Sponsored By Viasat
www.viasat.com/gov-uk
————————————————————————
21 Dec 22. Australia should do more to grow sovereign space industry.
Australia needs to be more proactive to protect and promote its sovereign space industry, according to Ulas Yildirim, a RAAF Wing Commander and staff officer for space strategy.
Writing as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) visiting fellow at ASPI, Yildirim emphasised the unique advantages Australia possesses for space launch capabilities.
With a favourable geographical position for access to multiple orbits, low population density, and relatively clear skies, Australia has a head start for space launch operations.
Providers such as Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA), Southern Launch and Gilmore Space Technologies have begun to show just how powerful these advantages are.
ELA, for example, successfully launched multiple NASA rockets earlier this year in a landmark operation that stood as the first time NASA has used a commercial launch provider outside of the US.
NASA’s involvement with ELA was also a signal of things to come, with other larger players in the space industry starting to take notice of Australia’s myriad launch benefits.
Virgin Orbit, for instance, recently announced plas to establish a launch site at Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport where it plans to launch rockets from a repurposed Boeing 747-400 aircraft
A recent visit from US Space Force officials to Australia saw them also extolling the virtues of Australia’s launch advantages, labelling the nation the “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” for future US space operations.
While outside interest from governments and corporations alike is critical in order to boost foreign investment in Australia’s nascent space industry and spur growth, Yildirim warns that Australian launch providers may struggle to compete.
Yildirim argues that now is the right time for the Australian government to put in place initiatives that provide reasonable protections for Australia’s sovereign launch capabilities.
He points to policies put in place within the European Union and the US to protect their launch industries by preferring sovereign launch providers for contracts as a precedent for such measures to be implemented in Australia.
Some action in this theatre has already occurred, with a parliamentary inquiry in November 2021 recommending that Australian-owned and operated assets and companies be given priority for government contracts for space-related activities.
An important aspect to consider in this discussion, argues Yildirim, is the multifaceted nature of the space industry. Sovereign capability in space is just as important to national security concerns as it is to economic benefits for the nation.
Far from creating an environment that will discourage foreign investment and unfairly privilege Australian companies over international competitors, Yildirim poses that instead, such measures would merely level the playing field as small Australian companies and start-ups attempt to catch up to their well-established international competitors. (Source: Space Connect)
20 Dec 22. Italy’s Vega rockets grounded as investigators probe failed launch. Italy’s Vega rockets have been grounded and an investigation is under way after the latest model failed on its second mission, destroying two Earth-imaging satellites and further complicating Europe’s access to space on top of the war in Ukraine.
Launch firm Arianespace said on Wednesday a “serious anomaly” occurred two minutes and 27 seconds after the upgraded Vega C left the pad in French Guiana, thwarting efforts to add two satellites to the Pleiades Neo constellation operated by Airbus (AIR.PA).
“Unfortunately we can say that the mission is lost and I want to deeply apologise,” Arianespace Chief Executive Stephane Israel told a video feed of the launch, monitored via space.com.
A spokesperson for Arianespace said both the Vega C and its Vega predecessor had been grounded pending the findings of an investigative commission co-chaired by technical officials from the European Space Agency and Arianespace itself.
Israel told reporters the commission would consult independent experts and propose “robust and long-lasting corrective actions to guarantee a safe and reliable return to flight”.
Italy’s Vega C rocket is due to play an increasingly crucial role in Europe’s access to space after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine forced Arianespace to stop using Russian Soyuz vehicles.
Until now, Europe has relied on the Vega programme for small payloads, Soyuz for medium ones and Ariane for heavy missions.
Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso expressed “full confidence that the launches will resume soon,” without saying why he was optimistic.
But Arianespace has been forced to scrap plans to announce a Vega C launch schedule for 2023 in coming weeks.
LAUNCH JIGSAW
The company said the second stage of Vega C, known as Zefiro-40, had suffered a drop in pressure after ignition, prompting engineers to transmit a “destruction” command and send the launcher and its high-tech payload safely into the Atlantic.
In Milan, shares in Avio (AVI.MI), which designed and built most of the rocket, including the Zefiro-40 stage, fell as much as 11% following the loss of Vega C’s first commercial mission, and its second flight since a successful maiden voyage in July.
The rocket’s failure is the latest headache for Europe’s space planners after the withdrawal of Russia’s Soyuz as well as delays to the new Ariane 6 and the ExoMars rover mission.
It comes weeks after the European Space Agency rejigged three Soyuz launches, including the Europe-Japan EarthCARE satellite which it moved to Vega C with a target of early 2024.
