Archives for August 2023

GomSpace and ESA have signed a Contract Change Notice (CCN) with a value of 1,500,000 euros (approx. SEK 18 million) — the Juventas CubeSat mission is led by GomSpace with support from a range of European subcontractors.

The amount for GomSpace in the CCN is provided to perform system level adaptations to increase the mission robustness. The Juventas spacecraft is expected to be delivered by the close of 2023 for integration and testing together with the HERA mothercraft.

Together, NASA’s DART and Hera missions, and the international research collaboration known as the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA), will demonstrate deflection technology that could be used to protect Earth from hazardous asteroids by shunting them off a collision course.

Juventas is a 6U smallsat containing a low frequency radar, named JuRa, as its primary payload

The smallsat will operate in close proximity to the Didymos asteroid system, focusing radar and radio-science experiments targeting the moon of the binary asteroid, named Dimorphos.

Juventas will complete its mission by attempting to land on the surface of Dimorphos, making measurements on the landing dynamics from likely bouncing events to capture details of the asteroids surface properties and end with measurements taken by a gravimeter payload to give insight to the dynamical properties of the asteroid.

MyRadar has been awarded a NOAA SBIR Phase II grant for its Orbital Wildfire Resilience (OWR) project. The grant award builds on the successful completion of the NOAA SBIR Phase I project.

This initiative aims to boost resilience against wildfires using MyRadar’s compact satellite technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and its widespread information distribution platform with the popular MyRadar app.

As a NOAA Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) Ambassador, MyRadar will further accelerate the R&D for advanced, space-based hardware and software to mitigate the impact of wildfires. Wildfires pose an increasing risk that challenges the resilience of the American public and economy, and often result in the tragic loss of human lives, as seen recently on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The R&D undertaken in the OWR project will bolster the availability of new hazard alert products for consumers, enterprise organizations and government institutions through the MyRadar app, made possible by the creation of satellite data products that address gaps in existing hazard detection. The alerting aspects, specifically, will help provide earlier and more timely warnings to help save lives.

The Phase II mission will be an orbital demo of multi-sensor data capture and downlink, AI-assisted alerting, and training dataset generation, and includes building and launching two pathfinder satellites that will represent the first two commercial satellites in the company’s HORIS (Hyperspectral Orbital Remote Imaging Spectrometer) constellation. The 1U smallsat flight models will collect orbital training data to refine the AI detection and alerting models.

The award highlights NOAA’s efforts to build public/private partnerships to encourage innovation in technological advancements that benefit the American public, and helps fuel a significant step in MyRadar’s ongoing R&D towards enhancing its alerting, forecasting, and satellite imagery capabilities. The full HORIS constellation will consist of 150 satellites that will orbit the planet and trigger low-latency alerts for wildfire mitigation, among a slew of other satellite-based products. All HORIS satellite data products and alerts will be available from within the MyRadar app and will offer global coverage.

“Phase II builds on the lab, field, and space testing the team has already completed, and the primary science mission will be to collect training data from low Earth orbit (LEO) for the larger constellation’s AI systems.” — Dr. Sarvesh Garimella, Chief Scientist and CTO and the mission’s principal investigator, MyRadar

UPDATE: SpaceX scrubs scheduled launch due to approaching Hurricane Hilary.

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, California — Despite the multiple launch options provided for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites, all of those options have been scrubbed ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Hilary.

Tropical Storm Hilary strengthened into a hurricane Thursday, with forecasters warning it could potentially bring devastating rainfall and high winds to Southern California this weekend.

“Hilary is forecast by AccuWeather’s hurricane experts to become a major (Category 3) hurricane and peak as a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale while spinning just off the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja peninsula this weekend.”

The last tropical storm to impact the state was 84 years ago, according to official records.

Under some forecast scenarios, Tropical Storm Hilary could bring a year’s worth of rain to typically dry locations in just two to three days, which would cause extensive flooding.

The NWS forecast office in Phoenix said the amount of atmospheric water vapor surging into the Southwest ahead of the storm may reach levels “almost never experienced this time of year.”

