Archives for January 2024

Muon Space, a LEO satellite constellation company, has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR Phase I contract focused on weather intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and operational mission planning.

Muon Space will perform a feasibility study to determine the benefit of modifying its multispectral Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) instrument to support the Department of Defense‘s (DoD) cloud characterization observation capability.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution.

The Department of the Air Force (DAF) began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 that expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now Muon Space will continue its journey to create and provide innovative EO/IR cloud characterization capabilities.

The USAF and USSF rely on timely, accurate cloud characterization and weather information for global defense and National Security missions; however, the DoD is navigating the challenge of replacing aging Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites currently in operation past their end of life and at risk of failure. Muon Space is developing an EO/IR constellation solution that offers a commercial path to fill these gaps and ensure mission-critical data delivery.

“The DoD is pivoting to a more resilient distributed weather satellite architecture that counts on a new generation of space companies to develop more innovative integrated sensor and spacecraft constellations,” said Greg Smirin, President of Muon Space. “This feasibility study is one of the first steps of many in Muon Space’s journey to develop a full cloud characterization observation capability and we are excited to partner with AFWERX to explore the potential applications of our technology solutions.”

Muon Space’s core offerings of data services and mission-tailored Constellation-as-a-Service has significant commercial traction across commercial, government, and civil sectors including a recently announced contract with climate tech company Hydrosat. Muon Space also earned additional funding as an option to the company’s contract with Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLMC)’s Weather Systems Branch and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to collect ionospheric data on their MuSat-2 satellite mission. Announced in July, this is an expansion in scope to the original contract awarded to Muon Space in September 2022 to develop a space-based prototype for global weather sensing.

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) received a contract with a potential value of up to $919 million to design and build 18 infrared space vehicles for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 2 (T2) Tracking Layer program that will provide near-global missile warning and tracking coverage.

L3Harris designed the missile defense solutions to support the U.S. military’s ongoing effort to build a robust constellation of satellites to protect against a new generation of hypersonic weapons that have increased speed, unpredictable flight trajectories and faint heat signatures.

The company’s technology will also support preliminary fire control capability for the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

In advance of this T2 Tracking Layer program win, L3Harris designed, developed and built four satellites in less than three years for the SDA’s Tranche 0 (T0) Tracking Layer program. Those T0 satellites will launch together with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellite. With an anticipated launch in early 2024, the DoD will be able to warn, track and target advanced threats concurrently by launching the T0 and HBTSS satellites together.

L3Harris is also building a 16-vehicle satellite constellation for SDA’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer program, which follows the T0 Tracking Layer capabilities with targeted technology enhancements, expanded coverage, increased integration and greater production efficiencies, which will begin to build out the operational space-based constellation and be used to inform future capabilities of the PWSA.

“Space remains a growth engine, and we are well positioned to provide innovative solutions after having made significant investments in technology for space vehicles, payloads and ground software,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, Chair and CEO, L3Harris. “The SDA’s latest decision is another example of L3Harris listening to customers, knowing the threats and delivering value for stakeholders while supporting our country.”

French satellite operator Kinéis, a global connectivity provider and pioneer of the new French space sector, raised a historic €100 million in 2020. Since then, its teams have been working on the design of the Kinéis system, a revolution in satellite-based Internet of Things (IoT). In 2024, Kinéis is preparing for a decisive stage in the roll-out of its system.

Between June 10th and July 9th, 2024, the Toulouse-based company will carry out the first of five launches to put into orbit its constellation of 25 nanosatellites, the first European constellation dedicated to IoT. This first launch will take place with Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher from the Pacific coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Almost 90% of the Earth’s surface is not covered by terrestrial networks (black spots). Kinéis’ spatial IoT provides a direct and unique response to complement these networks. Kinéis’ mission
is to connect and locate any object, anywhere on the Earth’s surface (including black spots), and
to guarantee the transmission of data from the connected object to users anywhere in the world
in near-real time, at low bit rates (small messages), with very low energy consumption. To
accomplish this mission, Kinéis has inherited more than 40 years’ expertise in data collection from
space, thanks to CNES (French space agency) and CLS, the project’s founders.

