05 Sept 24. Space Development Agency Will Soon Deliver Capability to Warfighters. The Defense Department wants missile-tracking capability available to combatant commanders for operational use by the end of calendar year 2025, the director of the Space Development Agency said yesterday.
Derek Tournear said the agency has launched 27 demonstration satellites, while keeping one on the ground for a test bed for debugging and software updates to those satellites in geosynchronous low Earth orbit at a Defense News Conference event in Arlington, Virginia.
During the discussion of advances in missile tracking from space using data transport and missile tracking satellites, Tournear said the Space Development Agency is still in tranche 0, which means the early stages of satellite deployment for capability demonstrations.
These satellites for national security are referred to as PWSA, or proliferated warfighter space architecture.
Tranche 0 proved that Link 16 from space to warfighter is feasible, he said. Link 16 is a secure military communications system that allows the exchange of real-time tactical data among military aircraft, ships and ground forces by U.S. and coalition forces.
Link 16 from space has “never been done before,” he said. It was demonstrated with Australian partners and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and airframe. Future tests will include Norway, Tournear said.
The next question the agency will address is: Can you do the missile-tracking mission from low Earth orbit satellites with all of the space clutter in that orbit with a dim-appearing missile in flight in real time?
The answer is yes. There’s been some success zeroing in on missile or rocket “targets of opportunity,” including a SpaceX launch and some classified missile launches that can’t be discussed, he said.
Another question answered by tranche 0: Can DOD form an optical network in low Earth orbit using laser communications? “Last night, it was actually demonstrated. Two tracking satellites did that, acquiring and maintaining links for several hours,” he said.
Tranche 1 should be initiated around the end of this calendar year or a little after.
Tranche 2 is in the design phase, with launch scheduled to begin around September 2026.
Tranche 3 work is ongoing. These satellites have about a five-year design life, so tranche 3 will need to replenish some of the earlier satellites.
Tournear noted that his agency is a lean, fast-paced, results-driven organization that is cost-effective, and fully accountable to and supported by Congress. (Source: U.S. DoD)
05 Sept 24. US Navy investigation reveals illegal Starlink Wi-Fi plot aboard combat vessel. In what could be one of the boldest incidents of the threats posed by individuals using unauthorised devices on an organisation’s network, a US Navy report has revealed the details of a plot to install and manage an illegal Starlink Wi-Fi network on board a combat vessel while deployed.
The report, seen by the Navy Times, outlines the plans by the ship’s senior enlisted crew to purchase, install, manage, and ultimately attempt to hide the network from junior crew and superior officers alike.
The ship’s senior chief, Command Senior Chief Grisel Marrero, conspired with other chiefs aboard the USS Manchester (pictured) to install the network prior to a deployment to the west Pacific in April 2023.
The Starlink dish was secretly installed on the Independence Class vessel’s weather deck, where it was relatively out of view. The network was initially named “STINKY”, but it was later renamed to appear to be a wireless printer – despite there being no such devices aboard.
As rumours began to circulate among the wider crew, senior officers approached CSC Marrero, who repeatedly lied about its existence.
For obvious reasons, the US Navy limits internet access while on deployment, but the ship’s senior enlisted crew used the network to send messages home, stream media, and keep track of sports scores.
The Starlink dish wasn’t discovered until a civilian technician, installing a Starshield satellite communication system, noted the device and reported it to a senior crew member. The dish was removed; however, CSC Marrero again lied about the device, claiming that it was authorised and only for use in port.
When the USS Manchester’s commanding officer finally learnt of the existence of the network on 24 August, she confronted Marrero, who provided doctored usage logs in an attempt to trick the CO into believing the network was, in fact, only used while docked. The CO continued to be suspicious, however, and Marrero finally admitted, on 26 August, that the network had been in use while deployed. (Source: Space Connect)
05 Sept 24. Polish defense firms ink deals for new satellite reconnaissance capability. Poland’s defense industry is looking to sharpen its view of the earth from space, as two firms recently signed a new agreement to work together on high-resolution optical satellites to provide imagery for users in Poland. During the 32nd International Defense Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, ICEYE Polska, the Polish arm of Finnish synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite firm ICEYE, and Wrocław-based optical and vision tech specialists Scanway signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the design of high-resolution optical satellites. The sats would initially provide imagery for Polish users, but potentially also for global customers in the future.
