A new era of mass producing satellites was achieved when Atos supported OneWeb in the successful launch of six satellites on February 27th. Atos’ contributions included providing all of the Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) equipment while achieving the world’s first mass-production of satellites.

Atos supports the OneWeb Constellation Program primed by Airbus OneWeb Satellites* that consists of the design, development and manufacturing and testing of more than 600 satellites which will provide affordable high-speed internet access across the globe.

The demand to produce several smallsats a day and bridge the digital divide by 2027 are what inspired the Airbus OneWeb Satellites’ team to develop innovative designs and processes that could lower the costs with large volumes for high-performance space applications. Atos’ integrated suite of electrical satellite testing solutions — Atos EGSE — enables satellites to be tested on the ground prior to launch to prevent or fix any issues and make sure all requirements are met, thus reducing the strategic and financial impact of a potential single faulty component.

With the delivery of 80 EGSE systems for the Airbus OneWeb Satellites’ Toulouse and Florida production lines, Atos is Airbus OneWeb Satellites’ largest and preferred supplier for Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE). 

By optimizing Atos’ power supply product line — ProUSTuniverSAS — to an unprecedented level of integration and power density, this world’s-first was made possible. UniverSAS substitutes many types of power test equipment and has a vast electrical parameter envelope, standardized to a single device.

As the space industry enters a new era of cost consciousness, improving the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — via a dense footprint, a simplified service and an increased availability — was at the forefront of the development effort. The result achieved by Atos  redefines the capability of spacecraft and satellite power testing systems.

Executive Comment

Hans-Martin Steiner, Atos Space and Avionics CTO, offered congratulations to OneWeb for the successful launch and said the company is delighted to be part of the evolution of the leading edge technology of today. The Atos team has worked tremendously hard to overcome the challenges of delivering in a short timescale a large amount of EGSEs.

The KeyW Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:KEYW) has selected Spire Global, Inc.’s hosted payload service to rapidly validate several of KeyW’s next-generation Innovative Space (InSpace) technologies — Spire’s hosted payload service will also enable KeyW to rapidly deploy larger constellations, as appropriate.

Image is courtesy of Spire Global.

Spire operates one of the largest constellations of smallsats and a network of Earth stations to collect shipping, aircraft and weather data from around the world. Spire also hosts the payloads of third parties on its satellites as part of its “Space-as-a-Service” product.

Executive Comments

KeyW end-to-end mission solutions graphic.

KeyW CEO  Bill Weber said that the company is focused on validating the firm’s next-generation technologies in space to open additional high margin, revenue-generation opportunities for the company’s advanced technologies. By leveraging Spire’s reliable, proven and cost-effective capability, KeyW intends to demonstrate speed and innovation in delivering high priority intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance solutions to core customers.

Spire CEO Peter Platzer added that this contract reflects the firm’s mission to inspire, lead, and create the business of Earth Observation for the benefit of all. The KeyW InSpace initiative is the first of what will be many opportunities for Spire’s Orbital Services to provide fast and cost-effective access to space that comes from using the most scalable satellite platforms available today.

Since the previous Axelspace announcement, progress continues on the check-out operations of the first GRUS satellite, which was developed by the company and was successfully launched on December 27, 2018.

Figure 1
First light image (whole area).
Image is courtesy of Axelspace.

As the company has confirmed with the correct operation of the on-board optical apparatus,  just released is the satellite’s first light image.

Top image: Fig. 2： Enlarged image (Haneda Airport)

Bottom image: Fig. 3： Enlarged image (Central Tokyo)

Images are courtesy of Axelspace.

The company also progressed toward the release of the AxelGlobe platform, perfecting the constellation’s automatic operation system and working on the consolidation of the image quality as well as on the web portal. The platform is expected to be released in May.

First light details

Here are the details of GRUS’s first light image.

• Capture time: 10:45 AM, March 2, 2019 (Japan Standard Time)
• Capture location: Tokyo, Japan

Figure 1 shows the whole first light image and is illustrated as a gray scale image as it was created out of  single panchromatic band data.

