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A satellite designed and built by Open Cosmos to gather and monitor crucial agriculture data for Andalucía has passed three milestone reviews and is on track to launch this year. 

The new satellite has been commissioned by the Junta de Andalucia through the Andalusian Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency (AGAPA), co-financing by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) in the framework of the SmartFood project. SmartFood is one of the projects led by LifeWatch ERIC, a European Research Infrastructure Consortium providing e-Science research facilities to scientists to support society in addressing key planetary challenges. The satellite will monitor the effects of farming on the territory and its natural resources, to inform future policies on preserving the environment and enabling sustainable farming in the region. 

Now that the satellite has passed its Critical Design Review milestone, it will start assembly and readiness tests. As long as it passes this next stage, the satellite will be able to launch in 2023 on a Falcon 9 from SpaceX. 

The new satellite is similar to MENUT, a 6U EO nanosatellite which Open Cosmos launched earlier this year. However, what sets the Andalusian nanosatellite apart is that the satellite will be combining EO technologies with an IoT radio which can communicate with sensors on the ground that are performing activities such as monitoring soil moisture or crops water content. The IoT radio can then take this information and make automatic decisions based on pre-agreed metrics, such as commanding the sensor to alter the percentage of water in the soil by watering it.

This edge computing takes place in real-time, removing the process of manual decision-making on the ground, and could have significant impacts on agricultural territory management on a large scale. Additionally by combining EO data with IoT, both acquired on the same platform, increases the effectiveness of small satellites, by making sense of the huge reams of data produced by the satellite and making it more actionable. This is all part of Open Cosmos’s mission to make critical space data more accessible to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges. 

The satellite can be part of the OpenConstellation, a global shared satellite infrastructure built and managed by Open Cosmos. Countries, institutions and companies are able to contribute their own satellites, which will create the world’s biggest mutualized constellation. 

These satellites will make it easier for organizations to access satellite data to address challenges around the climate crisis, energy, natural resources and more without having to launch and manage their own satellite with Open Cosmos taking care of the whole end-to-end process. Subsequent Open Cosmos-built small satellites, contributed by leading space organizations in the UK, Spain and Portugal for OpenConstellation, are already being built and will be launched throughout 2023 and 2024.

Senior Mission Manager Jordi Castellvi, said, “We’re delighted that the Andalusian satellite has passed its milestone reviews, including the critical design review, and is now undergoing assembly and testing. This satellite is going to be extremely important in analyzing the effects of farming and the use of natural resources in the Andalusian region and the inclusion of an IoT radio which will communicate with sensors on the ground will be transformative in enabling better agricultural territory management. Our aim is to democratise access to space, particularly for local and regional governments and organisations, and this satellite will be a clear example of what can be achieved when critical space data is more readily available.” 

On Thursday, March 9th, SpaceX launched the OneWeb 17 mission to LEO via a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40 — photo below) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, and seven Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Innoflight has been selected by Northrop Grumman Corporation as a strategic avionics supplier for the Space Development Agency (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) program.

Last year, SDA announced the award of three prototype agreements worth approximately $1.8 billion to establish the foundation for T1TL, a mesh network of 126 optically interconnected Space Vehicles (SV) that will provide a resilient, low-latency, high-volume data transport communication system, and be ready for launch by September 2024.

Northrop Grumman was one of the awardees and is responsible for providing 42 SVs to be deployed in two, LEO, orbital planes. The T1TL objective is to form the initial warfighting capability tranche of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

For T1TL, Innoflight will leverage its range of flight proven products to advance its technologies to higher levels. Specifically, Innoflight will be delivering to Northrop Grumman S-band software-defined radios (SDRs) for Telemetry, Tracking, and Control (TT&C) data links, Type-1 “bulk” and “mesh network” End Cryptographic Units (ECUs), network Internet Protocol (IP) routers with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), network Ethernet switches, flight processors with on-orbit data storage — including Battle Management Command, Control and Communications (BMC3), and precision navigation timing.

