Archives for May 2021

Sateliot is preparing with a dozen companies and the Spanish Ministry of Defense the deployment of a constellation of LEO smallsats that, in addition to the democratization of IoT with 5G coverage, will also enable a secure information exchange system using QKD quantum keys.

This is a cross-cutting project led by Sateliot, which will involve an investment of more than 176 million euros and has just been submitted to the Spanish Ministry of Industry as part of the Program for the Promotion of Industrial Competitiveness and Sustainability projects that will serve as a guide for the allocation of European Next Generation funds. With this project, the consortium seeks to position Spain as a world reference in 5G IoT constellations and secure global communications, enabling the Spanish industrial sector to digitize as a priority.

Precisely, this technology is part of the European Quango project that opens a new business avenue for Sateliot and stands as an evolution of the original constellation proposed by the company. This network of 96 nanosatellites, in addition to connecting IOT elements on the 5G standard, compatible with more than 70 mobile operators, will also ensure secure communication by introducing an end-to-end encryption device using QKD (Quantum Key Distribution), the first quantum technology that could be widely applied.

In this way, this constellation will allow cost savings by sharing the infrastructure originally designed with this innovative system that will be key to guarantee the secure exchange of sensitive information between organizations located thousands of kilometers away, protecting vulnerable data such as money transfers, commercial transactions, private data or the remote control of critical infrastructures from all types of external interference.

Thus, this project will respond to two of the levers considered key to economic recovery: digitalization and sustainability, as it will allow the Internet of Things (IoT) to be deployed in all productive sectors with a positive impact on the efficiency and profitability of economic activities such as agriculture, livestock, fishing, mining, construction, energy, transport and tourism. It will also respond to pressing challenges such as depopulation or the emptying of Spain.

It will also have direct applications in the Public Administration, ensuring the secure exchange of information in Ministries that work with extremely sensitive data, such as the Ministry of Defense, which is actively participating in the project, but also between ministries, city councils and areas such as Education, Health, Ecological Transition, Transport and Justice.

Currently, Sateliot has already launched the first of the smallsats that will offer IoT coverage with 5G connection, marking a milestone and positioning itself as a benchmark in the satellite telecommunications industry. The overall project, which will be fully operational by 2023, is divided into nine phases. The first of these will include the demonstration of both technologies on two satellites that will be tested gradually over the coming months.

According to Jaume Sanpera, founder and CEO of Sateliot, “With this consortium, we are taking a step forward to provide not only global connectivity but also unconditional security. Thus, with the development of 5G and QKD technologies, we will build a unique constellation in the world that will enable the digitization of the Spanish industrial sector; a fundamental advance towards its recovery after the pandemic.”

Sateliot is the first satellite telecommunications operator to provide global and continuous connectivity to all the elements that will make up the Internet of Things (IoT) universe – such as the connected car or the connected home – under the 5G protocol. Thanks to a constellation of state-of-the-art smallsats, located at low altitude and acting as mobile towers, Sateliot is the perfect complement to large telecommunications companies by providing them with the necessary infrastructure where terrestrial technologies do not reach.

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.

SpaceX will launch 52 Starlink satellites the weekend of May 15th. The normal batch of 60 is being amended as SpaceX has a couple of paying guest craft on board for the launch. This will be Launch 27 for Starlink and is due at 6:58 p.m. local time (22.58 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and COO, is on record as saying that after about 28 launches the company would have continuous coverage globally.

Starlink has also confirmed that it is now taking orders from clients in France. Spain is also targeted with Starlink having registered a Madrid-based operation with Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMC).

Sources suggest that Elon Musk’s broadband-by-satellite service is anticipating one million European users in Europe this year.

On a OneWeb note, Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank and satellite broadband provider OneWeb have announced an agreement for “mutual cooperation to promote OneWeb’s satellite communication services in the global and Japan markets. SoftBank and OneWeb will promote satellite communication services via the combination of OneWeb services and SoftBank’s services, including advanced communication and Digital Transformation platform services.”

A joint statement added, “SoftBank and OneWeb will collaborate in market development for Japan and global markets, and jointly engage in technical and product development to enhance their competitiveness in these markets. This collaboration encompasses obtaining regulatory approvals and the setting up of ground stations in Japan. To deliver Internet connectivity worldwide, and to digitalize and revolutionize analogue industries, SoftBank aims to provide advanced seamless connectivity services and DX platform services by using global connectivity solutions that incorporate OneWeb’s services.”

SoftBank is an investor in OneWeb along with the UK government, Bharti Global of India, Hughes Network Systems and more recently Eutelsat.

Google Cloud and SpaceX have announced a new partnership to deliver data, cloud services and applications to customers at the network edge, leveraging Starlink’s ability to provide high-speed broadband internet around the world and Google Cloud’s infrastructure.