Figures 2 and 3 show two details of the same image and they may be downloaded from their following respective links. However, be advised that those data cannot be used for product evaluation due to the nature of first light. Data for product evaluation will be distributed at a later date.

Main Mission Specifications of GRUS

• Spectral Bands: Panchromatic(450-900nm), Blue(450-505nm), Green(515-585nm),
  Red(620-685nm), Red Edge(705-745nm), Near Infrared(770-900nm)
• Swath: 57+Km
• Ground Resolution: Panchromatic: 2.5m
• Multispectral: 5.0m
• Bit Depth: 12bit

Of the first light showcased above, Figure 1 shows only the panchromatic band with 2.5 meter resolution, while Figures 2 and 3 are 2.5 meter pan-sharpened images, e.g., compositions of the panchromatic, green, blue and red bands. The final product properties at the time of AxelGlobe’s release may be different from the ones shown here.

As LeoStella’s new CEO steps into his new position, the former CEO who filled the position since the company’s founding in March 2018 will return to Thales Alenia Space. LeoStella, a joint venture was created by Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries to meet the growing demand for efficient and cost-effective small-satellite production announced Mike Hettich has been named as the company’s CEO and has transitioned into the leadership position previously held by Chris Chautard. 

Mike Hettich

Hettich brings more than 30 years of aerospace system design, development and production experience to LeoStella. He will lead the company as it enters the next phase of growth, designing and manufacturing small satellites at scale at its state-of-the-art production facility. The company’s first major undertaking is constructing 20 satellites for BlackSky’s Earth-observation constellation.

Outgoing CEO, Chris Chautard said that the smallsat industry is burgeoning and LeoStella is poised to service its growing demand for cost-effective and efficient design, test and production. Mike is a seasoned executive that will shape the vision of LeoStella going forward and position the company as a leader in the industry. His unique experience and established record of success will be a valuable asset for LeoStella.

Chautard has served as LeoStella’s CEO since its founding in March 2018. He was tasked with establishing foundational elements to position the company for success, including developing an engineering and production facility and building an innovative and experienced team. As Hettich steps in as CEO of LeoStella, Chautard will return to Thales Alenia Space where he will be working with its Science and Observation Domain.

Hettich added that with the facility completed, LeoStella is poised to reimagine how small satellites are designed and produced. LeoStella is a blend of agility, innovation, expertise and knowledge backed by strong parent companies, both in Spaceflight Industries and Thales Alenia Space. They have an opportunity to become leaders in this industry and offer a comprehensive, effective approach to satellite development.

Hettich comes to LeoStella from Astronics, which serves the aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries with innovative technology solutions. Prior to joining LeoStella, Hettich held leadership positions at Astronics, Collins Aerospace, Iridium and Boeing.

During the recent SmallSat Symposium, the ManSat Group joined other leaders from the rapidly growing smallsat industry to share information on the latest trends and to collaborate on innovative ideas.

ManSat Group CEO Chris Stott and Katherine Gizinski, the VP of Sales and Marketing, represented ManSat at the 4th annual SmallSat Symposium, which was in session for four days and hosted by Satnews Publishers, an industry leader in satellite news, media and events — the Symposium was in session at the Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California.

Chris Stott, CEO of the
ManSat Group.

Chris moderated a panel during the Symposium, which asked the question: What role do heavy lift large rockets play in the small satellite industry?

The panelists were:

• Dr. Bruce Chesley, Senior Director, Strategy, Space and Missile Systems Defense, Space & Security at Boeing
• Stella Guillen, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Arianespace Inc
• Jonathan Hofeller, Vice President of Commercial Sales, SpaceX
• Jeanne Medvedeva, Commercial Director, EXOLAUNCH
• Dr. Ko Ogasawara, Vice President and General Manager, Space Systems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

 
Chris said that the majority of heavy lift launch service providers have already developed smallsat launch capability, or plan to, either directly or with third parties. The panel discussion looked at whether this is likely to continue, given that there is a number of smaller launch vehicles, with more frequent launches, on the horizon.

Katherine Gizinski, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, ManSat Group.

