News

The nonprofit MethaneSAT LLC announced recently signed a contract with SpaceX to deliver its new satellite into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Now under construction after completing an intensive design process, the MethaneSAT instrument is on schedule for a launch window that opens October 1, 2022.

MethaneSAT is the newest in a growing wave of methane satellites. It is designed to fill a critical gap between existing missions by providing higher sensitivity and better spatial resolution than global mapping instruments like TROPOMI, combined with a much wider field of view than point-source systems like GHGSat. MethaneSAT plans to stream its data online at no charge for non-commercial users.

Cutting human-made methane emissions is increasingly recognized by scientists, policymakers and the oil and gas industry as a necessary element of any successful climate strategy. Measurements taken by MethaneSAT will enable both companies and governments to locate, quantify and track methane emissions from oil and gas operations worldwide, and use that data to reduce emissions of the highly potent greenhouse gas.

MethaneSAT is building an advanced data platform to automate complex analytics required to determine the amount of methane that is being released across a landscape, transforming a process that now takes scientists weeks or months into one that provides users with actionable data in just a few days. Making methane emissions data for oil and gas infrastructure across the globe freely available will create unprecedented transparency, giving stakeholders and the public a vital window on the progress toward emission reduction goals. Unique mission

MethaneSAT is a subsidiary of Environmental Defense Fund, which has a long record of working with both business and policymakers to create innovative, science-based solutions to critical environmental challenges.

Late last year, the Bezos Earth Fund announced a $100 million grant to EDF that will support critical work including completion and launch of MethaneSAT.

A leading source of expertise on methane emissions, EDF coordinated a sweeping series of studies that produced more than 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers involving more than 150 academic and industry co-authors who assessed methane emissions at every stage in the U.S. oil and gas supply chain.

Cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas industry 45% by the year 2025 would have the same 20-year climate benefit as shutting down one-third of the world’s coal-fired power plants.

The idea for MethaneSAT was first unveiled by EDF President Fred Krupp in an April 2018 TED Talk, as one of the inaugural group of world-changing ideas selected for seed funding by the Audacious Project, successor to the TED Prize.

“This is a unique mission on an ambitious timeline,” said Dr. Steven Hamburg, MethaneSAT project co-lead. “SpaceX offers the readiness and reliability we need to deliver our instrument into orbit and begin streaming emissions data as soon as possible. We couldn’t ask for a more capable launch partner.”

“Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is the fastest, most cost-effective way we have to slow the rate of warming right now, even as we continue to decarbonize the energy system,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF Senior Vice President for Energy. “MethaneSAT is designed to create transparency and accountability to make sure companies and governments don’t miss that opportunity.”

Exotrail reports the full success of the first-ever cubesat mission equipped with Hall-effect electric propulsion technology. Through an In-Orbit Demonstration mission launched to LEO on November 7, 2020, onboard a PSLV rocket, Exotrail nominally ignited its ExoMG Hall-effect electric propulsion system on the first attempt.

Smallsat constellations will now be able to quickly change their orbit once in space, giving new capabilities for satellite operators as well as more flexibility in their launch strategy, dramatic performance increases, collision avoidance and safe de-orbiting to prevent space pollution.

This success marks a major milestone for Exotrail in the company’s journey to become a space mobility leader, allowing the company to validate in space its product building blocks dedicated to satellites ranging from 10 to 250 kilograms.

ExoMG electric propulsion system is being operated with ExoOPS, Exotrail’s operation software, simultaneously validating not one but two products of the company. This mission opens up a new era for the space industry: ExoMG is the first ever Hall-effect thruster operating on a sub-100 kg spacecraft. This success is strengthened by the extremely short development timeframe, with less than a year from design to delivery. The pandemic and launch delays also caused one year of storage at the launch operator facilities without specific monitoring. This shows the extreme reliability of ExoMG product.

After concluding a first demonstration phase with an altitude change in December 2020, Exotrail will continue demonstrating additional capabilities of its solutions in 2021. Exotrail has already delivered ExoOPS software suite to various clients around the world as well as several flight-grade ExoMG propulsion systems to customers on two continents. Several additional propulsion systems are in production for institutional and commercial clients, such as ESA and AAC Clyde Space.

At least four mission shall fly with Exotrail product onboard in 2021 and more ExoOPS software deployed with new customers to be announced soon.

