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Archives for November 2022

Exobotics to build a smallsat for GenMat for mapping all of the Earth’s minerals

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Exobotics has won a multi-million-pound customer contract from advanced materials specialist Quantum Generative Materials (GenMat) to construct a high-precision, remote sensing, prospecting satellite.

Exobotics will design, manufacture, and test a cubesat platform with a hyperspectral imaging payload to allow GenMat to canvas the natural environment anywhere on the planet. The GenMat technology locates minerals in untapped locations which will play a critical role in creating a novel circular ecosystem of advanced materials, such as semiconductors. This will form the first of GenMat’s constellations, which they say could reach up to 600 satellites to cover every inch of the Earth.

The satellite will be capable of identifying rich areas of resources and mineralization zones in previously under-used locations. Research from the International Energy Agency estimates that China controls over 71 percent of the world’s extraction and 87 percent of the world’s processing capacity of rare earths. With this satellite, GenMat aim to begin boosting material detection and extraction in other regions of the world, supporting national and regional economies.

GenMat will apply their machine learning and AI algorithms to the space data collected by the satellite in order to provide customers in the mining and agricultural industries with high-precision prospecting information of a target site location for advanced materials.

The hyperspectral imager, produced by Simera Sense, will be capable of high-resolution imaging at less than 5 meters per pixel in the 450 to 900nm range, with a payload support system to enable imaging with high-speed radios in S- and X-bands. This technology will lay the groundwork for the quantum sensing space roadmap.

With the project underway, Exobotics will oversee the end-to-end production of the smallsat platform in their London engineering labs, which is set to launch later this year by SpaceX aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

Nadeem Gabbani, Founder of Exobotics, said, “We are delighted to be manufacturing GenMat’s high-precision prospecting satellite to help provide unique insights of advanced materials in the natural environment across the globe. Space data has a variety of under-explored applications which can greatly benefit industries such as mining, and we are excited to break down the barriers to entry to space for our customers in order to help them launch innovative solutions to macro issues. A key barrier for businesses outside of the industry is the length of time required to get into space. This project is being carried out through our fast-track program which will help GenMat to go from concept to launch in under 12 months, providing fast access to space.”

Deep Prasad, Founder & CEO of GenMat, said, “GenMat is developing products that are vitally important for creating sustainable technology infrastructures, both on Earth, and in Space Exploration. While we are building an AI that informs the production of advanced materials such as semiconductors, we also believe in the significance that our sensors play for the next generation of advancements in the agricultural, mining and defence sectors.”

Benchmark Space Systems grows nearly tripling their team and expanding production to meet propulsion system demand

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With its Halcyon propulsion systems playing pivotal roles in key military and commercial space missions this year, Benchmark Space Systems announced it has tripled its team from 30 to 83 and boosted its 5-year production capacity to one-thousand engines — all in the last twelve months to meet rapidly rising demand for its mission-proven thrusters.

Benchmark has booked more than 250 engine orders, with the majority of those systems being built and tested at the company’s headquarters facility in Burlington, Vermont, where the firm’s wave of recent hires includes new key executives, Wesley Grove, Senior Operations Manager and Matt Bradley, Vice President of Finance. Benchmark also appointed Kent Frankovich as Vice President of Electric Propulsion, who will be based at Benchmark’s pre-delivery system test center in Pleasanton, California.

Benchmark has expanded its Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) software engineering team to further develop its SmartAIM™ GNC for unprecedented operational versatility aboard cubesats, microsats and ESPAs powered by its Halcyon chemical and new Xantus electric metal plasma thruster (MPT) propulsion systems ‚ as well as complementary thrusters and positioning subsystems.

Benchmark also announced it is ready to initiate propulsion system production at its new UK manufacturing and test facility at the Westcott Innovation Centre Northwest of London in Aylesbury, England. A collaboration with UK-based Satellite Applications Catapult enabled Benchmark to accelerate the build out of its European assembly and clean room operations in less than six months.

The first propulsion engines to roll off Benchmark’s new UK production line will be Halcyon Avant bipropellant systems destined for Space Forge satellites, which are designed to return products made in space back to Earth. While the down mass re-entry market attracts much skepticism and scrutiny, it is a key aspect of the in-space market, proven and practiced for years by SpaceX. 