Kinéis operates for a global market in areas that represent major challenges for human life and
the environment: agriculture, early detection of forest fires, water resource management
(flooding, drought, pollution, distribution), traceability of wild and farmed animals, monitoring of
energy infrastructures and networks (leak detection and monitoring), transport and logistics
monitoring, monitoring of commercial and scientific maritime activities, security (search and
rescue) and defence.

A top-class cast from the Toulouse space ecosystem is supporting Kinéis in this satellite IoT
revolution, including Hemeria (development of the platform and industrialization of the
satellites), Thales Alenia Space, Syrlinks from the Safran group (payload and mission center)
and Comat (antennas). CNES) has also provided unfailing support and expertise to Kinéis from the start of the project. The project is also financially backed by Bpifrance, CLS and other major
players, such as BNP Paribas Développement, CELAD, Maison Julien and Kelly Dassault, and
Ethics Group.

As is the case with most space missions, Kinéis has also created its patch, a woven patch that represents the most important aspects of its project: global connectivity, a network of ground stations, varied applications and the end user.

Commenting on the announcement of the first launch, Alexandre Tisserant, Kinéis CEO, said: “I’m very pleased to announce the launch window for this launch, which initiates the placing in orbit of the Kinéis constellation, the first European constellation dedicated to the Internet of Things. With 5 launches planned in the coming months, Kinéis is in the final stage of bringing this unique project to fruition, four years after raising its historic funds. All our teams are mobilized to make this event a technical, operational and commercial success.“

2024: the Kinéis Space Olympiad — the first half-year:

• January: announcement of the launch window for the 1st launch
• February: nanosatellites industrialized
• March: press visit to the manufacturer in Toulouse
• April: announcement of the final launch date / departure of the 1st satellites for New
  Zealand
• May: campaign to prepare the 5 satellites in New Zealand for the 1st launch. The 5 launches needed to deploy the Kinéis constellation are then scheduled over several months, starting in late spring 2024.

The ‘Four of a Kind’ mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than January 18 between 19:15-20:00 NZT (January 18 between 06:15-07:00 UTC) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The mission will deploy four Space Situational Awareness (SSA) satellites for Spire Global, Inc’s customer NorthStar Earth & Space. 

NorthStar´s satellites, built and operated by Spire, will be the first to simultaneously monitor all near-Earth orbits from space, delivering an enhanced level of SSA services to the global satellite community, with timely and precise information for space object detection, tracking, orbit determination, collision avoidance, navigation, and proximity alerts.

As a secondary mission, Rocket Lab will be attempting to splash down and retrieve Electron’s first stage as part of the Company’s plan to evolve Electron into a reusable rocket. After launch and stage separation, Electron’s first stage will return to Earth under a parachute and splash down in the Pacific Ocean several hundred kilometers down range from Launch Complex 1. Rocket Lab’s recovery vessel will extract the stage from the water for transportation back to Rocket Lab’s production complex where it will undergo detailed analysis. Rocket Lab is not launching any pre-flown engines as part of this mission.

‘Four of a Kind’ will be Rocket Lab’s first launch as part of a sold-out launch manifest for 2024 and will be the Company’s 43^rd Electron mission overall.

“With each recovery mission we iterate toward Electron reusability and with recent launches we’ve made significant leaps forward with more successful splashdowns, recoveries and the first launch of a pre-flown Rutherford engine,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “We’re looking forward to putting advanced heat-shielding and waterproofing systems to the test on this mission as one of the final steps before re-flying an entire first stage. To launch an advanced mission like this with Spire as a mission partner is a real privilege, as they were on our very first orbital mission in 2018. To be partnered up again and both still pushing boundaries with new technology and capabilities all these years later is a great full circle moment.”

