Archives for May 2022

For the first time, Orbex has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of their Prime orbital space rocket on its dedicated launch pad.

The unveiling of the first of a new generation of European launch vehicles – designed to launch a new category of smallsats to orbit – represents a major step forward for the British rocket company as it prepares for the first ever, vertical rocket launch to orbit from UK soil. Orbex´s Prime rocket is the first ‘micro-launcher‘ developed in Europe to reach this stage of technical readiness.

With the first full integration of the Orbex rocket on a launch pad now complete, the company is able to enter a period of integrated testing, allowing dress rehearsals of rocket launches and the development and optimization of launch procedures. Orbex recently revealed their first test launch platform at a new test facility in Kinloss, a few miles from the company’s headquarters at Forres in Moray, Scotland.

Prime is a 19-meter long, two-stage rocket that is powered by seven engines and is being designed and manufactured in the UK and Denmark. The six rocket engines on the first stage of the rocket will propel the vehicle through the atmosphere to an altitude of around 80 km. The single engine on the second stage of the rocket will complete the journey to LEO, allowing the release of its payload of smallsats into Earth’s orbit.

Uniquely, Orbex Prime is powered by a renewable bio-fuel, bio-propane, supplied by Calor UK. This fuel allows the rocket to reduce carbon emissions significantly when compared to other, similarly-sized rockets that are being developed elsewhere around the world. A study by the University of Exeter showed that a single launch of the Orbex Prime rocket will produce 96 percent lower carbon emissions than comparable space launch systems using fossil fuels. Prime is also a re-usable rocket which has been engineered to leave zero debris on Earth and in orbit.

Orbex Prime will launch from Space Hub Sutherland, a new spaceport being constructed on the north coast of Scotland, and was the first vertical spaceport to receive planning permission in the UK and will be the first European spaceport brought into operation later in 2022. This is also the first and only spaceport, worldwide, that has committed to being carbon-neutral, in its construction and operation.

The market for smallsats continues to rapidly increase, as a wide range of new smallsat constellations are developed and deployed. Micro-launchers, such as Orbex Prime, give satellite manufacturers a dedicated launch service, in contrast to larger, ‘rideshare’ launchers, where smallsats are a often a secondary payload and frequently face significant delays.

Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA), said, “I am deeply impressed with the speed at which the Orbex Prime rocket was developed. It is the first full orbital micro-launcher in Europe. But I am equally impressed by the low-carbon footprint technology applied. My sincere congratulations to the whole Orbex team for this impressive achievement.”

Ian Annett, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, said, “We are on the cusp of an historic moment, with Orbex playing a leading role in generating a brand new launch capability in the UK, while creating opportunities for people and businesses across the country. I can’t wait to see Prime lift off from Space Hub Sutherland.”

UK Science Minister George Freeman said, “This is a hugely exciting time for the UK space and satellite sector as we count down to the first satellite launches from UK spaceports. Orbex Prime is a remarkable feat of engineering from a British rocket company, pioneering more sustainable and innovative fuels that cut carbon emissions. It is also fantastic to see Moray-based Orbex creating more high-quality jobs, demonstrating the value of our thriving space sector to support emerging clusters of innovation to help level up the whole of the UK.”

Chris Larmour, CEO, Orbex, said, “This is a major milestone for Orbex and highlights just how far along our development path we now are. From the outside, it might look like an ordinary rocket, but on the inside, Prime is unlike anything else. To deliver the performance and environmental sustainability we wanted from a 21st century rocket we had to innovate in a wide number of areas – low-carbon fuels, fully 3D-printed rocket engines, very lightweight fuel tanks, and a novel, low-mass reusability technology.”

Orbex is a UK-based spaceflight company with headquarters, production and testing facilities in Scotland, and design and testing facilities in Denmark. Orbex staff members have professional backgrounds with NASA, ESA, Ariane and several commercial spaceflight organisations. The company is now funded by two of the UK’s largest and most active venture capital funds, BGF and Octopus Ventures, who join two of Europe’s largest venture capital funds, Heartcore Capital and the High-Tech Gründerfonds, as well as strategic investor Elecnor, parent company of Deimos Space, the UK Space Agency (UKSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme.

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has delivered the first of ten satellite buses to Lockheed Martin in support of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer.

This foundation layer represents the initial step in building an interoperable, connected secure mesh network. Once in orbit, Tranche 0 will demonstrate Joint All-Domain Operations capabilities by linking nodes together and creating seamless connectivity between all domains.

The Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) targeting and communications provided by the Transport Layer will dramatically extend U.S. global defense capabilities to the warfighter.

Initially, the Tranche 0 constellation is expected to have a limited networked capability; however. future enhancements from Tranche 1 and beyond will significantly increase the routing of data across a larger network of space vehicles, enabling Tranche 1 to serve as the backbone for Joint All Domain Command and Control. Terran Orbital previously announced a contract award from Lockheed Martin to build 42 satellites for Tranche 1.

“Terran Orbital is thrilled to successfully deliver the first Tranche 0 Bus to Lockheed Martin,” says Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Marc Bell. “We are proud the satellites we make at Terran Orbital are helping construct the National Defense Space Architecture bolstering our Nation’s and Allies’ defense. Working alongside innovative industry leaders like Lockheed Martin is a privilege and we look forward to fostering our relationship.”

“This delivery is a pivotal milestone for the partnership between Lockheed Martin and Terran Orbital and a key step toward demonstrating a game-changing communications architecture,” said Lockheed Martin Space Protected Communications Mission Area Leader, Erik Daehler. “These satellites represent the foundation for the agency’s Transport Layer, which will ultimately equip tactical warfighters around the globe with resilient connectivity to other space assets.”

Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of smallsats, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and in-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. In addition, Terran Orbital is developing one of the world’s largest, most advanced NextGen Earth Observation constellations to provide persistent, real-time earth imagery.

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has delivered the first of ten satellite buses to Lockheed Martin in support of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer.

This foundation layer represents the initial step in building an interoperable, connected secure mesh network. Once in orbit, Tranche 0 will demonstrate Joint All-Domain Operations capabilities by linking nodes together and creating seamless connectivity between all domains.

The Beyond-Line-Of-Sight (BLOS) targeting and communications provided by the Transport Layer will dramatically extend U.S. global defense capabilities to the warfighter.

Initially, the Tranche 0 constellation is expected to have a limited networked capability; however. future enhancements from Tranche 1 and beyond will significantly increase the routing of data across a larger network of space vehicles, enabling Tranche 1 to serve as the backbone for Joint All Domain Command and Control. Terran Orbital previously announced a contract award from Lockheed Martin to build 42 satellites for Tranche 1.

“Terran Orbital is thrilled to successfully deliver the first Tranche 0 Bus to Lockheed Martin,” says Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Marc Bell. “We are proud the satellites we make at Terran Orbital are helping construct the National Defense Space Architecture bolstering our Nation’s and Allies’ defense. Working alongside innovative industry leaders like Lockheed Martin is a privilege and we look forward to fostering our relationship.”

“This delivery is a pivotal milestone for the partnership between Lockheed Martin and Terran Orbital and a key step toward demonstrating a game-changing communications architecture,” said Lockheed Martin Space Protected Communications Mission Area Leader, Erik Daehler. “These satellites represent the foundation for the agency’s Transport Layer, which will ultimately equip tactical warfighters around the globe with resilient connectivity to other space assets.”

Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of smallsats, primarily serving the United States aerospace and defense industry. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and in-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. In addition, Terran Orbital is developing one of the world’s largest, most advanced NextGen Earth Observation constellations to provide persistent, real-time earth imagery.

Kepler Communications has signed a contract with Spire Global Inc. (“Spire”) (NYSE: SPIR) to provide high-capacity, Ku-band Service to the company’s satellites.

Through this contract, Spire will gain access to Kepler’s Ku-band technology, enabling the company to provide additional value to space services customers. The agreement will see Spire install Kepler’s Ku-band payload on three initial satellites, with the option to scale as many as 50 satellites.

Kepler’s Ku-Band Service is a fully connected offering that combines the company’s software defined radio (SDR) technology and ground infrastructure to provide an end-to-end data transmission service. Kepler’s SDR payload has proven heritage, having successfully flown on 19 satellites over the past four years, and used continually to deliver data to users around the globe. Using this technology, Kepler has delivered an information rate of 300+ Mbps from LEO on a 3.4 meter dish and 240 Mbps on a Kymeta flat panel antenna. Kepler is currently developing an upgraded path that would support 2.5 Gbps.

