Archives for November 2021

Kleos Space S.A has appointed international Space finance executive Padraig McCarthy as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Management Committee, effective as of November 3, 2021.

Mr. McCarthy is currently a Partner at the private equity firm NewSpace Capital and an independent Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair at listed self-storage company Shurgard. He brings more than two decades of Space industry experience to Kleos, previously serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and member of the Executive Committee at SES, where he raised more than €5 billion to fund the company’s growth strategy

Mr McCarthy has an extensive investor relations and capital markets experience, playing a key role in the SES IPO, its Paris Euro-next secondary listing as well as other equity and debt activities. His industry experience also includes nine years as CFO and Management Committee member of SES Astra and other business and finance leadership positions within SES, whom he served for 23 years.

Commenting on the appointment, Kleos’ Chairman, Mr. Peter Round said, “Padraig’s wealth of financial, Space industry and governance experience further enhances Kleos’ Board expertise and will be instrumental as we continue to commercialize our geolocation intelligence data. His appointment aligns with Kleos’ best practice governance and regulatory regimes and supports our longer-term transition towards a majority independent Board.”

Mr. McCarthy said, “I’m delighted to join Kleos at a pivotal point in the Company’s journey, as it transitions from its R&D beginnings into a commercial provider of radio frequency geolocation data. Kleos’ independent ISR technology has many real-world applications, improving situational awareness for both government and commercial customers. I look forward to leveraging my previous industry and professional experience to assist Kleos as it executes its growth strategy.”

Kleos’ Co-founder, Miles Ashcroft, who has recently been appointed Chief Innovation Officer to lead research and product innovation, has stepped down from the Board as an Executive Director in order to facilitate the transition to an independent Board. He added, “Miles made an outstanding contribution to Kleos as a Director and I know the whole Board will join me in thanking him for his service so far, as well as helping us transition to an independent Board.”

Intelsat, OneWeb (OWT) and Linchpin Solutions have successfully demonstrated a multi-orbit satellite communications solution for representatives of the U.S. Army and Department of Defense (DoD).

This is a strategic demonstration to the U.S. DoD that shows transport diversification between GEO and LEO constellations, with seamless switching between them.

Referred to as Automated Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency (APACE) communications, the solution enables soldiers to survive and excel in contested electronic warfare environments. The reliability of communications is significantly improved by simultaneously sending data over multiple paths and adjusting the traffic flow in real-time between GEO and LEO satellite constellations.

Intelsat and OWT used both GEO and LEO services simultaneously, switching the data flow between orbits instantly at the packet level, using software to determine which connection will provide the best experience based on the technical requirements of the end service. The software solution can be hosted on existing fielded ruggedized virtual machine platforms allowing the system to run in the harshest environments.

Two satellite links were established during the demo – one on the Intelsat 37 (IS-37) satellite and one on a OneWeb satellite. The links communicated through various end-user terminals, including a SatCube terminal, a Kymeta U7/8 terminal, a Litecom GEO terminal, and a OneWeb Intellian terminal, demonstrating applications such as two-way voice and data downloads and MP4 video.

Intelsat’s FlexMove service, combined with partner terminals, can be deployed within an hour. For military customers, this quick set-up, reliable and secure offering provides Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) seamless communications at times when connectivity is most critical.

“This demonstration shows how through the power of partnership, we can provide a reliable, secure, multi-orbit, multi-band capability for the military that connects our warfighters to meet their evolving mission requirements,” said President of Intelsat General, Dave Micha. “This enables the delivery of required connectivity, throughput and services to customers when and where that reliable access is needed, even in the harshest elements.”

“This demonstration of low latency, high-capacity throughput via a multi-orbit solution that increases the resiliency of commercial SATCOM to DoD and allied partners globally is an important steppingstone as OneWeb rises to the challenges and needs of our customers through partnerships,” said Bob Roe, CEO of OneWeb Technologies, the U.S. Proxy subsidiary of OneWeb.

Digantara Research and Technologies Pvt. Ltd., (Digantara) has signed a contract with Orbital Astronautics Ltd. (OrbAstro) to fly the SCOT (Space–based space Climate and Object Tracker) payload onboard an ORB-6 satellite platform launching toward the end of 2022.

The mission will focus on demonstration of a novel LiDAR-based technology developed by Digantara, and will serve as the pilot for their LEO constellation providing a space situational awareness service.

