25 Apr 24. India’s GalaxEye developing satellite with multiple sensors for Earth observation. Bangalore-based GalaxEye Space is developing a satellite that can carry multiple sensors for Earth observation to support the requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
Speaking to Janes at the Indian DefSpace Symposium 2024 held in Delhi from 18 to 20 April, Deb Jyoti Pal, senior vice-president of business development at GalaxEye said the company is planning to launch the satellite into space in early 2025 for evaluation.
This low Earth observation (LEO) satellite will host an electro-optic (EO) sensor, and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) with both sensors capturing data simultaneously to provide a more holistic view of strategic areas of interest, Pal added.
“The SAR sensor can capture data in day and night, and in any weather condition including in foggy or cloudy environment. EO sensors are not able to do this. On the other hand, SAR data can be difficult to interpret. This is where EO data can benefit a user,” Pal said. (Source: Janes)
25 Apr 24. UND Aerospace and NAL Research partner to advance uncrewed aerial systems’ reliability, visibility and command and control with enhanced satellite connectivity.
University of North Dakota (UND) Aerospace and NAL Research are announcing today a collaborative project where NAL will provide the foundation with a suite of satellite and communication (SATCOM) products and services for its Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS) Program. The project will integrate and test command and control (C2) solutions for UAS platforms conducting beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations in rural and remote areas.
Together, UND Aerospace and NAL Research will validate new C2 technologies for UAS to safely operate both within the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System (NAS), and in conflict zones where traditional GPS signals may be jammed or spoofed. The project will demonstrate how a variety of SATCOM solutions – including NAL’s Assured Position Navigation and Timing (A-PNT) offering for GPS-denied environments – can bridge the gap for UAS operations when ultra-high frequency (UHF) and very high frequency (VHF) radio communications are not possible or available.
“The capabilities of UND Aerospace to conduct rapid prototyping, utilizing UND Aerospace’s Gorman UAS Airfield, along with their close alliance with the FAA and the North Dakota UAS ecosystem make this a great collaboration,” said Eric Waters, NAL Research Director of Aviation and UAS. “We are looking ahead to where this type of UAS operation, having a remote pilot in command and control, will be as safe and responsive as any crewed flight within the NAS”.
“NAL Research has a reputation for providing the most reliable and durable Iridium communication devices available, while UND Aerospace is an established pioneer in UAS Operations and Autonomous platforms,” said Paul Snyder, Director of UAS Operations and Lead for UND RIAS for Autonomous Platforms. “This project is a testament to our unwavering commitment to spearhead advancements and foster progress within the UAS Industry.”
NAL’s QuickSilver and SkyLink modems are being evaluated for use on the low Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium Certus® 100 mid-band satellite network, providing a turn-key compact SATCOM solution ideal for UAS C2 and BVLOS connectivity anywhere in the world.
Once validated, NAL’s compact QuickSilver and SkyLink modems will be available for uncrewed systems (UAV/ UAS / USV / UUV), unattended sensors, remote C2, diagnostic monitoring, telemetry, and other data transport applications.
The project will begin this month, with the integration of NAL Research’s solutions into UND’s UAS. The testing will focus on Group 1-3 UAS platforms, a classification typically associated with non-military UAS.
About UND Aerospace
UND Aerospace is a world-renowned center for aerospace learning, nationally acclaimed for our achievements in collegiate aviation education, atmospheric research, space studies, and earth system science and policy research. With more than 500 faculty and staff members, 2,100+ students from around the world, and myriad programs and projects, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is setting the pace for the future of flight.
UND Aerospace’s UAS Operations curriculum provides the breadth and depth of education needed to ensure graduates are prepared to work as effective operational team members of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), while fully understanding the operational and safety environments of the National Airspace System.
