Journalist
Chris Forrester.

According to journalist Chris Forrester, filing at the Advanced Television infosite, satellite mega-constellation OneWeb is seeking to raise another $1 billion (€0.9bn) as it starts work on orbiting 30 satellites per month in a few weeks. OneWeb wants to circle the planet with an initial batch of 650 satellites for broadband services.

OneWeb is backed, in part, by Japanese media conglomerate SoftBank, although there are also reports that SoftBank is looking to exit the business.

The report, from the UK’s Sunday Telegraph, stated that OneWeb’s ‘cash call’ will come ahead of SoftBank’s results statement due on November 6th. However, SoftBank has already written down about £380 million of their OneWeb investment. However, the newspaper reports that SoftBank remains committed to OneWeb.

Horizon Technologies CEO, John Beckner, spoke at the Airborne ISR Conference in London on  October 23-24, 2019.

Beckner gave a presentation on trends in Sat Phone SIGINT for ISR and emphasized how airborne and ground-based strategic SIGINT platforms and their output will be merged with the upcoming availability of space-driven Amber data next year.

Amber is the public/private partnership with the UK Government to launch a cubesat constellation to provide a Maritime Intelligence data product for its government users.

At the Conference, Beckner announced that Horizon Technologies had recently been awarded a “plus-up” to a current NATO-user FlyingFish™ contract worth over £2.4 million through 2024.

The 5th Annual Airborne ISR conference in London covered Maritime Patrol, Data Dissemination, UAV Technology, International Surveillance Cooperation, AWACS, 5th Generation ISR, Industrial Engagement, and Threat Evolution in detail. During the UAV ISR sessions, Horizon Technologies discussed the upcoming deployment of UAVs being tasked on FRONTEX missions to include Horizon Technologies miniature Xtender SIGINT technology.

Beckner also presented at the Global Maritime Forum Annual Summit in Singapore. Asia is a key market for both FlyingFish™ and the Amber maritime intelligence data service. Beckner and the Horizon Technologies team met with customers and decision makers from all over the world at the Summit which convened leaders from across the maritime spectrum who need to address the burning issues facing the maritime industry.

Working together and building on the outcomes of the Global Maritime Forum’s Annual Summit in Hong Kong, they are developing solutions for a safe, clean, inclusive and efficient maritime industry – goals that can unleash the potential of global seaborne trade and increase sustainable long-term economic development and human well-being. Horizon Technologies Amber data, and the governments who use it, will have a major positive impact on meeting these goals.

ThrustMe and Spacety have launched the first iodine-propelled smallsat.

The satellite was sent into space by a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) carrier rocket from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Shanxi Province, on November 3, 2019, at 11:22AM (Beijing time). The 6U smallsat, built by Spacety, includes an iodine propulsion system developed and built by ThrustMe.

Known as the I2T5, this propulsion system uses a first-of-its-kind, non-pressurized, cold gas thruster fueled by solid iodine. Designed with cubesats in mind, the I2T5 will help ensure a sustainable space industry by extending the lifetime of satellite missions, and enabling collision avoidance maneuvers. In the future, ThrustMe’s additional, iodine based, electric propulsion systems, will additionally enable orbital changes, constellation phasing, and orbit maintenance.

A Chinese Long March 4B drives the iodine-propellant SPACETY and ThrustMe smallsat to orbit.

Ane Aanesland, Co-Founder and CEO of ThrustMe, said this is a historic launch in so many ways: for ThrustMe, for Spacety and for the whole space community. Iodine propellant is finally being demonstrated in space. The first time iodine was discussed as a good candidate to replace pressurized gases, such as xenon, was in 2008. Since then, many research institutions, companies and space agencies have worked on developing iodine propulsion systems, including NASA with its IceCube mission. That ThrustMe is the first company to succeed in launching the first propulsion system operating with iodine as a propellant highlights the significant impact startups can have on innovation and technology advancements.

This is ThrustMe’s first launch and the company has developed a wide portfolio of smart propulsion systems for smallsats. This mission puts ThrustMe on the map as one of the few space startups with commercially available and space proven propulsion products.

