Archives for January 2022

Syrlinks has debuted their EWC15-NG Transceiver product, a new generation of the company’s transceivers to implement high performance Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TT&C) service.

The hardware design is based and inherits from the EWC15 and EWC15-C Syrlinks products that have been used over the last decade in key space projects such as ROSETTA, DEEP IMPACT, PARASOL, MICROSCOPE, and so on.

The EWC15-NG has been especially designed to achieve top class of performances in term of Tx/Rx communication links (fully CCSDS compliant), low power consumption and radiation tolerance. Its very compact and optimized form factor and its built-in DC-DC converter will contribute to the global satellite integration optimization and address natively any implementation within smallsats.

This Product Assurance subclass perfectly meets the requirements of smallsat missions, targeting a typical seven year lifetime at LEO with a total ionized radiation Dose of 16 krad.

“We are very proud to release this new generation of high-performance S-Band Transceiver,
twenty-five years after the design of the first generation that has been successfully used
in several renown space missions.” said Eric Pinson, Director of Space activity at Syrlinks. "One of the key challenges has been the hardware cost optimization while keeping the high level of performances of the product as well as maximizing the protection against radiation. It is a great awareness of Syrlinks’ team capability and know-how in the design of NewSpace products.” 

AAC Clyde Space recently received an order from Space Forge to provide space products for a demonstration spacecraft designed to leverage the space environment for production and experiments, capable of performing multiple trips to space.

The order follows an order in December of 2020 to contribute to the design of a satellite platform for the same purpose. The reusable spacecraft is intended to deorbit in a controlled maneuver to deliver its products and results back to Earth after six months on-orbit, thereby enabling efficient production and revolutionary experiments by leveraging the micro gravity on-orbit. The design will benefit from AAC Clyde Space’s standard satellite platform heritage, adjusted for re-entry into the atmosphere and landing on Earth. Back on Earth the satellites will be recovered, refurbished and eventually re-launched.

Among the space products that AAC will provide to the project in this second phase are an integrated attitude determination and control system from AAC Hyperion in Delft, a Kryten Command & Data Handling unit and communications components from AAC Clyde Space in Glasgow. The project is supported by the European Space Agency‘s Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support program.

The ultimate goal of the project is to establish a continuous space-based production by a monthly satellite launch. A test campaign of several satellites is planned to bring the service to commercialization and shall be supported by AAC Clyde Space.

"AAC is proud to be part of this revolutionary project that truly leverages the unique conditions in space for the benefit of humanity. The whole team looks forward to making space-based production a reality in the foreseeable future," said AAC Clyde Space CEO, Luis Gomes.

"We are pleased to be partnering with AAC Clyde on this World-First mission. Their spacecraft heritage is a significant asset to achieving our objectives at Space Forge in building the first returnable satellite platform, the ForgeStar," said Space Forge CEO and Co-Founder, Joshua Western.

One of the more excellent announcements any company can broadcast is when they have surpassed a previous record or set a new milestone or completed a project with better than expected results.

Such has now occurred for the annual SmallSat Symposium — event organizers have revealed that this major, industry proceeding will be hosting more exhibitors than have been experienced at any previous event.

According to SatNews Publisher, CEO, Silvano Payne, “We have seen an increase in sponsorship and exhibition presence of more than 35 percent over our February 2020 event.“

Plan your visit to the SmallSat Symposium as quickly as you can — the event is in session from February 8th through February 10th at Silicon Valley’s Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Leading organizations in the SmallSat Industry will be exhibiting at, and sponsoring, this first, major, SmallSat event in two years. The energy and enthusiasm for this industry trade event reflects a feeling that all are now able to finally ‘come home.’

The SmallSat industry is booming and major actors are coming out of the lockdown shadows to showcase their capabilities… unlike ever before witnessed.

The dates to remember are: February 8th through 10th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California… the 7th Annual SmallSat Symposium… “Defining What’s Next for the SmallSat Industry.”

Register today at this direct link…

On Tuesday, January 18, at 9:02 p.m. EST, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to LEO from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This was the tenth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which has previously launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, and now seven Starlink missions.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for the firm’s first Electron mission in 2022, a dedicated mission for BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) through global launch services provider Spaceflight Inc.

Electron is scheduled to launch the “Without Mission A Beat” mission from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a launch window that opens February 4, 2022 UTC. The “Without Mission A Beat” launch will be the fifth and sixth satellites delivered to space for BlackSky by Rocket Lab in the past three months. This dedicated mission will be Rocket Lab’s 24th Electron launch and first mission of 2022. Rocket Lab will not be attempting to recover Electron for this mission.

While this next mission was due to be the final launch in a series of back-to-back missions for the company as part of a multi-launch deal actioned last year, Spaceflight has since commissioned an additional sixth launch for BlackSky on Electron to take place in 2022. That dedicated mission will continue BlackSky’s rapid business expansion by deploying another pair of Gen-2 Earth-imaging satellites to a precise location in LEO for its growing satellite constellation.