Now its plans are uncertain again as Europe faces potential gaps, first for geopolitical and then for technical reasons.
Analysts said only a few operational alternatives to Vega C exist, such as potential rideshares aboard U.S.-based SpaceX’s bigger Falcon 9 or Firefly Aerospace’s new Alpha launcher, which can loft roughly half the payload weight of Vega C.
Other options, though somewhat larger than Vega C, include rockets from Japan and India.
Arianespace’s Israel stressed that Ariane 5 and 6 were not affected by the latest incident.
The first two Pleaides Neo satellites were launched in 2021 and the two lost on Vega C were due to complete a constellation capable of 30 cm-resolution images for civil and military use.
Insurance experts said the loss of the two satellites had clouded what had previously looked set to be a profitable year for underwriters of satellite risks.
The two satellites were insured for a total 212m euros ($224.9m), said David Todd, head of space content at analysis firm Seradata.
Airbus, which owns and operates the Pleaides constellation, declined to comment. ($1 = 0.9427 euro) (Source: Reuters)
20 Dec 22. NSW’s Waratah Seed mission to launch late next year. The Waratah Seed Consortium has announced plans to launch their WS-1 mission late next year, signing a contract with US-based space transport company Momentus. The launch contract will see the WS-1 CubeSat blast-off into orbit aboard the SpaceX Transporter-9 mission before being deployed to its intended low-Earth orbit (LEO) from a Momentus Vigoride orbital service vehicle.
The Waratah Seed Consortium is an industry-spanning effort to bring together multiple different groups with academic institutions and corporate partners banding together with government support.
Currently, the group consists of a partnership between CUAVA, based at the University of Sydney, ACSER at UNSW, Saber Astronautics, Delta-V NewSpace Alliance, Macquarie University and the University of Technology Sydney.
The NSW government has also thrown its support behind the project, with the Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade Alister Henskens praising the project and emphasising the need to support start-ups.
“NSW is Australia’s leader in space research, with more than a third of the country’s space start-ups calling NSW home. Supporting space start-ups helps drive long-term economic growth and ensures we remain at the forefront of emerging space technologies. Through this mission, we’re giving our space start-ups a pathway to space.”
The Waratah Seed WS-1 mission is set to carry a variety of payloads that were determined by an open competition run in 2021.
Designed to support NSW-based space start-ups and help them demonstrate the capabilities of their technology in a real space environment, the competition ran through several months in 2021 and produced four winners.
The first winner, EurokaPower, put forward a design for next-generation solar cells incorporating perovskite which will significantly improve efficiency. EurokaPower is a start-up that began its life at the University of Sydney and is now aiming to develop advanced solar panels o be manufactured here in Australia.
Spiral Blue was the second company that submitted a winning design, entering a space edge computing system for the competition. The computer provides dedicated data processing that is capable of intense computation and is able to use machine learning algorithms while on board the satellite.
Sensors and various subsystems for a robot arm being developed by Sperospace will travel aboard WS-1, with the company intending to eventually produce a machine that can perform in-orbit satellite maintenance and debris removal.
The final competition-winning payload travelling on WS-1 will be an experimental advanced meta-material that is designed by the company Dandelions. The material uses natural fibres, including flax and hemp to replace carbon fibre as spacecraft insulation in an effort to source more affordable materials.
Aside from the competition winners, the WS-1 CubeSat is also expected to carry several commercial payloads, although these have yet to be announced. (Source: Space Connect)
21 Dec 22. UK space regulator issues Virgin Orbit licences ahead of UK launch. The UK Civil Aviation Authority issues the final licences to Virgin Orbit to undertake launch activities from the UK.
- UK Civil Aviation Authority issues launch and range licences to Virgin Orbit to undertake launch activities from the UK
- public safety, the environment and international obligations were among the statutory tests Virgin Orbit had to satisfy to secure licences
- licences issued in 15 months, putting the UK framework on a competitive footing with international space regulators and follows first spaceport licence issued to Spaceport Cornwall
The UK Civil Aviation Authority has issued the final remaining licences to Virgin Orbit ahead of a planned UK launch after requirements were met within 15 months.
The licences were issued following consent from Transport Secretary Mark Harper for Virgin Orbit’s launch and range licence, meaning he is in agreement with the licensing decisions made by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Virgin Orbit met the licensing requirements having demonstrated to the UK Civil Aviation Authority it has taken all reasonable steps to ensure safety risks arising from launch activities are as low as reasonably practicable. Virgin Orbit also met other appropriate security and environmental aspects required for launch.
