NASA has awarded a $13.7 million contract to Advanced Space of Boulder, Colorado, to develop and operate a CubeSat mission to the same lunar orbit targeted for Gateway — an orbiting outpost astronauts will visit before descending to the surface of the Moon in a landing system as part of NASA’s Artemis program. The Gateway will be a small spaceship in orbit around the Moon that will provide access to more of the lunar surface than ever before with living quarters for astronauts, a lab for science and research, ports for visiting spacecraft, and more.

The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) is expected to be the first spacecraft to operate in a near rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon. In this unique orbit, the CubeSat will rotate together with the Moon as it orbits Earth and will pass as close as 1,000 miles and as far as 43,500 miles from the lunar surface.

Highly elliptical, a near rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon takes advantage of a precise balance point in the gravities of Earth and the Moon and creates a stability that is ideal for long-term missions like Gateway
Credits: Advanced Space

llustration of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE).
Credits: Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems

The pathfinder mission represents a rapid lunar flight demonstration and could launch as early as December 2020. CAPSTONE will demonstrate how to enter into and operate in this orbit as well as test a new navigation capability. This information will help reduce logistical uncertainty for Gateway, as NASA and international partners work to ensure astronauts have safe access to the Moon’s surface. It will also provide a platform for science and technology demonstrations.

“This is an exciting opportunity for NASA to aggressively push forward towards the Moon in partnership with several American small businesses as a vanguard to Artemis and sustained human presence beyond low-Earth orbit,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “This mission is highly ambitious in both cost and schedule – and taking that deliberate risk is part of the objective of this mission – alongside the rapid technological advancement in cislunar navigation and the opportunity to verify orbital trajectory assumptions and retire unknowns for future missions.”

The 12-unit CubeSat is about the size of a small microwave oven. Onboard is a communications system capable of determining how far CAPSTONE is from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and how fast the distance between the two spacecraft is changing. The inter-spacecraft information will be used to demonstrate software for autonomous navigation, allowing future missions to determine their location without having to rely exclusively on tracking from Earth. 

CAPSTONE will provide NASA and its partners with important insights to support exploration of the Moon and Mars, including:

• Demonstration of spacecraft-to-spacecraft navigation services
• Verification of near rectilinear halo orbit characteristics for future spacecraft
• Experience entering this orbit with a highly efficient lunar transfer
• Experience with rideshare or small dedicated launches to the Moon
• Commercial experience providing mission planning and operations support services for CubeSats beyond Earth
• Rapid commercial delivery of a CubeSat mission beyond Earth orbit

“CAPSTONE offers a lot in a small package,” said Advanced Space CEO Bradley Cheetham. “Not only will it serve as a pathfinder for Artemis, but it will also demonstrate key exploration-enabling commercial capabilities. Our team will be pioneering state-of-the-art tools for mission planning and operations to enable growth in the number of future missions to the Moon, Mars, and throughout the solar system.” 

A number of launch options are possible for the mission, including being the primary payload on a small spacecraft launch vehicle. After launch, CAPSTONE will take approximately three months to enter its target orbit and begin a six-month primary demonstration phase to understand operations in this unique regime.

The award to Advanced Space is through a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract, a follow-on to earlier SBIR awards that developed CAPSTONE’s autonomous positioning and navigation system experiment.

The CAPSTONE team includes Advanced Space and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. of Irvine, California. The project is managed by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology (SST) program within the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, SST expands U.S. capability to execute unique missions through rapid development and demonstration of capabilities for small spacecraft applicable to exploration, science and the commercial space sector. Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) within NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate will fund the launch and support mission operations. AES engages in activities focused on advanced design, development, and demonstration of exploration capabilities to reduce risk, lower life cycle cost and validate operational concepts for future human missions.

NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program includes sending a suite of new science instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, landing the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024, and establishing a sustained presence by 2028. The agency will leverage its Artemis experience and technologies to prepare for the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.

More here about NASA’s Artemis program and Moon to Mars exploration approach

More here NASA’s investments in space technology

More about Advanced Space and the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System

The Satellite Industry Association has announced that Lynk, a technology startup company focused on providing global mobile connectivity, has joined SIA as its newest Associate Member.

