SpinLaunch, a pioneering space company enabling rapid and sustainable low-cost access to space, has announced that aerospace-industry veteran Matthew Mejía has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Mejía comes to SpinLaunch with more than 20 years’ experience in aerospace finance, investment banking, consulting, and executive leadership, as well as a successful record of raising and deploying billions of capital in the aerospace industry.

As CFO & CSO, Mejía will play a critical role in accelerating SpinLaunch’s commercial and strategic growth by driving the company’s financing and business development initiatives. He will also lead the advancement and execution of the company’s go-to-market strategy delivering an integrated suite of launch, satellite, and service offerings.

“Matthew is a proven CFO and Strategy Officer with a long track record of raising significant capital and commercializing disruptive space solutions. His passion for the industry and combination of financial and market experience will bring significant value to our company,” said Jonathan Yaney, Founder and CEO, SpinLaunch. “His strategic guidance will be instrumental as we continue to expand our technology capabilities and bring massive disruption to the market.”

SpinLaunch, founded by Yaney in 2014, is revolutionizing access to space by building a ground-based, electric-powered mass accelerator launch system that can deliver a substantially less expensive and environmentally sustainable method to place constellations of small satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In the last year, SpinLaunch also created a new product line of small satellite buses in the 20 kg-200 kg size class that complements its low-cost and high-cadence approach to space and meets upcoming LEO constellation needs.

“SpinLaunch understands that to truly realize and unlock the trillion-dollar space economy, we must ensure accessing and operating in space becomes far more affordable, frequent, and ultimately, sustainable,” said Matthew Mejía, CFO and CSO, SpinLaunch. “No other company is disrupting the entire space ecosystem with that vision, and I am thrilled to join Jonathan and his team to build on the incredible innovation that has captivated the industry.”

Mejía’s experience spans aerospace and defense, finance, management consulting and investment banking, including senior leadership positions at Sierra Space, Aerion Supersonic, and Renaissance Strategic Advisors. Through his expertise, he has gained a keen knowledge of the aerospace and defense markets and, importantly, the capital markets interested in investing in the future of space.

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) has announced that HawkEye 360 has initiated manufacturing of the 12th and 13th Clusters of the company’s radio frequency (RF) geolocating, smallsat constellation — the six satellites are being built on SFL’s 30 kg DEFIANT platform at the HawkEye 360 facility in Virginia under the SFL Flex Production program.

In April of 2023, the organizations celebrated the launch and deployment of Cluster 7, the first three satellites integrated in-house by HawkEye 360 as part of the production plan created by SFL. Flex Production gives SFL clients the option of having satellites built at SFL’s Toronto headquarters or setting up in-house production capabilities at their own facilities, with guidance from SFL.

HawkEye 360 selected SFL for these missions due robust and accurate formation flying by multiple satellites for successful RF geolocation. SFL is an acknowledged leader in developing and implementing high-performance attitude and formation control systems that make it possible for relatively low-cost smallsats to fly in stable formations while in orbit.

HawkEye 360’s constellation detects and geolocates RF signals for maritime situational awareness, emergency response, national security, and spectrum analysis applications. Each new cluster expands HawkEye 360’s global revisit and collection capacity.

SFL’s 25-year heritage includes 65 operational successes, with an additional 27 under development or awaiting launch. Customized payloads include a wide range of applications related to Earth observation, atmospheric monitoring, ship tracking, communication, radio frequency (RF) geolocation, technology demonstration, space astronomy, solar physics, space plasma, and other scientific research.

Throughout its history, SFL has developed small satellites, microsatellites, and nanosatellites that have achieved more than 240+ cumulative years of operation in orbit. These microspace missions have included SFL’s trusted attitude control and, in some cases, formation-flying capabilities. Other core SFL-developed components include modular (scalable) power systems, onboard radios, flight computers, and control software.

