Archives for August 2023

Umbra has successfully produced a 16 cm. resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image — the highest-resolution commercial satellite image ever released. The company also announced that the company is now able to provide customers with the highest-quality data the firm’s satellites are capable of capturing — in all formats and resolutions, including complex data better than 25 cm., for the first time.

Umbra’s ability to expand its industry-leading, high-resolution data product offerings for commercial customers is a direct result of NOAA removing the temporary licensing conditions under which Umbra previously operated.

Umbra offers single-looked, spotlight mode at an unrivaled 25 and 35 cm. resolution, as well as 50 cm., 1 meter resolutions, and multi-looked spotlight modes, which features longer dwell times to reduce speckle and aid visual interpretation. All of Umbra’s spotlight products can be delivered with GEC, SICD, SIDD, and CPHD formats. Umbra data is also provided with a Creative Commons license, which means users can do anything they want with it, as long as they credit Umbra as the source.

Umbra also regularly captures and publicly shares high-resolution SAR data from diverse locations around the world via its Open Data Program (ODP). Recently, Umbra crossed more than $1 million of free SAR data released into the ODP.

Umbra has released more open data than all other SAR providers combined. The ODP is updated several times a week and offers users the opportunity to analyze the time-series data to detect changes at each location. Following the NOAA licensing update, Umbra added 25 cm. imagery with the newly unlocked phase history data into the Open Data Program.

Umbra provides easy access to the highest quality commercial satellite data available, which is an indispensable tool for the growing number of organizations monitoring the Earth to make data-driven decisions that address global issues. Umbra’s constellation is able to identify and monitor surface-level changes globally, and can be used for a variety of efforts, including remote wildlife habitat protection, pollution and plastic waste tracking, oil spill detection, military intelligence gathering, live flooding estimation during storms, and more.

“The removal of the temporary license conditions by NOAA is impactful news for both Umbra and our customers. This means that we are finally able to offer customers the highest resolution images that our satellites are capable of capturing, setting the stage for even further expansion of products to customers.” — Gabe Dominocielo, Umbra’s co-founder and president.

Umbra is a technology company that offers intelligence data as a service to commercial and government customers. Our cutting-edge products help customers solve complex business and security challenges. Umbra is a U.S.-owned and operated company headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, and has a presence in Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. has a new agreement with Xtenti, LLC., to conduct a responsive space mission with Firefly’s orbital vehicle, Elytra, and Xtenti’s smallsat dispenser, FANTM-RiDE.

Scheduled to launch in 2024, the mission supports Xtenti’s follow-on study contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to demonstrate FANTM-RiDE’s rapid payload reconfiguration capabilities prior to launching on Firefly’s Alpha vehicle and performing multiple responsive, on-orbit deployments on Elytra.

Upon launching on Alpha, Firefly’s Elytra vehicle will use the FANTM-RiDE dispenser to first deploy commercial rideshare payloads in Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) and then perform an on-orbit maneuver and stand ready to deploy U.S. government payloads on-demand. Formerly known as Firefly’s Space Utility Vehicle, Elytra offers a more robust vehicle line to provide rapid on-orbit mobility, hosting, and services when and where customers need them.

Xtenti’s Flight Agnostic Non-interfering, Tunable Mass Rideshare Dispenser Equipment (FANTM-RiDE) enables customers to add, replace, or remove payloads from a manifest within hours before launching without invalidating existing mission loads analyses. With a predetermined common interface, FANTM-RiDE also enables entire loaded dispensers to be quickly interchanged between launch vehicles. FANTM-RiDE further protects multiple payloads on-orbit within a container that can open and close on-demand.

As Firefly’s second responsive space operation, the mission offers additional rideshare opportunities for commercial customers. Firefly is currently working to complete the final readiness milestones for its first responsive space mission for the U.S. Space Force before entering the stand-by phase and waiting for the 24-hour launch notice.

“Firefly is honored to support this critical mission that will further advance our nation’s responsive space capabilities and debut Firefly’s Elytra vehicle that’s filling a void in the on-orbit servicing market. As the first of many missions utilizing multiple Firefly vehicles, this operation will lay the groundwork for Firefly’s end-to-end mission services, proving our capabilities to rapidly launch, maneuver, and deploy satellites at a time and place of our customers’ choosing.” — Bill Weber, CEO, Firefly Aerospace

“Responsive delivery of space capabilities to orbit needs a paradigm shift, and Xtenti is excited to demonstrate two of FANTM-RiDE’s game-changing capabilities that enable responsive space. FANTM-RiDE not only enables rapid launch with its Rapid Rideshare Reconfiguration (R3) capability that eliminates slow and costly analytical barriers to fast payload hot-swaps, but it also enables on-orbit pre-positioning of payloads already stored on orbit for quick deployment on demand.” — Dan Lim, President and CEO, Xtenti

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) and Neumann Space have agreed to work together to test an Australian designed and manufactured, in-space propulsion system as part of the CarbSAR In Orbit Demonstration Mission.

