Sponsored By Viasat
www.viasat.com/gov-uk
————————————————————————
19 Apr 22. Viasat Joins Harwell Space Cluster to Support UK Innovation. Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today announced it has joined the Space Cluster on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus as it seeks new technology and research partnerships in the UK.
Harwell is home to the largest concentration of space expertise in the UK, with more than 1,400 people employed across over 100 private and public sector organizations, including the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency. Harwell estimates that the space industry contributes £5.7bn to UK GDP.
With the opening of a new office at the Harwell Campus, Viasat is demonstrating its intent to play an active role within the UK’s space ecosystem while contributing its expertise in space-based broadband communications to the Harwell community.
“The Harwell Space Cluster is widely recognized as an integral part of the UK’s space sector, bringing together dynamic, innovative organizations from across the UK and European Union,” said Rick Baldridge, Viasat’s president and CEO. “We are looking to build relationships in the UK that can help add value and new capabilities to our global ViaSat-3 constellation of satellites, which will extend broadband internet service to the hardest-to-reach places in the world. We look forward to creating alliances with UK organizations in areas such as space safety and sustainability, encryption and data security, terminal development and more.”
The first of three ViaSat-3 high-capacity satellites is scheduled for launch later this year. The constellation is expected to deliver over 3 Terabits per second (Tbps) of total network capacity, or roughly eight times the capacity of Viasat’s current fleet.
“We are delighted to have Viasat join the Harwell Campus,” said Dr. Joanna Hart, development manager, Harwell Space Cluster. “It is an innovative communications company known for working with growing start-ups in the satellite and space community. Viasat will be able to access the world-leading space research and technology we offer, spotting valuable commercial opportunities and next-generation innovations.”
The Harwell Campus is interested in capitalizing on the rapid changes in space technology, and building links with other international space clusters, to help the UK achieve its National Space Strategy goal: to be 10% of the global space-related economy by 2030. (Source: PR Newswire)
20 Apr 22. Amazon, SpaceX snag NASA space communications contracts. Amazon’s satellite venture, SpaceX’s Starlink network and other satellite firms on Wednesday won a combined $278.5m in contracts from NASA to demonstrate communications in space as the U.S. space agency moves to replace its current satellite network in orbit with privately-built systems.
NASA is increasingly looking to rely on private space companies for its operations and wants to stimulate more commercial activity in areas from space communications to sending humans to orbit.
Amazon’s (AMZN.O) Project Kuiper, a planned network of over 3,000 satellites built to beam broadband internet to remote regions, won $67m, while SpaceX’s Starlink venture, a larger satellite-internet network with some 2,000 satellites in space already, received $70m.
NASA uses its current system, called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite network, to communicate with spacecraft in orbit, such as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule when it ferries astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
“The goal here is really to get industry to kick in with us and develop these capabilities for customers that are not just NASA, but other space-based customers as well, hopefully bringing down our costs,” Eli Naffah, the head of NASA’s Communications Services Project, told Reuters.
Each company is expected to complete development and demonstrations of their satellites under the contract by 2025, NASA said in a statement.
The other awardees include Inmarsat, SES, Telesat and ViaSat (VSAT.O). Competition is fierce primarily among Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Amazon and Telesat to provide broadband internet from space, a costly commercial endeavor that could generate billions in revenue once fully operational, analysts say. Starlink, while not yet completed, has thousands of customers in various countries. Amazon, further behind, aims to launch its first two prototype satellites in late 2022. (Source: Reuters)
19 Apr 22. US intelligence satellite launches from California. A classified satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office was launched into space from California on Sunday. The NROL-85 satellite lifted off at 6:13 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It was the first mission by the NRO to reuse a SpaceX rocket booster, Vandenberg said in a statement. The Falcon’s first stage flew back and landed at the seaside base northwest of Los Angeles. The NRO only described the NROL-85 satellite as a “critical national security payload.” Its launch was one of three awarded by the Air Force to SpaceX in 2019 for a combined fixed price of $297m.
The NRO is the government agency in charge of developing, building, launching and maintaining U.S. satellites that provide intelligence data to senior policymakers, the intelligence community and the Defense Department. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
19 Apr 22. Kymeta to Offer Mission-Critical LEO Satellite Connectivity Services to Government Market Through New Partnership with OneWeb Technologies. The distribution partner agreement enables Kymeta to resell OneWeb Technologies’ services with its fixed and mobility hardware solutions to the U.S. government. Kymeta (kymetacorp.com), a world leading company for flat panel antennas making mobile global, and OneWeb Technologies (onewebtechnologies.net), the premier provider of innovative and secure commercial satellite communications application solutions, announced today an agreement to distribute reliable, secure, and cost-effective broadband connectivity services to the U.S. government.