“HawkEye 360 has emerged as a worldwide leader in NewSpace, and SFL is proud to be their microspace satellite technology provider. Our Flex Production program enables any NewSpace organization to mass produce satellites at a price point that works for them.”
— Dr. Robert E. Zee, SFL Director

“Clusters 12 and 13 continue our long-standing relationship with Space Flight Laboratory. Dr. Zee and his team have been excellent technology partners, providing us the means to build reliable satellite buses with proven heritage. We’ve enjoyed being early customers for their FLEX program.”
— Rob Rainhart, COO, HawkEye 360

About Space Flight Laboratory
SFL generates bigger returns from smaller, lower cost satellites. Small satellites built by SFL consistently push the performance envelope and disrupt the traditional cost paradigm. Satellites are built with advanced power systems, stringent attitude control and high-volume data capacity that are striking relative to the budget. SFL arranges launches globally and maintains a mission control center accessing ground stations worldwide. The pioneering and barrier-breaking work of SFL is a key enabler to tomorrow’s cost-aggressive satellites and constellations.

Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) has deployed the Qosmosys Zeus-1 payload from the company’s Vigoride-5 Orbital Service Vehicle and is now providing comprehensive hosted payload support services for Caltech’s Space-based, Solar Power Project payload.

The Qosmosys Zeus-1 payload was deployed to orbit on May 10, 2023. Effective May 15, 2023, Momentus is providing on-orbit support to Caltech, including providing data, communication, commanding and telemetry, and resources for optimal picture taking and solar cell lighting. Momentus will also be performing thrusting maneuvers so Caltech can measure the behavior of their experiments. Caltech’s Space Solar Power Demonstrator project onboard Momentus’ Vigoride-5 spacecraft comprises three separate experiments.

The experiments include:

• DOLCE (Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment): A structure measuring 6 feet by 6 feet that demonstrates the architecture, packaging scheme and deployment mechanisms of the modular spacecraft that would eventually make up a kilometer-scale constellation forming a power station.

• ALBA: A collection of 32 different types of photovoltaic (PV) cells, to enable an assessment of the types of cells that are the most effective in the punishing environment of space.

• MAPLE (Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment): An array of flexible lightweight microwave power transmitters with precise timing control focusing the power selectively on two different receivers to demonstrate wireless power transmission at distance in space.

“We thank Caltech and Qosmosys for entrusting us with their important payloads. With the Zeus-1 payload from Qosmosys safely in its orbit, our team is now dedicated to providing support for Caltech as they test technology that aims to collect solar power in space to use on Earth. Our contract has our team supporting this payload for six months and we look forward to seeing what Caltech learns from their experiments.”
— Krishnan Anand, Vice President of Program Management, Momentus

About Momentus
Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company that offers in-space infrastructure services, including in-space transportation, hosted payloads and in-orbit services. Momentus believes it can make new ways of operating in space possible with its planned in-space transfer and service vehicles that will be powered by an innovative water plasma-based propulsion system.

Bayanat and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC (Yahsat) have developed a comprehensive Space Program that is aimed at building national satellite remote sensing and Earth Observation (EO) capabilities within the UAE to commercially address business opportunities in the local and global EO market.

The program forms part of the two companies’ partnership with ICEYE, a SAR satellite manufacturer. The expansion of Bayanat’s capabilities into the space sector positions the company to drive its growth strategy and become a prominent player in the industry.

SAR is an active sensing system that illuminates the Earth’s surface and measures the reflected signal to generate high-resolution images. Unlike traditional optical imaging satellites, SAR can capture images day and night, regardless of weather conditions or solar illumination. Compared to other New Space SAR satellite services, ICEYE’s radar antenna covers much larger geographical areas or, at the other end of the scale, provides higher resolution images of smaller areas.

Bayanat’s program aims to develop a constellation of at least five, SAR, LEO satellites to provide a consistent data stream for end-to-end solutions for SAR applications. It will cover the entire value chain by leveraging the available synergies in Yahsat’s upstream and midstream capabilities, including its leading satellite infrastructure as well as the wide spectrum of its rapidly growing satellite-enabled innovative solutions, and Bayanat’s downstream capabilities such as advanced AI and data analytics and will significantly enhance Bayanat’s commercial offerings by providing valuable geospatial insights to various industries in a timely and accurate manner.

