Archives for August 2020

ATLAS Space Operations + BlackSky Are Well Grounded With New Agreement

August 17, 2020 by editorial

*The ATLAS Freedom Software Platform is a global ground network management system that provides a simplified, intuitive solution to satellite communications.*

ATLAS Space Operations has imparted that BlackSky has selected the company to provide telemetry, commanding, and data support for its fifth and sixth satellites in that firm’s high revisit, Earth imaging, satellite constellation — ATLAS is providing support through their ground station sites in Guam and Japan, using their Freedom software.

BlackSky helps organizations observe and understand global events by integrating a diverse set of sensors and data, including satellite images, to provide sensitive monitoring and alert services. On August 7th, the company launched two additional satellites (of a planned 60) into LEO.

These newest satellites provide 1 meter resolution color imagery and increases global revisit rates — already among the best in the world. These advancements will further enhance Blacksky’s access to reliable, secure, and fast space-based data, allowing them to provide improved intelligence and analysis capabilities to their customers.

ATLAS operates a global network of ground stations, powered by their Freedom platform. Freedom allows users to seamlessly integrate with ATLAS’ robust network. Through ATLAS integration, BlackSky will gain access to mission critical data, analytics, and automated scheduling — all through a single, secure VPN. This process further enables BlackSky to provide their customers with near real-time data, revisiting a single location up to six times in one day, all while retrieving secure data efficiently, safely, and reliably through Freedom.

Executive Comments

“ATLAS Space Operations is a key partner in our promise to make our customers the first to know about areas and events important to them,” said Nick Merski, VP, Space Operations. “Our companies share similar DNA which includes great people creatively solving important problems.”

“Both ATLAS and BlackSky have worked diligently to continue their work amidst the ongoing COVID-19 health emergency,” added ATLAS CEO Sean McDaniel. “ATLAS is proud to support BlackSky and the value that they deliver to the world through their mission. It is a testament to the teamwork and resiliency of both teams that this launch has gone off successfully during a global health crisis. The seamless transition by everyone involved to continue to get critical assets into space, and to retrieve consequential data for use on Earth, says a lot about the dedication and adaptability of the people working behind the scenes on these crucial projects. ATLAS stands ready to continue to provide support in whatever way is necessary.”

*Artistic rendition of a BlackSky smallsat on-orbit.*

BlackSky’s Freshly Orbited Fifth + Sixth Satellites Already Capturing Imagery

August 17, 2020 by editorial

BlackSky has completed initial system checkouts and has begun delivering imagery from its fifth and sixth satellites, 58 hours after launch.

Taking full advantage of the advanced analytics offered by the company’s Spectra AI platform, BlackSky is now providing customers with high velocity insights that were previously unattainable.

The addition of these satellites to the BlackSky constellation increases opportunities for intraday observation of customer targets and reduces decision-making timelines. In collaboration with satellite manufacturing partner LeoStella, BlackSky has an active assembly line delivering two satellites per month.

BlackSky’s latest two satellites were launched into an inclined orbit at 1:12 a.m. EDT on August 7 via SpaceX’s Starlink mission. The satellites provide panchromatic and color imagery with sub-meter resolution. BlackSky now has six satellites on-orbit and plans to launch six, additional satellites by the end of Q1 2021, advancing the firm’s dawn-to-dusk global monitoring capability.

Executive Comment

“The rate and volume at which our customers are consuming global monitoring information is increasing dramatically,” said Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky. “To help customers immediately access critical information, BlackSky has developed GEOINT technologies combined with machine learning to rapidly deploy and seamlessly integrate satellites into our product suite. The speed with which we were able to reach first light, demonstrates our ability to move industry benchmarks forward so our customers are always the first to know.”

*BlackSky image capture of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on*
*August 10, 2020, at 11:31 a.m., local time.*

Thailand’s TOT Venturing Into LEO Satellite Opportunities With Mu Space

August 14, 2020 by editorial

State telecom enterprise TOT has stated the company has clinched a cooperation deal with Mu Space Corp., a Thai satellite and space tech startup, to venture into the LEO satellite business as a potential revenue stream.