The new managed satellite service offering enables Kymeta to provide government customers with hardware solutions that are packaged with secure and resilient network access from OneWeb Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company OneWeb. Access to broadband connectivity services from the leading satellite connectivity platform will provide customers with an additional mission-critical connectivity resource, supplementing Kymeta’s existing broadband geostationary orbit (GEO) and 4G cellular service offering.
“The LEO network delivers the low latency, high-speed, and multi-orbit network sought after by the Department of Defense and other government customers,” said Walter Berger, President and Co-CEO, at Kymeta Corporation. “We are pleased to join in this partnership with OneWeb Technologies as we continue to bring advanced solutions across a wide range of applications for defense agencies, government, public safety, and commercial customers around the world that meet the highest levels of security and encryption requirements needed for mission-critical operations.”
“We are focused on meeting and exceeding the demands for resilient end-to-end commercial SATCOM solutions for U.S. government agencies, its allies, and warfighters,” said Bob Roe, CEO, OneWeb Technologies. “The Kymeta u8 product family is designed for rapid deployment and acquires service within minutes of installation for seamless and uninterrupted communications on the move. When paired with our high-speed broadband connectivity solutions, we ensure voice, video, and data communications are available when needed most, no matter the global location.”
12 Apr 22. IVO Ltd. Introduces A Propulsion First — A Pure Electric Thruster For Satellites. IVO Ltd. has unveiled their IVO Quantum Drive, the first pure electric thruster for satellites that uses zero fuel and brings unmatched efficiency, scalability and capability to the space industry.
Built upon the basis of quantized inertia, the IVO Quantum Drive is the world’s first, commercially viable and available, pure electric propulsion technology to achieve legitimacy via thermal vacuum testing.
IVO Ltd. worked with E-Labs of Fredericksburg, Virginia, to validate the thruster under the rigorous conditions it will see in space. The vacuum chamber also served to validate thrust being developed by quantized inertia. The IVO Quantum Drive achieved 45mN of thrust, consuming only a single watt and zero fuel. This was done at 9×10-6 Torr with temperature cycles ranging from -100c to 100c. The thruster performed as expected with no variation in performance.
Due to its use of electricity only and zero fuel, the IVO Quantum Drive has zero emissions and is self contained. This allows it the unique ability to be internal to the spacecraft itself. The IVO Quantum Drive’s modular design allows it to scale on multiple axes to meet the needs of each individual spacecraft regardless of thrust requirements.
“The benefits of pure electric thrust technology will be felt across the space industry as a whole. The IVO Quantum Drive makes it possible to measure a spacecraft’s lifespan in decades instead of a few years,” said Daniel Telehey, Chief Operating Officer of IVO Ltd. “We are particularly excited about the mission capability this technology enables with the drastic reduction in energy requirements,” Telehey added. “Ultimately the modularity of the IVO Quantum Drive makes it possible to develop far superior spacecraft that are incredibly efficient, lightweight, maneuverable, fuel independent and most importantly, cost effective.”
In 2021, CEO and Inventor of the IVO Quantum Drive, Richard Mansell, discovered pure electric thrust is viable for spacecraft through a combination of mathematics and empirical test data. “Quantum Inertia has been discussed as a theory for several years, so we approached the problem with a non-theoretical lens,” he said. “We can now say that the basic principles of Quantum Inertia hold true in test data, and they still align with quantum, inertial and gravitational physics. “
“The dramatic reduction in energy demand of this thruster will result in the downsizing of solar requirements of a spacecraft. This will allow a smaller form factor as well as weight reduction which will increase the number of spacecraft on a given launch vehicle. Craft development is already very expensive so the ability to save on both the development cost as well as launch cost will serve the space industry well,” said Paul Cejas, Technology Integration Manager, IVO Ltd.
IVO Ltd. is set to begin development programs for customers starting Q2 2022. (Source: Satnews)
18 Apr 22. SpaceX launches US National Reconnaissance Office mission NROL-85. A Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched a surveillance satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
The Falcon 9 rocket carrying NRO Launch (NROL-85) lifted off on 17 April from the Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US.