SSTL and Neumann Space will commence work this year to integrate the nexgen Neumann Drive® as an IOD payload on board the SSTL CarbSAR satellite that is scheduled for launch during the second half of 2024. The companies will collaborate over the course of the mission to test, demonstrate and verify the performance of the Neumann Drive® whose unique propulsion technology uses a solid metallic propellant.

The opportunity to be a part of the CarbSAR Demo Mission will provide Neumann Space with the ability to further grow its space heritage and is an active demo of SSTL’s commitment to collaborate with the Australian Space industry to stimulate local growth and competitiveness.

The CarbSAR Demo Mission is a partnership between SSTL and Oxford Space Systems to build and launch an OSS Wrapped Rib antenna mounted to an SSTL CarbSAR satellite. This mission is designed to prove a groundbreaking Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) concept with implications for near to medium term, UK defence, ISR strategies.

“Our participation in the CarbSAR Demo Mission and our first piece of work with SSTL is significant for Neumann Space and for the commercialization of our innovative propulsion technology. This is an important addition to our program of in orbit demonstrations, providing us with the opportunity to validate the performance of our sovereign capability on SSTL’s latest generation 150+kg. satellite platform, and to work more closely with a leader in the UK’s space industry for commercial and defense applications.” — Herve Astier, Neumann Space’s CEO

“CarbSAR is an important development for SSTL and so are our activities in Australia. We are, therefore, delighted to welcome this collaboration with Neumann Space and look forward to growing our partnership here and on future small satellite missions.” — Andrew Cawthorne, Business Development Director, SSTL

“The Australian Space Agency established the UK-Australia Space Bridge with our counterparts to encourage exactly this type of collaboration between our nation’s space companies. This agreement is further evidence of the global space sector’s interest in what Australia’s innovators have to offer, and the mutual benefit that can be gained from working together with our partners. I look forward to seeing the continuing development of this innovative Australian propulsion technology and how Neumann Space can use this space heritage to continue to grow and create economic and career opportunities here at home.” — Enrico Palermo, Head of the Australian Space Agency

Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) has been awarded a space services contract by GHGSat, wherein Spire will build, launch and operate four additional, 16U smallsats, that will carry GHGSat payloads to monitor greenhouse gas emissions. This builds on Spire’s initial agreement with GHGSat for three, 16U satellites, that will launch by the end of 2023.

Spire Space Services, with a $39 billion total addressable market, allows organizations to leverage the Company’s established infrastructure to put their business in space and quickly scale a constellation with its rapid development, manufacturing, launch and operations capabilities.

The addition of these satellites will expand GHGSat’s global emissions monitoring and measurement capacity. The data collected by the new payloads will be used to monitor emissions from carbon-intensive industries, such as oil and gas, coal mining, waste management and agriculture.

The launch of the four 16U satellites is scheduled for no earlier than 2024.

“Our Space as a Service model is designed to support the rapid pace at which our customers are growing, allowing companies like GHGSat to focus on their mission and services, while we deploy their payload into space safely, quickly and in a cost-effective manner. We are proud to expand our partnership with GHGSat as they scale their constellation to bring transparency to the global issue of greenhouse gas emissions.” — Frank Frulio, general manager and global head of Space Services, Spire

“GHGSat provides the best emissions intelligence in the world. By expanding our satellite services agreement with Spire, we can continue to focus on performance for our customers rather than on satellite manufacturing and operations.” — Stephane Germain, CEO, GHGSat

Impulse Space, Inc. and the firm’s LEO Express-2 and LEO Express-3 missions will perform in-space services, including payload hosting, last-mile orbital delivery, constellation deployment, low altitude maneuvers and controlled atmospheric re-entry. They will be using the same Mira vehicle in the previously announced LEO Express-1 mission.

Mira has unparalleled maneuverability for orbital transfers in LEO, enabling customers to reach any altitude, rapidly phase constellations, shift equatorial crossing times and adjust orbital inclination. Mira has a payload capacity of up to 300 kg. and can accommodate a combination of cubesats, smallsats and hosted payloads. Mira uses in-house developed Saiph thrusters to provide rapid maneuvering capability for reaching custom orbits in LEO.

Similar to LEO Express-1, the second and third LEO Express missions will launch with SpaceX on their Transporter rideshare missions. Impulse has purchased slots on the SpaceX Transporter-11 and Tranporter-12 missions, which are currently set to launch no earlier than June and October of 2024.