Flown as a hosted payload, Kepler’s Ku-Band Service enables high-capacity data transmission services to satellite operators, such as Spire, by combining all required components into one solution. The physical Ku-Band payload, the data transmissions service using Kepler’s spectrum licenses, and the terrestrial ground infrastructure, all combine to create a solution that allows the operator to focus on their mission and leverage Kepler’s demonstrated expertise for data communication requirements.

The first Spire Satellites with Ku-Band Service will launch in early 2023, with Kepler anticipating additional demand for the solution following the introduction of the offering in March. Coupled with Kepler’s ground infrastructure, the comprehensive solution will allow customers to deliver quantities of data beyond that previously possible.

“Kepler is building a novel solution for ramping up data speed with their technology,” said Joel Spark, vice president of space services for Spire. “This collaboration is a step-forward in building the internet in space. We look forward to leveraging the Kepler network to accelerate the data download capacity and bring the most technologically enhanced capabilities to our space services customers.”

“We are excited to offer a high-data rate solution, giving our customers the ability to deliver significantly larger quantities of data from their on-orbit assets,” said Diane Burchett, vice president of engineering for Kepler. “Spire Global is well positioned to be the lead client of the service, and we see a great deal of synergy between our offerings and the value Spire is creating for their customers.”

OneWeb as strengthened its Mobility team under VP Mobility Services Ben Griffin with a trio of experienced professionals – in the UK and USA. OneWeb is ramping up its work to deliver high-speed, unparalleled low latency, reliable connectivity across all mobility platforms, including commercial and business aviation, land and marine.

OneWeb’s LEO constellation of more than 600 satellites will connect people everywhere, on land, at sea and in the air. Its ambition is to facilitate “a connectivity experience that is limited only by the users’ imagination, not the available bandwidth.”

Jason Sperry appointed Director – Business Aviation
Jason Sperry joins OneWeb as Director, Business Aviation, based out of Melbourne, Florida. Sperry brings a wealth of experience from the IFC service provision perspective, including significant satellite provider insight spanning both GEO and LEO technologies. Jason is responsible for delivering fibre-like connectivity solutions to business jet owners, operators, and end users – passengers and crew alike. He joins from SD (Satcom Direct), where for the past six years he was Director, Strategy and Business, having joined the business in 2016 as director of product management (hardware). He will combine his technical experience with strong commercial aptitude to understand the needs of OneWeb’s partners, delivering solutions which are commercially and technically innovative.

Drew Brandy – Director, Land Mobility
Drew Brandy joins OneWeb as Director, Land Mobility, after 13 plus years with Inmarsat, latterly as Senior VP Maritime, progressing from VP Strategy and Development. Based out of London, Drew will be responsible for setting and executing OneWeb’s land mobility portfolio strategy, working closely with the mobility team members. He brings considerable experience having worked with several large telecom operators in business and corporate strategy in both North America and Europe.

Nick Maynard – Marketing Director, Mobility
Stepping up from an initial consultancy role over the past 14 months, Nick Maynard becomes full-time Marketing Director (Mobility), based out of the UK. Maynard brings over 25 years’ relevant experience in marketing and communications working out of the UK and UAE, supporting several blue-chip aviation companies – in-house and with agencies OglivyOne and Carlson. Most recently, he served nearly 10 years with Honeywell Aerospace in marketing and comms, latterly as Channel Partner Marketing Manager, building relationships for Honeywell’s valued suppliers around the world.

“I’m very pleased to be adding to my team with these three stellar professionals,” said Ben Griffin, OneWeb VP Mobility Services. “Together, we are working on some exciting strategies and partnerships that will disrupt the mobility connectivity market for years to come. We are focused on driving these forward and sharing our news over the next few months.”

NanoAvionics was recently selected to build a 12U nanosatellite bus for an on-orbit demonstration of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

This a result of a contract between NASA Ames Research Center and AST for a 12U bus to carry NASA’s payload into LEO, including an approximately 800 square foot (74 square meter) composite boom and solar sail system.

The aim of the ACS3 mission is to replace conventional rocket propellants by developing and testing solar sails using sunlight beams to thrust the nanosatellite. These solar sail propulsion systems are designed for future small interplanetary spacecrafts destined for low-cost deep-space and science missions requiring long-duration, low-thrust propulsion.

With already more than 75 successful satellite missions and satellite-related commercial projects, NanoAvionics will assemble the 12U bus at its new Columbia facility in Illinois, while the final integration of the payload will be carried out at NASA Ames facilities.