Space Launch Delta 30 commander Colonel Rob Long was the decision authority for the launch.
Long said: “Today, the Western Range teamed with the National Reconnaissance Office to deliver a critical national security payload, which will provide our warfighters and decision-makers with vital intelligence data.
“This is the 20th NRO launch from the Western Range since 1996 and I’m proud of both the team today and the longstanding and strong partnership with the NRO.”
With the current launch, NROL-85 marks the first NRO mission to reuse a SpaceX rocket booster.
In February 2022, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the first stage of the mission, NROL-87, and was intended to be reused for future missions.
After launching the first stage, the SpaceX Falcon 9 returned to land on the Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
NORL-85 is also the second Falcon 9 launch procured via a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contract to launch from the Western Range.
The primary responsibility of Space Launch Delta 30 is to maintain and operate the Western range, providing mission assurance and safeguarding the public.
Other responsibilities include ensuring minimal environmental impact to provide services for executing civil and commercial launches by the US Department of Defense (DoD).
In 2020, another spy satellite for the US NRO was launched by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). (Source: airforce-technology.com)
18 Apr 22. Boeing, ExoAnalytic partner to support Australia’s space capabilities. Boeing and ExoAnalytic are collaborating to establish a sovereign space domain awareness operations capability for Australia, a spokesperson for Boeing told Janes. Boeing is establishing a new operations centre in Queensland and training a team of local operators to leverage ExoAnalytic’s global network of telescopes in a bid to support Australia’s civil and defence space awareness needs, the spokesperson said.
Boeing and ExoAnalytic’s joint solution will provide the Australian Defence Force (ADF) “with a local capability to rapidly respond to real-time ADF tasking”, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said that “defence operators will be able to work alongside Boeing operators” to address the ADF’s “requirements and priorities”.
“ExoAnalytic has a significant number of telescopes located in Australia at multiple remote sites,” the spokesperson said, emphasising on the project’s potential to provide employment opportunities to isolated indigenous communities in the country, enhancing national self-reliance and expanding the space industry base. (Source: Janes)
19 Apr 22. White House commits to barring anti-satellite missile tests. The Biden administration announced Monday it is barring anti-satellite missile testing by the United States, a move that White House officials say is meant to underscore its hopes of establishing new norms for military action in space. The U.S. has sharply criticized Russia and China for conducting anti-satellite missile tests, although it also used an interceptor missile fired from a U.S. Navy warship more than 14 years ago to destroy a malfunctioning spy satellite.
The issue is one that’s taken on greater urgency after Russia in November launched a missile to destroy a defunct Soviet-era satellite. Vice President Kamala Harris criticized the Russian action as an “irresponsible act.” The strike created more than 1,500 pieces of space debris that increased risk to U.S. and Russian astronauts aboard the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong space station, according to U.S. Space Command.
Harris, who chairs the White House National Space Council, planned to discuss the U.S. commitment to bar anti-satellite missile testing and establishing norms for space during a speech on Monday evening at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the central coast of California, according to the White House.
The Russian test occurred as it was massing troops ahead of its latest invasion of Ukraine. The more than seven-week-old war has left thousands dead and has caused to U.S. and its allies to hit Russia with massive economic sanctions.
A similar weapons test by China in 2007 also resulted in widespread debris.
“The long-lived debris created by these tests now threaten satellites and other space objects that are vital to all nations’ security, economic, and scientific interests, and increases risk to astronauts in space,” the White House said in a statement. “Overall, these tests jeopardize the long-term sustainability of outer space and imperil the exploration and use of space by all nations.”
The Biden administration announcement of the anti-satellite missile testing ban comes months after Harris announced at a meeting in December that White House National Security Council officials would work with officials at the Pentagon, State Department, and other U.S. national security agencies to develop proposals for national security space norms.
The U.S. is the first country to announce such a ban.
The kind of direct-ascent weapon that the Biden administration is committing not to fire relies on interceptor missiles that travel from the Earth’s surface to strike a satellite target hundreds of miles into space.
Since the 1960s, the United States, China, India and Russia have conducted more than a dozen anti-satellite tests in space that destroyed satellites and created more than 6,300 pieces of orbital debris, according to the Secure World Foundation, a nongovernmental group that advocates for sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space.
At least 4,300 pieces of that debris are still in orbit today and pose long-term threats to human spaceflight, science and national security missions, and the future economic development of space, according to the foundation.