This launch also demonstrated a notable change in the space industry, where startups from Europe and Asia joined forces to develop a mission with an extremely rapid development time, from idea to launch in less than a year, from contract to launch in eight months. ThrustMe and Spacety, with this first launch together, have demonstrated the importance of open minded international collaborations, according to the firms.

The I2T5 has already generated significant customer traction and will be used to propel an ISIS 6U spacecraft for the Royal Thai Air Force, to be launched in 2020, as well as the ROBUSTA-3A satellite developed by the Université de Montpellier. Several other commercial contracts have also been signed, but these clients and missions remain confidential at this stage.

The development and industrialization of the I2T5 has been supported by the French government via the BPIFrance I-LAB, and the European Unions’ Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 823337. The French National Space Agency (CNES) is now supporting future I2T5 enhancements.

Dmytro Rafalskyi, Co- Founder and CTO of ThrustMe, added that the I2T5 is designed for cubesats — it required only six weeks from identifying a real market need, to having a first working prototype. This was achieved by leveraging all of the work already done to develop the iodine propellant storage and feed system for the ion engine.

Weijia REN, Co- Founder and CTO of Spacety Today, noted that when the company spoke with ThrustMe about the impressive achievements they had made in the development of iodine fueled propulsion, the company knew that Spacety would be up to this historic task to make it to space in record time. The firm also saw the potential in a long-term collaboration with ThrustMe to provide the best propulsion solutions to clients in China. The majority of 3U and 6U cubesats do not have any propulsion capability as no viable solutions are offered that are safe, simple, and cost effective. Satellite operators are weary of expensive and paperwork-intensive products that include pressurized systems or flammable propellants.

The U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center and its mission partners successfully launched the Aerospace Rogue Alpha/Beta Cube Satellites on November 2, 2019.

Lift-off occurred at 9:59 a.m. ET from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia. The Cygnus capsule will mate with the International Space Station and the satellites will remain there until deployment in early 2020.

The Aerospace CubeSats have officially achieved their priority mission of developing a small LEO constellation in just 18 months. The satellites will now collect data on cloud backgrounds to inform future LEO missions. The USAF will also use this program’s data to investigate potential uses of the capability.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft.

Image is courtesy of NASA.

The Rogue CubeSat Program, a dual smallsat program co-developed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center and The Aerospace Corporation, finished preparations for launch and was fully integrated onboard Northrop Grumman’s Antares Cygnus launch vehicle at Wallops Island, Virginia, on November 1.

Colonel Dennis Bythewood, Program Executive Officer for Space Development, said the successful launch of the Aerospace CubeSats marks a huge achievement for SMC and its partners. This mission has set a precedent for speed and will also provide us with much needed data for future space development programs.

The Northrop Grumman NG-12 Resupply Launch, with the Cygnus spacecraft aboard, lifts off from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Image is courtesy of NASA.

The cubesats were designed, built, and tested by The Aerospace Corporation, a national nonprofit corporation that operates as a federally funded research and development center dedicated to advancing the nation’s missions in space. The Rogue Cubesats design emphasizes Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) sensors, non-exotic parts and features a high-speed laser communications system that will enable downlinks of large image files. These dual smallsats will also use novel wavelengths for infrared sensing.

The mission priority is to investigate the feasibility of developing small and low-cost satellites as a means of rapidly reconstituting a proliferated LEO constellation. Rogue has succeeded so far by meeting its targeted 16-month design, build, and test timeline. The satellites will also work on jump starting LEO cloud scene processing and provide test data for new short-wave infrared band satellites.

Pixxel, India’s first private Earth imaging company, has announced their agreement with Leaf Space, a company delivering complete ground segment expertise for smallsats.

The announcement was made at the 70th International Astronautical Congress in Washington DC, wherein Leaf Space will provide the ground segment support for the satellite to be launched in July of 2020.

Through this partnership, Leaf Space will provide the support service up to one pass per orbit to the satellite in SSO (Sun-Synchronous Orbit), demonstrating the capabilities of its mid-latitude, distributed, ground station network. Uplink and downlink service for the mission will be provided using VHF, UHF and S-band frequencies. The satellite is set to be launched on a Soyuz rocket in July 2020, thanks to a contract inked in August this year.

