Hughes LEO system platform makes LEO satellite networking turn-key

Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) has announced that OneWeb has ordered 10,000 Hughes LEO Terminals to enable networking services for enterprise and government customers.

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has completed the assembly, integration and testing (AIT) of the MicroCarb satellite platform, and is now ready to begin the integration of the dispersive spectrometer delivered to the UK, bringing the climate mission a step closer to launch in early 2024.

MicroCarb is a joint French-British mission, with French space agency CNES as prime contractor for the satellite which is built on its Myriade platform, and Airbus Defence and Space providing the instrument. This mission is designed to precisely monitor the Earth’s atmospheric CO2 and detect the changes associated with surface emissions and carbon uptake across cities, forests and oceans worldwide. A special city-scanning mode will allow mapping CO2 distribution in cities, which are responsible for a majority of global emissions.

Thales Alenia Space is working alongside the French and UK space agencies to show how space-based science can help us better understand the vital carbon cycle.

Andrew Stanniland, Chief Executive Officer of Thales Alenia Space in the UK, said, “I am proud of my team’s achievements and the fact that we have repaid the trust placed in them to lead AIT and launch preparations for Europe’s first carbon monitoring mission. This is the first time that Thales Alenia Space in the UK has worked with CNES, reflecting the agency’s confidence in our teams of highly skilled engineers. I’m looking forward to the next phase of instrument integration, as it is an important part of our capabilities as a UK prime contractor for major space missions.”

Dr. Paul Bate, Chief Executive Officer of the UK Space Agency, added, “Over half of the critical measurements on climate change rely on satellite data, which means that the information delivered by MicroCarb will be hugely important. Having more accurate knowledge of how much carbon the world’s forests and oceans absorb will provide the information needed to take decisions on tackling climate change. It’s very exciting to see the MicroCarb satellite arrive in the UK. It’s also a testament to the expertise of the UK scientists and engineers involved and the world-class facilities available at the Harwell Space Cluster.”

The MicroCarb satellite will be launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana in early 2024, with support from Thales Alenia Space’s French and British teams.

Already in the first round of the two-part seed financing, satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace has raised an investment volume of approximately 7 million euros. In the second round — which already saw several firm commitments as well as further expressions of interest — this amount is projected to increase to 12 million euros by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

Current investors include the investment fund Alpine Space Ventures from Munich, which specializes in space technologies, and the Bonn and Berlin-based High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), a public-private partnership that ranks among Europe’s leading venture capital investors for innovative technologies and business models. A further investor is an equally, aerospace-affine family office from Bavaria.

Bulent Altan, Investment Partner at Alpine Space Ventures and CEO of Mynaric, a partner company of Reflex Aerospace in the joint venture UNIO, explained the background to this investment. He said, “From communication and navigation to Earth observation and climate protection. In almost all areas of our economy and society, we are experiencing profound changes due to space technologies. This is why the number of satellites will skyrocket, from the current 5,500 to an estimated 100,000 by the end of the decade. With its approach to cut the development and production time of satellites from several years to only nine months, Reflex Aerospace is ideally positioned to meet this rapidly growing demand environment.”

Christian Ziach, Principal at High-Tech Gründerfonds, said, “By 2040, the global space market volume is forecast to almost triple to one trillion euros. Half of this growth alone is expected to come from satellites for broadband connectivity, a field in which Europe in particular has a lot of catching up to do. Thanks to its experienced team and strong partners, Reflex Aerospace is uniquely positioned to leverage this market potential.”

Walter Ballheimer, CEO of Reflex Aerospace, outlined the start-up’s ambitions and said, “With the newly raised capital, we will set-up our first production capacities in Munich and almost double our workforce in the coming year – to more than 50 employees across all sites. With this, we are right on track to launch our demonstrator into space by 2024. With the successful financing round, we are putting an exclamation mark on this goal: The commitments of such high-class investors attest to their confidence in our capabilities. This gives us the tailwind to continue our growth path despite the strained global market environment.”

Alexander Genzel, COO of Reflex Aerospace, placed the financing round in the context of the company’s development. He said, “Following our founding in 2021, Reflex Aerospace performed a real sprint this year: With a rapidly growing workforce, we now have mainstays in Munich and Berlin, the two most important locations for German space start-ups. By leading a feasibility study for the EU Commission, we have proven that we are ready to play a leading role in the construction of a European constellation of communication satellites. Together with the Bavarian State Chancellery, we are also working on a concept for ‘Rapid Response’ – i.e., the ability to quickly replace satellites that fail in the event of a crisis or war and thus protect critical infrastructures. With this, we have positioned ourselves strongly in two future fields in 2022 and are ready to face the challenges in the next year.”

