The development of South Australia’s first state satellite has taken a giant leap toward delivering tangible data solutions, following the successful completion of the Critical Design Review (CDR).

This step marks a major milestone for the South Australian Space Services Mission satellite, Kanyini, with the project team finalizing the design of the 6U spacecraft with integrated payloads and initiating the start of its manufacture and test phase.

One research project conducted through the SmartSat CRC has already demonstrated reliable, cost-effective monitoring of the Department of Environment’s extensive network of groundwater bores through IoT and smallsat telecommunications will be using the technology onboard Kanyini.

The research project, conducted by FrontierSI, Myriota, Uni SA (University of South Australia), NGIS Australia and Department for Environment and Water, has resulted in the development of an end-to-end solution for transmitting and aggregating automatically collected information from bores across rural and regional South Australia, with a focus on environmental water monitoring.

With much of Australia’s groundwater being a main source of drinking water for many regional townships and heavily used by agriculture, mining and the energy sectors, this project has the potential to significantly optimize groundwater optimization, reduce staff field time and increase the availability of groundwater information.

Founder and CEO of Inovor Technologies, the company responsible for Kanyini’s design and build, Dr. Matthew Tetlow, said the success of the CDR gave the green light for the project’s next phase. “The successful CDR – this confidence in the design of the spacecraft – provides a boost as we head towards the next big milestone which is to test and integrate the payloads into the satellite which will provide services to the South Australia government. The process of building a spacecraft with our project partners is dynamic – the mission has a very complex payload suite which has given our team the chance to be innovative and creative in developing solutions to meet the mission requirements. We’ve all risen to the challenge – kudos to everyone involved.”

FrontierSI Deputy CEO, Phillip Delaney, reinforced the project’s success and praised the collaboration between the South Australian Government and SmartSat CRC and said, “We have been working closely with Myriota, UniSA, NGIS Australia, and the Department for Environment and Water over the past two years to demonstrate the transformative use of Internet-of-Things and nanosatellite communications to improve groundwater bore monitoring and management in the harsh environment of remote Australia. This project has created a wealth of information on groundwater, transforming once per year updates on groundwater into data points multiple times per day. This will be critical to underpinning decision making, reactive to events, and understanding the impacts of developments on the whole groundwater network. Importantly, as many of these sites are in hard, remote environments, there are substantial safely benefits gained by reducing the number of times these sites need to be visited. All of these benefits would not be possible without this transformation space enabled communications technology. Congratulations to the South Australian government, the SIGWater project team, and SmartSat CRC for their collaboration and belief in this innovative body of work.”

SmartSat CRC Chief Executive Officer, Andy Koronios, said the state’s investment in Kanyini is providing researchers with a vehicle to develop real-world technology based on their research to the benefit of a range of stakeholder and he said, “We are dedicated to developing satellite IoT connectivity technologies that help solve some of the biggest challenges facing Australian industries, and that includes water security for our environment, community and the economy. With over a third of the world’s biggest groundwater systems already in distress, this project will put Australia in pole position to be a global leader in groundwater management and apply the solution locally and abroad. It is fantastic to know that we can deliver this technology to space aboard a sovereign satellite such as Kanyini. The data captured by this satellite will help progress valuable research into satellite technology. We are continuing to look at new projects that will provide services for the South Australian Government.”

As IoT lead for the mission, Myriota co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. David Haley added that the data collected would have enormous benefits for users here on Earth he noted, “The success of the Kanyini Critical Design Review marks the beginning of a new phase of the program where the Myriota and Inovor teams will proceed with assembly, integration and testing of the spacecraft and its two payloads. The Internet of Things payload will add to the Myriota Network, collecting data from devices and sensors on the Earth’s surface, working together with hyperspectral imaging collected from the earth observation payload to support a wide array of applications including aiding farmers in monitoring water levels so they can more accurately predict future crop yields and supporting emergency services personnel to monitor, manage and mitigate emergencies, such as bushfires.”

Space Micro Inc., powered by Voyager Space, recently delivered a total of seven (7), flight-level, Single Board Computers (SBCs) to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of Pasadena, California, for the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE).

Slated for a 2024-2025 launch, SunRISE will collect data obtained by a smallsat array to help scientists better understand how the Sun generates and releases solar particle storms into space and how these storms influence the interplanetary environment. Space Micro’s SBCs contribute to the mission by performing on-board data processing.