Virgin Orbit also received its range control licence from the space regulator, which enables the company to issue warning notices to keep people out of hazardous areas and monitor the progress of the rocket.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority granted the licences within 15 months, well within the expected timescales for these types of licences, putting the UK’s regulatory framework on a competitive footing with other international space regulators.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper, said: “Today we are one step closer to opening the UK’s galactic gateway, with Virgin Orbit receiving a historic first licence to allow the UK’s first ever spaceflight launch. The planned launch reinforces our position as a leading space nation as we look to the future of spaceflight, which can spur growth and innovation across the sector, as well as creating thousands of jobs and apprenticeships.”
Dan Hart, Chief Executive of Virgin Orbit, said: “Receiving Virgin Orbit’s range and launch licences takes us one step closer to the first satellite launch take-off from UK soil. This is a major milestone for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and represents the successful completion of an enormous effort, which has included the construction of new regulations, new processes and new teams. With our partners at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Spaceport Cornwall, UK Space Agency and our payload customers, together we are progressing towards the first launch from Cornwall – keeping a strong focus on a safe and successful mission for all.”
Tim Johnson, Director for Space Regulation at the UK Civil Aviation Authority said: “This is another major milestone in enabling the very first orbital space launch from UK shores and these licences will assist Virgin Orbit with their final preparations for launch.
Effective licensing forms an integral part of UK space activity, and with public safety at the heart of our decision making, we’ve worked with Virgin Orbit to assess their applications and issue licences within our expected timelines.
Melissa Thorpe, Head of Spaceport Cornwall, said: “We are thrilled for the Virgin Orbit licenses to be in place for this historic launch. It has been an incredible effort by all partners to reach this milestone, and my team cannot wait to share in the excitement of the upcoming launch with everyone that has made it happen. Together we can now get these Earth-benefitting technologies into low Earth orbit and open up space for good from Cornwall.”
Ian Annett, Deputy Chief Executive at the UK Space Agency, said: “With Virgin Orbit’s licences secured, we have achieved another key delivery milestone ahead of the first satellite launch from UK soil. I would like to thank our partners across government and industry who continue to work hard to make our shared ambitions a reality. Establishing orbital launch capabilities in the UK is already bringing investment and jobs into Cornwall and other communities across the UK, and inspiring a new generation to join our growing space sector.”
Establishing orbital launch capabilities in the UK is bringing investment and jobs into Cornwall and other regions across the UK. The growing space industry will boost innovation and is estimated to be worth £16.5 bn and support 47,000 jobs, with 2,500 apprentices opening the sector up to even more people.
Licences come after the regulator issued a spaceport licence to Spaceport Cornwall. These licences are one of many factors that need to be in place for launch, including airspace access arrangements, technical and operational readiness by the operator and suitable weather conditions.
They also add to the more than 150 satellite licences already approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority since becoming the regulator in July 2021.
Virgin Orbit’s ‘Start Me Up’ mission will launch from Spaceport Cornwall, operating out of Cornwall Newquay Airport. It will see a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet be able to carry a rocket to be flown and released in a designated launch location over the Atlantic Ocean.
Licensing forms a key part of enabling growth in the UK space sector, with the regulator progressing applications from a range of other spaceports and operators, and recently consulted on the environmental effects of a proposed SaxaVord launch in Scotland. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
21 Dec 22. The European light launcher rocket Vega-C was lost shortly after lift-off from French Guiana on Tuesday with two Airbus satellites on board, the company behind the launch said.
The rocket had been trying to bring into orbit two Earth observation satellites built by Airbus, intended to join an existing network that captures high-quality images of any point on the globe several times a day.
“The mission is lost,” Stephane Israel, head of commercial launch service provider Arianespace, said from the Kourou Space Center in French Guiana.
Ten minutes after liftoff, at 10:47 pm (0147 GMT), the launcher’s trajectory deviated from its programmed route and communications were lost, it said.
An “anomaly occurred” in the second stage of the launcher, “ending the Vega-C mission, the company said in a statement.
“Data analysis is under way to determine the reasons for this failure,” it added.
Arianespace found there was no debris fallout after liftoff.
Tuesday’s event was the first commercial flight of the rocket after its successful inaugural launch on July 13.
Originally scheduled for November 24, the flight was postponed for a month due to a faulty launch element.
Tuesday’s launch was the fifth and final launch of the year for Europe’s spaceport in Kourou. A press briefing is scheduled for noon on Wednesday in Kourou. (Source: News Now/https://www.bssnews.net/news)
21 Dec 22. Russia’s space agency to issue bonds for satellite programme.
Russia’s space agency will borrow up to 50 bn roubles ($710 m) in 2023 to fund a mass satellite-building programme to catch up with the United States and China, the organisation said on Tuesday.