“With the rapid growth of satellite applications and the influx of mega constellations, situational awareness of 1.0 – 10.0 cm objects, in addition to objects larger than 10 cm, is becoming increasingly important. With 96% of potentially hazardous objects still untracked, comprehensive situational awareness is required to operate assets in LEO effectively. Solving such intricate problems requires real-time insights,” said Anirudh Sharma, CEO of Digantara. “Digantara’s mission is to build a sustainable near-Earth environment and access to space by providing actionable insights through meaningful collaborations with industry stakeholders. Cooperation with companies such as OrbAstro play an important role in accelerating Digantara’s objectives.”

“Through its own satellite constellation, Digantara is working towards providing a service that constellation operators, space agencies, and regulators are screaming for. By far the most effective solution to a sustainable LEO environment will be comprehensive space traffic management. This will not be possible without companies like Digantara enriching datasets on traffi.”, said Dr. Ash Dove-Jay, CEO of OrbAstro. “Over the coming years, to enable the space traffic management aspect of our Guardian Network service, we are going to become reliant on partnerships with companies like Digantara.”

Beyond being a space-as-a-service provider geared towards nanosatellite and microsatellite constellations, OrbAstro is building an infrastructure to better service customer satellites, the Guardian Network. The Guardian Network provides low-latency access to customer satellites through an in-orbit data relay network, and it provides a high level of operations automation at the level of the satellite, mission, constellation, and space traffic management.

Digantara is a space situational awareness company building the world’s first in-situ orbital surveillance platform, SCOT. Digantara’s end to end platform, S-MAP (Space – Mission Assurance Platform) will change the way Mission design and operations are carried out in the industry today. Once deployed, Digantara’s satellite constellation will provide high fidelity data at 10x higher resolution than the current industry standards, effectively elevating space governance.

Orbital Astronautics Ltd is a United Kingdom and New Zealand based space technology company focused on providing “space as a service”, supporting companies looking to directly use satellites for their businesses. Orbital Astronautics is currently maturing a satellite batch production facility targeting constellation markets, and is building its own satellite constellation to provide low-latency access and autonomous operations services for customers satellites.

The University of Melbourne built Australian SpIRIT astronomy smallsat team has selected DcubeD actuators for this upcoming mission The actuators will trigger the deployment of the radiator for the SpIRIT mission that is set to launch in 2022.

For the deployment of the Australian-made satellite’s large radiator, the SpIRIT (Space Industry – Responsive – Intelligent – Thermal Nanosatellite) team has selected DcubeD (Deployables Cubed GmbH), a New Space smallsat mechanisms company specializing in nano-sized actuators as well as deployables for smallsats. The deployment of the mission-critical radiator will be ensured using DcubeD’s nano pin puller, nD3PP, triggering the deployment of the radiator once in space.

The SpIRIT mission is an innovative smallsat consisting of an Australian-designed and made spacecraft platform and a main payload for gamma and x-ray remote sensing, provided by Italian project partners. This will be accompanied by three technologies to be space qualified: TheMIS (Thermal Management Integrated System), Mercury (adaptive autonomous low-latency communications module) and an Australian developed high efficiency electronic propulsion system.

It is crucial that the TheMIS technology provides the required operating temperature of the main payload role, for which a large heat rejection radiator surface is required. A deployable radiator, such as the one SpIRIT uses, can greatly enhance the thermal performance by increasing the available radiative surface area whilst cooperating with the volumetric constraints of smallsats. DcubeD’s release actuators will secure the successful deployment of radiator panels and so support the spacecraft thermal control.

“SpIRIT is a truly exciting mission. SpIRIT will make a valuable contribution to the primary HERMES constellation as it hunts for newly born black holes and other electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events, putting a nanosatellite constellation at the forefront of science,” said Dr. Thomas Sinn, CEO of DcubeD. “Being selected as a supplier for the release actuators of the deployable radiator for this exciting mission fills me and the whole DcubeD team with pride." 

“Our SpIRIT mission aims to advance the capabilities of small spacecraft by providing the opportunity to demonstrate new technologies in orbit,” said Mr. Simon Barraclough, Technical Director for the SpIRIT mission. “A key technology is the payload thermal control system being developed by the University of Melbourne. The DcubeD device is an important enabler in the safe and dependable release of deployable thermal radiator. We have been very pleased with the product and service provided by DcubeD and look forward to its successful operation in orbit“.