The program is a steppingstone toward realizing a broader space-ecosystem in the UAE, including the development of in-country satellite manufacturing capabilities. It will deliver a range of strategic benefits for the nation, including access to sovereign SAR data acquisition, enhancing data privacy, and further building the nation’s resident capabilities for space exploration. In addition, the program will fuel collaboration between vital strategic players in the UAE’s space ecosystem, strengthen UAE’s position in space technology and open new possibilities for Bayanat, Yahsat and the country’s future space exploration endeavors.

“The launch of the first LEO satellite scheduled for Q1 2024 will significantly enhance Bayanat’s existing offerings to provide more comprehensive and high-quality services to clients both locally and internationally. The partnership between Bayanat and Iceye, in collaboration with Yahsat, will drive the development of a sovereign EO ecosystem which will enable us to provide cutting-edge solutions, whilst contributing to skill development, scientific advancements, and sustained economic growth. We are excited to be at the forefront of this dynamic and rapidly evolving field and looking forward to developing a commercial space program in the UAE.”
— Hasan AlHosani, CEO of Bayanat

“As part of Yahsat’s active role in empowering the space economy sector in line with the UAE’s Space Strategy 2030, we are pleased to collaborate with Bayanat on this ambitious program. Yahsat is committed to join forces with various commercial and government-related entities to strengthen the UAE’s leadership in the space sector in MENA region, supported by Yahsat’s world-class infrastructure and suite of innovative solutions. We are also advancing new segments such as earth observation, in-country manufacturing and building the national capacities in the space sector.”
— Ali Al Hashemi, Group CEO of Yahsat

“ICEYE is the leading New Space company in the world today with the proven ability to design, build and supply new-era SAR Earth observation satellites for customers. We’re honored to contribute to Bayanat’s space programme in meeting the sophisticated imagery requirements from their most demanding customers in the UAE. Until the launch next year, we will be providing access to our satellites already in orbit, so Bayanat can start utilizing radar satellite imagery for the benefit of the public and private sector customers in the UAE.”
— Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-Founder of ICEYE

About Bayant
Bayanat, an ADX listed public company with majority shareholding by G42, provides comprehensive world-class AI-powered geospatial solutions to a growing number of sectors such as Government Services, Environment, Energy & Resources, Smart Cities and Transportation. It’s offering includes topographic, hydrographic, and aeronautical products and charts, as well as spatial data surveying, analysis, management, modelling, visualization, and cartography services. Bayanat’s solutions harness vast amounts of premium and unique data from a range of sources including Satellites, High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) and Earth Observation powered by AI to drive geospatial intelligence (gIQ).

HEX20 is collaborating with Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP – USA), National Central University Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering (NCU CAPE – Taiwan), Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS – France), and SKYROOT Aerospace – India to launch the COSPAR satellite, a remarkable achievement in space technology that will pave the way for new research opportunities. This collaborative effort has been made possible with the coordination and support of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

The COSPAR satellite aims to study various aspects of Earth’s atmosphere, including atmospheric dynamics and chemistry, as well as the effects of space weather on our planet. The satellite will also provide valuable data to support weather forecasting and climate modelling. With this project, the collaborating teams hope to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge and exploration.

