News

Smallsat manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has been selected by NASA’s Ames Research Center to support a technology demo mission called Starling under NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program.

Under the contract agreement, BCT will design, manufacture and provide engineering support during commissioning for four, flight qualified, 6U cubesats.

The goal of the Starling mission will be to prove the capability of affordable, distributed spacecraft missions, or large aggregations called “swarms,” in LEO. Starling is expected to launch in mid-2021. (The starling bird is famous for flying in swarm formations.)

As smallsats increase in accuracy and capabilities, flight-qualifying swarm technology benefits the industry by offering access to low cost, highly capable platforms that can operate from the near-Earth to the deep space environments.

BCT is currently building more than 60 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. The company has doubled in size over the past 12 months and plans to open their new, 80,000 thousand square foot headquarters and production facility in 2020.

Nick Monahan, Systems engineer at BCT, said that ultimately, swarm technology will enable a new way to explore the vastness of space, as well as the complexity of the solar system.
 

EchoStar Global L.L.C., a subsidiary of  EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS) (“EchoStar”), has acquired Helios Wire Corporation (“Helios”), a satellite-enabled IoT connectivity company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada — the acquisition includes Helios’ Australian subsidiaries Sirion Holdings Pty Ltd. and Sirion Global Pty Ltd. (“Sirion Global”).

Sirion Global holds global spectrum rights for S-band Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), administered by Australia, and has been working to develop solutions for high volume asset tracking and monitoring applications by satellite. The acquisition occurred by way of a court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). 

Anders Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer, EchoStar, noted that this acquisition advances the company’s strategy and further lays the foundation for a global S-band solution for the future. EchoStar’s aim is to develop S-band technologies that will dramatically reduce the cost of satellite IoT, including Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) and other end-to-end services worldwide. Over time, EchoStar products and services will be integrated into the new global, hybrid networks that leverage multiple satellites and terrestrial technologies. This acquisition of Helios and Sirion Global positions us closer to realizing that vision.

Raghu Das, Co-Founder and COO, Helios, said the firm’s shareholders are pleased to have concluded the sale of Helios and the Sirion subsidiaries to EchoStar, which has a wealth of S-band experience in the United States and Europe and is the perfect operator to take this project forward and accelerate the build-out of the Sirion constellation and deployment of global IoT services.

Building effective propulsion systems for satellites has traditionally been a highly bespoke affair, with expensive, one-off systems tailor-made to big, expensive spacecraft hardware. But increasingly, companies, including startups, are looking at ways to provide propulsion tech that can scale with the projected boom in demand for orbital satellites, including CubeSats and small sats, as the commercialization of space and advances in sensor, communication and launch technology broaden the scope of those working in this bold new frontier.

Morpheus Space, which began life as a research project at the University of Western Germany, has accomplished a lot when it comes to propulsion in the short time since its official founding around a year and a half ago. The Dresden-based startup already has sent some of its thrusters to space, where they’re actually providing propulsion, and it’s working with a number of clients and potential clients, including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The startup also just wrapped up its participation in Techstars’ inaugural Starburst Space Program in LA.

A single Morpheus NanoFEEP thruster propulsion system

“Our motivation behind starting Morpheus Space was the lack of maneuverability of, especially small satellites in space,” explained Morpheus CEO and co-founder Daniel Bock, with whom I spoke at last week’s International Astronautical Congress in Washington, D.C. “We have around 2,000 active satellites in space, and in the next few years this will increase by 10x. We have to deal with that. So the first step in how we want to solve that is with our proportion systems, to give mobility to small satellites.”

The startup has seen a ton of inbound interest, and has even had conversations with the CTO of NASA and the CEO of Aerospace Corporation based on the strength of its technology. But what’s so special about what they’re doing, versus what has already been available for satellite propulsion? Put simply, “it’s the world’s smallest and most efficient propulsion system,” according to Morpheus Space co-founder István Lorincz.