Lynk (formerly UbiquitiLink) plans to launch a constellation of LEO smallsats to provide data connectivity to cellphone users virtually anywhere. 
 
Northern Virginia-based Lynk has already successfully conducted two initial “cell tower in space” tests using prototype satellites from the International Space Station. The company plans to launch 24-36 satellites that will orbit the Earth at an altitude of 500 km in 2021.  With several thousand additional satellites planned for launch by 2023, Lynk aims to provide customers with ubiquitous global connectivity using their own mobile cellular handsets and data devices, without requiring any change in software or hardware to the phone when they travel beyond the range of terrestrial cellular coverage.

Lynk intends to help end the divide between satellites and terrestrial systems. For mobile network operators, Lynk will fill their coverage gaps and give them an opportunity to add new customers and better serve existing ones. For traditional satellite operators, it expects to increase the demand for cellular backhaul and Wi-Fi backhaul in remote locations that are not well served by fiber or microwave.

Tom Stroup, President of SIA, said that by using highly innovative satellite technology to provide cellphone users with ubiquitous global data services, Lynk is looking to deliver a unique technology solution to help bridge the digital divide both here in the U.S. and around the world. The organization looks forward to working with Lynk and their leadership and are pleased to welcome the company as the latest member of SIA.
 
Charles Miller, the CEO of Lynk, added that ever again should anybody die because they have a phone in their pocket that is not connected. In the near future, everybody with a standard cell phone will be able to stay ‘Lynked’ everywhere. By building ‘cell towers in space’ that connect directly to standard cell phones, Lynk can provide affordable coverage for the 90% of the planet where it is uneconomical to build terrestrial cell towers. Lynk looks forward to working closely with SIA and industry colleagues to bringing the benefits of the firm’s satellite technology to the world.

There is little that is more valuable than time – Industry events that maximize an individual’s knowledge of the market and help to expand a firm’s business networks as efficiently as possible are worthy of thoughtful consideration for attendance.

Here are some ways Satellite Innovation 2019 addresses these aims:

 

Photo taken on April 26, 2018, shows a Chinese Long March-11 carrier rocket lifting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan. China on Thursday sent five Zhuhai-1 remote sensing satellites into space on a single carrier rocket.

Photo is courtesy of Xinhua/Wang Jiangbo.

Four hyperspectral satellites and one video orbiter developed by Zhuhai Orbita Aerospace Science & Technology Co were launched by China on April 26, joining two Zhuhai-1 smallsats in a growing constellation — this quartet is to improve the spatial resolution and data acquisition capabilities of the group. The satellites were rocketed from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 12:42 am, aboard a Long March (CZ-11).

The hyperspectral satellites OHS-01, 02, 03, and 04 will be able to complete a full scan of the planet’s land surface every five days, while viewing a specific area multiple times daily. This spectral information provided will be helpful in the quantitative analysis of remote-sensing data and allow for more accurate identification of ground objects, according to a designer from Zhuhai Orbita Aerospace Science & Technology Co in Tangjiawan. The technology has been widely used in resource management, environmental protection, city governance, ecology, agriculture, forestry, anti-terrorism, finance, and insurance, among other areas.

Also named Qingkeda No 1, OHS-01 was developed in cooperation with Qingdao University of Science & Technology. The OHS-03 satellite is also known as Guiyang-1. The satellites resulted from an effective industry-university-research collaboration, with support from the governments.

Second-group Zhuhai-1 satellite

Photo is courtesy of Zhuhai Orbita.

The video satellite OVS-2 has a relatively high spatial resolution of .9 meters (3 ft.) and 22.5 km. (14 miles) in the coverage of images obtained. Its ground resolution can reach .9 meters, even at an altitude of 500 km. (311 miles). High-performance processor chips and large-capacity memory, independently researched and developed by Orbita, ensure smooth operation.

This is China’s first independent private operator of a satellite constellation, with two video micro-satellites in place by June 2017. According to the company, another five satellites will be sent into space by the end of this year.

Article source: China Daily

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that add value to these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is truly worth your consideration for attendance.