Roscosmos said it would place publicly traded bonds on Russia’s financial markets throughout next year to boost its capacity to produce and launch satellites both for the Russian government and private companies.
The space agency has this year launched a number of satellites into orbit, including for Russia’s GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system – seen as a potential rival for to U.S. global position system (GPS) – and Iran’s Khayyam imaging satellite – a launch that raised fears in the West it could boost Russia’s military capabilities in Ukraine.
Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov said in an interview with the Vedomosti business paper on Wednesday that the organisation planned to fund the building of two factories to produce satellites.
Russia currently produces around 15 satellites a year, Borisov said, far behind the United States and China.
“Elon Musk produces six spacecraft a day and plans to create as many as 42,000 satellites by 2022. China’s production capacity is over 500 satellites a year,” Vedomosti quoted Borisov as saying.
Borisov wants Russia to produce 200 to 250 satellites a year by the end of 2025.
Roscosmos is currently scrambling to find a solution to a coolant leak on its Soyuz spacecraft docked at the International Space Station that saw a planned spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts cancelled. ($1 = 70.23 roubles) (Source: Reuters)
19 Dec 22. SES launches advanced broadband satellites as military demand grows. Satellite communications firm SES on Friday launched two Boeing-built broadband satellites meant to deliver advanced communications to government and commercial customers. The spacecraft are the first two of an 11-satellite constellation called O3b mPOWER, which is managed by Luxembourg-based SES. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried the payloads from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
O3b mPOWER builds on the capabilities of the company’s baseline O3b system, featuring a flexible, fully digital payload and offering more capacity to meet growing customer demand for secure communications services in hard-to-reach locations. That feature is particularly important for military users, according to SES CEO Steve Collar.
“What they’re looking for is multi-orbit, secure, dedicated, sovereign-type services,” he told reporters during a Dec. 16 pre-launch briefing. “When we were designing the capability, we were very, very mindful of how we would enhance the use for governments around the world.”
The need for satellite communications to support military operations has grown in recent years and has been particularly apparent in the war in Ukraine, where forces are reliant on services provided by SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, a network of more than 3,200 communication satellites that provide broadband internet. In October, SpaceX CEO Elong Musk said the company would no longer fund Ukraine’s use of Starlink. He later reversed course and is in discussion with the U.S. Department of Defense about future funding for the effort.
O3b provides services similar to those of Starlink, but with a notable difference: Rather than operate from low Earth orbit at 1,200 miles above the atmosphere — as the SpaceX constellation does — the spacecraft will reside at a higher altitude in medium Earth orbit, between about 1,200 and 22,000 miles above sea level.
That higher vantage point means the O3b, and now O3b mPOWER can operate with fewer satellites than a low Earth orbit network.
The U.S. Department of Defense signed a five-year, $516-m agreement with SES in 2018 for O3b satellite communication services. That contract expires next year. Collar declined to comment on plans to renew the agreement or sign a new deal that would include the expanded mPOWER capabilities. SES expects O3b mPOWER to be operational in the third quarter of 2023, after the company’s second launch, which will include four more satellites. (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
11 Dec 22. ispace’s HAKUTOR-R mission 1 successfully launched by SpaceX.
SpaceX was targeting Thursday, December 1st., for a Falcon 9 launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1, however, after further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, SpaceX is standing down from Falcon 9’s launch of ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. A new target launch date will be shared once confirmed. The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched SES-22 and three Starlink missions.
When the launch takes place, following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Source: Satnews)
16 Dec 22. SWOT sailing to slot courtesy of SpaceX + Falcon 9. SWOT is an internationally developed mission to conduct the first global survey of Earth’s surface water. This satellite aims to provide a new understanding of the ocean’s role in climate change and improve the data humanity relies upon for fresh water management.
This was the sixth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, and two Starlink missions.
To learn more about NASA’s science missions, visit science.nasa.gov.
NASA, the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales, and SpaceX now are targeting 3:46 a.m. PST on Friday, December 16th, for launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission.
After SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket went vertical on the pad at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, teams identified moisture in two Merlin engines on the rocket’s first stage booster. Teams completed inspections of the rocket’s engines today, but will use the additional time to complete data reviews and analysis before a launch attempt.
The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The SWOT satellite is healthy and the weather forecast remains favorable for liftoff on Friday morning.
SWOT is an internationally developed mission to conduct the first global survey of Earth’s surface water and aims to provide a new understanding of the ocean’s role in climate change and improve the data humanity relies upon for fresh water management. To learn more about NASA’s science missions, access this direct link…
Live launch coverage will be provided by NASA. Tune in to NASA.gov/live to watch the live broadcast, starting at 3:00 a.m. PT on Friday, December 16th.
