Archives for November 2023

AAC Clyde Space has won a 1.14 million euros (approx. SEK 13.4 million) order on Starbuck power systems — the order, which comes from an existing customer, is scheduled for final delivery in the first quarter of 2025.

The Starbuck power system is a PCDU (Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit) system developed for smallsats.  These power systems have demonstrated impressive capabilities in space, gaining a market reputation for reliability, resiliency and performance.

With a modular design, the solutions can be used and adapted for an array of different applications stretching from lunar exploratory and deep space scientific missions to military and commercial constellation applications.

“Apart from their inherent characteristics, our customers also appreciate that the systems are readily available and have an unparalleled flight heritage.” — Luis Gomes, CEO, AAC Clyde Space

Watch the live launch broadcast of Ireland’s first satellite — EIRSAT-1 — on ESA Web TV Channel 2 and ESA YouTube, currently scheduled for November 29th.

Coverage of this historic moment is set to begin shortly before 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET) (times to be confirmed).

Built by students at University College Dublin under guidance of ESA’s Education Office, EIRSAT-1 is a 2U CubeSat carrying three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector that will study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.

The mission has been in development since the team was accepted to the ESA Academy Fly Your Satellite! program in 2017. Over the past six years, the students have worked with ESA experts and acquired the professional competences needed to design and build their satellite. They were accompanied through test campaigns at ESA Education’s CubeSat Support Facility in Belgium and other ESA sites, and were also offered by ESA the opportunity to launch their satellite. 

While the satellite makes its way to the launch pad, the student team is preparing to operate the satellite from Mission Control at University College Dublin.

Find out more about this unique mission during our live launch coverage. Irish broadcaster Rick O’Shea, with guests from ESA and the EIRSAT-1 team, will take viewers through the mission’s history and major launch milestones including liftoff, separation and acquisition of signal, from outside the EIRSAT-1 Mission Control Room. Níl aon satailít mar do shatailít féin! [There’s no satellite like your own satellite!]

Learn more about how students have built Ireland’s first satellite.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper has validated all systems and subsystems on board its prototype satellites and has also demo’d the first, two-way video call over Amazon’s end-to-end communications network.

Within 30 days of sending two prototype satellites into space, Project Kuiper has achieved a 100% success rate for its Protoflight mission.

The mission validated key technologies that underpin the network and moving the program another step closer toward that long-term vision.

Every major system and subsystem on board the two prototypes—from flight computers and solar arrays to our propulsion system and advanced radio frequency (RF) communications payload—demonstrated nominal or better performance following launch. Together, these tests have allowed the team to validate the architecture and design of the satellite constellation and to conduct demonstrations of 4K video streaming and two-way video calls over the network. With initial testing complete, Project Kuiper is on track to begin mass satellite production ahead of a full-scale deployment starting in the first half of 2024, before entering beta testing with select customers later in the year.

“Kuiper was an idea on a piece of paper a few years ago, and everything we’ve learned so far from our Protoflight mission validates our original vision and architecture,. We still have a lot of hard work ahead, and scaling for mass production won’t be easy. To get these results on your very first mission though—and so quickly after launch—is an incredible feat, and it’s only possible because of the expertise and dedication of our team here at Amazon.” — Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Technology, Project Kuiper

The Protoflight mission allowed the team to test the full range of hardware, software, and infrastructure that underpin our network. This includes the key systems and subsystems that allow our satellites to operate safely and reliably in space—satellite structures and mechanics, flight computers, propulsion systems, solar power generation and distribution systems, batteries, reaction wheels, and more—as well as the advanced RF communications payload we use to send and receive data through the Kuiper network.