The National Hurricane Center said Hilary was about 475 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as of 5 p.m. Thursday ET, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. While Hilary is likely to weaken as it travels northward, it could bring heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, along with large swells and high surf along the coast.

When the launch takes place this is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff

PREVIOUSLY: SpaceX is targeting Thursday, August 17 at 1:42 a.m. PT (8:42 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

If needed, two additional opportunities are available at 2:33 a.m. PT (9:33 UTC) and 3:26 a.m. PT (10:26 UTC). Two backup opportunities are also currently available on Friday, August 18 at 12:30 a.m. (7:30 UTC) and 1:20 a.m. PT (8:20 UTC).

This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has signed a deal to launch an Earth Observation (EO) satellite on Electron for the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS), a Japan-based, Earth imaging company.

iQPS was originally manifested on another launch vehicle — iQPS has now selected Rocket Lab to launch QPS-SAR-5 on a dedicated Electron mission to expedite the deployment.

The launch is scheduled for lift-off in September 2023 and will carry iQPS’s QPS-SAR-5 satellite — named TSUKUYOMI-I — into orbit on a dedicated Electron mission from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The mission has been named “The Moon God Awakens” in acknowledgement of Tsukuyomi, the Japanese God of the Moon.

QPS-SAR-5 is a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite that will join a constellation after QPS-SAR-6 already on-orbit. iQPS’s satellites are small, high-performance SAR satellites that use a lightweight, large, stowable antenna to collect high resolution images of Earth, even through clouds and adverse weather conditions. Ultimately, the iQPS constellation is planned to have 36 satellites capable of monitoring specific fixed points on Earth every 10 minutes.

In addition to being launched by Electron, the QPS-SAR-5 satellite will use Rocket Lab’s Mark II Motorized Lightband (MLB) as its separation system, demonstrating the Company’s vertically integrated, space systems strategy.

“This is exactly the kind of mission Electron was designed for and has delivered on time and time again – a customer urgently seeking dedicated launch to a unique orbit on a rapid timeline. We’re delighted to deliver that capability to our new partners at iQPS and keep their mission on schedule. iQPS’ SAR technology can play a vital role in disaster prevention, marine monitoring, infrastructure management, agriculture, and more. The sooner their spacecraft is in orbit, the faster those capabilities can be delivered, so we’re grateful for the opportunity to make iQPS’ mission possible with a dependable launch service.” — Peter Beck, Founder and CEO, Rocket Lab

“We are very pleased to announce the new launch plan for QPS-SAR-5 following the successful QPS-SAR-6 launch in June, despite the delay due to status changes since our announcement of contract for QPS-SAR-5 in May last year. We highly appreciate Rocket Lab and our team for all their efforts in arranging this new launch contract as it is very meaningful for us to quickly deploy the satellites into orbit and build a 36-QPS-SAR constellation that will enable near real-time observation almost anywhere in the world, which we are aiming for. We believe that this collaboration with Rocket Lab for QPS-SAR-5 will evolve our SAR image data services and expand our business.” — Dr. Shunsuke Onishi, CEO, iQPS

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, August 17 at 1:42 a.m. PT (8:42 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

If needed, two additional opportunities are available at 2:33 a.m. PT (9:33 UTC) and 3:26 a.m. PT (10:26 UTC). Two backup opportunities are also currently available on Friday, August 18 at 12:30 a.m. (7:30 UTC) and 1:20 a.m. PT (8:20 UTC).

This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-1, Crew-2, SXM-8, CRS-23, IXPE, Transporter-4, Transporter-5, Globalstar FM15, ISI EROS C-3, and five Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which will be stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff

UPDATE: Another successful SpaceX launch of 22 Starlink satellites on Wednesday, August 16 Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:36 p.m. EDT. This was the Space Coast’s 42nd launch this year.

This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and four Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, the rocket’s 162-foot first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, that is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Previously: SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, August 16 at 1:42 a.m., ET, (08:42 UTC on August 17) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

If needed, four additional opportunities are available starting at 9:07 p.m. ET (1:07 UTC on August 17) until 12:00 a.m. ET on August 17 (4:00 UTC). Four backup opportunities are also currently available on Thursday, August 17 starting at 7:49 p.m. ET (23:49 UTC) until 11:11 p.m. ET (3:11 UTC on August 18).