The memorandum of understanding between TOT and Mu Space, which was signed last month, starts with a joint study and testing of program coding for server payload in rockets in a trial for signal transmission. this move highlights TOT’s plan to embark on global satellite business, with the initial step of providing a gateway station for the LEO satellite business before striving to own satellites through a consortium model in the future.

TOT also set up a working group to study and conduct a lab test for LEO satellite operations earlier this year, which consists of 60 TOT executives and staff as well as a small group of science-based high school students under the TOT academy.

TOT acting president Morakot Thienmontree said the LEO satellite development is seen as a revolution in mobility connectivity in the new economy, especially in the next 3-5 years, when the technology is expected to mature commercially worldwide. He said, “We do not want to miss this train of innovation” and added that TOT needs to create new revenue streams in the long run. “The LEO satellite business is compatible with 5G tech, but it could be a tech killer for traditional telecom infrastructure providers in the future.”

The cooperation with Mu Space includes trial program coding for server payload in rockets. Mu Space is responsible for booking payload quotas in the rockets for testing.

The test is needed to see the stability and related impact on the communication signal through the servers when rockets are launched and returned to base. This could be a start for TOT venturing into the LEO satellite business.

TOT has one satellite gateway station in Bangkok and another in the Northeast.

News posting authored by journalist Komsan Toprtermvasana for the Bangkok Post

The Second Kleos Space Smallsat Cluster Queued Up For SpaceX Launch

August 13, 2020 by editorial

*Artistic rendition of a Kleos Scouting Mission satellite on-orbit.*

Kleos Space (ASX: KSS, Frankfurt: KS1) has announced that, as part of the expansion of the firm’s constellation, a contract has been signed with rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. to manifest a cluster of Kleos satellites on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch that is scheduled for mid-2021.

*Photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle is courtesy of the company.*

This will be the second cluster to be launched by Kleos, following the first four Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites that are in the Sriharikota Range in India, awaiting launch on PSLV C49 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

This mission will be named Polar Vigilance Mission and is a cluster of four satellites, launching into a 500 km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The Polar Vigilance Mission will enhance the company’s RF geolocation data delivered by the Kleos Scouting Mission by covering areas North and South of the Scouting Mission 37-degree inclined orbit in addition to increasing overall coverage time in the equatorial region.

*Orbital plots of Kleos Space’ Scouting Mission (red) + Polar Vigilance Mission (yellow) single orbit. Image is courtesy of Kleos Space.*

Kleos’ objective is to own, launch and operate up to a maximum of 20 clusters of satellites creating a constellation that provides critical coverage for monitoring global events and key locations of interest.

The Kleos business model is to create subscription-based revenues from delivery of essential data to government and commercial entities around the globe. Kleos will be the first company to fly clusters of four satellites to accurately detect and locate the usage of the RF spectrum by legitimate and illegitimate actors.

The data is collected and downlinked from the satellites then processed through the Company’s proprietary algorithms. Once ‘packaged’ into data products and transferred to Kleos’ licensed subscribers ‘as-a-service,’ the same data can be sold unlimited times creating annuity type revenues.

Kleos will ultimately aim to provide refresh rates of near real-time which will require a small constellation of no more than 20 satellite clusters delivering highly useful operational capability. The timeline for building up to a constellation will be driven by customer demand, i.e., required revisit times or geographic areas of interest.

Executive Comment

Andy Bowyer, CEO of Kleos, said, “Our vision is to deliver a trustworthy, cost effective, reconnaissance data product with revisit rates that will help disrupt illegal activities, protect borders and save lives. The launch of the Polar Vigilance Mission means we take another step on that journey, collecting more data, over new areas opening additional markets whilst also providing a higher value product for our existing customer base.”

Recent Kleos Space news…

Kleos Space Receives Financial Commitments

Kleos Space SDR Payload for In-Space Missions Faraday-1 Smallsat

Former Under Secretary Of Defense Joins Rocket Lab’s Board Of Directors

August 13, 2020 by editorial

*Artistic rendition of Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft in space.*

Rocket Lab has welcomed a new member to the firm’s Board of Directors, former Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Michael Griffin.