“We are incredibly excited to announce the LEO Express-2 and 3 missions to follow LEO Express-1 set to launch no earlier than November 2023. Our team is dedicated to continually support the growing space economy through rapid, reliable and consistent services.” — Tom Mueller, Founder and CEO, Impulse Space

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has opened a facility that streamlines small satellite (smallsat) processing to enable high-rate delivery.

The multi-million dollar facility will house the company’s Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites, among other smallsat programs and technology demonstrators.

The 20,000-square-foot, low bay clean room, located on the company’s Waterton campus, will feature six, scalable, parallel assembly lines and is configurable to host different classifications of missions concurrently. Built with flow and throughput in mind, the center is tailored to accommodate all stages of smallsat development, including spacecraft-level functional and performance testing.

The facility hosts dedicated testing capabilities, including thermal cycle and electromagnetic chambers, scaled to efficiently build and test satellites ranging in size from CubeSats to smallsats. The tailored fit reduces waste and optimizes energy and space, supporting the delivery of 180 satellites or more per year.

Lockheed Martin is currently developing more than 50 satellites for the SDA’s Transport Layer, which will provide military users with low-latency communication links through a resilient network of integrated capabilities from LEO. Lockheed Martin’s 10, Tranche 0 Transport Layer satellites are expected to launch this year, while its 42, Tranche 1 satellites will soon move into processing in the new factory to support a 2024 launch.

“Lockheed Martin is committed to providing advanced satellites of different sizes and capabilities to meet our customers’ needs and support their strategy to achieve greater orbital diversity,” said . “This new facility is one of many investments our company has made to lower costs and to deliver scalable solutions with increased speed and agility, to provide 21st Century Security solutions for our customers.” — Johnathon Caldwell, Vice President and General Manager, Military Space, Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin completes CDR for the SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer Satellites

Lockheed Martin’s Tranche 0 Transport Layer satellites are seen in one of the company’s processing facilities.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and the Space Development Agency (SDA) have also successfully completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) program. The integrated system review validated that Lockheed Martin’s T1TL ground and space designs meet all mission requirements and can proceed to production. 

The initial warfighting capability of the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), T1TL consists of 126 space vehicles divided into six orbital planes. Lockheed Martin is building 42 of those space vehicles for the transport layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to a full range of warfighter platforms using Link-16 waveforms and laser optical intersatellite links.

During the CDR, which took place eight months after a successful preliminary design review, Lockheed Martin and SDA worked closely to thoroughly validate the company’s T1TL satellite and ground designs, to include supplier designs. The CDR included various design validation tests and a successful system optical communications terminal interoperability test, in addition to many other analyses.

For additional risk mitigation, Lockheed Martin 3D-printed a full-size replica of the Tranche 1 satellite vehicle testbed during the CDR to optimize assembly, integration and testing.

With the completion of CDR, Lockheed Martin now begins the integration and testing phase of the program, which will use the company’s new, 20,000-square-foot small satellite processing facility that is designed for high-rate delivery, hosts dedicated test chambers, and can simultaneously accommodate multiple classes of missions. T1TL will be the first program to be hosted by the new facility, which helps transform our business operations to meet our customer’s needs with speed and agility.   

SDA also contracted Lockheed Martin to build 10, Tranche 0 Transport Layer (T0TL) satellites, which are ready for launch this summer. SDA’s T0TL constellation serves as the first step toward building an interoperable, connected secure mesh network to support Joint All-Domain Operations.

“Between SDA’s critical support and engagement and Lockheed Martin’s lessons learned from our work on Transport Layer Tranche 0, we were able to achieve a precise review with successful results” said . “The strength of our relationships and thoroughness of the review positions Lockheed Martin to deliver the T1TL satellites on time for SDA’s 2024 launch.” — Chris Winslett, Lockheed Martin’s Director for the SDA Transport Layer programs

NASA’s Small Spacecraft Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base v3.0 was deployed on June 28, 2023.

The enhancements featured in this version include: an upgrade to the search bar to facilitate search of all content and the addition of fields for each “Best Practices and Lessons Learned” item.

These new fields will allow users recommending content to provide more context and detail and will enable the Knowledge Base to support rich lessons learned content collection during the NASA Learning from Experiences, Achievements, and Resolution Navigation (LEARN) Forum.

The SSRI KB Tool is available to the entire small satellite community and can be accessed at this direct infolink…

With operational smallsat constellations scaling fast, and regulatory controls for sustainability quickly emerging, Benchmark Space Systems has announced the commercial launch of the first-ever, driver assist, control system capable of managing highly precise, satellite maneuvers and travel through increasingly congested space.

