Archives for December 2021

Euroconsult has released their “Satellites to be Built & Launched” report for 2021, the latest edition in a series that has consistently set the industry benchmark for analysis of the satellite market.

The 17,000 satellites expected to be launched in the next ten years represents a fourfold increase over past decade, reflecting structural changes in the whole space ecosystem and a limited short-term impact of the pandemic.

The race is heating up to rapidly deploy commercial mega constellations for broadband communications and new constellations for real time observation of the Earth. Historical space powers invest in new satellite applications (e.g., Space Security Awareness) and a growing number of countries invest in their first operational satellite system, either for telecommunications, imagery intelligence, or space exploration.

The new edition of Euroconsult’s satellite market forecast assessed individually about 170 constellation projects, of which 110 are from commercial companies. While OneWeb, Starlink, Gwo Wang, Kuiper and Lightspeed will represent 58% of the 17,000 satellites to be launched, they will account for only 10% of the satellite manufacturing and launch revenues of the space industry. The report identifies two reasons combining to explain this difference: economies of scale in satellite manufacturing and a strong decrease in launch prices.

Despite a multiplication of commercial constellation projects, only a few place satellite manufacturing contracts, generally with established players. Excluding a few large deals for large constellations and new communication satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), global competition remains limited for satellite manufacturing. Satellite demand from the governments fuels the competition between local suppliers with still limited opportunities for them to expand internationally (because of national preference in every country where a space industry is established).

Despite new business models from new commercial players in space, governments still represent three-quarters of the revenues of the space industry over the decade, i.e., $240 billion. Likewise, incumbent satellite manufacturers continue to dominate the market, with four of them capturing half of the market past decade for a value of $87 billion.

“Satellites to be Built & Launched” is the go-to report for any player throughout the satellite value chain, ranging from manufacturers to launch brokers and space agencies, or for those looking for detailed insight into this exciting and fast-developing market Appreciated by over 55 major players in 2020, the new report provides critical intelligence with as-yet unrivaled levels of precision.

The Premium Edition is available for the first time in Euroconsult’s history and features line-by-line data on every satellite to be built and launched within the next 10 years, raising the bar once again for the granular and easy to use data access Euroconsult is known for.

The “Satellites to be Built & Launched” 2021 report is now available on Euroconsult’s digital platform in Standard and Premium versions, offering Euroconsult’s pioneering and unfettered data access and readability. A free extract can be downloaded via this direct link….

“The satellite sector no longer revolves around the axis of New Space entrants challenging established legacy players. Instead, it has now shifted towards speed, and the ability to rapidly provide commercial services from satellite constellations, be it for broadband and/or narrowband communications (e.g. IOT) or for global and real time observation of the Earth. New Space is no longer the driving force in the industry. It's all about Fast Space now,” said Maxime Puteaux, Principal Advisor at Euroconsult and Editor of the report.

GomSpace A/S and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract for the ESA SCOUT Earth Observation mission to be launched in 2024.

The contract value is 24 million euros. GomSpace revenue impact is 10 million euros, whereof direct GomSpace revenue share will be 7 million euros.

The mission will consist of 3x12U cubesats and will become the first “climate mission” of its kind. In more detail, the mission aims to understand and quantify processes in the tropical upper troposphere and stratosphere, study its variability and contribute to trends analysis in its composition and its effects on climate and vice-versa.

The mission will be executed in collaboration with Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space (UK) who will provide the scientific instruments and ENPULSION (AT) who will provide the propulsion solution for the mission.

The Scout mission ESP-MACCS focuses on understanding and quantifying atmospheric processes in the upper troposphere and in the stratosphere. In particular, it will make observations in tropical and sub-tropical latitudes to observe gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone and nitrous oxide as well as aerosols – all of which play a key role in the greenhouse effect and climate change. The mission comprises three 12-litre cubesats, each carrying thermal infrared spectrometer, as well as a visible near-infrared hyperspectral solar disk imager as a secondary instrument.

Terran Orbital Corporation (Terran Orbital) has announced the successful stationing of the EchoStar Global 3 smallsat into its final operational orbit.

Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. (Tyvak), a subsidiary of Terran Orbital, designed, manufactured, and operates the satellite on behalf of EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS).

This successful orbit placement is a premiere example of the innovation and flexibility of smallsats, such as the EchoStar Global 3. The stationing trajectory included the furthest and most rapid altitude change ever accomplished by a nanosatellite and included a 1.5-degree inclination change to place the satellite at the exact altitude and inclination required for its mission.

“Nanosatellites were not previously able to maneuver like this once placed in orbit,” said Marc Bell, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Terran Orbital. “The ability to conduct both significant altitude and inclination changes enables less expensive, faster ‘last mile’ delivery of a satellite to desired orbits for our customers. Eliminating the need for a dedicated launch insertion or reliance on space tugs reduces costs and enables a broader, more customized opportunity for ridesharing into an optimal orbit.”

“The completion of this milestone for the EchoStar Global 3 satellite was accomplished successfully and enables us to move forward with planning for the next steps in the development of our global S-band capabilities,” said Anders Johnson, chief strategy officer of EchoStar.