“Innoflight is proud that Northrop Grumman selected Innoflight for the T1TL program. We have been working diligently with Northrop Grumman for some time and we believe our joint expertise will be beneficial to successfully deliver cutting-edge technology at volume to support our warfighters,” said Jeff Janicik, Innoflight CEO and President. “Our strong collaboration has already yielded significant progress towards completing the design of advanced SV sub-systems in scope.”

CesiumAstro has been awarded a contract through the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) Space Development Agency (SDA) to advance the company’s multi-beam, L-band, active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna.

Building upon prior efforts, CesiumAstro will continue developing the Link 16–compatible AESA ahead of the agency’s migration to the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) global satellite network, the LEO-based satellite constellation built to enable key DoD space capabilities.

Work will focus on optimizing the antenna to support U.S. and allied military forces’ common operating picture across the global battlespace. The company’s industry-leading experience with active phased array technology will allow it to move quickly to fulfill SDA’s Transport Layer mission requirements.

CesiumAstro’s flat panel AESA will strengthen SDA’s information and decision advantages by using multiple beams to connect satellites to many dispersed users simultaneously, disseminating critical information to the warfighter faster. Further, the antenna directs beams without physically moving or requiring the movement of a satellite, and is software-defined to enable reprogrammable, “on the fly” adaptability to dynamic battlefields.

In committing to providing technological and military advantages for the space domain, CesiumAstro has aligned its active phased array product roadmap to match the anticipated needs of the DoD and PWSA.

“This award spotlights the upcoming advancements in national security made possible by software-defined active phased array antennas,” said Shey Sabripour, founder and CEO of CesiumAstro. “Providing SDA with a multi-beam array increases architecture flexibility and capacity for enhanced theater coverage.”

“Our modular solution scales to support a wide variety of missions,” said Trey Pappas, Vice President of Business Development at CesiumAstro. “As a retired Marine Corps aviation officer, I greatly appreciate this capability as a game-changer to adapt the Transport Layer to fully support tactical users across the globe.”

Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX) has received an award valued at more than $250 million to design, develop and deliver a seven-vehicle missile tracking satellite constellation, as well as support launch and ground operations by the Space Development Agency.

Once deployed, the LEO constellation of networked satellites will become the fifth plane of satellites providing missile warning and tracking for the Department of Defense (DoD). The program is a key element of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

Raytheon Technologies has been developing missile warning systems for decades. Since acquiring Blue Canyon Technologies and SEAKR Engineering, Raytheon Technologies has expanded its space payload and satellite bus capabilities and expertise, becoming a leading provider of space systems to a growing number of programs.

Raytheon will leverage existing designs, available commercial products and common components to reduce technical risk and speed delivery. The seven-vehicle satellite constellation will feature Raytheon’s Wide Field of View overhead persistent infrared sensor, Blue Canyon Technologies’ Saturn-class smallsat bus, and SEAKR Engineering’s electronics payload.

“Developing a resilient and affordable proliferated satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit will improve our ability to track emerging threats like hypersonic missiles,” said Dave Broadbent, president of Space and C2 at Raytheon Intelligence & Space. “Continuing to develop this architecture with SDA and our industry partners will be a high priority for us in the coming months.”

GHGSat will be launching six additional satellites in 2023 — the first three are GHGSat satellites, named Mey-Lin (C6), Gaspard (C7) and Océane (C8) and they will travel into orbit this spring onboard SpaceX’s Transporter-7 rideshare mission.

GHGSat’s satellite methane sensors have set the standard for performance with an industry-leading combination of low detection threshold and high resolution. The timely and frequent insight the monitoring constellation provides is used by industry, governments and financial services worldwide to proactively drive reductions in emissions.

The demand for data is increasing as awareness of the benefits of addressing methane emissions continues to grow, and nations turn their focus to meeting the commitments made as part of the Global Methane Pledge. With 12 spacecraft in orbit by the end of the year, GHGSat will be doubling its capacity to make more than 1.5 million facility measurements in 2023.