About NAL Research
NAL Research® leads the industry in delivering innovative, military‐grade, global SATCOM & Assured‐PNT solutions that are trusted by government and enterprise customers around the world. NAL Research has pioneered multiple miniature Iridium SATCOM capabilities for IoT and streaming solutions, with 100’s‐of‐thousands of devices in operation with our customers worldwide. NAL Research’s global communication products, coupled with its layered GPS Independent Navigation technology, make it the ideal partner for the government and industry’s toughest challenges. For more information, visit www.nalresearch.com
24 Apr 24. Filtronic the leader in high-performance mmWave technologies, has today signed a Strategic Partnership and commercial agreement with SpaceX, a market leader in the low Earth Orbit market.
The Strategic Partnership includes the ongoing supply of Filtronic’s cutting-edge E-band Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPA), alongside collaborative efforts in developing and delivering comparable products across multiple frequency bands core to SpaceX’s Starlink platform.
The agreement was signed with an initial order of $19.7m (£15.8m) to supply E-band SSPA modules, scheduled for delivery in FY2025, with further order flow expected to continue thereafter to support the ongoing deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which provides high-speed, low-latency internet to users all around the world.
As part of the partnership, SpaceX has committed to ongoing orders for the next five years to ensure Filtronic remains a key part of its supply chain.
Richard Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, of Filtronic, commented: “We are delighted to enter into this important Strategic Agreement with SpaceX, a market leader in LEO satellite constellations. This ongoing SpaceX partnership underlines our core value proposition of high-performance mmWave and operational excellence. It also provides Filtronic with the opportunity to scale manufacturing, build capability and execute our technology roadmap. The team at Filtronic are excited to develop our existing relationship with SpaceX and secure the ongoing supply of E-band SSPAs. We also look forward to collaborating with the SpaceX engineering team to develop new products for use in the Starlink system.”
Mike Nicolls, SpaceX’s Vice President of Starlink Engineering commented: “Filtronic has been an outstanding supplier for Starlink. They have matched our rate ramp and increasing demand for high-quality parts. Their strong engineering teams have taken ownership of their production process to meet our needs, taking their designs from wafer to functional unit, and are delivering quality parts in E-band which will enable the Starlink network to continue to grow and connect ms of more people around the world with high-speed, low-latency broadband internet.”
24 Apr 24. There should be no nuclear weapons stationed in space: UK statement at the UN Security Council.
Explanation of Vote by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on non-proliferation.
Thank you President, first allow me to extend our gratitude to Japan and to the US for their work on this important resolution.
The UK voted against the proposed amendment because this resolution is rightly focused on upholding the Outer Space Treaty – something the whole international community should agree on – and not on what further measures may be needed to prevent an arms race in outer space.
And anyway, the amendment offered only one perspective on that debate, a debate that is conducted elsewhere, not in this Council.
The UK believes that the best way to prevent an arms race in outer space is to elaborate norms, rules, and principles of responsible space behaviors, which could be composed of an appropriate mix of legally binding and non-legally binding measures.
The UK voted in favour of the resolution, and co-sponsored it, because we believe that the Security Council should send a clear message on the importance of upholding the Outer Space Treaty for international peace and security.
The UK is deeply concerned about the erosion of the global international security architecture.
The Outer Space Treaty is part of that architecture, in particular its Article IV, which prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons in Earth’s orbit. It is vital that States’ space activities remain in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty and do not nudge competition into conflict, including nuclear conflict, or drive arms races, or further undermine global security norms.
It remains the primary responsibility of the Nuclear Weapons States to avoid actions that increase the risk of nuclear conflict.
In that regard, this resolution rightly recalls the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States issued on 3 January 2022 on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races. It remains the UK’s view that nuclear weapons, for as long as they exist, should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war and coercion.
To put it simply, there should be no nuclear weapons stationed in space, and that is something every Council Member should agree on.
It is therefore profoundly concerning that Russia chose to veto such a resolution, which would have upheld existing international law and sought to prevent an arms race in outer space. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
24 Apr 24. Space Force Official Outlines Roadmap for Commercial Partnerships. The Space Force aims to build upon its foundation of strong partnerships with the commercial sector to maintain the United States’ competitive advantage in the frontier warfare domain, a senior service official said yesterday.
