TESAT’s Optical Communication Terminals (OCTs) successfully passed interoperability testing for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites that are to be built by Lockheed Martin.

TESAT was selected to deliver OCTs terminals) to Lockheed Martin for integration for the company’s 42 SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites. TESAT’s OCTs will also be applied for commercial constellations, such as Kepler’s ÆTHER LEO constellation network.

As part of the ground test, the OCTs successfully established a consistent data communication link first with a reference modem and second with a laser terminal made by another supplier. This achievement demonstrates that TESAT terminals comply with the technical specifications and standards issued by SDA and are interoperable with third-party products.

The OCT is part of TESAT’s laser communication portfolio and specifically designed to operate in LEO broadband constellations and is compliant to the SDA standard v3. As of today, 46 OCTs are already on-orbit, 12 more terminals were delivered to customers and 180 terminals are currently in production.

In view of future growth in the field of laser communication, TESAT has a new manufacturing building under final construction in Merritt Island, Florida, providing 2,200m² of additional cleanroom capacity.

“The successful completion of this important test showcases that our OCTs meet the SDA standards and marks a big step for laser communication technology as interoperability is key.”— Thomas Reinartz, CEO, TESAT

Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has announced the the firm’s wholly-owned international subsidiary, Tyvak International s.r.l., has been selected as a prime contractor under a $4.7 million (€4.5 million) contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) for a proximity operations and on-orbit servicing mission that will deploy a nanosatellite spacecraft from Space Rider, the European, uncrewed, robotic laboratory.

The deployed smallsat will perform proximity operations maneuvers around Space Rider, demonstrating unprecedented on-orbit servicing capabilities. Space Rider will allow technology demonstration, and benefit research in pharmaceutics, biomedicine, biology, and physical science.

At the end of its mission, Space Rider will return to Earth with its payloads and land on a runway to be unloaded and refurbished for another flight.  Tyvak International develops the nanosatellite to be onboarded and deployed at any time during the experimental Phase in orbit, on one of the ESA’s Space Rider flight missions, paving the way for future, recurring, servicing missions.

This contract is in partnership with a consortium of Italian industries and research institutions, including Polytechnic University of Turin, the University of Padova, and StellarProject SRL.

“Terran Orbital is honored to be selected once again for a prime contract with the European Space Agency. Using space technology for research in areas, such as proximity operations and in-orbit servicing, will be a huge benefit for our partners and the protection of precious and strategic orbital assets.  I am excited to see Tyvak International s.r.l. in the forefront.” — Marc Bell, Terran Orbital Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer

Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) has signed a contract with RIDE! Space for transportation and orbital delivery services in the first quarter of 2024.

RIDE! Space will be flying its Gaindesat and Djibouti payloads on a single mission.

“We are thrilled to mark this historic moment for the space sector of Africa with Momentus. Being an actor for sending the 1^st Senegalese satellite and the 2^nd one for Djibouti proves the objective RIDE! has given itself: make space more convenient, affordable and reliable. In this mission, Momentus plays a key role. They have also always been a trusted partner to RIDE!, responsive and ready to accommodate small sat players from our ecosystem.” — Valentin Benoit, CEO, RIDE! Space

“The African Space Industry Annual Report released in August reports that the African space economy is projected to grow to more than $22 billion by 2026.We anticipate rideshare services to be an important enabler for this growth. We’re looking forward to working with RIDE! Space as they support access to Low-Earth Orbit for new and established African customers.” — Chris Kinman, CEO, Momentus

In addition to rideshare missions, Momentus offers Delta-V delivery for missions requiring precise custom orbits. The Company also provides hosted payload services and its M-1000 satellite bus for customized and dedicated missions.

Firefly Aerospace has successfully launched the company’s Alpha rocket and has deployed the VICTUS NOX spacecraft following a 24 hour notice to complete final payload operations and mission preparations.

Led by U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s (USSF – SSC) Space Safari Program Office, and in close partnership with the Rocket Systems Launch Program, the mission advances the nation’s capability to rapidly respond to on-orbit needs during a conflict or in response to a national security threat.

Upon receiving the notice to launch and orbit requirements from the USSF, Firefly completed all final launch preparations, including trajectory software updates, payload encapsulation, transport to the launch pad, mating to Alpha, and fueling, within 24 hours. Alpha then launched at the first available window, 27 hours after receipt of launch orders.