Matching NASA Ames’ mission requirements, the 12U bus shares the same flight-proven subsystems as NanoAvionics’ flagship M6P bus but with up to 10U payload volume. The larger volume will be necessary to provide enough room for the 4.6 kg. payload that includes the composite boom and solar sail system as well as cameras to monitor the solar sail during and after deployment.

As part of this agreement, the company will also supply a mechanical testbed model and a FlatSat model. In addition, a team of NanoAvionics engineers will provide the support required for testing, integration and operations of the smallsat.

The FlaSat model has identical software functionality as the final 12U bus hardware, hosting the actual payload. It allows NASA Ames to run tests via remote network connectivity without having to ship equipment back and forth. The mechanical testbed model can be used for testing payload integration and other mechanical tests, such as the deployment of solar sails.

The benefit of smallsats with solar sails is a continuous thrust without using expending propellants, enabling orbits that are not possible with conventional propulsion systems. Mission for these spacecrafts include comet rendezvous, solar system and interstellar scouts, polar orbits around the sun and planets, and asteroid mining. However, until the arrival of dedicated launchers for smallsats, likely deep-space missions for nanosatellites are piggy-back rides where the main spacecraft would carry one or more smallsats like a Russian doll and fulfill their mission or a stand-alone system executing its own mission.

NanoAvionics buses use multiple standard-sized units of 10x10x10 cm. The size of the resulting spacecraft is measured by the number of units, e.g., 3U, 6U or 12U. The bus is the infrastructure of the spacecraft including components such as propulsion and communications systems; together with the payload (‘mission’) it comprises the satellite. A nanosatellite is class of smallsats typically with a mass, including propellant, between 1 and 10 kg. (2.2 and 22.0 lb.).

“I’m tremendously proud and excited that NanoAvionics will be part of NASA’s effort to validate a new beam-powered propulsion system, eventually leading to more marvellous deep-space missions following the first inter-planetary cubesats MarCO-A and B (Mars Cube One),” said F. Brent Abbott, CEO of NanoAvionics North America. “The technology demonstration using NanoAvionics’ 12U bus will be the first ever in-orbit trial of NASA’s composite booms as well as sail packing and deployment systems for a solar sail. It will guide the development of a next generation nanosatellites with solar sail propulsion system for small inter-planetary spacecraft.”

In 2018, AST acquired a controlling interest in NanoAvionics as part of its strategy to establish manufacturing capabilities in Europe and North America. Abel Avellan, CEO and chairman of AST, serves as chairman of NanoAvionics’ Board of Directors.

NanoAvionics is a smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator currently based in four locations – Columbia (US), Midland (US), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Oxfordshire (UK). Its flagship multi-purpose M6P and M12P are the first prefigured nanosatellite buses in the sector, designed to serve emerging commercial space markets. The company’s efforts are focused on enabling critical satellite functions and optimizing their launch, hardware and operation costs – ranging from single missions to constellations. Its core engineering team has implemented over 75 successful satellite missions and commercial projects during the past several years.

OneWeb as strengthened its Mobility team under VP Mobility Services Ben Griffin with a trio of experienced professionals – in the UK and USA. OneWeb is ramping up its work to deliver high-speed, unparalleled low latency, reliable connectivity across all mobility platforms, including commercial and business aviation, land and marine.

OneWeb’s LEO constellation of more than 600 satellites will connect people everywhere, on land, at sea and in the air. Its ambition is to facilitate “a connectivity experience that is limited only by the users’ imagination, not the available bandwidth.”

Jason Sperry appointed Director – Business Aviation
Jason Sperry joins OneWeb as Director, Business Aviation, based out of Melbourne, Florida. Sperry brings a wealth of experience from the IFC service provision perspective, including significant satellite provider insight spanning both GEO and LEO technologies. Jason is responsible for delivering fibre-like connectivity solutions to business jet owners, operators, and end users – passengers and crew alike. He joins from SD (Satcom Direct), where for the past six years he was Director, Strategy and Business, having joined the business in 2016 as director of product management (hardware). He will combine his technical experience with strong commercial aptitude to understand the needs of OneWeb’s partners, delivering solutions which are commercially and technically innovative.

Drew Brandy – Director, Land Mobility
Drew Brandy joins OneWeb as Director, Land Mobility, after 13 plus years with Inmarsat, latterly as Senior VP Maritime, progressing from VP Strategy and Development. Based out of London, Drew will be responsible for setting and executing OneWeb’s land mobility portfolio strategy, working closely with the mobility team members. He brings considerable experience having worked with several large telecom operators in business and corporate strategy in both North America and Europe.

