Archives for February 2023

On Sunday, February 12 at 12:10 a.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 55 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the company’s 209th overall mission and the 10th mission of this year.

This was the 12th launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, and now seven Starlink missions.

The 1st stage booster returned to Earth and successfully landed on the “A Shortfall of Gravitas” droneship, the 160th such landing for SpaceX.

MENUT – the first Earth Observation (EO) satellite built and launched by Open Cosmos – has returned its first images.

MENUT is a 6U EO smallsat that launched during SpaceX’s Transporter-6 mission in early January. The successful launch saw the satellite deployed from the Exolaunch deployer and the first signal was received a few hours later.

Over the past few weeks, the Open Cosmos team has been at work in the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) to ensure there was good communication and the satellite was stable in orbit before moving onto the commissioning phase, where each subsystem is tested to ensure standard functionality is operational. For the MENUT satellite, the subsystems need to integrate to perform complex actions, such as image acquisition, satellite pointing and data download.

MENUT is part of the OpenConstellation, 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 mutualised constellation. Subsequent Open Cosmos-built small satellites, contributed by leading space organisations in the UK, Spain and Portugal for OpenConstellation, are already being built and will be launched throughout 2023 and 2024.

The OpenConstellation satellites will make it easier for organizations to access satellite data to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy, natural resources and more without having to launch and manage their own satellite with Open Cosmos taking care of the whole end-to-end process.

Jordi Castellvi Esturi, Senior Mission Manager at Open Cosmos, said, “Although it is still early days for the MENUT satellite, the fact that we have received the first clear image from the onboard camera is fantastic validation, not only of this mission but also the ability of Open Cosmos to be able to provide Earth Observation imagery. The whole team has worked incredibly hard over the past months to ensure this project is successful and it’s a very exciting moment for us to see these images. We will now continue to work closely with the customer on the rest of the commissioning phase and will provide a full update on mission success in March.”

ISRO‘s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) successfully launched three satellites into their intended orbits.

This was the rocket’s second developmental flight and the SSLV-D2 vehicle placed EOS-07, Janus-1 and AzaadiSAT-2 satellites into their intended 450 km circular orbit with an inclination of 37 degrees. SSLV-D2 took-off from the first launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, and required about 15 minutes to inject the satellites.

SSLV is the new smallsat launch vehicle developed by ISRO to cater the launch of small satellites up to 500 kg to LEO on ‘launch-on-demand’ basis. The rocket is configured with three solid stages 87 t, 7.7 t and 4.5 t, respectively.

SSLV is a 34 m tall, 2 m diameter vehicle, having a lift-off mass of 120 t. A liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) achieves desired velocity for the insertion of the satellites into the intended orbit.

SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) to a 500 km orbit. It provides low-cost access to Space, offers low turn-around time, facilitates flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites and demands minimal launch infrastructure.

In its first developmental flight on August 7, 2022, SSLV-D1 marginally missed placing its satellites payload. SSLV-D2 implemented the recommendations made by the expert committee that analyzed the shortcomings of that SSLV-D1 flight.

SSLV-D2 carried EOS-07, a 153.6 kg EO satellite realised by ISRO; Janus-1, a technology demo satellite weighing 10.2 kg belonging to ANTARIS, USA; and AzaadiSAT-2, a 8.8 kg satellite realized by Space Kidz India by integrating various scientific payloads that were developed by 750 female students across India.

With this successful launch, India now has a launch vehicle that will support smallsat launches.

Spanish startup FOSSA Systems (“FOSSA”), a Spanish company that offers global low-power Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and in-space services through its satellite constellation, has signed a contract with Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS), a U.S. commercial space company that offers transportation and other in-space infrastructure services, to place its latest generation of satellites, FOSSASat FEROX, into low-Earth orbit on two Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle missions starting in 2023.

The first group of FOSSA’s next-generation satellites is slated to launch aboard a Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle on the SpaceX Transporter-8 mission no earlier than June 2023. This mission will demonstrate the satellites’ new design features and act as a demonstration for a second batch of satellites expected to launch onboard a follow-on Vigoride vehicle on a later SpaceX Transporter mission, kicking off the deployment of a new constellation of FOSSA satellites.