The flight began with a nominal countdown and liftoff at 7:28 p.m. PDT on September 14th. and progressed seamlessly through each stage of flight, including stage one main engine cutoff (MECO), stage separation and stage two ignition. Alpha then deployed the Millennium Space Systems satellite at the target destination in LEO. Firefly also successfully tested an Alpha stage two relight and targeted re-entry.

Building on this success, Firefly is ramping up Alpha production and testing for multiple upcoming launches, including missions in support of Lockheed Martin, NASA, the NRO, and more.

“Today was an incredible success for the Space Force, the Firefly team, and our nation after nailing this complex responsive space mission. Our combined commercial and government team executed the mission with record speed, agility, and flexibility, adding a critical capability to address national security needs.” Bill Weber, CEO, Firefly Aerospace

“I’m incredibly proud of this team for completing these critical mission milestones and successfully launching in a matter of hours rather than weeks or months in a typical operation. As our third flight, this mission further validates Firefly’s technology rigor, passion, and dedication that’s required to prevail as the leading responsive launch provider for both government and commercial customers.” — Adam Oakes, VP of Launch Vehicles, Firefly Aerospace

“The success of the VICTUS NOX mission not only proves a key aspect of the United States’ TacRS capability but provides true utility to the warfighter. Working closely with our Assured Access to Space team and industry partners, the Space Safari team continues to demonstrate how TacRS enables us to quickly respond to urgent on-orbit needs.” — Col. Bryon McClain, Program Executive Officer for the Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power directorate, which oversees SSC’s Space Safari program office

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has signed a contract with Leidos to launch four HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) missions.

The missions, scheduled across 2024 and 2025, will lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Rocket Lab was selected by Leidos to provide hypersonic test launch capabilities with HASTE under the MACH-TB project. The project was awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane through the Strategic and Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS) Other Transaction Authority (OTA) vehicle on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center (TRMC).

Rocket Lab’s HASTE suborbital launch vehicle is derived from the company’s Electron rocket but has been modified to support hypersonic payload deployment. By leveraging the heritage of Rocket Lab’s low-cost Electron, HASTE offers true commercial testing capability at a fraction of the cost of current full-scale tests.

Rocket Lab launched the first HASTE mission on June 17, 2023, for Leidos under the Multi-Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH-TB) program.

HASTE is operated under Rocket Lab National Security (RLNS), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary created to serve the unique needs of the U.S. defense and intelligence community and its allies.

“Our first HASTE mission in June this year successfully demonstrated HASTE’s ability to accelerate the cadence of hypersonic flight testing for the nation. We’re proud to now follow it up with a series of four additional missions for Leidos to support hypersonic technology innovation and technology maturation.” — Brian Rogers, Senior Director, Global Launch Services

Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT) and SpaceX have signed a Multi-Launch Agreement (MLA) to deliver the Telesat Lightspeed constellation to LEO.

Telesat has contracted 14 launches on SpaceX’s Falcon 9, which will carry as many as 18 Telesat Lightspeed satellites to LEO per launch. The launch campaign is scheduled to commence in 2026 and will take advantage of SpaceX’s high launch cadence to rapidly deploy the satellites and enable Telesat to begin providing global service in 2027. Launches for the campaign will lift off from SpaceX’s launch facilities in California and Florida.

Designed from inception to serve the demanding, mission-critical connectivity requirements of enterprise and government users, the optically-linked Telesat Lightspeed network will provide multi-Gbps data links and highly secure, resilient, low-latency broadband connectivity anywhere in the world. With the August signing of MDA as the prime satellite manufacturer and all necessary launch contracts in place for global constellation deployment, Telesat is well-positioned to begin delivering unmatched, enterprise-class connectivity in late 2027.

“SpaceX has been a trusted and effective launch provider to Telesat on our geostationary satellite programs and I am delighted that they will be supporting us with their highly reliable Falcon 9 rocket to deploy the Telesat Lightspeed constellation, the most ambitious program in Telesat’s 54-year history,” stated . “Given the dedication and professionalism of the SpaceX team, and their outstanding track record of reliability and demonstrated high launch cadence, I have the utmost confidence that they will be an outstanding partner in helping us bring Telesat Lightspeed into service in a timely and low risk manner.” — Dan Goldberg, President and CEO, Telesat

“With growing demand for high-speed internet around the world, SpaceX is proud to launch and deploy Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation. Building upon our successful launch partnership to-date, we look forward to flying Telesat once again as they expand connectivity capabilities for their customers across the globe.” — Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer, SpaceX

Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has announced that Inmarsat Government, now part of Viasat, was awarded a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services (SBS) contract by the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) — Inmarsat Government is one of 16 companies selected for the $900 million ceiling, 10 year, Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.

