Lacuna Space has successfully concluded their first phase of testing in the company’s mission to provide complete global coverage for LoRa® devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology) to anywhere in the world, no matter how remote.

Lacuna Space is engaged in satellite IoT connectivity, with low-cost and high-scalability as its fundamental tenets in its system design. Over the course of the last two years, Lacuna has been collaborating with Semtech Corporation to extend LoRa Technology connectivity to the whole world. Lacuna Space has been developing satellite gateways and working with Semtech to evolve LoRa Technology to enable direct communication from LoRa-based devices to satellite gateways using the LoRaWAN® protocol.

Lacuna’s first satellite launch of the year was on April 1, 2019, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, where the satellite shared a ride to LEO with EMISAT and 27 additional satellites. Lacuna’s LoRa-based Space Gateway was hosted on a 6U cubesat satellite provided by Nano Avionics and Lacuna has revealed that the satellite and the Space Gateway are out-performing expectations during the initial commissioning phase.

An additional three satellites are set for launch in Q3 and Q4 of this year to complete Lacuna’s initial demo constellation.

Lacuna is aiming to be ready to perform more extensive demonstrations with a select group of potential users towards the end of the year thanks to part funding and support from the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency.

Rob Spurrett, the Lacuna Space CEO, remarked that the company is eager to get these next satellites launched so the firm can increase the performance of the whole system, including the fine tuning of this novel, adaptive, radio approach that enables Lacuna Space to detect tiny signals directly from battery powered sensors in remote locations.

Thomas Telkamp CTO, Lacuna Space, said that the company has test systems deployed around the world, in countries as diverse as South Africa, Netherlands, UK, USA, India, Japan, Slovenia and the Reunion Island. Lacuna Space has shown that the firm is to communicate effectively from anywhere in the world, no matter how remote, to the company’s LoRa-based Space Gateway.

Nicolas Sornin, CTO, Semtech, added Lacuna’s expanding LoRaWAN-based network coverage to the most remote regions is an incredible technical achievement. More users will develop LoRa-based applications that need long range, low power and flexible capabilities.

Keeping a company healthy for the long term is no easy task considering the ebbs and flows of the space industry and difficult decisions for the overall positive results. As an example one such company, GomSpace is adjusting the organization to reach cash flow objectives. The adjustments will not have an impact on the direction of the company and the ability to meet customer demands.

GomSpace continues to reduce the costs and intends to reduce the staff with up to 30 employees before the end of this month. The change will have full effect from the fourth quarter of 2019. The cost reductions will be aimed at reducing overhead costs in the administration and overhead costs in manufacturing.

Lars Alminde

Peter Worsøe

The cost reductions also include replacements in the Executive Team:

• Lars Alminde, the leading founder of GomSpace, will return to the Executive Team as the Chief Commercial Officer.
• Peter Worsøe, previously Quality Manager in GomSpace, will join the Executive Team as Chief Manufacturing Officer.

Meanwhile, GomSpace is continuing to build up the engineering capacity as they are engaged with the European Space Agency on a number of very important innovative developments of the nanosatellite capabilities in Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden.

GateHouse Telecom is planning to enter the growing smallsat market and the company recently announced LEO specialist, Per Koch, as the company’s new Business Developer.

In a bid to move in on the smallsat market, the company has appointed the manufacturer of smallsat solutions GomSpace’s former Head of Systems Engineering, Per Koch, 49, as the company’s new business developer. Per Koch will be responsible for developing new solutions and services for smallsats.  

Per Koch.

Per Koch has enjoyed a distinguished career with more than 20 years in the mobile and space industries, including leadership roles at RTX and BAE Systems. For the past three years, Per Koch has worked as a Project Manager and Head of Systems Engineering at GomSpace, where he managed several smallsat missions. He has completed several projects funded by the European Space Agency.

Thomas Jensen, director of GateHouse Telecom, said that for more than two decades, GateHouse Telecom has been a leading supplier of waveforms and test tools for Inmarsat’s BGAN and Global Xpress networks. However, like other companies in the SATCOM terminal industry, the firm is adjusting the business strategy to the market and the company sees great potential in the LEO satellite industry. GateHouse believes the company’s extensive experience with satellite networks is applicable within small satellite missions and there are multiple ways to apply the firm’s knowledge and experience in the market. That is why Per has been brought in, to help the company use the acquired knowledge to develop new solutions for LEO satellites and expand the firm’s business into the growing smallsat market.

