Archives for July 2022

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has successfully completed the NASA CAPSTONE satellite’s first TCM burn (TCM-1)

As the first statistical maneuver of the mission, TCM-1 is designed to clean up expected dispersions from the launch vehicle injection – enabling CAPSTONE to continue its pathfinding lunar journey in support of NASA’s Artemis program.

Terran Orbital Guidance Navigation and Control systems perfectly performed the maneuver as designed by Advanced Space.

The maneuver was designed based on navigation information collected by the Deep Space Network and processed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team.

Terran Orbital’s Mission Operations Center commanded the burn and processed the post-burn telemetry. Optimized for precise maneuvers, TCM-1 is the first maneuver executed by the CAPSTONE spacecraft using its onboard propulsion system.

The maneuver was designed to be approximately 20 m/s. Initial radiometric-based reconstruction suggests TCM-1 achieved approximately 19.85 m/s, which represents a deviation of approximately 0.75 % — well within expectations and predictions. At the time of maneuver execution, the spacecraft was approximately 465,000 km. from the Earth.

Prior to the maneuver, the spacecraft was on a trajectory that would take it approximately 1.2 million km. from the Earth. With the completion of TCM-1, the spacecraft is now targeting a trajectory that will take it approximately 1.4 million km. from Earth.

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has successfully completed the NASA CAPSTONE satellite’s first TCM burn (TCM-1)

As the first statistical maneuver of the mission, TCM-1 is designed to clean up expected dispersions from the launch vehicle injection – enabling CAPSTONE to continue its pathfinding lunar journey in support of NASA’s Artemis program.

Terran Orbital Guidance Navigation and Control systems perfectly performed the maneuver as designed by Advanced Space.

The maneuver was designed based on navigation information collected by the Deep Space Network and processed by the Advanced Space flight dynamics team.

Terran Orbital’s Mission Operations Center commanded the burn and processed the post-burn telemetry. Optimized for precise maneuvers, TCM-1 is the first maneuver executed by the CAPSTONE spacecraft using its onboard propulsion system.

The maneuver was designed to be approximately 20 m/s. Initial radiometric-based reconstruction suggests TCM-1 achieved approximately 19.85 m/s, which represents a deviation of approximately 0.75 % — well within expectations and predictions. At the time of maneuver execution, the spacecraft was approximately 465,000 km. from the Earth.

Prior to the maneuver, the spacecraft was on a trajectory that would take it approximately 1.2 million km. from the Earth. With the completion of TCM-1, the spacecraft is now targeting a trajectory that will take it approximately 1.4 million km. from Earth.

GomSpace has received an authorization to proceed (ATP) from Unseen Labs to initiate production of key products for an upcoming satellite project.

The ATP value is 12 MSEK. The products are expected to be ready by the close of 2022. 

The purpose of the ATP is to ensure availability of specific products that currently have long lead times, due to the current worldwide shortage of semiconductor components.   
 

A new name, HummingSat, a new logo, a new product line of small telecommunications satellites, and a new partner, ESA to complete this venture.

A new name, HummingSat, a new logo, a new product line of small telecommunications satellites, and a new partner, ESA to complete this venture. The name is inspired by the Hummingbird (or Colibri), small and agile by nature, as our small Satellite will be once deployed and operational.

HummingSat operates in geostationary orbit at 36’000 kilometers above the Earth and brings a new solution to connect society with modern technology.

This new satellite product line and the first protoflight model are in development and construction under a Partnership contract between ESA and SWISSto12 for delivery by SWISSto12 of a satellite to an operator acting as the anchor commercial end-customer with a planned launch date in 2025.

A HummingSat is significantly smaller than conventional geostationary telecommunication satellites, and therefore benefits from a rideshare launch strategy. Despite its small size, the satellite powers a highly capable telecommunications payload with approximately 2kW of power, which is enabled by SWISSto12’s unique 3D printed Radio Frequency products and systems. HummingSat provides satellite operators with a bespoke and competitive solution for delivery of regional or gap-filling services as well as economic replacement of ageing satellites.

Emile de Rijk, CEO of SWISSto12, “SWISSto12 is proudly investing in the HummingSat product line since several years, I am now thrilled to see it has matured to become a competitive offering for satellite telecommunication operators. Our first satellite is now fully launched in its design and construction, and we aim at making reuse of this development to commercialize our HummingSats based on a standardized platform along with optimized payloads to service at best each one of our customers.”

GomSpace has formally signed a contract to deliver two, 12-unit cubesats to the German Space Agency, DLR.

This finalizes the award process that was announced on June 14th and the project has now been initiated. As previously announced, the contract value is 13 MSEK and delivery will be in January of 2023.

Original posting…

GomSpace has been awarded a contract to deliver two, 12-unit, cubesats to the German Space Agency, DLR.

These smallsats will be used for research by DLR’s Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center, RSC3, in Trauen, Germany.

The contract value is 13 million Swedish Krona and delivery is planned for January of 2023.

The formal contract will be completed within the next two weeks.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) (NYSE: NOC) has selected Airbus U.S. Space & Defense Inc. as the commercial provider of satellite platforms for NGC’s proliferated-LEO constellation. Under the terms of the contract, Airbus U.S. will supply 42 satellite “bus” platforms, as well as support vehicle assembly, integration and testing.

Northrop Grumman’s T1TL mesh satellite constellation will provide resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport supporting U.S. military missions around the world and serve as a critical element for Joint-All Domain Command Control. In May, Northrop Grumman announced the selection of Mynaric and Innoflight as its suppliers for laser communications and encryption, decryption capabilities.

The Space Development Agency (SDA) selected Northrop Grumman in February to develop and field a portion of its Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) constellation. The T1TL network will deliver persistent, secure connectivity for the U.S. military and serve as a critical element for Joint All-Domain Command and Control.

Derived from the flight-proven ARROW platform, the Airbus U.S. solution expands on its commoditized satellite bus design providing more power and a larger payload accommodation. This modular solution offers a scalable 300 – 500 kg. bus for the Northrop Grumman payload and future U.S. Government missions.

Airbus U.S. has designed a highly adaptable spacecraft platform and will use Airbus OneWeb Satellites (AOS), the Airbus U.S. and OneWeb joint venture in Merritt Island, Florida, to assemble it using their state-of-the-art production line. This line is currently delivering up to two satellites per day to OneWeb. AOS achieves this industry-leading result through its mature supply chain and manufacturing approach. To date, this facility has already produced over 400 of the 648 satellites on order for OneWeb.

“The addition of Airbus U.S. as one of our key commercial suppliers complements our end-to-end satellite system integration and heritage communication mission expertise,” said Blake Bullock, vice president, communication systems, strategic space systems, Northrop Grumman.

“The SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer is a critical national security program, and we are honored to support Northrop Grumman and the Space Development Agency,” said Rob Geckle, President and CEO of Airbus U.S. Space and Defense. “This award underscores Airbus U.S.’s mission to develop and deliver, in the U.S., technology critical to the U.S. warfighter.”

Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance, and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.

Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and operating under a Special Security Agreement (SSA), Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc. offers advanced solutions to meet the most complex U.S. defense, security, space, and intelligence requirements. A long time U.S. government partner, Airbus U.S. leverages world-class satellite, laser communication, rotary and fixed wing solutions to help its National Security focused customers meet their missions.

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has announced that the company’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 (PTD-3) satellite has completed bus commissioning with all health and status checkouts nominal.

Terran Orbital designed and built the PTD-3 satellite in support of NASA’s PTD series of missions. The missions will test the operation of a variety of novel small satellite technologies in LEO while providing significant enhancements to performance. The successful demonstration of new subsystem technologies throughout multiple planned PTD missions will increase small spacecraft capabilities to enable future exploration missions and science.

PTD-3 carries the TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MITLL) and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Funding for the TBIRD technology payload is provided by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program in the Space Operations Mission Directorate.

NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program provides funding for the spacecraft, payload integration, mission operations, and launch.

The PTD-3 spacecraft will demonstrate a space-to-ground data transfer capability at orders of magnitude faster than previously demonstrated technologies – opening doors to large volume data communications and data accessibility for advanced space exploration while delivering multiple terabytes of data per day to a single ground station.

The PTD series of missions each use a commercial spacecraft bus and avionics developed by Terran Orbital. This spacecraft platform easily accommodates a variety of mission payloads, while leveraging the production efficiency and flight heritage of a proven satellite bus. Terran Orbital also serves as the payload integrator for the PTD missions and performs on-orbit mission operations from the Terran Orbital Mission Operations Center in Irvine, California.

