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The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Orbex €7.45 million through its Boost! Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support (C-STS) program, designed to support commercially sustainable space transportation services in Europe.

The Boost! contract was awarded to Orbex following an in-depth evaluation process, assessing Orbex’s commercial strategy, financial stability and technical progress. This is the largest award made to date by the program. Orbex will supplement the funding with an additional €4.7 million in matching private investment. 

The Boost! program was adopted at Space19+ (ESA’s Council Meeting at Ministerial Level), with the aim of supporting the European space transportation industry to improve competitiveness and stimulate innovation, in light of evolving commercial demand. ESA is an intergovernmental organization, created in 1975, with the mission of shaping the development of Europe’s space capability and ensuring that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world — currently, there are 22 Member States.

The funds from the award will go toward the completion of spaceflight systems in preparation for the first launches of Orbex’s 19 meter ‘microlauncher’ rocket, Prime, with €11.25 million of the total funding being assigned to work that will be undertaken in the UK, in particular the lightweight avionics designed in-house by Orbex in Forres, Scotland, and the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) software subsystem being designed by Elecnor Deimos, a strategic investor and partner of Orbex. The remaining €900,000 of the total funding package will support the development of the GNC for the orbital phase being developed by Elecnor Deimos for Orbex in Portugal.

The Boost! funding will support the creation of a significant number of new jobs in the UK, in particular at the Orbex headquarters in Forre. As Orbex prepares for its first UK Pathfinder launch, the company has ramped up its recruitment efforts, most recently hiring a new Head of GNC with experience from several European spaceflight programs.

Orbex has already signed six commercial customers for satellite launches, with the first launch expected in 2022 from Orbex’s carbon-neutral home spaceport, Space Hub Sutherland on the A’Mhoine peninsula in Scotland. Planning permission for the spaceport was granted in August 2020, with construction expected to begin in 2021. Space Hub Sutherland is currently the only vertical launch spaceport in the UK that has received planning permission.

Uniquely for a commercial rocket, Prime is fueled by bio-propane, a clean-burning, renewable fuel which reduces CO2 emissions by 90% compared to kerosene-based fuels, and creates no atmospheric black carbon. The Prime rocket was designed to be re-usable, incorporating a novel recovery and reusability system. The rocket has also been designed to leave zero debris in orbit around the Earth.

Orbex announced in December 2020 that it had secured $24 million in a funding round led by BGF, the UK’s most active investment company, and Octopus Ventures, one of the largest VCs in Europe. In February 2020, the company also announced that it had commissioned the largest industrial 3D printer in Europe, capable of printing 35 rocket engines per year.

“During the evaluation process that preceded this award, we examined Orbex’s service proposal in detail and developed an appreciation for the underlying technical concept as well as the entrepreneurial and commercial approach,” said Thilo Kranz, Commercial Space Transportation Program Manager at the European Space Agency. “There is excitement and momentum in European spaceflight and privately led initiatives, like the one from Orbex, are going to be a critical component of the long-term success of the European space industry.”

“We very much appreciate the investment in new, commercially-focused microlauncher technologies from ESA’s new Boost! program,” said Chris Larmour, CEO of Orbex. “And we’re especially grateful for the strong support we received from the UK Space Agency and the Portuguese Space Agency, PT Space. Orbex´s environmentally sustainable microlaunchers will soon be launching for the first time from the UK, and ESA’s recognition of the commercial and scientific opportunities this brings to Europe is significant.”

“The UK’s space industry is thriving and we have bold ambitions to be Europe’s leading destination for small satellite launches, developing world class commercial spaceflight capability up and down the country,” said UK Science Minister, Amanda Solloway. “Today’s funding for Orbex, one of our most innovative space businesses, is not only a step forward for UK spaceflight, but it will also help to create highly skilled jobs and local opportunities as we build back better from the pandemic.” 

