Archives for May 2021

Vaya Space will create a Brazilian subsidiary as part of their strategic plan to expand operations into South America. Vaya Space anticipates creating 200 direct jobs in Brazil over the next two years and plans an initial manufacturing footprint of approximately 10,000 square meters.

The final location for Vaya Space manufacturing operations within Brazil remains in negotiation, with several areas vying for consideration. Previously, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Investment and Trade Promotion Agency (INDI) for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Vaya Space is also considering locations in the aerospace cluster located within the state of São Paulo, in the city of São José dos Campos, which according to a 2020 ranking by the Financial Times Magazine, is the third best city in the world for aerospace sector strategic investment.

Jack Blood, Vaya Space Vice President, commented on the favorable business climate that exists in Brazil, government policy to facilitate commercial space efforts, and the opportunity for public-private partnering and said, “The US-Brazil Technological Safeguards Agreement (TSA) protects sensitive space technology exports to Brazil for launch from the Alcântara Launch Center. This ensures compliance with US export control requirements, and allows us to take advantage of the excellent location of this spaceport, which can support a wide range of launch azimuths, from equatorial to polar,” stated Blood. “The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) under the leadership of Marcos Pontes has been a strong advocate of bringing commercial launch business to Brazil. Other considerations included the ability to generate turn-key solutions with the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which has robust capabilities to support development of small satellite technologies, particularly earth observation and space and atmospheric sciences; along with Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) alignment with FAA best practices. Taken as a whole, all these factors create an excellent environment in Brazil for commercial space operations, and for Brazil to assume a leadership role of the space industry in South America.”

Vaya Space President Rob Fabian summarized, “We are excited about standing-up our Brazilian subsidiary. We look forward to partnering with Brazilian companies; developing local, regional, and global supply chains, supporting a strong and diversified customer base, and contributing to the creation of a vibrant commercial space economy.”

Vaya Space is a hybrid rocket propulsion and SmallSat launch company leveraging advances in additive manufacturing to redefine the cost, performance, and safety of space access. With a build, integrate, and launch-ready cycle of less than 30 days, Vaya Space is capable of launching payloads greater than 1,000 kg into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and payloads greater than 600 kg into Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Positioned to serve the global market, Vaya Space is now accepting launch reservations for 2023.

Launcher has acquired the M 4K AM system from AMCM, an EOS Group company, to advance its high performance orbital launch vehicle strategy.

The AMCM M 4K system enables Launcher to produce the world’s largest, single-part, 3D printed copper alloy combustor at Launcher’s headquarters and production facility in Hawthorne, California. Launcher will additively manufacture the entire 10 ton-force, E-2 rocket engine to deliver smallsats to LEO.

Launcher has been an AMCM partner since 2017 and that collaboration has resulted in the development of the AMCM M 4K, which has an unprecedented part construction volume (45x45x100 cm) and supports copper alloy, the most advanced material for liquid rocket engine combustion chamber production.

Martin Bullemer, Managing Director of AMCM, remarked, “The major advantages of metal AM in the production of liquid rocket engines is lower cost to manufacture and allow for complexity in design – a common barrier-of-entry with conventional manufacturing technologies.”

He went on to add that development times are dramatically lessened and design flexibility is expanded. The result of these benefits is improved propulsion systems that use less propellant, carry larger payloads and enable new ideas and applications to take flight.

Additive manufacturing is revolutionizing the space industry and innovative companies, such as Launcher, are taking advantage of this advanced 3D printing technology. Most companies building 3D printed liquid rocket engines have been forced to design smaller engines or produce multi-part combustion chambers to fit within the limited construction volume constraints of commercial 3D printers. With Launcher’s commitment to the industry’s highest propulsion performance benchmarks, it needed to 3D print its E-2 engine combustion chamber as a single part, enabling optimal cooling channel design, fewer parts, simpler processes, and lower overall production costs.

In addition, while most companies developing 3D printed liquid rocket engine rely on Inconel alloy as their combustion chamber material, copper alloy is the best material for liquid rocket engine combustion chambers due to its optimal thermal conductivity properties, which enable more effective regenerative cooling. Informed by NASA research on 3D printed copper, Launcher requested copper alloy support in 2017 for the AMCM M 4K machine from AMCM and EOS.

