According to the latest post at Advanced-Television‘s news infosite by journalist Chris Forrester, mega-constellation OneWeb promises to start commercial services in 2021.

CEO Adrian Steckel, speaking to The Australian newspaper, said that the first important stage is to start launching batches of Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites at a rate of 35 a month, every month, from this coming December.

Journalist
Chris Forrester.

OneWeb, in partnership with Airbus, is now building those satellites at a rate of at least one a day. The launch rate will continue until there are 650 satellites in orbit. It will take 20 launches to achieve that target.

Steckel told the newspaper that he was in Australia to secure co-operation from two Earth Aussie stations (needed to relay consumer traffic into and from the web). Steckel added that these LEO-based services would be complementary to fibre and other ground-based delivery technologies.

“And we’re all about broadening the use case of satellites. We see a future where you have flat panel antennas in a car, on a train, on a plane and on a boat that are inexpensive, and allow you to get quality broadband at speed,” he said.

The broadband capacity target is to supply one Terabit/second to consumers initially. As extra satellites are lifted into space that overall throughput would jump ten-fold or more.

Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult have signed a contract to adapt Horizon Technologies’ existing FlyingFish™ signals intelligence (SIGINT) system for a 6U CubeSat platform as part of the Catapult’s In-Orbit Demonstration program.

Funded by Innovate UK, it is expected that the satellite will be on-orbit and operational before the end of 2020. At present, all ships are fitted with Automatic Identification Signals (AIS), which can be detected by satellites, but can also be manually turned off to avoid detection when undertaking activities such as illegal fishing, piracy, smuggling, and transhipments, amongst others.

The payload on board IOD-3 AMBER will be able to locate and track vessels worldwide by picking up their electronic emissions using an L-band Satphone detection sensor package derived from the existing FlyingFish™ system combined with an AIS receiver, and other sensors to detect maritime radars, and correlate these signals against the presence of AIS beacons.

Known as IOD-3 AMBER, the satellite will work together with Horizon Technologies’ Amber Ground Exploitation Station (GES) to be established in Cornwall (Newquay). The development of the GES was funded by Innovate UK in 2018 to provide end-to-end data services linked to illegal maritime activity to customers worldwide, and the GES will be operational by the time IOD-3 AMBER is launched.

The satellite bus will be supplied by Glasgow-based AAC Clyde Space and will be deployed into orbit from the International Space Station by launch provider Nanoracks.

Horizon Technologies already has a proven track record of working with national governments, international and regional organizations, and private industry. Later this year, Horizon Technologies will host customer validation workshops to discuss how current and future customers will use the data supplied by IOD-3 AMBER in the most optimal manner possible.

Horizon Technologies will be exhibiting and discussing their IOD-3 AMBER launch and the Amber Constellation as part of the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) UK Pavilion (stand 617) at the May 6-9 satellite trade show in Washington, DC.

John Beckner, CEO of Horizon Technologies, said  as a UK SME, the company is pleased to work in partnership with the Satellite Applications Catapult for Amber as part of the In-Orbit Demonstration program. The program is a perfect example of the benefits of an optimal private/public partnership. By the end of next year, the firm’s UK and international customers will be receiving ship geolocation data (to include GPS locations) of maritime vessels via a number of RF emissions. The world will have taken a major step forward in its quest to monitor international illegal maritime activity.

Stuart Martin, CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult, added that the Satellite Applications Catapult has been committed to the use of space-based technologies for tracking illegal maritime activity since 2013. It is the company’s role as a Catapult to grow the market for satellite-enabled services like Amber and working with Horizon Technologies to deliver new capability from a CubeSat platform demonstrates the tremendous potential of the In-Orbit Demonstration program.

Tim Just, Head of Space at Innovate UK, noted that this partnership announcement between UK SME Horizon Technologies and the Satellite Applications Catapult is welcome news. It illustrates the value of the In-Orbit Demonstration program to create an environment for businesses to test their innovative products and services and ultimately help grow the UK space sector.