The mission has also allowed for technology and infrastructure on the ground validation, including prototypes of the customer terminal; telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C) stations located in locations such as Hawaii and Mauritius; the ground gateway station in Texas; and connection points to the terrestrial internet via Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The most recent Protoflight tests involved the RF communications payload, which includes a combination of parabolic antennas, phased array antennas, and additional innovations that allowed the team to send customer data traffic across the network. This was the last major satellite system that was set out to be proven in space, and through a series of experiments during the week of November 5, end-to-end network functionality was successfully demonstrated. Data traffic was also sent in both directions from the internet over an AWS fiber-optic connection to the ground gateway station, up to the satellites, and then down to a customer terminal at the test location.

The tests were designed to showcase different performance characteristics of the Project Kuiper network, on top of the basic functions of transmitting and receiving data. In the first demonstration, an Amazon Prime account was logged onto, searched for a product, added it to the cart, and then checked out.

In the second demonstration, Prime Video was logged onto and a search conducted for the Amazon Original movie A Million Miles Away, and then streamed that title as an ultra-high definition (UHD) 4K video. This test highlighted network throughput and low latency.

For the third demonstration, the team conducted a two-way video call over Amazon Chime between the test site in Texas and the mission operations center in Washington. In addition to requiring low latency for a smooth video call, this test involved “full duplex” performance, with the antennas simultaneously sending and receiving data.

The demonstrations occurred during brief contact windows each day as the prototype satellites’ elliptical orbits took them over the test site, and a link was successfully established to receive internet connectivity. Each contact window ranged from approximately 30-120 seconds, based on the satellites’ position relative to the test site. That experience was unique to the Protoflight mission as there are only two satellites on-orbit. When commercial service starts, there will always be a satellite within range of customers, and the software-defined network will seamlessly hand off the data link from one satellite to the next as they pass overhead for uninterrupted connectivity.

The mission also gave the teams on the ground a chance to demonstrate and refine procedures for satellite processing, launch, and mission operations—critical experiences as we prepare for a rapid launch cadence beginning in 2024. Although validation of the core satellite and network design has already been accomplished, the Project Kuiper will continue running experiments over the next several months under different conditions and observe how these prototype satellites hold up to the extremes of space.

When Amazon initiates beta testing of Project Kuiper in the second half of 2024, early partners such as Vodafone and Verizon will be among the first to participate in those service pilots. Additional enterprise, telecommunications, and government customers and partners seeking to take part in our pilot program can register interest through early 2024.

Article written by Amazon staff.

EIRSAT-1 is Ireland’s first satellite is designed and built by students from University College Dublin who are participating in ESA Academy’s Fly Your Satellite! program.

Scheduled for launch in November of 2023, once EIRSAT-1 is in space the student team will act as Spacecraft Operators, ensuring the satellite is safe, performing within parameters, and on track to complete its objectives.

They will also have responsibility for diagnosing and resolving any issues that may arise during the mission.

To train as Spacecraft Operators, the EIRSAT-1 team visited ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC—photo below) from October 23rd through the 27th, 2023. ESOC is the main mission control center for ESA, located in Darmstadt, Germany.

The students were embedded within the OPS-SAT team, an ESA 3-unit CubeSat that tests new techniques in mission control and onboard satellite systems.

“Visiting the OPS-SAT team at ESOC was a unique opportunity to get to see inside the day to day operations of a real satellite. With the Launch of EIRSAT-1 approaching, learning from the OPS-SAT team’s real world experience and comparing their setup to ours has given me more confidence that we are ready for space,” one of the students commented. “The OPS-SAT team and all the staff at ESOC were so welcoming and really helped me to get my head around some of the more complex aspects of operations, answering all of my many questions. I think the highlight of the experience for me was getting to command OPS-SAT (on my birthday!), which was my first time sending a command to a real satellite in orbit,” he concluded.

The EIRSAT-1 students had an intense but valuable week with the OPS-SAT team, learning directly from these experienced operators and seeing first-hand what day-to-day duties entail. Highlights included:

• Experiencing live satellite passes, and planning actions if the unexpected should occur.
• Gaining skills in satellite scheduling, software patching, data analysis, and automation.
• Performing group exercises based on real life OPS-SAT scenarios.
• Sending real-time commands to OPS-SAT, such as switching the camera on and off; capturing multiple pictures; creating folders; and managing files.
• Learning about the SMILE antennas, and gaining inspiration for their own ground stations.

