Exolaunch has signed a launch agreement with Swarm Technologies to launch 24 satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission.

Under the contract, Exolaunch will provide launch, integration and deployment services to the Swarm satellites. The spacecraft will be launched to SSO on the Falcon 9 smallsat-dedicated rideshare mission targeted for launch in December 2020.

Swarm enables global connectivity with the world’s first low-cost satellite network. The company’s goal is to provide affordable, low-bandwidth, two-way connectivity for IoT devices around the world, particularly in remote areas that lack strong communications infrastructure. Swarm supports IoT devices in agriculture, energy, logistics, maritime, and other sectors. Overall, Swarm is planning to launch a total of 150 satellites into orbit.

The satellites will be integrated on a Falcon 9 ESPA class port and deployed into orbit with the EXOpod, Exolaunch’s proprietary deployment system. Having deployed 80 cubesats of various sizes to date, EXOpod has demonstrated excellent flight heritage and precise deployment into orbit. EXOpod will be mounted on a Falcon 9 ESPA class port with EXOport, a flexible multi-port adapter enabling optimal accommodation of small satellites. After integrating SpaceBEEs into EXOpod at the Swarm’s facilities in Mountain View, the satellite integration with the launch vehicle will take place at SpaceX’s facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Exolaunch procured launch capacity from SpaceX to launch multiple small satellites aboard Falcon 9 as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program early in 2020. Shortly after, Exolaunch acquired numerous international customers who signed up for this mission leading to the company extending its contract with SpaceX for an additional ESPA class port. To date, the company has successfully arranged launch campaigns for nearly 100 small satellites and is launching 50 more small satellites into orbit this year alone.

Executive Comments

“Swarm is excited to start launching with Exolaunch, particularly given their successful deployment history with small satellites,” said Sara Spangelo, CEO of Swarm. “They’ve been great partners to work with so far and we look forward to launching with them.”

“Swarm’s nanosatellites network will significantly reduce costs for the end-user and enable wide adoption of the technology. It makes an excellent case for demonstrating possibilities of space economics,” said Jeanne Medvedeva, Commercial Director at Exolaunch. “Our team, experienced in handling large constellations of satellites, is ready to utilize its launch expertise and deployers to arrange the rides to space for Swarm aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9.”

T4i is entering the smallsat market with their first propulsion system product, REGULUS.

This all begun in 2006, with the initial thruster development at the University of Padua. The first thruster version was miniaturized and then surrounded by all tof he other subsystems to build a complete propulsion unit.

REGULUS is almost ready to be integrated in UNISAT-7 for its first launch in October. This is a big milestone for REGULUS; however, this does not represent the end of T4i EP systems developments. Rather this is the only the start…

T4i is already thinking about the future and what will be the firm’s next EP steps. The company has already won a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) for the development of E-REGULUS, an even more versatile and economically affordable propulsion system.

E-REGULUS is specifically designed to serve platforms in the range between 50 and 200 kg that require thrust capability for station keeping, phasing, drag compensation and other maneuvers. The system is designed with a building block approach, meaning the system integrators can customize the subsystems configuration based on their specific needs. Moreover, E-REGULUS is versatile in using various types of propellant, such as Ar, Kr, Xe, I2, and water.

With a development roadmap of one year and a half, E-REGULUS is entering the smallsat market to become the EP system reference for small space platforms, for LEO and far beyond…

Executive Comment

“Apart being the first EP system using iodine that is going to fly, thanks to its technology REGULUS represents a new era of doing propulsion”, said Elena Toson, T4i Business Development Manager. “To make a correlation, Ferrari cars stands for electric propulsion existing technologies just as Fiat 500 stands for REGULUS. And in the past Fiat 500 completely revolutionized the way people were moving.”

Matteo Duzzi, E-REGULUS Project Manager , said, “We are very proud to improve the capabilities of our system with this project, and to carry out this activity under a programme of, and funded by, the European Space Agency. I particularly like the thruster evolution to target a broader microsatellites power range and the interchangeability of the fluidic line. These will open up new and interesting perspectives, making the system effectively adaptable to different missions and different propellants. In this way it will be easier to match customers’ particular needs.”

The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) announced during the Small Satellite Conference that the company was recently awarded a contract for two smallsat radios for a NASA asteroid mission — the contract value has not been disclosed.

