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Spaceflight successfully executed nine missions during 2019, the most rideshare launches the company has performed in a single year, representing a 300 percent growth from the previous year.

The Spaceflight SSO-A mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon launch vehicle.

The company ended last year with its historic dedicated rideshare mission, SSO-A, and continued to execute many more firsts during 2019. This includes the most recent accomplishment of manifesting and managing three rideshare launches in one week on three continents.

The final missions of 2019 were SEOPS-2 (ISS SpX-19/NG-12) launched in the U.S., RL-2 (Rocket Lab’s “Running Out of Fingers”) launched in New Zealand, and PSLV-C48 launched in India.

The nine missions in 2019 were executed across four different launch vehicles, including the ISRO PSLV, SpaceX Falcon 9, Rocket Lab Electron and Northrop Grumman Cygnus. Spaceflight managed the launch and integration services of nearly 50 spacecraft from customers in Japan, Israel, Switzerland, Egypt, Australia, Mexico and the U.S., representing both commercial and government organizations, growing constellations, the first commercial lunar lander, technology demonstrations, university spacecraft, and more.

Other important milestones for Spaceflight during 2019 included:

• The first-ever rideshare mission to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), launching the first privately funded lunar lander, developed and operated by SpaceIL. (GTO-1)
   
• The execution of its first three missions with Rocket Lab, launching more than 10 customer spacecraft. (RL-1, RL-2, RL-4)
   
• The purchase of the first commercial launch of NSIL’s new small launch vehicle, SSLV, for a dedicated rideshare mission in 2020.
   
• Spaceflight’s first deployments with Hypergiant from the International Space Station. (SEOPS-1, SEOPS-2)
   
• Four launches across three continents in the span of 16 days. (PSLV C47, SEOPS-2, RL-2, PSLV C48)

For its achievements, both in 2019 and the record-breaking launch of SSO-A in 2018, Spaceflight and CEO Curt Blake received numerous industry awards and recognition. In 2019, Blake was selected as an Innovator of the Year by the Puget Sound Business Journal and named one of Seattle’s Most Influential People by Seattle Magazine.

Spaceflight was also awarded a Laureate for Launch Services in recognition of its pioneering work in bringing the rideshare business into the mainstream by Aviation Week.

During 2020, Spaceflight plans to manage approximately 10 rideshare missions across five different launch vehicles. The company anticipates reaching a cadence of monthly launches and remains dedicated to maximizing launch capacity on available missions and assisting its customers achieve their missions on time and on budget.

Curt Blake, CEO and President of Spaceflight, stated the firm’s team has supported a record number of missions, resulting in a busy and rewarding year. 2019 made it clear that the ‘new normal’ of rideshare is a high cadence of launches. With the variety and complexity of Spaceflight missions, the company has demonstrated its expertise and experience in mission management and integration services. Looking to the coming year, more launch vehicles will be added to the company’s portfolio to meet growing launch demand, while delivering increased launch flexibility through a breadth of launch options. Ultimately, Spaceflight aims to minimize the pain points of launch delays and ensure customers’ mission goals are achieved.

Robert Sproles, Director of Ground Stations and Launch at Spire Global, noted that Spaceflight continues to provide smallsat operators frequent access to space, proving the importance of rideshare in the space industry. Spaceflight’s diverse launch portfolio, depth of skills and knowledge and commitment to providing a first-class launch experience has helped many smallsat organizations such as Spire successfully achieve their missions.

Rocket Lab has flown a fully Autonomous Flight Termination System (AFTS) for the first time on an Electron launch vehicle.

The AFTS flown on the company’s most recent mission, ‘Running Out Of Fingers,’ makes Rocket Lab one of only three U.S. launch companies to fly with an autonomous system.

The Electron launch of Rocket Lab’s “As the Crow Flies” mission. Photo is courtesy of Sam Toms and Simon Moffatt.

