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Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) and GomSpace Group AB (GOMX) signed a strategic partnership to provide government and commercial customers in the Americas with new space-based mission capabilities leveraging CubeSat’s and SmallSats. This partnership combines SAIC’s expansive mission domain knowledge, engineering, software, and integration capabilities, with GomSpace’s spacecraft technologies to achieve best-in-class solutions that can be rapidly deployed.  The partnership will also deliver system elements such as software products, spacecraft components, fully integrated spacecraft, reliable in-orbit services and mission operations. SAIC becomes the exclusive U.S. integrator of GomSpace satellites and licensed product distributor, services reseller and space vehicle and mission integrator for GomSpace’s U.S. Government customers.

The agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, was signed at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, by David Ray, SAIC Senior Vice President of Space, and Frank Tobin, Executive Chairman of GomSpace North America. 

“I am delighted to enter into this strategic partnership with SAIC”, says Carsten Drachmann, CEO of GomSpace, “SAIC is heavily investing in space capabilities and systems integration for critical missions like space domain awareness, autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations, and in-orbit servicing, This in combination with GomSpace’s extensive flight heritage in the SmallSat market, creates a very strong and competitive value proposition to both commercial and government customers in the US and across the Americas”.

Both companies have made recent advancements in space capability. SAIC is investing in a Space Systems Development Center within its 300,000 square foot Integration Facility in Charleston, South Carolina. The facility will perform payload, CubeSat, SmallSat, and launch rideshare integration in a single continuous flow. 

GomSpace’s experience in designing and manufacturing satellite components and integrated satellite solutions pairs well with the space systems integration and government mission expertise of SAIC. The companies are developing a joint technology road map which will accelerate them toward the future development of exciting new space capabilities. 

Astrocast has concluded Heads of Terms for an investment agreement with Thuraya Telecommunications Company, the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider, Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC (“Yahsat” or “the Group”), the UAE’s flagship satellite solutions provider.

The transaction will be in the form of a convertible loan valued a $17.5 million and marks Thuraya’s first investment in a LEO satellite constellation. As part of the agreement, both parties will also look to extend a technical cooperation agreement for another four years that was originally entered between Astrocast and Thuraya in 2019.

Astrocast operates a leading, global, smallsat IoT network with a focus on enabling low power, wide area connectivity solutions across core industries that include Transportation and Logistics, Oil & Gas, Utilities, Mining, Forestry, Agriculture, and Maritime. The agreement with Astrocast aims to strengthen Thuraya’s positioning in the IoT market and help expedite the execution of the company’s strategy for satellite enabled IoT.

“We look forward to working together with Astrocast to execute this strategic investment which highlights our continued belief in the outsized impact of the IoT sector for the space and satellite industries. We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with Astrocast as we mutually explore ways to expand our service offering across GEO and LEO assets to unlock greater growth potential. Through this agreement, we are committed to enabling innovative solutions in the Maritime, Energy, Logistics, Transportation, Mining and Agriculture industries.” — Ali Al Hashemi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Yahsat.

“We are delighted to have secured this agreement with Thuraya, as we anticipate their support and expertise in guaranteeing Astrocast’s success in the low-power narrowband IoT market in the future. Our partnership with Thuraya has been solid for the past four years, and their continuous support is incredibly important to us. In addition, collaborating on creating new products and applications and leveraging the Thuraya distribution network will expedite the expansion of our customer ecosystem.”— Fabien Jordan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Astrocast.

Space technology company ALE has announced the firm’s plans to launch the next SKY CANVAS satellite into orbit, a major step forward in the world’s first, human-made, shooting star project.

This is the first step toward ALE realizing the company’s ambition to usher in a new era of sustainable space entertainment over the next decade, boosting the global space business as well as advancing essential climate science research and education.

The new ALE-3 satellite — scheduled to launch in 2024 — will gather climate information in the mesosphere, the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere directly above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. Atmospheric data gathered in the mesosphere has the potential to provide valuable new insights into Earth’s climate and weather.

