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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…

The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Virgin Orbit have announced the next step in a new space partnership with the selection of an RAF test pilot to be seconded to the small satellite launch program, pending U.S. and U.K. regulatory approvals.

The announcement was made in Long Beach, California, aboard the iconic RMS Queen Mary ship — a fitting venue given the ship’s history as Winston Churchill’s floating headquarters for parts of World War 2 and a symbol of the U.S./U.K. special relationship. The British Consulate in Los Angeles hosted the event, where Air Vice-Marshal Simon “Rocky” Rochelle and Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart announced that Flight Lieutenant Mathew “Stanny” Stannard had been selected.

Stanny is currently a pilot with one of the RAF’s test and evaluation squadrons and will join the pioneering Virgin Orbit program to enable learning across a range of areas. Virgin Orbit has developed a new smallsat launch vehicle called LauncherOne, which is released from a modified Boeing 747-400 called Cosmic Girl.

The Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows display team flew over the ship as part of the event, which is one of the last stops on their North American tour. Earlier in the day, the Red Arrows joined up in flight with Virgin Orbit’s customized 747-400 carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl, for a special mixed-formation flypast above the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

Air Vice-Marshal Rochelle, the RAF Air Capability Chief of Staff, said that it’s great news that the RAF can now confirm the secondment of Flight Lieutenant Stannard to the Virgin Orbit team. This move comes through the company’s close collaboration and formal partnership with Virgin Orbit within Team ARTEMIS. Having one of the RAF Test Pilots working at the heart of such a cutting-edge program is a significant step in the organization’s space journey. It also reinforces the close relationship the RAF has with industry and with the U.S. — we expect this to further enable U.K. satellite launch capabilities.

The secondment is expected to last three years. Flt. Lt. Stannard added that he was delighted to have been selected for this role and he’s looking forward to working with the Virgin Orbit team. There are significant opportunities for the RAF in the space domain so to be at the forefront of this area, working in direct partnership with Virgin Orbit is a real privilege.

The former U.K. Defence Secretary, Penny Mordaunt, announced the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) ambitious space program in July, committing £30 million ($36.9 million) to fast-track the launch of a smallsat demonstrator within a year. The demonstrator, also known as Program ARTEMIS, is being delivered by a new transatlantic team of U.K. and U.S. defense personnel and industry partners including Virgin Orbit. This activity will sit alongside a host of other programs that will demonstrate the U.K.’s developing role in space.

Virgin Orbit has just commenced its first proper launch campaign, transporting its orbital test rocket to the Mojave Air and Space Port in September to conduct a final series of check-outs and engineering demonstrations. In the coming weeks, the company will move swiftly through these exercises, leading up to a captive carry flight prior to LauncherOne’s maiden flight to LEO.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart explained that as an American company with British ownership guided by Sir Richard Branson, a truly legendary British entrepreneur, it is perhaps within the company’s DNA to help the United Kingdom and the United States collaborate in space. As part of Team ARTEMIS, Virgin Orbit has been working with the RAF and the U.S. Air Force to demonstrate the utility of smallsats and responsive, resilient space launch and operations. The company is thrilled to welcome Flt. Lt. Matthew Stannard to the firm’s team of hugely talented pilots where we know his presence will move the firm further, faster and to new heights.

British Consul General for Los Angeles Michael Howells commented that not only is this partnership a great demonstration of how the U.K. and U.S. continue to cooperate on security and defense, but it is also a perfect example of how Southern California and the U.K. remain hubs of innovation for the future of spaceflight. Virgin Orbit are already a key partner for a commercial spaceport in the U.K., and the UK is excited to continue as a global leader in small satellite technology and launch capability.