News

Phase Four has been awarded an SBIR Phase I contract by U.S. Air Force (USAF) tech accelerator AFWERX, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the National Security Innovation Network.

As part of this partnership, beginning in March 2020, Phase Four will work with the USAF to adapt their Maxwell in-space propulsion system to meet the needs of defense users.

Affordable and reliable in-space propulsion is an essential requirement for both commercial and defense next-generation satellite constellations. The Phase Four radio-frequency thruster (RFT) is the first solution to address the cost, manufacturing, and performance needs of high volume satellite constellations. RFT’s simple architecture allows manufacturing to scale up easily and accommodates a wide range of solid, liquid, and gas propellants. In turn, these features potentially open an even wider range of mission possibilities, including missions in deep space and very low Earth orbit.

Phase Four’s Maxwell is a turn-key electric propulsion solution for next generation smallsats and includes the company’s proprietary RF thruster, power electronics, 1 kg. xenon propellant tank (and control system), and flight software.

Maxwell is a complete in-space propulsion system built on Phase Four’s RFT. The system includes power electronics, software, and a pressurized storage vessel for 1 kg. of xenon, providing more than 10,000 Ns of impulse. Maxwell is delivered in an enclosure smaller than 19x19x 14 cm. Customer deliveries began earlier this month.

CEO Beau Jarvis said the firm is proud to have been selected by the U.S. Air Force as one of their potential technology partners. This is a great example of how Phase Four’s commercial success with Maxwell in the private sector can translate to defense needs.

Jason Wallace, VP of Advanced Development for the company, stated that with space now a contested domain, the firm looks forward to collaborating with the U.S. Air Force to provide United States space assets with the superior maneuverability and resiliency required to ensure mission success.

Rocket Lab has reached an agreement to acquire Sinclair Interplanetary, a provider of high-quality, flight-proven satellite hardware — the financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

The acquisition strengthens the satellite division of Rocket Lab, which produces the Photon spacecraft line and will enable Sinclair to tap into Rocket Lab’s resources, scale, manufacturing capability and innovative technology.

Founded in 2001 by Doug Sinclair, Toronto-based Sinclair Interplanetary develops reliable, best-in-class spacecraft hardware, including reaction wheels and star trackers that support rapid-schedule small satellite programs. More than 90 satellites incorporating Sinclair hardware have been launched to orbit, including Rocket Lab-launched satellites from AstroDigital, ALE, and BlackSky.

The Sinclair team has been entrusted with developing hardware for world-first missions: BRITE, the world’s smallest space telescope; and The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2, the first satellite in Earth orbit to be propelled solely by sunlight. Satellite communications company, Kepler Communications, has also selected Sinclair reaction wheels for its constellation of 140 Internet of Things (IoT) satellites currently in development.

Rocket Lab will look to leverage Sinclair Interplanetary’s strong brand and equally impressive heritage of innovation, quality, and execution. Sinclair products will be key features of Rocket Lab’s in-house designed and built Photon satellite platforms, and Rocket Lab will bring additional resources to grow Sinclair’s already strong merchant spacecraft components business.

Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive, Peter Beck, said that by combining the experience and capabilities of both companies, Rocket Lab will deliver reliable and flexible satellite and launch solutions that enable customers to do more, spend less and reach orbit faster. Doug Sinclair and his team at Sinclair Interplanetary are recognized as industry leaders and, like Rocket Lab, they produce best-in-class solutions that satellite operators know they can count on. Sinclair’s dedication to quality and reliability aligns perfectly with Rocket Lab’s commitment to mission success. The company is thrilled to welcome Doug and the entire Sinclair team to the Rocket Lab family.

Doug Sinclair added that Rocket Lab has played a pivotal role in making it easy for small satellites to access space. By operating as one company, there is now the opportunity to do the same for satellite manufacturing and make Sinclair hardware available to more customers globally. The firm will be able to supply larger constellations than before and take our hardware out to the Moon and beyond.

A new date has been established for United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) launch of AEHF-6 for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The launch to be postponed due to a mechanical malfunction.