Success results in the need for more of the product or service that the particular business provides. And so it is with Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT), which is currently supporting numerous successful missions with a cumulative total of 9 spacecraft, 11 attitude control systems, 49 star trackers and 150 reaction wheels on-orbit. Additionally, BCT has orders for nearly 60 spacecraft, ranging from 3U CubeSats to 200kg ESPA-class microsatellites, for missions in LEO to GEO, for commercial, academic, and Government customers.

As a testament to their recent successes, Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has expanded their business operations to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The new facility is in the hub of the space technology business environment to enable close coordination with current and future Government and commercial customers. Located near Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) and the Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), the new lab and office space will aid in managing programs with Air Force Research Lab Space Vehicles (AFRL/RV) and Directed Energy (AFRL/RD) Directorates, Space and Missile Systems Center Advanced Systems and Development Directorate (SMC/AD), Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SpRCO), the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and Sandia National Laboratories. 

This growth allows for collaboration with government and commercial partners interested in Blue Canyon’s successful small satellite technology. The new space will be an advantage to support execution of the DARPA Blackjack Phase 1 program, as well as the AFRL ASCENT program.  

Prior to the development in New Mexico, BCT expanded their satellite manufacturing facilities in Boulder, Colorado to over 54,000 square feet. The state-of-the-art facility supports high-volume spacecraft production, including constellations, by leveraging cleanrooms, thermal vacuums, vibration, integration, and test capabilities.  The combined expansions have made their facilities one of the largest for small satellite production in the world.
 

It’s a first … Renesas Electronics delivers the space industry’s first plastic-packaged, rad-tol PWM controller and GaN FET driver for DC/DC power supplies in smallsats and launch vehicles, that brings cutting-edge IC technology combined with optimal cost and radiation performance to the smallsats market.

The ISL71043M single-ended current mode PWM controller and ISL71040M low-side GaN FET driver provide the ideal isolated flyback and half-bridge power stages, as well as motor control driver circuits for satellite buses and payloads.Both the ISL71043M and ISL71040M devices are available now.

As private ‘new space’ companies have begun launching smallsats to form large constellations that operate in multiple low Earth orbit (LEO) planes, smallsat mega-constellations also work to provide global broadband internet links, as well as high-resolution Earth observation imaging for sea, air, and land asset tracking. The new power supply solution delivers the size, cost, and performance that new space customers need for 5-year mission profiles in LEO planes.

The ISL71043M PWM controller:

• Provides fast signal propagation and output switching in a small 4mm x 5mm SOIC plastic package, reducing PCB area up to 3x compared to competitive ceramic packages.
• Features a 5.5mA max supply current that reduces power loss more than 3x, and an adjustable operating frequency — up to 1 MHz — that enables higher efficiency and the use of smaller passive filter components.

The ISL71040M low-side GaN FET driver:

• Safely drives Renesas’ rad-hard GaN FETs in isolated topologies and boost type configurations by precisely controlling the gate driver voltage to +3/-5 percent over temperature and radiation. It also includes floating protection circuitry to eliminate unintentional switching.
• Operates with a supply voltage between 4.5V and 13.2V, a gate drive voltage (VDRV) of 4.5V, and includes both inverting and non-inverting inputs.
• Features split outputs that adjust the turn-on and turn-off speeds, and high current source and sink capability that enable high frequency operation.

Both the ISL71043M and ISL71040M are characterization tested at a TID of up to 30krads(Si), and for SEE at a LET of 43MeV•cm2/mg. Both devices operate over an extended temperature range of -55 degrees C to +125 degrees C.

The ISL71043M PWM controller and ISL71040M GaN FET driver can also be combined with the ISL73024SEH 200V GaN FET or ISL73023SEH 100V GaN FET, and ISL71610M passive-input digital isolator to create a variety of power stage configurations.