Orbex is a UK-based spaceflight company with headquarters, production and testing facilities in Scotland, and design, production and testing facilities in Denmark. Orbex staff members have professional backgrounds with NASA, ESA and international commercial spaceflight organisations. The company is now funded by two of the UK’s largest and most active venture capital funds, BGF and Octopus Ventures, who join two of Europe’s largest venture capital funds, Heartcore Capital and the High-Tech Gründerfonds, as well as strategic investor Elecnor, parent company of Deimos, the UK Space Agency (UKSA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission Horizon 2020 programme.

Arianespace‘s first launch of this year will take place March 25 when 36 OneWeb smallsats will be released from a Soyuz launch vehicle into orbit. This mission will deliver 36 satellites into orbit, bringing the total fleet to 146 satellites in low Earth orbit. This 55^th Soyuz mission conducted by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate will be operated from Vostochny Cosmodrome for the second time and represents OneWeb’s fifth launch overall.

By operating this fifth flight on behalf of OneWeb, Arianespace participates in the fulfilment of its customer’s ultimate ambition: providing internet access for everyone, everywhere, all the time.

Flight ST30, the second commercial mission from Vostochny Cosmodrome performed by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate, will put 36 of OneWeb’s satellites into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers. After separation, the satellites will raise themselves to their operational orbit.

The first six OneWeb satellites were successfully orbited by Arianespace on Soyuz Flight VS21 from French Guiana on February 27, 2019. On February 7, 2020, Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate successfully launched 34 OneWeb satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Soyuz Flight ST27. On March 21, 2020, the team successfully delivered an additional 34 satellites into orbit on Soyuz Flight ST28. On December 18, 2020, the first Soyuz from Vostochny successfully placed in orbit 36 satellites on Flight ST29.

OneWeb’s mission is to bring internet everywhere to everyone, by creating a global connectivity platform through a next generation satellite constellation in low Earth orbit. OneWeb’s constellation of 650 satellites will deliver high-speed, low-latency enterprise grade connectivity services to a wide range of customer sectors including enterprise, government, maritime and aviation customers. Central to its purpose, OneWeb seeks to bring connectivity to every unconnected area where fiber cannot reach, and thereby bridge the digital divide.

Once deployed, the OneWeb constellation will enable user terminals that are capable of offering 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access globally by air, sea and land.

In 2021, the company is focused on scaling the satellite constellation to launch commercial services starting at the end of 2021 to the UK, Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, and the Arctic Seas.

OneWeb Satellites is a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space, where OneWeb Satellites is the constellation’s prime contractor. The satellites were built thanks to its leading-edge satellite manufacturing process that can build up to two satellites a day on a series production line dedicated to the assembly, integration, and testing of the satellites. The facility is running at full speed, within the coronavirus pandemic guidelines, manufacturing satellites that are tested and ready now, and also for future launches.

Flight ST30 will orbit the 111st to 146th OneWeb satellites to be launched by Arianespace.

With the launch of 36 OneWeb satellites on Flight ST30, Arianespace will have orbited a total of 276 spacecraft from Airbus Defence and Space (including OneWeb Satellites – a joint-venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space founded in 2016).

The Arianespace backlog of payloads remaining to be launched for Airbus Defence and Space (excluding the remaining OneWeb satellites) counts 21 additional payloads.

Rocket Lab has successfully launched their 19th Electron mission and deployed six spacecraft to orbit for a range of government and commercial customers.

The mission, named ‘They Go Up So Fast,’ also deployed Rocket Lab’s latest in-house manufactured Photon spacecraft to build flight heritage ahead of the upcoming CAPSTONE mission to the Moon for NASA.

The mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 22:30, March 22, 2021 UTC, successfully deploying an EO satellite for BlackSky Global through Spaceflight Inc.; two Internet of Things (IoT) smallsats for Australian commercial operators Fleet Space and Myriota; a test satellite built by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space in collaboration with the Royal Australian Air Force; a weather monitoring cubesat for Care Weather Technologies; and a technology demonstrator for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). The mission took the total number of satellites deployed to orbit by Rocket Lab to 104.

After Electron successfully launched to an initial 550 km circular orbit, the rocket’s integrated space tug or Kick Stage deployed the first five satellites to their individual orbits.