The document was signed on Tuesday by the president and co-founder of ICEYE, Rafał Modrzewski, and the president and founder of Scanway, Jędrzej Kowalewski.
The new satellites are to be used for defense purposes and will have an optical resolution of around 50 cm, necessary for targets detection and identification. They will join ICEYE’s existing SAR systems, giving Polish customers access to comprehensive Earth observation data, the companies said.
ICEYE’s numerous SAR satellites can visit the same place above Earth even dozens of times a day and perform radar imaging day and night, regardless of weather conditions.
“Currently, the armed forces need optical systems with a resolution of at least 50 cm. Such systems can be installed on satellites of the 150-200 kg class, manufactured and operated by ICEYE. (…) We have already placed 38 of them in orbit,” said Modrzewski.
“Providing customers with increasingly larger and more advanced optical instruments capable of imaging with a resolution of less than 1 meter is a strategic direction of Scanway’s development,” added Kowalewski.
The next day ICEYE Polska was party to another agreement, this one with Wojskowe Zakłady Łączności Nr 1 (WZŁ-1, Military Communications Works) and Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ, Polish Armament Group), to jointly develop what they called a Mobile ISR Cell (Mobilna Platforma Rozpoznania Satelitarnego ISR, MPRS ISR), adapted to cooperate with SAR satellites and satellites equipped with optical sensors.
The group said the new solution combines communication and data transmission systems, power supply unit and a specially designed antenna system, ensuring fast data transmission and its direct distribution to the appropriate recipients at any command level.
MPRS ISR is designed to provide the ability to conduct permanent operations using the ICEYE satellite constellation, collect data almost in real time and analyze it on an ongoing basis. The system is designed for cooperation at the operational level, supporting commanders in making decisions and providing situational awareness on the battlefield more efficiently and quicker.
“Satellite reconnaissance and communication systems play an important role in the functioning of the armed forces. Acquiring and processing satellite imaging data in real time can provide an advantage on the modern battlefield. These are the conclusions that can be drawn, among others, from the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine,” said Krzysztof Trofiniak, PGZ President of the Management Board. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
05 Sept 24. Ensured SATCOM, GPS alternatives tops among Space Force budget wishes.
“Every dollar invested brings asymmetric returns, while every cut risks asymmetric losses, given the continued advancements of the competitors, the Space Force budget needs more, not fewer, resources to do our job,” said Gen. Michael Guetlein, Space Force vice chief.
As senior Space Force officials double down on their campaign to massively increase the service’s funding ahead of decision-making on the Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 budget request, a handful of priorities are at the top of the list for new monies. These include alternatives to GPS, more reliable satellite communications (SATCOM), and improved intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to support warfighters on the battlefield, according to the Space Force vice chief.
Citing ever-growing threats from China and Russia, Gen. Michael Guetlein told the Defense News conference on Wednesday that the service requires an influx of cash both to improve traditional space support services to combatant commanders, and bolster offensive and defensive capabilities to go up against adversary space systems.
“We need additional resources to meet the increasing demand for capability,” he said. “At 3 percent of the DoD budget, the Space Force is worth every penny. It offers tremendous value proposition for the nation. Every dollar invested brings asymmetric returns, while every cut risks asymmetric losses, given the continued advancements of the competitors, the Space Force budget needs more, not fewer, resources to do our job.”
Guetlein noted that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently asserted (in an interview with Defense News) that the Space Force needs to “double or triple over time” its current annual budget of some $30 bn to adequately fund its assigned missions.
Kendall’s statement echoed a May assessment by veteran space budget analysts Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute and Mike Tierney, chief of legislative affairs at the National Security Space Association (NSSA), which found that the Space Force’s eyes are bigger than its stomach. The service’s FY25 five-year budget plan, essentially a flat line, fails to fully support all the new acquisition programs being launched, the experts stressed.
Supporting The Joint Force
Guetlein said that in order to guarantee that “space capabilities will be there when needed” by military forces, the service needs to invest in both more SATCOM and “more resilient SATCOM” to ensure connectivity across the Joint Force.
