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Arianespace personnel are utilizing smart glasses during certain payload checkout activities for Flight VV16 at the Spaceport in French Guiana, enabling customers to remotely monitor operations performed on satellites that will be orbited this month by the Vega light-lift launcher.

While preparations for the upcoming Vega launch were put on hold due to the Corona virus, Arianespace has now once again resumed activities for the next mission, which will be the proof-of-concept flight with the Vega launcher’s “ride-share” configuration — known as the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS).

Scheduled for the middle of June from the Spaceport in French Guiana, it will loft 53 micro- and nanosatellites for the benefit of 21 customers, deploying these payloads into Sun-Synchronous orbit.

For the mission, designated Flight VV16 in Arianespace’s launcher family numbering system, Vega will carry seven microsatellites weighing from 15 kg. to 150 kg., along with 46 smaller CubeSats. These spacecraft are to serve various applications, including Earth observation, telecommunications, science, technology and education.

The maiden flight for Europe’s SSMS

Avio, the Italian company that is production prime contractor for Vega launch vehicles, also developed the SSMS ride-share concept. Design authority for the multi-payload dispenser system is SAB Aerospace, an independent Italian SME (small/medium enterprise).

The SSMS program, initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) with the European Commission’s contribution, will further Arianespace’s ability to offer ride-share solutions tailored for the growing small satellite market.

The SSMS dispenser is composed of modular components that are assembled as needed to serve as the interface with grouped payloads composed of microsatellites and CubeSats. Capable of accepting a full range of payload combinations, the SSMS configuration has been designed to be as responsive as possible in meeting the launch service market’s needs for both institutional and commercial customers.

Avio members of the launch team for Arianespace Flight VV16 were flown from Rome to Cayenne aboard a chartered jetliner.

Launch team members arrive from Europe

Assembly of Flight VV16’s light-lift Vega launcher was performed during February on the Spaceport’s SLV launch pad, but was followed in mid-March by an operations stand-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to fully implement sanitary protective measures.

With the decision to restart operational activities at the Spaceport, a team of some 70 people — led by engineers and technicians from Avio, and including personnel from other companies — was flown aboard a chartered jetliner from Europe to French Guiana.

After arriving at Félix Eboué Airport near the capital city of Cayenne, the team members underwent a quarantine period before being authorized to work at the launch site.

Thierry Wilmart, who heads the Missions & Customers Department at Arianespace said that they are delighted to have resumed operations. Protective measures relating to COVID-19 have been taken throughout the launch site’s facilities, and mission personnel have received instructions on respecting the sanitary guidelines.

Wilmart noted that among the first activities was an evaluation of using smart glasses during payload preparation activities with several of the spacecraft passengers on Flight VV16. Adding that the results are very positive, and this efficient means of being connected enables customers to remotely monitor operations conducted by Arianespace personnel on their satellites.

The Vega launcher for Arianespace Flight VV16 is shown taking shape during integration activity at the Spaceport in February. This photo sequence shows the solid propellant stages being “stacked” at the Vega Launch Complex (SLV), with the Zefiro 23 second stage’s integration on the P80 first stage (at left), followed by installation of the Zefiro 9 third stage atop them (center). In the photo at right, Vega receives its liquid-propellant Attitude and Vernier Upper Module (AVUM).

Artistic rendition of the ViaSat-3 satellite.

The cause de rigueur for industry actors these days encompasses smallsats due to their efficacy and viability in accomplishing numerous tasks which were once the purview of larger spacecraft.

Now add Viasat to the list of companies planning LEO constellations that are comprised of hundreds of satellites. Gone, apparently, is the company’s plan for a MEO constellation, opting now for the infusion of LEO smallsats into orbit.

One key for the company’s plans revolves around some subsidy funding from the $16 billion RDOF (Rural Digital Opportunity Fund) established by the Federal Communications Commission for direct monetary injections into broadband programs. This potential government payout certainly affords Viasat with an enticing move into the LEO constellation market segment.

This information comes on the heels of Viasat’s announcement of their ninth consecutive quarter of growth, bringing in Q4 2020 revenues to just over $591 million and a y-o-y of $2.3 billion and $212.4 million in revenues derived from the firm’s satellite services… that’s a y-o-y of 10.5 percent.