The Kick Stage’s Curie engine was then reignited to lower its altitude and deploy the final small satellite to a 450km circular orbit. With its relightable Curie engine, the Kick Stage is unique in its capability to deploy multiple satellites to different orbits on the same small launch vehicle.

Following the deployment of the final customer payload on this mission the Kick Stage was reconfigured to Photon, Rocket Lab’s in-house built spacecraft. Photon Pathstone is equipped with new power management, thermal control and attitude control subsystems that will be used for the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon for NASA later this year. Photon Pathstone is also testing on-orbit new deep-space radio capability, an upgraded RCS (reaction control system), as well as sun sensors and star trackers.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said, “Congratulations and welcome to orbit for all of our customers on Electron. Reaching more than 100 satellites deployed is an incredible achievement for our team and I’m proud of their tireless efforts which have made Electron the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually. Today’s mission was a flawless demonstration of how Electron has changed the way space is accessed. Not only did we deploy six customer satellites, but we also deployed our own pathfinding spacecraft to orbit in preparation for our Moon mission later this year.”

Note: Details about Rocket Lab’s 20^th Electron launch will be announced shortly, with the next mission scheduled to take place from Launch Complex 1 within the next few weeks.

Original news posting…

The Rocket Lab launch team is gearing up for the company’s 19^th mission, that being a rideshare launch taking place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula as early as tomorrow, March 22, with the launch window ranging from 22:20 to 23:30 UTC, 18:20 to 19:30 ET and 15:20 to 16:30 PT, and March 23, from 11:20 to 12:30, New Zealand Time. The launch opportunities will continue through March 31st, should such become a necessity.

Rocket Lab’s 19th Electron mission will deploy a range of satellites for commercial and government satellite operators, as well as place a next-generation Rocket Lab Photon spacecraft in orbit to build spacecraft heritage ahead of Rocket Lab’s mission to the Moon for NASA later this year. 

 Seven satellites feature on the mission manifest, including:

• An Earth Observation (EO) satellite for BlackSky via launch services provider Spaceflight Inc. — BlackSky will include a single Earth observation smallsat. This is the seventh launch of a Gen-2 spacecraft to date. Spaceflight arranged the launch and is providing mission management and integration services for BlackSky.
• Two Internet-Of-Things (IoT) nanosatellites for companies Fleet Space and Myriota, procured by Tyvak — Centauri 3 is a newly-designed 6U smallsat that will join Fleet Space’s planned constellation of 140 Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) satellites in LEO. Designed for use in the energy, utilities, and resource industries, the Centauri 3 will also test new hardware and space systems developed by Fleet Space that will support the 2023 Seven Sisters mission, a resource exploration mission by an Australian team of space, remote operations, and resource exploration companies that will launch smallsats and sensors to develop new resource exploration techniques for Earth, the Moon, and Mars, in support of NASA’s Artemis Program. Myriota 7 is the latest addition to that company’s satellite constellation and forms part of a crucial next step for the business as the firm moves toward near-real time connectivity. This smallsat will support Myriota’s customers by further improving the existing service that provides access to data from anywhere on Earth. Myriota’s long battery life and direct-to-orbit connectivity supports products from technology partners servicing a wide range of industries including utilities, transport and logistics, supply chain, agriculture, mining and defence.
• A technology demonstration satellite for the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space — This spacecraft from the University of New South Wales Canberra Space, in collaboration with the Royal Australian Air Force, will bring together emerging technologies that deliver advanced capabilities in earth observation, maritime surveillance, quantum computing, advanced AI, and laser communications. M2 follows on from the successful M2 Pathfinder mission deployed in June 2020 on Rocket Lab’s 12th mission, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.
• A weather satellite pathfinder technology demonstration from Care Weather technologies — The Veery Hatchling mission will test Care Weather’s vertically-integrated satellite power, computing, and avionics systems in a 1U cubesat. This smallsat paves the way for Care Weather’s future constellation of scatterometric radar weather satellites capable of producing hourly maps of global wind speed and direction over the surface of the ocean. Veery Hatchling is the first step in Care Weather’s mission to save lives and livelihoods by better forecasting Earth’s extreme weather.
• A technology demonstrator for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) through launch integration and program management services provider, TriSept — TriSept procured the rideshare slot on Electron for the U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). Gunsmoke-J is an experimental 3U cubesat that will test technologies that support development of new capabilities for the U.S Army.
• The final payload on this mission is Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Photon Pathstone. The spacecraft will operate on orbit as a risk reduction demonstration to build spacecraft heritage ahead of Rocket Lab’s mission to the Moon for NASA later this year, as well as Rocket Lab’s private mission to Venus in 2023.