As part of the collaboration between AMCM and Launcher, Launcher’s first rocket engines were built on site at AMCM in Starnberg, Germany in October 2019. Following Launcher’s test fire test in October 2020 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Launcher purchased an AMCM M 4K as part of the company’s expansion in Hawthorne, California.

“AMCM’s flexibility and openness to customer requirements, both in machine building and process implementation, is remarkable,” said Max Haot, Founder and CEO of Launcher. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with AMCM as Launcher advances its mission to build and operate the market’s most efficient rockets delivering satellites to orbit.”

The next Arianespace mission is planned from Vostochny Cosmodrome with Soyuz on May 27 to deliver 36 satellites into orbit. By operating this seventh flight on behalf of OneWeb, Arianespace will bring the total fleet to 218 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Flight ST32, the fourth commercial mission performed by Arianespace and their Starsem affiliate from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, will push the satellites into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers.

This mission will have a total duration of three hours and 51 minutes and will include nine separations of four satellites, which will raise themselves to their operational orbit. This seventh launch to the benefit of OneWeb will bring up to speed Arianespace’s operations this year, and will raise from 183 to 218 the number of satellites deployed for the global telecommunications operator.

OneWeb’s mission is to bring internet everywhere to everyone by creating a global connectivity platform through a next generation satellite constellation in LEO. OneWeb’s constellation will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity services to a wide range of customer sectors including aviation, maritime, backhaul services, as well as governments, emergency response services and more. Central to its purpose, OneWeb seeks to bring connectivity to every place where fiber cannot reach, and thereby bridge the digital divide.

Once deployed, the OneWeb constellation will enable user terminals that are capable of offering 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access globally – by air, sea and land.

OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space, is the constellation’s prime contractor. The satellites were built thanks to its leading-edge satellite manufacturing process that can build up to two satellites a day on a series production line dedicated to the assembly, integration, and testing of the satellites.

Telesat and TIM Brasil have completed their on-orbit testing across several applications with Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite.

This first-of-its-kind LEO backhaul testing in Brazil was conducted with TIM Brasil’s Innovation Department staff at their state-of-the-art teleport in Rio de Janeiro, leveraging an 85 cm Intellian parabolic antenna to uplink and downlink to the LEO satellite.

Throughout the 5 day testing campaign, the teams measured 4G mobile data traffic performance over LEO, achieving an average 38 ms round trip latency. All applications tested ran efficiently without interference, fading or performance breaks throughout the tests, including 1080p YouTube video streaming, video conferencing, WhatsApp voice over LTE and interface compatibility.

The resulting low latency represents a compelling opportunity for operators such as TIM Brasil to expand their mobile and Internet services. Brazil has very good 4G coverage in population centers, but remote communities usually cannot cost-effectively be connected to the core network through fibre or additional cell towers due to long distances and difficult terrain. These tests highlight how Telesat Lightspeed can bring multiple Gbps of affordable, high-performance backhaul connectivity to connect many underserved regions and reduce the digital divide in Brazil.

With its innovative DNA, TIM Brasil is committed to achieving 100% 4G network coverage by 2023 and has been a leader in 5G testing in Brazil, even before the technology became a reality in the country. To this end, the operator opened its innovation laboratory, TIM Lab, in 2019 to test new technologies for its next-generation mobile networks.

Though the Telesat Lightspeed production satellites that will begin launching in approximately two years will be more capable and sophisticated, Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite provides an excellent opportunity to effectively demonstrate how various applications perform over LEO and will ultimately be supported by the full Telesat Lightspeed network.

“Coverage and network reliability are critically important to mobile customers, which can be challenging to deliver in a country as large as Brazil,” said Mauro Wajnberg, General Manager, Telesat Brasil. “Telesat Lightspeed backhaul connectivity will be transformative for Mobile Network Operators like TIM Brasil, who are seeking cost-effective, enterprise-grade backhaul solutions to affordably connect all potential subscribers, no matter where they live.”