Griffin joins Rocket Lab’s board with more than 35 years of space industry experience spanning roles in the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the commercial sector. Prior to joining Rocket Lab’s board, Griffin served as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, overseeing the establishment of the Space Development Agency (SDA). In this role he was responsible for research, development, and prototyping activities across the DoD enterprise, mandated with ensuring technological superiority for the Department of Defense.

He also oversaw the activities of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Innovation Unit, the Strategic Capabilities Office, the DoD Laboratory enterprise, and the Under Secretariate staff focused on developing advanced technology and capability for the U.S. military. Griffin also served as the 11th NASA Administrator, a role in which he initiated the first development of commercial cargo delivery service to Earth orbit in the agency’s history.

Griffin previously held numerous executive positions in industry, including President and Chief Operating Officer of In-Q-Tel, CEO of Magellan Systems, and EVP/General Manager of Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group. He also served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Schafer Corporation, a professional services provider in the national security sector.

He has also served as the King-McDonald Eminent Scholar and professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and as the Space Department Head at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Today, Griffin serves as Co-President and Co-Founder of LogiQ, Inc., a company providing high-end management, scientific, and technical consulting services.

Griffin joins existing Rocket Lab board members Sven Strohband of Khosla Ventures, David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners, Matt Ocko of DCVC (Data Collective), and Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck.

Executive Comments

“We are honored to welcome Mike to Rocket Lab’s board of directors,” said Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from the civil, defense, and commercial space sectors that will be invaluable to our team as Rocket Lab continues to grow and meet the ever-evolving launch and space systems needs of the national security community and commercial sectors alike.”

“Rocket Lab has established itself as the leader in dedicated small satellite launch, and it’s a privilege to be joining the board at an exciting time for the business as it continues to increase launch cadence and expand into satellite manufacturing and operations,” said Griffin. “Space continues to be a highly contested domain crucial to our national security, and it’s also a domain that presents significant commercial opportunity. The Rocket Lab team has a proven track record of executing on a clear vision to make space accessible to these diverse communities, and I look forward to supporting that vision.”

Note: Watch the Satnews Perspective’s interview video of Peter Beck at this direct link…

Two New Partners Join Orbital Transports’ Space Catalog

August 13, 2020 by editorial

Rydberg Vacuum Sciences (RVS) have joined the Orbital Transports partner network and will offer their 6UB and 6UC Thermal Vacuum Systems product line in the Space Catalog.

RVS Thermal Vacuum Systems provides space simulation systems of exceptional value for flight qualification of small satellites and components. The advanced and affordable thermal vacuum bake-out and thermal vacuum cycling products are designed specifically for the small satellite community, providing a standard test platform sufficient for nanosatellites up to 6U in size.

Executive Comment

“RVS knows that Thermal Vacuum Testing is the last thing you want to worry about as your launch date approaches,” said Joshua Gurian, President of RVS. “Our line of small satellite test systems can provide you with drop-in-place solutions for compliance with GSFC-STD-7000 or MIL-STD-1540 test standards.”

Also joining Orbital Transports’ Space Catalog is Alén Space and the company will make its smallsat products available through this channel. Alén Space provides ready-to-launch hardware and software solutions supporting satellite-based communications for Internet of Things, asset tracking, and signals intelligence.

*TOTEM from Alén Space is a high-performance SDR.*

Executive Comment

“We keep expanding beyond Spain and Europe. The Space Catalog will help us extend our reach globally,” stated Guillermo Lamelas, Alén’s CEO. “We are eager to work with Orbital Transports to connect with new customers and partners.”

The Space Catalog is Orbital Transports’ digital portal for the smallsat industry showcasing some of the industry’s most innovative and reliable companies. Featuring smallsat buses, COTS hardware components, ground station services and mission operations software, orbital transfer services, hosted payloads, and satellite servicing and refueling technologies, the Space Catalog provides a convenient go-to resource to check out the latest and greatest that the smallsat industry has to offer.

KSAT To Support HYPSO-1 Smallsat With Ground Station Support

August 12, 2020 by editorial

KSAT has signed a contract for ground station support of HYPSO-1, a smallsat mission from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), aiming to detect toxic algae blooms — this is the first time KSAT will provide ground station services to a Norwegian university mission.