The latest news about ALE-3 follows the launch of ALE’s SKY CANVAS Community Club, a dynamic platform dedicated to fostering the exchange of knowledge and actively sharing ideas around space, astronomy, and science. The SKY CANVAS Community Club will provide a place for members to be kept informed about exciting developments at ALE, including the human-made shooting star experience, with lots more exciting benefits to be announced, in due course.

ALE has already completed two successful SKY CANVAS satellite launches (ALE-1 and ALE-2), putting two satellites into orbit in January and December of 2019. The next SKY CANVAS satellite launch (ALE-3) will take place in 2024, and the first commercial service of SKY CANVAS is scheduled to take place in 2025, when ALE hopes to inspire a new generation of space and science enthusiasts across the world by giving them the opportunity to view the world’s first live human-made meteor shower.

The SKY CANVAS Community Club is an edutainment project where space enthusiasts can:

• Meet like-minded space fanatics in ALE’s online Discord community
• Get access to interesting educational content in the form of interviews, presentations, and AMAs with space industry experts and thought leaders
• Follow the journey of SKY CANVAS as ALE prepares to deliver the first ever human-made shooting star experience
• Find out about other exciting space related news and events
• Obtain lots of member-only benefits as VIP Pass holders

“The mesosphere represents a critical part of Earth’s climate system. Indeed, the mesosphere is where the ozone protecting us from harmful ultraviolet radiations is produced and where atmospheric tides occur shaping the large scale atmospheric movement. Investigating the mesosphere is of utter importance to combat climate change and SKY CANVAS is uniquely capable to bring very valuable large multi-point measurements with its human-made meteor shower. SKY CANVAS represents an amazing outreach opportunity to inspire the next generation of STEM students and bring a novel and mesmerising experience for people on Earth, allowing ’space entertainment’ to be fully intwined with high level space and Earth’s climate science.” — Dr. Gilles Bailet, Research Associate in Emerging Space Technologies at University of Glasgow.

“Our purpose and our strategic goal at ALE is to create a space entertainment market by the 2030s that supports fundamental science, and to become a pioneer in this market. Fundamental science is a source of innovation and contributes to social and economic development through the accumulation and sustained creation of new knowledge, findings, inventions, and other research results. ALE’s values are the fundamental sciences themselves, and we believe that their promotion is extremely important. ALE embodies the power of fundamental science in our three core values: curiosity, pathfinder and evolution.” — Dr. Lena Okajima, founder and CEO of ALE

Ovzon has received a new order for Ovzon SATCOM-as-a-Service from their partner, Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) — the service will be delivered during the second quarter of 2023.

Ovzon’s SATCOM-as-a-Service is a leading, integrated, satellite communications solution and includes Ovzon’s mobile satellite terminals, highly resilient and high-performance satellite networks industry service and support.

With this order, Ovzon further deepens its collaboration with SSC in the continued dialogue with customers within Swedish government agencies. SSC is also a crucial partner in the delivery of the service.

“We are very pleased to receive this new order from SSC. We look forward to further expand our already excellent collaboration. Our own satellite Ovzon 3, with its unique capabilities, is high on the agenda. Together with SSC, we provide the Swedish market with a world leading, integrated, and highly efficient satellite communication service based on Swedish technology and innovation.”” — Per Norén, CEO of Ovzon.

Comtech recently secured multiple orders for significant quantities of the company’s CDM-780 high-speed software defined modems — these modems will be delivered to satellite operators as well as to the DoD who will be assessing, evaluating, and fielding these modems in a variety of scenarios to enable broad scale government and commercial deployments to provide end users with access to high-speed connectivity in some of the hardest to reach places in the world.

Comtech’s CDM-780 is one of the highest capacity, Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) gateway SATCOM solutions available today. Through a software-defined architecture, the CDM-780 is designed to readily adapt and evolve over time to deliver SATCOM services that can transition across HTS and vHTS networks, as well as LEO/MEO/GEO constellations.

“Our CDM-780 is uniquely positioned to support the blending of communications services across multiple, diverse satellite orbits and networks. These contracts illustrate our continuing technology leadership and fluency in future networking capabilities that can help our customers democratize access to communications and empower individuals, communities, businesses, and governments across the globe.” — Ken Peterman, President and CEO, Comtech

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) recently completed a critical design review (CDR) for the firm’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL), part of Space Development Agency’s (SDA) LEO network designed to communicate vital information to wherever it’s needed to support U.S. troops on the ground, quickly and securely.

The Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) communication satellites will provide resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport supporting U.S. military missions around the world. Designed to connect elements of an integrated sensing architecture, the network will deliver persistent, secure connectivity, and serve as a critical element for advancing the U.S. Department of Defense’s vision for Joint All Domain Command and Control.

SDA formerly announced that Northrop Grumman is under contract to provide the agency with 56 satellites, including the 42 communication satellites in the Tranche 1 Transport layer and 14 for the Tranche 1 Tracking layer, which includes an infrared sensor payload. The Tracking layer program recently completed its preliminary design review. Northrop Grumman is also providing the ground system for both its Transport and Tracking constellations.

“We are leveraging our commercial marketplace partnerships to deliver a rapid, affordable, highly effective solution for SDA. Our T1TL solution builds on our decades of end-to-end mission expertise. We are uniquely capable of delivering a credible capability to support the warfighter.” — Blake Bullock, vice president, communication systems, strategic space systems, Northrop Grumman

The Norwegian Space Agency’s NorSat-TD satellite was successfully launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California — the satellite is fitted with a ThrustMe NPT30-I2 iodine fueled electric propulsion system.

Extending the satellites’ lifetime through collision avoidance and end-of-mission deorbiting soon will not be an option but the only solution to keep space activities. The tens of thousands of satellites to be launched in the next decade heighten global concerns about the need to manage both the growth of satellites and the potential for damaging debris from poorly managed space systems. The economic and environmental sustainability of the space industry will increasingly rely on efficient and effective propulsion solutions.

That the Norwegian Space Agency technology demonstrator mission NorSat-TD was successfully launched with the iodine electric propulsion system NPT30-I2 is evidence of the growing trend toward onboarding such systems on contemporary satellites. Committed to the safe and sustainable use of space, ThrustMe propulsion technology included on the NorSat-TD mission was selected for its technical merits and relevance to the mission parameters.

Designed for the next generation of streamlined satellites, the NPT30 is an intelligent, turnkey, electric propulsion system that uses solid iodine propellant. It provides the high total impulse required by these satellites for deployment, significant orbit changes, collision avoidance maneuvers, and end-of-life removal to minimize space debris and free up critical operational orbits.

With one more system on-orbit, ThrustMe enhances the Norwegian capacity to navigate and operate the NorSat-TD satellite in LEO. Highlighted goals of this mission include enhancing the space agency’s experience with propulsive satellite operations and improving its space safety capacity by supporting the development of space situational awareness and traffic management systems for Norway’s upcoming future missions.

Funding for the system on this mission was underwritten by the French space agency CNES as an institutional partner to the mission. Industrialization of ThrustMe’s NPT30-I2 product portfolio is supported by the European Commission via the EU-funded EMBRACE II project.

ThrustMe is the go-to provider of high-performing on-orbit space propulsion and space hardware testing solutions for customers across the globe. It offers a portfolio of disruptive, deeply integrated and smart in-orbit space propulsion solutions designed for the emerging industrialized constellation space era. The company was the world’s first to demonstrate an iodine-fueled electric propulsion system in space and in so doing achieved a goal the space industry had pursued for over 60 years. Today, ThrustMe is delivering propulsion systems to major satellite constellations backed with support from ground testing to in-orbit maneuvering strategies.

Blue Canyon Technologies, a Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) subsidiary, will design and manufacture three smallsats to support NASA’s Investigation of Convective Updrafts, or INCUS, mission. The principal investigator is Susan van den Heever of Colorado State University.

The INCUS mission — led by Colorado Stare University and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – aims to better understand the complex dynamics of thunderstorms and their impact on Earth’s climate and weather models.

Blue Canyon’s smallsats will fly in tandem coordination, each displaying a dynamic atmospheric radar and dynamic microwave radiometer measuring the atmospheric conditions of Earth.

Blue Canyon’s work will be performed at the firm’s Crescent Constellation Factory located in Lafayette, Colorado.

“BCT’s successful science exploration programs and our experience controlling large flexible structures will be key to supporting this critical science mission.” — Jeff Schrader, President, Blue Canyon Technologies.

