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Chris Forrester

OneWeb’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy (under the SEC’s ‘debtor in possession’ rules) on Friday, March 27, was shocking, given that the company had just launched an extra 34 satellites into orbit on March 21.

One can only imagine the nightmare – and no doubt deep depression — taking place at OneWeb’s various offices during the intervening six days.

Adrian Steckel

Following the Baikonur launch, OneWeb’s CEO Adrian Steckel said, “In these unprecedented times following the global outbreak of Covid-19, people around the world find themselves trying to continue their lives and work online. We see the need for OneWeb, greater now more than ever before.”

Steckel also spoke optimistically of more launches during the year, saying, “We think it is inevitable that there will be delays to our launch schedule and satellite manufacturing due to increasing travel restrictions and the disruption of supply chains globally. Therefore, we made the difficult decision to eliminate some roles and responsibilities as we work to focus on core operations.  We are sorry to have had to take this step and we’re doing everything we can to support those affected.”

Now the company, with its ‘debtor in possession’ bankruptcy, is actively seeking a buyer for its 74 orbiting assets and what’s left of the tarnished dream of founder Greg Wyler.

One investment banker, speaking on March 30, suggested that a potential buyer could be Eutelsat, given that the Paris-based geo-operator has no LEO plans.

However, its tough imagining how any satellite player would want the challenge of launching another 600 satellites, with the massive manufacturing obligations and with the even bigger challenge of mounting a sales and marketing campaign.

In a note on March 30, investment bank Exane/BNPP’s Sami Kassab said, “We note that Eutelsat has no broadband LEO constellation project and believe it might find an interest in looking at OneWeb for its orbital rights and market access licenses could be of value for the French operator.”

Of course, while OneWeb’s principle backer, Japan’s SoftBank, was instrumental in bringing OneWeb to its knees by declining further bail-outs, there are other investors in OneWeb who might have the deep pockets to mount a rescue, not the least if which is chip-developer Qualcomm (Q1/2020 revenues $5.07 billion) or even India’s Bharti Airtel (2020 revenues expected to be above $1 billion).

However, the challenges ahead are huge. A year ago, SES CEO Steve Collar was blunt, saying he doubted whether any of the would-be mega-constellation operators could fund the cost of finding subscribers.

Plus, the current debts are significant.  Examining the OneWeb Chapter 11 ‘debtor in possession’ documents, it is Arianespace that is the company’s top creditor and is owed $238 million in unsecured claims. OneWeb signed a contract worth $1.1 billion back in 2015 for a total of 21 launches using Ariane’s Soyuz rocket.  Three of those launches have happened, the most recent at the beginning of March when 34 satellites were orbited.

However, OneWeb also has contracts in place with Arianespace for the maiden flight of its all-new Ariane 6 rocket and has also signed options for two further Ariane 6 launches.

The company is understood to have laid off some 85 percent of its staff and has some $1.7 billion of debt.

OneWeb’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition to the Court seeks a “Restructuring to execute sale process.” The company, in its statement, stated, “OneWeb is actively negotiating debtor-in-possession financing, which, if acquired and approved by the Bankruptcy Court, will ensure OneWeb is able to fund additional financial commitments as it conducts a sale process under Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Together, these actions will allow OneWeb to meet post-petition obligations to its remaining employees and certain vendors in the ordinary course.”

Should a buyer not come forward and a full bankruptcy follow, then the 74 satellites already orbiting could fall into the hands of the UK government, along with the licenses held by OneWeb/WorldVu.

OneWeb’s shareholders are listed as:

• Softbank: 37.41%
• Qualcomm: 15.93%
• Greg Wyler*: 11.94%
• Airbus: 8.5%

*Greg Wyler 1110 Ventures LLC

OneWeb’s main backer, SoftBank, saw its share price plunging 10 percent in trading on March 30. Other investors, in addition to the listed shareholders, include Coca-Cola, Bharti Airtel, Virgin Group and others.