The Melbourne Space Laboratory (MSL) in the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne is focused on developing innovative miniaturized payloads and technological solutions for smallsats to enable scientific investigations, commercial opportunities and defense applications traditionally restricted to substantially larger and more expensive satellites. Founded in 2019, it has already established itself as one of the points of excellence for smallsat R&D in Australia, as demonstrated by the award to lead the Space Industry – Responsive – Intelligent – Thermal (SpIRIT) nanosatellite, the first space mission selected for flight by the Australian Space Agency (International Space Investment – Expand Capability scheme). The laboratory is contributing to the growth of the Australian space sector and includes academics with international leadership in space science and engineering, as well as engineers with extensive international experience in aerospace companies.

DcubeD (Deployables Cubed GmbH), located in Germering, Germany, develops actuators and deployable structures tailored for smallsats and the commercial space industry. DcubeD will help with their release actuators (pin puller and release nut) and deployables (100W Solar Array, Space Selfie Stick, Deployable Boom)

The McQ CONNECT is a small SATCOM modem that can send and receive information in real-time over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

The new device was developed using the latest in a line of Iridium core technology transceivers, the Iridium Certus 9770. McQ was selected by Iridium as one of the first Value Added Manufacturing (VAM) partners to create a new solution based on the Iridium Certus 9770.

The McQ CONNECT is ruggedized to IP 67 standards and comes with a small, omni directional antenna that enables easy operation for static or mobile applications. This means users can instantly feed information from remote application via a secure cloud network and send command and control data to an application anywhere in the world.

Iridium’s LEO satellites provide total global coverage, enabling the McQ CONNECT modem to send files of any size using many messaging protocols including application data, pictures, safety alerts, security alerts, email messages, system monitoring data, and application command and control.

For applications that require sending video on the move, McQ vWatch® can be added to the solution. vWatch is a video compression management solution that can be added to any radio for sending high quality video at a fixed location or on the move. The device also supports voice services and can connect to computers, servers, tablets and smartphones, enabling additional applications.

The small modem is 23x13x6 cm. (9×4.5×2.5 in.), is 1 kg. (2 lb.), and has mounting provisions for shock and vibration environments on mobile platforms. McQ has technical support to help users integrate their applications and design custom user interfaces. This new global information product can provide a very affordable solution to connect remote system applications to user interfaces.

McQ, located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has been supplying DoD, DHS, DoE, DoJ, and other US Government Agencies and commercial customers with advanced technology security and surveillance systems for over 35 years. McQ has been an Iridium Partner company for over 20 years, providing Government and Industry with globally linked satellite information sent from security systems located all over the world. The Iridium satellite communications network enables a cloud information architecture that can rapidly distribute information from anywhere on the earth to users anywhere in the world. McQ CONNECT is a new product taking advantage of the new Iridium Certus machine to machine data service Iridium is initiating this year that can deliver data and information from static or mobile systems and provide command and control to these systems. McQ is a Small Business Entity and a Non-Traditional DoD contractor. McQ designs, develops, and manufactures the latest state of the art sensor systems.

iRocket has announced that the company signed an agreement with Turion Space Corp. — iRocket is a startup building 100% fully reusable rockets for smallsats and constellations that are intended for LEO orbit via the company’s Shockwave launch vehicle.

The company develops cost-effective launch vehicles that can support rapid launching within 24 hrs. for 400 kg. and 1500 kg. payloads for smallsat constellation providers for national security satellites, 5G internet constellations, the Internet of Things (IoT), Biotech Research, and Space exploration.

In addition, the reusable upper stage will target space junk removal that are in LEO orbit. iRocket is currently funded by the U.S. Space Force – Space Systems Command, The M&J Engineering Group, & Village Global (a venture capital firm).

Turion Space is building spacecraft to remove orbital-debris and provide orbit-modification and domain-awareness services to existing space assets.  The company plans to soon launch their D-1 satellite. Turion Space is funded by Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Forward VC, Pi Campus, FoundersX Ventures, Harvard Management Company, Imagination VC, among several others.

The company's CEO, Asad Malik, said, “We are excited about this new partnership with Turion Space to provide rapid access to space and cost competitive launch costs for their 20 Droid satellites and the low-cost final orbit delivery option their Droid satellites will bring to some of our own customers.”