The agreement also facilitates future mission support for Pixxel’s planned constellation thanks to the integration of the communication systems and interfaces, nonetheless, familiarizing the satellite operations team with Leaf Space services.

Pixxel is aiming to build a constellation of Earth imaging small satellites that will provide global coverage every 24 hours once fully deployed. The satellites will collect data that will be accurately analyzed using artificial intelligence in order to predict effective solutions for existing environmental problems.

Commenting on the agreement, Awais Ahmed, CEO, Pixxel said the company is excited to partner with Leaf Space for the ground segment support to the firm’s first satellite. Pixxel strongly believes that this combined expertise will result in smooth and timely delivery of highly accurate geospatial imagery to people all across the globe. This partnership will be marked as the first milestone in India’s space technology progression.

Jonata Puglia, CEO of Leaf Space, said the firm is eager to start supporting Pixxel’s ambitious remote sensing mission, as this program has the potential to generate valuable data for the new space market. The company is looking forward to delivering this service to the firm’s customer, laying out the most favorable environment for future mission and constellation support.

Kepler Communications has opened early-access registration for its Internet of Things (IoT) Developer Kit, which will be available for purchase in Q1 2020 — a limited number of early trials will be provided.

The DevKit will provide early access to Kepler’s forthcoming satellite-enabled narrowband connectivity service.  Designed to provide a truly-global and affordable satellite service that will support IoT services such as asset tracking and monitoring sensors anywhere on the planet. The trials will be supported by Kepler’s third satellite and others that will launch throughout 2020. The spacecraft will offer both wideband and narrowband data transfer services globally, from pole to pole, and represents another significant milestone in Kepler’s technology roadmap.

Kepler’s everywhereIOT™ is designed to overcome the hardest connectivity challenges faced by those looking to deploy a global IoT solution. By ensuring low-cost global coverage under a single network, the service is able to satisfy the bandwidth requirements of a wide range of applications, from railcar tracking to monitoring the status of containers or the location of livestock. Currently, many of these use cases are hindered by the lack of low-cost, globally-available satellite and terrestrial infrastructure.

As the constellation grows, Kepler will enable a cellular-quality, standardized connection for IoT that utilizes the purpose-built fleet of CubeSats designed and operated by the team at Kepler. The IoT DevKit has been developed with an integrated Raspberry Pi, facilitating the use of an array of smart, connected products and sensors currently available on the market.  Multiple data requirements, ranging from bytes to MBs per month, will be supported by way of low-cost, flexible airtime plans. In parallel with the DevKit, Kepler is also developing a mobile-phone sized module for asset tracking, the first application-specific IoT hardware to be brought to market.

Wen Cheng Chong, Co-Founder and CTO at Kepler, said various studies and market research reports predict billions of industrial IoT connections coming online in the next five years, and a global solution such as the company’s everywhereIOT service will be key to achieving this. For this reason, Kepler believes this to be exciting news for the market, as much as it marks an important milestone for the firm. A unique set of capabilities for smart connected devices are being added that did not previously exist in a satellite service. Together with the world’s OEMs, device and sensor manufacturers, and solution providers, the company envisions a future where Kepler’s everywhereIOT makes possible higher efficiencies across multiple industries.

To secure a spot on Kepler’s Early Access list, register online at this direct link…

Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and German Aerospace Center (DLR) have signed an MOU for the development of test facilities for micro launcher engine and stage tests.

The agreement will include exchanging facilities, knowledge and staff, providing Europe with the infrastructure for the entire range of rocket tests, including early stage “higher risk” tests, as well as increasing the capacity to provide for more companies to test their products.

The MOU was signed by Stefan Schlechtriem, Director of the DLR Institute of Space Propulsion (left) and Stefan Gardefjord, CEO of SSC (right), at the recent International Astronautical Congress (IAC).

Photo is courtesy of the companies.

Through this collaboration, the testing capabilities at Lampoldshausen in Germany and Esrange Space Center in Sweden can be optimized.