The SmallSat Symposium is hosted by Satnews Publishers which, since 1983, has been a provider of a satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum was created to enable you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take part in the next stages of your company’s or organization’s growth.

The personal connections at the SmallSat Symposium enable attendees to network with established organizations, subject-matter experts as well as ‘New Space’ entrants.

The SmallSat Symposium will focus on new technologies and the business environment that is shaping the implementation of smallsat constellations, smallsat launchers, the challenges facing the smallsat developer and actors as well as the enormous benefits of these advanced technologies that will benefit our world.

This event assembles more than 100 diverse speakers, all of whom possess deep industry experience. Additionally, numerous opportunities exist to mingle and network with peers while enjoying exceptional, complimentary meals and refreshment breakfast.

Learn more at this direct link…

Small GEOs – the latest solution in the long list of capacity options that operators are looking to implement. With rising competition in most countries, and decreasing break-even pricing via ever more efficient satellites and reduced launch costs, many operators see large GEO sats as quite risky for regional appetite.

To set the small GEO wheel moving, Astranis recently signed PDI as a customer and Ovzon placed an order with Maxar.  NSR also learned of several other operators considering small GEOs as a true option for specific capacity deployment and (perhaps more importantly) orbital slot protection.

Thus, enter the small GEO, averaging 300-1,000 kg., a price tag of $65 to $100 million and output of 10 to 30 Gbps — NSR set out to answer the following small GEO questions in detail:

• Does it solve the HTS niche strategy problem? Selectively Yes
• Does it solve competitiveness with respect to over-supply? To an extent, depending on player’s vertical leadership in the region
• Does it give flexibility to prioritize regions? Certainly
• Does it beat the large GEO birds on cost per Gbps? No, 2-3x as expensive

Before analyzing the above questions, below is a recap on major industry trends, as forecasted by NSR:

• 4% CAGR for GEO-HTS supply growth till 2028
• 50%-70% decrease in break-even pricing for medium-sized HTS satellites between 25 and 200 Gbps capacity
• Focus on masses: most dollars to be generated via consumer broadband retail business
• Focus on max dollars per megabyte: IFC sector to witness highest consumption increase per consumer (akin to cruise between 2015-2019 period)
• SPs demanding flexibility over bandwidth aggregation to optimize leased vs. usable capacity

Figure 1.

How will small GEOs add value in this ultra-competitive marketplace? The break-even pricing metric gives a realistic estimate towards the total cost and capacity per satellite as seen in Figure 1:

Compared to VHTS systems with average break-even pricing at $12/Mbps/Mo (100 percent fill-rate theoretical assumption), this is high, and a break-even price between $33 to 50 per Mbps per month can only be competitive for regions with delayed VHTS capacity or with focus on high revenue per Mbps verticals.

Breaking out by lifetime, a more compact range towards feasible break-even pricing, and capacity per satellite can be brought out as described in the Figure 2.

With these parameters, NSR calculated the Lifetime Gross Profit Margin per satellite for 25 Gbps/8 years lifetime and 30 Gbps/6 years lifetime, against various average pricing scenarios. The exhibit below showcases preliminary expectations towards profitability for pricing levels expected during the 2021-2028 timeframe.

Notice the minimal profitability at $75/Mbps/Mo price level when Viasat and Hughes are expected to sell capacity below $30/Mbps/Mo with Viasat-3 and Jupiter-3 VHTS. This strongly indicates a preference towards verticals of high value; aka IFC, Maritime and Enterprise (Commercial/Govt).

The high value verticals indicate a reasonable ROI, as indicated in the chart below, for $100 to $150/Mbps/Mo price points. Small GEOs are expected to tread a thin line between creating value for customers (reduced CAPEX and time-to-market risk) and maintaining a high enough fill rate at low price points to register >65 percent EBITDA per satellite and lifetime gross profit margin between 40 to 50 percent.

Overall Benefits

• Reduce CAPEX risk
• Sell pre-launch, reduce sales OPEX, preferably with an anchor client and added benefit of low time-to-market
• Could be used as a gap filler satellite by operators or SPs until VHTS economics kick in, and then diverted to a region with similar need
• Opportunity for use towards video or Gov/Mil – fulfil need for smaller/dedicated satellites.