"The expertise and resources of HEX20, LASP, NCU CAPE, LATMOS and SKYROOT have combined to make this project a reality. We are proud to be working together to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge and exploration. The COSPAR Satellite is a remarkable achievement that will benefit researchers and scientists worldwide. This joint effort is a testament to the power of collaboration and demonstrates what can be achieved when experts from different fields work together."
— Lloyd Lopez, HEX20 CEO

”In 2021, we initiated a Task Group to develop a constellation of small satellites for space science missions dealing with the ionosphere, radiation belts or the Earth atmosphere, possibly extending in the future to solar system planetary missions. The aim for COSPAR is to act as a honest broker, to coordinate the programs and then distribute science data received from various payloads developed by partnering entities world-wide. I am extremely happy to see the first step of this ambitious venture materializing, through this joint project with HEX20, LASP, NCU CAPE, LATMOS and Skyroot.”
— Jean-Claude Worms, COSPAR Executive Director

“Space is emerging as one of the fastest growing commercial sectors in Australia with unique advantages such as Australia’s physical location in the southern hemisphere, a strong platform for research training, and strong technical expertise.”
— Abdul Ekram, Austrade’s Trade and Investment Commissioner to India

About HEX20: HEX20 provides turnkey satellite mission solutions designed and delivered according to customer requirements. The modular and scalable buses can support missions for commercial and defence applications. Hex20 is currently working with its partners to build up sovereign capability within South Australia.

About LASP: LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) is a research institution located at the University of Colorado Boulder, focused on advancing space science and technology through innovative research and education.

About NCU CAPE: NCU CAPE (National Central University Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering) is a leading research center in Taiwan, dedicated to advancing the field of space science and technology. They conduct cutting-edge research, provide education and training, and collaborate with international partners to explore the frontiers of space.

About LATMOS: LATMOS (Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales) is a leading research center in France, focused on understanding the Earth's atmosphere and its interactions with space. Their research covers a range of topics, including climate change, air quality, and planetary science, and they work in collaboration with partners across the globe.

About Skyroot Aerospace: Skyroot Aerospace is an Indian space technology company that designs and manufactures rocket engines and launch vehicles. They aim to make access to space affordable and sustainable by developing innovative technologies and solutions.

About COSPAR: The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) is an international scientific organization dedicated to promoting and coordinating space research among nations. They facilitate international cooperation in space research, exchange information and ideas, and organize scientific meetings and conferences to advance the understanding of the Earth and the universe.

Reflex Aerospace is gearing up for the company’s first commercial space mission: The Berlin and Munich-based space start-up has secured a fixed slot for the rocket launch of their demo satellite.

The launch is set to occur in the fall of 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The goal of this mission is to validate new technologies in space — the demo satellite, which weighs around 120 kilograms, is currently under development and will be assembled in Munich. The local ‘micro factory‘ for the production of customer-specific satellites is scheduled to open later this year.

These steps are supported by an expansion of the so-called seed financing by a further 1.75 million euros (to a total of nearly 9 million euros). In addition to increases from existing investors, Bayern Kapital is joining the group of shareholders through its EFRE Bayern innovation fund. Bayern Kapital ranks among the most experienced and active venture and growth investors in the German
high-tech financing landscape; its investment will, among other things, support the establishment of the first micro-factory near Munich.

Driven by expected commercial order intake, seed funding is expected to increase further during the year. In addition, Starburst Accelerator – one of the most renowned European accelerators for aerospace start-ups – will also be on board in the future to support the development of the international business.

“As a new space start-up, we are of course eager to demonstrate the performance of our technologies directly in space. Therefore, we are very pleased that this milestone now comes within reach with our first fixed launch slot. The increase in our financing confirms our investors’ confidence in this goal. With this tailwind, we are pushing ahead with the construction of our micro factory, which we will open in Munich in the second half of 2023. In addition, we are fully on track to almost double our workforce across all sites to around 50 employees in 2023.”
— Walter Ballheimer, CEO of Reflex Aerospace

“We are very pleased to add Reflex Aerospace to our aerospace portfolio. Ranking among the first investors that engaged in the field of `New Space´, we have already invested in numerous exciting companies such as Isar Aerospace, Quantum Systems and OroraTech. Reflex Aerospace has a promising business model, and we are looking forward to supporting its further development.”
— Monika Steger, Managing Director of Bayern Kapital

Reflex Aerospace was founded in 2021. The Berlin and Munich-based NewSpace start-up aims to modernise the market with high-performance satellites tailored to individual needs. Through software-based operations and service-oriented offers, the company meets the needs of its customers faster, at a significantly lower cost and more flexibly than established NewSpace manufacturers today. Together with its partner companies Mynaric, Isar Aerospace and SES, Reflex Aerospace is a shareholder in the joint venture UNIO, which aims to build a European satellite constellation for broadband internet.