Arianespace has signed a launch service contract with Synspective for the launch of the satellite StriX-α (with a liftoff mass of approximately 150 kg.) into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) in 2020.

This will be the inaugural mission for a Synspective customer spacecraft on an Arianespace vehicle. The launch will take place from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana using a Vega launcher.

Synspective is a Japanese startup company that will establish a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation of about 25 satellites and provide geospatial solutions. Gathering broad and high frequency monitoring data with its satellite constellation, Synspective aims to enable companies and governments to achieve their goal for sustainable development and resilient urban development through visualization and prediction of economic activity, monitoring of terrain and structure and immediate understanding of disaster situations.

In addition to the launch service contract, Synspective and Arianespace signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement to study a future cooperation.

Following the contract signature, Motoyuki Arai, Founder and CEO of Synspective, said that this is a momentous stepping stone for the constellation which will bring innovation for data-driven business and sustainable development.  The company is also excited about the joint study to mutually enhance both firms’ business and technical strength.

Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace, added that the company is delighted to welcome Synspective as a new customer, enhancing the firm’s relationship with Japan and, once again, proving the relevance of the firm’s launch services offering for Earth Observation (EO) satellites. With Vega in 2020 and through a more global partnership, Arianespace is looking forward to contributing to the deployment of the Synspective constellation, which puts innovation in space at the service of a better life on Earth.

SpaceQuest selected RBC Signals to ensure that two of Space Quest’s small sats, THEA and BRIO, are supported and operational in Low Earth Orbit. Even though SpaceQuest operates its own ground station SpaceQuest engaged RBC Signals to increase the number of daily communication opportunities with their spacecraft. With support from the RBC Signals ground station network, SpaceQuest has been able to successfully operate THEA and BRIO in the crowded environment post-launch.

The two spacecraft, THEA and BRIO, were delivered to orbit on the note worthy SSO-A SmallSat Express mission, which featured 64 small satellites launched onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle in December 2018. 

RBC Signals’ rapidly expanding network now includes more than 65 antennas in over 40 locations worldwide. The firm’s communication capabilities span VHF, UHF, S-, C-, X-, Ku- and Ka-bands. RBC Signals can support satellites in GEO, MEO, and LEO for a wide array of mission needs.

Christopher Richins, CEO of RBC Signals said that this engagement showcases their ability to provide turnkey, flexible solutions to satellite operators. Their platform provides a simple interface for scheduling ground station access, and the RBC Signals ground station network offers multiple stations to meet the needs of their customers. 

Dr. Dino Lorenzini, CEO and Chairman of SpaceQuest added that RBC Signals’ ability to support multiple passes from multiple ground stations has been critical to their commissioning THEA and BRIO.

The first satellite in Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) constellation was launched April 17, 2019, from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

The IOD-1 GEMS satellite was aboard the International Space Station resupply mission NG-11. The mission is part of the In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) Program, funded by Innovate UK and managed by the Satellite Applications Catapult.

Orbital Micro Systems IOD-1 GEMS satellite.

Photo is courtesy of ÅAC Microtec.

After deployment, the satellite will gather and transmit atmospheric observation data which will be aligned and integrated with other atmospheric and weather datasets at OMS’ International Center for Earth Data (ICED) in Edinburgh.

The IOD-1 GEMS satellite is the first of a planned constellation comprising 48 cubesats that will dramatically improve the temporal frequency of global microwave radiation observations from hours — and even days — to intervals approaching 15 minutes. OMS anticipates launching six additional GEMS satellites during the first months of 2020.

Data collected by the GEMS constellation will be available to commercial, government, and research subscribers from ICED, which aggregates and processes weather information from multiple sources, and provides easily consumable information to its subscribers, sometimes within minutes of collection. The data produced from ICED will have a tangible impact on the lives of millions of people in all areas of the world. This includes improved crop management in the world’s farming communities, safer route planning in the aviation and maritime industries, and better catastrophe risk management in areas where natural disasters are prevalent.