Katherine noted that the SmallSat Symposium is a great venue for exploring the critical issues and technological advances specific to smallsats. This event was also an ideal opportunity for the company to network, both with existing contacts and those who are new to the industry.

ManSat carries out satellite filings for the Isle of Man under a contract with the Isle of Man Government’s Communications Commission.

Affordable worldwide internet coverage is one step closer following an £18 million of UK Space Agency funding having been awarded to OneWeb through the European Space Agency to aid in the development of the company’s next generation satellite constellation.

Artistic rendition of the OneWeb constellation. Image is courtesy of Airbus.

A global communications network in space, the system will be initially comprised of approximately 650 satellites and will scale to more than 900 satellites over time. This new £18 million investment will go towards meeting the significant technical challenges of the project, placing the UK at the forefront of cutting-edge research and development.

The commercial potential for a cost effective worldwide telecoms satellite system is huge, and the UK space sector is playing a leading role in delivering this technology, which is made possible by the UK’s ongoing commitment to the European Space Agency and the UK’s capabilities in space and telecommunications via the agency’s modern Industrial Strategy plans.

UK business OneWeb, which is headquartered in London and will employ up to 200 staff at their White City offices, is poised to take advantage of cost effective spacecraft launches and manufacturing to deploy hundreds of satellites that could provide more affordable internet connectivity to people and businesses across the world.

The OneWeb Sunrise program will initially focus on technologies for the next generation of satellite payloads, ground connections and space debris removal. The UK Space Agency investment will also support novel automation techniques and artificial intelligence to manage the proposed constellation of spacecraft and its interaction with terrestrial networks to realize global 5G connectivity.

This announcement comes as a result of the UK’s investment in the European Space Agency’s telecommunications research program — ARTES. ESA is independent of the European Union and hosts their European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications (ECSAT) in Harwell, Oxfordshire.

Artistic rendition of the EUTELSAT QUANTUM satellite.

This news comes as the first batch of ten satellites of the OneWeb constellation are due to be launched on an Arianespace Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana next week, on February 26. Last month, EUTELSAT QUANTUM, the first satellite capable of being completely reprogrammed after launch, left the UK for final assembly and testing in France. In November of last year, Eutelsat and Airbus signed a new contract worth hundreds of millions of pounds that will see components and parts for two further communications satellites assembled in the UK. This means that six out of seven of the company’s next satellites will be partially built in Britain. According to the agency, the UK space sector is growing rapidly, employing 42,000 people and playing a major role in the global shift towards the commercialization of space activities — known as ‘New Space.’

The UK space industry is commercially focused with 82 percent of income from sales to consumers and businesses. The latest industry figures show it has an income of £14.8 billion, employment of 41,900 and exports worth £5.5 billion, while supporting a further £300 of UK GDP through the provision of satellite services to other sectors

Executive Comments

Adrian Steckel, CEO, OneWeb, said providing access to people everywhere has been the mission and vision of OneWeb since the very beginning. The company will be able to realize this vision in part because of important partnerships such as this one with the UK Space Agency, ESA and a range of other important partners including the firm’s European and Canadian partners. Thanks to this support, OneWeb will focus together on next generation technologies that will be game changers for realizing global 5G connectivity. The company is excited about the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologies to develop novel automation techniques that could help manage this constellation in future and ensure such is done safely and responsibly in order to protect space for future generations.

Magali Vaissiere, ESA Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications added that Sunrise is a prominent endeavor falling under the Satellite for 5G Initiative. This represents the exciting and required new direction ESA is taking in support of Member States’ industry to remain at the forefront of the most advanced developments within the space world as well as to enable the necessary complement to the terrestrial networks that satellites will have to play to ensure a successful and fully inclusive digitization of industry and society. This ESA project will span seven nations including Canada and is an example of how the UK will continue to work across Europe and globally.

A successful capture was completed by the SSTL-developed RemoveDEBRIS satellite.

The harpoon was fired at a speed of 20 meters per second and penetrated a target made of satellite panel material.  The harpoon and 1.5 meter target boom were designed by a team at Airbus in Stevenage, UK.   The photo to the right shows the harpoon target bottom left, with the onboard camera to the right.  The spherical structure in the center with the white cover is the net housing. 