Making long-distance calls from deep space is technologically challenging even with large spacecraft, and from smallsats, it becomes exponentially challenging. The SDL-built Iris radios will provide communications for dual Lockheed Martin small spacecraft being built for NASA’s deep space mission called Janus, to visit near-Earth asteroids, which is led by principal investigator Dr. Daniel Scheeres from the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Janus mission is targeted for launch in August 2022 and will travel more than 10 million kilometers to meet up with the pair of binary asteroids designated 1991 VH and 1996 FG3. The unique asteroid systems consisting of a primary and secondary body are considered rubble piles, made up of many pieces of space rock that have joined together under the influence of gravity.

Scheeres and fellow Janus scientists will study the pair of asteroids to better understand the formation and evolutionary implication of small rubble pile asteroids and build more accurate models for asteroid parameters and evolution.

In deep space, communications for the two miniature spacecraft will be critical to the success of the Janus mission. The Iris radios are designed for just this task — to provide a unique communications architecture to relay valuable mission data through NASA’s Deep Space Network to the mission operations center at Lockheed Martin in Denver.

Developed and operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the DSN is a global array of very large radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. According to NASA, the DSN also provides radar and radio astronomy observations that improve our understanding of the solar system and the larger universe.

Weighing only 1.1 kilograms, and about the size of a half loaf of bread, the Iris radios will use environmentally robust architecture, including radiation-tolerant parts necessary for deep-space communication over multiple years at a fraction of the mass and cost of other radios with similar reliability and capability. The design incorporates advanced thermal management necessary for navigation tracking.

Janus was selected as part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration. SIMPLEx programs are intended to contribute to NASA’s goal of boosting comprehension of our solar system’s makeup, provenance and evolution. They will also support planetary defense and help fill in knowledge gaps as NASA moves forward with its plans for human exploration of the Moon and Mars, according to the space agency.

Executive Comment

“SDL is honored to be a part of this exciting mission under the leadership of Dr. Scheeres that will provide scientists with unprecedented information from small spacecraft about the workings of our solar system. Janus will add valuable insight on communication systems for future SmallSat deep-space programs,” said Tim Neilsen, SDL’s Iris program manager for the Janus mission. “SDL will build upon the flight-proven heritage of Iris radios and our decades-long legacy collaborating with NASA to ensure mission success.”

Benchmark Space Systems has concluded a permanent licensing partnership to integrate Tesseract Space intellectual property, assets, and staff to elevate Benchmark’s major expansion in the development, deployment and support of its exclusively non-toxic chemical propulsion solutions for global rideshare markets.

Both Benchmark and Tesseract were founded in 2017 on green propulsion technologies designed to safely and quickly deliver small rideshare satellites the last leg of their space journey to an allotted orbital location, often in hours versus weeks using electric propulsion. Benchmark’s non-toxic propulsion solutions offer as much as one-thousand times the thrust of electric systems.

By integrating Tesseract’s intellectual property, expertise, proven test capabilities and product set into its expanding line of end-to-end solutions, Benchmark is more agile in meeting ever-changing market demands with a breadth of green, launch vehicle agnostic thrusters and services supporting 1U CubeSats through ESPA-class (1-to-500kg small satellites), large lunar landers, and orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs).

Benchmark has already won government and commercial contracts on the heels of the agreement, with its new Halcyon propulsion system – a 1 newton thruster in rapid development to debut aboard two smallsats scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 in December.

Benchmark will also demonstrate its Starling thruster (formerly DFAST) aboard a 3U small satellite set to liftoff with Firefly Aerospace on the inaugural Alpha flight in October. Starling is scalable from 3U to 24U satellites and features a patented On-Demand Pressurization System (ODPS) to lower launch risks and integration, handling and range safety costs.

Executive Comments

“This permanent partnership has Benchmark Space Systems extremely well positioned to help lead the emerging small satellite rideshare era, with innovative and affordable non-toxic propulsion solutions aimed at driving value in space by dramatically cutting costs, risk and time to orbit,” said Ryan McDevitt, Benchmark Space Systems CEO. “Benchmark has the financial strength, unsurpassed experience with 20 employees keenly focused on small satellite propulsion, offices on both coasts, a robust supply chain and new manufacturing facilities to empower our long-term commitment to new space initiatives and innovations across the small satellite market.”

“Getting into orbit quickly, affordably and safely is the top priority for small satellite missions looking to start generating revenue within days, not months of their launch into space. Benchmark Space Systems has the leading-edge non-toxic chemical propulsion and support solutions to make that happen,” said Erik Franks, Tesseract Co-Founder who now joins Benchmark’s leadership team. “Rideshare and OTV competition is a huge catalyst for propulsion market growth, and Benchmark is well ahead of the curve with required green solutions that far exceed the performance of electric propulsion.”