Nick Maynard – Marketing Director, Mobility
Stepping up from an initial consultancy role over the past 14 months, Nick Maynard becomes full-time Marketing Director (Mobility), based out of the UK. Maynard brings over 25 years’ relevant experience in marketing and communications working out of the UK and UAE, supporting several blue-chip aviation companies – in-house and with agencies OglivyOne and Carlson. Most recently, he served nearly 10 years with Honeywell Aerospace in marketing and comms, latterly as Channel Partner Marketing Manager, building relationships for Honeywell’s valued suppliers around the world.

“I’m very pleased to be adding to my team with these three stellar professionals,” said Ben Griffin, OneWeb VP Mobility Services. “Together, we are working on some exciting strategies and partnerships that will disrupt the mobility connectivity market for years to come. We are focused on driving these forward and sharing our news over the next few months.”

Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) has signed a launch services agreement with Japanese Earth Observation (EO) constellation operator Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (“iQPS”) — the satellite is expected to join Virgin Orbit’s manifest for early 2023.

Selected for LauncherOne’s proven ability to provide direct access to diverse orbits, Virgin Orbit expects to launch the QPS-SAR-5 satellite into a tailored, mid-inclination orbit to allow iQPS to expand the coverage of their constellation and revisit rate. By directly injecting the QPS-SAR-5 into the desired orbit on iQPS’ schedule, LauncherOne’s flexibility should allow for iQPS to rapidly commission the QPS-SAR-5 and begin collecting information from areas of key interest to its customers.

The iQPS QPS-SAR-5 is expected to play a critical role in enabling near, real-time EO by iQPS’s Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation. iQPS enables the development of small, high-performance SAR satellites by employing a unique, deployable antenna that is large, yet easy to stow, and weighs only 10 kg. The antenna is also capable of penetrating clouds and collecting high-resolution images even in adverse weather conditions, enabling frequent and important EO missions.

iQPS is planning to establish a constellation of 36 satellites that will enable the observation of particular locations almost everywhere in the world in approximately 10 minutes, or every 10 minutes to a fixed area,for observation. Additionally, iQPS has succeeded in acquiring 70 cm. resolution images with QPS-SAR-2 and subsequent satellites — including QPS-SAR-5 —are expected to achieve even higher resolution.

Virgin Orbit demonstrated its ability to reach unique orbital inclinations during its January 2022 mission “Above the Clouds,” in which the company’s air-launcher system, LauncherOne and its carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl, deployed seven customer satellites to 500 km. circular orbit at 45 degrees inclination after taking off from Mojave Air and Spaceport in Mojave, California — a first for the launch industry.

“Virgin Orbit is grateful for the opportunity to work with such an innovator as iQPS. The iQPS team is on the cutting edge of space technology and their products are critically needed to provide new capabilities for: disaster prevention, infrastructure management, agriculture, marine/fishery, and the realization of autonomous driving,” said Virgin Orbit CEO, Dan Hart. “Coupled with LauncherOne, trailblazing operators like iQPS can tailor their launch needs around their mission, and not the other way around, serving their customers from the outset.”

iQPS Inc. CEO, Shunsuke Onishi, said, “Following our launch announcements regarding QPS-SAR-3 and 4, we looked forward to presenting our plans for QPS-SAR-5. We all are very pleased and honored to be working with Virgin Orbit. In Japan, Oita Prefecture and Virgin Orbit have announced a partnership in April 2020 to launch satellites after 2022 from the Oita Airport Spaceport, and plans are currently underway. The founders of iQPS, who started the company with the goal of establishing a space industry in Kyushu, have a strong passion to ‘launch satellites manufactured in Kyushu from Kyushu’. We hope that this launch agreement between Virgin Orbit and iQPS will be a positive step toward the early realization of the Oita Spaceport.”

Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) operates one of the most flexible and responsive space launch systems ever built. Founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2017, the company began commercial service in 2021, and has already delivered commercial, civil, national security, and international satellites into orbit. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and are air-launched from a modified 747-400 carrier aircraft that allows Virgin Orbit to operate from locations all over the world in order to best serve each customer’s needs.

iQPS is a space start-up founded in 2005 by two Emeritus Professors of Kyushu University and a rocket developer to establish the space industry in the Kyushu region in Japan. Based on more than 20 years of technology in the development of small satellites at Kyushu University, now iQPS brings together young engineers and industrialists with a team of pioneering professors emeritus. In addition, iQPS’s business is strongly supported by more than 20 partner companies, mostly in northern Kyushu. The goal of iQPS small SAR satellite QPS-SAR project is to deliver a near real-time data provision service. Currently, two QPS-SAR satellites have been launched and are in operation. In May 2021, the second QPS-SAR “Izanami” succeeded in acquiring images with a resolution of 70 cm, the highest resolution ever achieved by a commercial small SAR satellite in Japan.

NanoAvionics was recently selected to build a 12U nanosatellite bus for an on-orbit demonstration of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3).

This a result of a contract between NASA Ames Research Center and AST for a 12U bus to carry NASA’s payload into LEO, including an approximately 800 square foot (74 square meter) composite boom and solar sail system.

The aim of the ACS3 mission is to replace conventional rocket propellants by developing and testing solar sails using sunlight beams to thrust the nanosatellite. These solar sail propulsion systems are designed for future small interplanetary spacecrafts destined for low-cost deep-space and science missions requiring long-duration, low-thrust propulsion.

With already more than 75 successful satellite missions and satellite-related commercial projects, NanoAvionics will assemble the 12U bus at its new Columbia facility in Illinois, while the final integration of the payload will be carried out at NASA Ames facilities.

Matching NASA Ames’ mission requirements, the 12U bus shares the same flight-proven subsystems as NanoAvionics’ flagship M6P bus but with up to 10U payload volume. The larger volume will be necessary to provide enough room for the 4.6 kg. payload that includes the composite boom and solar sail system as well as cameras to monitor the solar sail during and after deployment.

As part of this agreement, the company will also supply a mechanical testbed model and a FlatSat model. In addition, a team of NanoAvionics engineers will provide the support required for testing, integration and operations of the smallsat.

The FlaSat model has identical software functionality as the final 12U bus hardware, hosting the actual payload. It allows NASA Ames to run tests via remote network connectivity without having to ship equipment back and forth. The mechanical testbed model can be used for testing payload integration and other mechanical tests, such as the deployment of solar sails.

The benefit of smallsats with solar sails is a continuous thrust without using expending propellants, enabling orbits that are not possible with conventional propulsion systems. Mission for these spacecrafts include comet rendezvous, solar system and interstellar scouts, polar orbits around the sun and planets, and asteroid mining. However, until the arrival of dedicated launchers for smallsats, likely deep-space missions for nanosatellites are piggy-back rides where the main spacecraft would carry one or more smallsats like a Russian doll and fulfill their mission or a stand-alone system executing its own mission.

NanoAvionics buses use multiple standard-sized units of 10x10x10 cm. The size of the resulting spacecraft is measured by the number of units, e.g., 3U, 6U or 12U. The bus is the infrastructure of the spacecraft including components such as propulsion and communications systems; together with the payload (‘mission’) it comprises the satellite. A nanosatellite is class of smallsats typically with a mass, including propellant, between 1 and 10 kg. (2.2 and 22.0 lb.).

“I’m tremendously proud and excited that NanoAvionics will be part of NASA’s effort to validate a new beam-powered propulsion system, eventually leading to more marvellous deep-space missions following the first inter-planetary cubesats MarCO-A and B (Mars Cube One),” said F. Brent Abbott, CEO of NanoAvionics North America. “The technology demonstration using NanoAvionics’ 12U bus will be the first ever in-orbit trial of NASA’s composite booms as well as sail packing and deployment systems for a solar sail. It will guide the development of a next generation nanosatellites with solar sail propulsion system for small inter-planetary spacecraft.”

In 2018, AST acquired a controlling interest in NanoAvionics as part of its strategy to establish manufacturing capabilities in Europe and North America. Abel Avellan, CEO and chairman of AST, serves as chairman of NanoAvionics’ Board of Directors.

NanoAvionics is a smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator currently based in four locations – Columbia (US), Midland (US), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Oxfordshire (UK). Its flagship multi-purpose M6P and M12P are the first prefigured nanosatellite buses in the sector, designed to serve emerging commercial space markets. The company’s efforts are focused on enabling critical satellite functions and optimizing their launch, hardware and operation costs – ranging from single missions to constellations. Its core engineering team has implemented over 75 successful satellite missions and commercial projects during the past several years.