William Hosack, OMS chief executive officer, said launching the IOD-1 GEMS satellite marks several milestones for OMS and the commercial space industry. The company is delighted to contribute the first commercial microwave radiometer and the first 3D-printed antenna for space use to the mission — most importantly, through the support and collaboration with Satellite Applications Catapult and other IOD team members, OMS is now positioned to be a market leader in gathering and delivering actionable comprehensive, accurate, and frequent weather data.

ATLAS Space Operations, Inc. has garnered an agreement to develop their LINKS platform with the Department of Defense’s Defense (DoD)  Innovation Unit (DIU).

The competitively awarded rapid prototyping program will run for 12 months and will deliver a complete satellite communications platform tailored to the U.S. Air Force’s Multi-Band Multi-Mission requirements, as outlined by the Space and Missile Systems Center’s (SMC) Range and Network Systems Division.

The resulting platform will provide several key advantages that have proven challenging for traditional antenna equipment, including the ability to communicate with multiple satellites simultaneously, tracking of resident space objects (RSOs), and providing enhanced telemetry data to ascending launch vehicles. The man-portable LINKS platform will increase capacity, flexibility, interoperability, automation and resiliency of space operations and space lift.
 
Upon completion of the program, ATLAS will hold demonstrations to highlight LINKS’ innovative features, cutting edge design, and multi-mission capabilities to the DIU. The demonstrations will be held at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.
 
ATLAS CEO Sean McDaniel said that working directly with the U.S. Air Force will ensure LINKS’ capabilities precisely meet their requirements. This development process and adherence to the Air Force’s high standards will ultimately lead to a product that will easily meet or exceed the requirements of the commercial sector down the road.
 

Scheduled to launch this week is the NG-11 mission from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft — this spacecraft will deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) and transport 60 smallsats, called ThinSats, into space. These satellites are powered by Alta Devices gallium arsenide solar cells and will carry various electromagnetic, radiation and inertial sensors for scientific analysis of the atmosphere.

A Innovative ThinSat powered by Alta Devices solar.

These ThinSats are part of a program whose goal is to set a new standard for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education in the US. Dozens of teams of high school and college students were engaged in the preparation of the satellite hardware and analysis. The satellites will be deployed into low earth orbit and allow live data transmission.

In the future, these ThinSats can be deployed into constellations and expanded to larger sizes for hosting larger payloads.

The ThinSat Program is managed and funded by Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (Virginia Space) with Twiggs Space Lab (TSL) operating as the general contractor, Near Space Launch (NSL) the primary spacecraft designer and manufacturer and Alta Devices the provider of solar cells.

Hank Voss co-founder of NSL said satellites need solar cells to generate electrical power. Until now, no commercial solar technologies could match the improvement in cost, weight, and ease of use that other components of small satellite technology have achieved. The majority of solar cells are expensive, fragile, rigid, and difficult to encapsulate and robustly attach to spacecraft.

Alta Devices solar cells overcome those challenges as they are flexible, easy to encapsulate and mount and provide high power conversion efficiencies. For example, Alta Devices cells can be mounted to low-mass deployable structures including coiled carbon fiber booms, flat-packed, polymer-based accordioned arrays, even inflatable structures, allowing creative design approaches to maximizing onboard solar power. Alta Devices is empowering autonomy, as its cells provide a new level of mechanical and design flexibility for the small satellite industry.

The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA), also known as ‘Virginia Space,’ is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Virginia Space owns and operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) and the MARS UMS Airfield. Virginia Space aims to provide and is proud to offer full-service launch and drone testing facilities for commercial, government, scientific and academic users. The mission of Virginia Space is to serve as a driver for Virginia’s New Economy by providing safe, reliable, and responsive space access at competitive prices, and secure facilities for testing of unmanned vehicles for integration into the National Air Space.