According to JPL, SunRISE relies on six solar-powered cubesats – each about the size of a toaster oven – to simultaneously observe radio images of low-frequency emission from solar activity and share them via NASA’s Deep Space Network. The constellation of cubesats will fly within 6 miles (10 kilometers) of each other, above Earth’s atmosphere, which otherwise blocks the radio signals SunRISE will observe. Together, the six cubesats will create 3D maps to pinpoint where giant particle bursts originate on the Sun and how they evolve as they expand outward into space. This, in turn, will help determine what initiates and accelerates these giant jets of radiation. The six individual spacecraft will also work together to map, for the first time, the pattern of magnetic field lines reaching from the Sun out into interplanetary space.

Space Micro’s full suite of computing platforms also includes the Proton400K quad-core SBC and the octal-core Proton600K Space VPX SBC, which support a wide range of applications. The company has delivered space processors for cislunar, GEO, HEO, and LEO applications for multiple U.S and international civil and national security space programs, with some processors continuing to operate on-orbit more than a decade after launch.

“Space Micro is honored to be part of the SunRISE team and contribute technology to this innovative mission. This mission expands upon our collaboration with JPL, being the third JPL mission that our team has supported. JPL continues to dare mighty things and we look forward to seeing what the team develops next,” said Space Micro Executive Chair, David J. Strobel.

“Space Micro continues to push the envelope of what is possible, and we’re proud of the impact the company is making not only on SunRISE – but within widespread space research and exploration,” said Dylan Taylor, CEO and Chairman, Voyager Space. “Voyager is built to accelerate the success of our technologies and capabilities, and Space Micro continues to demonstrate this vision.”

Space Micro Inc., powered by Voyager Space and based in San Diego, California, is an engineering-driven supplier of affordable, high-performance, radiation-hardened communications, electro-optics, and digital systems for use in commercial, civil, and military space applications around the world. Space Micro solutions include Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) transmitters, mission data transmitters, space cameras, star trackers, image processors, Command & Data Handling (C&DH) systems and laser communications systems.

Voyager Space is a space technology company dedicated to building a better future for humanity in space and on Earth. With nearly 20 years of spaceflight heritage and over 1500 successful missions as of April 2022, Voyager delivers space station infrastructure and services and technology solutions to commercial users, civil and national security government agencies, academic and research institutions, and more, with the goal to accelerate a sustainable space economy.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) has developed an on-orbit, additive-manufacturing technology that uses photosensitive resin and solar ultraviolet light for the 3D printing of satellite antennas in the vacuum of outer space.

The novel technology makes use of a newly developed liquid resin that was custom formulated for stability in vacuum. The resin enables structures to be fabricated in space using a low-power process that uses the sun’s ultraviolet rays for photopolymerization.

The technology specifically addresses the challenge of equipping small, inexpensive spacecraft buses with large structures, such as high-gain antenna reflectors, and enables on- orbit fabrication of structures that greatly exceed the dimensions of launch vehicle fairings. Resin-based, on-orbit manufacturing is expected to enable spacecraft structures to be made thinner and lighter than conventional designs, which must survive the stresses of launch and orbital insertion, thereby reducing both total satellite weight and launch costs.

Spacecraft antenna designs are challenging, due to their conflicting requirements for high gain, wide bandwidth and low weight. High gain and wide bandwidth necessarily require a large aperture, but economical orbital deployment conventionally dictates that designs be lightweight and small enough to fit or fold inside a launch vehicle or satellite deployment mechanism. Mitsubishi Electric’s innovative approach—resin-based on-orbit manufacturing—efficiently realizes high-gain, wide-bandwidth, large-aperture antennas deployed from a lightweight, vibration-resistant launch package. By developing a 3D printer that extrudes a custom ultraviolet-curable resin formulated for vacuum, resin-based low-power freeform (without requiring auxiliary support structures) additive-manufacturing in space has now become possible.