Named after the children of GHGSat team members, as per company tradition, Mey-Lin, Gaspard, and Océane completed testing in December and will travel to their launch site in California later this month. All three proprietary payloads feature the same proven, patented high-resolution interferometer currently on-orbit, tuned to precisely detect and measure the specific ‘signature’ of methane in the atmosphere.

GHGSat-C9, C10, and C11 are hosted payloads currently in the final stages of assembly and testing, and will soon be shipped for integration with third-party satellites, as announced on September 15 of last year. GHGSat-C10 is the world’s first commercial CO2 hosted payload, reaffirming GHGSat’s leadership position in the monitoring of greenhouse gases at industrial facilities from space.

An announcement regarding launch dates will follow in due course.

Stephane Germain, CEO at GHGSat, said, “Every year since our demonstrator satellite Claire was launched in 2016, we’ve pushed the boundaries of emissions monitoring from space. We are driven by our ambition to fight climate change by continuing our role as an independent purveyor of the best methane emissions insight in the world, and as a trusted partner to industry, government and financial services customers. The new satellites mean we can dramatically ramp up the number of locations and emissions we can monitor worldwide, including increasing daily monitoring over key oil and gas production sites.”

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted, subject to conditions, the application of Kuiper Systems LLC (Kuiper) for modification of its license for a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation providing fixed-satellite service (FSS) and Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) using Ka-band radio frequencies.

Specifically, the FCC grants Kuiper’s request for approval of its updated orbital debris mitigation plan, thereby satisfying a condition of the agency’s action in 2020 conditionally granting Kuiper’s request to deploy and operate their NGSO system.

This action will allow Kuiper to start deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world. In granting the Amazon Kuiper Systems modification, the FCC considered the issues raised by interested parties in the record.

These issues include, but are not limited to, collision risk, post-mission disposal reliability, completion of satellite design, and orbital separation.

To address these and other issues, the agency requires Kuiper to comply with a series of conditions — to learn more, access the downloaded FCC Order and Authorization document at this direct link.

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) awarded Blue Origin’s New Glenn the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) contract.

ESCAPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program; it is a dual spacecraft mission to study Mars’ magnetosphere.

ESCAPADE is a twin-spacecraft, Class D mission that will study solar wind energy transfer through Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere.

Providing launch service for ESCAPADE is a task order under NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract.

Blue Origin was on-ramped to the NASA VADR launch services Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract on January 26, 2022, with a five-year period of performance.

“ESCAPADE follows a long tradition of NASA Mars science and exploration missions, and we’re thrilled NASA’s Launch Services Program has selected New Glenn to launch the instruments that will study Mars’ magnetosphere,” said Jarrett Jones, senior vice president, New Glenn, Blue Origin.

Blue Origin was founded with a vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. Blue Origin envisions a time when people can tap into the limitless resources of space and enable the movement of damaging industries into space to preserve Earth, humanity’s blue origin. Blue Origin is working today to create that future by developing reusable launch vehicles and in-space systems that are safe, low cost, and serve the needs of all civil, commercial, and defense customers. Blue Origin’s efforts include flying astronauts to space on New Shepard, producing reusable liquid rocket engines, developing an orbital launch vehicle with New Glenn, building next-generation space habitats, and returning to the surface of the Moon. These endeavors will add new chapters to the history of spaceflight and move all of humanity closer to that founding vision.

AccelerComm and TTP are jointly formulating a high-performance, 5G, LEO Regenerative base station for deployment on LEO satellites. The project combines expertise and IP from the two companies and additional technology from partners to propose a dedicated 5G regenerative gNodeB¹ solution tailored to support high-performance 5G services in the challenging environment of a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN).

In a typical LEO deployment, one satellite covers a wide geographical area, using a large number of beams to cover a multitude of subscribers. Terrestrial gNodeB products of similar scale are not designed to deal with this unique LEO deployment challenge. Also, any gNodeB platform for space applications will be highly constrained in size, weight, and power and must be able to work in the hostile space environment.

The joint AccelerComm TTP LEO Regenerative base station solution will be designed to meet the growing demand for satellite-based eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) and IoT (Internet of Things) services. This makes it an ideal solution for businesses and organizations that need to connect people and devices in remote locations, or for governments looking to provide internet access to all citizens.