“This new generation satellites provides unprecedented capabilities comparable to that of 6 – 12U satellites in a fraction of the size, mass, and cost. FOSSA Systems already has a constellation of 13 picosatellites in orbit, but this next-generation will allow us to deliver higher capacity services in a commercial manner for a wider range of applications, supporting IoT and other space-related services in areas such as communications or remote sensing”, said FOSSA Chief Executive Officer Julián Fernández.

“We are happy to reaffirm our trust in Momentus as we look at our launch plans for our initially 80-satellite constellation to support SaaS and dedicated satellite customers in sectors such as Maritime, Logistics, Infrastructure, Utilities or National Security”, added Fernández.

“FOSSA Systems flew with us on our inaugural mission that launched in May 2022. We’re pleased to have earned their trust in selecting us as their space transportation provider for their new satellites, and we look forward to building a long-term partnership toward our first large-scale constellation deployment”, said Momentus Chief Executive Officer John Rood. “FOSSA is on a mission to provide the next generation of IoT connectivity and technologies. We’re proud that our services are integral to achieving their disruptive vision.”

Founded in 2020 by Julián Fernández (CEO) and Vicente González (CTO), FOSSA Systems is the Spanish company with the largest satellite constellation (13) to provide global IoT connectivity and is developing several pilot programs with leading companies in their sectors, both Spanish and international, to optimize resources and improve production with different industrial applications for sectors such as Logistics, Maritime, Agriculture or National Security.

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) has awarded Blue Origin’s New Glenn the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) contract.

ESCAPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program; it is a dual spacecraft mission to study Mars’ magnetosphere.

ESCAPADE is a twin-spacecraft, Class D mission that will study solar wind energy transfer through Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere. Providing launch service for ESCAPADE is a task order under NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract.

Blue Origin was on-ramped to the NASA VADR launch services IDIQ contract on January 26, 2022, with a five-year period of performance.

“ESCAPADE follows a long tradition of NASA Mars science and exploration missions, and we’re thrilled NASA’s Launch Services Program has selected New Glenn to launch the instruments that will study Mars’ magnetosphere,” said Jarrett Jones, senior vice president, New Glenn, Blue Origin.

Satellite production will be doubled with Kongsberg NanoAvionics‘ (NanoAvionics), the small satellite mission integrator and bus manufacturer, as they open their manufacturing, assembly, integration, and testing (MAIT) facility in Vilnius, Lithuania.

After a gradual occupancy the facility is now fully operational and an expansion to the company’s existing facilities in Lithuania (HQ), the UK and the USA. In addition to the production scale-up, the facility provides additional workspace and supports NanoAvionics’s plan of growing its global number of 250 employees and hiring more than 100 people across all of its offices this year alone.

The expansion of its production capabilities enables NanoAvionics to meet the demands for satellite constellations and larger satellites by commercial, civil, and governmental organizations. Putting all the required production, testing and mission operations infrastructure under one roof enables the company to further streamline its processes. In addition to manufacturing its 6U, 12U, 16U nanosatellite buses and its ESPA-class microsatellite bus range of up to 220kg in weight, it is also the company’s prime location for developing new products. Other business divisions such as administration, business development and operations remain located next door at the company’s headquarters.

Vytenis J. Buzas, founder and CEO of NanoAvionics said, “Our investment decisions to scale up the business, such as this facility is a result of the continued company growth and customer demand over the last years. It is in line with our goal to become the prime supplier for small satellite constellations. Our philosophy is to grow alongside the space market’s maturity and with our customers, and enter new phases in their constellation development by having plans in place that allow us to increase our capacity. 

“The expansion puts the NanoAvionics into a position to develop new and further high-quality and cost-efficient propositions across the entire value chain for smallsat constellations. Following this trajectory, the site gives us the potential to expand it to 2,000 square meters.”