L3Harris is answering the Department of Defense’s call for strengthened competition, safeguarding a future for the nation and democracy worldwide.
From Ross Niebergall, President, Aerojet Rocketdyne, L3Harris Technologies
“We know we need more satellite communications capacity, and we expect a significant increase in demand in the coming years and during times of crisis or conflict. The additional capacity will come from domestic investments in organic SATCOM like the Wideband Global SATCOM system and the Mobile User Objective Satellite system,” he said.
Increased bandwidth also “will come from commercial partnerships, like we’re doing through the Commercial SATCOM Office, and it will come from international partnerships like we have with Norway and with Luxembourg,” he added.
Guetlein further pointed to the Space Development Agency’s plan for a Transport Layer of low latency, high capacity data relay satellites in low Earth orbit as a critical future capability. “It is foundational to programs like the Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control System, or CJADC2, which is a multidomain command and control system that shares command, common operating pictures and data with the Joint Force and our allies,” he said.
More “resilient position, navigation and timing” capabilities, including “alternative methods to GPS,” are another key area of operations where an influx of funds is required, Guetlein stressed. He explained that the Space Force has already started “studies and low level effort on what we call Resilient GPS,” via Kendall’s “quick start” initiative. With $100 m approved by Congress as part of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act, the initiative was designed to speed critical acquisitions by getting around constraints of the cumbersome budget process.
The Space Force in June released a request for proposal for the Resilient GPS effort to develop small satellites to complement the current 31 Global Positioning System satellites on orbit to members of the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC). Details of the RFP are restricted to consortium members, but an earlier request for information to industry stressed that the new prototype satellites should also be able to integrate into current ground systems. Space News on June 25 reported that Space Systems Command some time this fall plans to select up to five R-GPS design concepts that include the ability to signals for both civil and military use, plus the jam-resistant M-code.
However, the service is “waiting on the ’25 budget on the Hill to see where that kind of shakes out,” Guetlein said.
The Space Force further needs to invest in expanded “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,” he added. The service has already launched a new satellite development program with the National Reconnaissance Office to track moving targets on the ground, and Guetlein noted that it is studying how to track airborne targets from space — with a goal of getting both capabilities to the field sometime in the early 2030s.
‘Protect And Defend’
“In addition, we are focused on preventing the adversary from using space against us,” Guetlein said.
He explained that the service continues “to invest in the kit to counter these [adversary] kill webs in three primary areas: enhanced [space domain] awareness to eliminate operational surprise; increased SATCOM to enable our own kill webs and support the joint warfighter; and in protecting and defending our space capabilities in order to eliminate the first mover advantage, and if necessary, to defeat their kill webs.”
However, with regard to defeating enemy systems, Guetlein said that “most of this kit is classified.”
He elaborated that the protect and defense mission includes “building defense measures into our next generation platforms, disaggregating capabilities to eliminate single points of failure, and proliferating capabilities across multiple orbits and platforms to significantly expand their attack surface. It also includes partnering with our allies and with industry to share threat data.”
Improved SATCOM, moving target indication, and reliable GPS also will play a role in helping the Space Force and Joint Force counter adversary space systems and prevent them from targeting US forces using those assets, he added.
“We are hard at work to avoid operational surprise and to ensure our adversaries cannot achieve first mover advantage in space,” he said.
Guetlein acknowledged that budget trends, especially on Capitol Hill, are not looking favorable for a major top-line hike for any of the services, stressing that the Space Force is honing in on its top priorities.
“We are definitely sacrificing some because there’s definitely not enough resources to go around,” he said. “We know we can’t buy everything we need, so we are ruthlessly prioritizing all the kit that we’re buying to make sure that it’s the biggest bang for the buck, if you will, during times of crisis or conflict. (Source: Breaking Defense.com)
05 Sept 24. Production scaling woes delay next Space Development Agency launches. The Space Force’s Space Development Agency now expects its next tranche of satellites to begin launching late this year or early next due to supplier delays. (U.S. Space Force/Senior Airman Thomas Sjoberg)
Plans for the Space Force’s Space Development Agency to kick-start its next phase of launches this month is on hold due to supplier delays, according to its director Derek Tournear.
