Archives for August 2022

SpaceX’s Chief Engineer Elon Musk and T-Mobile’s CEO and President Mike Sievert have announced a plan to provide truly universal cellular connectivity.

In spite of powerful LTE and 5G terrestrial wireless networks, more than 20% of the United States land area and 90% of the Earth remain uncovered by wireless companies. These dead zones have serious consequences for remote communities and those who travel off the grid for work or leisure.

The telecom industry has struggled to cover these areas with traditional cellular technology due to land-use restrictions (e.g., National Parks), terrain limits (e.g., mountains, deserts and other topographical realities) and the globe’s sheer vastness. In those areas, people are either left disconnected or resort to lugging around a satellite phone and paying exorbitant rates.

Leveraging Starlink, SpaceX’s constellation of satellites in LEO, and T-Mobile’s wireless network, the companies are planning to provide customers text coverage practically everywhere in the continental U.S., Hawaii, parts of Alaska, Puerto Rico and territorial waters, even outside the signal of T-Mobile’s network.

The service will be offered starting with a beta in select areas by the end of next year after SpaceX’s planned satellite launches. Text messaging, including SMS, MMS, and participating messaging apps, will empower customers to stay connected and share experiences nearly everywhere. Afterwards, the companies plan to pursue the addition of voice and data coverage.

In addition, Elon and Mike shared their vision for expanding Coverage Above and Beyond globally, issuing an open invitation to the world’s carriers to collaborate for truly global connectivity. T-Mobile committed to offer reciprocal roaming to those providers working with them to enable this vision.

This service will have a tremendous impact on the safety, peace of mind, and individual and business opportunities around the globe. The applications range from connecting hikers in national parks, rural communities, remote sensors and devices, and people and devices in emergency situations, such as firefighters.

This satellite-to-cellular service will provide nearly complete coverage anywhere a customer can see the sky—meaning you can continue texting and eventually make a cell phone call even when you leave terrestrial coverage. The system has been designed so that no modifications are required to the cell phone everyone has in their pocket today, and no new firmware, software updates, or apps are needed.

As a complementary technology to terrestrial networks, SpaceX can enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to connect more people, fulfill coverage requirements and create new business opportunities.

Space Micro Inc., powered by Voyager Space, today announced the successful performance of its Software Defined Radios (SDRs) on Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) CubeSat Networked Communications Experiment (CNCE) Block 1.  Initially launched in June 2021 and completed in March 2022, CNCE Block 1, which is part of MDA’s Nanosat Testbed Initiative (NTI), used small, low-cost satellites to demonstrate networked radio communications between nanosatellites while in orbit.

MDA deployed two CubeSats developed by Space Micro with integrated radio frequency (RF) payloads based on its μSDR-C family of small form factor software defined radios. MDA tested Space Micro’s SDRs at various distances, formations, and orientations, all of which successfully communicated with each other and ground nodes. This demonstration helps support the development of U.S. missile defense technology and architecture.

SDRs can be re-programmed on orbit making them desirable in today’s rapidly changing world.  Space Micro designed these particular radios, which are a precursor to the Company’s successful Nanocom family of SDRs, with the additional ability to create and operate within an ad-hoc communication network, similar to a terrestrial Wi-Fi network

“We are proud to support MDA as they bolster our national defense, and to further demonstrate the capabilities and reliability of our RF radio frequency payloads for inter-satellite communications,” said David R. Czajkowski, Space Micro CEO.

“The Space Micro team continues to demonstrate flight-proven solutions that provide tremendous value to our national defense capabilities,” said Matt Kuta, President and COO of Voyager Space. “This successful demonstration of SDR technology is a critical step forward for the future of in space communications.”

MDA retired the Block 1 satellites in March 2022 and they will de-orbit and burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

Space Micro’s SDR product line comprises several models: The µSDR-C targets UHF, S-Band, L-Band and low C-Band applications, the more powerful Nanocom targets higher frequency, higher data rate, and more processor intensive RF applications, and the µXBT X-Band Transponder is slated for several Artemis programs. Space Micro legacy S-, X- and Ka-Band radios are on orbit today on NASA IRIS, an observation mission of the solar atmosphere and NASA TESS, an exo-planet survey mission to provide prime targets for the James Webb Space Telescope.