As the United States and its mission partners become increasingly reliant on space-based capabilities for national security, it is critical to have resilient constellations that include satellites in GEO and NGSO. Proliferated LEO (pLEO) constellations are part of a Department of Defense (DoD) strategy to provide additional resilience for satellite communications (SATCOM), remote sensing and other capabilities by diversifying orbits.

Under this contract, Viasat plans to leverage smallsat technology, reduced costs and increased launch service competition, facilitating the ability for pLEO constellations to provide persistent, global coverage with reduced transmission latency. The company will provide a suite of fully-managed pLEO satellite-based services and capabilities, to include space relay services, supplemented by GEO and NGSO satellites, supporting all domains – space, air, land, maritime and cyber.

Viasat will aim to achieve this with a reliable, resilient low latency global pLEO offering that flexibly supports the needs of combatant commands, defense agencies, other federal government organizations and international coalition partners. It will provide a comprehensive managed end-to-end SATCOM solution via a multi-band, multi-orbit constellation of satellites. Furthermore, its new, hyper-intelligent software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) is designed to orchestrate and provide priority routing across mixed networks, enabling an automated primary, alternate, contingency and emergency (PACE) solution to deliver the flexibility and responsiveness required to meet customers’ needs today and in the future.

“Viasat has a proud history of providing integrated SATCOM solutions and service offerings across multiple bands and orbits to support government customers’ unique needs. Our team is committed to developing innovative, mission-focused solutions through our existing partnerships with satellite operators and extending opportunities with new partners. We eagerly look forward to using both our technologies and deep problem solving expertise to deliver resilient, robust and secure SATCOM capabilities to service members around the world.” — Susan Miller, President, Viasat Government

Terran Orbital (NYSE: LLAP) has rolled out a new lineup of seven, standard, satellite bus platforms.

More than a decade ago, Terran Orbital pioneered the creation of CubeSat standards — the firm is now establishing new benchmarks for satellite technology for the coming decade. These standards are built upon Terran Orbital’s manufacturing capabilities, featuring components and modules that can be readily swapped out to accommodate different bus sizes and configurations.

The seven bus platforms span the nano, micro, mini, and small classes. This new lineup of satellite configurations is derived from Terran Orbital’s long history of smallsats innovation and micro satellite bus designed and built for the U.S. Space Development Agency’s (SDA) recently launched Tranche 0 Transport Layer mission and the upcoming Tranche 1 mission. Terran Orbital’s full product line of seven, ITAR-compliant bus classes ranges from the largest, Enterprise, to the smallest, Triumph.

The Enterprise is specifically targeted to those customers who want a flat packing design to allow up to 24 vehicles per launch. It comes standard with Optical Inter Satellite Link and has a large, flat deck optimized for communications and RF payloads.

The Ambassador features the largest deck allowable by the ESPA-Grande standard for rideshare payloads. We expect it to be our top offering for the DoD/Intel community, allowing a large payload and optional
Type 1 encryption.

The Nebula is the commercialized version of the bus placed in orbit in last week’s SDA Transport Layer Tranche O launch in partnership with Lockheed Martin. It has an open deck plan to easily accommodate oddly shaped payloads with optional Type 1 encryption and can be configured for a 15 inch ESPA or 24 inch ESPA-Grande-capable launch vehicle.

The Excelsior is the smallest microsatellite in the product line, having the advantage of delivering higher power to payload than any of the nano models while still having the budget-friendly ability to launch two per ESPA port.

The Voyager is built with component redundancy to reduce risk and extend its lifetime in harsh environments beyond LEO. It has both GEO and Cislunar heritage and the radios are designed for compatibility with NASA’s Deep Space network.

The Renegade is a smallsat that can be configured as 12U or 16U for exceptionally long payloads and can accommodate up to a 19 cm. diameter optical imager. It has the best payload volume-to-bus ratio of the platforms, making it an economical solution for larger, research missions.

The Triumph is the smallest platform in the Terran Orbital standard bus lineup. It has unparalleled spacecraft agility, and with the most flight heritage of all platforms, it exemplifies the smaller, cheaper, faster mentality.