AFTS is a GPS-aided, computer-controlled system designed to terminate an off-nominal flight, replacing traditional human-in-the-loop monitoring systems. AFTS is crucial to increasing launch frequency and providing responsive launch capability, while maintaining the highest industry safety standards. It reduces the turnaround time between missions and provides greater schedule control by eliminating reliance on ground-assets and human flight termination operators.

‘Running Out Of Fingers’ hosted the first fully autonomous system on Electron. The launch followed four ‘shadow’ flights where the AFTS unit was flown on the vehicle for testing while traditional ground-based flight termination infrastructure remained in place. With the first fully autonomous mission now complete, all future Electron missions from Launch Complexes 1 and 2 will fly with the AFTS.

Flight termination systems are a vital part of launch operations. Traditionally, flight termination infrastructure is a ground-based system that involves a human making the decision to terminate a mission in the event of a launch vehicle straying from a pre-determined flight path. By contrast, the AFTS is an independent, self-contained subsystem mounted on-board the Electron launch vehicle. It eliminates the need for a ground-based infrastructure by moving the flight termination function to the launch vehicle.

The system makes flight termination decisions autonomously by using redundant computers that track the launch vehicle using Global Positioning System and on-board sensors, combined with configurable software-based rules, that identify where the rocket can safely fly. If a rocket goes off course the AFTS will issue a command to terminate the flight by shutting down the engines. The AFTS also delivers faster response times and improved monitoring as launch vehicle travels downrange, providing over-the-horizon tracking capabilities that are not limited by line-of-sight tracking such as that required by ground-based instrumentation at the launch site.

Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said the AFTS is yet another way Rocket Lab is innovating to increase the pace of launch and support responsive launch capability for small satellites. As the company moves to an autonomous system, Rocket Lab thanks the dedicated teams from White Sands Missile Range and Alaska Aerospace Corporation who have provided ground-based flight termination system support for Electron missions since the firm’s first launch in 2017. Their support has ensured the safety of every Electron mission and they have contributed to Rocket Lab’s record of mission success for customers.

Naomi Altman, Rocket Lab’s Avionics Manager and Project Lead for the AFTS program, added that for AFTS to be part of Electron’s 10th launch was the cherry on top of a monumental year for the entire team. Reaching this milestone is also testament to the ongoing support of government agencies and contractors who worked closely with Rocket Lab to bring the AFTS online.

SA Catapult CEO Stuart Martin (l) and TriSept CEO Rob Spicer (r) seal the deal with a handshake. Photo is courtesy of Tom Deininger.

TriSept Corporation has signed a comprehensive teaming agreement with Satellite Applications Catapult to explore and accelerate new innovations, missions and space access across the UK space industry and beyond.

Satellite Applications Catapult, part of The Catapult network and one of dozens of firms based at the Harwell Space Cluster, provides facilities and expertise for the benefit of the UK space sector. TriSept also announced its alliance with SA Catapult includes a full-time presence on the Harwell campus, where TriSept will expand its global launch integration services business in 2020.

As part of the collaborative alliance, the two companies will leverage their complementary strengths to package TriSept’s deep launch integration, planning, engineering and brokerage competencies with Catapult’s engineering expertise and growing test, clean room and logistics coordination facilities. Together, the duo expects to build a mission manifest for new vertical and horizontal launch sites in England and Scotland.

TriSept has enabled the launch of more than 200 satellites on 70 different missions and 20 different launch vehicles from 13 launch sites around the world, including the NASA VCLS ELaNa XIX mission that lifted 10 cubesats into orbit aboard the Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia, New Zealand in December of last year.

Satellite Applications Catapult is keenly focused on driving new space infrastructure and applications that support and accelerate the growth of the UK space industry, projected to capture a 10% share of the global space market by 2030.

Rob Spicer, TriSept President and CEO, said the company is going global to help drive space access in promising new space markets like the UK, where the firm can join its proven and trusted launch integration and brokerage skillset with companies like Catapult to contribute to new possibilities in space. By launching this international presence with Catapult within the Harwell Space Cluster, TriSept is extremely well positioned to broker and support exciting new missions in the UK. This partnership with Catapult will ultimately have a significant impact on the traditional and new space industries in the UK, Europe, and the U.S.