The category-defining, propulsion solution, called SmartAIM (Smart Advanced In-Space Mobility), features an onboard software control solution embedded in Benchmark’s non-toxic chemical, electric and hybrid propulsion systems. Having a more intelligent and integrated mobility solution extends the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) capability of any spacecraft to offer unprecedented tiers of autonomous flight – ranging from assisted ‘cruise control’ for station keeping and payload pointing to full-blown maneuver planning and execution for collision avoidance.

SmartAIM is now available in Benchmark’s common control system across product lines and will reduce operational costs and lead times associated with mission planning and system integration.

Benchmark also announced a strategic partnership with Kayhan Space to integrate the company’s Pathfinder spaceflight safety service with the SmartAIM platform. Pathfinder’s capabilities for optimized maneuver planning and autonomous space traffic coordination provide a unique and complementary offering when paired with Benchmark’s SmartAIM propulsion solution. This alliance will ultimately drive the full value of SmartAIM for collision avoidance and sustainable space operations. Benchmark plans to add Kayhan and other SSA companies to its extensive network of partners with complementary technology and services.

Benchmark has designed, developed, and thoroughly tested its SmartAIM intelligent propulsion offering, in part with funding and R&D support from the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), and expects the first SmartAIM-assisted flights to launch in 2024. The cooperative effort among Benchmark’s commercial and government partners has focused on eliminating the laborious, iterative manual satellite control functions, which have become cost prohibitive and unmanageable for many operators as their constellations dramatically scale.

Benchmark’s SmartAIM intelligent guidance, navigation and control solution runs on multiple streams of real-time data, from onboard sensors and data relays, that provide vivid situational awareness. The low-latency information feeds and onboard processing include the state of the propulsion system and satellite, where it’s been, where it’s headed, and efficient travel routes around potential issues or threats nearby or on the horizon.

The company expects the first SmartAIM systems to launch next year, beginning with collision avoidance and station keeping capabilities in space. The company’s technology roadmap includes next-generation features, which include advanced operator-assist and autopilot functions, in the late 2024 through 2025 timeframe.

Established propulsion providers are at an advantage when developing GNC capabilities. The integration goes beyond hypotheticals and is designed with the detailed specificities of existing avionics and propulsion systems for maximum optimization. By working in unison with additional effectors like momentum wheels, torque rods, and ACS thrusters – the GNC framework is designed for optimizing each maneuver, whether that be for power conditions, fuel preservation, or speed.

The company is laser focused on providing non-toxic chemical, electric and hybrid propulsion systems capable of enabling in-space mobility and the emerging space economy. Benchmark is currently fulfilling contracts for dozens of its new Xantus electric metal plasma thrusters (MPTs), with some on the verge of playing a key role in upcoming in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) satellite docking demonstration missions.

The company is also producing hundreds of its 2N Lynx bi-propellant (HTP + fuel) thrusters this year to meet increasing demand for LEO and cislunar missions. The intelligent maneuver control enabled by SmartAIM is being considered by a growing number of missions and operators deploying Benchmark thrusters and propulsion systems.

“The Low Earth Orbit ecosystem is not sustainable without driver assist technologies like SmartAIM. Benchmark is in full production mode on propulsion systems for several government and commercial missions. Operators are not just looking to Benchmark to provide propulsion hardware, but a full life cycle partnership and innovative bundled mobility solutions to maneuver safely and confidently through space. Large constellations aren’t technically or economically feasible in today’s busy orbits if they’re being controlled with traditional manual and multi-step procedures. SmartAIM makes watching over constellations of dozens to hundreds of satellites far more manageable and sustainable. The operational equivalent of falling asleep at the wheel could lead to a Kessler scenario that wipes out a trillion-dollar global infrastructure.” — Chris Carella, Chief Commercial Officer for Benchmark Space Systems

“The game-changing benefits of having SmartAIM tightly integrated with Benchmark’s propulsion systems, the host spacecraft resources, and additional effectors, aids in scalability, performance efficiency and sustainability, and operator peace of mind. Operators can lean on Benchmark’s unrivaled propulsion expertise and not get bogged down with the technical details needed for scalable mobility operations in space. The efficiency of the driver-assist and autopilot modes enable operators to get a lot more mileage out of their propulsion systems – driving up mission sustainability while reducing overhead.” — Jeff Gibson, Head of Engineering, Benchmark

“The Kayhan Space mission is all about empowering satellite operators with the information and streamlined autonomous capabilities they need to safely and efficiently navigate through an increasingly congested space environment. We are thrilled to partner with Benchmark Space Systems and integrate with their SmartAIM intelligent propulsion solution to maximize safe and sustainable space operations.” — Siamak Hesar, Co-Founder and CEO, Kayhan Space