OneWeb’s Associated companies, also in Ch 11 bankruptcy, include…

•    Network Access Associates Limited
•    OneWeb ApS
•    OneWeb Chile SpA
•    OneWeb Communications Limited
•    OneWeb G.K.
•    OneWeb Global Limited
•    OneWeb Holdings LLC
•    OneWeb Limited
•    OneWeb Ltd
•    OneWeb Network Access Holdings Limited
•    OneWeb Norway AS
•    WorldVu Australia Pty Ltd.
•    WorldVu Development LLC
•    WorldVu JV Holdings LLC
•    WorldVu Mexico, S. DE R. L. DE C.V.
•    WorldVu Satellites Limited
•    WorldVu South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
•    WorldVu Unipessoal Lda  1021823 B.C. LTD

Not specifically itemized is OneWeb’s Florida joint-venture (OneWeb Satellites) with Airbus, which is building the company’s satellites.

In addition to Arianespace, other key creditors include…

• Qualcomm: $8.0m
• Deloittes: $6.8m
• Hughes Network Sys.: $5.3m
• Deutsche Bank:  $5.2m*
• Wipro: $2.5m
• Willis Towers: $1.9m
• Viasat: $1.2m
• Nokia: $988,000
• Redapt: $662,275
• Rockwell Collins: $596,775

*Disputed claim

It is expected that Chapter 11 will affect OneWeb’s London-based parent company (OneWeb Communications Ltd.) and its Jersey (Channel Islands) businesses OneWeb Ltd. and WorldVu Satellites Ltd.  The company’s latest Consolidated Financial Statements were filed in London on October 10 of  last year (for the year to December 31, 2018, the financials show that OneWeb had secured about $3.3 billion in equity and debt financing.) KPMG are the company’s auditors.

There are numerous formal Financial Charges listed against the company, notably with SoftBank Group Corp. on March 18, 2019, which granted SoftBank a Charge over the entire issued share capital of the company (both ordinary and preferred shares).

This failure is a major body-blow to the satellite industry and it will take time to unravel the complexities of the business. There is also a joint-venture in place with Airbus for a satellite-building facility in Florida near the Kennedy Space Centre.

More details will emerge as the bankruptcy process rolls on. CEO Steckel’s statement on March 27, which accompanied the liquidation announcement, was candid, but hopeful. He said, “OneWeb has been building a truly global communications network to provide high-speed low latency broadband everywhere. Our current situation is a consequence of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. We remain convinced of the social and economic value of our mission to connect everyone everywhere. Today is a difficult day for us at OneWeb. So many people have dedicated so much energy, effort, and passion to this company and our mission. Our hope is that this process will allow us to carve a path forward that leads to the completion of our mission, building on the years of effort and the billions of invested capital. It is with a very heavy heart that we have been forced to reduce our workforce and enter the Chapter 11 process while the Company’s remaining employees are focused on responsibly managing our nascent constellation and working with the Court and investors.”

One might say that the two remaining major mega-constellation operators, SpaceX’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper, both have very deep pockets. They’ll need them!

Note: Additional information about OneWeb’s Chapter 11 cases can be found at this direct infolink…

A compressed preview image of ICEYE radar satellite imagery,
originally acquired at 25 cm resolution, showing oil tanks
in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

ICEYE has unveiled their latest capability of 25 cm. resolution imaging with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) smallsats, using the company’s current on-orbit, commercial SAR satellite constellation.

With this very high resolution imaging capability, ICEYE SAR data achieves the same resolution class provided by larger, conventional commercial SAR satellites operating at their highest performance.

ICEYE successfully launched its first SAR satellite in January of 2018, ICEYE-X1, which achieved 10×10 meter resolution data capabilities, while also becoming the World’s first SAR satellite mission under 100 kilograms (220 pounds) in launch mass. With the company’s latest development of 25 cm. imaging from its current commercial SAR satellite constellation of three spacecraft, ICEYE data achieves the finest classification of resolution in the commercial SAR market.

Following standard industry definitions, the native slant plane resolution of the newly unveiled SAR data is 25 cm. in the azimuth direction, and 50 cm. in the range direction, before ground-plane adjustments are applied. The finest resolution data will be provided to customers in ICEYE’s standard product formats that are accessible with standard Geographic Information System (GIS) tools.