September was supposed to be the start of a 10-month streak of regular SDA launches to put the agency’s Tranche 1 satellites — which will provide initial operational capability — in low Earth orbit. Those spacecraft will now likely fly at the end of this year or early next, Tournear said Wednesday at the Defense News Conference.
The delays are primarily linked to financial troubles among some SDA vendors who have struggled to scale their manufacturing capacity, he said. That includes California-based Mynaric, which supplies optical terminals to several of the agency’s satellite providers and has struggled to ramp up production.
“These are things we have to work through with our primes, our spacecraft providers, to make sure they can continue to pull that schedule in when they have those kinds of delays,” Tournear said.
The Tranche 1 satellites are part of SDA’s broader proliferated space architecture, which it envisions will eventually include hundreds of missile tracking and data transport spacecraft operating from low Earth orbit, about 1,200 miles above the equator.
SDA started launching its Tranche 0 satellites in April 2023 and as of February has put all 27 of those spacecraft in orbit. That launch plan also hit a snag after supply chain issues tied to the COVID-19 pandemic stalled the first mission by about six months.
A July report from The Aerospace Corporation raised questions about whether these early setbacks indicate the agency’s plan to build and launch satellites on a two-year cadence — refreshing technology with each new tranche — is too ambitious. The study highlights the challenge of continuous modernization and production scaling within a still-maturing small satellite industrial base.
“These examples may become less common as SDA launches and operates more and more satellites, but developing and integrating new technologies without disrupting launch schedules or existing capabilities will not be easy,” it states.
Tournear attributed the launch delays to “growing pains” within the industrial base and the agency, which was formed five years ago. The two-year launch and technology refresh cycle is key to SDA’s model, so he doesn’t see that approach changing. Instead, the hope is that as companies learn and adapt to this model, they face fewer supply and schedule challenges.
If things progress as planned, he added, many of those kinks will be worked through by the time Tranche 2 satellites start to launch in 2026.
“I think as industry grows, they get more into this mindset of production delivery versus program management, which is a different mindset for people doing defense contracting,” Tournear said. “I think we’ll see that they’ll be able to hit the milestones a little easier, but right now we’re in that growing pain.”
Once in orbit, the Tranche 1 satellites are slated to hit their operational acceptance milestone by 2025. SDA is also working to field the ground systems that will operate those spacecraft. An agency official told Defense News those systems are in their testing phase and SDA will hold a readiness review this fall. The agency previously planned to have authority to operate the ground segment in the spring, but is now aiming to hit that milestone before Tranche 1 launches.
Tranche 2 satellites are in the design phase, with companies either completing or approaching a critical design review.
Meanwhile, SDA convened its warfighter council last month to discuss requirements for Tranche 3 satellites, which will fly in 2028. The council is made up of combatant commanders and other military users who sign off on the agency’s capability plans.
For Tranche 3 transport satellites, SDA is seeking more advanced phased arrays, which will allow spacecraft to connect with more users on the ground — particularly tactical forces that rely on an S-band signal.
On the missile warning and tracking side, Tournear said the goal is to achieve global missile defense coverage through its Tranche 3 satellites, which means those spacecraft will be able to track an advanced missile through its entire flight, transmit data and intercept.
SDA hasn’t determined the number of satellites it will need in Tranche 3, but Tournear noted that the agency plans to issue solicitations for those spacecraft next year. (Source: Defense News)
04 Sep 24. Viasat Introduces Enhanced LAISR Service for Crewed and Uncrewed Airborne, Maritime and Land Platforms.
- On-demand, managed L-Band service offers a cost-effective, flexible solution for government mobile user
Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global leader in satellite communications, today introduced Enhanced LAISR, its global mobility, on-demand managed L-band service offering communications flexibility for airborne, maritime and land users worldwide. It will deliver highly available, flexible, on-demand capabilities enabled by Viasat’s seamless, global L-band space and ground network.
The award-winning L-band Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (LAISR) solution was developed to meet specific government requirements. It delivers cost-effective, high-speed beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) satellite communications (SATCOM) connectivity for mobile platforms via low size, weight and power (SWaP) user terminals. Military operations benefit from all-weather resilience and 99.9 percent network reliability.