Now look for Viasat to request the FCC’s prior approval of the firm’s 20 MEO satellites to be transitioned to their LEO constellation. However, nothing is a given, due to the FCC’s rules regarding how the initial $16 billion of the RDOF’s total $20.4 billion initial funding will be allocated to Phase 1 or even if firms, such as Viasat, can meet the agency’s broadband performance tiers. (See the FCC’s “Measuring Fixed Broadband — Eighth Report at this direct infolink — www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/measuring-broadband-america/measuring-fixed-broadband-eighth-report“)

Mark Dankberg

Company CEO Mark Dankberg realizes this will be an uphill battle for Viasat and is hopeful that Phase 2 reserved RDOF funding of $4.4 billion in subsidies will encompass eligibility for LEO activities. Phase 2 will kick in after new broadband maps are developed to mark underserved areas.

Still on the Viasat development table are the ViaSat-3 and ViaSat-4 satellites. Dankberg stated that a LEO constellation would find realization sometime around 2026, if all comes to fruition.

Rocket Lab has resumed launch operations for the firm’s next Electron launch, following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Rocket Lab’s 12th Electron launch was postponed from its original date of March 27th following the implementation of the New Zealand Government’s Alert Level 4 Covid-19 national response, which required most businesses to close, restricted travel and instructed people to stay home.

With COVID-19 restrictions now eased, a new launch window for this mission has been scheduled to commence June 11, 2020, NZT, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission will loft payloads for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space.

The Electron launch vehicle and the Launch Complex 1 ground systems have remained in a state of readiness throughout the Covid-19 lockdown in preparation for a quick return to launch operations. Enhanced health and safety processes will be implemented for this launch in line with government health advice to protect Rocket Lab personnel. These measures include physical distancing, split shifts, maintaining contact tracing registers, limiting interaction between team members, enhanced cleaning, and stringent hygiene standards.

Payloads onboard ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’: NASA’s ANDESITE (Ad-Hoc Network Demonstration for Extended Satellite-Based Inquiry and Other Team Endeavors) satellite will launch as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). Created by students and researchers at Boston University, ANDESITE will conduct groundbreaking scientific study into Earth’s magnetic field.

This mission also carries three payloads designed, built and operated by the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission was procured under the agency’s Rapid Acquisition of a Small Rocket (RASR) contract vehicle. RASR allows the NRO to explore new launch opportunities that provide a streamlined, commercial approach for getting small satellites into space, as well as provide those working in the small satellite community with timely and cost-effective access to space.

The final payload onboard is the M2 Pathfinder satellite built in a collaboration between the University of New South Wales Canberra Space and the Australian Government. The M2 Pathfinder will test communications architecture and other technologies that will assist in informing the future space capabilities of Australia. The satellite will demonstrate the ability of an onboard software-based radio to operate and reconfigure while on-orbit.

NetSat: Four satellites in formation at an altitude of 600km.

Four NetSat smallsats will autonomously control — for the first time — a three-dimensional configuration in space to enable new observation methods for climate research as well as for innovative future telecommunication systems.

To capture an object without blind spots, it needs to be imaged from different directions and by sensor data fusion, from which information is then derived. In NetSat, four nano-satellites will demonstrate relevant techniques for optimum self-organization of a satellite formation in three-dimensional space. This opens new perspectives in Earth Observation (EO) as well as for future telecommunication networks. In addition, there are strategies for collision avoidance.

The four smallsats (each one possesses a mass of 4 kg) are currently being finalized at the research center Zentrum für Telematik (ZfT) in Würzburg (Germany. In August of 2020, they will be delivered to orbit via a Russian Soyuz-rocket at a 600 km altitude.

The objectives of NetSat are to produce scientific breakthroughs for control of the three-dimensional configuration to provide optimum observation conditions. For this purpose, each satellite carries a highly efficient, electric propulsion system (developed by the Austrian company, Enpulsion) and a high-precision attitude control system composed of extremely small and power-efficient reaction wheels (from S4–Smart Small Satellite Systems and Wittenstein Cyber Motors).

The telecommunication link between the satellites supports data exchange on position, attitude and planned maneuvers. In combination with advanced control methods, the coordination of these four smallsats can be realized. While the long-term task planning is done by the space control center in Würzburg, the reaction on deviations and the fine tuning of the formation is handled autonomously by the smallsats onboard software.

