Archives for January 2021

Axelspace will be launching four satellites with a launch date set for March 20, 2021, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The 4 satellites (GRUS-1B, 1C, 1D, 1E) will be part of the AxelGlobe Earth Observation System. This will be the second launch for GRUS satellite series, after the successful deployment of GRUS-1A in December 2018. Launching multiple identical satellites on a single rocket will be a first for Japanese satellites.

The simultaneous development of these four satellites is the company’s first step toward full-scale, mass production.

More is better as Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) announces the formation of SSC Space Thailand, a subsidiary targeted at the Asian-Pacific market. This further expands the company’s presence in the region further investment in the Asian-Pacific region, adding to SSC’s already strong presence in Australia and Thailand, including ground station facilities in both countries.

The investment is yet another important step forward for the company that recently announced ambitious plans for new launch capabilities in Europe. From its space center Esrange, in northern Sweden, SSC is aiming to launch small satellites into orbit by the end of 2022.

“SSC has been supporting Thai space activities for more than a decade, for example through satellite-to-ground communications for the THEOS-1 satellite program. We are now looking forward to deepening this relationship further, expanding across leading space markets in South-East Asia,” said SSC CEO, Stefan Gardefjord.

The new subsidiary will offer SSC’s market-leading services, ranging from launch services to ground station networks and engineering services. With new offices being installed in the Space Krenovation Park, part of the EEC Digital Park in Chonburi province, SSC becomes the first international space company to invest in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor.

“The Asian-Pacific space market is growing rapidly, and today’s announcement highlights our ambition to be a leading force in that development. Right now, we are looking to develop talents in Thailand and contribute to Thai space initiatives as well as explore further opportunities to grow within the Asian-Pacific region,” said Stefan Gardefjord.

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ISISPACE deployers accommodated an impressive 53 smallsats as part of a successful ISILAUNCH34 launch campaign completed aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on January 24 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral AFS as part of the SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program.

For this mission, Kepler Communications had contracted ISISPACE and ISILAUNCH to manage the integration of their smallsats on board the Transporter-1 mission, including interface design and development, deployers, sequencer, and full-service integration support to get all satellites and equipment to the launch site at Cape Canaveral and mated with Falcon 9.

To optimize the number of satellites that can be integrated within the available volume and mass constraints, ISISPACE developed the CubeSat MultiPack (CSMP) and partnered with SkyEnergy to develop a special MultiPack Adapter Plate (MPAP) for that purpose.

The MPAP is designed to accommodate as many as 9 QuadPack deployers as well as the company’s iMDC (Modular Deployment Controller) sequencer to provide a single point interface between the launch vehicle control and telemetry system and the deployers.

ISISPACE’s launch service integration team at ISILAUNCH managed and executed the launch campaign on Kepler’s behalf. With excess capacity for more deployers available on the MPAP, several other customer satellites were integrated on the Transporter-1 mission by ISILAUNCH.

The development of the CubeSat MultiPack also made it possible to support the firm’s long-term customer Planet, with the inclusion of 36 Planet Type 3.XL+ SuperDove smallsats.

The SuperDove smallsats were all integrated into 9 QuadPacks that comprised a very full plate and an amazing sight after integration to the launch vehicle. Another QuadPack with SuperDoves could be included on the other plate, bringing the total number of Planet satellites to the 40 they required to be launched.

Achieving such a milestone right after celebrating ISISPACE’s 15th anniversary earlier this month stands as another record milestone in the company history.

KSF Space Foundation has revealed what they describe as the world’s cheapest cubesat in the history of smallsat industry — this cubesat model is designed to facilitate the creation of low-cost, cubesat-class smallsats.

Reducing the cost of spacecraft development in this form factor allows spacecraft development efforts to be funded from teaching funds, instead of requiring faculty to seek research funds to conduct this activity. Using teaching funds (instead of research funds) facilitates greater student leadership and involvement, as it reduces the risk of mission failure to the responsible faculty member. Additionally, as teaching funds are generally recurring, this approach facilitates incorporation of the smallsat program in curriculum on a year-upon-year basis.

The model is tested and ready to fly, easy to integrate and post integrate with any extra payload needed. The basic model comes with major cubesat instruments; however, KSF Space Foundation is offering other advanced models depending upon mission task and mission requests.

KSF Space Foundation was initially founded to enable cost-efficient access to LEO with zero-environmental impact flying solutions. The foundation offers access to near-space and LEO for research and scientific experiments in many fields, as Earth or Space Observation, biological testing, satellite positioning detection, Earth magnetic field measurement, radio transmit, atmosphere science and technology experiments.