Stefan Gardefjord, CEO SSC, said there has been a shortage of suitable test sites for early stage and short preparation tests for the next generation of sounding rockets, micro launchers and reusable rockets. By combining the firm’s testing capabilities with DLR, SSC can provide Europe with more testing capability, thus strengthening the development of European space programs.

Professor Stefan Schlechtriem, Director of the DLR-Institute of Space Propulsion, added that the organization has found the correct partner for the joint planning and implementation of a test stand for hybrid and liquid-fuel engines at Esrange Space Center (ESC). DLR Lampoldshausen is contributing its unique expertise as a European testing and development location for all liquid chemical space engines to the development of the next generation of engines. This collaboration will enable us to bring together the expertise of the institutions. With the intensified cooperation between SSC and DLR, the two partners will provide the infrastructure in Europe for the entire range of engine tests, including tests at an early stage of development, thus increasing the portfolio of testing opportunities in Europe.

Allied Market Research has published a report entitled, “Small Satellite Market by Type (Minisatellite, Microsatellite, Nanosatellite, Pico-Satellites, and Femto Satellites), Application (Imaging and Earth Observations, Satellite Communications, Science & Explorations, Technology Development, and Space Situational Awareness), and End-User (Civil & Commercial and Government & Defense): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019–2026.” As per the report, the global smallsat industry garnered $3.63 billion in 2018 and is estimated to reach $15.69 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 20.1% from 2018 to 2026.

Surge in demand for high-resolution imaging services and technological advancements drive the growth of the global small satellite market. However, lack of dedicated smallsat launch vehicles hinders the market growth. On the other hand, high demand from emerging economies and increase in government investments create new opportunities in the industry.

Based on product type, the microsatellite segment accounted for the major share, contributing to more than one-third of the global small satellite market. This is due to companies operating large satellites are looking for lighter and cost-effective platforms. However, the nanosatellite segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 20.7% from 2018 to 2026.The imaging and earth observation segment to dominate by 2026

Based on application, the imaging and Earth Observation (EO) segment held the highest share in terms of revenue in 2018, contributing to more than one-third of the total small satellite market. This is due to the significant increase in demand for small satellites in imaging application from the U.S., Russia, and China. However, the satellite communication segment would register the fastest growth rate, with a CAGR of 20.4% from 2018 to 2026.

Based on end-user, the civil and commercial segment held the highest share in terms of revenue in 2018, contributing to more than three-fifths of the total smallsat market. This is due to their low cost and lightweight. There has been an increased demand for these satellites in LAMEA, and Asia. Furthermore, this segment would register the fastest growth rate, with a CAGR of 20.2% from 2018 to 2026.

Based on region, Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 20.5% from 2018 to 2026, owing to the presence of countries such as China, India, and Japan. On the other hand, North America accounted for more than half of the total smallsat market in 2018. This is attributed to the presence of key players, the presence of all the companies of the value chain so less dependency on imports, and high demand for imaging and earth observation application.

Inquire more about this report @ www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1951

A University of Washington satellite smaller than a loaf of bread will, if all goes well, launch shortly on its way to LEO — this will be the first student-built satellite from Washington state to go into space.

Team members Paige Northway, Anika Hidayat, John Correy and Eli Reed (back row, left to right) watch in June as Henry Martin of Nanoracks does a “fit test” to ensure that the satellite fits inside the silver box. The digital clock on the wall counts down the days, minutes and seconds until launch. Photo is courtesy of Dennis Wise/University of Washington.

HuskySat-1 is one of seven student-built satellites from around the country scheduled to launch at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time Saturday, November 2, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast.

HuskySat-1’s last moments on Earth will be broadcast live on NASA TV. The satellites are hitching a ride on the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, whose first stop will be the International Space Station to resupply astronauts and swap out materials. In early 2020, the spacecraft will leave the station and fly up to an altitude of about 310 miles (500 kilometers), where a NASA engineer will eject the student-build satellites.

The UW creation is a type of cubesat, a smallsat that measures exactly 10 centimeters (about 3 inches) along each side. HuskySat-1 is a “three-unit” system, meaning it’s the shape of a stack of three cubesat-sized blocks.