The NetSat mission is sponsored by an ERC Advanced Grant and by the Bavarian Ministry of Economics. In 2012, the European Research Council (ERC) honored Prof. Dr. Klaus Schilling with the highly valued European research award to promote scientific pioneer research in space technology and control systems. The independent research, institute Zentrum für Telematik (ZfT) in Würzburg, was selected as the host institution for NetSat due to that organization’s outstanding test infrastructure for multi-satellite systems. (https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/stories/small-cooperative-future-spacecraft-systems )

The NetSat results will be directly transferred to the follow-up smallsat Eo missions: TIM – Telematics International Mission:

• The ZfT coordinates, within the RLS partnership from 5 continents, the implementation and use of 9 satellites for innovative 3D-EO for volcano eruptions, earthquakes and environment monitoring. (launch expected in 2021; www.rls-sciences.org/small-satellites.html)
• In CloudCT, the self-organization of 10 smallsats will be used to characterize, via computed tomography methods, the interior of clouds, obtaining… for the first time… important parameters for climate models. (launch expected to occur in 2022; cordis.europa.eu/project/id/810370)

Measurement networks composed of smallsats will provide quickly improved decision support for emergency situations as well as address challenges in climate change.

Integration of a NetSat satellite at Zentrum für Telematik.

Virgin Orbit has announced that their Launch Demo mission starts on Sunday, May 24th, and extends through Monday, May 25th, with an opportunity to launch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Pacific (17:00 – 21:00 GMT), each day.

The 747 carrier aircraft Cosmic Girl will prepare to take off from Mojave Air and Space Port, fly out over the Pacific ocean and release our two-stage, orbital rocket, LauncherOne — which will then proceed to ignite its engine in mid-air for the first time.

This Launch Demo marks the apex of a five-year-long development program. On this journey to open up space for everyone, Virgin Orbit has conducted hundreds of hotfires of the engines and the rocket stages, performed two dozen test flights with the carrier aircraft and conducted countless other tests of every bit of the system that could be tested on the ground.

Launching from the Earth to space is difficult — thousands of components all need to function as planned, while controlling high energy and flying at incredibly fast speeds. The vehicle’s structures must be robust enough to tolerate traveling at up to 18,000 mph without disintegrating; the temperatures and pressures of its propellants can’t be too high or too low; every internal valve must click open and closed in perfect synchronicity…  there’s a long list of factors that need to line up in order to make it all the way. The company is mindful of the fact that for the governments and companies who have preceded us in developing spaceflight systems, maiden flights have statistically ended in failure about half of the time.

In the future, the goal of the launches will be to deploy satellites for a new generation of space-based services. For this Launch Demo, though, the goal is to safely learn as much as possible and prove out the LauncherOne system the company has worked so hard to design, build, test and operate.

The instant the Newton Three engine ignites, Virgin Orbit will have done something no one has ever done before — lighting an orbital-class, liquid-fueled, horizontally-launched vehicle in flight. If LauncherOne reaches an altitude of 50 miles on this mission, it will be the first time this kind of launch system has reached space.

The mission will continue for as long as possible. The longer LauncherOne flies, the more data can be able to collect. Should the historical odds be defied and if this becomes one of those exceedingly rare teams to complete a mission on first attempt, the company will deploy a test payload into an orbit, take the data and then quickly de-orbit so as not to clutter the heavens.

For near real-time updates, follow the company on Twitter (@Virgin_Orbit).

IOD-1 GEMS 3U demonstration satellite deployed on July 3, 2019.

Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) has entered into collaboration with the University of Colorado-Boulder’s Mortenson Center in Global Engineering (MCGE) for their Drought Resilience Impact Platform (DRIP) program — as part of the relationship, OMS will provide Earth Observation (EO) data collected by its Global Earth Monitoring System (GEMS) satellites to the effort.

DRIP gathers daily information, enabling scientists and engineers to monitor the water supply serving some three million people in East Africa. Using multiple data sources, DRIP provides critical information on drought conditions and trends which affect food security, health, safety, and other critical issues throughout the region.