Lt. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton, the Space Force’s deputy chief of space operations, strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said the service’s recently released Commercial Space Strategy challenges leaders to think about new pathways for commercial partnerships and capitalize on rapidly emerging technology.
“How do we make ourselves a little uncomfortable and go into areas where we haven’t explored, or we haven’t partnered with commercial as much?” Bratton said in describing the genesis of the strategy during a discussion hosted by the Atlantic Council, a nonpartisan public policy organization in Washington. “And then, how do we build on just this long history where we’ve worked with commercial partners in more traditional areas like satellite communications.”
The strategy outlines four lines of effort to operationalize the integration of commercial space capabilities: collaborative transparency, operational and technical integration, risk management and forward-leaning engagement to secure the future.
It describes an end-state where commercial space solutions are integrated across Space Force units. As part of the strategy, the Space Force will also seek to integrate other services’ requirements into its commercial utilization plans.
Bratton said the strategy is designed to ensure the Space Force taps into innovation in ways that extend beyond previous partnerships with the commercial sector.
“Historically, we have always … received commercial services, paid for commercial services, in ways that we were sort of very comfortable,” he said.
He also said those commercial partnerships have traditionally been in areas of satellite communications and domain awareness.
But, he said, commercial technologies have made capabilities available that are useful for a broader array of mission areas, especially over the last decade.
Capitalizing on those opportunities requires thinking beyond traditional acquisition stovepipes to take advantage of “rapidly moving commercial enterprise.”
The Space Force’s strategy follows the release earlier this month of the Defense Department’s Commercial Space Integration Strategy, which outlines the department’s approach to effectively harnessing that innovation.
The departmentwide strategy highlights four priorities to achieve integration with commercial partners.
First, it calls for outlining DOD’s requirements in contracts and other agreements to ensure commercial solutions are available when needed.
Second, the strategy involves the integration of commercial solutions into defense architecture during peacetime — including planning, training and day-to-day operations — to ensure warfighters can seamlessly employ those solutions during crisis or conflict.
Third, the strategy requires protecting and defending against threats to U.S. national security space assets, including those in space and on the ground and, where appropriate, commercial space solutions.
Finally, the strategy emphasizes that DOD will use its full range of financial, contractual and policy tools to support the development of new, commercial space solutions that have the potential to support the joint force.
John F. Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said the departmentwide strategy reflects the imperative to seize on the commercial sector’s ability to rapidly develop and field technology.
“The speed and the innovation in the commercial sector, especially at this time in our history, is just incredible,” Plumb said earlier this month in describing the strategy. “And so, the question is: ‘Shouldn’t we be trying to harness that?’ And the answer is, of course, ‘Yes.'”(Source: U.S. DoD)
24 Apr 24. Russia, US clash at UN over nuclear weapons in space. Russia on Wednesday vetoed a U.S.-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution that called on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space, a move that prompted the United States to question if Moscow was hiding something.
The vote came after Washington accused Moscow of developing a anti-satellite nuclear weapon to put in space, an allegation that Russia has denied. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow was against putting nuclear weapons in space.
“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why if you are following the rules would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding?” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote. “It’s baffling and it’s a shame.”
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Washington of trying to tarnish Moscow and said Russia would shortly begin negotiations with council members on its own draft resolution aimed at keeping space peaceful.
“We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just (weapons of mass destruction). But you don’t want that … Let me ask you that very same question: Why?” Nebenzia asked Thomas-Greenfield in the council.
The draft resolution was put to a vote by the U.S. and Japan after nearly six weeks of negotiations. It received 13 votes in favor, while China abstained and Russia cast a veto.
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The U.N. text would have affirmed an obligation to comply with the Outer Space Treaty and called on states “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.”
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars signatories – including Russia and the United States – from placing “in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.