NSR’s small GEO cost-benefit analysis is skewed toward selective cases. A satellite, with $85 million total cost, a 7 year lifetime, 25 Gbps of capacity, at a mean 70 percent fill rate, could return ~40 to 60 percent lifetime gross profit margin (non-discounted) for a median $125/Mbps/Mo capacity price point.

With shortened lifetime, regional flexibility and low capacity — risk is reduced via small GEOs. Though, high system costs per Gbps and low margin trade-off between high fill rates and high price offerings could prove risky and can curtail enthusiasm towards small GEO choice. Maintaining a 60-70% lifetime average fill rate has been historically tough, thus any slow ramp-up may adversely affect profitability.

Ambitious service providers might find this option attractive, as network efficiency/usage flexibility could be best provided via a small GEO sat deployment. Reliance on higher profitability verticals (IFC/Maritime/Enterprise) to generate industry benchmark IRR will warrant regional leadership from players, otherwise gross profit margins are bound to suffer.

Does a profitable market exist? Definitely. With the same IRR as in the industry heyday? Less probable. Are they a reasonable alternative to VHTS for non-consumer applications? Absolutely, especially for niche markets. Would it enable individual asset specific buyouts? Looks custom built for it.

For a rundown on NSR’s Satellite and Space Infrastructure report and analysis offerings, select this direct infolink…

Article by Gagan Agrawal, NSR Senior Analyst, Mumbai, India

Ball Aerospace and Microsoft have been selected to demonstrate agile cloud processing capabilities in support of the U.S. Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Commercially Augmented Space Inter Networked Operations (CASINO) project.

The demonstration will show how simultaneous, worldwide data streams from large, distributed constellations of smallsats can be processed quickly using Microsoft’s Azure cloud and Ball Aerospace algorithms. Additionally, the demonstration will include a single downlink directly into a Microsoft data center using a Ball Aerospace phased array antenna.

Steve Smith, VP and GM, Systems Engineering Solutions, Ball Aerospace, said that together with Microsoft, the company will show how this type of data processing system, which leverages Ball phased array technology and imagery exploitation algorithms in Azure, is flexible and scalable — designed to support additional satellites and processing capabilities in the future. Overall, this type of data processing in the cloud can provide actionable, relevant information quickly and more cost-effectively to the end user.

The prototype effort, facilitated by the Defense Innovation Unit, will evaluate Ball Aerospace’s use of Azure as the cloud platform for CASINO to leverage Microsoft’s deep expertise in data protection, security and privacy. 

Tom Keane, Corporate VP, Azure Global, Microsoft, added that, essentially, this is the ultimate intelligent edge scenario, where massive amounts of data must be processed at the edge, whether that edge is in space or on the ground. This partnership with Ball Aerospace enables Microsoft to bring satellite data to ground and cloud faster than ever, leapfrogging other solutions on the market. This joint innovation in direct satellite-to-cloud communication and accelerated data processing provides the Department of Defense, including the U.S. Air Force, with entirely new capabilities to explore as they continue to advance their mission.

Microsoft Azure enables innovation with integrated cloud services, data processing and advanced analytics, and an open application platform that provides the building blocks to rapidly develop, deploy and manage intelligent solutions.

HawkEye 360 Inc. has awarded the manufacturing contract for their next generation of satellites.

Enabled by the company’s $70 million Series B financing in August, this contract will substantially boost on-orbit capacity to serve the company’s rapidly growing customer base. The contract will expand the constellation to eighteen satellites, achieving routine revisits of less than an hour for increased global persistence.

UTIAS Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) will manufacture the bus and integrate the new RF payload developed by HawkEye 360. The satellites will geolocate more signals across a wider frequency range with improved accuracy and reduced data latency for more timely delivery to customers.

Artistic rendition of HawkEye 360 smallsats on orbit.

HawkEye 360 launched its current cluster of three satellites in December 2018 to validate the technology and inform continuous innovation for the next generation of satellites. Since achieving commercial operations in April, HawkEye has been working closely with customers to test and bring multiple products to market, such as RFGeo and RFMosaic. The RFGeo product identifies and maps the location of emitters (https://youtu.be/W9c2CSJ7d1w) and the RFMosaic product provides broad surveys of RF activity across a region of interest.

