News

On Saturday, October 26th, Exos Aerospace launched their SARGE-SRLV at Spaceport America.  Launch initiation was at 11:39 MST.  

While the company bested SpaceX to a fourth flight, the firm will likely not surpass them to a fourth recovery, given the loss of the SARGE-SRLV vehicle at T+48 seconds. Exos Aerospace is still in the process of evaluating video and telemetry data; however, it appears a structural failure resulted in an abort and deployment of the recovery system at speeds far beyond its design capability. Exos recovered the vehicle within the flight hazard area and the retrieved hardware confirms that the safety systems performed flawlessly.

Liftoff of the SARGE rocket.

Photo is courtesy of Exos Aerospace.

This event presents an opportunity to implement the lessons learned from the first three launches of SARGE – S1.  Much has changed in the Industry and supplier base since the company completed the design of this vehicle.

While it may take a little longer to implement the lessons learned and return to flight, the firm’s change management will include numerous upgrades that are low risk – high impact. The company will work closely with the FAA and AST on the return to flight plan and relevant submission on the planned vehicle upgrades.

On flights 1-3, Exos Aerospace learned a great deal about the dynamics of the control system along with the complex operations required to launch a reusable liquid-fueled sounding rocket successfully.  Flight 4 confirmed that substantial improvements in the GNC software were incorporated and the new IMU performed as designed.  From observing the air to ground telemetry, indications are good that the vehicle was going to continue to fly well.

Though the company has plans to launch SARGE – S2 in early 2020, the firm will have to beat the onset of high winds in April/May. This event will not impact the transition to LEO and the development of the JAGUAR smallsat launcher that will also benefit from the latest lessons learned.

The company stated they are extremely proud of the team of 12 who flew the same vehicle four times. In that respect, Exos Aerospace stands among two giants in the Industry, SpaceX and Blue Origin.

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.

File photo of a Kuaizhou-1A rocket as it lifted off on January 9, 2017, from the Gobi Desert.

Andrew Jones, journalist for GB Times, is reporting that a trio of smallsats have been launched by the Chinese firm ExPace aboard a Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) solid-fueled rocket — ExPace Technology Co., Ltd., is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the nation’s state-run, main, missile maker.

The KZ-1A lifted off from a mobile launch platform at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 12:11 local time (04:11 UTC) and successfully placed the payloads into their orbits. The KZ-1A is a 1.4 meter diameter, three-stage rocket developed from the nation’s long-range missile technology to provide on-demand access to space, allowing a rapid response to damage to or loss of satellites in orbit.

A model of Kuaizhou-1A rocket on display.

Photo is courtesy of ExPace.

ExPace stated the company aims to provide low cost launches of smallsats for domestic and foreign customers and claims to have already received orders for 10 launches. ExPace also expects the first flight of their larger Kuaizhou-11 launch vehicle this year. That rocket will be be capable of lofting 1000 kg. to 700 km. SSO, as compared to 200 kg. for the KZ-1A.

The main payload for Monday’s launch was the Jilin-1 (03) video satellite, or Jilin Forestry 1, which was developed by the Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. belonging to the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which is establishing a satellite constellation to fill the void of remote sensing for civil use in China.

The Jilin-1 — photo is courtesy of Weibo User zygjjgtgw.

CGST, which confirmed success (Chinese) shortly after launch, states that satellite will comprehensively improve the remote sensing information available for forestry, provide forest fire early warning and assist in areas such as wildlife protection, desertification control, wetland protection and monitoring and more. The satellite is expected to orbit at an altitude of 535 km., providing panchromatic video with a resolution of better than 1 meter. The first launch of Jilin-1 satellites in 2015 included the test Lingqiao video satellites.

The launch also involved 2U cubesats developed separately. XY-S1 and Caton-1 are experimental satellites designed to test technologies for low-orbit, narrow-band communication and VHF Data Exchange System (VDES) respectively, according to Chinese media.

Journalist
Andrew Jones.

To read the entire article, please access this direct GB Times infolink…

ExPace (ExPace Technology Corporation) is also known as
the CASIC Rocket Technology Company.

Adding to their space asset conglomeration, China also launched five new remote-sensing satellites into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province Wednesday.

The five, new, remote-sensing Ningxia-1 satellites are launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China’s Shanxi Province on Nov. 13, 2019.

Photo is courtesy of Xinhua.

The five Ningxia-1 satellites were launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket at 2:35 p.m. (Beijing Time). These satellites are part of a commercial satellite project invested by the Ningxia Jingui Information Technology Co., Ltd, and will be mainly used for remote sensing detection.

The satellites and carrier rocket were developed by the DFH Satellite Co., Ltd. and the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. Wednesday’s launch was the 318th mission for the Long March series carrier rockets.

Photo of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus-12 arriving at ISS.

