Archives for January 2023

Certainly not a ‘moment to remember‘ debut for Virgin Orbit and Virgin Orbit National Systems, as the company’s initial, rideshare launch from the United Kingdom has been unsuccessful.

With Cosmic Girl taking off from Spaceport Cornwall, 25 minutes after the 10:01 p.m. lift off of the LauncherOne rocket carried beneath the customized 747 aircraft, an anomaly occurred and the mission had to be aborted, sending the rocket and the payload of nine satellites into the Earth’s atmosphere where they were destroyed.

The disappointment was quite evident for the thousands of spectators viewing the launch, all hoping for a victory for the UK as a nation vying for premiere launch status among the world’s space faring nations.

The Cosmic Girl 747 landed safely back at Spaceport Cornwall.

The comments from Virgin Orbit National Systems / Virgin Orbit close to a half-hour after claiming on-orbit victory was that an anomaly had actually occurred, one that had prevented the ascension to orbit of the rocket and satellites and the launch had failed to come to fruition.

Original news posting…

Partners for the United Kingdom’s first orbital launch announced that the initial window for the historic Start Me Up mission will officially open on Monday, January 9th at 22:16, UTC, with additional back-up dates continuing into mid- and late January — Start Me Up is a collaborative effort between the United Kingdom Space Agency (UKSA), Cornwall Council, the Royal Air Force (RAF St Mawgan), and Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB).

The Start Me Up mission will carry satellites from seven customers to space, including commercial and government payloads from several nations as well as a collaborative US-UK mission.

The LauncherOne system that will conduct the mission is now mated to its carrier aircraft, a Boeing 747 dubbed Cosmic Girl, at Spaceport Cornwall. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne system successfully completed an end-to-end launch rehearsal, taking the integrated system through to the loading of propellants and proceeding through terminal count, resulting in the verification of the health of the system and readiness of the team.

Given the number of “firsts” being executed for this launch – the first orbital launch from UK soil or from anywhere in western Europe — Virgin Orbit and its partners will maintain a conservative posture with regard to system health, weather and all other elements of scheduling.

Spaceport Cornwall received the United Kingdom’s first spaceport license from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in November of 2022. In late December of 2022, Virgin Orbit was issued first-of-their-kind launch and range control licenses, which ensured all regulatory, safety, and environmental requirements have been met. This week, the CAA announced that all of the satellites flying on this mission have received their licenses as well.

The forthcoming mission from Cornwall will contain many firsts: the first orbital launch from the United Kingdom, the first international launch for Virgin Orbit and the first commercial launch from western Europe.

Start Me Up will be the fifth consecutive Virgin Orbit launch to carry payloads for private companies and government agencies. All of the prior 33 satellites were carried by LauncherOne to their precise desired orbit, while demonstrating the ability to fly through and above inclement weather, integrate rapid-call up payloads, and reach a broader range of orbits than would be possible from a traditional ground-launch system.

The launch was acquired by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from Virgin Orbit National Systems, a Virgin Orbit U.S. subsidiary serving classified customers, as the first task order on NRO’s Streamlined Launch Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract, or “SLIC.”

The missions of the satellites span a wide range of activities aimed at improving life on Earth, including reducing the environmental impact of production; preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling, and terrorism; and a host of national security functions. The full Start Me Up manifest…

IOD-3 AMBER (aka IOD-3)
Developed by Satellite Applications Catapult (“SA Catapult”) and Horizon Technologies and built by AAC Clyde Space, all based in the U.K. IOD-3 Amber is expected to be the first of more than 20 Amber satellites to provide space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) data to users.

Prometheus-2
Two cubesats owned by the U.K. Ministry of Defense’s (MOD) Defense Science & Technology Laboratory Dstl. These satellites, co-funded with Airbus Defence and Space who are designing them jointly with In-Space Missions, will support MOD science and technology (S&T) activities both on-orbit and on the ground through the development of ground systems focused at Dstl’s site near Portsmouth.

CIRCE (Coordinated Ionospheric Reconstruction CubeSat Experiment)
CIRCE is part of a joint mission between the U.K.’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).