Pekka Laurila, CSO and Co-founder, ICEYE, stated that before, these resolutions have been exclusively reserved for the larger, traditional SAR spacecraft. This resolution is operationally expected to be available for ICEYE customers mid-2020 from the current on-orbit constellation.

Dr. Mark Matossian, CEO of the US subsidiary of ICEYE, noted that site activity monitoring based on very high resolution SAR data enables the firm’s customers to unlock new insights in virtually all use cases that use ICEYE’s current 1-meter resolution imaging.” — 25 cm. resolution SAR imaging is ground-breaking to come from the world’s smallest SAR satellites. Commercial and government SAR customers will be able to achieve very detailed change detection, perform improved object classification, and track ever smaller objects from orbit.

Rocket Lab has postponed the launch of its next mission in response to the COVID-19 situation. The company has posted the following…

In response to the evolving COVID-19 situation, we have paused launch preparations for our next mission to protect the health and safety of Rocket Lab team members, our families, and the wider community.

The mission was scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on 30 March UTC. Launch preparations have been paused, however, following the New Zealand Government’s announcement on 23 March NZDT to implement the Level 4 COVID-19 response which requires most businesses to close and instructs people to stay at home. We commend the government for taking this drastic but necessary step to limit the spread of COVID-19.

We have the full support of our customers in pausing operations and we are grateful for their understanding in these challenging times. We are working with the government, health officials, and our customers to determine when launch operations can resume. The launch vehicle and ground systems will remain in a state of readiness for launch as the evolving situation allows it. The majority of our team is working from home with the exception of a few essential personnel who are monitoring and maintaining critical systems.

In recent years, we have placed an increased emphasis on delivering responsive launch capability for our customers, which means having launch vehicles and pads ready for rapid call-up launch capability. As a result of this approach, we’re fortunate to have enough launch vehicles ready that we can effectively manage a pause in production and still have vehicles available for launch as soon as conditions allow.

In the days, weeks, and months to come, we’ll be following the advice of the government and health authorities to protect our teams in the United States and New Zealand.

Our deepest thanks go to the medical professionals, scientists and researchers, supermarket workers, and all those providing essential services in these trying times. We are grateful for all that you do.

Be safe and look out for each other.

At 8:16 a.m. EDT, or 12:16 UTC, on Wednesday, March 18, SpaceX launched their sixth Starlink mission.

The company’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported the Iridium-7 NEXT mission in July of 2018, the SAOCOM 1A mission in October of 2018, the Nusantara Satu mission in February of 2019, and the second launch of Starlink in November of 2019. Falcon 9’s fairing previously supported the first launch of Starlink in May 2019.

The 6th SpaceX Falcon launch of 60 Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Starlink satellites deployed in an elliptical orbit approximately 15 minutes after liftoff. Prior to orbit raise, SpaceX engineers conducted data reviews to ensure all Starlink satellites are operating as intended. Once the checkouts are complete, the satellites will then use their onboard ion thrusters to move into their intended orbits and an operational altitude of 550 km.

Watch a video replay of this launch’s webcast at this direct link…

The recovery attempt of the launch vehicle’s first stage was not successful.

Lynk (Lynk Global, Inc.) has successfully connected a satellite in LEO to an ordinary mobile phone on Earth.

The technical breakthrough enabled Lynk to send the world’s first ever text message from space to a mobile phone. This milestone, witnessed by independent third-party observers, represents the critical, industry-first next step for Lynk’s vision to use satellites to provide broadband services directly to more than five billion mobile phones on the planet, everywhere.

Lynk’s historic test took place on February 24, 2020, using the firm’s patented “cell tower in space” technology — LEO smallsats that connect directly to unmodified mobile phones. Lynk has successfully repeated the test multiple times with independent observers.

A video recording of this history-making event can be found at this direct link…

This milestone is the culmination of over a year of satellite-to-phone-on-the-ground testing involving multiple payloads in space.