Hall-effect thrusters are mainly used on large satellites due to their superior efficiency compared to other electric propulsion technologies. Legacy systems, however, are the size of a fridge and require kilowatts of power. Exotrail’s smallsat thruster runs on 50 watts of power and is equivalent in volume to 2 liters of soda. On top of designing and packing world-leading innovations at the thruster level, Exotrail’s team managed the integration of the propulsion system inside the 10 kilograms spacecraft.

Another key element of innovation comes from the use of ExoOPS, Exotrail’s constellation operation software. The software has been instrumental to the realization of the mission. Integrated seamlessly within NanoAvionics’ space infrastructure, ExoOPS allows to command the attitude and propulsion system of the spacecraft and to perform advanced and automatic maneuvers. ExoOPS can also provide capabilities such as orbit determination and propagation, ground station visibility planning or constellation management. The next steps will be dedicated to advanced maneuvering capabilities to demonstrate altitude change, inclination correction, station-keeping, anomaly and plane change, collision avoidance and de-orbit capability.

“Everything worked better than anticipated. Some customers already told us we made history with that mission! Beyond these nice words – a true recognition of the hard work performed by all Exotrail team – it makes our strategy a reality: to operate a high-thrust and flexible electric propulsion system seamlessly with our operations software. We are beyond thrilled!” reported David Henri, Co-Founder and CEO of Exotrail. “We also want to claim the success of our mission showing tangible proofs based on real data. We are happy to report data from our ExoOPS software, but also external tracking elements.”

“We have confirmed nominal operations of our electronics, our fluidics and our thruster head sub-systems. We are now gathering a lot of data to verify the impact of the space environment on our performances and operations. For now, we are very happy with the results as we exceeded our mission objectives.” said Jean-Luc Maria, Co-founder and CTO of Exotrail.

“We confirm that this testing was successful with nominal results at platform level and an altitude change. It has been great working with Exotrail on this journey,” said Arnoldas Pečiukevičius, Head of Systems Engineering at NanoAvionics, the smallsat manufacturing company who built the satellite in which ExoMG is included. “I would like to congratulate the whole Exotrail team on achieving this huge goal. Now that Exotrail’s technologies are space-proven, mobility solutions will be instrumental for a safer space.”

UPDATE

Rocket Lab is currently targeting no earlier than 07:38, January 16 UTC for lift-off of our 18^th Electron launch, the ‘Another One Leaves The Crust’ mission.

Launch Window:

• NZT: 20:38 – 20:45 (16 Jan)
• UTC: 07:38 – 07:45 (16 Jan)
• ET: 02:38 – 02:45 (16 Jan)
• PT: 23:38 – 23:45 (15 Jan)

The company has backup opportunities available through January 25 should Rocket Lab need to stand down for any reason. For real time updates on launch day, keep an eye on Twitter @RocketLab.

Mission Information

• ‘Another One Leaves The Crust’ will launch a single communications satellite for OHB Group.
• The mission will be Rocket Lab’s 18th launch overall and first mission of 2020.
• Rocket Lab will not be attempting to recover Electron’s first stage for this mission. Stay tuned for details of our next recovery mission soon.

Original news story…

Rocket Lab has announced that their first Electron launch of the new year will be a dedicated mission for European space technology company OHB Group.

This dedicated mission, named ‘Another One Leaves the Crust,’ is scheduled for lift-off during a 10-day launch window that opens on January 16 NZT/UTC. Encapsulated inside Electron’s fairing will be a single communication smallsat that will enable specific frequencies to support future services from orbit.

The launch will be Rocket Lab’s 18th Electron mission and was procured for OHB Group through OHB Cosmos International Launch Service GmbH, the launch service division of OHB Group. OHB Cosmos is responsible for launching the spacecraft built by the Group’s satellite manufacturers based in Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

The mission will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula to an initial elliptical orbit, then Electron’s Kick Stage will perform a series of burns with its relightable Curie engine to raise apogee and act as a space tug to deliver the OHB Cosmos’ payload to its precise orbital destination.

Following payload deployment, the Kick Stage will perform a de-orbit burn to lower its perigee where it will experience greater atmospheric drag, enabling it to re-enter and burn up faster to avoid becoming space junk. Rocket Lab will not be attempting to recover Electron’s first stage for this mission.