At NTNU Small Satellite Lab, a multi-disciplinary team of master students, PhD-students and professors are currently working on a small satellite with a miniaturized hyperspectral camera for detection of toxic algae blooms along the Norwegian coast. KSAT will as part of this contract, provide commercial ground station services from the Svalbard Ground Station for this mission, called HYPSO-1.

The smallsats in the HYPSO-project will be equipped with miniaturized hyperspectral cameras, that are able to “see” more than traditional optical sensors, covering parts of the infrared spectrum. In combination with drones and autonomous vehicles both on surface and subsea, the goal is to be able to detect and alert the fish-farms about toxic algae blooms in the area. In 2019 a sudden upwelling of toxic algae killed close to 8 million salmon in Norwegian fish farms, wiping out more than half of the annual sales growth in just over a week. The hope is that with the contribution of this mission, one can avoid this in the future.

As a significant provider of maritime monitoring services, KSAT had an active role during the algae bloom last year and together with partners in Tromsø they are currently exploring how to discriminate between different types of algae by combining different sensors and applying advanced algorithms.

Executive Comments

“We are very excited to get access to KSATs ground stations both at Svalbard and at other locations,” said Associate Professor Egil Eide at the Department of Electronic Systems. “HYPSO-1 will be part of a multi-agent surveillance system, operating both drones and surface vessels in near-real-time. It is very important to get data from as many satellite passes. This is an important strategic cooperation between NTNU and space industry, that will benefit students and researchers alike.”

Kristian Jenssen is the Director of KSATLITE, a division at KSAT that is dedicated to the development and delivery of scalable, global ground station services for smallsats. The team are currently handling the major portion of the commercial smallsats on-orbit today, including some of the large constellations. Jenssen emphasized that the students through these projects acquire unique hands-on experience, which is very relevant and thus valuable for KSAT as a possible future employer. “It is important for us that students that want to delve into the discipline of spacecraft engineering and space related sciences, can get the chance to do so at Norway’s largest technical university,” stated Jenssen, adding, “It’s exciting with these new and small hyperspectral sensors. We support the project and believe it can provide a valuable contribution to future systems for algae warning and coastal monitoring to increase the understanding and support commercial aquaculture.”

*Sentinel 2 satellite capture of an algae bloom in the north.*

A Conversation with Jonata Puglia, Chief Executive Officer at Leaf Space

August 11, 2020 by minisat

Hi Jonata, the annual Small Satellite Conference has just concluded, what are the key take away from Leaf Space?

It has been a week dense of emotions and discoveries. After some months of lock downs across the globe, we have been able to convey again with many of our current and future clients, and industry colleagues too. We also realized that the new space economy never actually stopped. It continued working to have commercially operational smallsat constellations despite the inevitable launch delays. Most of our customers are pushing to get their satellites in orbit as soon as possible and at the same time focusing on their next-generation satellites. In turn, we are scaling up of our ground network and improving the services overall to always provide them a simple, reliable and cost-effective Ground Segment as a Service solution.

How is your Leaf Line ground network growing?

Leaf Line Expands with a New GS in Santa Maria, Azores

During spring, in the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, we secured a series A funding that triggered the scale up plan of Lead Space. We are now proceeding in activating new sites worldwide and installing new ground stations. We have just cut the ribbon on our new GS in the Azores that will provide enhanced coverage in the Atlantic, and we have few ground stations ready to be shipped to new sites in New Zealand, North America and the equatorial region. We are also installing additional antennas in our historic location in Spain, and soon we will have a new location in East Europe. The pandemic has slowed down the roll out planned for Q2 2020 a bit, but now we are catching up. All these new locations are very attractive not only for satellite missions, our main vertical, but also for the increasing need coming from new and established launch vehicle operators.

Tell me more about launch vehicles, and how Leaf Space is supporting this part of the market.

In 2019 Leaf Space was selected to support the final testing campaign of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne vehicle, an experience that has been really fruitful to gain operational know-how. Right now, we are developing new solutions to better support this kind of test and launch campaign with an “as a Service” model, that is our real key added value. All this added to the fact that our ground stations are flexible and compact so they can be easily deployed in different spaceports or launch facilities. Also, we have started providing LEOP services to satellites also through Launch Brokers, which provides a better and more comprehensive service to their customers.