Tyghe Speidel, Co-founder and VP of Technology of Lynk and the inventor of the core breakthrough technology, stated,  that this is a critical verification of the company’s revolutionary radio access network technology’s ability to compensate for the effects of placing the cell tower in orbit, which mobile standards were not designed to accommodate.

This breakthrough represents a key step in advancing Lynk’s vision to provide universal broadband connectivity to the over five billion people who have mobile phones but cannot access wireless signals everywhere. Lynk has solved what was widely considered an impossible problem in a one trillion-dollar-a-year global industry — how to provide connectivity to mobile phones across the planet, when it is cost-prohibitive to build and operate cell towers everywhere, especially in less populated areas. Lynk’s technology solves this problem of providing mobile broadband coverage everywhere on Earth, a $300-400 billion a year opportunity.

Charles Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Lynk, noted that in collaboration with nearly 30 mobile network operator partners, Lynk is actively working to deploy the first commercial product. With the permission of regulators, Lynk is confident that the company can bring a world-first solution to the market to tens-of-millions of people by the end of 2020. This is a game changer for the billions of people who own a mobile phone, for the billions who do not have affordable connectivity, and for the entire mobile communications industry. Lynk makes the impossible possible. In the near future, you will stay connected everywhere — all the time.

The successful tests also prove that Lynk’s Everyone Everywhere Emergency alerts are feasible using Lynk’s orbiting satellites. The startup’s now proven technology will enable people everywhere to get potentially life-saving alerts — from the farthest parts of the ocean, to rural areas, and to the most remote islands — of impending natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, and tsunamis. Lynk’s breakthrough will provide emergency responders with assured mission-critical communications during natural disasters when traditional ground-based cellular networks are down.

Steve Case, the Co-Founder of AOL and Chairman and CEO of the DC-based investment firm Revolution (an investor in Lynk via Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund), added that connectivity changes lives and saves lives. Lynk’s successful test brings the company one step closer to providing the 2+ billion people around the world who live and work in rural communities with affordable connectivity and the immeasurable social and economic benefits that come with it.

Mark Foster, the inventor of cell phone number portability and a Founding Partner at Blazar Ventures, an investor in Lynk, added that the company is proud of Lynk’s revolutionary and industry-transformative accomplishment. Lynk will touch the lives of billions – by connecting directly to their standard mobile phones from satellites in orbit – and provide a desperately needed alternative to conventional terrestrial towers for mobile network operators to extend coverage everywhere. Lynk’s rapid prototyping and innovative space access strategies are a key part of their success, and Blazar Ventures looks forward to Lynk’s introduction of the world’s-first satellite-to-standard mobile phone service to tens-of-millions of people by the end of 2020.

Lynk has already launched its fourth “cell tower in space” spacecraft on the SpaceX’s CRS-20 mission on March 6th. This spacecraft, which is named Lynk The World, will allow the company to expand testing in the Summer of 2020 to additional countries and partners.

Exolaunch has announced that the launch of a 3U cubesat, MeznSat, for the UAE Space Agency, will be performed aboard a Soyuz-2 rocket — the purpose of the satellite is to study and monitor greenhouse gases, specifically CO2 and Methane, over the UAE.

MeznSat is a smallsat for climate observation, manufactured by Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KUST) in partnership with the American University of Ras Al-Khaimah (AURAK) and funded by the UAE Space Agency. The satellite’s primary payload will be a shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrometer that makes observations in the 1000-1650 nm wavelength range to derive atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

The secondary payload on MeznSat will consist of a VGA camera for post-processing that brings increased precision and accuracy to the SWIR spectrometer data. The combination of visible and SWIR bands will make MeznSat a unique CubeSat mission, specifically designed to generate a rich dataset for exploring atmospheric correction algorithms.

MeznSat is scheduled for launch in mid-2020. It is accommodated on one of the upcoming Soyuz-2 federal launches as part of the small satellite cluster launch contract between Exolaunch and Glavkosmos, the operator of international commercial activities for the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos. Glavkosmos has been a reliable partner for Exolaunch, and it is pleased that the partners from the UAE have chosen a Soyuz launch vehicle for delivering MeznSat into orbit.