ULA attributed the technical problem to a faulty booster valve.  The new sendoff date is Thursday, March 26. The team needed additional time to complete the booster valve replacement and retest. The two-hour launch window starts at 2:57 p.m. ET.          

United Launch Alliance will use an Atlas V 551 rocket to launch the sixth and final spacecraft in the Lockheed Martin-built Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) series for the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center. AEHF satellites provide global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms. Atlas V rockets successfully launched the first five AEHF satellites between 2010 and 2019.

Also onboard will be TDO-2, the multi-manifest smallsat vehicle flying with the AEHF-6 mission, that is carrying multiple U.S. Government payloads that will provide optical calibration capabilities that will support space domain awareness through optical calibration and satellite laser ranging. TDO-2 was manufactured by Georgia Institute of Technology and sponsored by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

EZ-2 is integrated on the aft-end of the Centaur on the Atlas V 551 launch vehicle where it will deploy the TDO-2 multi-manifest satellite vehicle approximately 31 minutes after launch.

TDO-2 will deploy after Main Engine Cut Off (MECO) 2 and prior to the anchor AEHF satellite, which is only the second time this event has occurred during a National Security Space Launch mission. Previously, a hosted payload was deployed prior to AEHF-5 successfully separating.

The AEHF-6 launch will mark the 83rd Atlas V mission since the inaugural launch in 2002 and the 11th in the 551 configuration.

Kleos Space S.A (ASX:KSS, Frankfurt:KS1), a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data-as-a-service (DaaS) company, announced that the mission team will be traveling to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Chennai, India on March 18, to carry out the final preparation steps prior to launch approximately six days prior to handing Kleos’ nanosatellites over to New Space India (NSIL) for integration with the launch vehicle. Kleos awaits the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the launch provider, to announce the upcoming launch date. 

Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites will detect and geolocate maritime radio frequency transmissions to provide global activity-based intelligence irrespective of the presence of positioning systems, in spite of unclear imagery and if targets are out of patrol range. These initial satellites form the foundation of a larger constellation that will deliver near real-time intelligence over key regions of maritime interest.

The preparation activities include carrying out spacecraft checkout, battery charging, fueling, setting the final spacecraft flight configuration and overseeing the dispenser integration.

Kleos’ Scouting Mission satellites will launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre aboard PSLV C49, a rideshare mission conducted by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and featuring satellites from other organizations including Spire Global.

Kleos’ satellites will launch into a 37-degree inclination orbit, providing unprecedented situational awareness over crucial shipping regions including the Strait of Hormuz, South China Sea and East and West African coasts.

CEO of Kleos Space, Andy Bowyer said that the launch of their Scouting Mission satellites from Chennai is imminent. Their combined team is undertaking final preparations for their satellites to be integrated with the PSLV launch vehicle. Following launch, spacecraft operation engineers will guide the satellites from launch vehicle separation until they are established in their final orbit. This is an important milestone for Kleos as it will enable us to commence data delivery and revenue generation from early adopter contracts.

Bowyer continued saying they are seeing increasing demand for their global maritime geolocation intelligence data, which will enhance the ISR capabilities of governments and commercial entities. Their independent intelligence will complement existing datasets to enable the detection of hidden maritime activity such as drug and people smuggling, piracy, pollution and illegal fishing.

Kleos Space S.A. (ASX: KSS) is a space enabled, activity-based intelligence, data as a service company based in Luxembourg. Kleos Space aims to guard borders, protect assets and save lives by delivering global activity-based intelligence and geolocation as a service. The first Kleos Space satellite system, known as Kleos Scouting Mission (KSM), will deliver commercially available data and perform as a technology demonstration. KSM will be the keystone for a later global high capacity constellation. The Scouting Mission will deliver targeted daily services with the full constellation delivering near-real time global observation.

TriSept Corporation has completed the integration activity for NASA’s ELaNa 32 ANDESITE mission, a rideshare set to launch Boston University’s groundbreaking scientific study of the Earth’s magnetic field on a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand later this month.