John Serafini, CEO, HawkEye 360, said the company is now quickly scaling the business to support customer demand. These next-generation satellites will improve the firm’s capabilities and expand the HawkEye 360 constellation for faster revisit rates, which translates into better insights for a safer world across maritime, air, and land domains.

Chris DeMay, Founder and CTO, HawkEye 360, added that the company selected SFL for its expertise and flight heritage. Their innovative work designing the company’s current satellites met all technical objectives, including reliably conducting formation flying maneuvers. Now, SFL will help HawkEye 360 bring this next stage of the constellation to completion.

More information about HawkEye 360 can be found at www.he360.com.

A new Earth Observation satellite was announced at the Earth Observation Phi-Week at the European Space Agency (ESA) center in Frascati, France. Here a unique consortium of specialized space companies announced the development of a new Earth Observation satellite called ‘MANTIS’. This name stands as an acronym for ‘Mission and Agile Nanosatellite for Terrestrial Imagery Services’. MANTIS will be the demonstration mission to jointly develop, build, launch and operate an innovative nanosatellite platform, flying a high resolution Earth Observation camera.

Open Cosmos envisions this MANTIS satellite to be the first of an aggregated constellation operated by Open Cosmos where customers will have access to diverse types and volumes of information depending on the number of satellites contributed to the constellation. This will enable organizations of all sizes and sectors to not only leverage their own space infrastructure (developed and managed by Open Cosmos) but also benefit from additional datasets and services from satellites that Open Cosmos manages and operates for others.

The project, funded under the UK Space Agency contribution to the ESA InCubed program, brings together the expertise of three space companies. Open Cosmos from the UK will provide the design, manufacturing, testing, launch and operation of the mission based on a new generation 12U spacecraft platform; Satlantis from Spain will build the high spatial resolution camera; while Terrabotics from the UK will use its novel data analysis to satisfy the needs of their energy and mining customers.

This first MANTIS satellite is particularly suitable for applications in the energy and mining sector. Companies in these sectors are increasingly carrying out more complex and expensive projects in search of resources, where up to 60 percent can be found in more remote, hostile and hazardous regions around the world. In addition, two thirds of major projects fail (i.e. over-budget or delayed) due to unforeseen risks and hazards as a result of inadequate upfront due diligence, planning and prior knowledge of the challenging operating environments. Actionable intelligence is of key importance and highly needed to be able to increase safety, be able to better plan and mitigate the risks of projects run by these industries.

The MANTIS satellite will address these challenges with periodic statistics reports on activity in the regions of interest, computed through the latest data processing and machine learning techniques on top of other data sets, such as Copernicus. The satellite will obtain images to feed these data processing algorithms in a revisit pattern that is optimized for specific areas of interest. The high resolution of these images will be complementary to lower resolution data that is already available from the Copernicus program.

Josef Aschbacher, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes, said that MANTIS is an example of how the European New Space sector supported by the ESA Investing in Industrial Innovation (InCubed) program can leverage world class European competences along the entire Earth Observation value chain, creating value in the fast-growing Earth Observation commercial sector designed to support specific business verticals.”

Beth Greenaway, Head of Earth Observations and Climate at the UK Space Agency added that the UK Space Agency is very excited to see this project get underway. It uses the expertise from innovative Earth Observation companies in the UK and the advice and expertise of the ESA experts to drive growth in the Earth Observation sector. She is looking forward to seeing the applications and use of these new missions.

Rafel Jordá Siquier, founder and CEO of Open Cosmos commented that Open Cosmos is very excited to work on this next generation Earth Observation satellite. This project shows that bringing together the best specialists in their fields, in this case Open Cosmos, Satlantis and Terrabotics, leads to great technical performance improvements of Earth Observation platforms, while at the same time significantly reducing time to orbit, complexity and cost of these systems.

