Archives for June 2021

Spaceflight Inc. will debut newly developed technical innovations used for the company’s next-generation Sherpa program, enabling smallsat transportation throughout cislunar space in a way that has never previously been accomplished.

Intentionally built with modular plug-and-play subsystems, Spaceflight’s next-gen Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) program offers customers flexibility and customization, including multiple types of propulsion for last-mile delivery, flight-proven avionics and separation sequencers, rich deployment telemetry and imaging systems, direct space-to-ground networks, and more. Based on a standardized 24-inch ESPA port, the Sherpa OTVs offer a reconfigurable, 300 kilogram, payload capacity and are sized to launch on most rockets.

The modular design enables Spaceflight to quickly customize the OTVs with different propulsion systems and subsystems to deliver highly varied capabilities to meet customers’ unique needs for orbital deployment. In its simplest form, Spaceflight’s OTV is a free-flying rideshare deployer; in its most advanced state, it’s an interplanetary transport vehicle. Each Sherpa can be exactly tailored to the demands of a given mission, customer, or application.

Spaceflight will also be using its flight-proven R2A avionics system, built entirely in-house. The system will give customers unprecedented access to the most accurate and timely data about the health and location of their spacecraft. Spaceflight designed its new avionics system based on learnings from past missions to provide higher fidelity data using direct space-to-ground networks. One of the most flexible and lowest-cost sequencers on the market, R2A will give Spaceflight customers access to individual spacecraft separation and deployment processes, thereby reducing risk and providing greater mission assurance.

Spaceflight’s groundbreaking innovations are scheduled to launch aboard its SXRS-5 mission that will fly two Sherpa OTVs on SpaceX’s Transporter-2 launch, including the industry’s first electric propulsion OTV, Sherpa-LTE1. The company purchased three ports for the mission and is managing the launch integration and mission management services for 36 payloads, including six microsatellites, 29 cubesat smallsats and one hosted payload, for 14 organizations from seven countries.

The company will be flying three variations of Sherpa OTVs this year — a free flyer (Sherpa-FX), one with electric propulsion by Apollo Fusion (Sherpa-LTE), and another with chemical propulsion from Benchmark Space Systems (Sherpa-LTC).

In addition to the propulsion options, the modular structure also enables the company to add a customized command-and-control system, built with flight-proven components from Astro Digital. Similar in shape and size to a payload, the command subsystem can be easily integrated to maneuver the chemical and electric propulsion Sherpa OTVs.

“With the launch of Sherpa-FX2 and Sherpa-LTE1 on the upcoming SpaceX Transporter-2 mission, we are harnessing the power of our modular design and preparing for future launches with multiple Sherpa OTVs,” said Philip Bracken, vice president of engineering at Spaceflight. “Much like with LEGOs, we can easily build different variations of Sherpa vehicles for flight in a matter of months, as well as adjust to last-minute manifest changes without impacting the rest of the mission. This is an unprecedented capability in the space industry, and we are excited to offer this service to our customers. The propulsion systems can quickly be integrated to accommodate specific mission goals which is a paradigm shift for in-space transportation.”

“It’s not an overstatement to say that the propulsive Sherpa fundamentally changes the smallsat market,” said Mike Cassidy co-founder of Apollo Fusion. “Spaceflight’s next-gen Sherpa OTVs combined with Apollo Fusion’s propulsion can now take spacecraft to any orbit — from LEO, MEO, GEO, lunar or beyond. It’s a game-changer for smallsats that used to be confined to the standard rideshare orbits; now they’re free to chart their own destiny.”

Launcher has advised that the company has raised $11.7 million in a Series-A round of funding, well above the firm’s $7 million goal, as the company seeks to accelerate the development of its first orbital vehicle.

In an interview, Launcher founder Max Haot said the company remains on track to debut the smallsat Launcher Light rocket in 2024. However, to meet this goal, the company needs to grow significantly… now.

This is a big change for Launcher — during its first four years, during which the company focused on the development of a first-stage rocket engine, the company had just a handful of employees and expended about $1.5 million per year.

However, Haot said the company will need to spend about $10 million a year to reach orbit by 2024 with Launcher Light. The company currently has about 30 employees in the United States and at the firm’s research and development subsidiary in the Ukraine and it plans to scale up to about 70 employees by the end of this year.

Haot said the company will probably need to reach about 150 employees by first orbital flight. He hopes to do so with a total budget of $50 million, supported by an additional round of funding expected to be completed by early next year. Reaching orbit with a budget of $50 million would be about half that expended by Rocket Lab and still less than other small launch competitors.