Per Koch added that the demand for IoT/M2M end-to-end SATCOM solutions is increasing and, after years of development and demonstration of LEO satellite capabilities, the smallsat is starting to grow into a commercial market. This opens the door to subcontractors such as GateHouse Telecom, which can deliver durable and high-quality solutions for the growing amount of small satellite space missions.

SSC is currently developing Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden with new capabilities and services.

A testbed for reusable rockets is currently being established and SSC aims at launching smallsats in a couple of years. In addition, SSC is now introducing a new flight ticket service for suborbital space flights, accessible and affordable for both current and new types of customers. The new concept introduces the opportunity to fly fractional payloads, ranging from only a few kg. up to 800 kg., and a substantially more frequent flight schedule. The flight ticket service is carried out jointly between SSC and DLR MORABA within the EuroLaunch partnership.

Swedish Space Corporation SSC has launched more than 560 suborbital rockets from Esrange Space Center since 1966. At Esrange, SSC also operates one of the world largest ground stations for satellite control and data reception — that legacy gives SSC a unique position within the European space community.

For scientists and researchers using microgravity as a tool, the new flight ticket concept Sub-orbital Express covers a complete set of services ranging from a flight ticket including launch, quick and safe land recovery to customized services such as design and development of experiment payload modules.

SSC is now integrating its earlier MASER microgravity program into the new SubOrbital Express concept. The first official SubOrbital Express (MASER 14) flight is currently being prepared for launch from Esrange, carrying four different microgravity experiments from three customers as well as small charity and promotional items.

Linda Lyckman, Head of Business & Technology Innovation at SSC, said that Suborbital Express combines the firm’s legacy with a new flight ticket concept. It aims for easy access to space and a maximum flexibility for the scientific community. A single user mission or ridesharing, depending on specific needs, will be available. However, the service can also be used for other purposes; test and validation of flight and space systems or educational programs giving students a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Furthermore, SSC welcomes non-traditional users of space to book a flight ticket — be such for promotional purposes or simply that something needs to be sent into space.

Airspace Internet Exchange Inc. (AirspaceIX) wireless technology company, founded by Thomas Choi,  which launched Curvalux, has launched Saturn Satellite Networks Inc. (Saturn), a U.S. Delaware Corporation that is building a space qualified, small, GEO satellite platform named Nationsat.

Built entirely in the USA with heritage-based payload and bus components, Nationsat features a full-digital payload and 2.5 kW bus design that enables complete frequency agility and bandwidth channelization for users that demand wide-beam C and Ku-band capacity as well as an HTS version that provides more than 80 Gbps.

Saturn is led by one of the most senior and experienced team of satellite engineers — the top three members of the executive team have more than 100 years of experience and have manufactured over 60 GEO satellites at Boeing, Hughes, Lockheed Martin and Intelsat.

The Nationsat satellites are designed to be low cost and highly flexible, enabling users to save over 70 to 80% of current market pricing for bent pipe GEO satellites — the company’s HTS models will cost less than $1 million per Gbps delivered on-orbit.

Tom Choi, the Executive Chairman of AirspaceIX and Saturn, said the company is extremely proud to announce Saturn’s Nationsat project. The firm has been quietly working on this since the end of 2017,  to deliver the most advanced, flexible and cost optimized, GEO satellite platform in the world.  Over 95% of satellite capacity users in the world use their satellites for domestic applications and, for the first time ever, the firm has a satellite that has been designed and optimized for these end users and nations. The company hopes to serve as a vital cog in the global effort to bring affordable, satellite connectivity to the emerging markets of the world and to over 150 nations that have not been able to afford satellites in the past. This will change with the introduction to the market of Nationsat, by Saturn. 

Vern Smith, the Managing Director of Saturn, added that the company is making history with the most affordable and innovative GEO satellite solutions. The firm has already executed an early development contract with our first customer, valued more than $10 million and recently passed a rigorous Preliminary Design Review (PDR) on the firm’s path to delivering the Nationsat systems in 2020.

Jim Simpson, the CEO of Saturn states “it has been very rewarding and an honor, teaming up with Tom and leading this incredibly talented and innovative Saturn team as its Chief Executive Officer.  This unique satellite system and service enables nations that previously could not afford their own satellite systems the ability to take advantage of the economics of ownership at a fraction of the cost of a traditional satellite system. The company’s ability to use a very small satellite platform, that efficiently uses power, and takes advantage of the theory of the microcosm, with digital payloads, provides a revolutionary approach to delivering on-orbit reconfigurable broadband capacity.