Under this partnership, SpaceX will begin to locate Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, enabling the secure, low-latency and reliable delivery of data from more than 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit to-date to locations at the network edge via Google Cloud. Google Cloud’s high-capacity private network will support the delivery of Starlink’s global satellite internet service, bringing businesses and consumers seamless connectivity to the cloud and Internet, and enabling the delivery of critical enterprise applications to virtually any location.

Organizations with broad footprints, such as public sector agencies, businesses with presences at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, often require access to applications running in the cloud, or to cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning. Connectivity from Starlink’s constellation of LEO satellites provides a path for these organisations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents, quickly and securely.

“Applications and services running in the cloud can be transformative for organizations, whether they’re operating in a highly networked or remote environment,” said Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Google Cloud. “We are delighted to partner with SpaceX to ensure that organizations with distributed footprints have seamless, secure, and fast access to the critical applications and services they need to keep their teams up and running.”

“Combining Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google’s infrastructure and capabilities provides global organizations with the secure and fast connection that modern organisations expect,” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell. “We are proud to work with Google to deliver this access to businesses, public sector organisations, and many other groups operating around the world.”

This new capability is expected to be available in the second half of 2021.

Rocket Lab is targeting no earlier than 10:00 am UTC, Saturday, May 15, for the launch of the ‘Running Out Of Toes‘ mission.

The mission is a dedicated launch deploying two EO satellites for BlackSky. For the first time this year, Rocket Lab will also be attempting to recover the Electron launch vehicle’s first stage under a parachute for a controlled ocean splashdown. The mission is the next major step in Rocket Lab’s program to make Electron a reusable rocket.

This launch also marks two significant milestones for Rocket Lab — this is the company’s 20th Electron mission and will see the firm’s 200th, 3D-printed Rutherford engine launched to space.

The launch will take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. A two-hour window has been allocated for launch.

• Launch Window:
  UTC: 10:00 – 12:05 (15 May) NZDT: 22:00 – 00:05 (15 May) Pacific: 13:00 – 05:05 (15 May) Eastern: 06:00 – 08:05 (15 May)

If there is a need to stand down from launch for any reason, Rocket Lab has back-up launch days available through May 28th.

As stated, ‘Running Out Of Toes’ will be Rocket Lab’s 20th Electron launch as well as the second of three planned ocean splashdown recovery missions. While Electron’s second stage delivers the satellites to orbit, Rocket Lab will bring Electron’s first stage back to Earth underneath a parachute following a series of complex maneuvers. These include orienting the booster at an angle that will better help it survive the brutal re-entry process that involves heats of up to 2400-degrees Celsius while traveling up to eight times the speed of sound.

‘Running Out Of Toes’ is also the first in a series of dedicated launches this year through Spaceflight Inc. for BlackSky, where two of that firm’s 60 kg class satellites will be launched on this mission in support of the aggressive scaling of BlackSky’s satellite constellation to meet the demand for real-time global monitoring and analysis services for public and private organizations.

Axelspace Holdings Corporation has completed their Series C funding round, raising approximately JPY 2.58 billion (equivalent to $23.8 million). The round sees the allocation of new shares to The Space Frontier Fund, several other venture capitals and corporate investors.

• The Space Frontier Fund (Managed by SPARX Innovation for Future Co., Ltd.)
• Japan Co-Invest III Limited Partnership (Managed by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Investment Co., Ltd.)
• Japan Post Investment I, ILP (Managed by Japan Post Investment Corporation)
• 31VENTURES – Global Brain – Growth I Joint Project (Managed by Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. and Global Brain Corporation)
• KYOCERA Corporation
• Mitsubishi UFJ Capital VII, Limited Partnership (Managed by Mitsubishi UFJ Capital Co., Ltd.)

Axelspace Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Axelspace Holdings Corporation, has been developing a next-generation EO platform named AxelGlobe that will possess the capability of obtaining images of the entire planet with high frequency. With this funding, Axelspace plans to manufacture and launch five more optical smallsats called GRUS in 2023, which will evolve AxelGlobe as a constellation of 10 satellites in total. The completion of 10 satellite constellation will enable the company to monitor any location on the Earth on a daily basis and will create new business opportunities in more fields than ever before possible.

“We are confident that 2021 will become the most exciting year for Axelspace since we inaugurated AxelGlobe project 6 years ago. After the successful launch of 4 GRUS satellites on March 22, we have been smoothly preparing for the start of official service with 5 satellites. The operation of a satellite constellation is the very first achievement in Japan and we are very proud that we have added a new page to the history of Japanese space activities. Through the close of Series C this time, we have successfully secured the funds to add 5 more GRUS satellites to our AxelGlobe constellation in 2023, which is a big step toward the completion of 10-satellite constellation allowing the daily monitoring of any location in the world. We will accelerate the collaboration and partnership with various players in a wide range of industries, positioning 2021 as the first year to disseminate satellite data to the world,” said Yuya Nakamura, the President and CEO of Axelspace Holdings Corporation.

