SpaceX is targeting Thursday, February 2 at 2:43 a.m. ET (7:43 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 53 Starlink satellites to LEO from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

If needed, there are additional launch opportunities the same day at 4:24 a.m. ET (9:24 UTC), and 6:05 a.m. ET (11:05 UTC), with backup opportunities also available on Friday, February 3 at 2:18 a.m. ET (7:18 UTC), 3:59 a.m. ET (8:59 UTC), and 5:40 a.m. ET (10:40 UTC).

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, and one Starlink mission.

Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Watch the live launch webcast starting about 5 minutes before liftoff. 

Fleet Space Technologies has partnered with Canadian metal exploration company, Power Nickel, which specializes in exploration of high-potential nickel, copper, gold and other battery metal prospects in Canada and Chile — the company will use Fleet Space’s ExoSphere technology to seek additional, high-grade nickel ore deposits at its NISK site in Quebec, Canada.

ExoSphere consists of highly portable sensors called Geodes, which uses ambient noise tomography (ANT) to collect subsurface data. This data is beamed to the ExoSphere constellation of LEO satellites, then relayed to computers that use machine learning to generate detailed 3D subsurface maps.

The combination of Geodes and satellite connectivity allows small teams to map vast amounts of land accurately and with little to no environmental disturbance. Plus, unlike traditional prospecting methods, which can take years to complete, the whole process takes as little as four days.

Power Nickel plans to deploy ExoSphere at its flagship NISK project to find additional high-grade nickel deposits, which generally take the form of ‘pods.’ By improving the accuracy of both deposit location and subsequent drilling, ExoSphere can help decrease land disturbance in the exploration stage.

Power Nickel believes NISK’s shallow mineral depth, established infrastructure and proximity to a hydropower source could make it one of the world’s most cost-effective and environmentally-friendly sources of high-grade nickel. Indonesia’s recent ban on nickel exports underlines Canada’s urgent need to become more self-sufficient to support the growing demand for nickel batteries in electric vehicles (EVs) and other clean energy applications.

Terry Lynch, CEO of Power Nickel, said, “Fleet Space Technologies has already successfully used this technology in Australia and now in Minnesota. By using this advanced seismic tomography approach in combination with our in-house methods, we hope to increase our chances of finding more nickel ore pods at a faster rate. The two main advantages this technology offers is that we can now explore our 45-square kilometer land package in a fraction of the time we need using traditional ground-based methods. The second advantage is that with this data we can drill less meters, but with increased impact. Use of this technology aligns well with our goal of making nickel mining cleaner, faster and more environment friendly right from the exploration phase.”

Fleet Space founder, Flavia Tata Nardini, said, “We’re delighted to see ExoSphere deployed in Canada for the first time, building on our success in the US and elsewhere around the world. As well as great technology and commercial partnership, this is a real meeting of minds. We both understand the urgent need to accelerate the discovery process for these vital minerals; but we’re also equally committed to minimising its environmental impact. Power Nickel is precisely the kind of forward-thinking, responsible enterprise ExoSphere was designed for: it’s great to be working with them on this project.”

Space logistics and orbital transportation company D-Orbit launched Starfield, the eighth commercial mission of their proprietary orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) ION Satellite Carrier (ION), and the first one in a mid-inclination orbit.

The OTV lifted off today, January 31st, 2023, at 8:15 a.m. PT (16:15 UTC) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and was successfully deployed 57 minutes later into an approximately 340km altitude and 70-degree inclination orbit.

ION is a versatile and cost-effective OTV designed to precisely deploy satellites and perform orbital demonstrations of third-party payloads hosted onboard. After the first commercial mission in September 2020, D-Orbit has completed seven more missions, including one featuring two IONs.

“A new year has just started, and we have already launched two new missions and three IONs”, said Renato Panesi, PhD, D-Orbit’s co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “I’m looking forward to facing the challenges and celebrating the victories that 2023 will bring as we steadily move along our roadmap, and I am proud to be part of the truly remarkable team that is making the evolution of space logistics possible”.

During the mission, ION SCV009, dubbed “Eclectic Elena”, will host onboard four third-party payloads:

• ADEO-N3, an autonomous braking sail developed by Munich-based space company HPS designed to help deorbit satellites in LEO (up to 900 km) faster than with natural orbital decay. ADEO can be used on satellites with flight altitudes below 900 kilometers. D-Orbit has already performed a successful deployment of ADEO’s smallest variant in December 2022. The smallest version of the ADEO family, ADEO-N3 weighs less than one kilogram, with dimensions of only 10 x 10 x 10 centimeters (1U) and a sail area of 5.0 square meters.