Morpheus’ thruster uses gallium as its fuel source, which allows it to be very efficient, with an operating linespace of up to three or more years — non-stop, Lorincz told me. When you factor in the low cost of these thrusters versus other solutions, and the ability to make them incredibly small (one thruster, along with electronics, is not that much larger than your average USB charger), you get a product that’s tailor-made for the cost-sensitive emerging new space industry. Ensuring the mass of these thrusters is small pays off big dividends when it comes to thinking about launch costs, and the fact that these are “Lego-like” in their modularity means they can suit a variety of different clients’ needs.

“You can build propulsion systems for satellites that are below one kilogram, up to those the size of trucks, just by creating arrays,” Lorincz says.

An example of a Morpheus multi-thruster array used in a 3U-sized
small satellite

Size is important, but so is scalability, and that’s another strength that the Morpheus thrusters bring to the market. Lőrincz told me that their technology allows you to quickly and easily build a large batch of the thrusters, instead of having to tailor-make your propulsion system to fit the satellite, which provides big benefits in terms of manufacturing and design costs — which Morpheus can then pass on to its customers, opening up to a whole new, much more price-sensitive segment of the market the possibility of including true orbital maneuvering capabilities.

Next up for Morpheus Space, after it gets its hardware business fully up and running, is to develop and deploy software that complements its thrusters and can offer clients things like fully automated route planning and navigation, Bock told me.

“For example, you can imagine you just have to command ‘Okay I want to go from A to B,’ and everything is handled on board,” he said. So when and how you turn, all the routing. And the next step will be an automated way of handling whole constellations.”

It’s a big goal, but there’s a big potential pay-off. More and more companies are getting into the constellation game, including SpaceX and Amazon, and there’s a lot more to come on that front as companies build out new use cases for collecting and making use of data gathered from orbit. Orbital traffic management and collision avoidance is one reason big industry groups like the Space Safety Coalition are being formed, and anyone who can help supply with a solution players at all budget levels of the industry stands to benefit.

By Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch

Eutelsat Communications (Paris:ETL) has launched Eutelsat IoT FIRST.

Having recently unveiled its ELO constellation of smallsats in LEO that are dedicated to IoT, Eutelsat has taken further steps toward their ambition to become a leading satellite IoT company through the launch of Eutelsat IoT FIRST, a fully integrated IoT connectivity service operating in Ku-band via Eutelsat’s geostationary satellites. Targeted companies include selected satellite service providers, telecom operators and IoT service providers. At a price point proposed on a par with cellular-based IoT connectivity services, Eutelsat IoT FIRST integrates satellite terminals, space and ground segments, packaged within an API-based service delivery framework.

With this product, Eutelsat is further addressing the connectivity challenges of industries spanning across retail, banking and security, through to energy, mining and agriculture, which seek a cost-effective and reliable IoT solution to connect their fixed assets, irrespective of their location. Eutelsat IoT FIRST also acts as an IoT backhaul service, enabling telecom operators to connect IoT base stations and gateways to their core network. Focusing currently on treating fixed assets, as of next year Eutelsat will then expand its portfolio of IoT services to incorporate the connectivity of mobile assets.

The ground infrastructure designed to serve Eutelsat IoT FIRST consists of a network of IoT-specific hubs hosted at teleports across the globe. These hubs are monitored and controlled 24/7 by Eutelsat’s service delivery team from Turin, Italy.

Luis Jimenez-Tunon, Group EVP, Data Business, of Eutelsat said the reliability and boundless reach that satellite offers means that it will have an integral role in the IoT sector and in this regard, “Eutelsat IoT FIRST” has been launched, named in the honor of this service being a pioneer of its kind and Eutelsat’s inaugural solution in its ambitious IoT roadmap.