Features
1) 3D printer for the freeform fabrication of antennas in vacuum
— The 3D printer shares the antenna’s struts and angle-adjustment motors.
— Antenna size is not limited by the size of the fairing of the launch vehicle or the size of the satellite bus.
— On-orbit manufacturing eliminates the need for an antenna structure that can withstand vibrations and shocks during launch, which is required for conventional antenn areflectors, making it possible to reduce the weight and thickness of antenna reflectors, thereby contributing to the reduction of satellite weight and launch costs.
— Assuming the use of a 3U cubessat (100 x 100 x 300 mm) specification, an antenna reflector with a diameter of 165 mm, which is larger than the size of the cubesat bus, was fabricated in air and a gain of 23.5 dB was confirmed in the Ku-band (13.5 GHz).

2) World’s first** (as of May 17, 2022, according to the company’s research) photosensitive resin with stability suitable for extruding and curing in vacuum
— Commercial photosensitive resins have low molecular weight, high vapor pressure, and are not suitable for vacuum applications, where they boil and prematurely polymerize. The newly developed ultraviolet-curing resin uses a high-molecular-weight, low-vapor-pressure oligomer base blended with a vacuum stable plasticizer based on a non-volatile, polyphenyl ether to achieve a viscosity suitable for extrusion in vacuum.
— As most polymerization inhibitors require atmospheric oxygen as a co-factor to prevent premature polymerization and do not function in vacuum, the new resin formulation uses inhibitors that do not depend on the presence of oxygen and have near-zero volatility.
— When exposed to ultraviolet light, the resin polymerizes by crosslinking into a solid that is heat-resistant to at least 400°C, which is beyond the maximum temperature experienced on-orbit.
— The use of sunlight for polymerization and curing eliminates the need for a separate ultraviolet light source, enabling manufacturing with low power consumption.

Future Developments
Mitsubishi Electric’s resin-based, on-orbit manufacturing enables smallsats to achieve large-satellite capabilities, which reduces launch costs and allows for satellite technology to be used more than ever in applications such as communication and Earth Observation (EO). These extended capabilities are expected to enable more timely provision of satellite imagery and observation data that meet the varied needs of individuals and organizations.

Gilmour Space Technologies has unveiled a new 3D printed liquid rocket engine that will power the third stage of the firm’s Eris rocket to orbit.

The company today shared a video of a successful, 190-second, Mission Duty Cycle (or mission duration) test fire of its new, regeneratively-cooled, liquid rocket engine. (Watch the test fire via this direct link…)

Eris is a three-stage rocket being developed by Gilmour Space for launching smallsats into LEO. Its maiden launch is targeted to be at the end of this year from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in north Queensland, pending regulatory and other approvals.

“The first and second stages of Eris will be powered by Sirius, our large hybrid rocket engine which is undergoing qualification tests,” said Gilmour Space CEO, Adam Gilmour. “The third stage of Eris will be powered by this new 3D printed liquid rocket engine, called Phoenix, which we developed to give us the extra performance needed to deliver substantially more payload to orbit. With this key test, we’re proud to say that Gilmour Space has demonstrated sovereign capability in not one but two rocket systems.”

Rocket Lab (Nasdaq: RKLB) has revealed that the CAPSTONE spacecraft has arrived at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, in preparation for launch to lunar orbit.

With the spacecraft now at the launch site, Rocket Lab will begin payload integration with the Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft bus ahead of the launch window opening on May 31st.

Designed and built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, a Terran Orbital Corporation, and owned and operated by Advanced Space, the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) cubesat will be the first spacecraft to test the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) around the Moon. Researchers expect this orbit to be a gravitational sweet spot in space – where the pull of gravity from Earth and the Moon interact to allow for a nearly-stable orbit – allowing physics to do most of the work of keeping a spacecraft in orbit around the Moon.

NASA has big plans for this unique type of orbit. The agency hopes to park bigger spacecraft – including the lunar-orbiting space station Gateway – in an NRHO around the Moon, providing astronauts with a base from which to descend to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program.

CAPSTONE will be launched to an initial LEO by Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and then placed on a ballistic lunar transfer by Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft bus. Unlike the Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 70s, which took a free return trajectory to the Moon, this fuel efficient, ballistic, lunar transfer makes it possible to deploy CAPSTONE to such a distant orbit using a small launch vehicle. Standing at just 59 feet tall, Electron is the smallest rocket to attempt a launch to the Moon.