• NEA® Payload Release Ring (PRR) by Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company (EBAD) for the deployment of payloads/spacecraft from a launch vehicle or Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV).  Available in 8”, 15”, and 24” diameters, the NEA® Payload Release Ring consists of four NEA® release mechanisms, two ring halves, and separation springs with corresponding holders. The ring will be used to release a spacecraft simulator from ION.

• Bunny, an onboard computer developed in-house by the students of the Spacecraft Team of the Swiss Institute École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). This experiment is part of the CHESS project, which aims at launching a constellation of two CubeSats to analyze the Earth’s atmosphere chemical composition and its evolution over time and test a proof-of-concept for low-cost probes to investigate extraterrestrial atmospheres in future planetary missions.

• SD-1, a memorial payload by StardustMe consisting of a batch of aluminum machined capsules, each carrying a gram of human cremated ashes, contained in an additive-manufactured frame and enclosure. The assembly, permanently fixed to the main core of ION, will eventually re-enter the atmosphere with the host vehicle during decommissioning, providing an ultimate form of space burial.

D-Orbit’s mission control team is now conducting the launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) in preparation for the operational phase.

Starfield is ION’s second mission in 2023. D-Orbit launched its first ION in September 2020 aboard an Arianespace VEGA launcher, then six further missions aboard SpaceX Transporter missions. With this launch, the Company will have transported to space more than 90 payloads collectively.

Xplore, Inc.,’s multi-sensor XCRAFT is the first in a constellation to serve Earth Observation (EO), space domain awareness (SDA) and astronomy customers.

Xplore Inc., a space company providing space data products, data fusion and on-board computing from its multi-sensor XCRAFT, has been granted a remote sensing license from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the company’s first mission to LEO that is scheduled for launch later this year.

Xplore will offer hyperspectral imaging data, high-resolution video, and unique ultraviolet data products for EO, SDA and astronomy applications. Advanced data products will be offered by fusing data generated by the company’s diverse sets of imagers.

Xplore’s hyperspectral imagery will be offered at 2 and 5 meter resolution over dozens of contiguous bands, which is higher resolution than any available commercial offering. Xplore has solid demand from customers to deliver the highest resolution hyperspectral products for their applications.

The mission is the first launch that will build to a constellation of 12 satellites using Xplore’s XCRAFT platform carrying an industry-leading eight primary instruments. The spacecraft is optimized to observe the Earth, collect space domain awareness data and provide a scientific tool for astronomical discovery. The XCRAFT platform was designed, developed, and fabricated in-house by Xplore’s experienced engineering team and is controlled using Xplore’s Major Tom cloud-based operations platform.

Lisa Rich, Xplore Founder and Chief Operating Officer said, “We’re pleased to announce our NOAA license has been granted — it allows us to bring to market powerful multi-sensor capabilities that will let customers observe and understand our planet, the surrounding space environment and the universe in new and comprehensive ways. Xplore has appreciated efficiency, expediency and responsiveness during NOAA’s licensing process. We believe the XCRAFT and the constellation to follow will provide a level of versatility and flexibility unmatched in the commercial market today. We expect the XCRAFT to deliver the highest possible utility, so it is always gathering high-value, affordable data for our customers.”

Internally-funded LM 400 Tech Demonstrator Satellite Progresses Toward 2023 Launch

The first Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) LM 400, a flexible, mid-sized satellite customizable for military, civil or commercial users, rolled off the company’s digital factory production line and is advancing toward its planned 2023 launch.

The agile LM 400 spacecraft bus design enables one platform to support multiple missions,  including remote sensing, communications, imaging, radar, and persistent surveillance. Lockheed Martin invested in common satellite designs to support demand for more proliferated systems, high-rate production, and affordable solutions. The LM 400 is scalable and versatile starting at the size of the average home refrigerator, with capability to grow for higher power and larger payloads and packaged to enable multiple satellites per launch.

The LM 400 bus can operate in Low, Medium or Geosynchronous Earth orbits, providing greater flexibility than other buses in this class. The LM 400 space vehicle is compatible with a wide range of launch vehicles in a single, ride-share or multi-launch configuration.

“This resilient LM 400 satellite bus was created completely digitally, offering greater flexibility, commonality, and the ability to rapidly configure to order across missions,” said Matt Mahlman, director of strategy and capture at Lockheed Martin Space’s Satellite Bus Center of Excellence. “Given that, we can produce these new satellites faster and at a much lower cost to our customers.”