OneWeb has expanded the firms presence in the UK with the creation of more than 150 new jobs through the expansion of the company’s Global Operations Center in White City, London — using state-of-the-art technology, these critical positions will add additional support for OneWeb to manage, monitor and control its satellite network from a single location.

The increase of OneWeb’s team at its London Headquarters is a clear demonstration of its long-term commitment to the UK, which has been home to its global headquarters since 2017. The new roles will help power OneWeb’s ongoing launch program, which commenced in February 2019 and is now driving the commercialization of the business. With customers coming on board and launches planned each month, OneWeb is on target to provide high speed global internet coverage by 2021.

This commitment also strengthens the partnership between OneWeb and the UK Space Agency (UKSA), which invested £18 million in OneWeb’s Sunrise Program in February 2019. OneWeb’s Sunrise Program is dedicated to advancing a new space ecosystem and ensuring the space environment is preserved for all. OneWeb’s Sunrise Program will develop cutting-edge technologies needed to enable future ambitions, whether it be in satellite hardware, ground infrastructure or the responsible use of space (end of life deorbiting).

Photo of the White City complex in London.

While OneWeb’s satellites are equipped to be deorbited under their own power at the end of their operational missions with high reliability, efforts under Sunrise will further ensure no debris remains behind – all of the satellites are also equipped with a grappling interface should there be a need for additional support to de-orbit the satellites.

Adrian Steckel, the CEO of OneWeb, said the relationship and investment in the UK is extremely important for OneWeb. The company will be able to deliver on the firm’s mission to provide global connectivity, thanks to the forward leaning vision of the UKSA and others.

On OneWeb’s investment, Graham Stuart, the UK Minister for Investment, added that too few people are aware of the success and significance of the UK space sector or its vast potential for future growth. That is why the UKSA supports OneWeb’s investment into the UK’s commercial space industry. This represents another vote of confidence in the UK and an important step in building the nation’s space sector.

The AQT-D smallsat.

A Japanese research team claims that they are ready to release a water-powered smallsat from the International Space Station.

If the experimental satellite with a microthruster using water as a propellant operates successfully, it would promote the practical use of one- to 10-kilogram cubesats to be released from the ISS in a wide range of fields, from telecommunications to entertainment. The group is led by Hiroyuki Koizumi and Jun Asakawa, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor, at the University of Tokyo.

According to Koizumi and Asakawa, they and their colleagues developed a cubic water-propelled engine roughly 10 centimeters on a side. The thruster uses the vacuum of space to evaporate water within the device, building up pressure. The vapor is then released to create propulsion. They also made an experimental cubesat dubbed AQT-D that is mounted with the innovative tiny propulsion system.

The AQT-D is scheduled to be delivered to the ISS by the Kounotori 8 unmanned cargo spacecraft and released from the Kibo Japanese experiment module at the ISS by March of next year. After the release, the team will check the water-powered engine’s performance and orbit adjustment abilities.

Story: https://www.nippon.com

Spaceflight will launch seven spacecraft from five organizations later this month on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 at the southern tip of Mahia Peninsula, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

This mission, also called “Make It Rain” by Rocket Lab as a nod to the weather in Seattle and New Zealand, represents Spaceflight’s first of five launches scheduled with Rocket Lab this year.

Satellites on the mission include:

—BlackSky’s Global-3

—Two U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Prometheus, Melbourne Space Program’s ACRUX-1

—Two Swarm SpaceBEEs, and an undisclosed customer.

Spaceflight managed the procurement, integration, and mission management services for all the customers manifested on the Electron. The cubesats were processed and integrated in Spaceflight’s Auburn, Wash.-based facility while BlackSky shipped its smallsat directly to the Rocket Lab facility in New Zealand for its final integration by the Spaceflight team.

Spaceflight’s Electron launch vehicle.

This mission marks Spaceflight’s third launch of 2019. It follows the successful launch and deployment of 21 spacecraft aboard PSLV C45 in March 2019 as well as the GTO-1 mission, launching the first commercial lunar lander in February aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. Additionally, in December 2018, Spaceflight executed the company’s historic dedicated rideshare mission, SSO-A, which launched 64 unique smallsats.