NASA’s upcoming SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission will survey nearly all water on Earth’s surface for the first time, measuring the height of the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes, helping scientists track how fresh and saltwater bodies change over time.
This launch event is scheduled to occur on Thursday, December 15th, from Vandenberg SFB via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellite will help scientists investigate how the oceans absorb atmospheric heat and carbon, moderating global temperatures and climate change.
Using SWOT’s state-of the-art technology, scientists will observe ocean features with 10 times the resolution of current technologies, along with providing high-definition views of freshwater bodies.
SWOT can observe the entire length of nearly all rivers wider than 330 feet (100 meters), as well as collect data on more than a m lakes larger than 15 acres (62,500 square meters).
A global inventory of water resources will help scientists better understand where the water is, where it’s coming from and where it’s going. The observations will benefit people on Earth by helping improve flood forecasts, improving the models used to monitor droughts and improving predictions for sea level rise.
The observations also will benefit industries, like shipping, by providing measurements of water levels along rivers, as well as information about tides, currents, and storm surges in the ocean.
The mission is a collaborative effort by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. (Source: Satnews)
13 Dec 22. EUMETSAT’s MTG-11 + two Intelsat satellites are successfully sent to orbit via an Arianespace Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
On Tuesday, December 13th, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. local time, an Ariane 5 launcher, operated by Arianespace, successfully lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana (South America), carrying the MTG-I1 meteorological satellite and the Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 telecommunication satellites.
The Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system will help meteorologists meet one of their main challenges – the rapid detection and forecasting of severe weather events — so that timely warnings can be given to citizens, civil authorities and first responders.
The data from MTG-I1 (the “I” stands for “Imager”) will have a wide range of uses, from enabling aircraft to avoid storms and earlier alerts of flooding, to more precise monitoring of fires and fog. It will help to protect lives, property and infrastructure and bring economic benefits to Europe and Africa.
The MTG satellites are developed and procured in cooperation with the European Space Agency by an industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space and OHB. The satellites are developed according to the requirements defined by EUMETSAT after consultation with the users of its meteorological data.
Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 are the next satellites in Intelsat’s comprehensive Galaxy fleet refresh plan, a new generation of spacecraft that will provide Intelsat media customers in North America with high-performance media distribution capabilities and unmatched penetration of cable headends.
These two satellites will bring C-band contribution capacity to support high-profile events, such as collegiate and professional football, auto racing, baseball, golf, boxing and professional wrestling. The satellites also offer in-orbit protection for select customers in the broadcast arc serving North America.
By delivering 10.972 tons to geostationary orbit, Ariane 5 achieved its second highest performance after the launch of Syracuse A4 and SES-17 in October 2021. The Ariane 5 was adapted for this mission so that it could accommodate three satellites under its fairing. This triple configuration is made possible by a raising cylinder and a long fairing, increasing the space allocated to the satellites by 20m3. This is the third time in its history that Ariane 5 has done a triple launch.
After this mission, just two Ariane 5 launches are left, including the JUICE mission, before Ariane 6 takes up the baton, supporting Europe’s institutional missions and meeting the growing needs of the commercial market.
The Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher is an ESA program carried out in cooperation between public institutions and industry across 12 European partner states. The launches are operated by Arianespace.
“With the successful launch of VA259, Arianespace is proud to serve the interests of EUMETSAT and Intelsat, two operators with whom we have been working since 1981 and 1983, respectively”, said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “This mission serves both Europe and North America and is a perfect illustration of the versatility of our heavy-lift launcher, which is capable of meeting the needs of both institutional and commercial operators. Its passengers also reflect our own values, which are to make Space work for a better life on Earth, by improving our meteorological knowledge and connectivity.”
“For its last flight of the year, Ariane 5 once again demonstrated its power and competitiveness, achieving a new performance of almost 11 tons to geostationary orbit. It also proved its responsiveness to the needs of Arianespace’s customers, by launching three satellites at once. Only two more Ariane 5 remain to be launched. The teams at ArianeGroup and Arianespace, with the support of ESA and the French space agency CNES, are preparing together for Ariane 6’s entry into service in autumn 2023”, said André-Hubert Roussel, CEO of ArianeGroup.