Synspective develops and operates Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites and provides solutions based on satellite data analysis.

The company developed a ground deformation analysis device and method with a slope instability detection feature that identifies predictive changes of landslides and other disasters. The firm also filed a patent application (PCT/JP2022/026506) for their new invention.

Synspective has been offering their Land Displacement (LDM) solution service that employs SAR satellite data features to analyze wide-area ground deformation and provide actionable insights and results. This service can monitor ground changes in millimeter accuracy and display them in time-series order. In April of 2021, the firm released a subsidence extraction feature that identifies potential land deformation and sinkhole occurrence (pending patent application: PCT/JP2021/003312) with the LDM service.

Natural disasters, such as heavy rains, floods, and earthquakes, have a significant impact on the environment and threaten people’s safety all over the world. Synspective believes it is important to monitor ground changes as well as to detect early disaster warning signs and issue alerts accordingly. With a new feature that can predict potential areas of ground subsidence, the company has developed an analysis device and method to detect precursors of ground disasters such as landslides and slope failures.

Select this direct link to read “ Use cases of InSAR analysis for landslide disasters.”

With this technology, ground deformation situations can be understood, including when and where a change that could be a precursor to a disaster is occurring as well as to detect early disaster risk warning signs. For example, it is possible to detect precursory phenomena before a ground disaster occurs.

Additionally, the company can grasp a ground deformation situation and issue a warning by detecting precursory points in the saliency-based index within the time-series data.

Synspective develops and operates satellites and also develops new solution services and analysis technologies. In recent years, natural disasters have been occurring more frequently and have left enormous damage and destruction in their wake. Synspective hopes that new technologies with satellite data will make substantial progress toward realizing a safe and sustainable society.

UK-based launch services company Orbex is hiring an additional fifty staff members over the next six months. The new team members will support the company’s final push to prepare for the first vertical rocket launch from UK soil over the coming months.

Many of the new roles will support ‘integrated testing’ of the complete rocket at the Orbex LP1 launch platform test facility at Kinloss. The facility allows for full ‘dress rehearsals’ of rocket launches at Kinloss, situated a few miles from the Orbex headquarters in Forres in Moray, Scotland.

The new roles will also strengthen existing teams responsible for key areas of development of the rocket, including propulsion, structures, avionics, CNC machining and embedded software. Other recruitment areas will facilitate communications between ground staff and the rocket in flight, covering fields such as GNC (guidance, navigation & control) systems, sensors, data capture, ground segment software, and radio engineering.

Fifteen of the new roles will be non-technical positions, offering a wide range of people new opportunities to train or re-skill for a career in the UK and European space sector. These positions require no past experience of the space or aerospace industry and cover areas such as logistics, finance and procurement.

Orbex recently revealed the full rocket in its final form, making this the first full orbital micro-launcher to be unveiled in Europe. The innovative Orbex Prime rocket will be the first orbital rocket to be powered by a renewable bio-fuel, bio-propane, which will reduce carbon emissions by up to 96%. The sustainability credentials extend to the company’s ‘home’ spaceport of Space Hub Sutherlandon the North coast of Scotland, which aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral spaceport. Prime is a ‘micro-launcher’ rocket designed to transport small satellites weighing around 150kg to low Earth orbit.

Richard Lochhead, Scottish Government Employment Minister said, “These jobs will bring us a step closer to achieving our ambition of 20,000 jobs in the Scottish space sector by 2030. Orbex is bringing high-value jobs to Moray while inspiring the study of science and engineering – which will help create future rocket scientists. Companies like Orbex are vital to achieving the aims of our newly published National Strategy for Economic Transformation that will support a nation of entrepreneurs and innovators.”