Photon Pathstone will demonstrate power management, thermal control, and attitude control subsystems, as well as newly-integrated technologies including deep-space radio capability, an upgraded RCS (reaction control system) for precision pointing in space, and sun sensors and star trackers. Pathstone is the second Photon spacecraft to be deployed to orbit, following the launch of Photon First Light in August of 2020.

LOFT ORBITAL has enlisted ANYWAVES’ services to carry the manufacturer’s S-band antenna onboard a future YAM smallsat — this is the first collaboration between the two space companies.

In early March, Nicolas Capet, ANYWAVES’ CEO, and Antoine de Chassy, LOFT ORBITAL’ s Co-founder and President, signed a partnership agreement at ANYWAVES’ headquarters. In addition to the delivery of two space antennas within one week, this first step exemplifies both companies’ willingness to enter into a strong partnership, with long-term prospects.

According to Capet, “This is a huge step having this level of confidence from one of our major customers. This is also an opportunity for significant commercial and business development between our two companies.”

“The meaning of this partnership with ANYWAVES stems from an intimate knowledge of the technology,” said de Chassy. “Each of us focuses on their area of expertise and that is how we can bring the cost and delays down which is exactly what the customers want right now.”

YAMs, short for ‘Yet Another Mission,’ fly various payloads or dedicated missions, such as precision positioning, Earth Observation (EO) and IoT. The bus is manufactured by LeoStella, a joint-venture between
TAS and Spaceflight, based in Seattle. Loft Orbital’s first two missions, YAM-2 and YAM-3 will carry several payloads from multiple customers, including Eutelsat and the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the Blackjack program.

ANYWAVES, a CNES (French Space Agency) spin off that was created in 2017, develops antennas for the satellite constellations market and designs and manufactures according to the space standards of a new generation of high quality antennas. ANYWAVES has tripled its work force within two years, put five of its products into orbit since the firm’s inception, sold more than 60 antennas and reached a 1 million euros turn-over in 2020.

Loft Orbital deploys and operates space infrastructure as a service, providing rapid, reliable, and simplified access to orbit for customer payloads. The company has developed the Payload Hub, a hardware and software interface which enables Loft Orbital to fly dedicated missions or multiple customer payloads simultaneously on a standard satellite bus design. The Payload Hub is a modular, bus agnostic and payload agnostic interface adapter that allows a plug-and-play approach to satellite missions. Together with the firm’s Orbital’s Cockpit Mission Control System, it is able to deliver unprecedented speed-to-orbit without compromising reliability or schedule for even the most demanding customer payloads. Loft Orbital has three missions planned for 2021 and quarterly missions in 2022.

According to a new report published by Trends Market Research titled, “Small Satellite Market by Type, Application, and End-User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026,” the small satellite market accounted for revenue of $3,632.4 million in 2018 and is anticipated to generate $15,686.3 million by 2026. The market is projected to experience growth at a CAGR of 20.1% from 2019 to 2026.

The major factors that propel the smallsat market are low cost, lightweight, and increased applications of small satellites across diverse sectors. Technological developments and increase in investments by governments are anticipated to further augment the growth. High demand for these satellites from emerging economies, such as Asia-Pacific and LAMEA, along with rise in involvement of commercial companies, startups, and educational institutes in the market is anticipated to offer numerous growth opportunities during the forecast period.

The smallsat market is segmented based on type, application, end-user, and region. By type, the market is classified into minisatellite, microsatellite, nanosatellite, and pico-satellites, femto satellites. On the basis of application, it is categorized into imaging and earth observations, satellite communications, science and explorations, technology development, and space situational awareness. Based on end-user, the market is bifurcated into civil & commercial, and government & defense Based on region, the small satellite market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

Based on type, the nanosatellite segment is anticipated to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. This is attributed to the rising demand for nanosatellites in earth observation application and increased investments in nanosatellite technologies.