“Terran Orbital is extremely proud PTD-3 bus commissioning was completed mere days after reaching orbit,” said Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Marc Bell. “The technologies featured in PTD-3 will greatly benefit the ways we measure and observe activity on Earth and how we communicate that data. Creating the technology and satellite capabilities that fuel NASA’s PTD missions is an absolute privilege. Terran Orbital looks forward to continuing our on-orbit operations of PTD-3 and designing, building, integrating, and operating the additional upcoming PTD satellites.”

Terran Orbital is a leading manufacturer of small satellites primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries. Terran Orbital provides end-to-end satellite solutions by combining satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations, and on-orbit support to meet the needs of the most demanding military, civil, and commercial customers. Learn more at www.terranorbital.com.

Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KONGSBERG) has entered into an agreement to acquire Lithuanian smallsat mission integrator and bus manufacturer NanoAvionics. The planned acquisition expands KONGSBERG’s space offering to also have products and technology for manufacturing small satellites.

NanoAvionics is a smallsat mission integrator and bus manufacturer with significant global growth in recent years, including expansions into the United Kingdom and the United States. With more than 150 employees the company has contributed to 120 missions and commercial satellite projects, with customers ranging from national space agencies to universities such as UNSW Sydney and companies such as Thales Alenia Space, Aurora Insight, the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority, SEN and others.

“The agreement to acquire NanoAvionics represents a game changer for KONGSBERG’s space ambitions. By acquiring NanoAvionics KONGSBERG expands its portfolio to also have products and technology for designing and manufacturing small satellites. KONGSBERG is the Nordic region’s largest industrial space company and a global leader in maritime surveillance. We have clear ambitions to grow further and with this acquisition we are taking the next step both for us and for Norwegian space industry”, says Geir Håøy, CEO of KONGSBERG.

KONGSBERG will acquire in total 77 per cent of the company. Current majority owner AST & Science will divest all its shares, while the management of NanoAvionics will retain 23 per cent of the company. The parties have agreed upon an enterprise value of EUR 65 million (100 per cent basis). Management and leadership structure of NanoAvionics under CEO Vytenis Buzas and CCO Linas Sargautis, both founders of the company, will remain unchanged. KONGSBERG and NanoAvionics plan to close the transaction following the conclusion of customary closing conditions including any required regulatory reviews.

“Joining forces with KONGSBERG, one of the most respected names in the defense, maritime and space domain, further strengthens and broadens our position in the NewSpace sector and provides us access to new markets. It is the right timing and a perfect match for our companies to consolidate our expertise and create a world class space company which will be a leading prime contractor for small satellite missions”, says Vytenis J. Buzas, founder and CEO of NanoAvionics.

The two companies have complementary technology and positions in the space value chain. NanoAvionics is a leader in the Smallsat segment as a mission integrator and bus manufacturer, whilst KONGSBERG is an established provider of spacecraft subsystems, and through Kongsberg Satellite Services the world-leading supplier of satellite ground stations for downloading and processing satellite data.

NanoAvionics has customers in more than 40 countries across Asia, Europe and the Americas, complementing KONGSBERG’s global positions in both the traditional space segment and new space.

“By joining forces NanoAvionics and KONGSBERG will be able to provide cost efficient solutions and services for customers, from manufacturing, payload production and integration, to launch services, and mission control and data processing. The market for small satellite constellations will increase going forward, within commercial, security and defense segments. NanoAvionics has a strong proven track record, and we look forward to working closely with this talented team”, says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. 

The planned acquisition is in line with KONGSBERG’s strategic priorities to grow in the space technology sector and Norway’s space ambitions. In April KONGSBERG announced the procurement of three microsatellites from NanoAvionics as a first step of establishing Norway’s first satellite constellation with unique and world-leading capabilities. On July 5 of this year KONGSBERG will open a new 6,000 square meter building, with specialized facilities for the development and production of products to be launched into space.

“Norway is a leader in the domain of maritime surveillance in the high north. The planned acquisition incorporates world class small satellite technology into our portfolio enabling further advances in surveillance and other key strategic capacities. NanoAvionics, along with our existing space portfolio and the development of the Andøya space port means Norway now has leading positions across the entire value chain”, says Lie.