Archives for April 2021

Orbital Sidekick (OSK), the first US commercial company to deploy hyperspectral sensors in space, has announced a $16 million Series A funding round led by Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore, to expand its innovative product offerings, new strategic partnerships, and introduce its advanced monitoring technology to new industries. The round also includes Energy Innovation Capital, existing investors Allied Minds and 11.2 Capital, and Syndicate 708.

In response to the energy sector’s demand for better leak prevention and monitoring, OSK has developed various external partnerships to execute pilot programs, most notably with global energy leader Phillips 66 and the iPIPE Partnership, which is managed by the Energy & Environmental Research Center and includes premier natural gas pipeline transporters Energy Transfer and TC Energy, among others. OSK is transitioning to and expanding satellite operations within these partnerships in 2021 with a path towards full commercialization next year. OSK is also launching its Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite constellation, known as GHOSt, on multiple SpaceX Falcon 9 missions beginning in Q1 2022.

Beyond pipeline monitoring, OSK is exploring new markets to help solve pressing global challenges. One such capability is regional fire risk detection in response to a global proliferation of extreme wildfires brought on by climate change and deforestation. The company is also employing its analytics platform for global emissions monitoring, clean energy exploration, and mineral detection. 

“Paired with our recent $16M United States Air Force contract award in October 2020, the close of this Series A round allows us to focus on the deployment of the GHOSt constellation and the commercial release of our monitoring services platform SIGMA^TM,” Tushar Prabhakar, COO and Co-Founder of Orbital Sidekick, said. “With our growing list of commercial and government partners, OSK is primed to become a global leader in providing targeted solutions for customer pain points.”

“The OSK business model is naturally aligned with improvements sought by the energy and space sectors during this and coming years,” said Dan Katz, CEO and Co-Founder of OSK. “By bringing new investors Temasek and Energy Innovation Capital on board, we are now able to strengthen our commitment to providing improved asset monitoring services for traditional energy infrastructure while expanding product offerings that support environmental sustainability and clean energy exploration.”

“The energy and industrial sectors are under intense pressure to achieve ESG excellence.  Meeting increasing social and regulatory expectations requires persistent and sophisticated asset and environmental monitoring. Orbital Sidekick’s Spectral Intelligence^TM uniquely delivers hyperspectral imaging from space, allowing operators to monitor assets beyond the visual spectrum, across the globe, on a daily frequency.  We are excited to join industry veterans, Dan and Tushar,  Temasek, and other early investors in delivering a step change in Earth Observation,” said Christopher Smith, Managing Director, Energy Innovation Capital.

Rocket Lab‘s next mission will find the company attempting to bring their rocket back from space, slowing the Electron launch vehicle down from speeds of >Mach 8 as it re-enter’s Earth’s atmosphere before splashdown in the ocean.

This complex mission is the next major step toward making Electron the first orbital-class, reusable, small launch vehicle, enabling rapid-turnaround launches for smallsats. 

Scheduled for launch in May 2021 from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, the ‘Running Out of Toes’ mission will be Rocket Lab’s 20^th Electron launch overall and the second of three planned, ocean splashdown, recovery missions. The mission will see Electron deploy two EO satellites for BlackSky’s global monitoring constellation. While Electron’s second stage delivers the satellites to orbit, Electron’s first stage will undertake a series of complex maneuvers designed to enable the stage to survive the extreme heat and forces of atmospheric re-entry on the way back to Earth.

As the rocket reaches speeds of around eight times the speed of sound on its descent, the air around Electron heats up to 2,400 °C generating an extremely hot plasma that creates a red-orange glow around the re-entering stage. Because Electron will enter the atmosphere engines first, the nine 3D printed Rutherford engines on the first stage will bear the brunt of this extreme heating. To withstand the immense temperatures, this Electron features an evolved heat shield designed to protect the engines and direct the force of the plasma away from the rocket.

After entering the atmosphere, Electron will deploy a drogue parachute to help begin the process of slowing the rocket down and stabilizing its descent. Once Electron is at subsonic speeds, a circular parachute is deployed to help further slow the rocket in preparation for a gentle ocean splashdown. A Rocket Lab vessel will then rendezvous with the stage in the splashdown zone, approximately 650 km from Launch Complex 1, and retrieve it for transport back to Rocket Lab’s Production Complex for inspection.

Following the successful completion of the ocean splashdown tests this year, Rocket Lab intends to move into the final phase of the recovery program, that being mid-air recovery. Using this approach, Electron stages will be captured mid-air by a helicopter.