Reflex Aerospace was founded in 2021. The Berlin and Munich-based NewSpace start-up aims to modernise the market with high-performance satellites tailored to individual needs. Through software-based operations and service-oriented offers, the company meets the needs of its customers faster, at a significantly lower cost and more flexibly than established NewSpace manufacturers today. Together with its partner companies Mynaric, Isar Aerospace and SES, Reflex Aerospace is a shareholder in the joint venture UNIO, which aims to build a European satellite constellation for broadband internet.

SpaceX was targeting Thursday, December 1st., for a Falcon 9 launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1, however, after further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, SpaceX is standing down from Falcon 9’s launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A new target launch date will be shared once confirmed.

This is the first privately-led, Japanese mission to land on the lunar surface and will lift-off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Also onboard this mission is NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Lunar Flashlight.

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched SES-22 and three Starlink missions.

When the launch takes place, following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

A live webcast of this mission will start about 15 minutes prior to liftoff and may be viewed via this direct link…

AAC Clyde Space has delivered the first Kelpie satellite to Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for its planned launch onboard the SpaceX Transporter 6 mission expected in December 2022. The 3U EPIC nanosatellite will deliver data to the U.S. company ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, under an exclusive Space Data as a Service (SDaaS) deal. It is planned to be followed by the launch of a second Kelpie satellite in the first half of 2023.

The project will leverage a SDaaS model in which AAC Clyde Space owns and operates the satellites to deliver Automatic Identification System (AIS) data exclusively to ORBCOMM and its government and commercial customers, which is used for ship tracking and other maritime navigational and safety efforts. The state-of-the-art satellite weighs just 4 kg and features an advanced antenna concept developed by Oxford Space Systems to maximize AIS detections of all message types.

“The Kelpie satellite is one of the most innovative satellites AAC Clyde Space has ever built. It hosts advanced low-noise core avionics for reliable, high-performance space data handling as well as the company’s first payload development. Our joint mission with an established, leading data services company like ORBCOMM represents a major milestone for AAC Clyde Space in solidifying our strategic move to a Space Data as a Service model,”says AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes.

“Through the Kelpie mission focused on enhancing our global AIS data services, ORBCOMM’s government and commercial customers will benefit from more comprehensive global coverage and enhanced performance as well as the highest expected vessel detection rates in the industry over the long term,” says Greg Flessate, ORBCOMM’s SVP of Government and AIS. 

Currently, the group owns and operates a constellation of four satellites dedicated to SDaaS through its U.S. subsidiary AAC SpaceQuest. In addition to the Kelpie satellites, AAC Clyde Space plans to enhance its constellation with two satellites in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, AAC Clyde Space has won a contract to deliver hyperspectral data from an additional three satellites, bringing the total number of satellites owned by the group for SDaaS purposes to eleven.

The two Kelpie satellites will join the other satellites in the constellation, dedicated to delivering AIS data used in maritime operations, and will support many applications, including domain awareness, search and rescue, environmental monitoring and maritime intelligence. ORBCOMM processes over 30 million AIS messages from more than 200,000 vessels per day for government and commercial customers to deliver a complete situational picture of global vessel activity.

Momentus Inc. has signed a contract with the CUAVA Training Centre at the University of Sydney to deploy the CUAVA-2 cubesat to LEO in October 2023.

CUAVA is the Australian Research Council Training Centre for CubeSats, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles, and their Applications and is a partnership centered at the University of Sydney that aims to fundamentally change the capabilities and applications of cubesats to create major, commercial value, with wide applications.

CUAVA-2 is a 6U cubesat with two primary payloads…

(1) A Hyperspectral Imager developed by the Space Photonics group (SAIL) in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney to demonstrate a novel imager and provide high resolution spatial and spectral data for applications across agriculture and forestry, coastal and marine environments, urban areas, water hazards and mineral exploration

(2) A GPS Reflectometry payload developed by the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research (ACSER) at the University of New South Wales. CUAVA-2 will be the second satellite to be launched by CUAVA, targeted for deployment from a Momentus Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle that will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

CUAVA-2 also carries multiple secondary payloads and technology demonstrations, including the Charge Exchange Thruster (CXT), the wide field-of-view CROSS star tracker, the Electron Density and Debris Instrument (EDDI), the Electro Permanent Magnetorquer, the Perovskites in Orbit Test (Port) payload of advanced solar cells, and a Radiation Counter and Data over Power-bus payload. These payloads were developed at the University of Sydney.