Erected next door to its headquarters, and covering 1,230 square meters, the MAIT facility, includes mechanical laboratories, thermal vacuum chambers, thermal bake-out chambers to software development and vibration test equipment. The building also houses NanoAvionics’s constellation operations center that controls and manages its customers satellite operations.

“The facility was built on the knowledge and experience gained through manufacturing nearly 2,000 subsystems, including payload controllers, flight computers, electrical power systems (EPS), reaction wheels, battery packs and other critical spacecraft components for more than 120 satellite missions globally. Situated in a district famous for its cluster of technological companies and science institutions, the location is also ideal to attract great talent,” Buzas said.

The Mechanical Assembly for Reflectarray Antennas of SmallSats (MARAS) project, funded through ESA ARTES 4.0, will enable small telecommunications satellites to take their antenna capabilities to the next level with a multi-panel, Ka-Band reflect array antenna developed by DCUBED (Deployables Cubed GmbH), Celestial Space Technologies GmbH, German Orbital Systems GmbH and Blackwave GmbH.

The satellite communications market is growing rapidly and represents an essential part of the global satellite industry. Through the ARTES (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems) Program, ESA supports the development of new satellite telecommunication technologies to keep the European industry at the leading edge of the market.

One of the critical parts of this support is to ensure the development of satellite telecommunications products compatible with the trends in satellites. With the ARTES activity Deployable Mechanisms for Multi Flat-Panel Reflectarray Antennas for Small Satellites, ESA has the goal of enabling small telecommunications satellite to carry deployable reflect arrays with large surface areas and so, increasing their antenna gain. ESA has selected DCUBED to carry out this activity with their project MARAS.

Within the scope of MARAS, DCUBED is leading the design, manufacturing and testing of the mechanisms to support a multi-panel Ka-Band reflect array antenna for a 12U CubeSat. The mechanical assembly consists of panels with high-precision hinges that form a planar structure when deployed, the Hold Down and Release Mechanism (HDRM) that supports the stowed reflectarray during launch, as well as any mechanisms required for its packaging and deployment.

The project covers the initial concept definition, analyses, and breadboarding activities, up to the design and fabrication of a mechanical engineering model that will undergo environmental testing and functional testing in representative conditions. These activities will bring the subsystem from TRL 3 to TRL 6.

The consortium of four companies is combining the expertise of different disciplines necessary to deliver MARAS. Celestial Space Technologies GmbH provides the telecommunications know-how, while Blackwave GmbH is supporting the team with their competence in structures and German Orbital Systems GmbH with their expertise on satellite missions. DcubeD is leading the consortium and bringing in the experience in deployable structures and mechanisms.

“We are very excited that the European Space Agency (ESA) rated our proposal on the Mechanical Assembly for Reflectarray Antennas of SmallSats project (in short MARAS) as the best in Europe. This development of flat panels joined by high precision hinges all folded in a tight volume fits in perfectly in our roadmap of becoming the go-to partner for all kinds of SmallSat mechanisms (release mechanisms and deployables),” said Thomas Sinn, CEO of DCUBED.

DCUBED located in Germering (Bavaria, Germany) will help you think outside the box with COTS release actuators and COTS deployables that are specifically designed for SmallSat applications. DCUBED’s pin puller and release nut actuators are space-proven, readily available, easy to use, and small in size. The DCUBED SmallSat deployables (Space Selfie Stick, 100W 1U solar array and deployable radiator) tackle the needs of new space customers by maximizing performance in space while remaining efficiently packed in a standardized volume for launch.

AAC Clyde Space has won a USD 0.59 M (approx. SEK 6.1 M) order for reaction wheels to be used on a number of small satellites. The order comes from a US blue chip company.

The order includes engineering and flight models and qualification testing of reaction wheels, an instrument used primarily for three-axis attitude control of spacecraft. The instrument provides high pointing accuracy and is used to rotate spacecraft to keep payloads in correct angle.

AAC Clyde Space expects to have completed delivery of the order during the fourth quarter 2023.

“That we have been selected for this order illustrates our strong position in attitude control, a field that has become key to broaden the applications for small satellites,” says AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes.