Archives for March 2020

The largest private automaker in China is getting into the satellite business. Chinese automotive giant Geely has broadened its reach to include everything from trucking, to high-speed trains, to passenger drones, to Volvo over the last decade or so. But its newest effort could tie those things all together, as Geely just announced it’s going to build its own satellite network to enable what it calls a “smart three-dimensional mobility ecosystem.”

Geely announced late Monday that it will erect a satellite production facility and testing center in the port city of Taizhou in the Zhejiang province that the Chinese giant calls home. The facility will be capable of building a “variety of different satellite models,” some of which may be for non-Geely entities.

Geely says it will start launching the satellite network as soon as the end of this year, but did not say how big it will be. Reuters reports that the company is pumping around $326 million into the project, and will eventually make 500 satellites a year. 

These low-orbit satellites will support high-speed data transmission, precise navigation, and cloud computing, Geely says, and will enable fast over-the-air updates to its vehicles, as well as “content delivery” to the company’s owners. It doesn’t appear that Geely wants to open up the its satellite constellations that SpaceX and OneWeb are building, and it doesn’t appear that these satellites will be used for standard internet connections.

The navigation piece of the equation could be particularly helpful, Geely says, since current GPS satellites are only accurate to several meters thanks to their high orbits. Low-orbit satellites, Geely claims, can be accurate to within a centimeter. “This accuracy is not only important for cars, it will also become essential for unmanned flight,” a company representative said.

A rendering of Geely’s production facility in Taizhou, China. Image: Geely

If and when the world ever starts to fill up with autonomous cars, the demand for in-car connectivity could stretch far beyond what it is today. Having your own satellite network to back up that demand could be a crucial advantage over competitors, then. Wall Street analysts have even repeatedly asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk about this as his other company, SpaceX, started building out its Starlink satellite network. Musk has said in the near term, though, that he doesn’t see an advantage in fitting Teslas to be able to work with Starlink satellites because the hardware required would be too big on the car. 

“The antenna for that high-bandwidth, low-latency [connection] is sort of about the size of medium pizza, which you could put on a car, but I think is more bandwidth than you would really need,” he said in January. That said, Musk admitted “it’s certainly something that could happen in coming years.”

By Sean O’Kane, TheVerge

On the 50th Anniversary of the first successful British rocket launch, the Black Arrow name is reinvigorated as Black Arrow Space Technologies starts up in business.

Black Arrow Space Technologies is a new British company developing spaceflight technologies designed to launch satellites into orbit. Black Arrow unique offer is their seaborne launch system – commercial rockets launched from their own space ship. This will enable Britain to offer a global service unavailable elsewhere in the world, bypassing many of the issues faced by land launches.

Initially, the company aims to launch payloads of up to 500 kg. into Polar Low Earth Orbit or 300 kg. into Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). This will support a growing niche in the space market, currently under-served by the international ‘access to space’ sector. In time, the concept will be developed to enable much larger payloads to be launched to higher altitudes and more trajectories.

Black Arrow Space Technologies has negotiated an agreement with a major investor to fully fund the company development activities, up to the completion of the test launch phase of the project, which is anticipated to take between two and three years. Design and development work will take place in the Oxfordshire area, with engine test stands and the ship fleet, including the launch vessel and support ships, based in South Wales. It is anticipated that around 300 high-skilled jobs will be created by the time that commercial launches begin.

The first launches are planned to take place from the Atlantic Ocean, South West of Ireland. The initial variant of the rocket will allow Black Arrow to explore and develop specialist technologies, components and procedures for use on subsequent commercial vehicles. Black Arrow will attract innovative technologies from external sources to complement their internal composite parts and help them to deliver the service quickly. The seaborne spaceport will use existing vessels, suitably modified for specialist use, reducing costs further.

CEO Paul Williams said the company is pleased to welcome a major investor to this exciting program, helping the firm to develop products and build a world-class satellite launch service. Black Arrow will involve all regions of the country in the planned developments, encouraging new talent and initiating a new space awareness for all. By adopting the latest technologies, the firm aims to be the cleanest and most cost-effective satellite launch service, from seabed to space and will offer a highly responsive ride to orbit for deployment of Earth Observation (EO) assets as well as a flexible option for telecommunications, navigation and data resources. Black Arrow’s mobility of operation will appeal to many friendly countries around the world where such activities hold great attraction.
 

HawkEye 360 Inc. has revealed that a model of their Pathfinder satellite has been transferred to the Smithsonian’s permanent collection and will be displayed in a future gallery at the National Air and Space Museum — this comes one year after HawkEye 360’s Pathfinder satellites were formally commissioned into service to geolocate RF signals.

HawkEye 360’s three satellite cluster has successfully geolocated more than 11 million RF signals in the past year. This data enables a safer world by supporting many applications, such as finding dark ships that may be engaged in smuggling or illegal fishing.

Photo of a model of HawkEye 360’s Pathfinder smallsat.