This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Argotec has been honored for the reliability and technical excellence of the company’s LICIACube mission with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Small Satellite Mission of the Year award.

Announced annually at the AIAA and Utah State University Small Satellite Conference, this award recognizes missions that demonstrate a significant improvement in the capability of smallsats.

LICIACube, funded by the Italian Space Agency, was part of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, the first attempt to target, impact and move an asteroid in space, in September 2022. The smallsat was the only secondary mission aboard NASA DART and its objective was to document the impact between the DART probe and the asteroid Dimorphos. LICIACube is the first deep space smallsat to attempt such a mission.

Argotec’s Mission Control Center recorded LICIACube performing an asteroid fly-by at 4.35 miles per second, or more than 15,650 m.p.h., under fully autonomous navigation. The smallsat took 627 photos showing debris streaming from Dimorphos.

Argotec recently announced a multimillion-dollar investment to start operations and build a facility in Largo, Maryland. The AIAA award speaks to Argotec’s commitment and the results the company is already achieving in the U.S. market.

Furthermore, Argotec has begun construction on the firm’s new SpacePark in Turin, Italy, to be completed by early 2025. The new facility will include nearly 120,000 square feet of covered space for a highly automated production plant and more than 180,000 square feet of green space as part of Argotec’s commitment to sustainability.

“With LICIACube, we once again demonstrated the incredible performance and reliability of our platform. This award recognizes the hard work and technical expertise of the Argotec team. And we are excited for our continued work on projects and missions in LEO and deep space, especially as we expand our presence in the United States.” — David Avino, Argotec CEO and founder

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, August 16 at 1:42 a.m., ET, (08:42 UTC on August 17) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

If needed, four additional opportunities are available starting at 9:07 p.m. ET (1:07 UTC on August 17) until 12:00 a.m. ET on August 17 (4:00 UTC). Four backup opportunities are also currently available on Thursday, August 17 starting at 7:49 p.m. ET (23:49 UTC) until 11:11 p.m. ET (3:11 UTC on August 18).

This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, August 16 at 8:14 p.m. ET (00:14 UTC on August 17) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

If needed, four additional opportunities are available starting at 9:07 p.m. ET (1:07 UTC on August 17) until 12:00 a.m. ET on August 17 (4:00 UTC). Four backup opportunities are also currently available on Thursday, August 17 starting at 7:49 p.m. ET (23:49 UTC) until 11:11 p.m. ET (3:11 UTC on August 18).

This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

AST SpaceMobile is building what the company claims will be the “first and only” space-based cellular broadband network accessible directly by standard smart phones.

“AST SpaceMobile continues to make history. This quarter we achieved space-based 4G LTE cellular broadband capabilities to everyday smartphones, reaching speeds above 10 Mbps during BlueWalker 3 testing alongside AT&T, Vodafone and Nokia”, said Abel Avellan, Chairman/CEO of AST SpaceMobile, as the company reported their Q2 numbers. “We are now laser-focused on the manufacturing of our BlueBird satellites. The first five satellites are fully-funded with a planned launch in Q1 2024 as we target to offer initial commercial service in 2024.”

AST states the company has received “multiple offers” of outside investments.

“We are happy to announce the completion of a comprehensive financing package providing us up to $179 million of cash and liquidity”, said Sean Wallace, CFO/AST SpaceMobile. “This financing package is comprised of an up to $100 million Senior Secured Credit Facility and a $15 million Equipment-Backed Loan completed today, in addition to a $57 million previously announced common stock offering in June 2023 and $7 million raised under the ATM program during the second quarter of 2023.”

AST added that the firm has signed more than 40 Memorandums of Interest (MoI) and agreements with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and a potential 2.4 billion subscribers.

“As of June 30th 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $191.5 million. After June 30, 2023, added incremental cash and liquidity of up to $115 million from an up to $100 million Senior Secured Credit Facility with an initial gross draw of $48.5 million and a $15 million Equipment-Backed Loan,” said the company.