David Oxley, director of strategic projects, Highlands and Islands Enterprise:

David Oxley, director of strategic projects, Highlands and Islands Enterprise added, “This is fantastic news for Orbex and for the Highlands and Islands. The Scottish space sector is on course for serious growth over the next few years and the economic benefits for our region will be significant. We are fast approaching a time when Scottish-made satellites will be sent into low Earth orbit from Scottish spaceports, using rockets designed and manufactured in Scotland. That vision would have seemed far-fetched just a few years ago, and Orbex is playing a major role in making it a reality.”

Chris Larmour, CEO, Orbex:

Chris Larmour, CEO, Orbex concluded, “We have already tripled the size of our team over the last twelve months. And now, the roles we’re recruiting for are the clearest demonstration that we’re in the final countdown to launch from UK soil. There’s no better time to join Orbex – we have an extremely exciting few years ahead of us and we encourage people to find out more about the roles we have on offer.”

California is doubling down on its spending for launching new satellites to capture images of methane leaks throughout the state. But the dairy sector—long in the regulatory crosshairs for climate emissions—is taking a backseat on this space mission, according to some sources.

The state budget has allocated $100 million in revenue from California’s cap-and-trade program to invest in expanding the number of satellites launched for methane observations. The information gathered from the monitoring enables the Air Resources Board (CARB) to identify the sources of these emissions and hold polluters accountable for violations. It also advances the state’s goals for reducing the short-lived climate pollutant—a way to slash the overall impact of greenhouse gas emissions more quickly than through carbon dioxide emissions, which linger in the atmosphere longer and are more prominent but less potent.

According to researchers at UC Davis, Agriculture contributes just 11% of the total GHG emissions in the U.S., making it the smallest GHG emissions contributor of any sector tracked by the Environmental Protection Agency. Of the 11% of GHG emissions from agriculture, research indicates about 3% of agricultural GHG emissions come from livestock, according to a blog post.

But, according to CalEPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld, who lauded the governor’s proposal in May, the “most egregious methane leaks” are “destroying our climate and polluting our communities.”

Dairies initially stood at the center of CARB’s efforts to survey methane emissions. In 2016 the agency collaborated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Arizona scientists and the California Energy Commission to outfit planes with sensitive remote sensing cameras—a technology 30 years in the making.

After surveying more than 300,000 pieces of infrastructure, they found that less than 2% of those facilities were responsible for as much as half of the state’s entire contribution of methane emissions. A subsequent study in 2019 pointed to landfills as the largest contributor, at 41 percent, while dairies and the oil and gas sector tied for second, with 26% each.

Detecting and repairing those initial leaks was the low-hanging fruit in solving the problem, according to Riley Duran, a research scientist and CEO of Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit organization leading public-private partnerships in this area. Speaking at a State Board of Food and Agriculture hearing this month, Duran explained how the effort boils down to two types of emissions.

Oil and gas production, natural gas transmission lines, landfills and wastewater treatment plants make up high-emission point sources—along with confined animal feeding operations, particularly those involving wet manure management. Area emissions, meanwhile, would include enteric fermentation from hundreds of head of cattle that may independently emit relatively small amounts through belching but collectively produce a significant source. Tracking down such sources in agriculture is less about fixing leaks—though dairy digesters capturing that methane do leak on occasion—and more about understanding systemic challenges across the sector.

After the initial flyovers in the pilot program, CARB notified facility operators of the leaks and about 40 of those operations immediately cut their emissions. The voluntary repair actions led to a reduction in enough methane to equal nearly 1.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

CARB shared the initial findings with the dairy sector as well. Follow-up flights over the San Joaquin Valley last fall showed that newly constructed digesters have led to substantial reductions. Of the many high-emitting dairies pinpointed in 2016, only a handful of plumes are still active, according to preliminary findings Duran shared.

Now Carbon Mapper and its partners across 15 states are looking to scale up the effort and expand into space. With the commercial satellite company Planet Labs and through philanthropic funding, Carbon Mapper plans to launch two methane satellites in late 2023.

“We’re in a hurry to do something about this,” said Duran. “Rather than try to fit this into existing federal research programs, we went out and sought and secured philanthropic funding to launch our satellites.”

In its search for dollars, the organization touts leading figures in the field on its board of directors, with former CARB Chair Mary Nichols and CARB’s recently retired executive officer, Richard Corey.