‘Another One Leaves the Crust’ is the first mission in a packed launch manifest for 2021, which includes multiple dedicated and rideshare small satellite missions for both government and commercial customers. This year will also see Rocket Lab launch a Photon mission to the Moon in support of NASA’s CAPSTONE program and also launch the first missions from Rocket Lab’s two additional launch pads – Launch Complex 2 in Wallops, Virginia, and the new Pad B at Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

Rocket Lab’s founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said, “We’re proud to be delivering a speedy and streamlined path to orbit for OHB Group on this mission, with launch taking place within six months of contract signing. By flying as a dedicated mission on Electron, OHB and their mission partners have control over launch timing, orbit, integration schedule, and other mission parameters.”

The FCC has agreed to allow SpaceX to launch ten Starlink satellites into a polar orbit later this month. The FCC published the order on January 8 granting permission for the ten satellites to be placed into a 560 kilometers orbit with an inclination of 97.6 degrees. The satellites will be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than January 14.

The satellites will launch as part of the Transporter-1 mission, which is a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. SpaceX has been lobbying the FCC for permission for the launch into a polar orbital plane for weeks. Reports indicate that the FCC is considering modifying SpaceX’s license to lower the orbits of satellites originally authorized for higher altitudes.

In November, SpaceX issued a request to the FCC for permission to launch 58 satellites into a single polar orbital plane. At the time, SpaceX cited an opportunity for a polar launch in December, but it didn’t identify the opportunity at the time. SpaceX said that placing some satellites into polar orbits would allow it to begin service in Alaska.

Currently, Alaska is not inside the Starlink coverage area for its existing network of satellites in mid-inclination orbits. According to SpaceX, placing the satellites into polar orbits will allow it to offer high-quality broadband service to the most remote areas of Alaska. There was opposition to SpaceX’s plan by Viasat. It claimed “commercial expediency” wasn’t a sufficient reason for the FCC to grant permission for the polar orbit launch.

The FCC concluded that SpaceX was allowed to launch the ten satellites into the polar orbit and that it was in the public interest. The FCC did reject Viasat’s opposition to SpaceX’s request noting that the ten satellites didn’t present concerns in connection with the reliability of the satellites and the potential orbital debris hazards they pose.

By Shane McGlaun, SlashGear.com

A cubesat, largely built by undergraduate students and scheduled to launch on Sunday, will explore the feasibility of a new propulsion method that could enable very small satellites to move around Earth’s orbit without carrying fuel.

This could pave the way for tiny satellites that stay in orbit for long periods and operate in swarms, monitoring storms and natural disasters, for example.

A cubesat is about the size of a loaf of bread, designed to hitch a ride into space with a major mission. Cubesats are low-cost ways to test out new technologies or enable students to get hands-on experience with space exploration. MiTEE is scheduled to fly from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Virgin Orbit’s Launch Demo 2.

While Earth’s atmosphere is much thicker on the ground, a scattering of air particles stretch all the way up to low Earth orbit—the territory of about 60 percent of Earth-orbiting satellites. Small satellites are more strongly affected by the drag of the upper atmosphere than large satellites, slowing their orbits and causing them to drop toward the Earth.

“These smaller spacecraft just don’t last very long, maybe even days to weeks, or a few months, dependent upon how high they are,” said Brian Gilchrist, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, who supervised the team.

And, unlike larger satellites, most small satellites can’t fight the drag. Propulsion is typically achieved by pushing something in the opposite direction of travel, but this means carrying extra material on the satellite that adds weight and is a limited resource.

But because small satellites are so light, they may be able to take advantage of a different means of propulsion. Rather than relying on Newton’s equal-and-opposite reactions to move around, they may be able to harness the more subtle laws of electromagnetism.

The team is studying the idea of tethering two cell phone-sized small satellites with a wire 10 to 30 meters long that is able to drive current in either direction using power from solar panels and closing the electrical circuit through the Earth’s ionosphere. When a wire conducts a current in a magnetic field, that magnetic field exerts a force on the wire. The team plans to use the force from the Earth’s magnetic field to climb higher in orbit, compensating for the drag of the atmosphere.

The first experiments to test the idea will be on a CubeSat satellite called MiTEE-1: The Miniature Tether Electrodynamics Experiment-1. The version being launched was designed and built by more than 250 students, over a course of six years. They were mentored by engineers and technicians of the U-M Space Physics Research Laboratory. The version launching now will have a deployable rigid boom, one meter long, between one satellite the size of a bread box and another the size of a large smartphone. It will measure how much current can be drawn from the ionosphere under different conditions.