The students also spent a full day engaged in simulations within ESA’s main control room, designed to test their capabilities in a realistic time-pressure situation.

“The experience I gained at ESOC was incredibly beneficial and enjoyable. We were so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to view the facility and to see where many of the ESA missions began and continue to be operated from, but the highlight of this experience had to be in spending time and working with the OPS-SAT team,” another student said.

Each student was assigned a specific role, such as Spacecraft Operation Manager, Power, and Data Handling. A scenario was then presented: a spacecraft anomaly had been detected and the students must collaborate quickly and efficiently to identify potential issues and plan the best course of action during the next satellite pass. The students performed admirably!

Over the course of the week the EIRSAT-1 team acquired valuable knowledge and a deeper understanding of potential challenges and operational pitfalls to be avoided. They are now equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge to prepare for the unknown, where critical decisions can mean the difference between losing their satellite or successful completion of a mission. The team will not have to wait long before putting their new skills to the test!

“Observing the unique inner workings of another satellite team was extremely beneficial and refreshing to us. Seeing the different approaches and problem solving that the team adopts and troubleshooting problems that we have had in the past with this experienced team has left us so much better prepared and educated going forward with the launch of our own satellite,” the student concluded.

Article is courtesy of ESA.

SpaceX is targeting Sunday, November 19 for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 10:33 p.m. PT, with backup opportunities available until 2:30 a.m. PT on Monday, November 20.

This launch will be after the 23 Starlink internet satellites that were launched from Florida on Saturday, November 18.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on X @SpaceX about five minutes prior to liftoff. Watch live.

This is the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, DART, Transporter-7, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and nine Starlink missions, Iridium OneWeb, SDA-0B, and nine 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.

Airbus’ patented Detumbler device designed to prevent satellites at the end of their lives from tumbling, was launched on Saturday, November 11, and will be tested in space in association with Exotrail and EnduroSat early in 2024.

Developed in 2021 by Airbus, and supported by the French Space Agency CNES under their Tech4SpaceCare initiative, the Detumbler is a magnetic damping device that would be attached to a satellite. The Detumbler includes a central rotor wheel and magnets that interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. When the satellite is flying normally the rotor acts like a compass following the magnetic field, but should the spacecraft begin to tumble the rotor movement induces eddy currents acting like a friction torque thus damping the motion.

Dead satellites, especially in LEO, often end up tumbling which is natural behavior due to orbital flight dynamics. Future active debris removal missions will face a greater challenge if spacecraft are tumbling. The Airbus Detumbler – weighing in at around 100g – could therefore be a useful tool for future missions to prevent satellites tumbling after their end of life, making them easier to capture on debris clearing missions.

The on-orbit demonstration of the Detumbler is scheduled for early 2024 on a mission from Exotrail (SpaceVan) which will include the Exo-0 smallsat from EnduroSat. Dedicated detumbling tests will take place to verify the ability of the Detumbler to dampen movement.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) recently completed the company’s Critical Design Review (CDR) on a proliferated LEO constellation of 16 missile tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency (SDA), clearing the way to start production work on the space vehicles.

The CDR maintained an accelerated pace and was completed within 13 months of the award announcement.

The satellites are part of the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer (T1TRK) that will identify and track hypersonic weapons and advanced missiles from the earliest stages of launch through interception.

Once in orbit, the satellites will operate in two of four LEO planes, interconnected with Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) – another element of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) designed as a high-speed, high-volume data transport network connecting U.S. forces around the globe.

Fourteen of the satellites for T1TRK will feature a wide field-of-view sensor, three optical communications terminals and a Ka-band payload for communications. Two satellites will feature a medium field-of-view infrared sensor to demonstrate a fire-control solution.