Anti-satellite missile tests by the U.S. in 2008 as well as one by India in 2019 targeted satellites at much lower altitudes, well below the space station at about 260 miles (420 kilometers).
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the destruction of a satellite in low-earth orbit by missile was meant to demonstrate India’s capacity as a “space power” alongside the U.S., Russia and China. He ordered the launch weeks before national elections.
The defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 1408 was orbiting about 40 miles (65 kilometers) higher when it was destroyed in November by a missile fired from northern Russia.
Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, called the Biden administration’s move a significant one that puts pressure on China and Russia to take similar action.
“They have made a lot of diplomatic noise the last decade about preventing a space arms race, while also testing their own (anti-satellite) weapons and creating orbital debris,” Weeden said of Russia and China. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
12 Apr 22. Exotrail Signs A Launch Service Agreement With SpaceX To Launch Their SpaceVan™ OTV Mission. Exotrail has officially released the firm’s new, in-space, mobility service which is delivered by their SpaceVan™, a unique Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV).
The debut SpaceVan™ mission will launch onboard a Falcon 9 rideshare mission in October 2023 following a launch service agreement signed between Exotrail and SpaceX.
At least three subsequent missions are planned throughout 2024 onboard multiple different launchers. Deploying constellations over several planes, altitudes and inclinations often means using dedicated launch vehicles which dramatically increase launch costs.
With the SpaceVan™ mobility service, satellite operators can now quickly and efficiently deploy their constellations over several different planes, altitudes, and inclinations, while still taking advantage of significantly cheaper rideshare vehicles. Exotrail has leveraged its capabilities in flight dynamics, system design and electric propulsion to create an in-space mobility service.
The SpaceVan™ uses Exotrail’s space proven ExoMG™ propulsion system which is a key differentiator from its chemical propulsion OTVs counterparts and offers up to 1 km/s of deltaV for a payload capacity of up to 400 kg. The SpaceVan™ is able to perform a typical constellation plane change maneuver in less than 3 months and a 100 km. change in just two weeks. The SpaceVan™ has standard connection interfaces which allows both nanosatellites and microsatellites to be deployed, as well as offering hosted payload capability. (Source: Satnews)
10 Apr 22. SES Expands Their Multi-Cloud Offerings With Oracle’s FastConnect. SES, a member of Oracle Partner Network (OPN), will offer private, dedicated connectivity to Oracle Cloud through Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) FastConnect — customers can harness the power of Oracle Cloud locally, including Oracle Autonomous Database, to unlock innovation and drive business growth.
SES will be using its Cloud Direct service to connect customers to Oracle Cloud applications and services over its network of MEO and GEO satellites — a key advantage for enterprises, the government and other customers who require low-latency and secure connections in remote, rural or other locations with limited network options. The Cloud Direct service will also be available on SES’s next-generation MEO constellation, O3b mPOWER, launching this year. O3b mPOWER will provide SES customers with satellite-enabled cloud connection, supporting multi-gigabit services that adapt dynamically to network demand.
With OCI, customers benefit from best-in-class security, consistent high performance, simple predictable pricing, and the tools and expertise needed to bring enterprise workloads to the cloud quickly and efficiently.
OCI’s extensive network of more than 70 FastConnect global and regional partners offer customers dedicated connectivity to Oracle Cloud regions and OCI services. Specifically architected to meet the needs of the enterprise, Oracle Cloud is a next-generation cloud that delivers powerful compute and networking performance and a comprehensive portfolio of infrastructure and platform cloud services from application development and business analytics to data management, integration, security, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain. With unique architecture and capabilities, Oracle Cloud delivers unmatched security, performance, and cost savings. Oracle Cloud is the only cloud built to run Oracle Autonomous Database, the industry’s first and only self-driving database.
“As the only multi-orbit satellite provider with direct cloud connections to four of the top five public cloud providers, SES empowers our customers with the flexibility and options to optimize their cloud services for reach, latency, performance or other business requirements,” said Sergy Mummert, Senior Vice President, Sales Global Cloud & Strategic Partnerships at SES. “The launch of O3b mPOWER this year will massively scale the intelligent service automation and flexibility of our Cloud Direct service and help with new cloud capabilities for customers around the world.” (Source: Satnews)
13 Apr 22. SpinLaunch And NASA Agree To Test A Truly Unique Mass Accelerator Launch System. SpinLaunch’s Orbital Accelerator will accelerate a launch vehicle containing a satellite up to 5,000 miles per hour using a rotating carbon-fiber-arm within a 300-ft diameter steel vacuum chamber.