In anticipation of the launch of IOD-3 Amber in 2020, Horizon Technologies and the UK Satellite Applications Catapult held an Amber Users’ Workshop in Rome, Italy, on October 9, 2019 — the workshop addressed Italian maritime intelligence requirements and was organized by Horizon Technologies, the Satellite Applications Catapult, the UK Department for International Trade (DIT), and the Defence & Security Organization (DSO).

The event was chaired by the UK Defence Attaché Colonel Simon Lawrence and was attended by delegates from 13 different Italian government services/agencies.

The purpose of the workshop was to introduce Amber capabilities to the relevant Italian Government agencies and to facilitate the transfer of Amber data to these Italian agencies as soon as the IOD-3 Amber, the first Amber smallsat, is operational next year. There was a classified session to discuss the most sensitive of the datasets which will be provided.

Together with the UK Government, Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult will be responding to customer requests and will be holding a series of monthly country and regional Amber users’ workshops up until the first Amber-1 launch in 2020, and beyond.

The Horizon Technologies team was also supported by UK SME, LN Systems in Lincoln who is a subcontractor to Horizon Technologies for the Amber Processing Center(s).

Horizon Technologies CEO John Beckner stated that the quality of the attendees, and the level of technical discussion, was outstanding. In addition, the company couldn’t have been more pleased with the organization and wonderful venue for this workshop. The support provided by the UK Government DIT/DSO team in Italy as well as the Satellite Applications Catapult was unmatched, and essential to the success of the workshop.There will be an ongoing technical dialog with the Italian Government over the next 12 months until Amber achieves operational status. Amber will play a key role assisting Italy with its current EU/NATO missions around the world, and in the Mediterranean Sea; especially the migrant/refugee problem.

Gary Goodrum, Horizon Technologies CTO , added that every country has their own interface requirements to their maritime domain awareness platforms and it’s important to have these discussions as soon as possible before the data comes online. 

Dr. Chris Brunskill, Head of Access to Space at the Satellite Applications Catapult, noted that the company is excited to be working with Horizon Technologies to explore and develop the SIGINT market using satellite-based data. The IOD Program has allowed us to provide a dedicated spacecraft platform and mission solution to quickly and responsively support the Horizon team in capturing this commercial opportunity.

The space industry has been revolutionized by the ever-increasing production and launch of smallsats.

Additive manufacturing technologies has helped this radical change to be fulfilled as well as have itself reach new heights with the manufacture of structural components for the new generation of space parts using high performance composite materials.

Although much still must be done to reach an extensive use of additive manufacturing for space applications, CRP Technology’s built a considerable experience supplying cutting-edge solutions for space key industry leaders. A clear and remarkable example comes from the experience with LISA.

Prototype payload inside the structure.

Photo is courtesy of CRP Technologies.

The Italian-based company specialist for more than 25 years in the use and development of advanced additive manufacturing technologies and materials collaborated with the Laboratoire InterUniversitaire des Système Atmosphérique (LISA) of Universite Paris-est Creteil (UPEC) on the construction of a smallsat that is a 3U cubesat form factor. The project was carried by students under CNES and Space Campus University supervision.

The goal was to develop a demonstrator that can be flight-ready in LEO. The engineering team at LISA and CNES decided to rely on CRP Technology and its Windform® TOP-LINE family of high performance materials for the manufacturing of the nano-satellite.

The project manager at LISA said that using such a process and composite material from Windform’s® TOP-LINE, the company knew for certain the structure could be designed exactly the way the firm needed it to be designed. The design has been done taking into account all of the constraints. CRP Technology’s support was crucial to achieve all aims. Their Windform® TOP-LINE materials and additive manufacturing process allowed us to reduce mass and optimize the way to integrate parts inside the cubesat. The structure had to survive vibration tests (to endure the launch) and thermal-vacuum tests. It had also to withstand outgassing requirements.

Cubesat structure is critical, as it has to fulfill the launch-pad (P-Pod) requirements in terms of dimension, flatness and roughness, but also for outgassing, UV resistance, thermal expansion, and general space constraints. Plus, if it breaks, or stays stuck in the P-pod launcher, the mission is over.