While Electron is designed for mid-air capture, Rocket Lab’s newest launch vehicle, the 8,000 kg. class Neutron rocket under development, is designed for propulsive landing. This process will see Neutron’s engines reignite during the re-entry phase to slow the stage’s descent before landing legs are deployed to enable a vertical landing on an ocean platform. Information about Neutron can be found at this direct infolink…

‘Running Out of Toes’ follows on from Rocket Lab’s first recovery mission, ‘Return to Sender,’ which launched in November 2020 and saw the company successfully deploy the parachute system and recover a stage from an ocean splashdown for the first time. In doing so, Rocket Lab became only the second company to successfully recover an orbital class booster from space. The ‘Running Out of Toes’ mission is designed to validate the findings from the first recovery mission and to test updated systems including the new advanced heat shield.

“Reusability is hard for any launch vehicle, but it’s a particularly complex challenge for small rockets. The Return to Sender mission proved we could successfully bring Electron back from space. Now it’s about validating re-entry data a second time and starting to introduce the advanced systems that will enable us to launch, catch and repeat,” said Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “Electron is already the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket. Reusability will enable us to further increase launch cadence giving our customers on-demand access to space.”

OneWeb has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The AST Group (AST) — by working together, AST and OneWeb will offer fixed-land and maritime customers access to OneWeb’s fast, flexible and affordable connectivity solutions seamlessly in even the most remote locations on land and at sea.

Customer beta trials will be undertaken with AST before the end of the year and will be focused on delivering fixed services to support remote connectivity in Northern Europe.

Once full commercial service is available in 2022, OneWeb seeks to provide AST’s customers, primarily in the commercial shipping, fishing and high-end offshore sectors, with access to viable, high speed, low latency connectivity as an alternative to the current VSAT internet solutions to truly enable digitization and deliver the long-awaited leap in operational efficiencies.

This comes at a time when regulatory and commercial influences are driving demand for companies in maritime and offshore industries to decarbonize, improve broader sustainability and governance standards as well as improving business performance – all of which are underpinned by the need for more technology and data.

Commenting on the partnership, Gregory Darling, AST’s founder and Chairman, said, “We’re delighted to strengthen our relationship with OneWeb by becoming its distribution partner so that we can offer customers a fibre-like alternative to current solutions. AST’s focus is solution-based to ensure that customers improve their overall operational efficiency. OneWeb’s new satellite constellation and next-generation connectivity aligned with AST’s  INTEGRA network services will enable faster and better communications for the maritime industry. This new agreement marks further progress towards this transition.”

Carole Plessy, Head of Maritime at OneWeb, said, “OneWeb believes that connectivity at sea should be as seamless and simple as it is onshore to improve the overall efficiency, sustainability and profitability of the maritime and offshore industries. We’re proud to work with The AST Group, not just because of the strength of its market insight, reach and capabilities, but because of our shared belief that remote, faultless connectivity is essential to delivering operational excellence. By partnering with AST, we are another step closer to making LEO connectivity available to more marine and offshore customers, ending the legacy of complex, slow and costly VSAT systems.”

The latest update of “Prospects for the Small Satellite Market” was released this week by Euroconsult, forecasting further growth in the global supply and demand of government, commercial and academic satellites weighing up to 500 kg.

The market intelligence report, now in its 7th edition, builds upon Euroconsult’s previous iteration that accurately predicted more than 1,000 satellites would be launched during 2020, a record year despite COVID-19. The new release further reinforces the sentiment that the 2020s will be the decade of small satellites, anticipating the launch of close to 14,000 smallsats before 2030.

The main driver for this continued growth during a time where many face pandemic-related challenges is plans for SATCOM broadband “mega-constellations” and the continuous necessity for replenishment launches. Of all smallsats to be launched, 84% are expected to be part of constellations.

Furthermore, the smallsat manufacturing and launch market are set to do more than triple over the next decade, to $35 billion and $19 billion respectively, driven by the multiplication of constellation projects from both commercial and government stakeholders.

Euroconsult, who operates from locations across North America, Europe and Asia and specializes in the space sector and satellite enabled verticals, have released their updated findings at a time when launch rates are at least on par with last year, suggesting that the era of the mega-constellation has truly arrived.

Flagship examples of LEO broadband constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper, account for almost half of the projected demand over 2021-2030. Readers are therefore advised to go beyond raw numbers as vertical integration keeps growing with numerous players seeking to manufacture, operate and launch their own smallsats.

Significant future market shares are now captive of a region, country or of an integrator and/or launch provider, challenging both commercial satellite integrators and launch providers which see more of their target customers not only leaving their addressable market, but also competing with their own services. The smallsat market is, however, more open to procurement from third parties at the subsystem level than at the satellite level.

The updated report, free extract available, comes with an option to access premium features, including Euroconsult’s Smallsat Constellation Database that covers extensive past, current and future data – the first time Euroconsult have ever shared their “secret ingredients” with customers.