“Mitsui Fudosan has been following the growth of Axelspace for a long time, from supporting its office relocation and expansion in 2015 to joining the company’s Series B financing as a lead investor in 2018. In the concept of AxelGlobe to monitor the whole Earth with high frequency we see a big potential to create a new industry beyond our core business of community development. It has become even more realistic after the successful launch of 4 GRUS satellites in March this year, and we look forward to the completion of 10-satellite constellation in 2023 and further opportunities for collaboration in various aspects through the Series C round of investment,” said Mr. Shinji Kato, a Project Manager at Business Development Group, Venture Co-creation Department of Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., one of the accepting institutions and the continuing investor from the Series B financing that was completed in 2018.

Rocket Lab is targeting no earlier than 10:00 am UTC, Saturday, May 15, for the launch of the ‘Running Out Of Toes‘ mission.

The mission is a dedicated launch deploying two EO satellites for BlackSky. For the first time this year, Rocket Lab will also be attempting to recover the Electron launch vehicle’s first stage under a parachute for a controlled ocean splashdown. The mission is the next major step in Rocket Lab’s program to make Electron a reusable rocket.

This launch also marks two significant milestones for Rocket Lab — this is the company’s 20th Electron mission and will see the firm’s 200th, 3D-printed Rutherford engine launched to space.

The launch will take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. A two-hour window has been allocated for launch.

• Launch Window:
  UTC: 10:00 – 12:05 (15 May) NZDT: 22:00 – 00:05 (15 May) Pacific: 13:00 – 05:05 (15 May) Eastern: 06:00 – 08:05 (15 May)

If there is a need to stand down from launch for any reason, Rocket Lab has back-up launch days available through May 28th.

As stated, ‘Running Out Of Toes’ will be Rocket Lab’s 20th Electron launch as well as the second of three planned ocean splashdown recovery missions. While Electron’s second stage delivers the satellites to orbit, Rocket Lab will bring Electron’s first stage back to Earth underneath a parachute following a series of complex maneuvers. These include orienting the booster at an angle that will better help it survive the brutal re-entry process that involves heats of up to 2400-degrees Celsius while traveling up to eight times the speed of sound.

‘Running Out Of Toes’ is also the first in a series of dedicated launches this year through Spaceflight Inc. for BlackSky, where two of that firm’s 60 kg class satellites will be launched on this mission in support of the aggressive scaling of BlackSky’s satellite constellation to meet the demand for real-time global monitoring and analysis services for public and private organizations.

Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. (“Tyvak”), a Terran Orbital company, has named retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Christian “Boris” Becker as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer.

Admiral Becker brings more than 33 years of leadership in the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense (DoD) to his new role as well as an extensive knowledge of global satellite and communication networks. He most recently served as the Chief Executive of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) where he led an 11,000-person global organization responsible for the design, delivery and supporting logistics of the U.S. Navy’s global satellite and communications networks and enterprise-wide business systems.

His career includes leadership positions supporting the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). Admiral Becker has received numerous professional awards including the NRO and the Department of the Navy Distinguished Service Metals.

“We are thrilled to welcome Admiral Becker to the Tyvak team,” said Terran Orbital Chief Executive Officer Marc Bell. “His proven leadership and rich background in satellite systems and U.S. defense and intelligence requirements add tremendous value to our growth strategy. He deeply understands the needs of our customer base and his appointment reinforces Tyvak’s commitment to provide a full suite of satellite solutions to our customers in the U.S. and across the globe.”

“I am honored and excited to be part of the Tyvak family”, Becker commented. “This is a great team focused on delivering game-changing solutions to the most challenging problems our customers face. The demand signal for space-based solutions is enormous and Tyvak is uniquely positioned to serve those growing needs.”

MMA Design, under a contract with Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory, is providing High Watts per Kilogram (HaWK) solar arrays for six satellites that will be launched just beyond GEO on NASA’s Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission.

SunRISE will consist of six cubesats, each six units in size, just above GEO. These six smallsats, flying in a loose cluster about ten kilometers across, will form a virtual, radio telescope to detect and pinpoint emissions from the sun associated with solar storms. Those radio waves cannot be detected on Earth because of interference from the Earth’s ionosphere.

MMA will leverage its heritage of HaWK arrays that have previously flown on NASA missions including MarCO A and B (in support of the Mars InSight lander) and ASTERIA, as well as DoD and commercial missions including SHARC and SPARC-1. MMA HaWK arrays will also support 5 of the small satellites launching on the first SLS launch later in 2021 including NASA’s LunaH-Map, Lunar Flashlight, Near Earth Asteroid Scout (NEAScout), BioSentinel, and the JAXA EQUULEUS missions.

SunRISE is a Mission of Opportunity within the Explorers Program at NASA and the project is managed by JPL.