As government organizations increasingly rely on highly mobile crewed and uncrewed Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions worldwide, they need reliable, consistent SATCOM connectivity to transmit large volumes of data. Enhanced LAISR service will deliver on-demand, managed L-band network access to customers around the world, ensuring users can access the service whenever and wherever it is needed.
Customers will use the new Enhanced L-band Maritime Antenna (ELMA) and soon-to-be available LAISR-COTM (comms-on-the-move) terminal to connect to Enhanced LAISR services. Additional terminals are in development to provide access to the Enhanced LAISR service and deliver reliable, high-speed, seamless connectivity and uniform global capabilities via a further reduced SWaP form factor.
Steve Gizinski, Chief Technology Officer of Viasat Government, said, “Enhanced LAISR is the latest example of Viasat’s continuous focus on enhancing terminals and services to deliver additional value and resilience to our government customers as their needs evolve. With Enhanced LAISR, we are expanding upon the proven LAISR capability and our robust service level agreements to provide a highly flexible and accessible service to support crewed and uncrewed ISR missions worldwide.” (Source: ASD Network)
05 Sep 24. The third Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. The Airbus-built Sentinel-2C satellite will enter service in low Earth orbit at 780 km following initial testing and commissioning. Then, it will replace Sentinel-2A, which will retire and operate in tandem with Sentinel-2B.
Marc Steckling, Head of Earth Observation, Science and Exploration at Airbus, said: “This launch gives the world another important sensor to monitor our changing planet and provides crucial continuity since the first Sentinel-2 satellite launch in 2015. Equipped with a high-resolution multispectral imager the satellite will collect vital imagery for a myriad of applications from agriculture to water quality monitoring.”
The Sentinel-2-mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, flying in the same orbit but 180° apart for optimal coverage and revisit time. The satellites orbit the Earth every 100 minutes covering all Earth’s land surfaces, large islands, inland and coastal waters every five days.
Offering “colour vision” for the Copernicus programme, Sentinel-2C – like its precursor satellites Sentinel-2A and -2B – will deliver optical images from the visible to short-wave infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The 1.1 ton satellite will enable continuation of imaging in 13 spectral bands with a resolution (per pixel) of 10, 20 or 60 metres and a uniquely large swath width of 290 km.
Sentinel-2 satellite data are used for monitoring land use and changes, soil sealing, land management, agriculture, forestry, natural disasters (floods, forest fires, landslides and erosion) and to assist humanitarian aid missions. Environmental observation in coastal areas likewise forms part of these activities, as does glacier, ice and snow monitoring.
Each Sentinel-2 satellite collects 1.5 terabytes of data per day, after on-board compression. The data is formatted at high speed and temporarily stored on board in the highest capacity Mass Memory and Formatting unit currently flying in space. Data recording and laser-enabled downlink can take place simultaneously at high speed via the EDRS SpaceDataHighway, in addition to the direct X-band link to the ground stations.
The Sentinel satellites are part of Copernicus, the Earth Observation component of the EU Space Programme, managed by the European Commission (EC) in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA). The Copernicus Sentinels provide remote sensing data of the Earth, providing key operational services related to the environment and security.
The launch was on the final Vega rocket operated by Arianespace, before the shift to the new Vega C version.
04 Sept 24. Space Development Agency’s first satellites demo key capabilities. The Space Development Agency’s first batch of satellites, dubbed Tranche 0, have demonstrated several key capabilities. (Northrop Grumman)
Following a successful optical communications test this week, the Space Development Agency’s first batch of data-transport and missile-tracking satellites have met all of the agency’s demonstration targets, according to director Derek Tournear.
The agency started launching its Tranche 0 demonstration satellites in April 2023 and today has 27 spacecraft in orbit. The systems are meant to observe and collect information on missiles launches and transport data in space and with users on the ground. They’ll also reduce development risks for future SDA satellites.
This week’s test involved two satellites, built by SpaceX, connecting via a laser-communication link through SDA-compliant terminals. The test met the agency’s requirement that the spacecraft make a connection in less than two minutes, Tournear said Wednesday at the Defense News Conference in Arlington.
In essence, the demo showed that SDA’s transport satellites can form an optical network in low Earth orbit.
