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17 Apr 19. Kleos Space launches initial product range for pre-order. Australian-listed Kleos Space has moved closer to commercialisation of its global maritime geolocation data-as-a-service products with the launch of the company’s initial product range. Kleos’ RF Reconnaissance data products are available on the site in three levels – Guardian RF, Guardian LOCATE and Guardian UDT – and can be pre-ordered by registered users on a monthly or annual basis.
The data product will be delivered to customers in the summer of 2019 after data collection by the Kleos Scouting Mission (KSM) satellites and having been processed through Kleos’ geolocation algorithms on the ground.
Andy Bowyer, CEO of Kleos Space, said, “Pre-order functionality is a major step towards commercialising our data products to large end-market customers. Our new site clearly defines our product offering and allows end users to pre-order data sets that complement their existing data assets, leading to enhanced accuracy and situational awareness.”
The multi-satellite KMS system will form the foundation of a constellation that delivers a global picture of hidden maritime activity, enhancing the intelligence capability of government and commercial entities when the AIS (automatic identification system) is defeated, imagery is unclear and targets are out of patrol range.
“Kleos’ independent data products provide defence, security and commercial users with access to a cost-effective daily geolocation intelligence. Our Scouting Mission satellites will provide daily geolocation observation while our planned full constellation will provide near-real time updates,” Bowyer added.
“Pre-order functionality and strategic partnerships with intelligence providers will enable Kleos to begin generating revenue from our Scouting Mission satellites following the successful collection of data.”
Kleos Space is a space enabled, activity-based intelligence, data as a service company based in Luxembourg. Kleos Space aims to guard borders, protect assets and save lives by delivering global activity-based intelligence and geolocation as a service. (Source: Space Connect)
15 Apr 19. Australia reaffirms space co-operation initiative. Australia has confirmed its commitment to working with allies and friendly nations in space at the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado. In a joint statement released in the US overnight, seven nations that attended a meeting in Colorado said military co-operation concerning the space domain was vital to their countries’ interests. The meeting was held at Peterson Air Force Base, home of the headquarters of US Air Force Space Command, and coincided with the 35th Space Symposium. Meeting participants discussing the future of what’s called the Combined Space Operations (CSpO) initiative. That initiative was launched in 2014, initially just with the US, UK, Canada and Australia. It now also includes New Zealand, France and Germany. The initial agreement proposed co-operation on satellite orbits to reduce risk of collision, accuracy of GPS signals, prevention of interference with satellite communications and space weather such as geomagnetic storms caused by solar particles that can disrupt communications and power grids.
Representatives of the seven nations who attended the latest meeting said they unequivocally recognised the strategic importance of the space domain to their economies, technology, national security and defence.
“To that end, we collectively share the view that military co-operation concerning the space domain is vital to our countries’ interests,” their joint statement said.
“Our respective nations are actively working together to address threats and shared interests in space and to preserve access to the space domain for the future of humankind.
“We are actively co-ordinating to further our national interests through the Combined Space Operations initiative. In part, CSpO collaboration includes enhanced Space Situational Awareness and data sharing among all partner nations to support space activities.”
To further enhance space collaboration, the meeting discussed operational concepts, personnel needs and infrastructure requirements to enhance multinational command and control of space forces in and through the CSpO Centre and the other national Space Operations Centres.
“We recognise tangible advances in space co-operation and capabilities have been achieved through the CSpO initiative; and we are dedicated to identifying future capabilities to support our countries’ common interests in and through space,” the statement said.
The RAAF’s Air Power Development Centre noted in 2016 that the memorandums of understanding for the CSpO initiative sought to enhance the resilience of space operations and share the burden of conducting them.
“The CSpO partners also collectively promote the responsible use of space through co-ordinated diplomacy. Yet there is no certainty that warfare in space will be avoided and so Australia is seeking to increase the resilience of its space capabilities,” it said. (Source: Space Connect)
15 Apr 19. Europe’s space institutions consider Ariane 6 and Vega-C. The European Space Agency and Arianespace will give full support to European institutional customers to launch their missions on Ariane 6 and Vega-C. Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s director of space transportation, and Stéphane Israël, CEO at Arianespace, welcomed about 100 attendees to a conference last week on Ariane 6 and Vega-C at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Ariane 6’s maiden flight has already been earmarked for the launch of OneWeb’s constellation satellites, and Vega-C for the launch of LARES. Three European institutional contracts have already been signed for Ariane 6 and Vega-C launch services, with others expected in the coming months.
“Ariane 6 and Vega-C are perfectly adapted to handle complex missions and are capable of meeting every mission requirement in full complementarity,” Israël explained.
Low-cost launch opportunities based on a standardised regular service offered through ESA developed payload carrying structures on Ariane 6 and on Vega/Vega-C for light satellites, from CubeSats to minisats, were also discussed in dedicated technical sessions.
The first of the new payload carrying structures, the Small Satellites Mission Service, or SSMS, aimed to meet the needs of a thriving small satellites market, is set to launch on Vega this summer providing a rideshare opportunity for seven micro-satellites and 35 CubeSats. Its following launch will be on Vega-C in 2020.
The Multi Launch System for multiple payloads offered by Ariane 6 is well under development, with an initial mission planned for 2021. Compared with the current Vega, the exploitation of Vega-C will allow more launches per year for increased performance to more orbits.