Image is courtesy of NASA.

Two National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) research and development cubesats were successfully launched via rideshare aboard an Antares rocket as part of the Northrop Grumman-12 (NG-12) Cygnus cargo resupply mission from NASA Wallops Space Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, on November 2, 2019.

Led by NRO’s Advanced Systems and Technology (AS&T) directorate, the two cubesats are part of the NRO’s IMPACT project – an R&D effort to provide early evaluation of new technologies in space.

Manifested as AeroCube 14, the two, 3U IMPACT cubesats launched use the Aerospace Corporation’s AeroCube for bus and integration support and host 14 technology demonstrations that range from new materials, such as structural materials and thermal straps, to solar cells, star tracker experiments and on-board processors.

These smallsats will first travel to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the cargo resupply and will deploy in about two months from the ISS to their final orbit.

To assist with the NRO’s research and development goal of rapid technology infusion, the IMPACT program offers a regular launch cadence for technology demonstrations; provides an adaptable bus that enables easy onboarding and off-boarding of those technologies, and serves as the front end of the technology for NRO future capabilities.

The AeroCube-14 CubeSats in the lab prior to launch integration.

Photo is courtesy of Aerospace Corporation.

Four of the experiments that were launched are also part of NRO’s new Greenlighting program, which leverages and evaluates the performance and space survivability of new technologies developed by non-traditional commercial partners in a streamlined fashion on a rapid timeline.

The unclassified Greenlighting program focuses on technology development, not satellite development, by giving vendors supporting NRO’s mission goals the ability to focus on maturation of technologies without having to worry about the logistics of getting to space.

By using a standard circuit board interface on which to host small module technology experiments, the Greenlighting program drives miniaturization of technologies and keeps costs low — all while giving these projects access to space testing that might not be available through traditional means.

Dr. Susan Durham, Director, AS&T, said that with IMPACT, the goal is to take the pioneering research areas being explored to test their survivability and performance in space. The launch of the IMPACT cubesats along with the NRO’s new Greenlighting program represents the best of the agency’s collaboration with commercial research and launch partners.

Rocket Lab has introduced ‘Rosie’ the rocket-building-robot to the company’s manufacturing line, speeding up the production of Electron launch vehicles by more than 400 hours.

Until recently, Rocket Lab had been producing an Electron launch vehicle every 30 days. ‘Rosie’ the Robot will help bring Rocket Lab towards its goal of one Electron built and launched every seven days.

Rocket Lab’s ‘Rosie’ robotic manufacturing system.

Photo is courtesy of Rocket Lab.

The newly installed, custom-built, 140 sq/meter robot enables the precision machining of Electron’s carbon composite structures, including stage 1, stage 2, and the fairing. In only 12 hours, all marking, cutting, drilling, milling, and sanding, is completed on a full vehicle. ‘Rosie’ comprises a 3.5 meter by 16 meter 5-axis machining window coupled with a custom-built sixth rotary axis. The entire unit is large enough to house a bus, with room to spare, so it comfortably machines an entire 12m carbon-composite Electron first stage.

‘Rosie’ is the latest in a series of production, licensing, and infrastructure upgrades all targeted at boosting Electron production rates to meet a weekly launch cadence. In the past month, Rocket Lab has completed the installation of the launch mount and strongback at Launch Complex 2, Rocket Lab’s second orbital launch site, which will enable the first Electron launch from U.S soil in 2020. A new Range Control Facility has also been built at Launch Complex 1 to streamline mission operations, and the FAA has recently issued Rocket Lab with a 5 year Launch Operator License, enabling Rocket Lab to expedite pre-launch regulatory paperwork. 

Work toward a reusable first stage for Electron is also underway, with Rocket Lab’s next mission featuring an upgraded booster to support recovery efforts. The launch window for the next mission, named ‘Running Out Of Fingers,’ is scheduled to open on November 25 and the mission features a first stage block upgrade.

The Electron launch of Rocket Lab’s “As the Crow Flies” mission.

Photo is courtesy of Sam Toms and Simon Moffatt.

Electron’s booster will include guidance and navigation hardware, including S-band telemetry and onboard flight computer systems, to gather data during the first stage’s atmospheric re-entry. The stage is also equipped with a reaction control system to orient the booster during its re-entry descent.

These new measures have been implemented with one goal in mind – frequent, reliable, and responsive launch for small satellites.

‘Rosie’ is automating machining tasks; however, human hands are still in high demand on the manufacturing teams at Rocket Lab’s Huntington Beach Headquarters and the company’s Production Complex in Auckland, New Zealand. More than 100 roles across manufacturing, test, and design are being recruited into the company over the next 12 months.