Article source: Ars Technica, June 2021

Kleos Space S.A (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1) has confirmed the successful dispatch of their cluster of four Polar Vigilance Mission satellites (KSF1) from Delft in the Netherlands to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc., the satellites will liftoff aboard the Spaceflight SXRS-5 / SpaceX Transporter-2 mission no earlier than June 2021. The satellites have been built by smallsat specialist Innovative Solutions In Space B.V (ISISPACE).

The Polar Vigilance Mission will provide global data that will will increase Kleos overall coverage density in the equatorial region and also cover areas North and South of the Kleos Scouting Mission satellites, which successfully launched on in November into a 37 degree inclined orbit.

Kleos uses clusters of four satellites to collect radio transmissions over key areas of interest around the globe and after processing a geospatial data product is delivered to analytics and intelligence entities for government and commercial use – efficiently uncovering data points of human activity on land and sea. The Kleos clusters enable up to six antenna pairs to be used in proprietary multilateration algorithms – aiding data accuracy.

Kleos CEO Andy Bowyer said, “ISISPACE have done an incredible job delivering four satellites in a very short time period to our exacting standards, we look forward to them entering service in our growing constellation – more satellites, means more data for our customers increasing their insight into human activity in key areas of interest.”

KONGSBERG technology is set to play a pivotal role in the working life of a recently-activated microsatellite. The Norwegian Space Agency’s new NorSat-3, launched on April 29th, 2021 from Vega Flight VV 18 which launched from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana, will be used by the Norwegian Coastal Administration for monitoring maritime traffic in Norway’s busy seaways — the satellite’s AIS and NRD (navigation radar detector) payload draws upon KONGSBERG’s most advanced, future-proof developments in space-based vessel detection.

NorSat-3 will take its place 605km above the Earth in a polar LEO (Low Earth Orbit) constellation alongside four other microsatellites. These have already been in service for years and have all exceeded their working life expectancy, but are nevertheless still operating efficiently. The new 16.5kg satellite has been designed to provide next-level functionality, so it has been equipped with KONGSBERG’s ASR x50 SAT-AIS receiver as its primary payload – the sophisticated fourth-generation outcome of a developmental AIS (Automatic Identification System) timeline which stretches back over two decades.

The ASR x50 sets a new standard for sensitivity in space-based SAT-AIS receivers, with its ability to detect even AIS Class B vessels. Extremely reliable and offering built-in redundancy, it deploys next-generation de-collision algorithms for optimal vessel detection in areas with a medium or high density of ship traffic. Its miniature, best-in-class EEE (Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical) components have been selected for their radiation-tolerant design principles and their low power usage.

In addition, its substantial onboard data storage is matched with multi-antenna support, a superior dynamic range and reconfigurable, on-orbit, Software-Defined Radio (SDR) technology, ensuring compatibility with forthcoming algorithm enhancements or amendments to AIS/VDES standards. As a part of KONGSBERG’s new eXtended lifetime product series, the ASR x50 is designed for a service life in LEO of more than seven years.

Meanwhile, the smallsat’s secondary payload consists of an experimental NRD (Navigation Radar Detector) antenna and receiver, supplied by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) and developed in collaboration with KONGSBERG, the French space agency CNES and the German electronics company ILFA. This cutting-edge equipment can detect and locate signals transmitted by civilian navigation radar systems, which will give the Norwegian Coastal Administration a more complete situational image by including vessels which aren’t sending AIS signals, for reasons ranging from errors and malfunctions to transponders being switched off.

“The launch of NorSat-3 represents a significant step forward in terms of the quality and quantity of the data we can receive, evaluate and share with other government organisations,” said Arve Dimmen, director for navigation technology and maritime services, Norwegian Coastal Administration. “The benefits for safer, better-informed sailing in Norwegian waters, both now and in the future, are obvious, and it’s to KONGSBERG’s credit that the company’s technology should be so central to realising our aims.”

“Enhancing situational awareness for seafarers and vessel traffic controllers alike provides great benefits, and NorSat-3 is an excellent example of how microsatellites provide crucial contributions to this picture,” added Erlend Vågsholm, Vice President Research & Development, Kongsberg Seatex. “It also shows how KONGSBERG’s strong focus on microsatellite solutions is well adapted to Norwegian needs for monitoring vast ocean areas and for maritime safety at large.”

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) will integrate their In-line Network Encryptor (INE) into the world’s first Link 16-capable LEO satellite, which the company is developing for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles XVI program.

Viasat’s INE will be the first crypto deployment on a Link 16-capable LEO satellite, and will provide communications security (COMSEC) and additional enhanced cybersecurity capabilities initially associated with mission data transfer, with future evolutions expected to simultaneously secure user data; telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) management; and inter-satellite communications—at multiple security levels.