“The space market has seen our performance on orbit, and our breakthrough chemical, electric, and hybrid propulsion systems, and has responded with major engine orders we will deliver over the coming months. We have quickly emerged as the company that empowers leading satellite manufacturers and operators by unleashing the full potential of their missions with the best in-space mobility solutions,” said Ryan McDevitt, Benchmark Space Systems CEO. “Benchmark continues to grow exponentially, nearly tripling the size of our team this year alone and expanding our five-year production capacity to one-thousand engines in the U.S. and the UK. Benchmark is inking major contracts to enable mission-critical government and commercial space programs, and we have the people and infrastructure in place to deliver on the exciting demand.”

“Benchmark’s UK expansion is an important piece of our global strategy, as we are now very well positioned to meet the specific needs of the European space market with tailored chemical, electric and hybrid propulsion solutions,” according to Mark Arthur, Benchmark’s Director of European Operations.  “Our alignment with S.A.  Catapult has allowed Benchmark to stand up our UK manufacturing and testing capabilities in record time at the Westcott Innovation Centre, with access to specialized capital equipment available on campus. We expect to conduct our first hot fire testing early next year, and we will be exchanging ideas, capabilities and technologies across our teams in the UK, Vermont and California to solve key challenges for customers and partners around the world — from in-space manufacturing to space debris and collision avoidance.”

“We are thrilled to see our facilities at the Westcott Innovation Center play a role in Benchmark’s ability to accelerate the production and testing of propulsion systems customized to the requirements of UK and European space demands,” said Sam Adlen, Chief Strategy Officer for Satellite Applications Catapult. “Benchmark brings incredibly innovative propulsion systems and technologies to the region and is on the verge of rolling its first tailored offerings off its Westcott assembly line.”

Morpheus Space and Kayhan Space’s first all-in-one collision avoidance system for satellite operators

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Kayhan Space and Morpheus Space, both companies dedicated to enabling the accessibility and sustainability of space, announced a strategic partnership to offer satellite operators and missions a breakthrough one-click mobility-as-a-service collision avoidance solution. 

The new pay-as-you-go Morpheus Space propulsion service provides in-space mobility on demand, complete with built-in Kayhan Space Pathfinder™ spaceflight safety capabilities that deliver real-time conjunction alerts to satellite operators who can instantly review options for collision avoidance and other on-orbit maneuvers. 

Morpheus’ intelligent mobility offering is designed to provide satellite and mission operators with peace of mind and the ability to focus on their missions, confident that optimal options for preemptive collision avoidance and on-orbit maneuver options will be delivered in real-time. Operators can use a seamless interface to make purchases of Delta-V fuel and complete Kayhan-recommended collision avoidance, orbit-raising, or station-keeping maneuvers without the upfront costs of the propulsion system hardware aboard the satellite. 

 “Morpheus Space has developed an affordable and accessible full-stack mobility solution that makes satellites more agile, intelligent and safe with Kayhan’s Pathfinder spaceflight safety software seamlessly integrated with our in-space mobility systems,” said Daniel Bock, Morpheus CEO. “The core focus of our partnership with Kayhan Space is lowering the risk and cost barriers to safe space operations by making smart maneuverability and collision avoidance capabilities simple and seamless to use as part of our on-demand and subscription-based mobility solutions.” 

“This milestone partnership between Kayhan Space and Morpheus Space is all about making spaceflight and satellite operations safer by providing operators with powerful, proactive, and preemptive propulsion solutions that enable precise pay-as-you-go maneuverability in increasingly busy orbits,” said Araz Feyzi, Kayhan Space Co-Founder and CTO. “The integration of Kayhan’s Pathfinder Pro spaceflight safety platform with the Morpheus mobility-as-a-service allows us to accelerate our ability to make these powerful and intelligent in-space mobility capabilities available to everyone in space. This collaborative solution is in direct response to requests from leading satellite operators, who will be among the first to contract for safe in-space mobility.”

Typically, satellite manufacturers have had to invest significant upfront costs to purchase propulsion systems to power and maneuver their mission payloads into optimal orbit and around potential collision threats from other spacecraft or orbital debris. The new Morpheus offering, featuring leading collision avoidance capabilities, allows operators to avoid capital costs and collision threats in space.

Some of the largest operators in LEO have played an integral role in the development of the intelligent propulsion offering and plan to deploy aboard satellite missions beginning in early 2023.

MMA Design’s HaWK solar arrays to empower NASA’s SunRISE Mission

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The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) unveiled the first of a fleet of smallsats in Logan, Utah, earlier this year in support of NASA’s Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission — the mission will be powered by MMA Design’s HaWK™ Solar Arrays. NASA selected SunRISE for development in 2020 as part of its Heliophysics Explorer program that aims to study space weather.

MMA completed the design, manufacture, test and delivery of 12 HaWK Solar Array wings to SDL that will power SunRISE’s 6U smallsat fleet. Each spacecraft is comprised of two wings that, combined, generate approximately 42 Watts of power.