ArianeGroup is the lead contractor for the development and production of Ariane 5, as well as being responsible for launcher preparation operations up to lift-off. As prime contractor for Ariane 5 and Ariane 6, in charge of development and production, ArianeGroup is at the head of a vast industrial network of more than 600 companies, including 350 small and medium-size enterprises (SME). ArianeGroup delivers a flightworthy launcher on the launch pad to its subsidiary Arianespace, which sells and operates Ariane 5 from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana. During launch campaigns, Arianespace works closely with the French space agency (CNES), which is the design authority for Ariane 5 and is responsible for the satellite preparation facilities and the launch base.
On Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. local time (8:30 p.m. UTC), Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport, French Guiana, with MTG-I1 meteorological satellite and Galaxy 35 and Galaxy 36 telecommunications satellites. The mission duration will be 34 minutes and 37 seconds. (Source: Satnews)
13 Dec 22. SES Space & Defense launches a new Single-Pane-of-Glass ICT Portal capability. SES Space & Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, announced their new Common Operational Picture (COP) capability, the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Portal.
The ICT Portal is a modular, web-based, NetOps capability that provides end-to-end situational awareness in a consumable, single-pane-of-glass, user interface.
The ICT Portal uses the same holistic and vendor agnostic approach as the SES Space & Defense ICT Ecosystem — providing customers with a comprehensive and flexible monitoring and reporting solution. Accessible anywhere in the world, the technology agnostic capability is customizable, based on mission and customer operational requirements.
The consolidated network visibility provides the transparency necessary to rapidly identify and diagnose issues across complex networks, including terrestrial and space assets, so networks and applications can be fully optimized to increase performance.
In addition, the ICT Portal allows all SATCOM assets to be viewed as one comprehensive satellite and network architecture, providing customers with access to innovative solutions and making a more resilient satellite architecture a reality.
The ICT Portal is secure by design and incorporates the latest security and data processing technologies, ensuring mission assurance for government and military users.
“Today’s military and government users are more network-enabled than ever before, and our ICT Portal supports this through increased visibility and control over their network,” said SES Space & Defense President and CEO, David Fields. “The ICT Portal will be showcased at the SIA DoD COMSATCOM Workshop, enabling our most tactical customers to see how performance, network transparency and assurance, makes it a critical capability for successful missions.” (Source: Satnews)
11 Dec 22. Satellite demand to quadruple over the next decade.
The latest update of Satellites to be built and launched released this week by Euroconsult forecasts a fourfold growth in the number of satellites driven by commercial constellations.
The market intelligence report, now in its 25th edition, anticipates more than 2,500 satellites to be launched on average every year — or seven satellites per day, totaling three tons of mass — more than 2022-2031.
Civil government and defense customers will remain legacy customers, holding the largest market value of $29 bn every year with three-quarters of the demand in manufacturing and launch.
The six leading space faring governments or organizations alone (U.S, China, Russia, Japan, India and European governments, EU and ESA) will account for two-thirds of the demand in value.
In terms of satellite numbers, NGSO constellations remain the largest market driver, as 83% of all satellites to be launched over 2022-2031 are expected to be part of constellations, though only accounting for 30% of the manufacturing and launch value. Readers are, therefore, advised to go beyond raw numbers and look at market value to get an accurate picture of the market.
Commercial demand will experience a novel feat as emerging NGSO constellation broadband operators will account for half of the commercial demand in manufacturing and launch value at $5.3 bn yearly average, whilst GEO comsat will average $3.2 bn. Euroconsult forecast a yearly average of 13 orders by 2031, reflecting eroding broadcasting business and a shift towards broadband business ramping up and not yet offsetting the previous one.
Satellite markets are no stranger to macro-economic uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic, disrupted supply chains, high inflation and central bank monetary policy changes.
The satellite industry is currently facing significant changes as satellite demand are becoming increasingly concentrated towards a handful of NGSO broadband players, while the market value continues to remain evenly distributed across players and orbits. Thought largely unprofitable to date, these constellations put high stress on current supply capabilities and challenge vendors’ addressability through their vertical integration.
The 9,100 tons to be launched by 2031 will be lifted by a diversity of access to space suppliers ranging from micro to super heavy launchers. Despite upcoming abundant launch supply forecasts toward the end of the decade, satellite operators are currently experiencing a shortage of launch options due to multiple factors that put their deployment schedule at risk in the short term.
The “Satellites to be Built & Launched” report includes a reviewed and refined pricing model for manufacturing and launch prices, most notably with regards to inflation-driven cost and price increases already witnessed in the manufacturing and launch industries, as well as prices anticipated in coming years. The Euroconsult report incorporates new content to help give decision makers key knowledge in this area, as well as a reviewed and up-to-date forecast accounting for the economic situation and the ongoing impacts of war in Ukraine and COVID-19.
