Archives for October 2023

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded two Other Transaction Authority (OTA) prototype agreements with a total value of approximately $1.3 billion to build and operate the Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) — Alpha variant prototype constellation, consisting of 100 satellites. Each firm-fixed-price award includes an equal, on-time, incentive payment.

The T2TL- Alpha constellation will provide global communications access and deliver persistent, regional, and encrypted connectivity to support missions such as beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) targeting and missile warning and missile tracking of advance missile threats as part of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

The first orbital plane of the T2TL-Alpha constellation will be launched no later than September of 2026.

“The T2TL Alpha awards demonstrate our forward momentum in the procurement phase for Tranche 2 of the PWSA to support delivery beginning in 2026,” said . “With the Beta variant and now the Alpha constellation, we’ll have more than 170 T2TL satellites on order. SDA is leading the DoD into launching proliferated constellations into low- Earth orbit to enhance responsiveness, resilience, survivability, and warfighting capability beyond our current space systems architecture.” — Derek Tournear, Director, SDA

SDA awarded a firm-fixed-price OTA agreement with a total potential value of approximately $617 million to York Space Systems, Denver, to execute a research and development program to deliver and operate 62 T2TL – Alpha space vehicles (SVs) in eight orbital planes, along with the associated ground systems and operations and sustainment capability. The award was fully signed on October 10, 2023.

SDA awarded a firm-fixed-price OTA agreement with a total potential value of approximately $732 million to Northrop Grumman Space Systems, Redondo Beach, California, to execute a research and development program to deliver and operate 38 T2TL – Alpha SVs in two orbital planes, along with the associated ground systems and operations and sustainment capability. The award was fully signed on October 26, 2023.

Space Development Agency, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity (FA24012490003). The T2TL features multiple space vehicle and mission configuration variants procured through a multi-solicitation and multi-vendor acquisition approach.

In August of 2023, SDA completed awards for 72 T2TL Beta variant SVs, which form the foundation of the Tranche 2 data transport mission. SDA is currently in the source selection phase for T2 Tracking Layer. SDA expects to release the T2TL Gama solicitation later this year. Once completely fielded, Tranche 2 will provide global persistence for all capabilities in Tranche 1 plus demonstration of advanced tactical data link(s) and future proliferated missions.

The T2 constellation will consist of approximately 270 operational Transport and Tracking Layer satellites. The PWSA Transport Layer will provide multi-band global communications access and persistent encrypted connectivity for warfighter missions. The Transport Layer will be the space backbone for the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) infrastructure with low latency data transport, sensor-to-shooter connectivity, and tactical satellite communication (TACSATCOM) direct to platform.

Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU) has expanding the company’s management leadership structure ahead of the firm’s LizzieSat constellation launch with SpaceX, beginning in Q1 2024.

To support the launch and management of the LizzieSat constellation, Sidus Space has adjusted the organization of its leadership team and promoted from within. Management expects to accelerate the offerings of Data-as-a-Service, Technology Payload Hosting, and the sale of its Artificial Intelligence (AI), both as an independent service and as a part of its data offering.

Sidus first created the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) and subsequently promoted Jared Novick on September 27, 2023 and has also promoted Lindsey Waitt to LizzieSat Program Manager. In this role, Waitt will lead the engineering team and provide leadership on all technical decisions.

Jamie Adams, who previously served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the company, made the decision to step down from this role, effective as of October 24, 2023. In addition to resigning from his position as CTO, he also selected to vacate his seat on the Sidus Space Board of Directors. These changes within the organization have led to the removal of the CTO role.

The rationale behind this change is that the responsibilities that were traditionally associated with the CTO position are now being managed and overseen by other key roles within the company. Specifically, the COO, the Chief Mission Operations Officer, and the LizzieSat Program Manager have assumed the duties and functions that were previously handled by the CTO. This strategic restructuring reflects the evolving needs and priorities of the organization, allowing for a more streamlined and efficient management of technical and operational aspects within Sidus Space.