The Pathfinder satellite is scheduled to go on display when the National Air and Space Museum’s renovation is completed, slated for 2025. The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. The National Air and Space Museum is one of 19 museums that make up the Smithsonian.

HawkEye 360 is fully funded to deploy an additional five clusters, to reach a total of 18 satellites in orbit by the end of 2021. HawkEye 360 is currently building a second cluster of satellites, set for launch in fall 2020.

John Serafini, CEO, HawkEye 360, stated that this is an incredible honor for the Smithsonian to select the company’s Pathfinder satellites for its collection. Small satellites are changing what we can achieve in space and HawkEye 360 is excited to be on the cutting edge of that revolution and that these smallsats will inspire the next generation of talented minds.

James David, curator in the Space History Division at the National Air and Space Museum, added that the Pathfinder is an excellent representation of how small satellites are transforming the space industry. The National Air and Space Museum looks forward to displaying this commercial RF signals satellite, a first-of-its-kind, to help tell the story of the space age.

HISPASAT and PLD Space have signed an agreement to work together on defining the technical features and analyzing the compatibility to launch services on board Miura 5.

Photo: Raúl Torres (left), CEO and Co-Founder of PLD Space; Antonio Abad (right) Technical and Operations Director of HISPASAT.

The companies will validate PLD Space as a launch services provider and they will draft a formal framework that specifies the services and deliverables to validate MIURA 5 launches.

HISPASAT has extensive work experience with large launchers on defining the technical conditions that satellites must meet to be put in orbit by a rocket.

Artistic rendition of Miura 5. Image is courtesy of PLD Space.

That means the company can provide valuable collaboration to PLD Space in order to establish the specifications (mass, volume, mechanical features, electromagnetic environment, etc.) that satellites must meet to be integrated and launched on board MIURA 5.

Antonio Abad, Technical and Operations director of HISPASAT, said that for the company, this is immensely satisfying, to be able to collaborate with a young and entrepreneurial Spanish company like PLD Space. This new launcher will open new opportunities to access space and who the company may be able to establish a business relationship with in the future.

The CEO and Co-Founder of PLD Space, Raúl Torres, noted that HISPASAT’s interest in working with PLD Space means a lot to the company. HISPASAT is a highly important operator, with extensive experience and well-established trajectory in the telecommunications satellite industry. The small launchers market is new for them and small satellites are a new business opportunity. Without a doubt, this agreement with HISPASAT is a step forward in PLD Space’s positioning and an opportunity for HISPASAT to explore a new market in this highly competitive field.

Andrea Leinfelder

The space reporter, Andrea Leinfelder, at the Houston Chronicle posted a feature revealing that Rice University students are developing a research satellite to help alleviate the space junk orbiting the planet.

The OwlSat cubesat will collect data over the course of one year to see how extreme ultraviolet radiation, which is always emitted from the sun but becomes more intense during events such as solar flares, can alter a satellite’s path in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the area where the International Space Station resides. Better understanding a satellite’s orbit can help prevent collisions that can create space junk, said Ryan Udell, president of Rice University’s chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.

“We don’t have a fool-proof way of mapping orbits,” Udell said. “There are very good predictors out there, but we can’t fully predict it.”

Artistic rendition of the OwlSat cubesat on-orbit.<>I>Image is courtesy of Rice University.

The OwlSat, measuring smaller than a tissue box, was one of 18 small research satellites recently selected by NASA to hitch a ride into space in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The OwlSat proposal was created by Students for the Exploration and Development of Space and is slated for liftoff in January of 2022. Students will start building the satellite this semester.

The research is important because small satellites are becoming increasingly popular. According to analytics and engineering firm Bryce Space and Technology, more than 1,700 smallsats (which can weigh up to 1,323 pounds) were launched between 2012 and 2019. This number is expected to grow as companies including SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb plan to launch hundreds or thousands of desk-sized satellites to provide broadband internet to people who currently have little or no connectivity on Earth.

Udell, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering major, said the data collected by OwlSat could help predict how extreme ultraviolet radiation affects a satellite’s orbit. Then satellites equipped with propulsion systems could be moved before colliding with another satellite. The OwlSat will also collect data to help predict harmful radiation levels to humans in LEO.

To read the entire Houston Chronicle article, please access this direct link…

Schauenburg Ventures SA (Pty) Ltd., the South African arm of German based Schauenburg Ventures, has acquired NewSpace Systems (Pty) Ltd. as of January29, 2020.

Schauenburg Ventures SA (Pty) Ltd. was established to enrich the product portfolio of the Schauenburg International – Africa Group, as well as Schauenburg Ventures, the focus primarily being on corporate ventures involved in highly innovative technologies that are available internationally as well as in South Africa.

This share acquisition of NewSpace Systems (NSS) fits strategically with Stratosat Datacom (Pty) Ltd. within the SCHAUENBURG International Group, which provides turnkey satellite and wireless converged communication network solutions into Africa. Stratosat was one of the main contractors for the Meerkat project in the Karoo with the Department of Trade and Industry.