Photo of a Soyuz-2 launch is courtesy of Roscosmos.

Exolaunch’s experience in cubesat launches, which includes the deployment of 89 smallsats into orbit to date, will ensure the success of this important launch and initiative.

Moreover, UAE Space Agency’s goal of developing student competencies makes this a particularly exciting collaboration, as Exolaunch will be able to use its educational background to lead students through the entire process of a launch arrangement. This Soyuz-2 mission serves as a milestone for both smallsat engineering and space education.

Jeanne Medvedeva, Commercial Director at Exolaunch, said the company is proud to apply the firm’s best-in-class launch services expertise and use the EXOpod deployer for this Soyuz-2 mission. The UAE Space Agency is nurturing some of the world’s brightest young minds who apply space-based solutions to tackle global issues. It is extremely rewarding for Exolaunch to support their vision.

Khalid Al Awadi, Director of Space Mission Management at the UAE Space Agency, added that the MeznSat project broadens the horizons of UAE’s satellite capabilities, which include remote sensing, Earth observation and communications. The key objective of the project is education, in keeping with our vision to contribute to the international space sector, strengthen scientific research methodologies and develop capabilities in the UAE. Seamless launch integration and deployment are crucial for the agency’s success, and Exolaunch has the flight heritage and proven successes that can be trusted. The UAE Space Agency is also excited to confirm the launch aboard a Soyuz-2 and continue this successful collaboration after sending the first UAE astronaut to space on the rocket last year.

An Australian team is using machine learning to tackle the threat of space junk wrecking new satellites.

Research to tackle the growing need to find, capture and remove junk from space is advancing at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning in Adelaide, South Australia.

Machine Learning for Space director Tat-Jun Chin and his Adelaide-based team have won a $600,000 grant from Australia’s SmartSat CRC to continue their work in detecting, tracking and cataloging space junk.

SmartSat CRC was established last year to work with the Australian Space Agency based in Adelaide, contributing to the Australian government’s goal of tripling the size of the space sector to $12 billion and creating as many as 20,000 jobs by 2030. The space junk project is based on developing a space-based surveillance network and tackling the growing challenge of crowding in space.

Associate Professor Chin said his team was one of the first to apply an effective machine learning approach to the problem of estimating the pose of space objects from an input image so it can be removed. He said that inn order to remove a piece of debris from another spacecraft, such as by casting a net, harpooning or grabbing with a robotic arm, it is vital to estimate the position and orientation of the debris relative to the approaching spacecraft.

The project involves University of Adelaide academics and researchers partnering with Inovor Technologies and a leading Australian space firm specializing in space situational awareness. It also includes scientists from the University of Queensland and the Australian National University.

Associate Professor Chin said the center was also waiting on the results of an application to partner with the giant European Space Agency (ESA) to find novel ways to approach and remove junk from space. He said the center, based in the city’s Lot Fourteen innovation neighborhood that also houses the Australian Space Agency, had capability in its lab to further the research more broadly with robotic manipulation.He hoped to work more closely with international agencies with the research, “for a fledgling space industry and a fledgling space economy, having that international connection is vital. Space presents novel problems for artificial intelligence, for example, a lot of AI algorithms require a lot of data.”

There are a growing number of satellites being launched into space with an exponential rise expected as private companies like American entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX one of several companies that intend to launch vast constellations of small satellites into Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Space junk is created by satellites continuing to orbit once they run out of fuel, run out of propulsion or their technology becomes obsolete and they are no longer required but remain in space.

Chin added that “If you have an autonomous car, relatively speaking, it’s not so hard to get that data, by capturing it from cars being driven. You can’t do that easily for a problem in space, as the cost of developing, launching and maintaining a satellite is much more significant. This presents fundamental challenges that motivate my team to look forward to work every day.”

South Australia has been a significant player in the nation’s space industry and is home to major Tier 1 defence companies, the SmartSat CRC and several emerging space start-ups, including Fleet Space Technologies, Inovor Technologies, Myriota and Southern Launch.