TALKS
Before the council voted on the U.S. draft text, Russia and China had proposed it be amended to include a call on all states “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space and the threat or use of force in outer space, from space against Earth and from Earth against objects in outer space.”
The council voted on the proposed amendment, but it failed to pass. It received seven votes in favor, seven against and one abstention.
U.S. intelligence officials, according to three people familiar with their findings, believe the Russian capability to be a space-based nuclear bomb whose electromagnetic radiation if detonated would disable vast networks of satellites.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said Russia has not yet deployed such a weapon.
Governments have increasingly viewed satellites in Earth’s orbit as crucial assets that enable an array of military capabilities on Earth, with space-based communications and satellite-connected drones in the war in Ukraine serving as recent examples of space’s outsized role in modern warfare.
Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said earlier this month that Moscow and Washington were in contact over the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in space, the TASS news agency quoted him as saying.
“We are in contact in that they rejected further discussions of the topic,” said a senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know if he’s referencing something else, but that has been the level of contact that we’ve had on this topic.”
(Source: Reuters)
23 Apr 24. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today deployed two satellites to two different orbits approximately 500km apart on its 47th Electron mission.
The “Beginning Of The Swarm” (B.T.S.) mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand at 10:32 NZST on April 24th, 2024 with payloads for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and NASA. The primary payload, NEONSAT-1 by KAIST, was first deployed by Electron to a 520km circular Earth orbit before Electron deployed NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System to a higher circular orbit at 1,000km.
NEONSAT-1 will perform Earth-observation of the Korean Peninsula for KAIST, which will then pair the satellite’s data with artificial intelligence to monitor for natural disasters in the region. NEONSAT-1 is the first of 11 satellites for KAIST’s planned constellation to image the Korean Peninsula several times daily.
The second mission deployed today was NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, which is a technology demonstration of new materials that use sunlight to propel a spacecraft. Much like a sailboat is powered by wind pushing against a sail, solar sails employ the pressure of sunlight for propulsion to move around. This mission plans to test how well new composite booms unfurl the sail from the spacecraft – which is about the size of a toaster – to an area about the size of a small apartment. Data from this mission will be used for designing future larger-scale composite solar sail systems for space weather early warning satellites, asteroid and other small body reconnaissance missions, and missions to observe the polar regions of the sun.
The capability to deploy two satellites more than 500km apart on the same launch is enabled by Electron’s Kick Stage, a small stage with engine relight capability to enable last-mile delivery. After deploying NEONSAT-1, Electron’s Kick Stage completed multiple in-space burns of its Curie engine to raise its apogee and circularize its orbit before deploying the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft. The Kick Stage then completed a fourth and final engine light to perform a deorbit maneuver that returned the stage closer to Earth to speed up its eventual deorbit, helping to reduce long term orbital debris.
Today’s successful mission was Rocket Lab’s fifth launch of 2024, continuing Electron’s streak as the United States’ second-most frequently launched rocket annually. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
23 Apr 24. RTX moves away from competing as a prime for space contracts.
COO: “We’ve got some other strengths in some of the key components that go in the prime satellites and buses.”
RTX doesn’t plan on competing to build satellites as a prime contractor, but instead will focus on supplying components to other companies.
The company is “going to be shifting away from perhaps being a space prime to being more of a component supplier,” RTX President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Calio said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call today.
“I think when you look at our strengths in that portfolio, I think that pivot is the right one. We’ve got historical strength in some of the exquisite space areas. We’ve got some other strengths in some of the key components that go in the prime satellites and buses,” said Calio, who is set to replace Greg Hayes as CEO next month.
RTX’s erstwhile ambitions to lead satellite efforts drove its $350 m acquisition of smallsat maker Blue Canyon Technologies in 2020. But more recently, RTX officials have signaled that they don’t plan on competing as a prime provider of fully integrated satellites.
The company has been largely unsuccessful in competing to build satellites for the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, or PWSA. It was awarded a $250 m contract in 2023 to build seven missile-tracking satellites for the Space Development Agency, but withdrew after concluding that it could not make sufficient profit under its fixed-price contract with SDA.