“Momentus is proud to partner with CUAVA, a leading Australian research center,” said Momentus Chief Executive Officer, John Rood. “Innovation and pushing the boundaries of technology is what we love to do at Momentus. We look forward to supporting CUAVA’s mission to use leading edge capabilities in space to improve life on Earth.”

“The CUAVA-2 CubeSat is the culmination of several years of hard work by the satellite team and our partners,” said CUAVA Director, Professor Iver Cairns. “We are looking forward with great excitement to the launch with Momentus, and to gathering unique data from the many advanced payloads and technology demonstrators on CUAVA-2 once in orbit.”

Momentus is a U.S. commercial space company that offers in-space infrastructure services, including in-space transportation, hosted payloads and in-orbit services. Momentus believes it can make new ways of operating in space possible with its in-space transfer and service vehicles that will be powered by an innovative water plasma-based propulsion system that is under development.

CUAVA is funded by the Australian Research Council. Working with Industry Partners, its mission is to train the next generation of workers in advanced manufacturing, commercial space, and uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. In doing so, CUAVA will develop new instruments and technology to solve crucial problems, and develop a world-class Australian industry in CubeSats, UAVs, and related products. CUAVA has been in operation since December 2017, with headquarters at the University of Sydney.

After the discovery of a defective equipment when arming the Vega C launcher for the Flight VV22, Arianespace has taken the decision to postpone the launch. In order to replace the equipment, the upper composite of the launcher will be taken back to the payload preparation facilities and the payload fairing will be opened for the intervention.

All the operations will be handled, in respect of the environmental requirements of the two Pléiades Neo satellites and in accordance with Arianespace’s quality policy. In order to secure both launch dates for Ariane 5 flight VA259 and Vega C flight VV22, Arianespace decided to update its manifest, swapping the two missions:

• The new targeted launch date for VV22 now is December 20;
• The new targeted launch date for VA259 –initially scheduled for December 14- now is December 13.

Update 1 posting…

Due to a defective equipment that needs to be replaced on the launcher, Flight VV22 – initially scheduled for November 24th from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana –must be postponed.

The Vega C launch vehicle and the two Pléiades Neo satellites are in safe conditions.

A new launch date, in December, will be shared as soon as possible.

Original posting…

On Thursday, November 24, 2022 at 10:47 pm local time (01:47 am (UTC) on Friday, November 25), Arianespace’s first Vega C mission will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, with the 30cm resolution satellites Pléiades Neo 5 and 6. This first commercial flight follows the success, July 13, of Vega C inaugural launch operated by the European Space Agency (ESA).

After liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport, the Vega C launcher will fly powered by the first three stages for a little over seven minutes. The third stage ZEFIRO 9 will then separate from the upper composite, which comprises the AVUM+ upper stage and the two Pléiades Neo satellites. The AVUM+ stage will ignite its engine for the first time about nine and an half minutes, followed by a ballistic phase lasting approximately 35 minutes, in order to reach the injection altitude of the first satellite.

The AVUM+ stage will then restart its engine for a second burn lasting 2 minutes and 30 seconds to circularize the orbit at an altitude of 629 km before releasing the first satellite. The next step, 6 minutes and 39 seconds later, will be a 15 seconds RACS boost leading to a new ballistic phase lasting about 36 minutes. It will be interrupted by a third AVUM+ ignition phase lasting exactly 5 seconds, and will be followed by the release of the second satellite at an altitude of 614 km.

Approximately nine minutes later will occur the fourth and last AVUM+ ignition for a period of 61 seconds, that will deorbit the launcher — marking the end of mission VV22, one hour, 53 minutes and 55 seconds after liftoff.

Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 fully funded and manufactured by its operator Airbus, are the two final satellites of the Pléiades Neo constellation that will respectively be the 139^th and 138^th Airbus Defence and Space satellites to be launched by Arianespace as well as the 120th and 119th satellites launched by a launcher of the Vega family.