Gareth Morgan, CEO of Terrabotics  stated that they are thrilled to be a part of the MANTIS mission. It is very exciting for them to have the opportunity to collaborate with the entire consortium on the development of an innovative, vertically integrated Earth Observation solution for application to the natural resources industry.

Juan Tomás Hernani, CEO of Satlantis  concluded that MANTIS is a major breakthrough to provide new cubesats with very high resolution native multispectral Earth Observation technology, delivering fast projects that will empower customers with real-time performance. Ecosystems proposals like Satlantis/Open Cosmos/Terrabotics is the new way that the sector responds to the GeoInformation needs of industry.”

Leaf Space and GomSpace will ensure that their respective solutions are fully integrated with each other, thanks to an MoU recently signed by both firms.

Leaf Space has integrated GomSpace transceivers in its Leaf Line Ground Segment service, which are now available to Leaf Space and GomSpace customers without integration fees.

GomSpace will be integrating the Leaf Space services with its Mega Constellations Operations Platform (MCOP) — made available for GomSpace customers through its Operations as a Service offering.
GomSpace and Leaf Space will ensure future compatibility and service availability by coordinating updates to API’s and firmware.

The collaboration is on a non-exclusive basis that allows customers to choose from compatible complementary services that best fit their mission needs.

Niels Buus, the CEO of GomSpace, said the company is pleased to continue to extend this integration with commercially available ground station networks — now including Leaf Space. With this collaboration, GomSpace will extend the operational capabilities of the firm’s Operations Service and increase the ground station coverage and availability for GomSpace customers through Leaf Space network.

Leaf Space CEO, Jonata Puglia, added that this is a valuable opportunity for the company to start a collaboration with a global and pioneering smallsat manufacturer and service provider. In addition to making the firm’s network compatible with GomSpace’s manufactured radios, Leaf Space will provide an immediately available ground segment service capability to broaden their portfolio. This will help potential customers find a complete solution for their mission while interfacing with GomSpace, assuring a reliable and consistent service thanks to the continuous work effort we will put into API and firmware updates, added to integration with the MCOP service.

Kleos Space S.A. (ASX: KSS, Frankfurt: KS1) has received its first South American pre-order, secured by regional expert Pierre Duquesne who was engaged in July 2019.

Pierre Duquesne, a Franco-German executive, was the former Managing Director for Airbus Intelligence in South America and has more than 20 years’ experience in the Regional Space Industry.

Artistic rendition of a Kleos Space Scouting Mission smallsat.

Image is courtesy of the company.

Kleos Space’s independent data solutions will provide defence, security and commercial users with access to a cost-effective daily geolocation intelligence to guard borders, protect assets and save lives. The Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF), the Latin American Development bank, suggests the outlook by 2040 for the maritime and port sector in Latin America and the Caribbean with an attractive environment for growth with planned investments over 45 billion euros in the coming decade.

Kleos’ RF Reconnaissance data products are available in three levels — Guardian RF, Guardian LOCATE and Guardian UDT. Kleos will start processed data delivery through its Guardian LOCATE Product. The multi-satellite Scouting Mission system will form the foundation of a constellation that delivers a global picture of hidden maritime activity, enhancing the intelligence capability of government and commercial entities when AIS (Automatic Identification System) is defeated, imagery is unclear, or targets are out of patrol range.

The first scouting mission is comprised of 4x smallsats built by GomSpace in Denmark, each the size of a shoebox.

Kleos’ CEO Andy Bowyer said the company is pleased at the rapid progress the company was able to make, thanks to Pierre in the short time since his engagement as the firm’s representative for the South American market. Kleos continues to pursue pre-orders as the company eagerly anticipates the launch of the Kleos’ Scouting Mission in Q4 this year.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that add value to these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is truly worth your consideration for attendance.

The SmallSat Symposium is hosted by Satnews Publishers which, since 1983, has been a provider of a satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum was created to enable you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take part in the next stages of your company’s or organization’s growth.

The personal connections at the SmallSat Symposium enable attendees to network with established organizations, subject-matter experts as well as ‘New Space’ entrants.

The SmallSat Symposium will focus on new technologies and the business environment that is shaping the implementation of smallsat constellations, smallsat launchers, the challenges facing the smallsat developer and actors as well as the enormous benefits of these advanced technologies that will benefit our world.