“Through this testing program, we believe Telesat Lightspeed is a promising technology to expand the geographic reach of our 4G/LTE and 5G networks,” said Silmar Palmeira, Director of Architecture, Innovation and Technology at TIM Brasil. “Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite performance delivered mobile experiences comparable to our terrestrial networks and we believe Telesat Lightspeed, with a mobile-optimized hardware ecosystem, has the potential to become a core component in our future infrastructure.”

Horizon Technologies has received a significant growth investment in a multi-million-pound Series A round of financing. This Series A investment will aggressively advance Horizon Technologies’ space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) Amber data service.

Maven Capital Partners led the latest investment round with participation from Virgin Money. New funding will accelerate the company’s launch of further Amber cubesats in 2022, augment sales and marketing efforts, and supplement staffing. The company also will be better positioned to broaden and fund product development across both its Horizon Aerospace and Horizon Space business segments.

The finance package was secured by Alexander Duffy and the corporate finance team at accountancy firm, Menzies LLP. International law firm, Jones Day, acted as legal advisers to Horizon Technologies’ management team, and assisted Menzies LLP in structuring the funding package.

The Series A financing builds on an exceptional year for Horizon Technologies which saw unparalleled financial growth in new orders, an ever-increasing roster of clients, key executive appointments, and market momentum in its two business areas: systems for airborne intelligence collection, and space-based geospatial data collection.

Ongoing conversations to potential end-users of these new services in the media, shipping, finance, insurance & trading markets outside our traditional defence/aerospace national customers confirm, that there is a genuine appetite in enhancing existing vessel tracking services traditionally based on AIS. Having the financial support and expertise of Maven Capital Partners will help us execute our vision even more rapidly and broadly—and with the benefit of experience, perspective and relationships of a leading tech investor.”

Horizon Technologies’ FlyingFish SIGINT system is flying on many ISR aircraft around the world from NATO and non-NATO Allied countries. The Horizon Aerospace business segment which produces and supports FlyingFish will be announcing a new product (BlackFish) later this year and is coming off its best financial year ever… this Series A investment will primarily go into the Horizon Space segment, with its transformational Amber MDA data as a service business.

Maven’s Investment Director, Luke Mathews, who will join Horizon Technologies Board of Directors, said, “We are excited to support Horizon Technologies as the Amber program progresses to this next, exciting stage. John and his team of aerospace industry heavyweights have done a remarkable job in developing the business to this point, and we are delighted to find a local company with truly global opportunities ahead of it.”

Ylan Lamour, Associate Director, Growth Finance at Virgin Money, added, “Under the guidance of a well-established and respected management team, Horizon Technologies has consistently pioneered the growth of the Signals Intelligence market and is now well-positioned to take the next step in its growth path. The team at Virgin Money is delighted to have collaborated with Maven to create a tailored package of support which will allow Horizon Technologies to continue to innovate and grow its business.”

“Today, we’re just scratching the surface of how space-based RF data can be used especially when it’s combined with other sensors such as imagery, and presented to customers as an integrated data product,” said Horizon Technologies Chief Executive Officer John Beckner. “This capital funding will build off of the tremendous support provided to us by the UK Government/Innovate UK, and enable us to leverage off the launch of Amber-1 later this year and launch additional satellites in 2022. This will put us on the path to eventually deliver a near real-time non-cooperative maritime domain awareness intelligence and analysis service to our customers.”

The future of the space economy relies heavily on servicing infrastructure and vehicles that can make precision maneuvers to successfully approach, inspect and dock with spacecraft in need of refueling, maintenance and a wide range of on-orbit services.

Starfish Space, a satellite servicing company and Benchmark Space Systems are now engaged in a strategic collaboration to advance precision, on-orbit refueling and docking capabilities, starting with demonstrations during Orbit Fab’s Tanker 1 mission, launching next month aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Starfish is integrating and testing its CEPHALOPOD rendezvous, proximity operations and docking (RPOD) software with Benchmark’s non-toxic, hydrogen peroxide-fueled, Halcyon thruster, the primary propulsion system for Orbit Fab’s Gas Stations in Space tanker, to optimize spacecraft control accuracy in preparation for the first-ever tanker maneuvers in space during simulated docking demonstrations.

