hydra series are as short as three months from delivery of customer hardware to York Space Systems’ headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

The Hydra series of spacecraft allows space system providers to flight qualify their new designs for payloads, subsystems, or components for an unprecedented low cost and minimal wait time. Customers will simply deliver their payloads to York Space Systems who will manage everything from spacecraft integration, environmental testing, launch procurement, ground systems, mission operations, licensing and insurance.

Customers can acquire the entire payload allocation for $3 million to orbit, with many securing a fraction of the available allocation for pro-rated amounts, as low as $300,000. Additionally, customers will receive completely confidential encrypted data from the Hydra series satellites on-orbit automatically. An added benefit to the program is the Hydra Flat-Sat software, a development tool that further streamlines payload integration and responsive access to space.

York Space Systems is currently seeking concepts that demonstrate the next generation of hybrid space architectures to further promote competition of ideas and collaboration among partners for a more resilient space ecosystem. The Hydra I mission is fully subscribed with multiple customers and is planned for launch in December of this year. As each spacecraft in the series becomes subscribed, York Space Systems will continue to prep quarterly missions for launch. The company is currently in discussions for payloads for Hydra II, which will launch three months after Hydra I.

The reveal of the new Hydra Series follows the successful launch of York Space Systems spacecraft earlier this year and the news of its manufacturing facilities expansion in Denver. The company also recently opened an office in Washington D.C., further signifying York Space Systems growth and momentum in the sector.

Melanie Preisser, VP of National Systems at York Space Systems, said the company began with a strategic focus on enabling advanced space solutions that leverage standardization. The firm’s customers are expanding the scope of innovation in the industry for both commercial and government use, and York remains committed to supporting their ambitions. With this new Hydra mission series, York Space Systems is to provide the next generation of space and space data entrepreneurs a simple and low risk method to accelerate their concepts to reality and strengthen the nation’s space infrastructure.

A new year and a new successful launch occurred for SpaceX ‘s  Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket with the Starlink 2 mega-constellation communications mission on its way. 

The launch took place a 7:19 PM MST (Mountain Standard Time) from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Recovery of a payload fairing was unsuccessful.

Falcon 9’s first stage supported a Starlink mission in May 2019, the Iridium-8 mission in January 2019, and the Telstar 18 VANTAGE mission in September 2018.

The Starlink satellites each weigh approximately 500 pounds, and deploy at an altitude of 290 km. Prior to orbit raise, SpaceX engineers will conduct data reviews to ensure all Starlink satellites are operating as intended. Once the checkouts are complete, the satellites will then use their onboard ion thrusters to move into their intended orbits. 

Starlink satellite flight operations take place in three phases: orbit raise, on-station service, and deorbit. After deployment, over the course of one to four months, the satellites use their onboard thrusters to raise from an altitude of 290 km to 550 km. During this phase of flight the satellites are closely clustered and their solar arrays are in a special low-drag configuration, making them appear more visible from the ground.

Once the satellites reach their operational altitude of 550km and begin on-station service, their orientation changes and the satellites become significantly less visible from the ground. On this flight, SpaceX is also testing an experimental darkening treatment on one satellite to further reduce the albedo of the body of the satellites.

Throughout flight operations, SpaceX shares high-fidelity tracking data with other satellite operators through the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron. Additionally, SpaceX is providing leading astronomy groups with predictive two-line elements (TLEs) in advance of launch so astronomers can better coordinate their observations with the satellites.

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX specifically for reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

This photo reveals how 60 Starlink satellites look when packed into the nosecone of the Falcon 9 rocket. Photo by SpaceX.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.,  (SpaceX), founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk, is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. SpaceX has many pads located on the East Coast of the United States. The company owns SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral and LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center specifically for their lower inclination launches. They also own SLC-4E at Vandenberg, California for their high inclination launches, and another site is also being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester has filed a story that, on January 6th, SpaceX is scheduled to launch one of their Falcon 9 rockets into LEO carrying 60 ‘Starlink’ satellites — the rocket was successfully test fired on January 4th.

SpaceX will also have a floating barge down range in the Atlantic Ocean ready to provide a landing stage for the rocket. The company will also ready a couple of ships with giant nets that will be deployed to capture the valuable rocket fairings, each worth a reported $6 million.

However, this first launch of the new year is just the start of a heavy schedule for Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The company is planning another three launches this January, two of which will carry similar cargoes of Starlink satellites.

By the close of this month, Musk could have 300 working satellites in space and be adding another 1,200 during the course of 2020. The process could see Starlink’s ‘broadband by satellite’ system brought into use, perhaps as early as this autumn’s notorious Hurricane Season for use by safety and rescue personnel.