An aerial view of the Harwell Space Campus in Oxford, UK. Photo is courtesy of the Harwell Space Campus.

Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, said this collaborative partnership between Catapult and TriSept is a significant milestone in the firm’s overall mission to stimulate innovation and economic growth across the UK space industry. TriSept’s decades of launch integration and brokerage experience combined with Catapult’s rapid-prototyping, manufacturing and testing facilities will bring unparalleled benefits to the UK space market.

A $50 million senior secured loan from Intelsat (NYSE: I) has certainly enhanced BlackSky and has created a strategic relationship that pairs Earth Observation (EO) with a global comms infrastructure.

Over time, BlackSky could incorporate access to Intelsat’s global communications infrastructure, delivering EO insights to customers no matter where in the world they are located.

With an established manufacturing capability, mission operations center and sales channels in place, BlackSky is in the process of expanding their constellation of smallsats to deliver the highest revisit rate in the industry. The company is also fusing AI/ML-powered computer vision, high revisit rate imagery from orbital assets and open-source intelligence to provide customers with comprehensive insights about the global locations of interest to them.

Artistic rendition of BlackSky smallsats on-orbit.

BlackSky currently has four, 1 meter smallsats on-orbit with another four slated for launch in early 2020 — the firm plans to have 16 satellites in their constellation by early 2021.

Brian E. O’Toole, President and CEO of BlackSky, stated that the company is enabling an entirely new level of global intelligence by leveraging the economics of small satellites in order for customers to always be the first to know… it takes a lot of expertise, engineering and capital to make smallsats viable; BlackSky is the first company to overcome these challenges with proven economies of scale. This latest partnership is a vote of confidence in BlackSky’s ability to deliver industry leading insights to our customers from one of the biggest players in the market.

Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler added that BlackSky is well positioned to be a significant player in the expanding Earth Observation sector, which Intelsat believes benefits from accelerating trends that include cloud computing, change detection, predictive analytics and machine learning.  The company believes a significant number of commercial and government sector customers will increasingly rely on geospatial intelligence. This investment will be used to fund enhancements to the current BlackSky infrastructure and will serve as a springboard for a commercial alliance with Intelsat and the company’s Intelsat General government subsidiary.

For this transaction, Evercore acted as a financial advisor to BlackSky and PJT Partners acted as financial advisor to Intelsat.

Journalist
Chris Forrester.

According to journalist Chris Forrester, filing at the Advanced Television infosite, satellite mega-constellation OneWeb is seeking to raise another $1 billion (€0.9bn) as it starts work on orbiting 30 satellites per month in a few weeks. OneWeb wants to circle the planet with an initial batch of 650 satellites for broadband services.

OneWeb is backed, in part, by Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank, although there are also reports that SoftBank is looking to exit the business.

The report, from the UK’s Sunday Telegraph, stated that OneWeb’s ‘cash call’ will come ahead of SoftBank’s results statement due on November 6th. However, SoftBank has already written down about £380 million of their OneWeb investment. However, the newspaper reports that SoftBank remains committed to OneWeb.

ThrustMe and Spacety have launched the first iodine-propelled smallsat.

The satellite was sent into space by a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) carrier rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Shanxi Province, on November 3, 2019, at 11:22AM (Beijing time). The 6U smallsat, built by Spacety, includes an iodine propulsion system developed and built by ThrustMe.

Known as the I2T5, this propulsion system uses a first-of-its-kind, non-pressurized, cold gas thruster fueled by solid iodine. Designed with cubesats in mind, the I2T5 will help ensure a sustainable space industry by extending the lifetime of satellite missions, and enabling collision avoidance maneuvers. In the future, ThrustMe’s additional, iodine based, electric propulsion systems, will additionally enable orbital changes, constellation phasing, and orbit maintenance.

A Chinese Long March 4B drives the iodine-propellant SPACETY and ThrustMe smallsat to orbit.