The success of the harpoon firing marks the third successful experiment for the RemoveDEBRIS project which has already demonstrated a net capture experiment and trialed its state-of-the-art LiDAR based vision navigation system to identify a target cubesat.

The RemoveDEBRIS satellite platform was designed and manufactured by SSTL to house two target cubesats and four debris removal technologies — a net, a harpoon, vision based navigation using cameras and LiDaR, and a de-orbit dragsail.  The spacecraft is operated in orbit by SSTL’s engineers from the company’s Spacecraft Operations Centre in Guildford, UK. 

The RemoveDEBRIS team is now preparing for the final experiment, which is scheduled to take place in March and will witness the RemoveDEBRIS spacecraft inflate a sail that will drag the satellite into Earth’s atmosphere for destruction. A video produced by SSL of this event is available for viewing at this direct link...

The U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks 40,000 objects and the estimate is that there are more than 7,600 tons of ‘space junk’ in and around Earth’s orbit — with some moving faster than a speeding bullet, approaching speeds of 30,000 miles per hour.

The RemoveDEBRIS consortium consists of:

• Mission and consortium coordination – Surrey Space Centre (UK)
• Satellite system engineering – ArianeGroup (France)
• Platform, avionics and spacecraft operations – SSTL (UK)
• Harpoon – Airbus (UK)
• Net – Airbus (Germany)
• Vision based navigation – CSEM (Switzerland)/ INRIA/ Airbus (France)
• CubeSat dispensers – Innovative Solutions in Space (Netherlands)
• Target CubeSats – Surrey Space Centre (UK)/ Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
• Dragsail – Surrey Space Centre (UK)

The RemoveDEBRIS project is co-funded by the European Commission and the research leading to the results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n°607099.

Arianespace and Open Cosmos, a company providing turnkey space missions, have signed a contract for the launch of an innovative CubeSat deployment solution.

Launched from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana using a Soyuz rocket, the CubeSat deployment platform is a key to the commercial offering from Open Cosmos. The first mission comprises an array of CubeSats with a total capacity of 12 units (12U) and will weigh about 30 kg. at liftoff — the CubeSats will be injected into Sun-synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an altitude over 500 km.

Open Cosmos delivers effective satellite-based solutions with the goal of enabling companies to use space technologies for tackling global challenge. The company specializes in the development and implementation of missions for small, low-cost satellites (up to 50 kg.), with short lead times (typically less than a year). One of the primary advantages of Open Cosmos is that the firm gives customers access to a wide range of launchers and orbits.

The first Open Cosmos payload will be an auxiliary passenger on the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG 1) satellite mission, along with the CHEOPS satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA) as well as the ANGELS and EyeSat’s French CNES space agency missions. The launch is scheduled for the last quarter of 2019.

Executive Comments

Following the contract signature, Rafael Jordá Siquier, CEO of Open Cosmos, said customers always ask the firm how they can get their payloads into orbit quickly and surely. This partnership with Arianespace to launch a 12U (units) deployment platform will get them into their targeted orbit less than ten months after signing the contract. This mission will use one of the world’s most reliable and highest performance launchers, with a proven track record — and that’s exactly the kind of agility that the space industry needs right now.

Stéphane Israël, CEOr of Arianespace, added that this contract clearly reflects the firm’s unwavering commitment to new players such as Open Cosmos, which drive the dynamic small satellite market. It also reflects the company’s ability to offer available, flexible and competitive solutions for all market segments, thanks to the Arianespace family of launch vehicles.

The Netherlands’ latest space firm — Hiber — has brought their newest design to ESA’s largest antenna test facility for testing — the Dutch space company is building an orbital constellation of CubeSats to provide global low-cost connectivity for the ‘Internet of Things,’ tracking and harnessing data from modem-linked objects such as haulage vehicles, power cables, pipelines or sensors for precision agriculture.