These reference platforms feature flexible architecture using common building blocks, allowing for wet launch masses of 14 to 1000 kg. They are based on designs with extensive flight heritage for various civil, defense, and commercial customers.

“With this announcement we are again setting the bar high with an industry leading product line. While we still offer fully custom platforms to meet unique specifications, we are creating new industry standards, and these standard platforms bring forth our vision to meet mission requirements at scale, drive down the cost of the satellite, and increase their functionality using standard components that roll up into configurations that quickly and effectively satisfy the needs of the DoD and research customer alike.” — Marc Bell, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Terran Orbital

Ten Lockheed Martin-built (NYSE: LMT) satellites were successfully deployed into LEO in support of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 0 Transport Layer (T0TL) mission.

SDA’s T0TL is a proliferated LEO constellation that will demonstrate low-latency communication and provide a resilient network of integrated capabilities.

The smallsats launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and, soon after liftoff, SDA confirmed the separation of all 10 of the Lockheed Martin-built satellites from the launch vehicle.

Each satellite incorporates a Terran Orbital bus and payload processors. Terran Orbital developed the ten satellite buses for Lockheed Martin in support of this mission and were built on the company’s Zuma Platform, a smallsat class spacecraft that leverages the MKII Avionics platform, typical to the Trestles platform.

The smallsats are also equipped with SmartSat, Lockheed Martin’s software platform that makes it easier to dynamically add and quickly change missions in orbit through simple app uploads. The satellites also host Link 16 radios to introduce a terrestrial-proven network in space. Link-16 will enable sensor-to-shooter targeting by connecting systems that include fighter aircraft and Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) networks.

Lockheed Martin is currently building 42 satellites for SDA’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer (T1TL) and was recently awarded an agreement to build 36 of SDA’s 72 Beta variant satellites for its Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) constellation. The T1TL and T2TL Beta satellites will be assembled, integrated, and tested in Lockheed Martin’s new small satellite (smallsat) processing facility that is designed for the high-volume delivery of complete satellites.

“Lockheed Martin is proud to be part of SDA’s mission to rapidly bring a threat-driven, resilient set of integrated space capabilities to life. We look forward to contributing more of our expertise to this mission to strengthening deterrence and deliver advanced military capabilities in space.” — Joe Rickers, Vice President for Protected Communications, Lockheed Martin

Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) has signed a contract with FOSSA Systems (“FOSSA”), a Spanish company that offers global, low-power, Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and in-space services to provide hosted payload services, starting in 2024 — the contract also includes two options for additional hosted payloads.

The hosted payloads will strategically complement FOSSA’s existing IoT satellite constellation with additional capacity and serve as a technology demonstrator platform independent of the future satellite launches FOSSA has scheduled for 2024 and 2025.

Hosted payload support is a core Momentus offering that enables customers to focus on their payload’s objective while Momentus provides the on-orbit logistics needed to operate the payload. Integrated in Momentus’ hosted payload service offering is the supply of power, data, communications, and flexible configure-to-order options such as intersatellite communications, extended data storage, ultra-high precision pointing, and edge computing capability.

Momentus is currently providing hosted payload services to Caltech for its Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD). The SSPD launched on Vigoride-5 in January of 2023. Caltech reports that its payload recently demonstrated its ability to wirelessly transmit power in space and to beam detectable power to Earth. Momentus will continue to provide hosted payload support to SSPD over the coming months as it continues its operations.

In addition to the Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle, Momentus is now also offering its M-1000 satellite bus which is based on space-proven Vigoride. The M-1000 bus offers significant advantages to commercial and government customers such as its high power – up to 3 kW of peak power – large payload capacity, flexible configuration, speed from requirements to delivery on-orbit, and low cost. Momentus has offered the M-1000 satellite bus to both commercial constellation providers and to the U.S. Government.

“Adding to our satellite platforms, we look to expand our way of hosting communications payloads by leveraging on existing launch opportunities, namely the Vigoride. We look forward to collaborating once again with Momentus.” — Julian Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, FOSSA

“Momentus provided orbital delivery services to FOSSA on the inaugural mission of Vigoride in 2022 and most recently provided mission management and integration support for the launch of the FOSSASat FEROX satellite in June 2023. We’re pleased that FOSSA has selected Momentus again to support its growing needs and the innovation they are bringing to the market. They are a valued repeat customer and we’re always excited to help bring their ideas to life on orbit.” — John Rood, Chief Executive Officer, Momentus