Approximately ten minutes after lift-off on Electron, Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft bus, with CAPSTONE attached, will separate from the rocket and carry out a series of orbit raising maneuvers, stretching its orbit into a prominent ellipse around Earth. About six days after launch, a final burn from Photon’s 3D printed HyperCurie engine will accelerate Photon to 24,500 miles per hour, enabling it to escape low-Earth orbit and set CAPSTONE on a course for the Moon. Within 20 minutes of the final burn, Photon will release CAPSTONE into space for the first leg of the cubesat’s solo flight.

CAPSTONE’s journey to NRHO is expected to take around four months from this point. Once successfully inserted into the orbit, CAPSTONE is expected to remain there for at least six months, allowing NASA to study the orbit dynamics.

Rocket Lab has carried out 26 Electron launches since 2017, but the CAPSTONE mission will be Rocket Lab’s first launch beyond low Earth orbit. Rocket Lab also operates two Photon spacecraft in LEO, but the CAPSTONE mission is the first to employ the high energy variant of the Photon spacecraft bus, powered by the HyperCurie engine, designed to support lunar and interplanetary missions. CAPSTONE is the first in a series of interplanetary missions for Photon, including the ESCAPADE mission to Mars in 2024 and Rocket Lab’s private mission to Venus in 2023.

“CAPSTONE’s arrival at Launch Complex 1 marks a major milestone in this historic mission. We’re excited to move into the final integration and test phase ahead of launch day,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “This is our most ambitious Photon mission yet and a significant step toward providing scientific missions with dedicated and affordable access to interplanetary orbits. Less than four years after our first Electron mission for NASA, it’s fantastic to be working with the agency and its partners again to go beyond low Earth orbit and pave the way for humanity’s return to the Moon.”

Teams that have already assembled their hardware will have the chance to verify equipment, payloads, experiments, or entire nanosatellites making use of the CubeSat Support Facility in ESEC-Galaxia (Belgium).

The ESA Academy announces two new hands-on training opportunities for University CubeSat teams. The call for proposals are open to teams, composed of bachelor, master and PhD students from eligible states at different stages of their CubeSat projects

The Fly Your Satellite! Design Booster is for student teams that have a preliminary design for their 1-, 2-, 3-, or 6-unit CubeSat, and want to consolidate their design with support from ESA.

As part of this 1.5 year program the design of the University’s satellite is reviewed by ESA specialists, who identify potential improvements or issues with design and assist in solving them, allowing teams to maximize their chances of mission success. Teams will also benefit from training opportunities, webinars and be introduced to common practices in the space domain.

Visit the Design Booster webpage to find out more and apply.

The Test Opportunities program is an educational opportunity for student teams who would like to receive support and training in conducting an environmental test campaign.

Teams that have already assembled their hardware will have the chance to verify equipment, payloads, experiments, or entire nanosatellites making use of the CubeSat Support Facility in ESEC-Galaxia (Belgium).

The Test Opportunities webpage contains more details about the available test windows, milestones, and application procedure.

Join our information sessions!
Two information sessions for potential applicants will be offered by the ESA Education Office, including the chance to ask questions.To attend the Design Booster please register here To attend the Test Opportunities please register here We look forward to receiving your application!
The ESA Education Office

Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) has entered into an agreement with UP42 that enables direct access to Satellogic’s satellite tasking, high-resolution, multispectral and wide-area hyperspectral imagery via the UP42 API-based platform — the agreement includes the archive of high-frequency, high-resolution, Satellogic data.

Direct API access to Satellogic’s multi- and hyperspectral-data — with intraday updates — supports rapid, timely and frequent monitoring of critical assets in diverse sectors, such as energy, utilities, local government, and security. The UP42 platform’s REST API and Python SDKs can be fully customized, allowing UP42 users to build cost-effective solutions and quickly deliver end products to their clients.

The growing Satellogic constellation currently consists of 22 operational small satellites, capable of acquiring 4-band (RGB NIR) multispectral data at 70 cm. (1 meter native) spatial resolution over a 5 km. swath and up to 29-band (460-830 nm.) hyperspectral imagery at 25 meters resolution over a 125 km. swath. During pre-processing, Satellogic imagery is optimized for analysis by Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications — a significant benefit for UP42 users who will have access to more than 75 ML/AI algorithms on the UP42 platform.

UP42 users will be able to apply Satellogic data sets and extracted knowledge to support projects in a range of applications spanning the public and private sectors, including Agriculture and Forestry, Energy and Sustainability, Critical Infrastructure Management, Finance and Insurance, Environment and Climate, and Government.