Rocket Lab’s Director of Production, Jamie France, said Rosie is the latest in a string of manufacturing upgrades designed to take the company from an Electron build every 30 days to one every seven days. A machine like this didn’t exist in the market, so Rocket Lab custom-built one that’s big enough for a bus to be parked within — this means building a rocket stage takes hours, not weeks or months.

An artistic view of Kipp, Kepler’s first Ku-band LEO satellite.
Photo Credit: Kepler

Two companies have partnered to combine their assets offering a dynamic service. The companies and their new service was announced to eliminate barriers to widespread adoption of high capacity data services over Kepler Communication’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network.

Kepler Communications and Cobham SATCOM’s new partnership translates that under the new arrangement, organizations that evaluate Kepler’s ability to cost-effectively move multiple gigabytes of data per day around the globe can experience a fully managed trial of the service anywhere with no upfront CAPEX spend, no lengthy service commitment, and certified installation and support executed through Cobham SATCOM’s global Technical Service Partner network.   

The ‘User Terminal-as-a-Service’ (UTaaS), the Kepler-Cobham partnership centers on three core principles:

• shifting equipment costs to a monthly operational fee from a more traditional one-time capital expense
• embedding installation, technical support, terminal maintenance, warehousing, and transport services into the monthly fees with future capabilities for add-on services
• exchanging technical know-how to improve the delivery of LEO wideband services going forward.

To further validate the effectiveness of the new UTaaS partnership, recently the two firms confirmed that Cobham’s full range of SAILOR and Sea Tel antenna systems, used in the maritime communications segment, are both fully capable of tracking LEO satellites on land and at sea. 

As an example, Kepler and Cobham successfully deployed their system recently utilizing two augmented Sea Tel antennas aboard the Polarstern research vessel. Currently, the network is delivering services in the central Arctic well beyond the range of traditional geostationary satellites and has demonstrated up to 40 Mbps downlink and 120 Mbps uplink. 

Kepler’s Global Data Service (GDS), which is currently enabled by Kepler’s first two satellites in orbit, is a high-capacity worldwide data communication service that enables the movement of Gigabytes of data to and from the user’s location at economic rates. The store-and-forward nature of the solution makes it suitable for delay-tolerable data such as large multimedia files, high-resolution videos and imagery, and other bandwidth-intensive data within the maritime, oil & gas, tourism, and scientific communities.

Jeffrey Osborne, Co-founder and VP of Business Development at Kepler and Matt Galston, Sr. Director Global Market Strategy and Development, Cobham SATCOM concluded with comments that include;

Jeffrey Osborne, Co-founder and VP of Business Development at Kepler said that proven, reliable ground segment is a critical piece for delivering wideband services from LEO. The cost of today’s tracking antennas as well as the complexity of coordinating setup, installation, and support are understandable roadblocks for those wishing to test drive their Global Data Service. At Kepler, their goal is to deliver the most frictionless customer experience possible so that anyone with a potential use case for this groundbreaking capability can simply say ‘yes’ and keep their focus on the really important elements of their application. Their partnership with Cobham enables them to create precisely that experience where they can scaleably execute demonstrations anywhere on the planet all for a manageable monthly OPEX fee that includes hardware, setup, support, and airtime. 

Matt Galston, Sr. Director Global Market Strategy & Development, Cobham SATCOM commented that Kepler’s approach is unique for their industry. By starting with a small number of satellites in operation, they focus more directly on solving problems for the end-user. Their collaboration demonstrates how some solutions come through partnerships, new commercial models, and a shared goal of delighting end-users while being able to scale that delight to many more in time. It’s exciting to be a part of this journey, and they are confident Kepler’s future is very bright.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that enhance these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is invaluable.

The 2020 SmallSat Symposium begins on February 3, 2020, with workshops on the first day. Then the Conference continues from 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 satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum enables you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take a step into the next stage 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 the daily changes in 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 attracts 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…

Developing a “Satellite-as-a-Service” business is the driving force behind Loft Orbital, based in San Francisco.

The company has their Series A funding with a collection of $13 million to support operations in Boulder, Colorado, and Toulouse, France, as the company builds smallsats with initial launches scheduled for 2020.

Five customers have signed on for Loft’s first satellite and they include Eutelsat, the UAE’s space agency and SpaceChain. The company stated they have also signed on customers for the second and third satellites, as well. The firm’s business model has customers schedule milestone payments and then participate in a subscription service once the satellite is operational on-orbit.

ATLAS Space Operations is partnering with Aevum, Inc. for the The Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer (ASLON)-45 space lift mission.

ATLAS’ Freedom™ Ground Network currently has 31 operational and planned antennas placed around the world that forms the network that will complement Aevum’s scalable launch service, which enables autonomous lift vehicles to launch from virtually any runway in the world and not be limited to range.

This combination of services gives the partners and their customers global accessibility to space operations. As Aevum already uses ATLAS for telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C), launch support to post-launch support will be a simple transition for customers and will also lower the cost of smallsat launches.