Both Benchmark’s green chemical Halcyon propulsion system, set to power four separate spacecraft missions bound for launch in 2021, and Starfish’s autonomous CEPHALOPOD RPOD software, will accomplish flight heritage during the inaugural Orbit Fab mission aboard a tanker built by Astro Digital.

Earlier this year, Benchmark and Orbit Fab announced a green, hydrogen-peroxide-based, refueling and servicing infrastructure alliance to extend missions and provide the essential fuel for the evolving ecosystem in space. Orbit Fab and Benchmark are bundling integrated refueling and thruster systems, the RAFTI Fueling port and the Halcyon thruster, which offers a simple solution allowing satellites to receive their initial fuel on the ground and subsequent refuels on-orbit, which is an essential building block for satellite servicing and space commercialization.

Orbit Fab and Starfish Space are also exploring further integration of CEPHALOPOD and Orbit Fab’s SPARK RPOD hardware kit, an opportunity to move cooperative docking capabilities forward. Starfish plans to leverage its RPOD software aboard its own small, versatile space tug known as the Otter, which is designed to support satellite servicing missions such as life extension and active debris removal. The CEPHALOPOD software being tested will enable Otter to be uniquely affordable and rapidly deployed.

“This CEPHALOPOD mission is an exciting step for Starfish Space. Our RPOD operations will validate our novel capabilities and set the stage for a new era of affordable and available satellite servicing,” said Dr. Trevor Bennett, Starfish Space Co-Founder. “Working with Benchmark and using the Halcyon thruster for part of our tests is an important step as we demonstrate the unique performance of CEPHALOPOD. We’re also very excited to be working with our partners Orbit Fab and Astro Digital, who help make the mission possible.”

“This collaboration between Benchmark Space Systems and Starfish Space is all about leveraging our complementary strengths to drive toward precision on-orbit maneuvers that open the door to exciting new possibilities for the emerging space economy,” said Ryan McDevitt, Benchmark Space Systems CEO. “These in space maneuvers and simulated refueling docking demonstrations with Orbit Fab will mark Benchmark’s flight heritage, advancement toward our RPO chipset offerings, and the pivotal role we’re playing in providing spacecraft control authority and extending missions in space.”

“Orbit Fab is thrilled to see the enthusiasm and expertise driving innovative collaborations like this one between Starfish Space and Benchmark Space Systems focused on honing capabilities that will fuel the future of space,” said Daniel Faber, Orbit Fab CEO. “The more partnerships there are pushing new ideas and innovations, the sooner the broader space industry will catch the wave of new in-space services like our Orbit Fab Gas Stations in Space tanker set to launch RPOD maneuver demonstrations in a matter of days.”

The SmallSat Catalog from Orbital Transports has expanded their line of smallsat propulsion products with additions from ENPULSION of their NANO and MICRO product families broadens the range of capabilities available through the digital catalog of products and services for the smallsat industry.

ENPULSION’s modular Field Emission Electric Propulsion (FEEP) technology enables custom propulsion solutions designed for your mission needs. The highly versatile NANO series of modules can be clustered, supporting various configurations for attitude control, orbit life extension, formation flying and constellation control, and highly efficient deorbiting. Building on the heritage of NANO thrusters of which more than 60 are currently in space, the ENPULSION MICRO R3 is a scaled version of the technology appropriate for small and medium size spacecrafts.

“We are very happy to become a part of the Orbital Transport SmallSat catalog,” said Dr. Alexander Reissnter, CEO of ENPULSION. “We believe that this will allow even more potential customers to benefit from our space-proven technologies and products.”

Orbital Transports is bringing the smallsat supply chain online with the SmallSat Catalog, a digital portal showcasing products and services from some of the industry’s most innovative and reliable companies. The first resource of its kind, the SmallSat Catalog is your one-stop shop for all your smallsat mission needs. The catalog features cubesat and smallsat buses, COTS nanosatellite hardware components, ground station services and mission operations software, orbital transfer services, hosted payloads, and satellite servicing and refueling technologies. The SmallSat Catalog provides a convenient go-to resource to check out the latest and greatest that the smallsat industry has to offer.