The first one, Pléiades Neo 3, has been successfully orbited by Vega Flight 18 on April 28, 2021, and the second one, Pléiades Neo 4, by Vega Flight 19 on August 16, 2021. Built using the latest Airbus’ innovations and technological developments, the constellation allows imaging any point of the globe, several times per day, at 30cm resolution. Highly agile and reactive, they can be tasked up to 15 minutes before acquisition, and send the images back to Earth within the following hour. Smaller, lighter, more agile, accurate and reactive than the competition, they are the first of their class whose capacity will be fully commercially available. Thanks to these state-of-the-art satellites, each step of the acquisition and delivery cycle offers top-level Earth observation services now and going forward for the next ten years.

Vega C, which stands for Consolidation, has been developed to better respond to customers’ needs based on the lessons learned from the first decade (2012-2022) of Vega operations. The launcher has been upgraded with more powerful first and second stage Solid Rocket Motors, bigger AVUM tanks and with a larger fairing that significantly increase payload mass (up to 2,350t in SSO – Sun-Synchronous Orbit) and double allowable volume.

The launcher also better meets the specific needs of small spacecraft, as a result of its improved SSMS (Small Spacecraft Mission Service) dispenser and to its AVUM+ that will allow seven re-ignitions. Vega C can thus achieve three different orbits for its multiple payloads on the same mission, instead of the two previously possible with Vega.

Vega C development program has been managed by ESA. It associates 12 of Member States of the Agency. Avio Spa (Colleferro, Italy) is the industrial prime contractor for both launch vehicle and interfacing ground infrastructure. Avio is also responsible for campaign operations and preparation of the launch vehicle up to lift-off. Avio hands over a “ready to fly” rocket to Arianespace, which sells the Vega C, defines the missions’ requirements, validates its flight worthiness, and operates it from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

During launch campaigns, Arianespace works closely with CNES, the French space agency and the launch range authority at the European Spaceport in Kourou, who is notably looking after the satellite preparation facilities besides being responsible for the protection of populations.

With rocket and launch pad checkouts complete, Rocket Lab is ready for its first mission from U.S. soil at Launch Complex 2 in Virginia

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has completed a final launch rehearsal and is ready for the lift-off for the company’s first mission from U.S. soil as early as December 7th — the mission will occur at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) that is located within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility — a launch pad developed to support U.S. Electron missions for government and commercial customers.

Known as a Wet Dress Rehearsal, this pre-launch exercise sees the launch team carry out the same activities and procedures they will conduct on launch day to ensure the Electron rocket, launch pad, and supporting systems are ready for flight. As part of the rehearsal, Electron was rolled out to the launch pad and raised vertically before it was loaded with fuel and liquid oxygen to verify fueling procedures.

The launch team then conducted a full launch countdown, ending before the final step of engine ignition of Electron’s Rutherford engines. Electron was then de-tanked of fuel and returned to Rocket Lab’s Integration and Control Facility (ICF) at the Wallops Research Park to await launch during a window that extends from December 7 – 20.

The “Virginia Is For Launch Lovers” mission will deploy three satellites for radio frequency (RF) geospatial analytics provider HawkEye 360, with integration of those satellites to Electron taking place in the coming days at Rocket Lab’s ICF.

Meanwhile, NASA is continuing to make progress in certifying its Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) software required for the launch. This will be the first time an AFTS will be flown from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, representing a valuable new capability for the nation.

Rocket Lab has already conducted 32 Electron missions from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and has delivered 152 satellites to orbit for customers that have included NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, DARPA, the U.S. Space Force and a range of commercial constellation operators. Electron is already the most frequently launched, small orbital rocket globally and, now with the capacity of the pads at Launch Complex 1 and 2 combined, Rocket Lab has more than 130 Electron launch opportunities every year.

This launch will be the first of three Electron launches for HawkEye 360 in a contract that will see Rocket Lab deliver 15 satellites to LEO between late 2022 and 2024. These missions will grow HawkEye 360’s constellation of RF monitoring satellites, enabling the company to better deliver precise geolocation of radio frequency emissions anywhere in the world.

“This mission is a significant moment for Rocket Lab and a pivotal milestone for Virginia’s long legacy in spaceflight,” said Rocket Lab CEO and founder, Peter Beck. “With wet dress rehearsal now complete, we’re excited to move into launch operations for this historic mission.”

“We are honored to support the launch of this historic mission,” said Ted Mercer, CEO and Executive Director of Virginia Space. “In addition to being Rocket Lab’s first and only U.S. launch location, we will also be building rockets and processing their payload right here in Accomack County – something that has never been done in Virginia. Our partnership with Rocket Lab is a unique opportunity for the Commonwealth of Virginia to create long-term economic development opportunities in the form of high-paying jobs, launch viewing tourism, and construction of new facilities on the Eastern Shore.”