DOVER
Developed by RHEA Group in the UK, it is the company’s first satellite in its 30-year history. The satellite is being co-funded through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Navigation Program (NAVISP) and built by Open Cosmos of the United Kingdom. DOVER is a smallsat that was created as a pathfinder for resilient global navigation satellite systems.

ForgeStar-0
Developed by Space Forge of Wales, the satellite is a fully returnable and reusable platform to enable in-space manufacturing. This launch will be the first for the company’s ForgeStar platform and will test future returns from space technology.

AMAN
Oman’s first orbital mission, it is a single EO satellite meant to demonstrate the future feasibility of a larger constellation and was developed after a memorandum of understanding among the Sultanate of Oman, Polish Small Satellite manufacturer and operator SatRev, Poland-originated AI data analytics specialists

TUATARA, and Omani-based merging technology innovator ETCO.
The agreement includes additional planned small satellites, including this, the first in Oman’s history.

STORK-6
Stork-6 is the next installment of Polish Small Satellite manufacturer and operator SatRev’s STORK constellation. Virgin Orbit previously launched two spacecraft in this constellation on a previous launch and looks forward to continuing to launch SatRev’s STORK spacecraft in the future.

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rockets are designed and manufactured in Long Beach, California, and are air-launched from the wing of a converted Boeing 747-400 aircraft named Cosmic Girl. Virgin Orbit’s unique air-launch platform can take off from any runway long enough to handle a Boeing 747. Not reliant on traditional spaceports that support vertical launches, this capability creates a new level of mobility for satellite launch, thereby enabling sovereign launch capability in new markets.

Ian Annett, Deputy CEO at the UK Space Agency, said, “We are entering a new era for space in the UK with the first ever satellite launch from UK soil and from Europe. This is a significant landmark for the nation, the UK Space Agency and for all those who have worked so hard over many years to make our ambitions to create a commercial space launch capability a reality. The development of new orbital launch capabilities is already generating growth, catalysing investment and creating jobs in Cornwall and other communities across the United Kingdom. This will lead to new careers, improved productivity and inspire the next generation of space professionals, and this is just the beginning. I look forward to seeing more launches from other UK spaceports over the next year, putting us firmly on the map as Europe’s leading destination for commercial small satellite launch.”

Dan Hart, Virgin Orbit CEO, said, “After ensuring that every technical aspect is sound and every regulation and code has been satisfied, it is gratifying to see this historic endeavor on the verge of coming to fruition. This launch represents the opening of a new era in the British space industry and new partnerships across industry, government, and allies. Space is already responsible for tens of thousands of jobs across the UK, the global industry is growing quickly, and so is the potential. And this launch is demonstrating that with the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne system an airport can become a spaceport that sends humankind’s innovations on their journey.”

Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall, said, “This is a phenomenal moment with incredible international collaboration. Virgin Orbit, the UK Space Agency and all of our partners are breaking new ground to transform access to space across the world from right here in Cornwall. My team at Spaceport Cornwall have worked so hard to get this far and we wish everyone the best of luck as the launch window opens, we are ready.”

Tim Johnson, Director for Space Regulation at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said, “Effective licensing forms an integral part of UK space activity, and with public safety at the heart of our decision making, we’ve worked with Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall to assess their applications and issue licences within our expected timeframe, putting the UK framework on a competitive footing with international space regulators. With all licences in place, Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall are now in a position to deliver a historic first orbital launch from UK shores. We’re proud to be playing our part in facilitating the UK’s space ambitions and enable this country to become a leading launch nation.”

Kelpie-1, a 3U AAC Clyde Space EPIC nanosatellite, was successfully launched on the SpaceX Transporter-6 mission on January 3, 2023. Kelpie-1 will deliver AIS data to the U.S. company ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, under an exclusive Space Data as a Service (SDaaS) deal. It is planned to be followed by the launch of a second Kelpie satellite in the first half of 2023. 

The project will leverage a SDaaS model in which AAC Clyde Space owns and operates the satellites, which will deliver Automatic Identification System (AIS) data exclusively to ORBCOMM and its government and commercial customers, enabling ship tracking and other maritime navigational and safety efforts. This joint mission with ORBCOMM represents a major milestone for AAC Clyde Space in solidifying its strategic move to a SDaaS model. The project will start generating revenue to AAC Clyde Space once the satellite is deployed.