MMA’s HaWK solar arrays are known for their packaging metrics, reliability and heritage in powering multiple civil, DoD and commercial missions. NASA will launch the fleet in mid-2024 for operation in a geostationary orbit.

The six 6U smallsats will operate independently but will fly together in a fleet and act as a single, virtual, large-aperture, radio antenna, using a technique known as interferometry. The mission aims to observe low radio frequency emissions in order for scientists to better understand how the Sun is able to generate intense space weather storms – known as solar particle storms – that can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts.

This research will help scientists forecast space weather, improve what we know of how our Sun works and may apply to studies of other stars – particularly those with planets.

SunRISE is a Mission of Opportunity under the Heliophysics Division of NASA’s Explorers Program Office, which is part of the agency’s Explorers Program, the oldest, continuous, NASA program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space using principal, investigator-led, space science investigations relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s (SMD) astrophysics and heliophysics programs.

The program is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for SMD and by JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California — the mission is led by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

MMA Design is headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, where the firm’s creative and agile team is creating innovative, ingeniously packaged, disruptive, deployable solutions that are revolutionizing the industry. From R+D to Flight, the company thinks out of the box to put more into the box for your Space mission.

Ubotica + Open Cosmos agree to launch the CogniSat-6 smallsat

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Ubotica Technologies™ and Open Cosmos have signed an agreement to deliver CogniSat-6, the first AI-centric cubesat mission to include autonomous capabilities. As part of the agreement, CogniSat-6 will carry the flight proven (TRL-9) CogniSat™ edge computing platform to LEO and will provide reactive retargeting to optimize image gathering on specific areas of interest identified on-orbit without requiring any intervention from ground stations. This allows faster response times for satellite tip and cue operations resulting in higher value data gathering which significantly accelerates the mission return on investment (ROI).

Open Cosmos’ DataCosmos is a multi-satellite data platform that simplifies image discovery and tasking, provides advanced visualization tools, and allows professional usage of data through a network of associated application providers and a public APIs
Flight proven and power efficient edge computing platform solution for AI on satellites.

Additionally, the mission will be used to execute a wide selection of CogniSat applications. These applications enhance the value of imagery available for analysis through smart AI-enabled compression techniques. This results in a six-fold increase in the usable data received by the ground station when compared with the transmission of uncompressed images and a two-fold increase when compared with the use of standard compression approaches.

Announcing the agreement, Fintan Buckley, Co-Founder and CEO of Ubotica Technologies, said, “CogniSat-6 builds on the solid foundation of flight proven Ubotica technology to deliver the first AI-centric cubesat mission with autonomous capabilities. CogniSat-6 also uses CogniSat on-board edge computing to realize considerable system savings. For example, applications running on CogniSat-6will increase the system value by expanding system data throughput and cutting downlink costs. Satellite System Designers are already telling us that it is a compelling proposition.”

This mission will be joining the OpenConstellation project: a global, shared satellite infrastructure built and managed by Open Cosmos to enable anyone to access satellite data to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy and natural resources. The OpenConstellation enables business, organisations, national and regional governments to participate and access insightful, actionable data from space for the first time while keeping high levels of governance and security.

Commenting on the agreement Rafel Jorda Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, said, “We are delighted to announce Ubotica as the first edge computing and AI partner for the OpenConstellation. The OpenConstellation is attracting both private and public partners willing to share infrastructure with the aim to make data and information available to everyone. CogniSat-6 addresses real needs we see from customers and will enable OpenConstellation users to implement comprehensive AI-enabled system developments.”

Ubotica is currently hiring for specific roles to support the company’s planned growth. Details are available at this direct infolink…

NASA awards commercial smallsat data acquisition agreement to GeoOptics

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NASA has selected GeoOptics Inc. of Pasadena, California, to provide commercial small constellation satellite data products that may augment NASA-collected data in the future. This is a fixed-price, blanket purchase agreement and each call issued is not to exceed $7 million over a five-year period.

The work will be performed at the contractor’s facilities in Pasadena and other locations as specified in individual calls issued. The period of performance expires five years from the effective date of the agreement, Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Under this agreement, GeoOptics shall be responsible for delivery of a comprehensive catalog of its commercial Earth Observation (EO) data, High Resolution Radio Occultation Commercial Earth Observation Data products indicating at a minimum: the data sets, associated metadata and ancillary information; data cadence; data latency; area coverage; and data usage policy.

NASA will assess and evaluate these small constellation satellite data products with the purpose of augmenting and/or complementing NASA-collected data in the future.