Ane Aanesland, Co-Founder and CEO of ThrustMe, said this is a historic launch in so many ways: for ThrustMe, for Spacety and for the whole space community. Iodine propellant is finally being demonstrated in space. The first time iodine was discussed as a good candidate to replace pressurized gases, such as xenon, was in 2008. Since then, many research institutions, companies and space agencies have worked on developing iodine propulsion systems, including NASA with its IceCube mission. That ThrustMe is the first company to succeed in launching the first propulsion system operating with iodine as a propellant highlights the significant impact startups can have on innovation and technology advancements.

This is ThrustMe’s first launch and the company has developed a wide portfolio of smart propulsion systems for smallsats. This mission puts ThrustMe on the map as one of the few space startups with commercially available and space proven propulsion products.

This launch also demonstrated a notable change in the space industry, where startups from Europe and Asia joined forces to develop a mission with an extremely rapid development time, from idea to launch in less than a year, from contract to launch in eight months. ThrustMe and Spacety, with this first launch together, have demonstrated the importance of open minded international collaborations, according to the firms.

The I2T5 has already generated significant customer traction and will be used to propel an ISIS 6U spacecraft for the Royal Thai Air Force, to be launched in 2020, as well as the ROBUSTA-3A satellite developed by the Université de Montpellier. Several other commercial contracts have also been signed, but these clients and missions remain confidential at this stage.

The development and industrialization of the I2T5 has been supported by the French government via the BPIFrance I-LAB, and the European Unions’ Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 823337. The French National Space Agency (CNES) is now supporting future I2T5 enhancements.

Dmytro Rafalskyi, Co- Founder and CTO of ThrustMe, added that the I2T5 is designed for cubesats — it required only six weeks from identifying a real market need, to having a first working prototype. This was achieved by leveraging all of the work already done to develop the iodine propellant storage and feed system for the ion engine.

Weijia REN, Co- Founder and CTO of Spacety Today, noted that when the company spoke with ThrustMe about the impressive achievements they had made in the development of iodine fueled propulsion, the company knew that Spacety would be up to this historic task to make it to space in record time. The firm also saw the potential in a long-term collaboration with ThrustMe to provide the best propulsion solutions to clients in China. The majority of 3U and 6U cubesats do not have any propulsion capability as no viable solutions are offered that are safe, simple, and cost effective. Satellite operators are weary of expensive and paperwork-intensive products that include pressurized systems or flammable propellants.

Allied Market Research has published a report entitled, “Small Satellite Market by Type (Minisatellite, Microsatellite, Nanosatellite, Pico-Satellites, and Femto Satellites), Application (Imaging and Earth Observations, Satellite Communications, Science & Explorations, Technology Development, and Space Situational Awareness), and End-User (Civil & Commercial and Government & Defense): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019–2026.” As per the report, the global smallsat industry garnered $3.63 billion in 2018 and is estimated to reach $15.69 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 20.1% from 2018 to 2026.

Surge in demand for high-resolution imaging services and technological advancements drive the growth of the global small satellite market. However, lack of dedicated smallsat launch vehicles hinders the market growth. On the other hand, high demand from emerging economies and increase in government investments create new opportunities in the industry.

Based on product type, the microsatellite segment accounted for the major share, contributing to more than one-third of the global small satellite market. This is due to companies operating large satellites are looking for lighter and cost-effective platforms. However, the nanosatellite segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 20.7% from 2018 to 2026.The imaging and earth observation segment to dominate by 2026

Based on application, the imaging and Earth Observation (EO) segment held the highest share in terms of revenue in 2018, contributing to more than one-third of the total small satellite market. This is due to the significant increase in demand for small satellites in imaging application from the U.S., Russia, and China. However, the satellite communication segment would register the fastest growth rate, with a CAGR of 20.4% from 2018 to 2026.

Based on end-user, the civil and commercial segment held the highest share in terms of revenue in 2018, contributing to more than three-fifths of the total smallsat market. This is due to their low cost and lightweight. There has been an increased demand for these satellites in LAMEA, and Asia. Furthermore, this segment would register the fastest growth rate, with a CAGR of 20.2% from 2018 to 2026.