Evaluation of a test Hiber nanosatellite took place in ESA’s metal-walled Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone (Hertz) at the Agency’s technical centre in the Netherlands, shut off from all external influences for radio testing. Hertz’s hybrid nature makes it unique: the facility can assess radio signals from antennas either on a local ‘near-field’ basis or as if the signal has crossed thousands of kilometres of space, allowing it to serve all kinds of satellites and antenna systems. Image is courtesy of ESA – G. Porter.

Evaluation of a test smallsat took place in ESA’s metal-walled Hybrid European Radio Frequency and Antenna Test Zone (Hertz) at the Agency’s technical center in the Netherlands, shut off from all external influences for radio testing. Hertz’s hybrid nature makes it unique: the facility can assess radio signals from antennas either on a local ‘near-field’ basis or as if the signal has crossed thousands of kilometres of space, allowing it to serve all kinds of satellites and antenna systems. Hiber’s initial development was supported through ESA’s Business Incubation Centre Noordwijk. The company went on to launch their first two CubeSats last year. The firm’s test campaign in ESA’s Hertz chamber was organized through the Netherlands Space Office.

Connectivity is direct to the smallsats through a tiny modem and antenna linked to the tracked item. The company is called ‘Hiber’ because these terminals hibernate most of the time, turning on only when a Hiber satellite passes overhead to relay positioning and status updates.

HiberOne and HiberTwo are currently in orbit, launched in November and December of last year, but a constellation of up to 48 satellites is envisaged, depending on customer demand. As the total Hiber constellation grows, the revisit time between acquisitions will decrease.

Hiber smallsat in Hertz at ESTEC, seen with the chamber’s near-field scanner to the left.
Photo is courtesy of ESA – G. Porter.

These smallsats were manufactured for Hiber by Dutch small satellite specialist ISIS —- Innovative Solutions In Space.

Since its establishment in late 2016, Hiber has received support from various elements of ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) program, helping it grow to be awarded the title of Commercial Startup Launch of 2018 by Amazon Web Services and achieve its first satellite launch within a year of its founding.

Among Hiber’s pilot customers is Clean2Antarctica, a team of environmental campaigners using a solar powered car made from waste plastic to traverse the Antarctic.

Executive Comments

An engineering model of a Hiber CubeSat inside ESA’s Hertz chamber at ESTEC in the Netherlands. The front spiral antenna is used to send and receive signals from the modems of Hiber customers, used to track or harness data from items such as haulage vehicles, power cables, pipelines or sensors for precision agriculture. The long straight antenna is employed to receive commands from the ground and downlink satellite telemetry.
Photo is courtesy of ESA – G. Porter.

Maarten Engelen, Hiber’s CTO, said the fact that the company is  able to test the firm’s satellites in a chamber such as this, just half an hour from the company base, is extremely valuable. The results from the very thorough antenna testing has helped guide the check-out of these satellites on orbit, and feeding through to Hiber’s follow-on designs. These smallsats possess a one-year lifetime, so this next generation will be headed to orbit next year. The company already knows the satellite antennas work well enough to serve the firm’s initial customers around the world. But this testing is looking at how all onboard antennas are operating in combination. The spiral antenna for receiving and sending modem signals needs to work well alongside the other satellite platform antennas. The company hopes to find room for optimization, things to tune and make more efficient use of the company’s spectrum allocation, resulting in firmware upgrades to the firm’s terminals as well as guiding Hiber’s follow-on satellite designs.

Methera Global Communications Ltd., the UK-based MEO satellite constellation that plans to deliver multi-Gbps wholesale internet connectivity to targeted underserved and emerging regions of the world, now has a brand new identity.

The new brand consists of a green and blue logo representing the Earth and sky, and technology as a change for good.

Executive Comment

Chris McIntosh, CEO for Methera Global, said this is a positive addition to the Methera story as the company matures from a start-up organization to the next level of growth and gears up for the company’s satellite procurement and launch. This builds upon the firm’s growing team of experienced satellite industry professionals and the company’s ITU filings as well as the market acceptance of the Methera Global offering in the areas of the world that are still without any or good Internet connectivity. The high density coverage that the company will provide can light up entire regions, thereby aiding governments and telecom service providers to build sustainable regional and national economic growth that positively changes lives.