To facilitate standard scientific collaborations, NASA requires End User License Agreements to enable broad levels of dissemination and shareability of the commercial data with the U.S. government agencies and partners.

NASA awards commercial smallsat data acquisition agreement to GeoOptics

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NASA has selected GeoOptics Inc. of Pasadena, California, to provide commercial small constellation satellite data products that may augment NASA-collected data in the future. This is a fixed-price, blanket purchase agreement and each call issued is not to exceed $7 million over a five-year period.

The work will be performed at the contractor’s facilities in Pasadena and other locations as specified in individual calls issued. The period of performance expires five years from the effective date of the agreement, Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Under this agreement, GeoOptics shall be responsible for delivery of a comprehensive catalog of its commercial Earth Observation (EO) data, High Resolution Radio Occultation Commercial Earth Observation Data products indicating at a minimum: the data sets, associated metadata and ancillary information; data cadence; data latency; area coverage; and data usage policy.

NASA will assess and evaluate these small constellation satellite data products with the purpose of augmenting and/or complementing NASA-collected data in the future.

To facilitate standard scientific collaborations, NASA requires End User License Agreements to enable broad levels of dissemination and shareability of the commercial data with the U.S. government agencies and partners.

Ubotica + Open Cosmos agree to launch the CogniSat-6 smallsat

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Ubotica Technologies™ and Open Cosmos have signed an agreement to deliver CogniSat-6, the first AI-centric cubesat mission to include autonomous capabilities. As part of the agreement, CogniSat-6 will carry the flight proven (TRL-9) CogniSat™ edge computing platform to LEO and will provide reactive retargeting to optimize image gathering on specific areas of interest identified on-orbit without requiring any intervention from ground stations. This allows faster response times for satellite tip and cue operations resulting in higher value data gathering which significantly accelerates the mission return on investment (ROI).

Open Cosmos’ DataCosmos is a multi-satellite data platform that simplifies image discovery and tasking, provides advanced visualization tools, and allows professional usage of data through a network of associated application providers and a public APIs
Flight proven and power efficient edge computing platform solution for AI on satellites.

Additionally, the mission will be used to execute a wide selection of CogniSat applications. These applications enhance the value of imagery available for analysis through smart AI-enabled compression techniques. This results in a six-fold increase in the usable data received by the ground station when compared with the transmission of uncompressed images and a two-fold increase when compared with the use of standard compression approaches.

Announcing the agreement, Fintan Buckley, Co-Founder and CEO of Ubotica Technologies, said, “CogniSat-6 builds on the solid foundation of flight proven Ubotica technology to deliver the first AI-centric cubesat mission with autonomous capabilities. CogniSat-6 also uses CogniSat on-board edge computing to realize considerable system savings. For example, applications running on CogniSat-6 will increase the system value by expanding system data throughput and cutting downlink costs. Satellite System Designers are already telling us that it is a compelling proposition.”

This mission will be joining the OpenConstellation project: a global, shared satellite infrastructure built and managed by Open Cosmos to enable anyone to access satellite data to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy and natural resources. The OpenConstellation enables business, organisations, national and regional governments to participate and access insightful, actionable data from space for the first time while keeping high levels of governance and security.

Commenting on the agreement Rafel Jorda Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, said, “We are delighted to announce Ubotica as the first edge computing and AI partner for the OpenConstellation. The OpenConstellation is attracting both private and public partners willing to share infrastructure with the aim to make data and information available to everyone. CogniSat-6 addresses real needs we see from customers and will enable OpenConstellation users to implement comprehensive AI-enabled system developments.”

Ubotica is currently hiring for specific roles to support the company’s planned growth. Details are available at this direct infolink…

Space Flight Laboratory awarded HawkEye 360 contract for RF Geolocation smallsat builds

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Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has been contracted to support development of Clusters 7 through 11 in the HawkEye 360 radio frequency (RF) geolocation smallsat constellation.

Created with New Space companies in mind, the SFL Flex Production program gives customers the option of contracting SFL to completely develop the first satellite, or satellite cluster, in a smallsat constellation at its Toronto facility. SFL then assists the customer in setting up subsequent mass production at their own site or another site. However, development can shift back to SFL when a new spacecraft design or technology update is needed.

“Flex Production offers NewSpace companies the best of two worlds – they can leverage SFL’s Microspace expertise while satisfying the financial requirements of the NewSpace business model,” said SFL Director, Dr. Robert E. Zee. “New Space companies can mass produce satellites in-house at a price point that works for them.”