Maxime Puteaux, Principal advisor at Euroconsult and editor of the report stated, “…increasing concentrated demands for satellites by a small number of new customers with high pressure on their cost structure will also put vendors’ margins under pressure.” He added that “we have been monitoring satellite ‘mega factories’ and noticed they are emerging ten times faster than the projected demand. As we expect the 20 legacy vendors to retain at least 40% of the future demand in value, manufacturing oversupply is real and sustainability is at risk.”
The updated report comes with an option to access premium features line-by-line data on every satellite to be built and launched within the next 10 years, raising the bar once again for the granular and easy to use data access Euroconsult is known for. The “Satellites to be Built & Launched” 2023 report is now available on Euroconsult’s digital platform in Standard and Premium versions, offering Euroconsult’s pioneering and unfettered data access and readability. A free extract can be downloaded at this direct link: https://mailchi.mp/euroconsult-ec/sat_built (Source: Satnews)
17 Dec 22. DOD Office Moving Ahead in Mission to Identify ‘Anomalous Phenomena. In July, the DOD set up the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office to, among other things, identify ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’ which might pose a threat to national security and the operations of both the military and other federal agencies.
“Unidentified anomalous phenomena,” is anything in space, in the air, on land, in the sea or under the sea that can’t be identified, and which might pose a threat to U.S. military installations or operations.
“We have an important and yet challenging mission to lead an interagency effort to document, collect, analyze and when possible, resolve reports of any unidentified anomalous phenomena,” said Sean M. Kirkpatrick, the director of AARO.
Since the AARO office stood up this summer, Kirkpatrick said his team there has made significant headway in setting up its mission.
“We’ve transferred the data and responsibilities from the previous Navy-led UAP task force, and disestablished it,” he said. “During that transition, we’ve taken the opportunity to expand and standardize and integrate UAP reporting and reevaluate the data we’ve collected.”
The AARO has an array of UAP reports that are historical in nature to evaluate, and it is also getting new reports in as well. Kirkpatrick said the AARO will need to apply “a rigorous methodology” to the work of analyzing both old and new reports and that his team has developed an analytic framework to do just that.
working with the military departments and the Joint Staff to normalize, integrate and expand UAP reporting beyond the aviators — to all service members — including mariners, submariners and our space Guardians.”
In the past, the type of work AARO is charged with performing now involved only reports of anomalous phenomena that were seen in the air. But that has changed. Now, AARO expects to evaluate anomalous phenomena across all domains. And that means that individuals who operate in those other domains are also free now to file UAP reports. That’s something Kirkpatrick said the AARO has been working with the services on.
” working with the military departments and the Joint Staff to normalize, integrate and expand UAP reporting beyond the aviators — to all service members — including mariners, submariners and our space Guardians,” Kirkpatrick said.
Also, an effort of AARO, Kirkpatrick said, is working with both the military services and the intelligence community to ensure that the activities of the U.S. government itself don’t end up as reports of a UAP.
“We are setting up very clear mechanisms with our ‘blue’ programs, both our DOD and IC programs, to deconflict any observations that come in with ‘blue’ activity to ensure that we weed those out and we can identify those fairly early on,” Kirkpatrick said.
AARO is a new office within the DOD, and Kirkpatrick said that from the start, the office is working hard to establish a standard of operations that is both thorough and rigorous.
“We apply the highest analytic and scientific standards,” he said. “We execute our mission objectively and without sensationalism and we do not rush to conclusions.”
The work of the AARO is not done in a vacuum. Instead, it’s obligated to keep Congress abreast of what it is doing with regular reports, said Ronald Moultrie, under secretary of defense for intelligence and security.
“Since establishment, AARO has been providing regular updates to Congress on its efforts to document, analyze and resolve reports of anomalous phenomena,” Moultrie said. “The department has already submitted its first congressionally-mandated quarterly reports on UAP in August and November, and we will continue to provide quarterly updates.”
Congress is not alone in wanting to know more about unidentified anomalous phenomena. The American pu
blic does as well, said Moultrie. And AARO and the department are committed to transparency there.
“The department takes public interest in UAPs seriously,” Moultrie said. “As I said to congressional leaders in May, we are fully committed to the principles of openness and accountability to the American people. We are committed to sharing as much detail with the public as we can.” (Source: US DoD)
16 Dec 22. DOD Official: Norms Must be Established in Space. Last week, the United Nations approved a resolution calling on nations not to conduct destructive, direct-ascent antisatellite missile tests. The United States agreed to the resolution, while China and Russia were among just nine countries that voted against it.
Refraining from conducting those kinds of tests in space, in part, prevents the creation of new and dangerous space debris.