EnduroSat has joined the Orbital Transports partner network and will make their cubesat products and services available through the Space Catalog.

EnduroSat products include cubesat platforms ranging from 1U to 6U; transmitters, receivers, and antennas for UHF, S-band and X-band communications, and a variety of cubesat avionics, solar panels and power modules.

The Space Catalog is Orbital Transports’ digital portal for the smallsat industry that showcases some of the industry’s most innovative and reliable companies. As a one-stop shop for smallsat missions, the catalog features cubesat and smallsat buses, COTS hardware components, ground station services and mission operations software, orbital transfer services, hosted payloads, satellite servicing and refueling technologies.

Executive Comments

“We have been expanding successfully our partnerships in the last few months. The Space Catalog will be a great step toward growing our contact network,” said Raycho Raychev, CEO of EnduroSat. “We look forward to cooperating with Orbital Transports and providing ever-growing value to our partners and customers.”

“We’re very happy to add EnduroSat to the Space Catalog,” stated David Hurst, CEO of Orbital Transports. “Their nanosatellites are known for their high quality and reliability, and will be an asset in any mission. Including EnduroSat in the Catalog really ups the game for the whole industry.”

Also joining the Space Catalog is yuri GmbH and that firm will offer their modular experiment hardware and services for microgravity research.

yuri offers a growing portfolio of off-the-shelf, flight-proven, reusable modules suitable for conducting microgravity experiments ranging from growing cell cultures in three dimensions and studying protein crystallization, to understanding fluid dynamics and interfacial phenomenon in the absence of gravity.

Executive Comments

“Research in microgravity helps us understand the inner workings of biological and physical systems and therefore enables advancements in pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, agriculture and material science,” said Philipp Schulien, Chief Technology Officer for yuri. “Our experiment modules enable researchers studying molecular and cellular processes to explore the unique properties of the microgravity environment.”

“While life sciences microgravity research can be conducted aboard the International Space Station, with this partnership we are expanding the capabilities of commercial small satellites as life sciences microgravity research platforms,” noted David Hurst, Orbital Transports’ CEO. “This opens up an entire new product area for us, and we plan to carry additional products for microgravity research in the near future.”

An online B2B platform to facilitate the matching of payloads with available launch capacity has been developed by German IT company HOSTmi GmbH.

This enables the hosting of payloads across a diverse range of space platforms globally, including orbital, sub-orbital and deep space campaigns. Southern Launch, as a provider of launch services in South Australia, has recognized the benefit that the HOSTmi platform can provide to its customers, and so has executed a Brokerage Agreement with HOSTmi.

The premise of the HOSTmi platform is that every rocket launched has a certain capacity of payload it can carry to a specific orbit. Generally, the mass of the primary payload will be less than the mass that the rocket can lift, so there is spare capacity available.

Rocket manufacturers and operators try to sell this extra capacity to smaller payloads which are then added to the primary payload and launched at the same time. Although there are a few disadvantages, given the secondary payload must follow the schedule of the main customer or accept certain orbital restrictions, it can be a very attractive solution for budgetary reasons.

HOSTmi analyzed this market and built a platform which acts as a dedicated space marketplace for such secondary payloads. At their website, a potential customer can enter the characteristics of their payload and the launch date and orbit. The fully-automated algorithm then proposes launchers which can accept this secondary payload at the right moment in time.

As both a Launch Service Provider (LSP) and launch facility operator, Southern Launch will use the HOSTmi service to offer an intuitive and responsive service to worldwide satellite customers to source both dedicated launches and ride share opportunities on vehicles operating at Southern Launch sites.

Executive Comments

Lloyd Damp, Founder and CEO of Southern Launch said, “As a launch operator, we’ve recognized that this service has huge potential for our customers and the growing space ecosystem. Having access to the HOSTmi platform will help Southern Launch operate more frequently, with more payloads increasing the return on investment and further boosting Southern Launch and Australia as a focal point for access to space.”