The satellite lifted off on the Falcon 9 rocket on January 3, 2023, at 9:56 local time (14:56 UTC) from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The satellite is housed inside the D-Orbit orbital transfer vehicle, In Orbit Now (ION), which successfully deployed after lift-off into a 525-kilometer Sun Synchronous Orbit. Using the ION, AAC Clyde Space will enhance the lifetime of its spacecraft, enabling the company to maximize revenue generation potential while minimizing the number of spacecrafts needed.  The Kelpie-1 satellite will remain in the dispenser for approximately 60 days during the orbit transfer process and will be deployed once reaching the final 640-kilometer orbit. 

The state-of-the-art AIS-enabled satellite, Kelpie-1, was designed for advanced communications and hosts cutting-edge, low-noise core avionics for reliable, high-performance space data handling, a versatile Software Defined Radio (SDR)-based receiver, as well as the company’s first payload development, which incorporates three dedicated AIS receivers. The CubeSat weighs just 4 kg and features a unique antenna concept to maximise detections of all AIS message types.

“We are delighted to confirm the successful launch of Kelpie-1, which was designed for AIS communications and utilizes built-in, precision-engineered avionics with decades of heritage from our widely used CubeSat subsystems. It is one of the most innovative satellites AAC Clyde Space has ever built. We look forward to delivering the space data set to enrich ORBCOMM’s global AIS data services,”says AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes. 

“The launch of the Kelpie-1 satellite brings us one step closer to providing our global customers enhanced AIS detections as well as the highest expected vessel detection rates in the industry over the long term,” says Greg Flessate, ORBCOMM’s SVP of Government and AIS. 

In addition to the two Kelpie satellites in this project, AAC Clyde Space owns and operates a constellation of four satellites dedicated to SDaaS through its U.S. subsidiary AAC SpaceQuest, planned to be expanded with a further two satellites in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, AAC Clyde Space has won a contract to deliver hyperspectral data from an additional three satellites, bringing the total number of satellites owned by the group for SDaaS purposes to eleven.

The two Kelpie satellites will join a satellite constellation dedicated to delivering AIS data used in maritime operations to support many applications, including domain awareness, search and rescue, environmental monitoring and maritime intelligence. ORBCOMM processes over 30 million AIS messages from more than 200,000 vessels per day for government and commercial customers to deliver a complete situational picture of global vessel activity.

Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics) has announced the successful launch of Europe‘s first solar sail mission aboard SpaceX Transporter-6 — the 6U smallsat, nicknamed ‘Alpha,’ was manufactured for France’s Gama and is one of four satellites that was guided into LEO.

This is the first time for NanoAvionics that one of its smallsat buses has carried a solar sail payload into space. A second solar sail mission, using a 12U smallsat bus by the company, will be NASA’s composite solar sail system (ACS3).

Also on board were two other 6U smallsat (‘Birkeland‘ and ‘Huygens‘) built by NanoAvionics for a consortium of Norwegian and Dutch research centers. The MilSpace2 mission is the first known, two-satellite system to detect, classify and accurately geolocate radio frequency (RF) signals. The two satellites will fly in formation at a close proximity of 20 kilometers.

The fourth satellite carries an Earth Observation (EO) payload for an undisclosed customer.

Confirming successful communications with all four satellites, NanoAvionics’s mission control center continues executing the early operations phase (LEOP) to configure and validate the satellites for their primary mission objectives.

Vytenis J. Buzas, co-founder and CEO of NanoAvionics, said, “Solar sails are one of the future propulsion methods for small satellites exploring deep space. Being the first European company to integrate solar sails into satellite buses and test them while in orbit puts us in a unique position within the space industry.

“With this first successful launch in 2023, NanoAvionics is off to a great start. We plan to deliver and launch more than 20 satellites to customers this year, up from 15 in 2022. This plan includes our first 100+ kg satellite based on our MP42 microsatellite bus,” Buzas said. “And for the third consecutive year, we nearly doubled both our revenue and our team size.”