GEMS uses highly optimized microwave radiometers to passively measure atmospheric temperature and moisture content from small satellites operating in low earth orbit (LEO.) A single GEMS satellite observes the entire surface of the earth approximately two and one-half times each day. In addition, GEMS data enhances the information gathered from IoT sensors and ground-based monitoring points, enabling DRIP to deliver more detailed information to a region’s decision makers.

Dr. Evan Thomas, Director, MCGE and CU associate professor, said the observations received from OMS will not only help a better understanding of the conditions on the ground in East Africa, but will also enable DRIP to monitor drought conditions in other regions, including the United States. In addition, OMS brings expertise in data science and engineering which will help support DRIP’s core mission to characterize environmental, weather, and climate parameters in all the covered geographies.

Michael Hurowitz, OMS CTO, added that empowering solutions that impact global welfare and productivity are core principles of OMS, and the firm is delighted to be a part of the continuing DRIP success. As OMS continues building out the GEMS constellation of satellites, the company anticipates gathering live observations for any point on Earth at intervals of one hour or less. Delivering observed weather data at this level of temporal frequency has—until this point—never been possible. These frequent intervals will empower systems such as DRIP to easily expand to new regions while enhancing the platform’s performance.

GEMS EO datasets are available to download for evaluation from the website.

Kleos Space (ASX: KSS, Frankfurt: KS1) has been awarded a contract to prepare Kleos data to be accessed by the Micro-Satellite Military Utility (MSMU Project) Project Arrangement (PA), which is an agreement under the Responsive Space Capabilities Memorandum of Understanding involving the Departments and Ministries of Defense of Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom and United States.

The MSMU Project aims to develop a blueprint for a Multinational Heterogeneous Space Enterprise (ISR Enterprise), to provide military users with reliable access to a broad spectrum of information in an opportunistic environment. The MSMU Project is building the architecture and infrastructure to enable machine intelligence, including automation, human-machine teaming, and ultimately, artificial intelligence; these initiatives will define how the ISR Enterprise executes operations.

The program is coordinated by the Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) in collaboration with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites that are in Chennai, India, awaiting launch on Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV C49, will detect and geolocate maritime radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity-based intelligence, enhancing the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of governments and commercial entities when Automatic Identification System (AIS) is defeated, imagery unclear or targets out of patrol range.

Kleos’ satellites will be in a 37-degree inclination.

Andy Bowyer

Andy Bowyer, the company’s CEO, commented  that his opportunity delivered by the team; Peter Round and Karyn Hayes-Ryan, is a great achievement and validation for the company. The firm is seeing increasing demand for Kleos’ global geolocation intelligence data, which will enhance the ISR capabilities of governments and commercial entities.

Karyn
Hayes-Ryan

Karyn Hayes-Ryan, Director noted that the company’s satellites and data will enhance defense capabilities when fused with other data sets in the Government environment, as well as providing timely monitoring of illegal fishing, oil embargoes and other illicit action that both damages the environment and hurts economies.

Roccor created a deployable L-band antenna that makes possible the reception and transmission of Link 16 signals via spacecraft.
Image is courtesy of Blue Canyon Technologies.

Roccor has created a deployable L-band antenna that makes possible the reception and transmission of Link 16 signals via spacecraft.

The project is in partnership with Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) and the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate and is part of the world’s first-ever, Link 16-capable, LEO spacecraft demonstration mission called XVI, which will launch later this year.

Roccor’s helical, two-meter-long deployable RF aperture, will be extended and supported on-orbit by Roccor’s slit-tube composite ROC™ boom, a product the company has successfully demonstrated in space on three other antenna systems for top-tier military customers.

A Roccor deployable boom.

According to Davis, the widely proliferated Link 16 tactical communication network is the preferred choice of U.S. Department of Defense customers and a number of NATO allies for communication between ships, aircraft, maritime vessels, and troops operating at the tactical edge.

Bruce Davis, Roccor’s Director of Space Antenna and De-orbit Products, stated this will significantly broaden the Link 16 tactical communications network capabilities. Viasat came to the company with a hard problem and a tight timeframe. They needed robust broadband capabilities – ‘big ears’ – to enable communications across a range of frequencies and they wanted to demonstrate it on a small satellite platform that is easily scalable to constellation-class missions. The Roccor solution extends the range of Link 16 networks, substantially enhancing situational awareness and mission capabilities for U.S. military personnel operating across the global battlespace.