Based on application, the satellite communications segment is expected to be the fastest-growing application during the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in demand for small satellite in military applications and navigation, radio broadcasting, and others. 

Based on the region, Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest growth rate. The major countries in Asia-Pacific aim to improve their connectivity during the coming years. Owing to these factors, there is a rise in demand for small satellites in the communication sector. Countries with a dominant share in the Asia-Pacific market are China, Japan, South Korea, and India.

The smallsat market analysis covers in-depth information of the major industry participants. The key player operating and profiled in the market includes Sierra Nevada Corporation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Airbus S.A.S., Northrop Grumman Corporation, L3Harris Technologies, Inc., The Aerospace Corporation, Planet Labs Inc., Boeing, Thales Group, GomSpace and Blue Canyon Technologies

Other players in the value chain of the small satellite market include Orbital ATK, Space Systems Loral, OHB AG, Spire Global Inc., Geooptics Inc., Lockheed Martin Corporation, and others.

Sateliot will launch a constellation of smallsats to democratize IoT with 5G coverage and has verified with Alén Space that the transmission equipment that will be on board its first smallsat is now ready to fly.

Once the design and manufacture of the flight model of the payload that will be on board 3B5GSAT — Sateliot’s first smallsat that will serve as a test bench — has been completed, both companies have worked on its integration into the satellite structure and its flight model, validating all its functionalities through strict tests and quality procedures.

Sateliot is relying on The Space Alliance formed by Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and Telespazio for the development of this constellation of smallsats to ensure the company’s IoT connectivity is compatible with the 5G standard.

These procedures, which have included tests of the complete system including the IoT terminals to be deployed on Earth, the satellite with the payload and the operating and data processing software, have concluded that everything is working optimally and that the satellite is now entering the final phase prior to its launch, which is scheduled for March 20 from the Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan.

With the launch of the first nanosatellite, Sateliot will enter a new technological phase, which will allow the company to perform field tests in real environments, providing very useful information for the evolution and design of its constellation of up to 100 smallsats that is scheduled to start and offer commercial service from 2022.

Alén Space, which signed an agreement with Sateliot as part of its R&D investment, is also already working on the new version of the payload to be carried on board the constellation’s next nanosatellites. The company will take advantage of the information collected by the first smallsat and will allow the implementation of a first version of the system capable of supporting a pre-commercial version of NB-IoT.

This payload will be the hardware support on which the new standard defined by 3GPP for non-terrestrial networks will be implemented. In this context, Sateliot is working closely with both Alén Space and Gatehouse and I2CAT in the development and integration of the software needed to implement the new standard in the payload.

According to Jaume Sanpera, Co-Founder and CEO of Sateliot, “Despite the challenges and limitations posed by the pandemic in recent months, the development of our first nanosatellite brings us closer to our goal of having up to 100 nanosatellites in service by 2025.”

Sateliot is the first satellite telecommunications operator to provide global and continuous connectivity to all the elements that will make up the IoT universe under the 5G protocol. Thanks to a constellation of state-of-the-art smallsats, located at low altitude and acting as mobile towers, Sateliot is a perfect complement to large telecommunications companies by providing them with the necessary infrastructure where terrestrial technologies do not reach.

Alén Space is a Spanish company specialized in consulting, design, manufacturing and operation of small satellites for all kinds of applications. Alén Space has a highly qualified team of engineers with more than 12 years of experience in the development of nanosatellite missions, with the necessary technological solutions and capacity to help those companies that want to develop business in space. Quality and technology have been the hallmark of the Alén Space team since 2008.

Spaceflight Inc. has started the year by signing several significant launch agreements with a wide range of organizations including growing constellations needing routine and reliable launch schedules, smaller payloads requiring affordable bus-like options to popular orbits, firms needing regulatory and logistical guidance, as well as those seeking a personalized taxi service from loading dock to final orbital destination.