HuskySat-1 sits under protection in the UW satellite lab in June, as it prepared to leave on its journey to Virginia and then to LEO Photo is courtesy of Dennis Wise/University of Washington.

These miniature satellites were first created as a way for engineering students to test software with smaller, cheaper devices they could build from start to finish in a few years. However, the devices are growing in popularity, with Planet and other companies now using smallsats for a variety of commercial ventures.

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative helps students and nonprofit groups launch these instrument systems into space. The Washington State University satellite, CougSat-1, is scheduled to launch in October 2020.

The UW satellite weighs just under 7 pounds (3.14 kilograms) and required five years to design and build. Undergraduate and graduate students from aeronautics and astronautics, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, Earth and space sciences, physics and other departments spent hundreds of hours building the system in the Husky Satellite Lab.

White lines show the satellite’s projected travel path, orbiting at an angle of 51.6 degrees from the equator. The antennas at the UW will be able to communicate with HuskySat-1 when it flies inside the red circle. Image is courtesy of Paige Northway/University of Washington.

Its trip into low-Earth orbit is organized by Nanoracks, a Texas company that, like Spaceflight Industries of Seattle and other businesses, coordinates smaller groups to provide access to launch vehicles. HuskySat-1 will orbit at an angle of 51.6 degrees, traveling between 51.6 degrees north and south, at an altitude of 310 miles (500 kilometers) and at more than 4 miles (7 kilometers) per second. Once the students locate their satellite, they will be able to predict its travel path.

After extensive testing and final checkouts this summer, the satellite was hand-delivered to the Nanoracks facility in Houston, where it was placed into the box that will carry it to space.

Three antennas installed on the roof of Johnson Hall will allow students to get information like position and altitude and send instructions to the satellite as it passes overhead. A camera built in collaboration with students at Raisbeck Aviation High School in Tukwila, Washington, will send back grainy, black-and-white photos of Earth. Students will also be able to control the satellite’s camera and thruster remotely.

Robert Winglee, a professor of Earth and space sciences and the team’s faculty adviser as director of the UW Advanced Propulsion Lab, said these students have gained firsthand experience on what is required to build and launch a satellite and aerospace companies have already snapped up many of them. Meanwhile, the UW is making its first steps to a continuing hardware presence in space. What more could anyone wish for?

Paige Northway, a UW doctoral student in Earth and Space Sciences who has been involved since the project’s inception, added that it will be exciting once it’s in orbit. To her, the completion will be when we data is received from the satellite and are returned to the spacecraft.

Team member Anika Hidayat, a senior in mechanical engineering, noted that a lot of information is taught in classes, but only in a hands-on environment can you experience things like design, integration of subsystems, project management and documentation.

Some of the student-built parts will still be in test mode. A custom-built thruster uses sparks to vaporize small amounts of solid sulfur as a propellant. The thruster will fire about 100 times as the satellite passes over Seattle, only enough thrust to provide a slight nudge. A high-bandwidth communications system built by former graduate student Paul Sturmer, now at Blue Origin, transmits at 24 Gigahertz, allowing the satellite to quickly send reams of data. That system will send down a test packet from space.

The UW group will control HuskySat-1 for three months. In the spring, it will transfer ownership and responsibility to AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, which provided the main communication system. The satellite will begin to lose altitude in about three years and will burn up as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. (NASA requires that all such objects de-orbit within 25 years.)

HuskySat-1 grew out of a special topics course in the UW Department of Earth & Space Sciences. In 2016 members formed a registered student organization, the Husky Satellite Lab at UW.

As the Husky Satellite Lab wraps up this half-decade-long effort it plans to next tackle a NanoLab project — a partly prebuilt system that can be adapted to conduct experiments in microgravity — for travel aboard a Blue Origin vehicle. Students plan to complete that project by spring of 2020.

HuskySat-1 was supported by a NASA Undergraduate Student Instrument Project award, which funded the satellite’s development and launch with a private space contractor. The team also was supported by NASA, the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, the UW and several companies that provided equipment for the satellite and antenna.

Article source: Journalist Hannah Hickey, University of Washington 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.