ENPULSION GmbH is a space tech company based in Austria. Founded in 2016, it has quickly become a dominant player in the space industry selling one of the most advanced propulsion solutions for smallsats to a large number of worldwide satellite platform integrators. The unique modular solutions offer to satellite manufacturers high performance at a low cost, enabling the exploration of the Solar System and the democratization of space. ENPULSION is thus positioned at the very heart of the New Space era.

On May 15, 2021, Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly almost three minutes into the company’s 20th Electron launch. Following a successful lift-off from Launch Complex 1, Electron proceeded through a nominal first stage engine burn, stage separation, and stage 2 ignition. Shortly after the second stage ignition, the engine shut down, resulting in the loss of the mission.

Rocket Lab continued to receive good telemetry from Electron following the safe engine shutdown on stage two, providing engineers with comprehensive data to review as part of a robust review into the anomaly. The extensive data is being methodically scoured to enable the review team to accurately pinpoint the issue and implement corrective actions for future missions. Rocket Lab is leading the flight review with the support of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); a structure that ensures Rocket Lab maintains a high degree of control over its return-to-flight schedule.

Preliminary data reviews suggest an engine computer detected an issue shortly after stage 2 engine ignition, causing the computer to command a safe shutdown as it is designed to do. The behavior had not been observed previously during Rocket Lab’s extensive ground testing operations, which include multiple engine hot fires and full mission duration stage tests prior to flight. The vehicle remained within the pre-determined safety corridor during the flight. The full review is expected to be complete in the coming weeks and Rocket Lab anticipates a swift return to flight.

“We deeply regret the loss of BlackSky’s payload and we are committed to returning to flight safely and reliably for our customers,” said Rocket Lab founder and chief executive, Peter Beck. “We are methodically working through the review process to address the issue. After 17 successful missions and more than 100 satellites deployed to orbit prior to this mission, and with multiple launch vehicles currently in production, we are confident in a swift and reliable return to flight with minimal impact on our launch manifest this year.”

Flight data shows Electron’s first stage performed nominally during the mission and did not contribute to the flight issue. The first stage safely completed a successful splashdown under parachute as planned and Rocket Lab’s recovery team retrieved the stage from the ocean for transport back to Rocket Lab’s production complex as part of the company’s reusability test program.

The new heat shield debuted in this flight protected the stage from the intense heat and forces experienced while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and the program took yet another major advancement towards reusability of the rocket. The engines remain in good condition and Rocket Lab intends to put them through hot fire testing for analysis.

Selected components from the recovered stage are also suitable for reflight on future missions. Rocket Lab’s program to make Electron a reusable launch vehicle is advancing quickly and the company intends to conduct its third recovery mission later this year.

In March 2021 Rocket Lab announced plans to become a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq via a merger agreement with Vector Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: VACQ), a special purpose acquisition company. On May 7, 2021, Vector and Rocket Lab confidentially submitted a registration statement on Form S-4 to the Securities and Exchange Commission and both parties continue to work towards the completion of the transaction.

Original story…

After 17 successful launches of their Electron rocket, Rocket Lab experienced an anomaly during their 20th Electron mission “Running Out Of Toes” following a successful liftoff, first stage burn and stage separation.

According to the company, the issue occurred following second stage ignition during the flight on May 15, 2021, UTC, resulting in the loss of the mission. The launch vehicle’s second stage remained within the predicted launch corridor and caused no harm to the public, Rocket Lab’s launch or recovery crews or the launch site. Electron’s first stage safely completed a successful splashdown under parachute and Rocket Lab’s recovery team is working to retrieve the stage from the ocean as planned.

Rocket Lab is working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to investigate the anomaly and identify the root cause to correct the issue for future missions.

“We are deeply sorry to our customer BlackSky for the loss of their payloads. We understand the monumental effort that goes into every spacecraft and we feel their loss and disappointment. Our team is working hard to identify the issue, rectify it, and be safely back on the pad as soon as possible,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and chief executive. “On one of our toughest days, our team operated with professionalism and worked swiftly to ensure the anomaly was managed safely. Our team is resilient, and our top priority remains to safely and reliably return to flight for our customers. We will learn from this, and we will be back on the pad again.” 

With multiple launch vehicles currently in production, Rocket Lab is prepared for a rapid return to flight as soon as investigations are complete and any required corrective actions are in place.