Twiggs Space Lab, LLC (TSL) is focused on creating STEAM based products and curriculum to stimulate, engage, and encourage students to pursue interests in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The company’s mission is to inspire future generations of engineers and scientists to make the world a better place through innovative research in space. Prof. Twiggs was a consulting professor at Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics starting in 1994 where he established the Space Systems Development Laboratory. While at Stanford in 1999, he was the co-developer of the cubesat concept. Prof. Twiggs was also the creative mind responsible for developing the original concepts for the CricketSat, CanSat and the PocketQube for educational applications for use in space. Prof. Twiggs has published numerous papers and made dozens of presentations at technical conferences in the US and internationally.

NearSpace Launch, Inc. (NSL) is based in Upland, IN. NSL has 100 percent mission success with more than 60 systems flown in the past four years. Hank Voss and Jeff Dailey founded NSL following the successful mission of TSAT. The mission proved the effectiveness of a Globalstar radio connection for orbital radio communication. NSL manufactures and produces ThinSats, custom cubesat satellites, Globalstar enabled communication systems as well as high-altitude balloons for a variety of educational, commercial, and government applications. NSL’s FastBus heritage is 7 out of 7 flying their missions, and many more radios and components excelling at their respective mission tasks.

Alta Devices is Empowering Autonomy™ by delivering the world’s most efficient, thin and flexible mobile power technology.  By converting light of any kind into electricity, Alta Devices AnyLight™ power technology extends the energy source of a system, and in many cases, completely cuts the traditional power cord.  The solution can be completely integrated into the final system, and is ideal for use in small satellites, unmanned systems, consumer electronics, sensors, automotive, remote exploration, or anywhere size, weight, and mobility matter.  Alta Devices holds world records for energy conversion efficiency and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Inovor Technologies CEO Dr. Matthew Tetlow said a A$272,000 Defence Innovation Hub grant would go toward proving the company’s algorithm can stabilize control systems to keep satellites fixed on specific positions.

“The stabilizing technology enables very fine pointing with as little jitter as possible, focusing on stars for long periods of time,” he said.

“Essentially it is control technology — it has to do with the reaction wheel control system.”

Dr. Matthew Tetlow’s company Inovor has been awarded a $272,000 Defence Innovation Hub grant to test its algorithm.

Dr. Tetlow said the grant would fund a de-risking program to test their anti-jitter technology as a first step toward the Australian Department of Defence considering adopting the technology for its small satellites.

“We need to run tests on the system that we’ve developed to prove that they work, and that they have an extended lifetime so we can then be in a position to pitch it to the government,” he said.

“The first version of the system is going to fly on another satellite for the CSIRO, but then the new aspect of the technology is the very high precision pointing and reliability, which is going to be tested and then that will be something added to our existing system.”

Dr. Tetlow said if the technology passes the test it would help Inovor attract national and international players.

“This defense contract is now showing that the government is interested in this technology and is now looking at what they can do for their future missions as well,” he said.

“Following this we want to be flying with everybody. We want to set up our missions to international players and the global industry, which is where all the big money is.”

Inovor Technologies also designs and integrates small satellites, including its InoSat nanosatellite, a turnkey surveillance pod to protect satellites from space junk. The InoSat is a cheaper alternative to directing space traffic and can also be used to study climate change, natural disasters and general agriculture on Earth.

This month Inovor moved into new offices at Lot Fourteen, an innovation precinct in the heart of Adelaide that will also house the Australian Space Agency by July.

South Australia has been a significant player in the nation’s space industry and is home to major Tier 1 defense companies and several emerging space start-ups, including Fleet Space Technologies and Myriota, which have both announced new IoT initiaitives this year.

Last December Southern Launch also announced it would establish a launch facility on Eyre Peninsula, in the state’s north.

The South Australia Space Industry Centre, launched in 2017, has been instrumental in helping establish the space sector ecosystem in the state and reports that there are more than 70 companies employing 800 people in the industry in South Australia, including Italian space company SITAEL.

By Angela Skujins, The Lead