“Raytheon, through executing that, realized that the scope that they had chosen and the price point wasn’t wasn’t going to close for that, and so we de-scoped the actual flight of those payloads, so those seven satellites are not going to fly,” SDA director Derek Tournear told reporters during Space Symposium earlier this month.
The RTX satellites were added “as a fifth plane” of the constellation after Congress increased SDA’s 2023 budget, Tournear said. The minimum viable product for Tracking Layer Tranche 1, made up of 28 satellites built by Northrop Grumman and L3Harris, will still be delivered, he said.
“There’s a lot of the components that are being developed on that Tranche 1 Tracking Raytheon contract that are flowing into some of the Tranche 2 vendors, and so we’re continuing that work, but the flight of those satellites is no longer going to happen,” Tournear said. (Source: Defense Systems)
23 Apr 24. ASTERRA launches first ever API for commercial L-band SAR analytics. Today, ASTERRA launched their new application programming interface (API), which unlocks the vast potential of SAR analytics to possible applications through partner collaboration. ASTERRA is the only commercial L-band SAR analytics technology to open an API to collaborate with Earth observation and GIS-based partners, creating a multiplier effect within the ultimate solution.
“With the launch of our API, ASTERRA insights are now open to work with Earth observation partners,” said Elly Perets, chief executive officer of ASTERRA. “ASTERRA understands the universal benefits of having a platform that is open and the value of cooperation with other companies for the benefit of users and the industry. ASTERRA’s API implementation creates an open garden environment that supports integration with countless applications, in a variety of markets.”
The ASTERRA API is the first of its kind because it offers insights and not raw data, it can be easily integrated with other Earth observation platforms, and it’s an L-band SAR based solution.
ASTERRA’s API will launch first on marketplaces. Since marketplaces serve as hubs connecting satellite operators, data providers, and end-users such as researchers, government agencies, businesses, and individuals, many new users will now have easy and open access to commercial L-band SAR analytics.
This API completes ASTERRA’s SaaS offering and capabilities. The ASTERRA API was developed in cooperation and through collaboration with Earth observation and GIS-based partners. Conversations are still ongoing as additional collaborations develop. The ASTERRA API will be featured at the United States Geospatial Intelligence (USGIF) GEOINT conference in Denver in May.
About ASTERRA
ASTERRA (formerly Utilis) provides geospatial data-driven platform solutions for water utilities, government agencies, and the greater infrastructure industry in the areas of roads, rails, dams, levees, and mines. ASTERRA services use Polarimetric Synthetic Apertureical focus Radar (PolSAR) data from satellites and then artificial intelligence (AI) to turn this data into large-scale decision support tools. The company’s API and proprietary algorithms, and highly educated scientists and engineers are the keys to their mission, to become humanity’s eyes on the Earth. Since 2017, ASTERRA solutions have been used in over 64 countries to over 600 customers, verifying over 100,000 leaks, saving over 368 bn gallons of potable water, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 235,520 metric tons, and saving 920,000 MWH of energy, all in support of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ASTERRA is headquartered in Israel with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan. Their innovative data solutions are used in multiple verticals around the globe. For more information on ASTERRA and to learn more about their technology, visit https://asterra.io. (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
17 Apr 24. SpaceX’s successful Wednesday Starlink satellite launch but No-Go for Maxar’s WorldView mission. On Wednesday, April 17 at 5:26 p.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 23 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A beautiful Florida sky was the perfect backdrop for SpaceX which is one shy of the total number of Space Shuttle missions (this was the 81st flight of a Falcon rocket compared to the 82 total shuttle flights) from the historic launch pad.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1077 touched down on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Just Read the Instructions.’ This was the 78th booster landing for JRTI and the 298th landing for SpaceX several days after achieving flight leader status with 20 total launches.
This was the 12th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, GPS III Space Vehicle 06, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, NG-20, a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft on the NG-20 mission to the International Space Station, and now six Starlink missions.