Organizations that recently signed launch deals with Spaceflight include Lynk, Astro Digital, Kleos, BlackSky, Umbra, Orbit Fab and several, undisclosed, U.S. government payloads.

In November 2020, Spaceflight supported the successful launch of the Kleos Scouting Mission satellites (KSM1) and is now helping Kleos Space prepare for the launch of its second cluster of satellites in mid-2021. The second cluster — KSF1 Polar Vigilance Mission satellites will launch into a 500 kilometer SSO aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, under a rideshare contract with Spaceflight Inc. Kleos’ satellites will detect and geolocate maritime radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity-based information, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities.

Most recently, Spaceflight coordinated its first fully dedicated PSLV mission, successfully deploying its largest customer satellite to date, Amazonia-1, a nearly 700-kilogram Earth observation satellite. The company also successfully deployed 14 spacecraft from its first next-gen OTV (Sherpa-FX) on the record-breaking SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-1 launch in January.

In the coming months, Spaceflight is managing two dedicated rideshare missions on Rocket Lab Electron vehicles and a deployment from the International Space Station for several U.S government spacecraft. The company is preparing several ESPA-class OTVs complete with electric and chemical propulsion for missions later this year along with many traditional rideshare missions for a total of approximately 10 launches in 2021.

Spaceflight has also signed an exclusive business development agreement with Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Co., Ltd., the leading aerospace trading company in Japan. The new alliance enables Mitsui Bussan Aerospace to expand its services to now offer Spaceflight’s global rideshare and integration services in the APAC region, capitalizing on its regional and cultural expertise.

Celebrating 10 years of providing launch services, Spaceflight has launched nearly 350 satellites across 37 missions on eight different launch vehicles, including the Falcon 9, Electron, PSLV, and Vega. It has orchestrated several industry firsts, including the first fully dedicated rideshare with 64 smallsats about the historic SSO-A mission and the first-ever rideshare mission to GTO with a lunar lander.

“While the pandemic initially stalled many launch deals, we’ve really seen a tremendous resurgence in organizations coming to us to handle their very diverse launch needs,” said Grant Bonin, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Spaceflight, Inc. “In addition to traditional, cost-effective rideshare options, we’re also offering proven OTV solutions to satisfy a variety of orbital needs including GTO and beyond, many new dedicated launches, as well as expertise in many of the often overlooked but critical services like licensing, integration and logistics. We’re committed to ensuring the first mile of our customers’ launch is as well-executed as the last because both are equally critical to success.”

“Spaceflight Inc. played an important role in the success of Kleos’ first satellite mission and proved to be a proactive and flexible partner, which is essential to the success of the new space industry,” said Andy Bowyer, Kleos Space CEO. “They went above and beyond the call of duty to get our scouting satellites launched in the middle of a pandemic. We are grateful to have Spaceflight’s expertise and experience at our disposal as we prepare for the launch of our second cluster.”

ICEYE has just published their first set of images from the three ICEYE SAR satellites that were launched at the end of January by the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission.

All three spacecraft have successfully completed initial operations and are now progressing through the calibration process. Once the calibration stage and final preparations are completed, the spacecraft will become commercially available for customers to order images. Radar satellite imaging is used to monitor locations of interest both day and night, and even through cloud cover.

“With the largest fleet of SAR satellites in the world, optimized for mission specific performance, ICEYE is uniquely positioned to deliver best-in- class persistent monitoring performance,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and Co-founder of ICEYE. “Seeing the first images from new spacecraft is always an exciting time. Each of the frames represent a massive amount of effort from our team.”

Shown below are a selected gallery of radar satellite images from the three newest SAR satellites from ICEYE. Some of these images were taken as early as February 15, less than a month after launch.

ICEYE radar satellite images from California, Alaska, and Mexico.

“Once we complete the calibration of these spacecraft, ICEYE will have the world’s largest SAR constellation.” said Jerry Welsh, CEO ICEYE U.S. “As our constellation expands, we improve our target revisit capabilities. Thanks to our optimized design, we are able to capture even the most target congested areas and provide unmatched persistent monitoring capabilities.”