A live launch webcast will at this direct link and will start at approximately T-40 minutes.

Earlier this month, Spire Global, Inc. revealed the firm’s next-gen 16U satellite bus design — the bus is tailored for customers with missions that require larger payloads and more power, volume, and data capabilities than a conventional 16U smallsat, such as EO and space domain awareness missions.

Spire Space Services customers can leverage the company’s proven space, ground and web infrastructure to quickly scale their own constellation. In 2023, Spire will launch its next-gen 16U satellites to orbit, carrying payloads for Space Services customers NorthStar Earth & Space and GHGSat.

On Thursday, November 24, 2022 at 10:47 pm local time (01:47 am (UTC) on Friday, November 25), Arianespace’s first Vega C mission will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, with the 30cm resolution satellites Pléiades Neo 5 and 6. This first commercial flight follows the success, July 13, of Vega C inaugural launch operated by the European Space Agency (ESA).

After liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport, the Vega C launcher will fly powered by the first three stages for a little over seven minutes. The third stage ZEFIRO 9 will then separate from the upper composite, which comprises the AVUM+ upper stage and the two Pléiades Neo satellites. The AVUM+ stage will ignite its engine for the first time about nine and an half minutes, followed by a ballistic phase lasting approximately 35 minutes, in order to reach the injection altitude of the first satellite.

The AVUM+ stage will then restart its engine for a second burn lasting 2 minutes and 30 seconds to circularize the orbit at an altitude of 629 km before releasing the first satellite. The next step, 6 minutes and 39 seconds later, will be a 15 seconds RACS boost leading to a new ballistic phase lasting about 36 minutes. It will be interrupted by a third AVUM+ ignition phase lasting exactly 5 seconds, and will be followed by the release of the second satellite at an altitude of 614 km. Approximately nine minutes later will occur the fourth and last AVUM+ ignition for a period of 61 seconds, that will deorbit the launcher — marking the end of mission VV22, one hour, 53 minutes and 55 seconds after liftoff.

Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 fully funded and manufactured by its operator Airbus, are the two final satellites of the Pléiades Neo constellation that will respectively be the 139^th and 138^th Airbus Defence and Space satellites to be launched by Arianespace as well as the 120th and 119th satellites launched by a launcher of the Vega family.

The first one, Pléiades Neo 3, has been successfully orbited by Vega Flight 18 on April 28, 2021, and the second one, Pléiades Neo 4, by Vega Flight 19 on August 16, 2021. Built using the latest Airbus’ innovations and technological developments, the constellation allows imaging any point of the globe, several times per day, at 30cm resolution. Highly agile and reactive, they can be tasked up to 15 minutes before acquisition, and send the images back to Earth within the following hour. Smaller, lighter, more agile, accurate and reactive than the competition, they are the first of their class whose capacity will be fully commercially available. Thanks to these state-of-the-art satellites, each step of the acquisition and delivery cycle offers top-level Earth observation services now and going forward for the next ten years.

Vega C, which stands for Consolidation, has been developed to better respond to customers’ needs based on the lessons learned from the first decade (2012-2022) of Vega operations. The launcher has been upgraded with more powerful first and second stage Solid Rocket Motors, bigger AVUM tanks and with a larger fairing that significantly increase payload mass (up to 2,350t in SSO – Sun-Synchronous Orbit) and double allowable volume.

The launcher also better meets the specific needs of small spacecraft, as a result of its improved SSMS (Small Spacecraft Mission Service) dispenser and to its AVUM+ that will allow seven re-ignitions. Vega C can thus achieve three different orbits for its multiple payloads on the same mission, instead of the two previously possible with Vega.

Vega C development program has been managed by ESA. It associates 12 of Member States of the Agency. Avio Spa (Colleferro, Italy) is the industrial prime contractor for both launch vehicle and interfacing ground infrastructure. Avio is also responsible for campaign operations and preparation of the launch vehicle up to lift-off. Avio hands over a “ready to fly” rocket to Arianespace, which sells the Vega C, defines the missions’ requirements, validates its flight worthiness, and operates it from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

During launch campaigns, Arianespace works closely with CNES, the French space agency and the launch range authority at the European Spaceport in Kourou, who is notably looking after the satellite preparation facilities besides being responsible for the protection of populations.