Turion Space CEO, Ryan Westerdahl, said, “Turion Space looks forward to a strong partnership with iRocket for access to space and for providing us with a pipeline of future customers that will use the final orbit delivery services our Droid spacecraft can provide.”

The Welsh startup Space Forge, unveils their new state-of-the-art facilities as they prepare for the launch of their technologies.

Accelerating the Welsh space industry and helping place the UK at the forefront of the global small satellite launch market, Space Forge are on a mission to make space work for humanity – leading the clean industrial revolution by harnessing the power of microgravity. The company recently announced that, along with partners, they are developing a world-first service incorporating both launch and return of a new small class of vehicle – the ForgeStar – that can be deployed from conventional launchers to provide rapid, reliable and reusable in-space infrastructure.

This returnable service, which will enable microgravity on demand, has been awarded a two-year contract, through the European Space Agency’s Boost! Commercial Space Transportation Services Programme, which is supported by the UK Space Agency, worth €2m. This will cover the preliminary and detailed design phases, as well as the launch, in-orbit operation and return of the first operational ForgeStar demonstration vehicle. 

Following this announcement, Space Forge are ramping up launch preparations – unveiling their operational facilities. The site, based at Eastgate Business Park in Cardiff, currently employs 22 people – with the team growing from two in just sixteen months. Space Forge is looking to expand further, creating another ten job roles within the next six to eight months – catering for the evolution of their technologies and the UK market. 

The facilities, the first of their kind in Wales, include a state of the art clean room, where the payload integration and deployment will take place. This will also be the home of the continued development and testing of the world-first returnable technologies which, alongside the ForgeStar 1, include the Aether prediction system for providing accurate satellite and spacecraft re-entry landing locations that will create the reusable launch service. 

The opening of the facilities is the next step in the company’s development as they pioneer the way to unlocking microgravity for the benefit of humanity and lead the growth of the in-space manufacturing industry, which was identified as one of the key emerging sectors in the recently released UK Space Strategy. 

Space Forge has recognized the huge market potential for this service, with demand currently not being met due to no dedicated platform, no soft return and a heavy reliance on the International Space Station. Space Forge’s dedicated solution – a low-cost, independent, reusable space vehicle able to perform scalable in-orbit manufacturing – will enable the production of new materials for a new earth age.

Andrew Bacon, Co-Founder and Chief Designer stated, “Today is an important day for Space in the UK – direct from the heart of Wales. We’re thrilled to be able to take this next step in our journey. We’re proud to have grown our team rapidly to continue the maturation of our technology and these facilities are the foundations for our first launch next year. We look forward to leading the growth of the huge in-space manufacturing market from here in Cardiff.” 

Welsh Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething said, “It’s great to see Space Forge open its fantastic new satellite manufacturing facility. I’m very pleased the Welsh Government has been able to provide support to the company to help them reach this important milestone on their journey to orbit!  

“Earlier this week, I set out my ambition of creating a Welsh economy where more people feel confident about planning their future in Wales. Space Forge is a great example of the type of company we want to see growing here, helping us realise our ambitions of moving the Welsh economy forward by creating a stronger, fairer, greener economic future.“

In Wales, we have a strong track record of delivering high value manufacturing and innovation, creating high quality jobs in our communities. This puts the vibrant cluster of space industry leaders, such as Space Forge, in a prime position to flourish. We’re playing a significant part in supporting the ambition for the UK to build one of the most innovative and attractive space economies in the world. The Welsh Government fully backs this ambition.”

Cardiff-based startup, Space Forge, has taken the next step toward delivering their first launch to take place in 2022 with the opening of their new facilities.

Accelerating the Welsh space industry and helping place the UK at the forefront of the global smallsat launch market, Space Forge are on a mission to make space work for humanity – leading the clean industrial revolution by harnessing the power of microgravity. The company recently announced that, along with partners, they are developing a world-first service that incorporates both launch and return of a new small class of vehicle – the ForgeStar – that can be deployed from conventional launchers to provide rapid, reliable and reusable in-space infrastructure.

This returnable service, which will enable microgravity on demand, has been awarded a two-year contract, through the European Space Agency’s Boost! Commercial Space Transportation Services Program, which is supported by the UK Space Agency, worth €2 million. This will cover the preliminary and detailed design phases, as well as the launch, in-orbit operation and return of the first operational ForgeStar demonstration vehicle.