Designing new satellites and upgrading technologies require workflows and personnel that are often different from the processes related to production of duplicate follow-on spacecraft, Zee explained. Progressive development of smaller satellite technology is the strength of microspace businesses such as SFL.

Under the Flex Production program, SFL offers customers a variety of options as to the level of production they want to bring in-house. For customers without their own production capabilities, SFL continues to maintain the capacity to develop complete smallsat, microsatellite, nanosatellite, and cubesat missions in Toronto. SFL also has third-party partnerships to mass produce satellites at another facility when high volume and/or rapid cadence is required.

The HawkEye 360 Constellation detects and geolocates RF signals for maritime situational awareness, emergency response, national security, and spectrum analysis applications. Each new cluster expands HawkEye 360’s global revisit and collection capacity.

Artistic rendition of a HawkEye 360 smallsat on orbit, courtesy of the company.

SFL developed the three-satellite Pathfinder Cluster on its 15 kg. NEMO bus and then built Clusters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 on its space-proven 30-kg DEFIANT microsatellite bus. The first five clusters are now operating successfully in orbit with Cluster 6 expected to launch on Rocket Lab’s inaugural Electron mission from Wallops Island, Virginia, as early as December 2022.

Photo of SFL’s NEMO bus, courtesy of SFL.

SFL has been selected for the HawkEye 360 missions due to the importance of formation flying by multiple satellites for successful RF geolocation. SFL is the acknowledged leader in developing and implementing high-performance attitude control systems that make it possible for relatively low-cost nanosatellites and microsatellites to fly in stable formations while in orbit.

SFL is a unique microspace provider that offers a complete suite of nano-, micro- and small satellites – including high-performance, low-cost cubesats – that satisfy the needs of a broad range of mission types from 3 to 500 kilograms. Dating from 1998, SFL’s heritage includes 61 operational successes and 30 currently under construction or awaiting launch. These missions relate to Earth Observation (EO), atmospheric monitoring, ship tracking, communication, radio frequency (RF) geolocation, technology demonstration, space astronomy, solar physics, space plasma, and other scientific research.

In its 24-year history, SFL has developed all forms of smallsats, such as cubesats, nanosatellites and microsatellites that have achieved more than 215 cumulative years of operation in orbit. These microspace missions have included SFL’s trusted attitude control and, in some cases, formation-flying capabilities. Other core SFL-developed components include modular (scalable) power systems, onboard radios, flight computers, and control software.

SFL generates bigger returns from smaller, lower cost satellites. Small satellites built by SFL consistently push the performance envelope and disrupt the traditional cost paradigm. Satellites are built with advanced power systems, stringent attitude control and high-volume data capacity that are striking relative to the budget. SFL arranges launches globally and maintains a mission control center accessing ground stations worldwide. The pioneering and barrier-breaking work of SFL is a key enabler to tomorrow’s cost-aggressive satellites and constellations.

Argotec’s ArgoMoon smallsat ready for deployment with the launch of the Artemis 1 mission on November 14th

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ArgoMoon, the smallsat developed by Argotec for the Italian Space Agency, is ready on the upper stage of NASA‘s Space Launch System (SLS).

In less than a week, ArgoMoon will be among the first satellites deployed in the Artemis 1 mission, the historic test flight of the Orion spacecraft built to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

Designed, developed and operated by Argotec, ArgoMoon is equipped with two cameras. One camera will take high-resolution photos of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, the Earth and the Moon to validate the stage’s progress. Images from a second camera will power ArgoMoon’s autonomous onboard navigation system.

Artistic rendition of Argotec’s ArgoMoon. Image is courtesy of the company.

ArgoMoon is a 6U satellite, built on Argotec’s highly reliable Hawk 6 platform. Its advanced technology and AI programming enable it to navigate and stabilize itself without human control.

ArgoMoon is similar to LICIACube, the smallsat that captured the impact of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe that successfully changed an asteroid’s trajectory. The more than 600 images captured by LICIACube of the impact have proven to be invaluable to the scientific community’s study of asteroids and planetary defence. However, while LICIACube had 15 days advance deployment before its fly-by, ArgoMoon will be deployed from the SLS four hours after take-off and its mission will start immediately.

Artemis I is the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft, and the ground systems at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is scheduled for launch on Monday, November 14th.

“ArgoMoon comes with high expectations, and it is one of the most difficult missions we have ever performed,” said David Avino, CEO and founder of Argotec. “With the remarkable performance of LICIACube capturing the DART mission, we are excited to again support NASA. We are proud to be the only European satellite on this extraordinary mission, which paves the way for humanity’s return to the Moon.”