This event assembles more than 100 diverse speakers, all of whom possess deep industry experience. Additionally, numerous opportunities exist to mingle and network with peers while enjoying exceptional, complimentary meals and refreshment breakfast.

Learn more at this direct link…

ESA invites university student teams from ESA Member States, Canada and Slovenia that are developing a one, two or three-unit CubeSat with mainly educational objectives to propose their satellite for the new edition of the “Fly Your Satellite!” (FYS) program. 

Students performing checks on their CubeSat.

Fly Your Satellite! is an educational program for university students, created by ESA after the launch of seven university cubesats on the 2012 Vega maiden flight. Six teams participated in the first edition of the program, which concluded in 2016 with the launch of three satellites, while in parallel a pilot edition was undertaken to deploy a satellite from the International Space Station. The second edition of Fly Your Satellite! is currently ongoing since 2017, and participating university teams are advancing closer towards testing and launch. The call for proposals for the third edition is now open.

The aim of the program is to support university student teams throughout the design, assembly, integration, testing, and verification process of their educational cubesats. By participating in the program, students will implement standard practices for spacecraft development; receive support from experienced ESA specialists; attend tailored training courses; and will be offered access to state-of-the-art test facilities.

University CubeSat undergoing functional checks.

The program is part of the ESA Academy and will make use of dedicated facilities located at ESA’s Education Centre in ESEC-Galaxia (Belgium): the Training and Learning Facility, where training courses will be offered and which is also equipped with a Concurrent Design Facility; and the CubeSat Support Facility, a cleanroom laboratory with test facilities. 

For the current call, launch opportunities to LEO are envisioned. Teams should indicate in their cubesat Proposal the range of orbits to which they are compatible in terms of mission objectives, ground coverage, system performance, etc. Launches from the International Space Station may be offered within the program, and as those launches may be more readily available due to recurrent resupply flights, compatibility with the ISS safety requirements and orbit is strongly recommended.

CubeSat teams in training session.

Student teams can apply by submitting a proposal describing their cubesat project and demonstrating its maturity. Throughout the proposal, teams must show that the project is compliant with the programmatic and technical requirements of the Fly Your Satellite! program. 

Teams accepted into the program will work on different stages of the final design, assembly, integration, and verification of their cubesat and ground station, in preparation for the launch and mission operations. ESA specialists will guide them through the necessary processes and preparation of requested documentation packages and will evaluate the student team’s work. The program is structured in multiple phases, following the typical development cycle of a space mission, and student teams will need to pass project reviews to advance to each subsequent phase. The launch will be offered by ESA to those teams that demonstrate the readiness of their spacecraft and ground segment and compatibility with the technical and safety requirements. Once in orbit, teams are supported in the operational phase and will share mission data and technical or scientific results. 

This opportunity is open to university student teams from ESA Member States, Canada and Slovenia. To participate in the Fly Your Satellite! programme, consult the following pages: How to apply and Conditions to apply.

The submission deadline for proposals is October 13, 2019, at 23:59 CEST.

A Selection Workshop for the shortlisted teams is expected to occur in December of 2019 at ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

For all involved in the satellite and space industry and the various market segments that add value to these dynamic environments, the 2020 SmallSat Symposium is truly worth your consideration for attendance.

The SmallSat Symposium is hosted by Satnews Publishers which, since 1983, has been a provider of a satellite news, media and events. This information packed forum was created to enable you and your company to secure a larger portion of market share as well as to take part in the next stages of your company’s or organization’s growth.

The personal connections at the SmallSat Symposium enable attendees to network with established organizations, subject-matter experts as well as ‘New Space’ entrants.

The SmallSat Symposium will focus on new technologies and the business environment that is shaping the implementation of smallsat constellations, smallsat launchers, the challenges facing the smallsat developer and actors as well as the enormous benefits of these advanced technologies that will benefit our world.

This event assembles more than 100 diverse speakers, all of whom possess deep industry experience. Additionally, numerous opportunities exist to mingle and network with peers while enjoying exceptional, complimentary meals and refreshment breakfast.

Learn more at this direct link…