Viasat’s INE, which was designed for a very low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) constrained system, is expected to provide radiation-tolerant network encryption aligned with the LEO space environment and will be capable of supporting speeds exceeding 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) aggregate throughput, which makes it an outstanding encryptor to secure Link 16-to-LEO communications. The INE will also be able to secure the data flow between an unclassified spacecraft bus and the classified processing domain.

Over the past two decades, Viasat’s information assurance business has achieved a number of industry milestones. The Company’s PSIAM-based rugged, compact Type-1 cryptographic product portfolio already includes a ground-based satellite TT&C crypto (the KS-252)—which is currently deployed in the U.S. Air Force’s satellite communications ground station architectures. This crypto is the foundation for providing the same innovative, multi-functional, programmable value proposition to the space segment.

“In addition to building and testing the first-ever Link 16-capable LEO satellite prototype, Viasat is also focused on delivering the first high assurance, fully-programmable crypto deployed in space,” said Craig Miller, president, Government Systems, Viasat. “Our focus is on revolutionizing space-based cryptographic and cybersecurity solutions by moving away from embedded, fixed single-application ASICs and moving to ‘plug and play,’ fully-programmable, multi-functional and highly-efficient military-grade cryptos that can be rapidly deployed by supporting commercial off the shelf technology enhancements for small satellites.”

Learn more about Viasat’s network encryption devices at this direct link.

A mini-satellite built by Robertsville Middle School students will launch from Cape Canaveral this coming Thursday, June 3.

An official website for the project stated the launch will take place at 1 p.m. The launch could be reset for Friday depending on Thursday’s weather.

“We decided we’d really try to do this. A middle school had never done this,” Todd Livesay, an RMS teacher, told a virtual audience of Altrusa International of Oak Ridge in May.

The satellite is 200 millimeters by 100 milimeters by 100 milimeters.

Livesay explained about the project being part of a class and of an extracurricular club at RMS. In his comments to Altrusa, he downplayed his own role in the project.

“I haven’t done this. I am an itty bitty part of this.”

He said his role was bringing the students together with mentors who are specialists in fields related to different parts of the satellite process, including mentors from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NASA.

We’re going to be out of one of those really cool SpaceX rockets,” he said regarding the June 3 launch. He said the RamSat will be be deployed from the International Space Station Monday,

Livesay explained to Altrusa the satellite will monitor vegetation as it recovers from wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains after the 2016 wildfires. A monitor in the RMS front lobby will track the satellite. However, he told Altrusans the real goal is educating the students.

“It’s never really about getting great pictures … this is really just an educational thing,” Livesay said.

He also said it could inspire the students to go into work with NASA in the future.

“A lot of us wanted to be part of the NASA program watching the moon launches and such,” he said of his own generation.

He said he hoped NASA projects in schools like this one will similarly inspire the students to look into careers with NASA. He also said some students involved in the project are interested in pre-engineering and architectural studies.

The project has already received national attention.

In 2019, Frank Brogan, U.S. assistant secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, visited Oak Ridge and talked to the students about the RamSat.

“It was not political. It was just about kids and learning,” Livesay said.

The satellite, while small, has many components, including solar panels, a flight computer, cameras, antennas, a battery and sun sensor electronics.

The satellite project has required students to engage in many different processes to get it ready. It’s involved work with 3D modeling, 3D printers, design of system components, coding and various tests of the satellite before it launches.

By Benjamin Pounds, Oakridger

Virgin Orbit has revealed their next LauncherOne mission to space — called Tubular Bells, Part One — is set to take off in June.

Carrying three customers from three different countries to LEO, Tubular Bells, Part One is another big step forward for the company and for the industry more broadly. The smallsat revolution is here and it’s a force to be reckoned with.

The mission manifest for Tubular Bells, Part One includes:

• The U.S. Department of Defense, which is launching three cubesat sets as part of the DoD Space Test Program’s (STP) Rapid Agile Launch (RALI) Initiative. This launch, also known as STP-27VPA, was awarded to Virgin Orbit subsidiary VOX Space by the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), an organization working to accelerate the adoption of commercial technology into the U.S. military to strengthen national security.

• The Royal Netherlands Air Force, which is launching the Netherlands’ first military satellite, a cubesat called BRIK II, built and integrated by Innovative Solutions in Space, with contributions from the University of Oslo, the Delft University of Technology, and Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre.

• SatRevolution, which is launching the first two optical satellites, STORK-4 and STORK-5 (A.K.A. MARTA), of the company’s 14 satellite STORK constellation.