Following this announcement, Space Forge are ramping up launch preparations – unveiling their operational facilities. The site, based at Eastgate Business Park in Cardiff, currently employs 22 people – with the team growing from two in just 16 months. Space Forge is looking to expand further, creating another ten job roles within the next six to eight months – catering for the evolution of their technologies and the UK market.

The facilities, the first of their kind in Wales, include a state of the art clean room, where the payload integration and deployment will take place. This will also be the home of the continued development and testing of the world-first returnable technologies which, alongside the ForgeStar 1, include the Aether prediction system for providing accurate satellite and spacecraft re-entry landing locations that will create the reusable launch service.

The opening of the facilities is the next step in the company’s development as they pioneer the way to unlocking microgravity for the benefit of humanity and lead the growth of the in-space manufacturing industry, which was identified as one of the key emerging sectors in the recently released UK Space Strategy.

Space Forge has recognized the huge market potential for this service, with demand currently not being met due to no dedicated platform, no soft return and a heavy reliance on the International Space Station. Space Forge’s dedicated solution – a low-cost, independent, reusable space vehicle able to perform scalable in-orbit manufacturing – will enable the production of new materials for a new earth age.

Andrew Bacon, Co-Founder and Chief Designer, said, “This is an important day for Space in the UK - direct from the heart of Wales. We’re thrilled to be able to take this next step in our journey. We’re proud to have grown our team rapidly to continue the maturation of our technology and these facilities are the foundations for our first launch next year. We look forward to leading the growth of the huge in-space manufacturing market from here in Cardiff.”

Welsh Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, said, “It’s great to see Space Forge open its fantastic new satellite manufacturing facility. I’m very pleased the Welsh Government has been able to provide support to the company to help them reach this important milestone on their journey to orbit. Earlier this week, I set out my ambition of creating a Welsh economy where more people feel confident about planning their future in Wales. Space Forge is a great example of the type of company we want to see growing here, helping us realize our ambitions of moving the Welsh economy forward by creating a stronger, fairer, greener economic future. In Wales, we have a strong track record of delivering high value manufacturing and innovation, creating high quality jobs in our communities. This puts the vibrant cluster of space industry leaders, such as Space Forge, in a prime position to flourish. We’re playing a significant part in supporting the ambition for the UK to build one of the most innovative and attractive space economies in the world. The Welsh Government fully backs this ambition.”

Precious Payload, a US/UAE space-tech startup that makes planning and execution of satellite missions easier by taking care of mission and supply chain management, has released its latest feature: a comprehensive launch schedule for smallsats.

The schedule, just like online flight-booking tools, gathers all upcoming rocket launches into one, easy-to-browse page. Precious Payload tracks all launches on the planet and filters them against those that are commercially available. The information is kept up to date and is verified and reviewed by industry professionals. Those who are interested in booking a launch can build a mission profile and obtain a quote directly from a launch operator.

“We initially created this tool for internal use, to find launches for our clients quickly and easily. Now we want to share it with the public so anyone can use and leverage the infrastructure behind the small satellite industry. We believe that with our software, entrepreneurs can start a space company—even from their dorm room,” Precious Payload CEO and co-founder, Andrew Maximov, said. “This is just a start as we are planning to build similar tools for all other building blocks of a space mission, including ground segment, spectrum, licensing, components, and insurance.”

The Precious Payload launch schedule helps satellite operators find a launch, manage their mission and connect with the contractors and regulators they need to get their project off the ground. Suppliers to the smallsat industry can also benefit from the launch schedule, using it for everything from sales and marketing to integrating the launch data into their own products using API.

The company plans to add even more robust features in its next release, making the launch schedule a default handbook for engineers to optimize their launch strategy. Future updates will also include useful information on primary payloads, specific drop-off points, environmental requirements, and more.

Precious Payload continues to make space mission management digital and bring transparency into the small satellite supply chains through its user-friendly software and vast network of providers. Its mission is to streamline satellite design, manufacturing, testing, logistics, and in-orbit operations, bringing together all the suppliers needed for a successful launch on the same page with the teams developing payloads​​.

With a team in the US, Precious Payload set up shop in Abu Dhabi as part of the startup community at HUB71 in 2020 with funding from Mubadala Ventures and investors such as Tim Draper, Neo Ventures, Atypical Ventures, and others.