There’s more — also due in January is a test launch of Musk’s Dragon (unmanned) crew capsule craft, due later this week on January 11th. Musk has contracts in place with NASA to deliver human astronauts to the International Space Station later this year.

Back in 2018 Musk, launched his rockets 21 times. Last year (2019) was a little slower with just 13 launches. This slowdown is being blamed on a lack of clients with satellites ready to launch and was not helped by a definite downturn in commercial launch activity.

Also on SpaceX’s busy manifest is a longer test launch of Musk’s giant Big Falcon Rocket Starship SN1, with Musk saying this will occur within the next two to three months. A test engine firing is scheduled for January 6 at 3:00 p.m. (Texas) time.

Blue Origin has opened their new headquarters and R&D facility in Kent, Washington.

The facility is Blue Origin’s hub of operations as the firm continues to grow their team. Below are excerpts from remarks given by Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith at the ribbon cutting event.

“2019 was a great year of progress and preparation for us, and 2020 is going to be even more remarkable – so we’re growing quickly. We grew by a third last year and we’re going to continue to grow at a rapid pace.

“We named this building the O’Neill Building after Gerard O’Neill, a physicist who envisioned millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. Gerard O’Neill was one of the visionaries who thought about how we go out into space in a quick and sustainable way so that we can preserve our planet.

“For those of you that are Washington State residents, what is exciting is we’re going to be doing all this work from a headquarters based here in Kent. It’s a remarkable statement to say that we’re going to fly humans to space, we’re going to build and design large engines and a large orbital rocket, and we’re going to go back to the Moon – all through work centered here.

“We’re excited to continue to see this growth in this new facility. We broke ground on this facility in January of 2019 and it came up in just 11 months. It houses approximately 1,500 people. The building sits on a 30-acre plot of land, and we’re using 13 of those acres for a wildlife habitat and flood storage, as well as protecting against invasive species. This is a very sustainable building with better insulation and better energy consumption than a traditional building. And it all came together very quickly.

“This couldn’t have been done without our great partners. Thanks to Sprung Instant Structures, our architect Nelson, our general contractor Sierra Construction, civil engineering group Barghausen Consulting Engineers and our environmental consultants Soundview Consultants.

“We want to recognize Congressman Smith, Congressman Kilmer and Congressman Heck for joining us here today, thank you for your support. We also want to give a huge thank you to the City of Kent and Mayor Dana Ralph for their tremendous support and leadership.”

Described as “nearly four years of secretive research and development,” Umbra, located in downtown Santa Barbara, is preparing to launch its first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) microsatellite.

Umbra states that they have developed the world’s only microsatellites capable of generating high resolution imagery from space. Umbra can build a scalable constellation which supports high revisit rates. Average hourly revisits are achievable with 12 satellites while maintaining 1 meter resolution (NESZ ≤ -18 dB). 

Founders of Umbra, David Langan (CEO) and Gabe Dominocielo (CSO), long-time friends born and raised in Santa Barbara, wanted to start a space company there. Dominocielo said that Santa Barbara is well known as a tourist destination, few realize that is has a century long legacy of aerospace industry. They are proud to be a part of it and participate in the development of its next stage. 

Umbra’s microsatellite weighs about 50 kg (110 lbs) and is launched into space in a rideshare volume of a rocket such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9, reducing the costs of the mission. Once in space, Umbra’s antenna expands into a parabolic dish larger than the side of a small school bus, allowing Umbra to achieve unparalleled performance.

The company’s 10,000 square foot facility recently welcomed local public officials including Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo, City Council members Jason Dominguez and Kristen Sneddon. Wendy Motta, representing Congressman Salud Carbajal, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services were in attendance. 

Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo said that Umbra’s microsatellite offers an incredible capability [.25 meter single look imagery] which is unlike anything else she has seen before. 

During the tour of Umbra’s Mission Operations Control (MOC), Councilmember Kristen Sneddon, a geophysicist with an expertise in radar technology, noted, they are building a SAR satellite, it is very exciting to have this technology [high-resolution SAR] developed and directed locally within the city. SAR data can be very useful in the Santa Barbara area, specifically to monitor shifting topography, fires, water aquifers, oil leaks/spills and overall environmental monitoring and more.

The location of the company in Santa Barbara joins part of an aerospace legacy such as Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company was founded in 1912, by Allan Lockheed who later formed Lockheed Aircraft Company, one of the companies that formed today’s Lockheed Martin. Jack Northrop began as a draftsman for Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Company and later founded what became Northrop Grumman. Other innovative aerospace companies have established offices in Santa Barbara County, including, Astro Aerospace, AEC-Able, DSS and Raytheon.

Umbra currently employs about 20 people and has raised capital from CrossCut Ventures, Hemisphere Ventures, Starbridge Ventures, PonValley and Champion Hill Ventures.