Dr. Kayyali, Chairman of KSF Space Foundation, said, “This model will allow universities and schools with a small budget to develop their space project easily, there is no need to secure funding.”

 Spaceflight Inc. successfully launched and deployed 16 payloads, including 15 from its next-generation orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX1, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission.

Dubbed SXRS-3 by Spaceflight, the mission launched January 24 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and delivered Spaceflight’s Sherpa-FX1 to Sun Synchronous Low Earth Orbit (525 km alt), where it deployed payloads for more than 10 organizations.

Spaceflight managed the end-to-end launch experience for 10 cubesats, four microsats and two hosted payloads. Customers onboard the launch represented commercial and government entities from four countries, and included organizations such as HawkEye 360, iQPS, Astrocast, Celestis, and the University of South Florida Institute of Applied Engineering.

Spaceflight’s years of experience providing mission management and integration services gives companies a low-risk option to remanifest to another launch quickly if delays occur — which is rapidly becoming a must-have for smallsat developers. Further, Spaceflight ensures all complex details and requirements, from planning to licensing and up to lift off, are taken care of by an experienced and knowledgeable team to successfully support a mission from beginning to end.

The successful Transporter-1 mission was Spaceflight’s first mission of 2021 as well as the debut flight of the Sherpa-FX vehicle. Building on the success of its SSO-A mission, which delivered 64 spacecraft to orbit from a free-flyer vehicle, Spaceflight pioneered a new Sherpa-NG program in mid-2020.

The Sherpa-NG (next generation) program is a family of ESPA-class space vehicles designed to minimize development timelines while maximizing flight and schedule reliability and mission assurance. Sherpa vehicles provide more orbital diversification, including flexible manifest changes, deployment to multiple altitudes and orbital planes, and rapid launch solutions.

While Sherpa-FX is the first vehicle in the program to launch, two additional versions, Sherpa-LTC and Sherpa-LTE with gas propellant and electrical propulsion respectively, are preparing to launch later this year. The vehicles will all offer quickly configurable systems, multiple deployment capabilities, and tracking and identification abilities. With propulsive systems and in-space transportation capabilities, Sherpa-LTC and Sherpa-LTE vehicles will enable delivery of spacecraft to orbit faster and beyond LEO.

In 2021, Spaceflight is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Over the last 10 years, the company has launched more than 30 missions and 300 satellites. Spaceflight works with a portfolio of global launch vehicles, including Falcon 9, Antares, Electron, Vega, and PSLV, to provide a variety of launch options to its customers.

Finally, the company has executed noteworthy and industry-defining launches over the last 10 years, including its first dedicated rideshare mission, SSO-A, which launched the largest number of satellites from a U.S.-based rocket, and the first-ever rideshare mission to GTO, which carried the first privately funded lunar lander.

This year, Spaceflight plans to launch multiple Sherpa vehicles in addition to many other rideshare missions, totaling more than 10 missions across its global launch vehicle portfolio.

“This successful launch and deployment of spacecraft from the Sherpa-FX vehicle is a significant milestone in delivering flexible launch options for customers,” said Grant Bonin, SVP of business development at Spaceflight. “Our Sherpa vehicles, coupled with the large variety of launches available to us through our global network of partners, enable us to offer a more customized launch experience to smallsat companies and get customer spacecraft on orbit exactly where they need to be, when they need to be there. We’re excited to kick off the year with this SpaceX launch, and are well positioned to execute several more Sherpa missions in the coming months.”

“This is our third launch with Spaceflight and the most critical to date,” added Kjell Karlsen, CFO of Astrocast. “With this launch, our nanosatellite IoT Network goes live. Spaceflight’s reliable rideshare service has made the team a trusted partner as we strive to accomplish our mission. Additionally, the flexibility the company provides has been incredibly valuable as we plan for the many launches required to build an operational constellation.”

“It’s been exciting and gratifying to see the evolution of our Sherpa vehicle from a free-flyer on SSO-A to a strategic and diverse program designed to meet the various needs of smallsat customers,” said Curt Blake, CEO and President of Spaceflight. “Our goal is to make the process of getting to space easier, more efficient and more accessible and the next-gen Sherpa vehicles will enable us to deliver this in a new, innovative manner. After 10 years of business, we have extensive experience, partner relationships, and a variety of learnings that we were able to leverage as we expand our offering to now include in-space transportation services.”