“From my perspective, we have demonstrated all of the big rocks and burned down all of the risk for Tranche 1 in Tranche 0 based on that success,” Tournear said.
Among the other demonstration hurdles was demonstrating the ability to establish a Link 16 connection from space. Link 16 is a tactical communications system that U.S. forces, NATO and international allies rely on for real-time data exchange. During a demonstration last November, SDA used three satellites from its Transport Layer, all built by Denver-based York Space Systems. The Air Force’s 46th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, supported the mission from the ground.
In early August, SDA pushed the capability further, making a Link 16 connection with an aircraft carrier and a plane on its deck.
Both Link 16 tests were over international waters or airspace as the agency awaits approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration to use Link 16 to broadcast signals from space through the National Airspace System. Tournear said SDA hopes to have those approvals and conduct U.S. tests this year, adding that the FAA’s conservative approach, while prudent, has created schedule issues for the agency.
“It has an impact and it will impact Tranche 1 as we go forward, when we actually want to be able to do a lot of demonstrations after launch to be able to get operational acceptance,” he said.
The other major test for SDA’s Tranche 0 satellites concerns the ability to track missile launches from low Earth orbit. Skeptics thought the clutter in LEO, which is about 1,200 miles above Earth, would make it too hard to spot a dim missile target. However, Tournear said, the agency has used its first handful of tracking satellites to spot a variety of missiles and rocket launches, including SpaceX’s Starship.
The SDA satellites have yet to detect a U.S. hypersonic flight test, but Tournear said his team is working closely with the Missile Defense Agency to find opportunities for the spacecraft to track a flight. (Source: Defense News)
25 Aug 24. Creotech launches EagleEye. Creotech Instruments, Poland’s largest manufacturer of satellites, satellite systems and components listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, has announced the launch of the company’s largest and most advanced satellite ever – EagleEye.
EagleEye on-orbit, image courtesy of Creotech.
The satellite was launched via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in partnership with Exolaunch. The purpose of the mission is to demo the key functions of the EagleEye satellite system.
EagleEye is the largest Polish observation satellite ever built by Polish engineers. Its weight is about 55 kg, which corresponds to the total weight of all Polish satellites that have been built since the beginning of our participation in space exploration.
The goal of the EagleEye mission is to place the satellite in an orbit of about 510 km, from where it will enter into a Very Low Earth Orbit (vLEO) of about 350 km altitude, using an ion engine. This is where the satellite will be tested to see how it can be operated and to increase the efficiency of Earth imaging.
Poland’s newest satellite is based on a proprietary HyperSat platform, which is already a key element in a number of projects at national and European level. The platform has been designed to support satellites weighing up to 200 kg. Its parameters allow it to be adapted to the tasks and requirements of a variety of space missions. Already next year, more satellites based on this particular system are planned to be launched. However, the main element of the platform’s commercialization will come as soon as the EagleEye system has been tested in orbit.
EagleEye has also been equipped with an optical telescope from the Polish company Scanway, which allows images of the Earth’s surface to be taken in the visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) bands.
A third entity, the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), the instrument’s computer supplier, was also involved in the project.
Creotech Instruments has 12 years of experience in designing and building space subsystems. It has successfully participated in more than 40 commercial and scientific missions. The company has also participated in many ESA projects, i.e. the EXOMARS mission, JUICE on its way to Jupiter or OPS-SAT. (Source: Satnews)
26 Aug 24. Loft Orbital and Marlan Space to create the Middle East’s first private manufacturing space company of commercial satellite constellations for LEO.
Abu Dhabi-based Marlan Space, a new space company affiliated with International Holding Company (IHC) has established a joint venture with Loft Orbital to form Orbitworks, the Middle East’s first private space infrastructure company.
Orbitworks marks a significant milestone in the UAE’s rapidly growing space sector, becoming the first to produce commercial low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. With an initial investment of over $100m, Orbitworks aims to produce up to fifty 500 kg satellites annually. Loft Orbital, established in 2017, brings extensive expertise, technology, and a strong reputation to the venture, supporting a wide range of missions across telecommunications, Earth observation, and scientific research.
Orbitworks is set to begin construction of a state-of-the-art facility that will employ advanced hardware, software and industrial technologies for integration and test of satellites.