These upcoming BlackSky missions initiate a busy year of Electron launches for Rocket Lab, including more bulk dedicated launches for government and commercial satellite operators, other singular dedicated and rideshare missions, and Rocket Lab’s mission to the Moon for NASA on the upcoming CAPSTONE mission scheduled to launch from New Zealand in the first half of the year.

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said, “This next mission is part of the largest number of satellites BlackSky have committed in a single deal to a launch provider, and we’re proud to be their trusted partner to help grow their constellation. BlackSky adding another mission to the Rocket Lab manifest is further confirmation of Electron’s status as the dedicated small launch champion, and we’re ready and eager to deliver these missions for BlackSky in the weeks to come.” 

Airbus has been contracted to supply space start-up Loft Orbital with more than 15 satellite platforms derived from the Airbus Arrow platform, the foundational satellite platform of the OneWeb constellation.

There are 394 Airbus Arrow platforms on-orbit for the OneWeb constellation and a further 254 are being produced to complete the 648 spacecraft required by OneWeb. With this acquisition, Loft Orbital confirms its intention to make the Airbus Arrow platform a true workhorse enabling its service business model.

Loft Orbital offers a true end-to-end service enabling customers to rapidly deploy and operate their payloads on reliable high-performance satellites at an unprecedented simplicity and affordability. Loft Orbital has also contracted Airbus to modify the Arrow platform to make it suitable for a wider range of longer lifetime missions and applications.

Loft Orbital has offices both in the USA and France, being based in the heart of Silicon Valley in San Francisco, and in the European space capital Toulouse, and intends to continue rapidly growing its French presence following this contract relationship with Airbus.

Airbus previously benefited from public support to develop the Arrow platform and OneWeb pilot line in Toulouse.

The improvements to the Arrow platform, including all the engineering, qualification, test, and production of the first few spacecraft will be performed by Airbus in Toulouse. The production at scale of the remaining Arrow-derived platforms will be performed by Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS).

Bruno Le Maire, French minister for the Economy, Finances and the Recovery, said, “This groundbreaking contract between start up Loft Orbital and global space leader Airbus is a very good news. It demonstrates the uptake of New Space companies in France and the synergy across the space ecosystem for developing industry wide innovation. It also testifies the speed at which the French space ecosystem is growing, with start-ups, SMEs, and large groups working together to provide world-class solutions, and fully validates the ongoing government strategy and initiatives to develop a vibrant and growing next space innovation ecosystem. I am very pleased that the project presented by Loft with the support of Airbus relies on French suppliers, more than 60% of the value being created in France.”

Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Airbus Space Systems, said, “This sale of our small LEO platform Arrow to Loft Orbital is a ringing endorsement of our strategy to develop mass manufacturing for the next space era. Our reliable platform is already proving its worth in orbit for OneWeb who have more than 60% of their fleet in orbit. We look forward to working with Loft Orbital to provide them with the best space technology possible – combining industrially-proven know-how with disruptive innovations – to serve their customers.”

Pierre-Damien Vaujour, CEO of Loft Orbital, said. “We are beyond excited about this procurement agreement with Airbus that is an industry first. Leveraging Airbus engineering experience and Airbus OneWeb Satellites production capabilities is enabling us to truly bring Loft's vision to life. While we are using this initial procurement to deliver to our customers who have ordered services based on a few tens of satellites, we see this as an opportunity to offer much larger constellation services to governments and companies worldwide. In addition, the level of support we have received in France, and the quality of the engineering talent, is simply unmatched and we are looking forward to growing the company here in Toulouse.”

DcubeD’s ride to space was the Transporter-3 mission, SpaceX’s third, dedicated, smallsat rideshare mission, launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Approximately 1 hour after liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket, deployment of FOSSA Systems’ payload was confirmed.

The company based in Madrid, Spain, had launched their first six satellites for the FOSSASat-2E IoT constellation and also demonstrated their PocketPod deployer for the first time. The deployer used DcubeD’s Nano Pin Puller nD3PP to open the pod and release the payload.

With the successful activation of the four pin pullers, DcubeD acquired flight heritage and took their products to the next and highest level of technology readiness, TRL 9. The PocketPod was developed by FOSSA Systems and integrated on the SpaceX Falcon rocket by the Berlin based company Exolaunch.

DcubeD’s Pin Puller, which now has flight heritage, tackles the problem of limited space available for spacecrafts on launch vehicles by allowing deployable structures such as solar arrays, antennas or sails. Answering to the rising demand for smallsats, DcubeD’s release actuators are specifically designed with the needs of smallsat customers in mind.

In addition to deployable structures of satellites, DcubeD’s release actuators can be implemented for any use-case where a bolted connection must be released or a pin must be retracted, as demonstrated with FOSSA’s deployer.

On the same launch was also an In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) mission of DcubeD’s Space Selfie Stick as well as the DcubeD Nano Release Nut to demonstrate their functionality in the space environment. The IOD mission is part of the SatRevolution SWIFT satellite that will be deployed from D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier SCV004 Elysian Eleonora “Dashing Through The Stars Mission” at the end of January / early February to start its demonstration mission.