The culmination of an eight-year collaborative research program among BU’s talented electrical and mechanical engineering students and professors, NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) will lift the university’s 6U cubesat into LEO. Once in space, this smallsat will initiate measurements of the magnetosphere with onboard sensors, later releasing eight smallsats carrying small magnetometer sensors to track electric currents flowing in and out of the atmosphere.

Josh Semeter, an electrical engineering professor with Boston University’s Center for Space Physics who first conceptualized the ANDESITE mission, said this mission with NASA will demonstrate how cubesats can play a vital role in providing an unprecedented view into the variations of electrical activity racing through space and its impact on lives here on Earth.

TriSept’s Jason Armstrong, center, and the Boston University integration team perform the final procedures during the integration of the ANDESITE payload with the mission dispenser device.

GPS services, for example, can be directly affected. If all goes as planned, the cubesat will release eight smallsat sensors into space to form a first-of-its-kind, free-flying, mesh network capable of delivering uniquely comprehensive data mapping of magnetic fields and space weather to smart phones here on campus.

Like many scientific missions, Boston University’s ANDESITE mission spacecraft and hardware will feature standard electronics components. The mission team estimates the network of satellite sensors, which will drift further apart in space during the experiment, will communicate and deliver data maps of the magnetic field and electric currents in the area for at least two to three weeks and possibly much longer.

When it comes to the name of their mission, students and faculty jokingly claim ANDESITE is one of the longest acronyms they know – Adhoc Network Demonstration for Extended Satellite Inquiries and other Team Endeavors.

Jason Armstrong, TriSept’s Director of Launch Integration Services, added that the company, the University spacecraft team and NASA have completed the initial integration of the ANDESITE mission by installing the cubesat into the dispenser device and preparing the spacecraft for shipment to Rocket Lab in New Zealand. This is an especially gratifying mission that demonstrates what NASA’s ELaNa missions are all about – opening up space access to academia and other scientific groups that otherwise might not be able to fulfill their vision and allow their students to put their experiments to the ultimate test.”

Brian Walsh, a mechanical engineering professor at Boston University who spearheaded the effort to secure the NASA rideshare, remarked that this incredible research and educational opportunity wouldn’t exist without NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI), and students and programs would be left to speculate how their missions would perform in space. Long before this upcoming milestone mission launch, ANDESITE has helped to launch the careers of Boston University students who contributed countless hours to this breakthrough experiment. Many have gone on to head and support smallsat programs for some of the biggest government agencies and corporations leading the space industry today.

Scott Higginbotham, NASA LSP ELaNa Mission Lead, noted that the agency recently celebrated the monumental deployment of the 100th CSLI selected cubesat mission into space – and that’s amazing. Hundreds of students have benefited from the real-world hands-on experience that designing, building and launching a cubesat provides. This initiative is a critical part of NASA’s efforts to engage with and prepare the next generation of space explorers, and the success and longevity of this program underscores that commitment.”

HawkEye 360 Inc. has named Dennis Burnett as the firm’s Executive Vice President (EVP) and General Counsel.

Burnett joins HawkEye 360 with several decades of experience advising high-growth domestic and international space and technology companies in transactional, regulatory and national security matters.

Dennis Burnett

Previously, Burnett served as Consulting Principal at LMI Advisors; Chief Counsel of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Kymeta Corporation and as Vice President of Trade Policy and Export Control for EADS North America. Burnett also currently serves as the Director and Treasurer of the International Institute of Space Law and as the Chair of the Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Advisory Board for the University of Nebraska College of Law. He is a graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, the University of Nebraska College of Law and the Georgetown University College of Law.

Burnett said he is extremely pleased to contribute to the HawkEye 360 team as the company forges a new commercial frontier in space. The wave of new smallsat technology is revolutionizing commercial, scientific and defense applications in the space domain.

John Serafini, CEWO, HawkEye 360, added Dennis has molded legal strategy for many complex technologies and space-based solutions. His insight will prove invaluable, as HawkEye 360 continues to break new ground providing commercial RF signal data and data analytics from space.