“I am thrilled to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Lindsey on her well-deserved promotion. This accomplishment is a testament to her hard work, dedication, and exceptional contributions to our team and company. Lindsey’s commitment to excellence and her consistent efforts have been noticed by both her immediate team and Sidus’ leadership. Her promotion underscores her leadership skills and the positive impact she’s had on our organization. She’s an inspiration to all of us.” — Jared Novick, Chief Operating Officer, Sidus Space

“On behalf of Sidus, I want to thank Jamie for his numerous contributions to Sidus over the past two years. During this time, Jamie’s expertise was critical to the development of our innovative and unique coincident data collection satellite.” — Carol Craig, CEO and Founder, Sidus Space

The VDES CubeSat, Ymir-1, has been delivered to the Vandenberg SFB in California by AAC Clyde Space for launch integration for a planned launch in November of 2023. 

Designed and built by AAC Clyde Space, this flight proven EPIC LINK communications satellite hosts a Saab VDES (VHF Data Exchange System) payload for two-way communication between satellite and ground.

The satellite is part of the collaborative AOS project, a project that is developing the next generation of space based VDES, bringing together AAC Clyde Space, Orbcomm and Saab.

The use of VDES provides much needed improvements to current AIS-based Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). With up to 32 times more bandwidth than AIS, VDES will enable a broader array of applications in maritime surveillance, encrypted communications, fishery, logistics, search and rescue and marine integrated applications. By adding space-based capability to VDES, the use of the system is extended from the shoreline to anywhere in the ocean.

The research project, that is partially funded by the Swedish Transport Administration, intendeds to launch a test satellite which will make way for a future constellation to provide a next generation VDES service

“Our first Swedish built satellite is now ready to launch. The Ymir-1 satellite will play a critical role in improving safety at sea, while helping to reduce the environmental impact of ships – a critical step to make the shipping industry greener.” — Luis Gomes, CEO, AAC Clyde Space

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On Sunday, October 29th at 2:00 a.m., PT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

This was the seventh flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 mission and now six Starlink missions.

The company had also scheduled a double header, with 23 Starlinks set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — however, a problem was detected by the launch team with the Falcon 9’s stage separation system and a launch abort was called. SpaceX will try to launch these Starlinks to orbit on Monday, October 30th, at 7:20 p.m.

ICEYE has committed to a partnership with Suhora Technologies Pvt. Ltd.— this agreement is one of the largest SAR deals in Asia.

The partnership empowers Suhora to access ICEYE’s high-quality satellite imagery of any location on the planet and plays an important role in providing Suhora’s users with advanced monitoring and analytical geospatial solutions. ICEYE owns and operates the world’s largest SAR satellite constellation, having launched more than two dozen satellites into LEO.

The constellation is designed to provide customers with reliable and frequent high-resolution imagery collections, enabling rapid detection and tracking of changes on the Earth’s surface, regardless of time of day or weather conditions. This capability is vital for situational awareness and timely decision-making in diverse sectors, such as insurance, national security, natural catastrophe response and recovery, humanitarian relief and climate change monitoring.

“We are delighted to support the expert team of Suhora to meet the demands of its wide user base. Our satellites are not only reliable, but also have the capacity to meet the high tempo demands of the market. This is a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication, having developed a technology that can contribute meaningfully to different requirements of Suhora’s users.” — Tim Vallings, Global Head of International Data, ICEYE

“Our technology goes beyond mere data collection; for us it’s about offering our customers actionable insights and elevating situational awareness. We are steadfast in our mission to provide unparalleled data of the highest quality and resolution to address these critical requirements for better decision-making.” — Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of ICEYE

“We are elated to be in a position where we can use our expertise in analyzing and processing geospatial data to create solutions that can be used by various users across different domains. Partnering with ICEYE is important to us – their unparalleled high-resolution SAR data can provide timely, near real-time insights while meeting high data demands. Our partnership, dedication and knowledge will bring out our true potentials and will thrive and attain a brighter future.” — Krishanu Acharya, CEO, Suhora

Recently, Qatar Airways became the largest airline to collaborate with Starlink and, in the future, will roll out a complimentary, high-speed, low-latency, internet connectivity experience onboard specific aircraft and routes.