DcubeD thanks the amazing team, friends, families and everyone who supported the company on their journey to space.

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

NearSpace Launch Inc. (NSL) is celebrating their 3U smallsat launch by Virgin Orbit’s third operational mission, along with six other customers, on January 13, 2022.

GEARRS is the third cubesat to launch in partnership with AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory) and SSC-STP (U.S. Space Systems Command—Space Test Program (STP)-3) to test experimental Satellite-to-Satellite (Sat2Sat)communication systems and tracking.

GEARRS cubesats are pioneering new EyeStar technology for space research. NSL’s EyeStar radios allow for 24/7 connectivity via Sat2Sat connection. GEARRS-3 has completed the commissioning phase and has now moved into full operational status.

Co-founder of NSL and Chief Engineer, Jeff Dailey, said, “It is always good to see first packets received one minute after transmitter scheduled to turn on. Preliminary data shows mission success, as both the Black Box Patch and Eyestar links connected and sending data.”

An Unseenlab‘s smallsat launch, their fifth ocean monitoring spacecraft, occurred on January 13th and is part of Unseenlabs’ plan to have 20 to 25 satellites in orbit by 2025.

After launching with Arianespace in August of 2021, Unseenlabs this time entrusted the launch of BRO-5 to SpaceX, diversifying the company’s means of access to space through its collaboration with a new international, launch services player.

Unseenlabs’ service, focused on radio frequency geolocation of ships at sea, has been active since the first satellite launch – BRO-1 – in August of 2019. Since then, each new launch has increased the service’s capabilities, notably by increasing its responsiveness and the amount of data produced.

The launch of the 5th pillar in the Unseenlabs constellation, a 10 kilogram satellite moving at 7 kilometers per second around the Earth, will once again improve the smallsat’s revisit time, which is already one of the best on the market for intercepting radio frequency signals from space.

The company plans to continue to increase its workforce, which is already around 30 employees, to support this hypergrowth phase and the launches planned for this year.

"The deployment of BRO-5 enables us to strengthen our international activities, and to reaffirm the place of our constellation as the most developed in the field of RF interception from space. By pursuing innovation and increasing the quality of our service, it is part of the French space strategy of the France 2030 plan, mentioned by Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery, in Vernon on December 6," said Clément Galic, CEO and co-founder of Unseenlabs. 

"After a successful year in 2021 for Unseenlabs, both in terms of new collaborations and the launch of a fourth satellite - BRO-4 - on August 16 with Arianespace, we intend to continue this trend in 2022. We are proud to carry out the first launch of the year, which comes in a promising context for the development of our business," added Jonathan Galic, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Unseenlabs. 

A BRO-5 launch trailer is available for viewing at this direct link…

Wyvern, a space data company engaged in accessible and affordable hyperspectral imagery, has been accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator after closing an oversubscribed $2.25 million seed round led by MaC Venture Capital, with an additional $2.25 million raised through earlier, pre-seed funding and support from the Government of Canada. Soma Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Gaingels, Unpopular Ventures, and Matt Mickiewicz invested alongside lead MaC Venture Capital.

An advanced spectral imaging technique that collects hundreds of images at different wavelengths to form 3D data blocks, hyperspectral imaging has the power to detect incredible details invisible to conventional imaging standards. This information-rich data will be highly impactful for agriculture, forestry, environmental and emissions monitoring, energy, and defence.

Wyvern’s deployable optics, an unfolding telescope in space, is the key to unlocking this market shift: high resolution hyperspectral imagery at an affordable price. This investment round secures Wyvern’s first three satellite launches, and paves the way for commercial access to cost-effective imaging capabilities, such as 5 meter, shortwave-infrared (SWIR) in the coming years.

For the next three months, Wyvern is participating in the Y Combinator accelerator famed for propelling the success of many notable companies including Airbnb, Reddit, Stripe, and Dropbox. The program culminates with a Demo Day on March 29, 2022.

“Wyvern has the game-changing technology to open a lot of new doors in the Earth observation market,” said Adrian Fenty, Managing General Partner at MaC Venture Capital, who recently joined Wyvern’s Board of Directors. “Wyvern will entirely change the way we use satellite imagery on Earth.” 

“This investment has really supercharged our company,” said Chris Robson, CEO of Wyvern. “Leading up to Y Combinator, we have been able to double the size of our team, including the addition of Christine Tovee, the former CTO of Airbus Group North America to our executive team. Closing this seed round and getting into Y Combinator has been a huge vote of confidence for the company. We are excited to see how we evolve over the next three months being pushed by veteran entrepreneurs and industry leaders, and are well on our way to launching satellites that will capture the highest resolution hyperspectral imagery the world has seen from space.”

Edmonton-based space data company Wyvern was created to provide actionable intelligence that will enable a sustainable future for humanity. Wyvern’s cutting-edge unfolding camera technology will make high-quality, high-resolution hyperspectral imagery from satellites accessible and affordable like never before, unlocking applications in new markets for the very first time. The company is proud to be carving a path for the Canadian space industry. For more information, visit