SpinLaunch has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA. Through this partnership, SpinLaunch will develop, integrate, and fly a NASA payload on the company’s Suborbital Accelerator Launch System to provide valuable information to NASA for potential future commercial launch opportunities.
The SpinLaunch and NASA Partnership
The Space Act Agreement is part of NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, which demonstrates promising technologies for space exploration, discovery, and the expansion of space commerce through suborbital testing with industry flight providers. The program is funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington, D.C. and managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the solicitation and evaluation of technologies to be tested on commercial flight vehicles.
SpinLaunch will manifest and fly the first NASA payload on a developmental test flight later this year and provide means for post-flight recovery of payload back to NASA. The two organizations will work jointly to analyze the data and assess the system for future flight opportunities. After full review, NASA and SpinLaunch will publish all non-proprietary launch environment information from the test flight.
“SpinLaunch is offering a unique suborbital flight and high-speed testing service, and the recent launch agreement with NASA marks a key inflection point as SpinLaunch shifts focus from technology development to commercial offerings,” said Jonathan Yaney, Founder and CEO of SpinLaunch. “What started as an innovative idea to make space more accessible has materialized into a technically mature and game-changing approach to launch. We look forward to announcing more partners and customers soon, and greatly appreciate NASA’s continued interest and support in SpinLaunch.”
Sustainable and Responsive Access to Space
SpinLaunch’s Orbital Accelerator will accelerate a launch vehicle containing a satellite up to 5,000 miles per hour using a rotating carbon-fiber-arm within a 300-ft diameter steel vacuum chamber. By doing so, over 70 percent of the fuel and structures that make up a typical rocket can be eliminated. The company leverages existing industrial hardware and commonly available materials to construct the innovative accelerator system, achieving hypersonic launch speeds without the need for any fundamental advancements in material science or usage of emerging technologies. After ascending above the stratosphere, a small, inexpensive propulsive stage provides the final required velocity for orbital insertion and positioning. Through this unique approach, SpinLaunch is providing a fundamentally new way to access space.
SpinLaunch Flight Tests
In October 2021, SpinLaunch’s first test flight successfully propelled a test vehicle at supersonic speeds and ended with the recovery of the reusable flight vehicle. Since then, the suborbital system has conducted regular test flights with a variety of payloads at speeds in excess of 1,000 miles per hour at Spaceport America, located in New Mexico. First orbital test launches are planned for 2025.
Meeting Demand with SpinLaunch Satellites
There is high demand for Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations of inexpensive small satellites for disaster monitoring, weather, national security, and global communications. Leveraging an in-house Space Systems Engineering Team, as well as partnerships with existing satellite systems providers, the company is developing a complete ecosystem of satellite hardware. SpinLaunch satellite buses, and qualified subsystems, are designed to be compatible with any launch system without compromising cost, performance, or mass.
Through these turnkey space solutions, SpinLaunch is helping customers eliminate the cost, time, and complexity constraints currently driving space-related business models – ultimately delivering less expensive, scalable access to space. Learn more about our space systems at www.spinlaunch.com/space-systems.
About SpinLaunch
SpinLaunch was founded by Jonathan Yaney, in 2014, to reimagine space launch technology and enable sustainable and easy access to space. Using its revolutionary kinetic launch system, the company has conducted a series of flight tests at its Spaceport America test site, since October 2021. The company is based at its 140,000sqft headquarters in Long Beach, California and has offices in Washington, DC and New Mexico. SpinLaunch is supported by partners, including Airbus Ventures, Google (Alphabet) Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, McKinley Capital, and ATW Partners. The company is on target to place satellites into orbit and deliver payloads for spacefaring endeavors by 2025. (Source: Satnews)
————————————————————————-
At Viasat, we’re driven to connect every warfighter, platform, and node on the battlefield. As a global communications company, we power ms of fast, resilient connections for military forces around the world – connections that have the capacity to revolutionize the mission – in the air, on the ground, and at sea. Our customers depend on us for connectivity that brings greater operational capabilities, whether we’re securing the U.S. Government’s networks, delivering satellite and wireless communications to the remote edges of the battlefield, or providing senior leaders with the ability to perform mission-critical communications while in flight. We’re a team of fearless innovators, driven to redefine what’s possible. And we’re not done – we’re just beginning.
————————————————————————