The Tracking Layer: Focused on developing a global constellation of infrared missile warning and missile tracking satellites that integrate with the Transport Layer’s low-latency meshed communication network, enabling conventional and advanced missile tracking from proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO).

The Transport Layer: Designed to provide low-latency, high-volume data connectivity supporting U.S. military missions around the world. To date, SDA has awarded Northrop Grumman 132 satellites. In March, Northrop Grumman successfully completed a Critical Design Review for T1TL. In October, SDA awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to design and build 38 satellites as part of Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Alpha (T2TL-Alpha).

“We are developing a more responsive, flexible and resilient space architecture to counter sophisticated threats. By passing this critical milestone on an accelerated timeline, we are closer to delivering critical missile defense and tracking technologies.” — Candace Givens, Vice President, Overhead Persistent Infrared and Geospatial Systems, Northrop Grumman

EnduroSat is able to now ship the company’s standard satellite modules to customers within two weeks of receiving an order, the fastest turnaround in EnduroSat’s history — this milestone follows the recent opening of EnduroSat’s new Space Centre in Bulgaria as well as a significant investment in production and AIT capabilities that will enable the company to meet the highest industry standards for quality and reliability. This two-week delivery capability milestone was made possible by EnduroSat’s $10 million Series A funding that occurred earlier this year.

EnduroSat’s new 3,200 m2 Space Facility with 700 m2 of Space Labs includes several state-of-the-art labs, as well as an ISO-7-certified Satellite Assembly Lab, an RF Testing Laboratory, a Hardware Testing Laboratory, and a Mechanical Integration Facility. With offices in Bulgaria, Italy, Luxembourg, France, Germany, and the United States, EnduroSat has established a global presence, enabling its team to serve clients globally.

The company’s team can now assemble, test, integrate, and deliver 10+ satellites per month. This enhanced production capacity has allowed EnduroSat to meet the growing demands of the space industry, making it a trusted partner for complex space missions.

The company recently launched the DeskSat, its most advanced flatsat. It provides an unprecedented opportunity to scale fast mission testing and space operations. Unlike alternative products in the traditional industry, the DeskSat comes fully integrated with unique software tools for development and operations: SpaceDev and SpaceOps.

EnduroSat has more than 2,500 avionics on-orbit and more than 50 satellites successfully delivered to clients across the globe. The company successfully launched its latest satellites on the Transporter 9 mission. EnduroSat confirmed that they have acquired signals from all satellites and will be starting the operational phase.

EnduroSat supports multiple cutting-edge missions: PADRE solar exploration mission of NASA and the University of California-Berkeley, TOLIMAN, an astronomy mission observing the Alpha Centauri system organized by Breakthrough Initiatives and the University of Sydney, FLAMINGO, Europe’s first commercial constellation for in-situ space situational awareness (SSA) developed by Vyoma.

EnduroSat actively invests in nurturing the next generation of space scientists through its unique Space Challenges Program. The extensive practice-oriented curriculum is led by top-tier industry experts and has been organized and funded by EnduroSat for many years.

Quantum Space has unveiled the company’s Sentry mission, the first in a series of milestone demonstrations to prove out end-to-end communications and data generation capabilities — the company is creating a modern, high-speed connectivity network, dubbed QuantumNet, that will deliver always-on, fast connectivity everywhere in deep space, from GEO and cislunar space and well beyond the isolated far side of the moon. 

Scout-1, the first in the company’s family of sensing vehicles, is scheduled to launch on the SpaceX Transporter-10 mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida no earlier than March of 2024. Headed to SSO in LEO, the spacecraft will simulate a sensor asset or node in the company’s QuantumNet architecture.

Reprise Space Systems LLC, better known as SEOPS, is providing mission integration services and its U.S.-built deployer, Equalizer. With nearly 250 beyond-Earth missions already projected over the next eight years, implementing deep space infrastructure  is becoming increasingly critical for organizations planning to operate in hard-to-reach places in space.