SENER Aeroespacial has signed a contract with AVIO for the C/D phases of the navigation unit for the VEGA-C launcher, VNE (VEGA-C Navigation Equipment), after successfully completing phases A (feasibility study) and B (preliminary design).

Phase C involves the development of the detailed design, and phase D is the qualification and delivery phase of the first flight model.

SENER Aeroespacial is the design authority for this unit, which is delivered to the customer as an integrated product. One of the main features of the unit is the reduction in the production cost by incorporating processes and materials from the world of defense. In addition, this contract paves the way for the mass production of navigation units for subsequent launches of VEGA-C and other space missions.

The navigation unit uses a six-axis compass (position and attitude of the launcher) to provide the rocket’s position to the Guidance, Navigation and Control (CNG) system, developed by AVIO, which is necessary to steer the rocket. NAVIGA is thus a critical component for the success of the mission.

NAVIGA combines an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, and hybridizes the two readings to achieve a high-performance product – its software is Class A, the most critical in the space industry – but also low-cost compared to the inertial navigation units available on the market.

The three implementation aspects applied to the project to reduce the recurring cost of the unit, while maintaining the required performance, are: the use of sensor hybridization techniques to provide a robust navigation solution; the inclusion of radiation-tolerant parts from the automotive market (new in space); and the adoption of defense production processes to manufacture the unit.

The second key element, versatility, is achieved thanks to the modular and flexible design, which allows a complete and certified unit to be adapted, with minor modifications and testing, to other environments, such as short-duration space missions. The advantages of this versatility are significant in the current market, which is increasingly demanding new products in less time and with lower development costs.

Supplementing these two key elements is a third: NAVIGA is a fully European unit, which renders any ITAR restrictions irrelevant.

To develop this innovative product, SENER Aeroespacial invested its own funds for the qualification for using components and processes from the defense and automotive markets and will be installing new and specific equipment within its facilities to test the units.

The project is the result of the partnership between the Italian companies AVIO and CIVITANAVI Systems and the Spanish company Elecnor DEIMOS. The VNE/NAVIGA project is funded by European Space Agency (ESA).

In the words of SENER Aeroespacial Project Manager Silvia Díaz, “The development of this navigation unit puts us at the head of an emerging market in Europe, that of medium cost units with good performances and high reliability. We achieved this product by combining our 55-year experience in the traditional space market, with more than 270 devices and systems on board space missions without any faults, and our experience mass producing products for other markets such as defense and the telecommunications satellite commercial market, which involves lowering the costs of processes and components to adapt to the demands of a more competitive market.”

On February 22, the Northrop Grumman NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft berthed with the International Space Station (ISS), carrying two cubesats in the Nanoracks External Cygnus Deployer (E-NRCSD).

The Cygnus arrived at the ISS after launching from Wallops Flight Facility Pad 0A on February 22, 2021 at 17:36 UTC. The NG-15 Cygnus has been named in honor of Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician who had a vital role in early human space flight missions.

This launch is Nanoracks’ ninth mission providing opportunities for cubesat deployment from the Cygnus. The CubeSats onboard this launch, IT-SPINS and MySat-2 (DhabiSat), were built by students and researchers at Montana State University and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.

The Cygnus will remain at the ISS for several weeks to complete its primary science and technology goals. After the Cygnus departs from the ISS, it boosts to a higher altitude, where the E-NRCSD dispenses the cubesats into orbit.

The IT-SPINS cubesat was selected for launch by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-33 (ELaNa-33) mission complement, sponsored by the NASA Launch Services Program (LSP).

MySat-2 (DhabiSat) is the second cubesat built by Khalifa University to be launched by Nanoracks. MySat-1 was deployed from the NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft in February of 2019. These smallsats enable students to design, implement and test software modules for attitude determination and control systems.

“It’s an amazing accomplishment to build and launch a satellite. It’s even more amazing that these CubeSat teams were able to do so in a time when working together has never been more difficult,” said Nanoracks Mission Manager, Jake Cornish. “COVID-19 has caused us to rethink how to perform even normal tasks, so these individuals have accomplished something very special. We are extremely proud to work with groups who continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.”