There have been a total of 174 orbital flights from LC-39A. Nine of those were Falcon Heavy rockets with the remaining 72 being Falcon 9 rockets. There were also 11 Saturn 5 launches from this pad.
According to astronomer and orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell, reported that the 23 Starlink satellites added to the 5,809 currently on orbit. SpaceX launched 564 Starlink satellites so far in 2024 and this will be its 26th flight so far this year. (Source: Satnews)
12 Apr 24. ATLAS Space Operations proves operational hybrid space architecture capability. ATLAS Space Operations recently completed the successful operational integration of a Department of Defense (DoD) antenna through ATLAS’ Freedom Software Platform – demonstrating true hybrid network capability. Hybrid Space Architecture (HSA) has long been a sought-after capability. This technology allows the linking of the DoD, civil government, private agencies, and commercial satellite ground stations into a single, global, software-defined network.
As part of an effort to prove operational HSA capability, ATLAS enabled a DoD satellite mission operations center to access both its assigned DoD ground station and a network of public commercial ground stations using a single seamless software interface. The ATLAS antenna network management software, Freedom™, empowers U.S. government satellite operators to build and control government-only antenna network enclaves while also enabling rapid access to external commercial ground station networks for resiliency, redundancy, or reduced data latency.
When managed by Freedom, government ground antenna equipment “orphaned” by the end of a contract or practically idle due to suboptimal utilization can be returned to use or more efficiently used. Government equipment can be segregated between agencies or federated across multiple organizations to improve cross-utilization and reduce total government costs. Connections to commercial network providers are enabled for all government users allowing agencies to build and modify “hybrid” ground architectures across disparate government and commercial networks.
Freedom software also enables satellite operators in the mission control center to execute time-sensitive and ad-hoc network tasking in response to crisis or contingency. The software’s user interface provides satellite operators with the information they need to rapidly identify and access available time and locations across the hybrid network of antennas within minutes.
When combined with wider access to ground stations, satellite operators empowered with Freedom can adapt and respond far more rapidly to dynamic conditions in the space domain.
15 Apr 24. Software-Defined Satellites create New Space market opportunities. The satellite communications market has seen significant changes across its value chain, bringing forth new technological innovations that include flexible satellites and more specifically, Software-Defined Satellites (SDS).
Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite operators have been compelled to respond to increased competition amidst these market shifts. One approach is to optimize the use of GEO satellites; however, the rigidity and fixed capacity of traditional GEO satellites is a notable constraint. Therefore, the advent of flexible satellites presents an attractive solution to a variety of problems.
Novaspace, a merger between Euroconsult and SpaceTec Partners, presents its latest report highlighting new opportunities by leveraging flexible satellites and software-defined satellites. Such satellites can be reconfigured while in orbit, enabling them to adapt to changing demands without necessitating costly replacements.
Software-defined satellites represent a promising avenue for enhancing adaptability and addressing specific consumer needs; however, the extent of their implementation will vary depending on the unique requirements of different consumers. Satellite operators will need to focus on the specific capabilities of the consumer to determine if SDS presents a viable and sustainable solution.
Software-defined satellites offer on-orbit reconfiguration of various parameters including beams, coverage areas, bandwidth, power levels, and frequencies. The adaptability stems from the reconfigurability of payload parameters enabled by software-defined satellites. The standardized and modular platforms of these satellites yield efficiencies for both manufacturers and operators, resulting in cost savings and expedited time-to-market. Moreover, military users benefit from enhanced resilience and security offered by this type of satellite.
Novaspace’s Software-Defined Satellites report estimates the adoption of flexsats will grow steadily over the next decade. Currently, 54% of satellites are deemed to be addressable by flexible payloads and platforms. By 2033, this figure is projected to increase to nearly 80% with High Throughput Satellite (HTS) and Very High Throughput Satellites (VHTS) anticipated to be the main drivers in the adoption of flexsats. (Source: Satnews)