Spire Global co-founder and CEO, Peter Platzer, said, “As we approach the launch of NorthStar’s SSA satellites, this moment not only signifies a technological milestone but also underscores the meticulous collaboration that has shaped this mission. Through our joint efforts with Rocket Lab, we’ve been able to offer the flexibility of a dedicated launch tailored precisely to NorthStar’s mission requirements. In tandem, Spire’s Space Services team, working closely with Rocket Lab, has played a pivotal role in constructing and customizing all mission components, ensuring seamless alignment with NorthStar’s unique needs. This collaboration is a testament to our commitment to removing barriers in space business and contributing to a more sustainable future in space.”

Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) has revealed Project Stardust, the evolution of the company’s Direct-to-Device (D2D) strategy with 3GPP 5G standards-based Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) Non-Terrestrial Network (NB-NTN) service development. As a new standards-based solution, this technology will be deployed on Iridium’s existing satellite network, giving the company the ability to offer high-quality proprietary and standardized D2D and IoT services to customers.

The early stages of programming Iridium’s LEO satellites offers a special opportunity to smartphone companies, OEMs, chipmakers, mobile network operators (MNO) and related IoT developers to have their requirements woven into the fabric of the Iridium^® network. Iridium is already collaborating directly with several of these companies.

“This is an exciting moment for Iridium and is a testament to the flexibility and capability built into our satellite constellation,” said Iridium CEO Matt Desch. “The industry is moving quickly towards a more standards-based approach, and after surveying the field, we found that we’re the best positioned to lead the way using our own network, particularly given our true global coverage.”

Iridium is designing its initial NB-IoT offering to support 5G NTN messaging and SOS capabilities for smartphones, tablets, cars, and related consumer applications. Adopting the service will enable device manufacturers to add a satellite connection to standardized devices, take advantage of existing, globally allocated and coordinated Iridium spectrum, and provide a superior low-latency LEO user experience. 

The Iridium network supports approximately 1,300 SOS and emergency (911 or equivalent) incidents per year, around the world and has readily available systems, processes, and partners to implement this capability for new devices.

Iridium understands the market need for its customers to develop and certify products quickly. Applying our established onboarding processes, chipmakers and NB-IoT developers can join Iridium’s ecosystem of about 500 partners, and choose a proprietary, standards-based, or dual-solution integration approach for added network redundancy. MNOs will have the opportunity to be a one-stop shop for ubiquitous coverage and off-grid use cases, with unmatched industry reliability. Iridium partners are supported by a 24/7 customer support, back office, billing, and provisioning system, all ready to support the new service upon launch.

The Iridium satellite constellation’s fully crosslinked, LEO architecture and global L-band spectrum provides a competitive service advantage versus other LEO and geostationary satellite networks. Certified to provide safety of life services by international regulatory bodies, the Iridium network has become the gold standard of reliability and continues to be the only network that provides connectivity everywhere on Earth. Operating in LEO, the Iridium constellation does not suffer from the same line-of-sight limitations, significant power requirements or outages that can affect entire regions from a single satellite as faced by geostationary systems.

As of the third quarter of 2023, Iridium subscribers have grown at a 15% CAGR over the last five years, and the company serves approximately 1.7 million IoT customers today, including about 900,000 personal trackers and satellite messengers for consumer, enterprise, and government applications. Known for its reliability, coverage, and low power requirements, the Iridium network is an ideal fit for NB-IoT NTN service.

The company is currently working with several D2D and IoT-focused companies to understand and incorporate their use cases, requirements, and end-user needs into its planned service. The company anticipates testing to begin in 2025, with service in 2026.

GomSpace has signed a contract with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

The contract covers the first phase of a project to develop a 16U cubesat. The contract value is 4.7 million Swedish Krona and the work will be carried out during the first half of 2024.

“GomSpace has developed solutions and missions with DLR before, recently with a successful demonstration of an optical communication payload onboard a Cubesat. It is a testament to GomSpace ability and quality, that DLR once again puts their trust into us,” said Carsten Drachmann, CEO of GomSpace.