Orbital Sidekick (OSK) recently engaged in the successful launch of GHOSt 1 and 2, the first satellites in the company’s planned GHOSt() (Global Hyperspectral Observation Satellite) constellation — this was accomplished aboard the Transporter 7 rideshare mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

OSK will deploy four more satellites later this year aboard the Transporter 8 and Transporter 9 rideshare missions to complete the company’s initial constellation. By year’s end, GHOSt will consist of six equivalent, hyperspectral imaging smallsats, each featuring a proprietary hyperspectral imager unique to OSK.

Now in orbit, these first two GHOSt satellites will capture nearly 500 bands of light across the electromagnetic spectrum, with 20x greater sensitivity than traditional monitoring. The payload will produce the highest resolution, commercial, hyperspectral imagery ever in orbit, with a ground sampling distance of eight meters. This advanced imaging capability will support OSK’s Spectral Intelligence Global Monitoring Application (SIGMA) platform, which provides access to OSK’s data archive, analytics engine, and intelligent satellite tasking system for commercial and inherently governmental applications.

OSK’s current customers include major energy companies Energy Transfer, Williams, ONEOK, and Colonial Pipeline Co. (CPC). The company is also a partner of the intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE) which supports emerging technologies for improved pipeline integrity and leak detection. Further, OSK will advance its mineral exploration efforts, leveraging its advanced, hyperspectral sensor and analytics to support sustainable operations in the industry. The launch of GHOSt is enabling frequent monitoring of global oil and gas pipeline assets, and mineral exploration initiatives, through its SIGMA() intelligence platform and will enhance the industry’s ability to meet and exceed compliance and regulatory obligations while supporting environmental sustainability pursuits and a low carbon future.

In addition to the energy and mining sectors, the company has secured government contracts to supply hyperspectral data to the United States Department of Defense through its partnerships with In-Q-Tel, the U.S. Air Force (U.S.A.F.) and U.S. Space Force (USSF). In March, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) selected OSK for its latest focus area study of commercial, space-based, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) capabilities under the agency’s Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), further strengthening OSK’s relationship with the defense and intelligence communities.

GHOSt builds on the constellation’s satellite precursors, named Aurora and HEIST, which launched in June 2021 and September 2018, respectively. These space-based technology demonstrator sensors established the company’s capability to operate in space while providing enhanced data sets for commercial, government, and scientific entities.

Today, OSK’s market-leading sensing capabilities will enable its customers in the energy, government and defense, extraction, infrastructure, agriculture, and forestry industries to make vital decisions with expansive coverage, rapid revisit times, leading-edge spatial resolution, and greater spectral capability than any competing service.

“From day one, OSK’s strategy has been about commercializing the highest resolution hyperspectral imagery and intelligence available. The successful launch of our first two GHOSt constellation satellites signifies our team’s ability to execute on this vision, while scaling our commercial product and establishing our leadership position in the market.” — Dan Katz, CEO, Orbital Sidekick

“It’s gratifying to see our goal of commercializing this cutting-edge technology come to fruition. The GHOSt constellation will now offer unparalleled insights into critical infrastructure and areas of the planet, enabling us to reach new heights in supporting sustainability and safety efforts, anywhere in the world.” — Tushar Prabhakar, COO, Orbital Sidekick

Blue Canyon Technologies, a Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) subsidiary, will design and manufacture three smallsats to support NASA’s Investigation of Convective Updrafts, or INCUS, mission. The principal investigator is Susan van den Heever of Colorado State University.

The INCUS mission — led by Colorado State University and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – aims to better understand the complex dynamics of thunderstorms and their impact on Earth’s climate and weather models.

Blue Canyon’s smallsats will fly in tandem coordination, each displaying a dynamic atmospheric radar and dynamic microwave radiometer measuring the atmospheric conditions of Earth.

Blue Canyon’s work will be performed at the firm’s Crescent Constellation Factory located in Lafayette, Colorado.

“BCT’s successful science exploration programs and our experience controlling large flexible structures will be key to supporting this critical science mission.” — Jeff Schrader, President, Blue Canyon Technologies.