Why should clients buy Ground Segment Services from Leaf Space and not build their own network or rely on other providers?

For microsatellite operators, the ground segment in general is seen as a key part of their business, but as it is not the core of their business managing this internally is actually seen as a disadvantage. What they really want to focus on is harvesting data from space, processing that data and delivering it to the end users. In addition, efficiently managing a ground station network is not an easy task. If you think about the multiple hardware and software blocks needed to guarantee a secure and reliable communication, all the regulatory challenges and the specific skills you need to deploy and run a network, this is clearly something that many operators handover to a specialized partner. This is especially true if your partner can provide a more reliable and cost-effective solution thanks to the distributed nature of our network and high degree of automation, from load balancing to rescheduling. We’ve made a webinar on this topic during the Smallsat Conference that will be published soon!

What are your main objectives for the upcoming months?

Well, we have customers in the major part of the rockets scheduled to launch from now to the end of the year and we will support them not only during LEOPs but also through our services Leaf Line and Leaf Key.

On the R&D side we’re working on both increasing the performance of the Ground Stations composing our network, to allow faster data downlink and even support higher frequencies, but also on supporting an even wider range of MODCOD schemes and protocols in order to decrease the onboarding time of our customers.

On a revenue perspective, last year we had already significant revenues, and we plan to double this year and have a quite growing trend after that.

To get more traction on the US market we will soon open a new subsidiary there; we already have people working from the US, but we think that a legal entity will provide us even more visibility both to commercial and institutional market.

So, we’re quite busy!

Satellite Divestiture By exactEarth To Myriota Canada Now Completed

August 10, 2020 by editorial

exactEarth has now completed the firm’s previously announced transaction to divest four satellites from the company’s first-generation constellation and ground station assets to Myriota Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Myriota PTY.

The Company has received the necessary Canadian regulatory approvals and met all closing conditions to consummate the transaction. The agreement was initially announced via press release on March 31, 2020. All financial figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated.

Executive Comments

“This transaction will further strengthen our financial position by generating approximately $1.0 million per year in net cash savings while preserving our access to the Satellite AIS data originated by the four satellites for the duration of their lifespan,” said Peter Mabson, President and CEO of exactEarth. “It also extends our relationship with Myriota, which is an exciting and up-and-coming company that exactEarth has invested in and one that we have built a strong business relationship with over the past several years.”

“This transaction marks a pivotal moment for Myriota in the acceleration of our North American expansion plans, including the establishment of our new Ontario, Canada office,” said Alex Grant, CEO of Myriota. “The addition of new satellites, industry-experts, and a global network of ground stations will only fast-track our timeline to bring low-cost, low-power IoT connectivity to North American agriculture, defense, mining, and transport and logistics industries.”

Skyrora’s Skylark Micro Rocket Set For Icelandic Launch

August 10, 2020 by editorial

Skyrora continues with its de-risking program by preparing to launch the Skylark Micro rocket from Iceland later this month.

With the first launch window scheduled for August 12, the two-stage, four-meter tall, sub-orbital rocket is set for take-off from Langanes Peninsula, Iceland.

Following the July test for trajectory and hardware on the Skylark Nano, the Icelandic launch of the Skylark Micro will test onboard avionics and communications as well as practice marine recovery operations.

Skyrora’s de-risking program is based on testing its systems with smaller and more cost-effective vehicles before they are used in their larger Skylark L and Skyrora XL rockets. The company’s LEO rocket, the Skyrora XL, is scheduled to launch in 2023.

Executive Comment

Volodymyr Levykin, the CEO of Skyrora, said, “Skyrora’s de-risking programme is essential for scaling, learning and education before we launch our two commercial vehicles, Skylark L and Skyrora XL. The entire team is working at a pace and has made great efforts to get another launch underway. I’d also like to express my thanks and gratitude towards Space Iceland and Iceland’s government, both of which have been tremendously supportive with the preparations for this upcoming launch.”