Meanwhile, the $100 million in state spending triggered concerns in the Legislature in May about the potential return on investment, indicating apprehension even within one of the nation’s most climate-forward governments. Sen. Bob Wieckowski of Fremont, who chairs a budget subcommittee, questioned why the state should spend so much on a technology that may or may not bring down emissions indirectly, when it could spend that on dairy digesters, a technology known to reduce emissions more than any other state program.

Yet headlines over major leaks and oil spills in California have solidified public sentiment around the issue. Realtime satellite monitoring would have quickly detected the massive Aliso Canyon rupture in 2015, when a natural gas pipeline released 109,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere.

The satellites present an opportunity to tackle more shovel-ready projects like repairing oil and gas leaks, which is why dairies are not a major focus in the latest prototyping from CARB, according to Duran.

“If they know where it is, in many cases they can fix it the next day,” he said. “It doesn’t require a big investment.”

The technology also allows CARB to monitor a much wider area from space and fifth generation instruments will capture more detail than the planes were able to. An average consumer camera captures light in three colors, explained Duran, but the satellite cameras will cover nearly 500 colors and at the same time quantify the amount of gas in the atmosphere.

The opportunities for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions have also piqued the interest of Vice President Kamala Harris, who visited the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland last week to announce a new public-private partnership for commercial space flight.

“Soon a new generation of satellites will help us fight the climate crisis by tracking and allowing us to see the patterns of greenhouse gas emissions and to see that in real time,” said Harris.

From Agri-Pulse
By Sara Wyant and Brad Hooker

Inovor Technologies now has a new 10-year strategic partnership with industry and academia that will see its satellite technologies and expertise used to deliver four new satellite missions, providing leap-ahead exemplar space capabilities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

The objective of the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group’s Resilient Multi-mission Space (RMS) STaR Shot mission, led by Airbus, is to design, manufacture, launch and operate at least four exemplar small satellite (up to 200 kg) missions over the 10-year program.

Each mission may include several satellites, and each satellite will contain several payloads related to one or more of the five Science and Technology (S&T) themes: space capability (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Non-geostationary satellite communications; Space Domain Awareness) and space missions (Space autonomy; resilient space systems and concepts).

As mission integration partner, Inovor Technologies will support the manufacture and integration of the satellites in its expanded facilities at the Lot Fourteen innovation precinct in Adelaide, South Australia. The mission will also provide opportunities for Inovor Technologies to fly its own Australian-made payloads and satellite components.

Inovor Technologies CEO and founder Dr Matthew Tetlow congratulated Airbus on its appointment as the ADF’s Strategic Partner to deliver the RMS STaR Shot mission.

“The RMS mission aligns perfectly with our goal to build larger satellites in Australia to supply to both Defence and global commercial markets,” Dr Tetlow said.

“We are thrilled to be selected alongside Shoal Group and Deloitte as the Australian Space Industry representatives on the RMS mission with Airbus.

“Many of Australia’s leading universities are also on the team which is fantastic.

“The inclusion of commercial Australian space industry partners and local academia is a great decision by the Australian Defence Force. Fostering strategic partnerships around national space defence will ensure Australia can look after its national interests in the space domain in the long term.”

The RMS mission’s university partners are the University of South Australia, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, and the University of NSW Canberra.

“We look forward to working with all partners on the success of the RMS mission,” Dr Tetlow said.

AAC Clyde Space has won a 584,000 euros order for Sirius computers and Starbuck power systems from OHB Sweden — the units will be part of the core avionics for a new InnoSat-class satellite.

The order is expected to be delivered in the middle of 2023.

The AAC Clyde Space’s Sirius computer and the Starbuck Mini power system were originally developed for the first InnoSat satellite, as part of a program financed by the Swedish National Space Agency. They are now used extensively in a variety of space missions, offering industry leading, robust performance for small and medium sized satellites.

“Sirius and Starbuck are increasingly popular as the standard for small satellite models, combining capability, quality, fast delivery and a very competitive price. We are delighted to see our products once again powering an InnoSat class satellite,” said AAC Clyde Space CEO, Luis Gomes.