Mark Lake, Roccor’s CTO, noted that the Link 16 antenna development program is a success story the company shares with the XVI mission customer, Viasat, and the firm’s technology development sponsor, AFRL. Roccor’s satellite antenna portfolio has grown from years of investment in simple, low-cost deployment mechanism technologies – like the ROC™ boom system used to deploy the Link 16 antenna – that are revolutionizing deployment systems for constellation missions. The upcoming XVI antenna deployment comes on the heels of decades of research and development and millions of dollars of investment into high-strain composite deployment systems starting in the early 2000s at AFRL and reduced to flight-certified products at Roccor over the past five years.

According to Lake, Roccor won an additional $3 million contract through Space and Missile Systems Center and AFRL space pitch day last fall to evolve the current Link 16 demonstration mission antenna into a production-ready design capable of serving the needs of upcoming constellation providers starting in 2021.

Late last year, Ken Peterman, President, Government Systems, Viasat, said that Roccor’s antenna will be vital to the success of the XVI program. This Link-16 capable Low Earth Orbit spacecraft will address the Department of Defense’s urgent need for a fast-to-market, cost-effective, space-based Link 16 solution that will help our forces maintain the technological edge needed across today’s battlespace.

Harris Corporation launched their first smallsat – HSAT1 – with Roccor booms onboard.

An artistic rendition of a HEMERIA constellation smallsat.
Image is courtesy of Kinéis.

NewSpace Systems (NSS), the manufacturer of “lean”, high-quality space components and sub-systems, has been down-selected by the Hemeria team to provide several of the ADCS products for the Kinéis constellation.

This constellation of smallsats will be dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT).

The South African company design and manufacture a range of components and sub-systems from both its facilities in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Particularly strong in the area of Attitude Control Systems, NewSpace predominantly focuses on the smallsat market.

NSS CEO James Barrington-Brown said the company is excited to announce that with the successful completion of the EQSR last month, the NSS team is now working closely with the Hemeria team on the qualification phase for this program.

The NewSpace Systems’ Dark Room, which contains an artificial sun for the testing of their Fine Sun Sensors forms part of the NewSpace ISO-7 certified (Class 10,000) Clean Room.
Photo is courtesy of NewSpace Systems.

VOX Space, the Virgin Orbit subsidiary, has signed a new agreement with the Department of the Air Force, allowing the company’s LauncherOne system to conduct missions to space from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.

VOX Space President Mandy Vaughn and U.S. Air Force 36thWing Commander Brig. Gen. Gentry Boswell, signed the Commercial Space Operations Support Agreement (COSOSA) Annex in early April, setting the stage for the STP-27VP mission, VOX Space’s first launch from Andersen Air Force Base.

Virgin Orbit and VOX Space first expressed interest in launching from the Pacific island of Guam in mid-2019. Due to Guam’s low latitude and clear launch trajectories in almost all directions, the company’s uniquely mobile LauncherOne system can effectively serve all orbital inclinations, such as delivering up to 450 kg to a 500 km equatorial orbit. 

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) procured the STP-27VP launch with VOX Space under the Rapid Agile Launch Initiative (RALI), leveraging the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Other Transaction Agreement. One of the first missions to fly on LauncherOne, the STP-27VP manifest consists of several CubeSats from various government agencies performing experiments and technology demonstrations for the DoD. 

As the system is not tied to a traditional ground-based launch site, LauncherOne will leverage key locations around the world including Guam to provide responsive and affordable flights to space for a broad variety of customers. Even now, VOX Space and Virgin Orbit are working closely with multiple allied governments and international organizations interested in establishing launch capabilities closer to home. 

After successfully demonstrating all major vehicle assemblies and completing an extensive flight test program, the Virgin Orbit team is in the midst of final preparations for an orbital launch demonstration expected soon. 

Ms. Vaughn said the company is grateful to Brig. Gen. Deanna Burt and her team at HQ USSF/S3, as well as Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Boswell, Vice Commander Col. Matthew Nicholson, and all of the excellent airmen and women of the 36thWing and Pacific Air Forces for their support,” said VOX Space President Mandy Vaughn.  “Lt. Gen. John Thompson and his team at the Space and Missile Systems Center have also provided visionary leadership throughout this process. We’re very excited to demonstrate the flexibility and mobility that only LauncherOne can offer.”