Based on region, Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 20.5% from 2018 to 2026, owing to the presence of countries such as China, India, and Japan. On the other hand, North America accounted for more than half of the total smallsat market in 2018. This is attributed to the presence of key players, the presence of all the companies of the value chain so less dependency on imports, and high demand for imaging and earth observation application.

Inquire more about this report @ www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1951

Rocket Lab has partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to be the sole provider of ground station services for the Electron launch vehicle and Photon satellite bus customers.

This agreement sees Rocket Lab deliver a complete solution for smallsat operators, including satellite design and build, launch, and ground segment support leveraging an existing global network of ground stations.

Photo: Peter Beck (l), CEO of Rocket Lab, and
Katherine Monson (r) of KSAT USA.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle is currently the only commercial, dedicated smallsat launch vehicle operating a service to orbit, making space more accessible for small satellites. With a proven launch vehicle in operation since January 2018, the next evolution of Rocket Lab’s mission services is the Photon satellite bus. Designed for seamless pairing with Electron, the Photon satellite bus streamlines the entire end-to-end satellite experience for customers from design to build to launch.

Likewise, KSAT’s KSATlite ground network is designed and optimized for small satellite systems, providing streamlined access (through standardized API driven interfaces) and scalable support that grows to meet mission needs.

Liftoff of an Electron rocket.

Photo is courtesy of Rocket Lab.

The closely integrated partnership with KSAT now provides launch to operations ground segment support for Photon customers – the final piece for small satellite operators seeking an end-to-end mission partner.  This enables small satellite operators to focus on what really matters—their applications and their customers—freeing engineering time and capital from having to develop a spacecraft platform, secure a launch, and coordinate access to ground stations from different providers.

The partnership between Rocket Lab and KSAT provides Photon customers downlink and uplink capabilities in UHF, S-band, X-band, and Ka-band across a global ground station network of over 200 antennas that supports 50,000 contacts per month.

Rocket Lab Chief Executive and founder, Peter Beck, stated that the company’s partnership with KSAT will play an important role in continuing to streamline the path to orbit for small satellite operators. Rocket Lab has solved the launch challenge when the firm began regular and reliable launch services in January of 2018. Now the company is simplifying the spacecraft side of the equation with the combination of Photon and KSAT’s ground network support.

Head of KSAT USA, Katherine Monson, noted that there is an enormous rise in demand for data from small satellites in space, yet the challenges of procuring launch, building your own spacecraft and then having to coordinate ground communications can be time and cost prohibitive. This partnership with Rocket Lab and its Photon customers means small satellite operators will now have access to reliable, scalable services across our global network – starting with support on a per-pass basis and options to move to full antennas as their communication demand grows. KSAT is the bridge back to Earth for both the Electron launch vehicle and Photon customer payloads, thereby making space more accessible, through cost-efficient access and proven mission assurance.

Recent Rocket Lab news…

Rocket Lab’s Photon Satellite Platform to Handle Deliveries to Moon and Beyond

As the Crow Flies … And It Did as Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket Launches Astro Digital’s Smallsat

Recent KSAT news

Alliance for SAR Satellites Formed by KSAT and Synspective

Partnership Extended between ICEYE and KSAT for SAR Solutions

Rocket Lab has successfully launched their ninth Electron mission, deploying a single spacecraft to orbit for satellite manufacturer Astro Digital.

The launch of the Astro Digital smallsat aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. Photo is courtesy of the company.

The mission, named ‘As The Crow Flies,’ lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 01:22 UTC, October 17, 2019 (14:22 NZDT). Approximately 71 minutes after lift-off, Electron’s Kick Stage deployed the payload to a circular orbit of more than 1,000 km. – more than twice the altitude of any Electron mission to date.

The mission successfully demonstrated recent upgrades to the Kick Stage’s 3D-printed Curie engine, including the move to a bi-propellant design for improved performance. Curie also serves as the propulsion system on Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite bus, and the flight-proven engine upgrades support enduring missions in LEO, as well as higher orbits.