Spaceflight provides launch flexibility to ensure customers’ smallsats get to orbit exactly when and where they want through a combination of long-standing relationships with a diverse portfolio of launch partners, innovative satellite integration capabilities, including flight and ground support hardware, licensing and logistics management, and extensive mission management expertise. Based in Seattle, Spaceflight has successfully launched hundreds of satellites and is a part of the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. portfolio, operating as an independent, U.S.-based company.

Kepler Communications have welcomed eight new satellites into their constellation, further expanding the firm’s active constellation to 13 satellites in total.

These eight satellites, KEPLER-8 through KEPLER-15, were successfully launched via SpaceX’s first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission at approximately 10:00 AM EDT on January 24. Once fully operational within the constellation, these smallsats will significantly increase the capacity of Kepler’s Global Data Services offering.

Kepler’s GEN 1 satellites were assembled at the company’s facility in Toronto, Canada. The GEN1 platform represents an evolution beyond Kepler’s pathfinder satellites, with an increase to a 6U-XL satellite system. The increased size accommodates significant technology enhancements, including additional power and antenna capabilities that allows the support of both Ku and narrowband spectrum from a single satellite.

This multi-spectrum support is achieved with Kepler’s proprietary Software Defined Radio (SDR) which has been proven onboard the five satellites already on orbit.

Kepler’s launch plans include several additional launches in 2021, with launches planned for the first half of 2021 in March and June, which will add additional GEN1 satellites to the Kepler constellation. As with this launch, these satellites will service the growing customer demand for Global Data Services and increase our ability to provide an industry leading service.

Mina Mitry, CEO of Kepler Communications, said, “We’re excited to continue our network deployment in response to the overwhelming global demand for our network capacity. As our network continues to grow, we move closer to recognizing Kepler’s vision of providing connectivity on and off the surface of the Earth.”

Wen Cheng Chong, CTO of Kepler Communications, added, “The launch of 8 GEN1 satellites on the Falcon 9 merely a few months after the launch of 2 GEN1 pathfinder satellites clearly demonstrates Kepler’s ability to 10x our capability in a short period of time; practically unheard of for a company of our size. This showcases the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our Engineering team and the company at large. We’re well on our way to recognizing Kepler’s vision of providing the internet in space.”

Kepler is a satellite telecommunications provider based in Canada, backed by Costanoa Ventures, IA Ventures and other leading investors. Kepler’s mission is to connect people and things Everywhere, on earth and beyond. To this end, Kepler will build an in-space telecommunications network through an incremental deployment of products and technologies. The first to launch and operate a Ku-band satellite service in Low Earth Orbit, Kepler has expanded its capabilities with the successful commissioning of a cubesat production facility at their Toronto headquarters, from which the GEN 1 satellites are being delivered.

A cubesat called CAPE-3 is carrying a chip designed and built by students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to detect radiation, all with keeping an eye on astronaut safety. The satellite also carries a tiny Geiger counter so students can tell whether the chip is accurate.

Each side of the satellite is 10 centimeters across and this smallsat was among 10 that were launched on January 17 from a Virgin Orbit rocket that was launched high above the Pacific Ocean from a customized Boeing 747.

Eight of the other nine smallsats were built by students at other schools. The tenth was built by NASA, which runs the CubeSat Launch Initiative to give nonprofit organizations and schools at all levels a chance to do scientific investigations in space and help NASA with exploration and technology development. At least one of these smallsats was built by an elementary school.

Students in Lafayette began receiving radio signals early on Monday, January 18, from the satellite, which circles the world every 90 minutes at 17,000 miles an hour.

This is Louisiana-Lafayette’s third satellite launched as part of the program. The school’s program is called CAPE, for the Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment program aimed at preparing students for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The CAPE-1 satellite was built to show that the student team could design and build a satellite that could send radio signals back and could respond to signals sent from Earth. It was monitored for four months after its launch in 2007.

CAPE-2, launched in 2013, had fold-out solar panels, a text-to-speech transmitter and a “parrot repeater” that could record audio from Earth and broadcast it back to the sender. Another feature lets visitors to a children’s museum hear their own voices coming back on a radio, as well as send text messages to the satellite. This smallsat was monitored for 11 months.

“The detectors would provide liquid crystal display readings so astronauts could constantly monitor how much radiation they’re being exposed to,” Dr. Paul Darby, the university’s project leader, said in a news release.

Rizwan Merchant, a NASA systems safety engineer who was assistant project manager for the CAPE-2 launch while a student at ULL and is now the CAPE team’s industry mentor, said students will spend a few weeks “grabbing data from the satellite simply to assesses every feature and ensure it’s all working properly.”

Then CAPE team members and students majoring in areas including computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and physics will begin collecting and analyzing the information.

Article source: Texarkana Gazette