Orbitworks has secured components for its first 10 satellites, the first of which could be launched as early as the first quarter of 2026. Orbitworks will help Loft Orbital further its vision of flying any payload for any customer in the shortest time to orbit.
Orbitworks aims to partner with local component manufacturers and technology providers in the UAE, leveraging Loft’s solutions for seamless technology integration.
The first satellite platform is expected to be assembled, integrated, and tested by early 2025. Loft and Marlan have begun recruiting talent both internationally and within the UAE, focusing on hardware, software, test engineering, and other aerospace engineering disciplines.
The UAE has built one of the most advanced AI ecosystems globally, and Orbitworks will collaborate with AI companies and research organizations by providing them with a simple pathway to deploy their apps to orbit.
Pierre-Damien Vaujour, CEO of San Francisco based Loft Orbital, commented, “We have long believed in the dynamism and growth of the UAE’s space sector, and we are proud to be playing a small part in the country’s journey to becoming a space powerhouse. From the moment we first met with Marlan Space, we were excited about their vision for bringing scaled production and operations of LEO satellite constellations to the UAE. We are thrilled to support and partner with all players in the country’s space, satellite, cloud, and AI industries.” (Source: Satnews)
25 Aug 24. Norway officially licensed to launch at Andøya Spaceport. Less than one year after the opening of the Norwegian spaceport at Andøya, Andøya Spaceport has reached yet another important milestone towards the first launch of satellites from Norwegian soil.
On Thursday 22nd of August, Andøya Spaceport received its Launch Site Operator license from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Norway is thus taking another important step into the newspace age and consolidating Norway’s position as the leading space nation in the Arctic.
With this license, Andøya Spaceport located on the island of Andøya in Nordland has formally become a Launch Site Operator, with the overall responsibility for developing, operating and ensuring safe operations from the newly developed spaceport. The license allows the spaceport to operate the launch site for launch vehicles that places satellites into orbit from Norwegian soil.
“There is a huge team effort behind the work to get this license in place. Ever since 2018, our team has been building the foundation that now enables launch of satellites from Norwegian soil. The Collaboration with Isar Aerospace, authorities and stakeholder groups has been key. Building a spaceport from scratch has required patience, creativity and perseverance, and has demanded varied expertise from many different industries.“ said Lasse Berg, Interim President, Andøya Spaceport.
Norway as a space nation and safe steward of spaceport concepts for Europe
The fact that Andøya Spaceport has now received permission to conduct operations have major strategic implications for Norway and our partners and marks the start of Norway’s newspace age. The space industry is not only a critical factor in handling national and international functions, but also a catalyst for innovation and economic growth as it opens the doors to an entirely new ecosystem. With Andøya Spaceport as an operational spaceport, Norway can now play an active role in the global space industry by offering sovereign, reliable and fast access to space from Norwegian soil. This is an important step in positioning Norway as a key actor for space infrastructure, and it emphasizes national ambitions to become a key space nation in Europe. (Source: Satnews)
26 Aug 24. Bridge Technologies launches upgraded satellite module. As part of a wider range of upgrade modules being made for their existing VB120 and VB220 monitoring probe lines, Bridge Technologies has launched their VB278 module, which will expand the extensive capabilities of both base probes to incorporate satellite contribution and direct-to-home distribution monitoring, supporting the DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X modulation standards.
The base VB120 and VB220 accommodate a range of network standards, including IP unicasts and multicasts, OTT/ABR streams, and a whole range of RF formats, as well as SRT and ASI, offering key monitoring features such as TR 101 290 analysis, IP multicast monitoring, HLS/M-DASH monitoring, TS recording, RF analysis and SRT relay operations. SRT (Secure Reliability Transport) is of particular interest, because it allows for received RF streams to be converted into an IP/UDP stream, which is then made available via the SRT standard. This framework makes it possible to gain central access to streams that would otherwise be hard to access, thus giving engineers greater insight, diagnostic capability and control over their network.
Through the addition of new VB278 module, these probes gain up to four independent RF L-band inputs, which allow for the specific monitoring and analysis of the RF streams found in satellite contribution and direct-to-home distribution infrastructure. With each VB278 module, one input is activated by default, and the other three through software license key. Two VB278 modules can be added to any single chassis, therefore allowing for up to eight independent RF inputs, and through the use of round-robin operation, a significantly higher number of transponders can be monitored overall.