Rocket Lab successfully launches ninth Electron mission, deploys payload to highest orbit yet achieved. Image is courtesy of the company.

This mission takes the total number of satellites deployed by Rocket Lab to 40 and continues the company’s track record of 100 percent mission success for customers.

The spacecraft on board was a Palisade technology demonstration satellite, a 16U cubesat with on-board propulsion and next generation communications systems developed by Astro Digital, and software developed by Advanced Solutions Inc., including an advanced version of ASI’s MAX Flight Software.

The mission earned its moniker, ‘As The Crow Flies,’ as a nod to Astro Digital’s Corvus Spacecraft Platform, which provides flexible and cost-effective solutions across a wide range of applications and mission profiles on bus variants ranging from 6U and 16U cubesats to ESPA Class. Corvus is also a widely distributed genus of birds that includes crows.

‘As The Crow Flies’ was pulled forward in Rocket Lab’s 2019 manifest after a customer originally slated for this window requested a later launch date.

Astro Digital’s Corvus smallsat platform.

Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive, Peter Beck, offered congratulations to the Astro Digital team for readying the spacecraft and taking advantage of an earlier launch opportunity. The company’s teams worked closely to deliver a flawless mission in a demonstration of the truly responsive space launch that small satellites need. No longer do small satellite operators have to accept the limitations of flying as a secondary payload, nor do they have to wait endlessly on the manifest of unproven launch vehicles. Frequent, responsive, and reliable launch is the new norm for small satellites thanks to Electron.”

Rocket Lab’s next mission is scheduled for lift-off from Launch Complex 1 from late November. 

Firefly Black, LLC has been selected by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Small Launch and Targets Division as a launch service provider for the Orbital Services Program-4 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract.

Valued at up to $986 million, OSP-4 seeks to provide the Air Force with responsive launch solutions as a follow-on to its successful OSP-3 program.

Firefly Black intends to bridge demand between pure small launch capability and that provided by the National Security Space Launch program by providing a family of small-to-medium launchers and in- space transportation services.

Firefly Black, LLC is the national security and civil space subsidiary of Firefly Aerospace. Firefly Black provides launch services to Department of Defense, intelligence communit, and civil space customers seeking small-to-medium launch solutions for up to six metric tons of payload to LEO.

Using Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha and Beta launch vehicles and in-space Orbit Transfer Vehicle, Firefly Black provides America with industry leading capability at the lowest cost/kg in the emerging small launch vehicle class. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Firefly Black also performs Legislative and Executive Branch outreach and advocacy supporting the small satellite and small launch industries.

Leslie Kovacs, the President of Firefly Black, said the company is honored to have been selected by the Air Force for this key government space launch acquisition. Continuing rapid successes in the all-private development of the firmn’s Alpha launch vehicle, including Stage 2 qualification, a successful quad engine firing of our first stage, and conversion of Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg AFB to support the company’s first quarter, 2020 first launch, underscore Firefly Black’s commitment to answer the nation’s call for responsive and reliable small launch services.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that add value to these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is truly worth your consideration for attendance.

The 2020 SmallSat Symposium starts on February 3, 2020, with workshops, then the Conference runs February 4 to 6 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

The SmallSat Symposium is hosted by Satnews Publishers which, since 1983, has been a provider of a satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum was created to enable you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take part in the next stages of your company’s or organization’s growth.

The personal connections at the SmallSat Symposium enable attendees to network with established organizations, subject-matter experts as well as ‘New Space’ entrants.

The SmallSat Symposium will focus on new technologies and the business environment that is shaping the implementation of smallsat constellations, smallsat launchers, the challenges facing the smallsat developer and actors as well as the enormous benefits of these advanced technologies that will benefit our world.

This event assembles more than 100 diverse speakers, all of whom possess deep industry experience. Additionally, numerous opportunities exist to mingle and network with peers while enjoying exceptional, complimentary meals and refreshment breakfast.

Learn more at this direct link…