Last April, students from six CubeSats Teams successfully concluded the Baseline Design Review of their CubeSats as part of ESA Academy‘s new Fly Your Satellite! (FYS!) Design Booster Program — this phase of the pilot edition gave students the chance to benefit from ESA’ support to enrich and consolidate the design of their CubeSats.

The pilot edition of the new FYS! Design Booster Program aims to provide support to university teams across ESA Member States who have a preliminary design of a CubeSat and want to consolidate their detailed design.

Students learn to consider the full project lifecycle at the design stage, in terms of engineering, resources and expertise, which translates into smoother planning and execution of verification activities as well as more robust in-flight operations. Special emphasis is made on the importance of early testing, and teams are invited to work on prototypes and development models to demonstrate functionalities and performances are adequate.

In November of 2022, 80 students from different ESA Member States went through the Training Week and six teams were selected to participate in FYS! Design Booster programme.

• 6S – University: Politecnico di Milano, Italy
• AlbaSat – University: Università degli di Studi di Padova, Italy
• BIXO – University: University of Vigo, Spain
• ROSPIN-SAT-1 – University: Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania
• SAGE – University: ETH Zurich, Switzerland
• ST3LLAR-Sat1 – University: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain

The first phase of the Design Booster Program, called Baseline Design Review, occurred online from April 3-12. It is a tailored version of the standard ESA review, where key issues and discrepancies are identified to come up with reparatory actions together with ESA experts.

Student teams submitted their CubeSat Project File, which was reviewed by FYS! coordinators and ESA experts. They generated Review Item Discrepancies, which serve as an input to discussion during collocation meetings. As in a standard ESA review, more than 70 collocation meetings took place with experts of different domains such as Mission Analyses, Payload, Software, System Engineering and much more.

Continuing with this enthusiasm, students will now enter the Design Consolidation and Subsystem Testing Phase (April 2023 – February 2024), where they will adopt the experts‘ advices. They will develop in-house built subsystems which will be subjected to extensive testing. The teams will also work on implementation of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components and make sure the whole systems work together flawlessly.

The Final Design Review will be carried out in approximately a year from now. Students will be already acquainted with ESA standards and practices and will be then ready to autonomously continue developing their CubeSat projects. They will present all the lessons learned and project outlook for the future development, launch, operations and decommission.

This detailed documentation review helps students to identify eventual issues in time and even completely avoid them. The discussion during collocations enhances students‘ knowledge on the topic and allows them to receive, understand, interpret and implement sometimes complicated and not-at-first-glance clear solutions.

“Our participation in ESA’s FYS Design Booster program has been challenging, with an intense pace and many documents and collocation meetings. But above all, the first year of the programme has been a really good opportunity to learn and especially, the ESA team has helped us take our mission from a preliminary concept to many-steps closer a consolidated system. Our thanks to the team and looking forward the 2nd year.”
— ST3LLARsat1 supervising professor

”The Baseline Design Review was a very valuable experience for the SAGE CubeSat Team. We not only got a sneak peek into the review process at ESA but also got the chance to get feedback on our CubeSat design. Over a span of 13 colocation meetings, the team was able to exchange with ESA experts, discuss the RIDs and define action items. Overall SAGE got invaluable input from this review and has already started with the implementation of the defined actions. We are looking forward to the upcoming phases of the CubeSat design process!”
— student comments

”It’s a long and difficult journey to design a satellite, but the experts are there to help and guide you along the way. Just try to enjoy the journey and the possibility to learn a lot of new things,” one student concluded.