The Australian Space Agency officially opened its headquarters in Adelaide this year and will build a $6 million Mission Control Center for smallsat missions and an educational Discovery Centre at their Lot Fourteen site.

Article written by Belinda Willis, Contributing Author, The Lead

A new adventure for Rocket Lab’s next rideshare mission will enable university research into Earth’s magnetic field, support the testing of new smallsat communications architecture and demonstrate a streamlined, commercial approach for getting government small satellites into space.

Rocket Lab has been given a nod of confidence from several agencies. Rocket Lab, a space technology company and major player in dedicated small satellite launches,  announced today that its next mission will deploy payloads for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space.

The launch will take place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mähia Peninsula, with a 14-day launch window scheduled to commence from March 27, 2020 NZT. The mission will be Rocket Lab’s 12th Electron launch since the company began launches in May 2017. 

The rideshare mission will launch several small satellites, including the ANDESITE (Ad-Hoc Network Demonstration for Extended Satellite-Based Inquiry and Other Team Endeavors) satellite created by electrical and mechanical engineering students and professors at Boston University. The satellite will launch as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) and will conduct groundbreaking scientific study into Earth’s magnetic field.

Once in space, the ANDESITE satellite will initiate measurements of the magnetosphere with onboard sensors, later releasing eight pico satellites carrying small magnetometer sensors to track electric currents flowing in and out of the atmosphere, a phenomenon also known as space weather. These variations in the electrical activity racing through space can have a big impact on our lives here on Earth, causing interruptions to things like radio communications and electrical systems. The ANDESITE satellite follows on from Rocket Lab’s first ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) launch for NASA, the ELaNa-19 mission, which launched a host of educational satellites to orbit on Electron in December 2018.  

The mission also carries three payloads designed, built and operated by the NRO. The mission was procured under the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract vehicle. RASR allows the NRO to explore new launch opportunities that provide a streamlined, commercial approach for getting small satellites into space, as well as provide those working in the small satellite community with timely and cost-effective access to space. This mission follows Rocket Lab’s first dedicated mission for the NRO, Birds of a Feather, which was launched on January 31, 2020 NZT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1.

The ANDESITE and NRO payloads will be joined on the mission by the M2 Pathfinder satellite, a collaboration between the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space and the Australian Government. The M2 Pathfinder will test communications architecture and other technologies that will assist in informing the future space capabilities of Australia. The satellite will demonstrate the ability of an onboard software-based radio to operate and reconfigure while in orbit. 

Rocket Lab founder and chief executive, Peter Beck, says the mission is a great example of the kind of cutting-edge research and fast-paced innovation that small satellites are enabling. 

“It’s a privilege to have NASA and the NRO launch on Electron again, and we’re excited to welcome the University of New South Wales onto our manifest for the first time, too,” he says. “We created Electron to make getting to space easy for all, so it’s gratifying to be meeting the needs of national security payloads and student research projects on the same mission.”   

“We’re excited to be partnering with Rocket Lab on another mission under our RASR contract,” said Colonel Chad Davis, Director of NRO’s Office of Space Launch. “This latest mission is a great example of the collaborative nature of the space community and our goal as space partners to procure rideshare missions that not only meet our mission needs but provide opportunities for those working with smallsats to gain easy access to space.” 

NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) ELaNa Mission Lead, Scott Higginbotham, said, “Through the CSLI, NASA engages the next generation of space explorers. This initiative provides university teams like ANDESITE with real life, hands-on experience in conducting an actual space research mission in conjunction with NASA. The students grow as professionals and NASA benefits from the research. We are truly excited about this collaborative mission.”

“We’re very excited to be launching M2 Pathfinder with Rocket Lab who have been so very flexible in accommodating our spacecraft specific needs, let alone the ambitious nine month project timeframe,” said Andrin Tomaschett, Spacecraft Project Lead at UNSW Canberra. “The success of this spacecraft will unlock so much more, for our customers and for Australia, by feeding into the complex spacecraft projects and missions our team are currently working on.” 

Rocket Lab will not be carrying out any recovery testing on the Electron launch vehicle during this mission.