Quantum Space’s large, multi-ops, Ranger vehicle is at the heart of the modular network architecture. Ranger vehicles will provide critical operational capabilities in deep space, starting with hosting and deploying government and commercial payloads supporting new space economies and national security initiatives. Additionally, the versatile spacecraft will have data and communications sensors onboard and offer on-orbit processing power via AI and Machine Learning (AI / ML) to enable fast and efficient data generation and transfer. 

“Launching Scout-1 is an important milestone and first step toward delivering a flexible and modern data and communications relay network and will serve as a proof of concept for our QuantumNet architecture. Partnerships between the U.S. Government and commercial innovators have opened the door to new ideas and breakthroughs in building a cislunar economy, and we are excited to pave the way in building the underlying infrastructure needed to support deep space commerce, national security and scientific exploration.” — Kerry Wisnosky, President and CEO, Quantum Space

“Ultimately, our goal is to open GEO and cislunar space to their full potential and help organizations leverage new innovations. This first demonstration mission will prove invaluable as we gain operational insights for our upcoming mission.,” — Sue Hall, Senior Vice President of Programs and Operations, Quantum Space.  

Spire Global, Inc. has unveiled the firm’s Constellation Management Platform, a web-based app that simplifies satellite constellation operations through a user-friendly interface — the development of the platform is co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the agency’s ARTES Core Competitiveness (CC) Program with a 1.5 million euros award to Spire, along with support from the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA).

Spire’s Constellation Management Platform is the latest innovation by Spire Space Services, the Company’s end-to-end solution for customers to build, launch and operate their own satellite constellation for a flat monthly fee. Spire provides standardized Space as a Service missions that support a range of use cases across EO, connectivity, radio frequency intelligence and space domain awareness — making it easier and faster for customers to get their satellites in orbit and scale a constellation.

Satellite constellation operations have traditionally been complex and resource intensive, requiring a room full of people to operate satellites at all times of the day. Spire is leveraging its more than a decade of experience operating the world’s largest multi-payload satellite constellation to automate and optimize satellite operations, allowing any company to operate their satellites with one person and a laptop.   

The platform allows users to connect directly with their satellites to task, schedule and monitor every aspect of their payload, data, fleet health and mission planning through a user-friendly interface. It simplifies access to Spire’s ground operations software to operate a satellite or constellation with multiple, global ground station networks for tracking, scheduling, commanding, downlinking data and monitoring telemetry. It was built using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and will deliver satellite data directly into a customer’s ecosystem. It is also accessible through a Spire API.

Spire’s Constellation Management Platform is available to customers that build, launch and operate satellites with Space Services, as well as for those looking to simplify and optimize operations of an existing constellation.

“Satellites never sleep. You build and launch a satellite once, but then you have to operate it and communicate with it thousands of times over its lifetime,. Typically, you need an army of experts to do that, but we’ve simplified space so that anyone can easily manage satellites and gain insights from space to give their business a competitive edge — such as helping insurance companies build products that safeguard against climate change variables and providing utilities companies with accurate, real-time data for remote forestry management.” — Frank Frulio, General Manager, Space Services, Spire

“The path leading up to launch, although exciting, is one step of a larger journey. Collaborating with Spire has transformed ADLER-2 operations into a seamless experience. The user-friendly API web application developed by Spire not only saves us time but also enables us to redirect our focus from calculating schedule windows to analyzing the measurements gathered by our payloads. The automation of satellite operations has made it a hands-off, effortlessly managed process for us that has been a game changer for our research initiatives.” — Dr. Gernot Groemer, Director, Austrian Space Forum

“The Constellation Management Platform, which is developed by Spire under the ESA ARTES CC programme, will offer a simplified approach to constellation mission operations by providing customers with an automated end-to-end satellite operations system. It will be managed through a web application, allowing for a more efficient planning and use of the resources and space assets.” — Dietmar Schmitt, Acting Head of Systems, Strategic Program Lines and Technology Department, ESA Connectivity and Secure Communications Directorate