NSS is a leader in the area of Microsatellite Attitude Control Solutions. With a focus on innovation and optimization, NSS delivers on high performance, reliability and cost efficiency, which has made it extremely successful in the international, operational, satellite constellation market. To date, NSS has supported more than 50 international customers, including 11 of the National Space Agencies.

James Barrington-Brown, CEO of NewSpace Systems, said this investment from SCHAUENBURG will enable the accelerated growth of NewSpace Systems by supporting additional product development and the establishment of new facilities, which is needed to accommodate the firm’s rapidly growing customer base.

Frederik de Ridder, Principle at Vaalbara and Interim Chair of the NSS Board of Directors, stated that the company views this as a pivotal moment in the growth, technological leadership and success of NewSpace globally. With this new investment and support from SCHAUENBURG, NSS can tackle bigger challenges as well as find new ways to add more value to the satellite sector.”

Florian Schauenburg, CEO of SCHAUENBURG International Group, offered that the acquisition of NewSpace delivers an interesting opportunity and strategic complement for the group. The investment gives the company further access to this interesting technology segment with high potential for future business in the new generation of satellite technology.”

Chris Forrester

According to a new report from journalist Chris Forrester at Advanced Television, Ottawa-based Telesat stated the firm could start some services from its constellation of LEO satellites by the end of 2022.

The first craft will launch later in 2021 or early 2022 although final decisions as to the extent of the service are yet to be made. Indeed, orders for the construction of the fleet have yet to be placed and will be determined around mid-year.

Telesat said the planned constellation of 300 satellites will be in orbit during 2023, and the design calls for craft which are larger and more complex than those being orbited by SpaceX’s Starlink.

Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President/CEO addressing analysts during the company’s Q4 and full year results statement, said, “In addition to achieving stable financial results relative to the prior year, we took significant steps in laying the foundations for our future growth. In particular we made meaningful progress in refining the design of our planned revolutionary Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation and, importantly, announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Government to leverage the constellation to bridge the Digital Divide in Canada, an arrangement we expect will generate $1.2 billion in revenue over a 10 year period.”

For the year ended December 31, 2019, Telesat reported consolidated revenue of C$911 million, an increase of 1 percent (C$8 million) compared to the same period in 2018. When adjusted for changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue was unchanged compared to 2018. Revenue increases related to the Telstar 19 VANTAGE and Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellites, which were launched in 2018, and revenues earned from short-term services to other satellite operators.

Operating expenses were C$165 million, a decrease of 11 per cent from 2018. When adjusting for the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, expenses decreased by 12 per cent (C$22 million). Fleet utilization was 81 percent,and backlog was C$3.3 billion.

It also emerged that Canada’s government is also looking to repurpose C-band satellite capacity for 5G usage, which could lead to further compensation payments for satellite operators servicing the nation.

Swedish Space Corporation, SSC, and Isar Aerospace, have signed a long-term contract for testing of a new generation of European rocket engines for mini-launchers at Esrange Space Center in Sweden — the agreement includes a rocket stand for vertical tests and this agreement can be extended to include rocket stage tests with multiple rocket engines.

Photo of the Esrange Space Center.

SSC’s new engine and stage test capability plays a crucial part in supporting research and the development of rocket engines for mini-launchers in Europe. The first engine tests are planned for mid-2020 and the aim is to launch satellites with Isar Aerospace rockets based on this engine technology from 2021 onward.

Stefan Gardefjord, CEO at SSC said this is the first rocket engine test customer and providing this service is fully in line with SSC’s overall strategy to develop the ability to launch satellites from Esrange. The partnership shows that the company has already come a long way and that SSC is on its way to meet both current and future customer needs.

Josef Fleischmann, COO and Co-Founder of Isar Aerospace, added that the company is progressing fast in its development of these engines and are happy that the firm is so quickly able to find a suitable test site for the upcoming engine and stage tests — this is the start of a long and fruitful relationship with SSC and Sweden.

The launch, originally scheduled for February 29 of DARPA’s satellite by Spaceflight’s startup, Astra, has been scrubbed due to bad weather.

The weather conditions should come as no surprise considering that the launch site is the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Alaska’s Kodiak Island. The bad winter weather — specifically, strong winds and thick clouds — has pushed the attempt back at least another day.

According to DARPA’s (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) website;

“The goal of the DARPA Launch Challenge is to demonstrate responsive and flexible space launch capabilities from the burgeoning industry of small launch providers. 

For nearly 60 years, the nation’s space architecture has been built around exquisite systems that are launched by large, expensive boosters. The development cycle with the systems is tedious, with a process driven by a desire to reduce risk, rather than deliver timely capabilities.”

The $12 million DARPA Launch Challenge is to demonstrate new and groundbreaking capabilities to address emerging Department of Defense needs. The challenge will culminate in two separate launch competitions to low Earth orbit (LEO) within days of each other at different locations in the United States.

This will be Astra’s first flight, which is carrying four small payloads. If successful the company will get $2 million, then conducting a another launch shortly after, from a different pad at the Kodiak complex, will bring in an additional $10 million.