To date, the company has negotiated the launch of more than 260 satellites and has plans for approximately 10 more missions in 2019 launching nearly 100 payloads across a wide variety of launch vehicles, including the Falcon 9, Antares, Electron, Vega, Vector, PSLV, and LauncherOne.

Curt Blake, CEO of Spaceflight, said the company is looking forward to this inaugural flight with Rocket Lab as well as a long-term partnership to increase access to space via frequent launches. Having the Electron in the firm’s arsenal of small launch vehicles provides customers with a low-cost, flexible option to get on-orbit.

Brian O’Toole, the CEO of BlackSky, added that after launching the company’s first two Earth Observation (EO) satellites to Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) in 2018, the firm is excited to get Global-3 up in a mid-inclination orbit to further deliver on the rapid revisit rate necessary to monitor locations of interest around the world. As BlackSky continues constellation expansion, it will be critical to leverage the frequent launch cadence Spaceflight offers through Rocket Lab and others and the company is excited to be on this inaugural mission.

Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), a small satellite manufacturer, now has a total of 12 spacecraft on-orbit since the launch of its most recent satellite deployed earlier this year, and all of the spacecraft buses are operational and in various stages of mission operations.

Currently BCT is building more than 60 spacecraft for government, commercial and academic missions. Many of these 60 spacecraft are planned for launch in the second half of 2019.

In May the company announced it will provide 12 precision pointing platforms, built on the company’s FleXcore™ product, to Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand.

Highlights from some of the company’s recent launches include:

• Several 6U spacecraft for NASA-sponsored programs for Earth-observation and deep space science
• Multiple Microsats and 6U spacecraft for government sponsored programs

With their healthy business comes the need for ample space to produce the satellites. As a result Blue Canyon Technologies has doubled in size over the past 12 months and plans to open its new 80,000-square-foot headquarters and production facility next year.

Using the company’s heritage of designing and building satellite dispensers, RUAG Space developed a unique satellite Dispenser that enables three large radar Earth Observation (EO) satellites to simultaneously launch via a single launcher.

The RCM Dispenser. Photo is courtesy of RUAG Space.

This Dispenser system connected the spacecraft to the launcher and ensured safe separation in orbit using a first-of-its-kind tilting mechanism. RUAG Space delivered the tilting Dispenser System to MDA, a Maxar company, to support the Canadian Space Agency’s RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), which launched Wednesday, June 12, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA.

A closeup view of the RCM Dispenser. Photo is courtesy of RUAG Space.

RUAG was contacted back in 2015 to solve the difficult issue of how to get three large spacecraft safely launched on a single launcher. The size of the spacecraft, and having to pack them inside the payload faring of the launcher, meant that they would sit very close to each other.

To solve this issue, RUAG put forward a truly unique concept for a platform Dispenser to where the three spacecraft would tilt outwards from each other before separation, providing significantly more room for the satellites to safely deploy.

When it comes to spacecraft separation, RUAG has 100 percent success rate and to design a space mechanism in less than a year is a big challenge. To reduce risk, RUAG Space based the design on existing parts, had healthy margins in the design, and redundancy where possible.

Following an intense and highly successful two-year development and qualification program, the RUAG Dispenser system was delivered to the customer in Q2 2017. RUAG continued to actively support the customer, including performing the onsite installation of the dispenser on to the launcher rocket.

RUAG Space CEO Peter Guggenbach said the innovation and technology that the company created is a major contributor to this important mission. RCM is the next in a series of Canadian RADARSAT satellites supporting all-weather maritime surveillance, disaster management and ecosystem monitoring for the Canadian government and international users.

Jörgen Remmelg, SVP for Spacecraft at RUAG Space, added that the company is honored that MDA came to RUAG Space for this fundamental hardware for this mission for the Canadian Space Agency which will also serve the rest of the world. Space assets will bring more services, better environments, more science, and better telecommunications. This tilting method was never attempted until this mission. RUAG Space accomplished this task using this state-of-the-art tilting mechanism and the firm’s extensive heritage in the field of satellite separations. Although this tilting method is new, the mechanism incorporated components and design concepts from RUAG’s existing and extensive product portfolio, ensuring a high level of reliability and winning the confidence of the stakeholders for 100 percent mission success.

Albert Thuswaldner, project manager for the RCM Dispenser at RUAG Space said that in less than two years, the company went from having a concept to a complete product. The firm is very pleased and proud to see these dispenser development efforts pay off. This is a big step into the company’s future successes.