“It’s the first time MiTEE will launch a satellite, and it’s been a long time coming. I’m excited to finally see the result of years of effort,” Lauren Citkowski, an aerospace engineering senior.

In two-and-a-half years on the project, Citkowski is grateful for the experiences that built both her technical skills, such as soldering and assembling electronics, and the communication and interpersonal skills that will enable her to thrive on interdisciplinary engineering teams.

The MiTEE project continues at U-M, taking data from this satellite and planning the next. A future version with a longer tether between the satellites, 30 feet or more, would demonstrate that this form of electromagnetic propulsion could keep the device in orbit.

The MiTEE project participates in the Multidisciplinary Design Program, which helps match students from across the University with faculty research—from first year undergraduates to masters level students. Through MDP, the U-M College of Engineering also funds fellowships for students from low and middle income families, or who are in the first generation of the family to attend college. All students who participate in MDP gain hands-on experience in research and industry, preparing them for careers in engineering and space sciences.

Gilchrist is also a professor of climate and space sciences and engineering.

From University of Michigan News

Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s sensor payload for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Blackjack program passed critical design review (CDR) on schedule.

Blackjack is an LEO satellite constellation program that aims to develop and demonstrate the critical elements for persistent global coverage against a range of advanced threats.

During critical design review, the team demonstrated that vital sensor components – focal plane, cryocooler, telescope and electronics – are already in fabrication, which significantly reduces schedule risk.

The team also provided updated sensor analysis, which dictates optimal performance parameters for missions, like orbit and type of mission. It showed that the Blackjack objective constellation can deliver persistent overhead access to any point in the world with a high degree of fidelity.

RI&S will continue to reduce integration timelines for rapid deployment, engaging with major subcontractors to be ready for production. RI&S is on contract to deliver two prototype sensor payloads and to support the systems integrator for integration with the Pit Boss mission management system and the space vehicle. It also includes launch campaign support and the on-orbit demonstration.

“Our Blackjack design has required little change throughout reviews,” said Dave Broadbent, VP and COO for Space & C2 Systems at RI&S. “That design stability as well as procurement and integration of parts has been key to meeting DARPA’s rapid delivery schedule.”

By the very last days of 2020, ANYWAVES received from the French Space Agency (CNES) an accreditation scheme for the company’s S-band TT&C antenna , X-Band Payload Telemetry antenna and GNSS L1 / E1 Band antenna — these antennas were designed thanks to additive manufacturing.

This CNES label is a recognition of “the excellent work done for the agency’s programs” CNES stated in their press-release.

This an honor for the ANYWAVES team to receive such an award only three years after the firm’s inception. This marks yet another milestone on the company’s way to leadership of miniature antennas for satellite constellations.

SEAKR^® Engineering, Inc. (SEAKR) has realized their on-orbit technology demonstration of Pit Boss supercomputing processing hardware in nine months as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Blackjack Program.

Pit Boss is an autonomous, collaborative, distributed space-based enterprise designed to self-task, process, and distribute tactically relevant information to manned and unmanned subscribers.  

As Pit Boss prime, SEAKR supports the Blackjack program with two risk reduction demonstration flights as LEO rideshares. The first demonstration, Mandrake I, a cubesat, validates key Pit Boss hardware and chip level technologies prior to full production.  The experimental orbital platform includes a digital twin and provides ‘real-time’ efficacy feedback on LEO radiation mitigations and processor performance. The single satellite system launch supports early evaluation and characterization for risk reduction in technology development. 

The second demonstration, Mandrake II, aims to advance laser communications between satellites and to ground or airborne assets with Blackjack constellation laser terminals.  

DARPA’s Blackjack program focuses on integrating commercial satellite technologies into a constellation of affordable, small, secure, and resilient military satellites. Mandrake efforts combine mission development and management services, integration coordination, as well as mission operations, data reduction and processor prototype development.  The Mandrake program supports  the Blackjack program’s mission by aiming to reduce risk and validating key technologies and capabilities to expand operational fidelity.  

SEAKR Engineering is a provider of advanced electronics for space applications. The company desigsn and manufactures processors, command and data handling systems, advanced payloads, and manned space hardware.  Founded in 1982, SEAKR continues their innovation with state-of-the-art space communications processors that are capable of channelization and beamforming.