The mission has been named ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ in recognition of Rocket Lab board member and avid Queen fan Scott Smith, who recently passed away. 

In Memoriam: Scott Smith

We are deeply saddened by the loss of Scott Smith, a Rocket Lab board member and dear friend to our team. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

Scott joined Rocket Lab’s board in 2015, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience from his time at Skybox, Iridium, and Digital Globe. Scott was a passionate, dedicated and kind leader who would go to great lengths to help others achieve things in space that would help everyone down here on Earth.

In losing Scott, we have lost one of the great ones. The Rocket Lab team is incredibly lucky to have known him. He left an indelible mark on the company in some of our most crucial years. We’re a better business and a better team for having known him. We are honored to have worked with one of the pioneering entrepreneurs of the space industry.

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) and OneWeb have announced that Hughes has become a worldwide distribution partner for OneWeb.

OneWeb’s constellation of LEO satellites will expand Hughes service offerings and ensure that the company’s customers can access low-latency, high-speed connectivity, wherever they are located. Applications will include enterprise and government networking, cellular backhaul and community Wi-Fi hotspots.

The new agreement expands an already successful relationship between the two companies. Hughes is an investor, through its parent company EchoStar, and an ecosystem partner to OneWeb, helping to develop essential ground network technology for OneWeb’s LEO system.

OneWeb works with carefully selected distribution partners in each of its core markets, providing new business and expansion opportunities through the low latency, global, high throughput attributes of OneWeb’s network.

OneWeb is building its initial constellation of 650 LEO satellites. By late 2021, OneWeb will be offering low latency globally, with the same capacity over the water, in the air, in previously unconnectable places and everywhere else.

Service testing on the satellites already on-orbit is underway, using gateways that Hughes is building for the network. Results are positive, including seamless satellite and beam handovers, high speeds and low latency.

The gateways feature multiple tracking antennas to support operation and handoff of high-speed user traffic to and from the LEO satellites, and can handle up to 10,000 terminal hand-offs per second – a technological and engineering breakthrough. Every OneWeb terminal, whether for fixed or mobile services, will incorporate a core module, including modem, developed and manufactured by Hughes.

Pradman Kaul, President, Hughes, said a new era of global connectivity demand is being entered, one that can only be fulfilled by a mix of data transport services, including terrestrial, geostationary and LEO satellites. OneWeb complements the company’s service portfolio with a truly global coverage, low-latency option that will enable the customers to meet their end users’ needs for connectivity everywhere.”

Adrian Steckel, CEO, OneWeb, related that connectivity is only truly valuable when it delivers the user experience that customers need, and in today’s fast-moving digital economy, businesses and civil government organizations need high quality, continuous internet access wherever they are located. The company is delighted that Hughes is joining OneWeb on the firm’s mission to deliver this vision. Hughes is already an important investor and an invaluable technology partner. 

Hughes is exhibiting at SATELLITE 2020, March 10-13, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., and is showcasing how consumers, businesses, governments and communities around the world benefit from the connected experiences enabled by Hughes technologies and services. Please visit www.hughes.com/sat20

SpaceX has now launched 242 of the 42,000 total satellites planned for the Starlink constellation, according to their latest filing and it is the largest commercial satellite constellation operating in history, despite having a mere 0.6% of the total in orbit. As a first mover and largest system in the satcom business, Starlink’s future is bound to have a butterfly effect on the rest of the small satellite market by influencing investors’ interest in other missions.

Flap Your Wings

Much like the chaos theory where the butterfly spreading its wings at the Equator can create massive unstable weather systems such as tornados in the U.S. weeks later,  spinning off Starlink for an IPO could lead to such a larger-scale impact on the small satellite market unforeseen.  NSR’s Small Satellite Markets, 6th Edition report assesses over 140 current or planned smallsat constellations. Based on the factors studied , of which the most critical is current funding and the ability to raise money (or lack thereof), it is estimated that 35% of all constellations planned are not likely to launch, with another 5% deemed at low likelihood. Of the constellations expected to launch over the next decade across all applications, Communications will dominate the market by application, with Starlink making up a major portion.