John F. Plumb, the assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said the agreement not to conduct such tests is just one of many norms that will need to be established in space to make that domain safe for everybody who wants to operate there. “Voting against it … could be for all sorts of reasons,” Plumb said during a Wednesday discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “I’m not giving them an excuse, you don’t have to vote for it to comply with it. You don’t have to vote for it to have some version of it that you might enforce.”
Norms in space, he said, can be established without a vote.
As the U.S. and other nations move into space, there will need to be norms established just as there are norms in place for operations on land, in the air, at sea, and even under the sea, Plumb said.
“We have established, over long periods of time, norms at sea to avoid collision norms in the air to avoid collisions. Norms undersea. All sorts of places—ground, surface, air, subsurface— any operational domain,” Plumb said.
Those established behaviors, he said, do more than just avoid collisions. They also provide a way for everybody operating in a domain to know when another actor’s intentions are hostile.
” give you an understanding of if someone is accidentally or, frankly, intentionally violating those norms,” Plumb said. “It gives that trigger … to let you know something is amiss here; we need to be on guard and be careful of what’s happening.”
Norms on the sea have existed for generations, Plumb said. In the air, for a little over 100 years. But in space, they must be established, because it is a relatively new domain for many of the nations and businesses operating there now.
“There are all sorts of commercial companies operating all sorts of craft … the number is going up,” he said. “I think the more we can develop norms that make sense for protection of a safe, secure, stable space environment, the better it is for all spacefaring nations. It lowers the risk of miscalculation and potential escalation, accidental escalation.”
With so many entities operating in space — many in the U.S. and many that are partners or aspiring partners of the federal government, Plumb said an issue his office is tackling is the overclassification of information in the space domain.
Overclassification of information — where information is marked at a higher classification than it might need to be — makes it more difficult to share information with mission partners, including partner nations, other federal partners, and commercial entities.
“I think there’s clearly industry ramifications,” he said. “Especially companies that might have to build entire architectures of classified information handling that can’t talk to other parts of their company. We have to solve these problems so we can have our industrial base be able to move faster.”
Addressing the issue of overclassification is one of the priorities of the department, Plumb said.
“I ran a … summit for internal DOD space stakeholders and stakeholders focused on what are those things that are limiting our ability to do deeper operational cooperation with our spacefaring allies,” Plumb said. “And it turned out that most of the problems there are related to overclassification because … some things are classified in a way that I cannot share them with allies, even if they’re highly capable.”
Plumb said his office is working with the intelligence community on reducing some of the classification issues so information can be better shared with operational partners.
“That is a huge, huge problem for us where we’re really starting to dig into,” he said. “And when I talk about that DOD/IC cooperation, this is one of those things that is … it’s the right time, it’s the right place, it’s the right window of opportunity to fix it.” (Source: US DoD)
16 Dec 22. First Two O3b mPOWER Satellites Sending, Receiving Signals After Successful Dual-Stack Launch.
– Milestone sets stage for service provider SES to deliver global connectivity services with unrivaled flexibility and guaranteed reliability
The first two Boeing [NYSE:BA]-built O3b mPOWER satellites are sending and receiving signals as they continue their journey into Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) following their successful dual-configuration launch. Developed for service provider SES, the satellites lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Dec. 16 at 5:48 PM ET.
O3b mPOWER is SES’s second-generation MEO system designed to transform industries with terabit-level scale, roundtrip latency of less than 150 milliseconds, and unmatched service availability.
“Today’s launch marks the next milestone of our MEO journey. With O3b mPOWER, we are bringing game-changing technology to deliver a unique combination of high-throughput, guaranteed reliability and service flexibility that is the first in the industry,” said Steve Collar, chief executive officer, SES. “O3b mPOWER is the satellite system of choice for applications where performance matters most.”
The O3b mPOWER ecosystem comprises an initial 11 satellites each equipped with more than 5,000 digitally formed beams. Coupled with an extensive ground infrastructure, the software-driven system enables SES to address current and future connectivity needs for governments, mobile network operators, energy companies, cruise lines and enterprises across the globe.
Boeing will oversee the satellites’ orbit raising and in-orbit testing before handover to SES in approximately 5 months.
“From concept to reality, the partnership with SES while developing the first-of-its-kind technology has been remarkable,” said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing Space and Launch. “The next few months will be another critical collaboration period as we prepare the next nine satellites for launch and enable these first satellites to fulfill their mission to connect people around the world.”
The O3b mPOWER satellite constellation will kick off commercial service in the third quarter of 2023.
————————————————————————-
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.
————————————————————————