For potential military applications, the LM 400 conforms to Modular Open Systems Architecture standards for interoperability with other platforms from all the services. This design helps unlock the U.S. Defense Department’s vision for joint all-domain operations and joint all-domain command and control.

Each LM 400 spacecraft includes SmartSat, Lockheed Martin’s software-defined satellite architecture. SmartSat provides even greater mission adaptability and can perform onboard “Edge” data processing, which reduces the time it takes to get actionable data into the hands of mission operators and decision-makers on the ground. 

The LM 400 is already under several contracts, most recently being named as one of the satellite buses supporting U.S. Space Force’s planned Missile Track Custody program in Medium Earth Orbit.  

Company-Funded LM 400 Tech Demonstrator

The first LM 400 off the production line — coined the LM 400 Tech Demonstrator — is also the first of a planned regular series of self-funded on-orbit LM 400 technology demonstration missions.

“Our end goal is to accelerate the technical maturity of our satellites and advanced payloads, as well as showcase how new capabilities can be delivered quickly to customers,” said Mahlman. “Lockheed Martin set out on a journey to develop and deliver a highly capable space vehicle faster than ever before; and what we proved is the ability to move from concept design to an integrated spacecraft in half the time.

The first LM 400 Tech Demonstrator planned for a 2023 launch will carry a Lockheed Martin-produced narrowband communications Electronically Steered Array (ESA) payload. The next LM 400 demonstrator, expected to launch in 2024, will test synthetic aperture radar-capable ESA on orbit using the LM 400 platform.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) recently launched GAzelle satellite that is hosting NOAA‘s Argos-4 and RadMon payloads has successfully completed its on-orbit, Post Launch Acceptance Review (PLAR).

All components are confirmed in good health and satellite operations are functioning nominally. The RadMon payload commissioning phase has been completed and can begin mission operations. The Argos-4 Payload has completed its initial on-orbit checkout and has begun its commissioning process which will occur over the next three months.

GA-EMS launched the GAzelle spacecraft as a Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) mission delivery order for the Argos Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS) awarded to the company by the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Argos-4 instrument was provided by France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).

GA-EMS designed and manufactured the GAzelle satellite, performed all payload integration and testing, and coordinated the launch. GA-EMS owns GAzelle and is managing the satellite on orbit operations from its Spacecraft Mission Operations Center in Colorado.

“We are excited to see the GAzelle satellite performing as anticipated and that our mission control team has successfully confirmed a healthy operational bus environment for the Argos-4 and RadMon instruments to begin their on-orbit 5-year mission,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “With payload checkout completed, the Argos-4 instrument will begin its commissioning phase, and in a few months, it will begin delivering critical real-time data from fixed and mobile sensors to scientists and researchers worldwide as they study changes in the Earth’s environment with the goal of monitoring and protecting our Earth’s oceans and wildlife.”

“We look forward to having the GAzelle satellite join the Argos constellation as part of an international program to collect and distribute environmental data for use in applications such as ocean buoy tracking, wildlife and fishery monitoring, and maritime security,” said Gregg Burgess, vice president of GA-EMS Space Systems. “GAzelle is the first in a series of spacecraft GA-EMS is building as part of an expanding weather and science program to deliver affordable, high performance next generation satellites on-orbit for the collection and relay of global cloud characterization, weather imagery, and environmental data to support research, government, and military customer applications.”

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) Group is a global leader in the research, design, and manufacture of first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and power generation systems. GA-EMS’ history of research, development, and technology innovation has led to an expanding portfolio of specialized products and integrated system solutions supporting aviation, space systems and satellites, missile defense, power and energy, and processing and monitoring applications for critical defense, industrial, and commercial customers worldwide.

SWISSto12 is moving forward with the roll-out of the HummingSat satellite product line, thanks to fresh subscriptions in excess of 30 million euros received at the ESA Ministerial Conference Meeting. Participating states include Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands, with further subscriptions expected to soon be received.

The funding will allow SWISSto12’s HummingSat product line being developed in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to fully roll-out. Recently, SWISSto12 announced that it will produce the first satellite of this product line, the Intelsat IS-45, making SWISSto12 the first scale-up specialist in the history of the industry to sign a contract of this nature with an established telecommunications operator.

Named after the tiny, agile hummingbird, SWISSto12’s HummingSat product line is a showcase for the disruptive technologies emerging in Europe’s space landscape. Lightweight and small, it is far more cost-effective and sustainable than conventional satellites, paving the way for better connectivity across the globe.