Mission details for all Transporter-6 satellites built by NanoAvionics…

A 6U nanosatellite dubbed “Alpha” for French space startup Gama to demonstrate their commercial solar sail with a diameter of 73.3 square meters (789 square feet) – roughly the size of a racquetball court. Gama’s range of solar sails are aimed at commercial companies and research organizations alike, looking for a cost-effective and less complex setup and propulsion system to explore deep space through small satellites. Using smallsats propelled through space by solar sails would allow them to travel greater distances without storing large amount of fuel.

Two 6U satellites named “Birkeland” and “Huygens”. Flying in close formation, the two satellites are part of the “Strategic Mutual Assistance in Research and Technology” (SMART) Military Use of Space (MilSpace) Science & Technology cooperation is a bilateral agreement between the MoD of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and the MoD of the Kingdom of Norway. The project team, acting on behalf of the MoDs, consists of FFI from Norway and NLR and TNO from The Netherlands. It is the first known two-satellite system to detect, classify, and accurately geolocate Radio Frequency signals, including navigation radars used on ships, by combining the measurement angle of arrival (AoA) and time difference of arrival (TDOA). Simultaneous detection of pulsed radio signals by both satellites flying in tandem enables accurate geolocation during all weather conditions.

The “Strategic Mutual Assistance in Research and Technology” (SMART) Military Use of Space (MilSpace) Science & Technology cooperation is a bilateral agreement between the MoD of the Kingdom of The Netherlands and the MoD of the Kingdom of Norway. The project team, acting on behalf of the MoDs, consists of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). See also this link…

The fourth satellite carries an Earth observation payload for an undisclosed customer.

KBR has selected KSAT to provide all Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) SWFO Antenna Network (SAN) services. The KBR and KSAT team are developing a blended network including U.S. government ground station sites with KSAT-owned capabilities delivered as a service. 

Increased solar activity in recent weeks has provided opportunities for many in the Northern Hemisphere to view the aurora borealis at latitudes where it typically is not visible. Although a wonderful experience for many, not all solar activity may be as benign. Recognizing the potential threat solar storms can pose to radio communications and electronic equipment, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has implemented a program of space missions to monitor and provide early warning of potentially disruptive solar events. The next such mission, Space Weather Follow On (SWFO), is planned to launch mid-2020s to Earth-Sun Lagrange Point—1 (L1). From L1, the observatory will monitor solar activity.

SWFO requires a ground architecture unique for weather missions with always-on communications for resilient near-real-time delivery of mission data to NOAA scientists. U.S. government prime contractor KBR will deploy the SWFO Antenna Network to serve this purpose. As prime contractor and integrator, KBR selected Kongsberg Satellite Service KSAT, a leading ground station service provider, to implement a communication solution for the Europe-Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. The KBR and KSAT team are developing a blended network including U.S. government ground station sites with KSAT-owned capabilities delivered as a service.

KSAT has a long history of delivering robust space-ground communications for NOAA, global space agencies and commercial operators. The SWFO Antenna Network blended design of government- owned and KSAT-delivered commercial service solutions provides high value and technical capability. NOAA and SWFO will benefit from a lower-cost commercial solution, while maintaining high confidence in operational performance delivered through a contractually binding service level agreement.

“KSAT provides all Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) SWFO Antenna Network (SAN) services, including X-band telemetry in support of the space weather mission to ensure effective navigation and safety of SWFO-L1. KBR determined commercial services for OCONUS requirements provide greater flexibility at lower cost to the program,” said Monica DeShong, KBR SWFO SAN Program Manager.

The KSAT global ground station network is built to serve a range of mission needs. These full-motion tracking antennas deliver more than one million unique satellite communication contacts per year. Unique aspects of the SWFO mission, including its L1 orbit and long-duration contacts, require new interface developments and will lead to KSAT delivering more critical capabilities for deep space and lunar missions through their purpose-built lunar ground network.