A free report abstract is available at this direct link…

Alexandre Najjar, Senior Consultant at Euroconsult stated, “Our smallsat report is once again in high-demand and with major intelligence updates being drawn from post-pandemic data and reviews of key pricing models and SATCOM application forecasts, plus the inclusion of Space Logistics information that features In-Orbit Servicing, Debris Removal, Last Mile Logistics and In-Orbit Manufacturing, we believe this report will be invaluable to key industry stakeholders and investors. A plethora of new market insights include the mitigation of concerns around the impact of COVID-19 in our previous edition by an increased availability of capital for the space sector, most notably with the recent M&A and SPAC funding trend.”

Other valuable updates to Prospects for the Small Satellite Market include a reviewed and refined pricing model for manufacturing and launch prices, while satellite applications in the database have been rebalanced, most notably with regard to Information, Earth Observation (EO) and Security applications. The Euroconsult report incorporates new content to help give decision makers key knowledge in this area, as well as a reviewed and up-to-date forecast accounting for the economic situation and impact of COVID-19. With its increasing importance, the extensive Euroconsult database has been updated to reflect the significant growth and developments of the Chinese constellations, with input from Chinese-speaking stakeholders.

This publication includes extensive data points on units, mass, and value for manufacturing and launch services. It provides a forecast for the next decade broken down by application, orbit, operator type, mass category, operator region, as well as integrator and launch provider, type of integrator, type of launcher and other subsets.

This report has now been added to the Euroconsult shop alongside a portfolio of high-demand space sector research that includes the 24th edition of Satellites to be Built & Launched and the 8th edition of Euroconsult’s Space Economy Report. All Euroconsult reports are available for purchase through the firm’s online infosite at this direct link…

The Euroconsult Group is a leading international consulting and research firm specialized in high technology industries, with expertise in the space industry, satellite-based applications, aero connectivity, information and data services. Privately owned and fully independent, we have over thirty years of experience developing comprehensive research programs and working with private companies and government entities, providing end-to-end consulting services, from project strategy definition to implementation, bringing data-led perspectives on the most critical issues. The Euroconsult Group is trusted by 600 clients in over 50 countries. The Group is headquartered in France, with offices in the U.S., Canada, Japan and Singapore.

Low Earth orbiting satellites may soon help Alaska to achieve a task force goal.

COVID-19 has focused our attention on the plight of students struggling to go to school on the internet. It’s been worse in rural Alaska, where kids have huddled outside closed schools, trying to pick up a Wi-Fi signal to complete their homework assignments. And their parents depend on the internet, too. Like urban folks, they use it to order groceries, clothing, and medications. They use it to attend Zoom meetings and, of course, to watch television and movies — needed entertainment on a stormy winter night. Like their city friends, rural residents need high-speed internet service. It’s called broadband.

The official Federal Communications Commission definition of broadband is known as 25/3 — 25 Mbps toward the user and 3 Mbps away from the user. This will make sense to the geeks among us, but for the rest of us, it’s simply service that’s fast enough to surf the web, watch videos and do all the other things we’ve come to expect from the internet. In the 1970s and 1980s, I helped a small group of dedicated professionals working to provide modern telecommunication service to Alaska’s villages. And it worked. By the early 1980s, most rural residents had access to what then passed for modern service – telephones, a radio station, and a TV channel. But then the internet happened.

By the dawn of the 21st Century, it was clear that Internet would become an essential service. More than a decade later, Gov. Sean Parnell appointed an advisory group he called Alaska’s “Statewide Broadband Task Force,” and in August 2013 the panel published its report, “A Blueprint for Alaska’s Broadband Future.” They recognized the importance of broadband, especially in rural Alaska, and its top recommendation was that Alaska pursue a goal of 100/100 broadband service “to households and businesses throughout Alaska by 2020.” Now, nearly eight years later and one year after the panel’s target date, rural Alaskans are far from realizing that goal or even the FCC’s more modest definition of broadband. Complaints from rural Alaska residents abound. They have told us clearly and emphatically that they need more and better broadband service.

But there has been some progress in the past decade. In 2011 GCI began its TERRA, or Terrestrial for Every Rural Region in Alaska, project. This project uses a combination of fiber-optic cables and microwave relay links to provide service to big parts of western Alaska. It’s been an improvement, but it has not provided the broadband service that rural Alaskans need. In December 2017, Quintillion, a less familiar company, completed construction of an undersea fiber-optic cable providing high-speed connections to Prudhoe Bay, Utqiagvik, Wainwright, Point Hope, Kotzebue and Nome. These coastal communities now have access to broadband, but without access to the cable, inland communities generally do not.