To read the entire story, please access the upcoming November issue of SatMagazine…

Nanoracks has signed an agreement with Canada’s Maritime Launch Services to work on re-purposing and re-using spent C4M upper rocket vehicle stages, which would be on-orbit after launch missions from Nova Scotia’s Canso Spaceport, Canada’s first and only commercial spaceport.

In 2018, Nanoracks was one of the awardees of a study contract by NASA to develop the future of commercial spaceflight in LEO. Through that award, Nanoracks has been investigating the commercial case for repurposing in-space hardware, and this agreement with Maritime Launch further establishes the company’s commitment to innovating a more affordable and less-risky pathway to establishing in-space habitats (‘Outposts’) for future crewed missions, instead of fabricating modules on the ground, and subsequently launching them to orbit.

Steve Matier, Maritime Launch CEO, said the proven heritage of the C4M launch family, with over 220 launches to date, will provide Nanoracks with plenty of opportunities to choose the appropriate missions on which to test and develop the proposed upper stage conversions into resilient automated habitats, and one day human habitats. Canada has a reputation for providing in-space robotics for the International Space Station, such as the CANADARM and the Dextre programs. With Nanoracks, the organization hope to see this country’s legacy expanding further into economically viable space habitats, and to organize the related launch missions to bring equipment and supplies to these new working structures.

Nanoracks CEO Jeffrey Manber added that it’s Nanoracks vision to re-purpose upper stages of launch vehicles and convert them into Outposts. The company envisions populating the solar system with cost-efficient platforms, that can serve as hotels, research parks, fuel depots, storage centers and more/ Nanoracks is proving time and time again that there are new ways to look at how to explore deep space and that time is needed to think creatively and work cost-efficiently. This agreement with Maritime Launch will provide the firm with the in-orbit test bench second stage articles to do exactly that, and to grow the space industry even further.

Spaceflight will be one busy place, in Seattle, Washington, as they make plans to schedule the launch of 14 more spacecraft from India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) this year. Payloads will launch on PSLV’s C47, C48 and C49 missions, scheduled to launch in November and December 2019 from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center. Customers aboard the missions include Analytical Space, Spire, iQPS and Kleos Space.

Meshbed

Analytical Space Inc.’s (ASI) second technical demonstration spacecraft, dubbed Meshbed, will be launching on PSLV C47 in November. ASI’s mission is an on-orbit demonstration intended to test technology that will enable users on Earth to gain faster access to satellite data. The spacecraft features a patented antenna from MITRE that could help enable faster access to space-based data, as well as government missions including tactical communications and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

PSLV C48, slated for early December, will carry Japan’s iQPS SAR microsatellite and four multi-payload Earth observation nanosatellites that add to Spire Global’s constellation of maritime, aviation and weather monitoring satellites. PSLV C49, also scheduled in December, will take Luxembourg-based Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites, the foundational system in the company’s radio frequency monitoring constellation, and additional Spire nanosats to orbit.

Curt Blake, CEO and president of Spaceflight said that PSLV continues to be a reliable launch partner for them, enabling Spaceflight to launch a variety of customers. By the end of 2019, they will have executed 11 launches on PSLVs and sent more than 100 satellites to orbit on this vehicle. The consistency of the PSLV has played a critical role in assisting our customers, especially those launching constellations, achieve their mission and business goals.

The company’s last mission aboard this launch vehicle was PSLV C45 which deployed 21 rideshare spacecraft earlier this year. Spaceflight has completed five missions already this year, with another five planned in 2019. Other noteworthy 2019 missions include Spaceflight’s GTO-1, which deployed the first commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, and two rideshare missions with Rocket Lab, which sent nine spacecraft to orbit. In December 2018, SSO-A, the company’s historic dedicated rideshare mission, successfully launched 64 unique smallsats, making it the single largest deployment of satellites from a U.S.-based launch vehicle.