The Agile Small Launch Operational Normalizer-45 (ASLON-45) is a USAF mission that will consist of multiple 3U and larger U.S. government cubesats to LEO at a 45 degree inclination.

Sean McDaniel, CEO and Co-Founder of ATLAS, said this partnership will push the envelope of capabilities that are available to the space community. Beyond the ASLON-45 mission, ATLAS and Aevum are looking forward to conducting many successful launches and continuing to empower global access to space.

Jay Skylus, Founder and CEO of Aevum, added that vertical integration may reduce execution risk but often heightens cost and technology development risks. The company’s choice to integrate with ATLAS for ground communications provides the firm’s customers with more benefits and robust services.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that enhance these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is invaluable.

The 2020 SmallSat Symposium begins on February 3, 2020, with workshops on the first day. Then the Conference continues from 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 satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum enables you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take a step into the next stage 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 the daily changes in 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 attracts 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 continued development of the Juventas Cubesat is the focus of an addendum to the contract between GomSpace A/S and the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, although final approval for this mission has not yet been approved by Europe’s space ministers as of this writing. That is expected to occur during ESA’s Space19+ meeting this month.

The total value of this contract to be shared among several partners is 1,165,000 euros, with the focus being the development of smallsat payloads in support of ESA’s Hera mission, which itself is part of the AIDA and NASA DART missions. The GomSpace share of the funding is 295,000 euros.

Travel to the Didymos binary asteroid system is the goal. Juventas is a 6U cubesat that contains a low frequency radar as the primary payload and the smallsat will operate in close proximity to the Didymos asteroid system to perform radar and radio-science experiments that target the moon of the binary asteroid, nicknamed Didymoon.

Artistic rendition of Hera at Didymos.

Image is courtesy of ESA.

The mission will be completed when the smallsat attempts to land on the surface of Didymoon to take measurements on the landing dynamics from likely bouncing events to capture details of the asteroids surface properties.

The mission will end with measurements taken by a gravimeter payload to give insight into the dynamical properties of the asteroid.

GomSpace is the project lead with the science team, including collaborators from the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the University of Grenoble Alpes. The project continues its collaboration with:

• GMV Innovating Solutions from Romania leading the guidance, navigation and control subsystem
   
• Brno University of Technology from the Czech Republic contributing to the radar digital design
   
• Astronika from Poland delivering the radar antenna.

This addendum adds new partners to the Juventas team, including EmTroniX from Luxembourg who will deliver the radar electronics and GomSpace Luxembourg who will contribute to the mission operations and AIV activities.

Niels Buus

Niels Buus, CEO of GomSpace, said Juventas will be the first GomSpace designed nanosatellite in deep space demonstrating its capabilities in the most harsh  of environments to date.

An industry first will create a strategic relationship that pairs Earth observation with a global communications infrastructure. The companies are BlackSky, provider of geospatial intelligence, satellite imaging and global monitoring services, and a $50 million senior secured loan from the global satellite communications company, Intelsat (NYSE: I). BlackSky currently has four 1-meter satellites in orbit with another four slated for launch in early 2020, and plans to have 16 satellites in its constellation by early 2021.

For this transaction, Evercore acted as a financial advisor to BlackSky and PJT Partners acted as financial advisor to Intelsat. The new capital enables BlackSky to further its existing assets and alliances to remain competitive in delivering Earth intelligence faster, with greater accuracy and more affordably. The objective is that over time, BlackSky could incorporate access to Intelsat’s global communications infrastructure, delivering first-to-know insights to customers anywhere in the world. With an established manufacturing capability, mission operations center and sales channels in place, BlackSky is in the process of expanding its constellation of smallsats that the company declares “will deliver the highest revisit rate in the industry.”

The company is also leading the industry in fusing AI/ML-powered computer vision, high revisit rate imagery from orbital assets and open-source intelligence to provide customers with comprehensive, deep insights about the locations in the world they care about.

Brian E. O’Toole, President and CEO of BlackSky stated that BlackSky is enabling a whole new level of global intelligence by leveraging the economics of small satellites so that their customers will 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 their ability to deliver industry leading insights to their customers from one of the biggest players in the market.

Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler offered that, BlackSky is well positioned to be a significant player in the expanding Earth observation sector, which they believe benefits from accelerating trends including cloud computing, change detection, predictive analytics and machine learning. They believe a significant number of commercial and government sector customers will increasingly rely on geospatial intelligence. Their 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 their Intelsat General government subsidiary.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that enhance these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is invaluable.

The 2020 SmallSat Symposium begins on February 3, 2020, with workshops on the first day. Then the Conference continues from 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 satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum enables you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take a step into the next stage 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 the daily changes in 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 attracts 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…