The solution will support a large number of beams and high subscriber density and will be delivered on a space-hardened platform optimized for low-power and size. It includes a range of advanced developments in beam-to-cell mapping, beam forming and NTN beam-management.

The O-RAN compliant gNodeB leverages AccelerComm’s LEOphy, a Layer 1 modem that delivers enhanced performance for low-earth orbit satellite communications. LEOphy boasts the lowest error rates, with dedicated features to overcome the specific challenges of NTN channels, such as high path losses, differential delays, doppler shift, long propagation delays, and rapid fluctuations in signal amplitude and phase caused by atmospheric effects. As a result, it ensures a high-reliability link without resorting to lower coding rates and low-order modulation schemes, thereby maximizing spectral efficiency.

“For satellite 5G to be truly successful, there are a number of performance and efficiency challenges which have to be overcome. Solving these requires building on the existing 3GPP technologies to create a tailored solution built to deal with the unique challenges,” said Rob Barnes, Chief Marketing Officer at AccelerComm. “There has been an explosion in interest around combining satellite and traditional mobile communications systems with the iPhone 14 launch and the T-Mobile Starlink announcement. “However, for satellite 5G to be truly successful, there are a number of performance and efficiency challenges which have to be overcome. Solving these requires building on the existing 3GPP technologies to create a tailored solution built to deal with the unique challenges of operating around a thousand kilometres from earth, at speeds of over 7km per second, all while dealing with power and resource constraints. We are delighted to be working with our partner TTP to develop this high-performance solution which will open up a whole new market for delivering 5G services from space.”

“TTP is pleased to partner with AccelerComm to define a highly scalable and low power gNodeB solution, that will enable LEO operators to efficiently deliver 5G NTN services,” said Adrian Hillier, TTP’s Head of Next G. “A 5G NTN LEO regenerative gNodeB deployment presents unique challenges when compared to Terrestrial gNodeB. In order to serve the number of beams and support the density of subscribers required, the gNodeB will have to be heavily optimized and tightly integrated with the overall payload functionality.”

¹A 5G Base Station uses New Radio (NR) technology and is referred to as a gNodeB (gNb). gNodeB radios features Software Defined Radio (SDR) with various MIMO options including 2×2, 4×4, 8×8 and Massive MIMO options for higher capacities. Options for 5G deployment in Sub-6GHz bands as well as Millimeter Wave (mmWave) bands are available. — https://www.5gradio.com

Comments are due no later than 2:00 pm PST on March 11, 2023

NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center invites review and comment on the draft of its Suborbital/Hosted Orbital Flight and Payload Integration Services 4 solicitation.

The new solicitation will replace contracts for existing services and seeks to add new capabilities – including hosting payloads in orbit and flying NASA researchers on suborbital flights – which will expand opportunities for a wider range of commercial companies to participate.

The purpose of this solicitation is to acquire space on commercial flights for space technology payloads, along with payload integration services. The objective is to fly these payloads aboard platforms that fly at high altitudes, offer reduced gravity, or provide other relevant environments required to test the technologies and advance their readiness for use in future space missions.

In addition to hosting payloads, contractors may provide space for NASA personnel to fly as researchers aboard those suborbital platforms capable of supporting human flight.

This contract will be managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, in collaboration with the agency’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, with the flights and other services solicited available for NASA internal use across the agency as well as for other government agencies.

Interested respondents can view the full draft solicitation online. Potential offerors are encouraged to comment on all aspects of the draft solicitation, including the requirements, schedules, proposal instructions, and evaluation approaches, as well as any other programmatic elements associated with performance of the work.

The current planned release date for the final Request for Proposal (RFP) is on or about March 23, 2023, with proposals due approximately 30 calendar days later. The anticipated contract award date is July 15, 2023, with an August 1, 2023, contract effective date. These contracts will replace the existing Flight Opportunities indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts when those expire.

Comments are due no later than 2:00 pm PST on March 11, 2023.