Starlink’s service will be a further enhancement of Qatar Airways’ 5-star onboard experience. Once the service is active, passengers will be able to enjoy ultra-fast WiFi speeds of up to 350 Mbps that can be used for a variety of internet-based services such as video streaming their favorite entertainment and sports videos, gaming, enriched web-browsing and much more.

Qatar Airways agreement with Starlink will allow passengers to receive a seamless Wi-Fi connectivity experience onboard with one-click access. The high-speed and low-latency network is powered by the Starlink SATCOM system – the world’s largest satellite internet constellation engineered and operated by SpaceX. Qatar Airways and Starlink are currently in the pre-launch phase of the rollout strategy across Qatar Airways fleet.

“Qatar Airways is proud to announce its agreement with Starlink to provide seamless and complimentary Wi-Fi to its global passengers. This exciting collaboration is not only in line with our industry-leading approach to technological adoption, but also serves as an unmissable opportunity to connect Starlink to our global passengers. We look forward to our passengers benefiting from this state-of-the-art addition to Qatar Airways’ in-flight experience.” — His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive. Qatar Airways Group

“Qatar Airways continues to lead the way prioritizing the passenger experience. With Starlink set to support the entire Qatar Airways fleet, passengers traveling between more than 160 destinations around the world will be able to stay connected with the most advance high-speed internet service from space. In fact, as soon as passengers step onboard the plane the internet works seamlessly throughout their flight from gate to gate, and all from the comfort of their seats.” — Jonathan Hofeller, Vice President, Starlink Commercial Sales, Starlink

ESA invites university and other tertiary education student teams from an eligible state that are producing pico- or nanosatellites (CubeSats or PocketQubes) with educational objectives to propose their satellite for the fourth edition of the ‘Fly Your Satellite!’ (FYS) program.

The deadline for submitting proposals is on January 21, 2024, 23:59 CET. Instructions for submitting a proposal and conditions to apply can be found here.

The fourth edition of Fly Your Satellite! is based on the heritage of the previous editions with the objective to support university student teams throughout the assembly, integration, testing, and verification process of their educational CubeSats. By participating in the program, students will implement standard practices for spacecraft development; receive support from experienced ESA specialists; attend tailored training courses; and will be offered access to state-of-the-art test facilities.

The program is for teams that have already manufactured and tested the CubeSat subsystems and are ready to proceed to the satellite integration shortly after being accepted to the program. Students will then be supported through the Assembly, Integration, and Verification phase. Teams will be offered a launch opportunity if they demonstrate the readiness of their spacecraft and ground segment and compatibility with the technical and safety requirements.

For the current call, launch opportunities to LEO compatible with ESA zero debris approach on orbital lifetime are envisioned. This means that the natural orbital decay duration shall be below 5 years (final numerical value is being consolidated at the time of opening of this Call).

Flexibility to several orbits is recommended as pico- and nanosatellites often fly on rideshare missions or as piggyback payloads and teams should be prepared to accept deployments from orbits that deviate from their optimal performance orbit. The earliest launch opportunity for teams selected through the present call for proposals is expected as of 2025.

Student teams can apply by submitting a proposal describing their CubeSat project and demonstrating its maturity to start their integrated system tests. Instructions to submit a proposal for the fourth edition of the Fly Your Satellite! program, can be found here.

Two Information Sessions for potential applicants will be offered by the Fly Your Satellite! program on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, 16:00-17:00 CET and Thursday, December 14, 2023, 16:00-17:00 CET. Please register to attend using the following form.

For more information about our opportunities, scroll down to the bottom of the Fly Your Satellite! main page. New opportunities can be expected targeting student teams at different stages of the project lifecycle. Keep an eye out on the ESA Education website to be updated on the latest news. For further information, please contact us at cubesats@esa.int.