Tubular Bells, Part One, also pays homage to the compay’s roots as a Virgin entity, named after the first track on the first album ever released by Virgin Records.

More info and technical updates will be offered as the mission gets closer to launch. In the meantime, prepare to watch Virgin Orbit’s first official mission livestream on launch day at the Virgin Orbit infosite, which will feature real-time commentary along with footage from the company’s cameras at the Mojave flightline and onboard LauncherOne.

D-Orbit has announced the upcoming launch of WILD RIDE, the third mission of the company’s proprietary space transportation vehicle ION Satellite Carrier.

Scheduled to lift-off in June of 2021, the vehicle, called ION SCV Dauntless David, will deploy six satellites into distinct orbits and perform the on-orbit demonstration of three payloads. This mission, which serves clients from 12 different nationalities, will increase the total number of payloads launched by D-Orbit to 54.

The mission manifest includes international clients, such as the Spanish Elecnor Deimos, the Bulgarian EnduroSat, and the Kuwaiti Orbital Space, which will launch the country’s first radio amateur satellite. Also on board, under contract with ISILAUNCH and integrated into a QuadPack from Dutch satellite manufacturer ISISPACE, are Finnish Reaktor Space, Marshall Intech Technology from UAE, and the Royal Thai Air Force.

The mission, which will start on a 500 km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO), will go through four phases: satellite deployment, on-orbit demonstration of the payloads hosted onboard, testing of D-Orbit’s advanced services, and decommissioning.

During the deployment phase, ION will deploy each satellite into a distinct orbit. The release of the seven satellites onboard will follow a highly customized plan that defines the moment of release, and the direction and speed of ejection of each spacecraft.

During the on-orbit demonstration phase, ION will operate LaserCube, a payload hosted onboard through an innovative plug-and-play system that streamlines the integration of instruments and experiments developed independently by third parties. LaserCube, from the Italian Stellar Project, is an optical communication device featuring a throughput performance more than 10 times higher than traditional radio devices. The increased throughput, combined with lower latency and increased security, enables new business opportunities in fields requiring increasingly higher data volumes like Earth imagery, weather forecasting, global telecommunications, and internet services.

The third phase will be focused on testing Nebula, a payload at the core of D-Orbit’s upcoming advanced services. The first iteration of Nebula, an on-demand, on-orbit cloud computing and data storage service being developed by D-Orbit UK, features Unibap’s SpaceCloud iX5-100 radiation tolerant computing module. A range of innovative applications will be demonstrated using sophisticated, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) techniques; some of these experiments will feature video compressing techniques from industry specialist V-Nova.

Another Machine Learning (ML) payload, called Worldfloods, has the ability to identify flooding and send down a flood map to emergency responders seconds after image acquisition. Developed by the Frontier Development Lab (FDL), a partnership led by Trillium Technologies with the University of Oxford and ESA, Worldfloods offers a glimpse of a future where rapid insight is delivered almost instantaneously from space.

During the fourth and final phase, decommissioning, D-Orbit’s operations team will deploy ADEO. Developed by the German HPS, ADEO is a small, 1U-size, de-orbit sail subsystem that will be deployed to 3.6 m2 at the end of the mission to accelerate the decommissioning phase by passive means, using the air drag of the upper atmosphere. This will lead leading to a faster, residue-free incineration of ION.

The entire mission, including operations on payloads, will be managed by D-Orbit’s mission controllers through AURORA, the company’s proprietary cloud-based mission control software suite that enables satellite operators to manage and control multiple payloads simultaneously, from any location in the world, saving all the expenses connected with software design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

The mission will also feature a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) experiment in collaboration with media artist Daniela de Paulis and INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica). The experiment, which investigates the possibility to communicate with other kinds of life in the universe, consists in the transmission of simulated alien messages to be received and decoded by radio telescopes worldwide.

“In addition to the many technical advances, this mission marks a major milestone for us: an international collaboration involving companies and institutional organizations from 11 nations, the largest we have had so far,” said Luca Rossettini, CEO of D-Orbit. “This is a testament to how borderless the space ecosystem truly is. Its rapid expansion, and the global services it is creating, will substantially improve life on Earth and mark this new decade in ways that we can’t even imagine right now.”

“We are very excited about this mission; the great variety of payloads onboard, the purpose of their single missions, so many of which targeting sustainable purposes, innovative challenges, and great technological advancements, make this mission quite unique,” commented Renato Panesi, the company’s CCO. “While the best part has yet to come, this has already been an extremely rewarding experience.”

While getting ready to launch this mission, the D-Orbit team is already working on future missions, with the next launch planned for Q4 2021.