In August 2016 the Alaska Telecom Association, on behalf of its member companies, struck a deal with the FCC to provide broadband to rural Alaska. Called the “Alaska Plan,” it committed the association’s member companies to provide a modest 10/1 version of broadband service to most rural Alaska communities by the year 2026. That’s better than what was available in many of those communities in 2016 but still short of the FCC’s 25/3 broadband definition.

But even with all these helpful and well-intentioned efforts, the goal that the broadband task force wanted to achieve by 2020 has not been reached. Rural Alaskans do not have access to the broadband service they need. What can be done?

Well, there is hope. The new technology of low Earth orbiting satellites may soon help Alaska to achieve the task force goal. These new satellites — many already in orbit — will provide worldwide broadband service – including, of course, service to rural Alaska. More than 1,300 of the satellites are already in orbit, and more are being launched each month. Several companies have announced plans to provide the new service, but the two companies that already have satellites in orbit are SpaceX and OneWeb, the latter represented in Alaska by Pacific Dataport Inc. According to SpaceX, satellite-based broadband service will be available across all of Alaska next year.

Many have worked over the past decade to provide broadband service to our rural residents. There has been progress, but more is needed. Low Earth orbiting satellites — combined with the work of Alaskan companies — may finally lead to the broadband service that rural Alaskans need.

• Alex Hills arrived in rural Alaska in 1970 to help build its telecom systems. The work that he and others did is described in his book, “Finding Alaska’s Villages: And Connecting Them.” He worked for Gov. Jay Hammond as Alaska’s top telecom official and is now distinguished service professor at Carnegie Mellon University but lives in Palmer. 

By Alex Hills for Juneau Empire

NanoAvionics has been selected by OQ Technology to build the company’s MACSAT satellite mission aiming to demonstrate 5G Internet-of-Things service from LEO.

NanoAvionics will build and test a 6U smallsat platform to host the MACSAT communication payload.

The mission is planned for launch in 2021/2022 and will be a flagship for demonstrating advanced 5G IoT services in strategic satellite frequencies and for different end-customers.

The on-orbit pathfinder mission (MACSAT) aims to foster Luxembourg and European space industry partnerships and is supported by the Luxembourg National Space program (“LuxIMPULSE”).

Japanese camera maker Nikon has bought a majority stake in U.S. startup Morf3D, an aerospace supplier whose customers include Boeing, in a deal estimated at nearly 10 billion yen ($91 million), Nikkei has learned.

The acquisition, which took place on Friday and will be announced Tuesday, gives Nikon a foothold in the supply chain for small satellites, a growing field of the aerospace industry.

Driving the move is the shrinking market for one of Japan’s leading camera brands.

California-based Morf3D was founded in 2015 and mainly makes parts for satellites using 3D printing. The company has received funding from Boeing’s venture capital arm and also does business with other American and European aerospace companies.

Nikon gains representation on Morf3D’s board of directors and will send engineers to the startup to solidify their operational ties.

Satellite components must be both strong and lightweight, with as few bolted or other joints as possible.

Nikon has strength in optical processing machines, a kind of 3D printing technology used to build up metal components from a powder-like material. The company will apply this technology to making aerospace components for sale through Morf3D’s sales channels.

The small-satellite market is expected to grow to $7.1 billion in 2025 from $2.8 billion in 2020, according to Indian research firm MarketsandMarkets.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to launch a network of 12,000 satellites to provide global high-speed internet access, while Amazon looks to put into orbit over 3,000 communication satellites.

Suyoshi Tamehiro, Nikkei staff writer, Nikkei Asia

OFFICINA STELLARE SpA has been awarded the contract for the supply of a set of medium and long-range telescopes to be installed in a test facility located in the southern hemisphere — this contract has a total value of approximately $1.5 million.

Gino Bucciol, Head of OS’ Business Development, said, “[..] this contract positions us, internationally, among the most important players in the defense sector, a strategic area that we have been overseeing for some years, in which we aim to grow thanks to the consolidated technical-engineering skills and the level of absolute excellence achieved by our opto-mechanical instrumentation. This result is a further confirmation of the defense industry’s confidence in our industrial model characterized by an almost completely internal value chain that guarantees efficiency, versatility and the ability to optimize production processes.”

Additionally, last month, the company was awarded the contract for the supply of the ground Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) station that is to complete the already existing geodetic infrastructure at the Yebes Observatory in Spain.

This ground station was designed for extremely versatile use and is also different from those that are specifically related to laser measurements, such as laser communications.

This contract is part of the important scientific project YDALGO, promoted by the National Center of Geographic Information, and led by the Spanish company TTI and further supported by the German DiGOS that specializes in the development of turnkey SLR stations.