Funding is one of the biggest challenges faced by NGEO constellations, due to the scepticism and uncertainty around the business case. Investors are cautious due to lack of information and understanding about the LEO business model and are holding back until constellations currently in development like Starlink and OneWeb are further along. While OneWeb has been slow to launch and now has 40 satellites in orbit, SpaceX is following a more aggressive timeline to get satellites into orbit to reach the revenue generation stage much quicker and, to increase investors’ confidence in the project. In terms of funding, SpaceX has raised over $1 billion for Starlink. However, the CAPEX associated with manufacturing, launch and serviceability of 42,000 satellites is expected to be orders of magnitude higher than current funding, and while some of it will be recovered by revenues generated by the constellation itself, it is safe to say that it will not be enough to fund the full constellation. Furthermore, SpaceX has maintained to date that the revenues from Starlink will help fund the Starshipproject. So how does the IPO fit into this equation?

Free Cash to Flow?

Taking Starlink public has one obvious advantage — the “free” cash associated with the sales of the stock. While this cuts down the share of Starlink and therefore SpaceX’s share of the profits, the company’s valuation and the value of each share is expected to increase with the IPO, if done right. Two of the most critical factors for the success of an IPO are initial pricing and brand perception. With Elon Musk’s brand and space considered a “sunrise” industry, the latter hurdle can be considered easy to overcome. The stock price is a tricky equation to solve — if the chosen price is too low, it leaves money on the table and if too high, the stock prices can fall quite quickly bruising the company’s reputation. Assuming the shares are priced appropriately, the questions then remain:

Would cash from the IPO be enough to fund the remaining constellation as well as the Mars project?
Is the Offer of Sale (OFS) going to be part of this IPO? That is, will Starlink’s existing shareholder sell a part or all of their shares?
Will there be a follow-on public (FPO) offering? That is, will Starlink issue additional shares at a later stage for further fund raising?

The IPO Impact

At the micro level, if additional funding is required — whether through FPO or equity — and at the macro level to maintain investors’ perception of this market, it would be critical for Starlink to start generating revenues as soon as possible (and in line with their projections at the time of the IPO).

This will help increase Starlink’s market capitalization and therefore its ability to issue more equity shares at relatively high offering prices. And there lies the biggest challenge — revenue and profit generation. A major share of revenues for Starlink is expected to come from government contracts. While that is promising, maintaining a 40,000+ satellite constellation, with competition from terrestrial solutions and potentially other LEO constellations (like Amazon’s Project Kuiper), technical challenges in the ground segment as well as difficulties in obtaining landing rights can severely restrict the revenue and profits from the constellation. Managing the initial and ongoing investor and public expectations will be crucial for the long-term success of the IPO and the company’s valuation and will open investment doors for other smallsat constellations. Even though the business cases, services offered and even the target market may be different for other smallsat constellations, a system like Starlink can be highly influential to sway investors — one way or another. Similarly, if Starlink fails to meet investors’ expectations, it will not only impact Starlink’s valuation and investments in other SpaceX projects, but will also raise more concerns around the constellations business model in general, resulting in a decline in funding for similar projects.

Bottom Line 

It is hard to argue that there is a direct, albeit disproportional, link between the success of the mega constellations and the rest of the small satellite market. Small satellite constellations make up 75% of the overall market (in number of satellites). Amongst the numerous challenges NGEO constellations face including regulatory hurdles, launch and manufacturing constraints, competition, and distribution, the ability to raise funding is a critical determinant of the success or failure of a system — even if only in the short term.

Investors assess various factors before deciding to fund a company, and one of the major considerations is the competition — both as a competitor but also to draw parallels about the market they are thinking about investing into. Elon Musk and the SpaceX brand compounded with the largest and highest risk NGEO constellations has accumulated a lot of interest from investors and any updates — strategic or otherwise — will most definitely have a butterfly effect and impact most future investment in the smallsat market at-large.  

Shagun Sachdeva, NSR Senior Analyst has presented the following

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