Managing Director of HOSTmi, Pouya Haschemi, added, “Southern Launch offers a novel and unique solution in an emerging and promising market, namely the launch market. We notice that an increasing number of launch providers from different regions of the world are entering the market. They have clever people, latest technologies, innovative approaches, and a vast market. The only aspect that is lacking for most of them are optimal geographical conditions to turn the aforementioned attributes into a high-quality service. Southern Launch has identified a key market demand, which they aim to meet with a great end-to-end solution underpinned by the best geographic and environmental conditions. We at HOSTmi believe that Southern Launch is taking place exactly where the aviation industry started 100 years ago when the first global hubs for airlines were established. Given the historical development of the aviation industry and the prospects of the space industry as such, we believe that Southern Launch will provide significant value to our customers who are looking for a straightforward, agile and cost effective solution to realize their space missions.”

For those thinking of launching their smallsats or cubesats, please join GK Launch Services and the firm’s virtual side meeting that is scheduled for Wednesday, August 5, from 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. during the SmallSat Conference— access this direct link to attend…

The company will provide an overview of Soyuz-2 capabilities for smallsat access to space. The topic is: New launch opportunities for Small Satellites on Soyuz-2.

Even though this year is different and the firm is not in sunny Utah, GK Launch Services remains excited to meet attendees during this virtual event.

GK Launch Services is an operator of commercial launches. The company was established by the Russian State Space Corporation, “Roscosmos,” to implement commercial contracts for the launch of spacecraft using Soyuz-2 family launch vehicles from Russian spaceports.

MECANO ID is “exhibiting” a new, smallsat deployer at the SmallSat Conference, selecting this event to present their world of their new EOS (Ejection Of Satellite) deployer for smallsats.

The EOS deployment system’s first goal is to carefully carry the smallsat during the launch. As soon as the required altitude has been reached, EOS will eject the smallsat to its designated orbit with high stability.

EOS spent the last year under development by MECANO ID with the support of French Space Agency (CNES) and NewSpace Factory (NSF). The system has been developed to support any worldwide launchers and any satellites from 20 to 60 kg with a set of unique advantages.

Based on more than 20 years of collaboration, the CNES has selected to support MECANO ID in the EOS development, which is a crucial link between satellite and launcher. This key support is due to CNES unique dual know-how as much in launcher systems as in orbital systems.

The unique MECANO ID in-house know-how in engineering, composite manufacturing, and environmental testing brings high flexibility to its customers. MECANO ID can provide services and expertise as well as prime contracting that is fully committed to superior results. In the field of smallsats, the company traditionally supports satellites providers in mechanical and thermal architectures, engineering and space qualification. EOS is the first MECANO ID product specifically dedicated to smallsats market.

All stakeholders are invited to discover the EOS capabilities at the Small Satellite Conference.

Executive Comment

“We are proud to participate to this 33rd Annual Conference on Small Satellites and to exhibit EOS, the very first creation of our Deployment Systems Product Line. EOS encloses a lot of our knowledge from 25 years of experience in designing, sizing and qualifying space structure,” said Stéphane Galinier, Business Development Manager of the company.

“EOS system combines very low mass (less than 4 kg), predictable mechanical levels, very low spin at ejection and 5 free external faces allowing satellite appendixes such as sensors or antennas,” added Didier Zely, Manager of the Deployment Systems Product Line.

Open Cosmos has sealed a deal with satellite communications operator Sateliot to build and operate the company’s smallsat constellation, which will provide continuous global Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity under a 5G architecture.

Open Cosmos has begun the manufacture of the first of the 100 satellites that will allow Sateliot to start offering IoT services by the close of 2022.

The microwave oven sized satellites will operate in LEO, flying at an approximate altitude of 500 km to guarantee IoT connectivity on a global scale and in almost real time.

In the next two years, it is forecast that there will be more than 50 billion IoT devices globally. Sateliot will partner with conventional telecommunication providers around the world to ensure ubiquitous coverage.

Sateliot will also offer monitoring and tracking systems, data analysis, and processes in areas, such as: maritime, railways, aeronautical, agriculture and farming, gas and petroleum exploration, electric or critical infrastructure.

Executive Comments

Rafel Jordá, Founder and CEO of Open Cosmos, said, “We are excited to have satellite production underway for these satellites and be progressing all other aspects of the mission, including system integration, launch, licensing & logistics, as well as orbit operations. We are delighted to partner with Sateliot to enable the reality of IoT anywhere.”

Jaume Sanpera, Co-Founder and CEO of Sateliot, stated, “a bond with a partner, such as Open Cosmos, allows us to move forward with our project, meeting head on the requirements and challenges the New Space industry faces, while keeping control over the design of the antennae and the radio that will allow the operational and commercial management of our telecommunications service.”