“KSAT has a long history of excellence in providing high-value mission solutions for critical space programs,” said Amund Nylund, KSAT Chief Operation Officer. “SWFO requires a next-generation ground architecture with its always-on, low latency communications needs and L1 orbit. This is an exciting opportunity for us to realize capability beyond-geostationary orbit (GEO) with a purpose-built network. We are working collaboratively with KBR to provide efficient and reliable delivery of SWFO mission data.”

KSAT is a full-service ground communications provider with growing capabilities to serve a broad set of mission requirements. For missions operating in LEO through cis-Lunar space and beyond, KSAT provides communication solutions during every stage of a mission, from launch and early operations, through transit, lunar or Lagrange orbital insertion, lunar landing, and operations to Earth return and re-entry.

Two Norwegian-Dutch smallsats were successfully launched on January 3, 2023 — Birkeland and Huygens were placed into orbit by SpaceX via the Transporter-6 mission.

MilSpace2 is a cooperation project between the Netherlands Ministry of Defence, the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

Defence Vision 2035 states that space has become a crucial link in the information-driven operations of the armed forces. The defence organisation is very dependent on satellites, for example for navigation and communication systems.

This is the second time that the Netherlands Ministry of Defence has launched satellites and is, therefore, implementing Defence Vision 2035.

The satellites, each of which is not much larger than six, one-liter cartons of milk, each measuring approximately 30x20x10 cm, are named after Norwegian physicist Kristian Olaf Birkeland and the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.

Strategic mutual assistance in research and technology (SMART), military use of space (MilSpace) and cooperation in science and technology are elements of the bilateral agreement between the ministries of defence of the Netherlands and Norway.

The project team that is acting on behalf of the two ministries consists of the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI), the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO).

Open Cosmos launched their 6U MENUT EO smallsat aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-6 rideshare mission on January 3, 2023, with the launch planned and overseen by Exolaunch.

MENUT is part of the OpenCostellation, a global, shared, satellite infrastructure built and managed by Open Cosmos. Countries, institutions and companies are able to contribute their own satellites and create the world’s biggest mutualized constellation. Subsequent Open Cosmos-built smallsats, contributed by leading space organizations in the UK, Spain and Portugal for OpenConstellation, are already being built and will be launched throughout 2023 and 2024.

The OpenConstellation is designed to foster cooperation and drive participation from companies, nonprofits and national and regional governments that may not possess the resources to establish and maintain individual EO constellations. Data sharing and access is managed by Open Cosmos through its DataCosmos software data platform announced in 2022. DataCosmos can draw EO data from OpenConstellation’s satellites as well as from other satellites, drones and ground-based sensors.

MENUT was integrated into the launch vehicle and deployed into SSO by Exolaunch’s EXOpod Nova. The Nova smallsat deployer increases available side panel volume by a factor of four and increases available mass by 30 percent, enabling a wider and more powerful array of nanosatellite designs and use cases.

“We’re delighted to be launching MENUT,” said Aleix Megias, VP of Operations at Open Cosmos. “The project will enable national and regional governments, as well as organisations to access insightful and actionable data from space from a revolutionary shared space infrastructure model. This wouldn’t be possible without partners that share our mission to make space data and infrastructure more accessible and it was great to work closely with Exolaunch to launch MENUT.”

“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Open Cosmos for the first time, a rapidly rising star in both the UK and European space industries and the NewSpace industry at large,” said Jeanne Allarie, VP Launch at Exolaunch. “Open Cosmos’ goals and values are very much in line with Exolaunch’s: establishing sustainable and easily accessible infrastructure in orbit. This goal is in large part made possible by SpaceX and its ongoing Transporter rideshare missions.”

Unseenlabs successfully has launched their eighth satellite since 2019, one dedicated to the geolocation of vessels at sea from space.

BRO-8 was launched with Exolaunch as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-6 Mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Communication with the satellite was successfully established a few hours after launch.

The Unseenlabs constellation is designed to provide customers with reliable and frequent radio frequency data for rapid detection and monitoring of activities at sea, regardless of the time of day, or weather conditions. This capacity is ideally suited for applications such as national security, insurance and marine area protection.

To date, Unseenlabs has built and launched the largest fleet of independent satellites dedicated to the detection of radio frequency signals. The technology created by the company helps its customers to gain the most up-to-date analysis on maritime traffic for their area of interest.