Dr. Emile de Rijk, SWISSto12 founder and CEO, said, “At SWISSto12, we are proud to be at the core of Europe’s new space ecosystem. With our HummingSat product line, we are building a next-generation telecommunications infrastructure with the goal of reliably connecting communities and businesses. ESA has been an invaluable partner in funding and expertise along this journey. The new funding will help us to make the disruptive technology of HummingSat a global success.”

Andreas Mauroschat, ESA Partnership and Opportunity Satellites Program Manager, said, “HummingSat is a showcase for a successful ESA Partnership Project and we are delighted to support European and Canadian industry in this exciting new-space venture. The project has been set up in record time and within only a few months SWISSto12 has sold the first commercial HummingSat to global satellite operator Intelsat. ESA Partnership Projects federate the European and Canadian space industry around large-scale programmes, achieving competitive leaps forward and economic impact. They support end-to-end space systems from start-up to in-orbit validation, after which commercial partners operate the system.”

In-Space Missions Ltd. is partnering with Singapore Space Technologies Ltd. (SSTL) to initiate Faraday Dragon, an Asia-Pacific (APAC) regional satellite rideshare mission that is targeted for launch in 2025. Faraday Dragon will fly multiple payloads for regional space players including government, commercial, financial, research and educational organizations.

In-Space Missions, which is owned by BAE Systems, is collaborating with Singapore Space on a service-orientated model which aims to support and develop satellite assembly and payload integration capabilities in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. Faraday Dragon will be presented at a workshop facilitated by SSTL at the Global Space and Technology Convention (GSTC) being held in Singapore in February. The workshop will bring together key stakeholders and industry to define a future in-orbit demonstration capability. Core technologies and processes for a variety of applications will be discussed at the workshop including optical payloads (both visible and infra-red), RF sensing, radar, processors, machine learning and artificial intelligence, communications, propulsion, formation flying, metrology and timing.

The Faraday Rideshare satellite platform and service capability has been developed by In-Space Missions, with support from the UK Space Agency, to provide a full turnkey system for enabling diverse organisations to get payloads into space at a very competitive price that cannot be achieved using a dedicated satellite solution. The platform design includes innovative on-board processing to deliver sophisticated, flexible and re-configurable data from multiple sensors on board the spacecraft, providing the potential for a rich flow of data from new technologies for the downstream sector.

Value added services from Faraday Dragon could also include on-orbit processing (edge processing), subsequent timely delivery of actionable information to a user community and a full end-to-end service to customers that includes payload operations support, satellite bus operations, payload tasking and download of data via a Customer Data Portal.

In-Space Missions is also seeking partners and collaborators in theAPAC region for the InSpace Digital system, launching in 2024, to trial payload applications that can be run on the ground or uploaded (or both) and make use of a unique combination of data from multiple optical payloads, Synthetic Aperture Radar and an RF multi-band and wide band collect system.

InSpace Digital is a reprogrammable, multi-sensor system of four satellites that can be repurposed for different applications and commercial use. It can be reprogrammed to use multiple optical payloads and the RF multi-band and wide band collect system on three of the spacecraft, along with the SAR payload on the fourth, to generate pre-processed results to deliver value added data or actionable information to users. The system includes inter-satellite links between the spacecraft, precision timing and metrology and inter-satellite links via GEO for low volume data and tasking.

“The Faraday Dragon rideshare mission is designed to contribute to the regional eco-system by bringing multiple payloads together on one satellite platform to provide a more cost-effective and sustainable ride to orbit for pre-cursor missions, early service rollout, technology demonstration, and in-orbit flight qualification of new technologies. Our customers will be able to access the performance of a 150kg class small satellite for a fraction of the cost of traditional flight services as well as access our in-orbit ‘Digital’ system to take advantage of coherent multi-sensing and processing,” said Tony Holt, Chief Sales Officer for In-Space

“We are excited to be working with In-Space Missions to bring a low-cost option to space players in the Asia Pacific region. One of the biggest challenges faced by emerging players developing frontier space technologies is the cost of space heritage. It is through partnerships like this that SSTL is able to support cutting edge innovation by lowering the barriers to entry,” said Jonathan Hung, Executive Chairman at Singapore Space and Technology Limited.

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, January 26th at 4:22 a.m. ET (9:22 UTC) for a Falcon 9 launch of 56 Starlink satellites to LEO from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a and one Starlink mission.

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.