Alongside support for DVB-S, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X, the VB278 supports QPSK, 8PSK and 8/16/32APSK modulation standards, along with DirecTV and AMC mode support. Configuration of the probe for symbol rate detection – requiring only the input of the frequency by the user – adds to the intuitive and easy-to-use nature of the module, an element common to all Bridge probes. Moreover, the VB278 incorporates a range of monitoring metrics and graphs specific to satellite signal analysis, including Modulation Error Rate (MER), Signal to Noise Rate (SNR), Error Vector Magnitude (EVM), Constellation Diagrams, RS Packet Error, Trend RF graphs, Pilot detection and Energy per information bit/transmitted bit/symbol to noise power spectral density ratio. These are all presented using clear, intuitive, at-a-glance metrics which inform in-the-moment decision making, along with longer term, strategic planning, both in terms of network engineering and business development. All of this data can be accessed from anywhere in the world through any HTML5-enabled web browser.
In addition, the VB278 is future-proofed through the incorporation of an expansion port for hardware add-on functionality, which in the near-future will include a Software-Defined-Radio (SDR) plug-on block which allows for a range of added functions, including waterfall spectrum analysis and I/Q spectrum triggered recording. These expanded functionalities will have importance for areas such as signal interference detection and intermittent fault analysis, and represent Bridge Technologies’ commitment to increasing the range, flexibility, functionality, versatility and capacity of their core monitoring solutions, providing for broadcasters who maintain complex, hybrid and evolving networks.
Chairman Simen K. Frostad said, “Our commitment to IP-based broadcast – a vision we’ve held for 20 years – has been vindicated in the broadcast market. But even bigger than that is our commitment to monitoring in general, regardless of platform. We will be looking forward to demonstrating this entire range of Bridge monitoring solutions at IBC2024, with a particular focus on the way that our full range of monitoring probes can be combined to meet the unique needs of individual customer systems architectures, all accessible through a single, intuitive interface. That is why we have developed an extensive range of add-ons for our core VB120 and VB220 probes, including the VB273 for redundancy and the VB258 for the monitoring of DVB-T/T2, ATSC1.0/ATSC 3.0, DVB-C, QAM-B and ISDB-T formats.” (Source: Satnews)
01 Sept 24. FAA lifts latest Falcon 9 ban in days. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday, placing 21 Starlink satellites in orbit before a separate Falcon 9 delivered another batch of 21 into low-Earth orbit (LEO) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
It comes after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) paused blast-offs after one of the boosters failed to land correctly on the drone ship at sea. The bodged touchdown was the first mishap in 267 attempts, stretching back to February 2021.
SpaceX revolutionised launch when it pioneered reusable rockets over a decade ago.
The innovation dramatically lowers the cost of placing satellites in orbit by preserving the most expensive part of the launch vehicle, which can often cost the same as a commercial airliner.
The Falcon 9 first stage has four landing legs made from carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb that deploy just before landing. Automation, rather than human control, makes rapid control decisions that allow the touchdowns to be reliable.
The FAA gave no reason for lifting the ban so quickly. However, it is thought that it allowed launches to continue mid-investigation, as the failure presented no risk to the public.
SpaceX itself insisted the incident was “purely a recovery issue” that posed no threat to its mission, which otherwise deployed its satellites successfully.
“The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation of the anomaly during the Starlink Group 8-6 mission remains open, provided all other licence requirements are met,” the FAA said in a statement.
“SpaceX made the return to flight request on August 29, and the FAA gave approval on August 30.”
The news comes after the FAA lifted a separate Falcon 9 ban in July following a problem with a second-stage engine that failed to reignite on schedule.
After a short investigation, SpaceX concluded the problem was caused by a liquid oxygen leak within the insulation around the upper-stage engine.
The company was able to contact 10 of the satellites planned for orbit but revealed they were in an “enormously high-drag environment” that prevented their rescue.
As a short-term fix, engineers are now removing the failed sense line and sensor on the second-stage engine to enable blast-offs to continue. (Source: Space Connect)