During 2023, the French SME plans to expand the team based at its headquarters in Rennes, France. Additionally, the company plans to increase the number of spacecraft to reach a constellation of 20 to 25 independent satellites, dedicated to the geolocation of vessel at sea from space.

“The new satellites add essential capacities to the Unseenlabs constellation: it means more solutions and deeper analysis for our customers. If you need to know what is happening in your areas of interest, Unseenlabs provides you with an efficient solution for an exhaustive view of maritime traffic through maritime surveillance,” said Clément Galic, CEO and co-founder of Unseenlabs.

Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) has successfully deployed four satellites, launched with SpaceX at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as rideshare members of the Transporter-6 mission — each of the spacecraft have made contact with Satellogic’s ground station network and confirmed good health across all subsystems.

The SpaceX Transporter-6 mission delivered these four satellites to SSO. This deployment includes the “Albania-1” and “Albania-2” satellites that will support the Republic of Albania, pursuant to a recent, three year, constellation-as-a-service agreement entered into with Satellogic. The dedicated satellites will enable Albania to task and monitor its sovereign territory for a range of applications including agriculture management, border security, and environmental monitoring.

Three of the four launched spacecraft are updated Satellogic NewSat Mark IV-G models, each carrying an edge node, hosted payload.The fourth satellite is Satellogic’s next generation NewSat Mark V-B model, a more cost-effective spacecraft carrying a new iteration of a multispectral and hyperspectral camera that will unlock longer captures with higher resolution. In addition, this NewSat Mark V-B satellite features increased onboard storage and enhanced power, communications, propulsion, and navigation systems that expand the reliability and quality of Satellogic’s constellation.

As Satellogic confirmed in 2022, SpaceX continues to be the company’s preferred launch provider for rideshare missions for 2023 and beyond. The multiple launch agreement signed with SpaceX in Q2 2022 reserves launch capacity for Satellogic’s next 68 satellites. The cadence, cost and reliability provided by SpaceX aligns with the Company’s constellation roadmap and enables shorter periods between satellite development and deployment. Satellogic expects to launch up to 21 satellites to its constellation in 2023.

Satellogic is working toward building the unparalleled capability to capture the entire surface of the Earth in high-resolution on a daily basis and provide up to 40 revisits of points of interest per day for better decision-making at every level around the world.

“Beginning with our first mission in 2013, each launch has enabled us to expand and improve products and services for customers that are seeking efficient and affordable solutions to critical challenges,” said Matt Tirman, CCO of Satellogic. “This launch advances the technology and resources that are the hallmark of our constellation-as-a-service model to democratize access to low-orbit data for commercial organizations and governments around the world.”

Pale Blue will be providing a water vapor propulsion system (water engine) for Sony’s STAR SPHERE smallsat project.

The propulsion system will enter and maintain the orbit of the satellite, which will fly in LEO at an altitude of 500 km to 600 km and is expected to have a 2.5 year lifetime.

In recent years, environmental problems occurring on a global scale have become more serious — many countries around the world have declared themselves carbon neutral. An increasing number of companies are also working to reduce the environmental impact and handling costs by adopting green propellants in the space industry.

Pale Blue has tackled the environmental issues and growing demand by providing safe, sustainable and low-cost propulsion systems that use water as propellant. The Sony STAR SPHERE Project aims to create opportunities for people to nurture their thoughts on the global environment and social issues by freely observing the Earth from outer space.

The project’s smallsat was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 on January 3, 2023, as part of the Transporter-6 rideshare mission and marks Pale Blue’s first, on-orbit space demo of a water vapor propulsion system. Going forward, Pale Blue will advance science and technology through the safe, water-based propulsion system to create the nextgen of space mobility infrastructure.

“I am sure that STAR SPHERE, which enables everyone to discover perspectives from space and gain new inspiring experiences, is an unprecedented new use of space and a project with the potential to grow the space industry itself in a discontinuous manner,” said Jun Asakawa, CEO and Co-Founder of Pale Blue. “I am very pleased that our safe, sustainable and low-cost water thruster can contribute to this project, and we are committed to the development of the space industry.”