“This exciting new collaboration gives UP42 customers a distinct advantage in rapidly creating geospatial solutions,” said UP42’s CEO, Sean Wiid. “Users can now derive insights from Satellogic data using algorithms and data fusion via our developer-first platform.”

“Our mission of democratizing access to critical Earth Observation data means making our data available where it’s convenient for end users,” said Thomas VanMatre, VP of Global Business Development at Satellogic. “UP42 is a leading geospatial marketplace with value-added capabilities, enabling its customers to access and analyze data without extensive expertise. It is collaborations like this alliance with UP42 that will increase adoption of EO data across new markets, driving better decision making and outcomes.”

Founded in 2010 by Emiliano Kargieman and Gerardo Richarte, Satellogic (NASDAQ: SATL) is the first vertically integrated geospatial company, driving real outcomes with planetary-scale insights. Satellogic is creating and continuously enhancing the first scalable, fully automated EO platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, providing accessible and affordable solutions for customers. Satellogic’s mission is to democratize access to geospatial data through its information platform of high-resolution images and analytics to help solve the world’s most pressing problems including climate change, energy supply, and food security. Using its patented Earth imaging technology, Satellogic unlocks the power of EO to deliver high-quality, planetary insights at the lowest cost in the industry. With more than a decade of experience in space, Satellogic has proven technology and a strong track record of delivering satellites to orbit and high-resolution data to customers at the right price point.

OneWeb and Telefonica through, Telefónica Global Solutions (TGS), the subsidiary of global telecommunications company Telefónica, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve connectivity services across Europe and Latin America.

The collaboration arrangement between OneWeb and TGS comes as the need to expand modern, digital infrastructure has become a priority for governments, businesses and communities across Europe and Latin America. 

OneWeb’s LEO satellite constellation service will complement Telefónica’s existing offering in Europe and Latin America, enabling that company to reach remote regions that they have not previously been able to serve. TGS will offer its expertise to promote and supply OneWeb’s low latency cellular backhaul services that can be deployed to help improve existing backhaul and support network upgrades to 4G/5G, while also providing backhaul backup for critical sites and infill capacity for special events. Where backhaul does not currently exist, OneWeb’s service will help expand Telefónica’s mobile coverage and extend enterprise connectivity. 

The combination of TGS and OneWeb services will ultimately increase user satisfaction and enable new applications and OTT services, in addition to supporting the expansion of mobile connectivity to users globally. SMEs (Small and mid-size enterprises) will be able to use the OneWeb/TGS LEO satellite solution to support and extend their enterprise networks, while large organisations – including governments, telcos and ISPs – in rural and remote parts of Europe and Latin America will also benefit from the combination of Telefónica’s fiber network and OneWeb’s low-latency broadband service.

OneWeb’s Chief Executive Officer, Neil Masterson, said, “This arrangement is fantastic news for communities across Europe and Latin America, who will benefit from better and enhanced network coverage. OneWeb believes that our unique network has a crucial role to play in providing connectivity for the hardest-to-reach areas globally, so we look forward to working with Telefónica to deliver enhanced internet performance and availability to customers.”

Julio Beamonte, Chief Executive Officer at Telefónica Global Solutions, said, “Our goal is to empower our customers’ businesses by connecting them to the world through innovative broadband solutions. By partnering with OneWeb, we can augment our portfolio by offering solutions that require low latency. Our experience will be essential when adapting the OneWeb solution to provide corporate, B2B and cellular backhaul services and help fuel adoption of critical business applications in the hardest-to-connect areas. We are focused on helping our B2B and Wholesale customers to drive transformational change in their business, and we believe our partnership with OneWeb will help us do that.”

Telefónica Global Solutions offers an ecosystem of comprehensive satellite solutions for different applications and industries, adapting to connectivity needs with the highest quality guarantees to bring communications to the most challenging environments (with connectivity deficits or rural areas) and to address specific and/or temporary situations such as events and emergencies.

On Friday, May 13th, at 3:07 p.m. PT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 53 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

The Vandenberg AFB launch marks the fourth Starlink deployment from Vandenberg, and the 23rd Falcon-9 launch from SLC-4E.

This Falcon 9 first stage booster previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART and two Starlink missions.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch on May 14th from will send 53 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.