Ariane 6 will come in two configurations (Ariane 62 with two boosters and 64 with four boosters), depending on mission requirements, to respond to institutional and market demand based on the Ariane 5 heritage and reliability. (Source: Space Connect)
15 Apr 19. SmartSat CRC to become largest Aussie investment in space industry R&D. The federal government has chipped in $55m for the South Australia-based SmartSat CRC, a research organisation linking industry and research bodies to develop advanced satellites. As well as the government funding, announced by Industry Minister Karen Anderson, 84 industry and research partners are contributing almost $190m in cash and kind. This makes the SmartSat CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) the biggest ever Australian investment in space industry research and development. The bid for government funding under the Federal Department of Industry CRC program was developed by University of South Australia (UniSA) and company Nova Systems. Late last year, six CRCs were listed for funding, with SmartSat CRC the biggest winner.
Other funding recipients were announced earlier. Though announced during the election campaign, the SmartSat funding isn’t an election promise. Bid leader and SmartSat’s designated chief executive designate Professor Andy Koronios said the CRC will be a game changer for Australia’s space economy.
“Globally, space technologies and industries are worth more than $500bn but that success has been underpinned by serious global investment in research,” he said.
“Australia has had a strong pedigree and a long history in space with excellent scientific capabilities in instrumentation and communications technologies. But until now, the research has not been brought together to build a new industry for Australia, and to capitalise on the exponential growth of the global space economy.”
Professor Koronios said the new CRC would be headquartered in South Australia but it was a national program that would involve some of the best universities in the country, as well as the CSIRO and Defence Science and Technology Group.
CRCs have long been recognised as a means to further research in particular areas by linking industry with research organisations. This latest round of government funding was the 20th in the long-running CRC program.
The SmartSat CRC aims to direct research into new satellite technology as part of an energised Australian space sector. Professor Koronios said the goal in bringing together the SmartSat bid was to demonstrate the huge potential and capacity in Australia for developing leapfrogging technologies in areas of global expertise including AI, advanced communications and remote sensing analytics.
“For a nation with a footprint covering nearly a tenth of the planet, Australia has had very little presence in space,” he said.
“We cannot rely exclusively on the goodwill of other nations or our deep pockets to meet our communications and connectivity needs or to monitor our nation and our resources.”
Professor Koronios said, for example, other nations could predict Australian crop yields before we could as their satellites with advanced remote sensing capabilities passed overhead every day.
“As we advance at a pace to an era of machine-to-machine communications and the internet of things satellites are becoming central,” he said.
“This new CRC will re-energise Australia’s satellite communications expertise and capacity and launch a new era of development which will benefit every Australian enterprise into the future.”
BAE Systems Australia chief executive Gabby Costigan welcomed the announcement, saying, “BAE Systems is delighted to be a partner of the SmartSat CRC. It will exponentially grow the collaboration that has begun in earnest in Australia’s space domain. It will be pivotal to the development of new Australian technologies, capable of significantly improving and transforming the nation’s economic performance.”
“Space technologies will revolutionise the way we communicate, observe, analyse and interact with faster and more accurate information,” Costigan added.
New satellite technology would improve communications for all Australians, help us to monitor and protect our environment, enhance understanding of climate change, protect our borders and our communications systems and advance the progress of new industries, she said.
UNiSA vice chancellor Professor David Lloyd said this was one of the most exciting research collaborations ever forged in Australia.
“We look forward to working with an outstanding international cohort to develop smart satellite and communications solutions for the future,” he said.
“We are delighted to have such strong support from both government and industry in forging a really powerful network for space technology innovation.” (Source: Space Connect)
12 Apr 19. When it comes to satellites, less can be more. For generations, military satellites have been massive, and massively expensive. In recent years, however, an increasing consensus among defense leaders and military analysts has emerged that a new satellite architecture is needed. Rather than rely on a few big satellites, they say, critical military functions — such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or positioning, navigation and timing — could come from swarms of smaller satellites. To ease that transition, they suggest the Department of Defense should work more closely with industry.
National security experts said a rising generation of space threats make the shift an imperative.
“This is an urgent and pressing need,” said Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation.
“The threat environment is becoming more complex and more worrisome. Russia is in the process of reconstituting several anti-satellite capabilities that had gone fallow at the end of the Cold War and China is developing its own capabilities. They are both pretty clearly aimed at undermining U.S. space capabilities.”
Rise of the small sats
The rise of small satellites, those typically weighing less than 1,100 pounds, opens a window of opportunity for certain military missions.
“A lot of things the military does would benefit from using a larger number of very small satellites rather than a small number of very large satellites that are too expensive to fail and that become big juicy targets for adversaries,” said Todd Harrison, senior fellow and director of the aerospace security project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. The military is pursuing several initiatives, with an eye toward deploying smaller satellites that would be simultaneously less expensive and more defensible. This includes pilot programs with nanosatellites, weighing less than 20 pounds and that can operate as a single entity or in formation.
For example, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command’s Nanosatellite Program (SNaP) aims to deploy a constellation of such devices for military communications.
“SNaP is a technology demonstration with the goal of showing the military utility nanosatellites can provide to the disadvantaged user,” Thomas E. Webber, director of SMDC’s Technical Center Space and Strategic Systems Directorate, said in an Army press release. With the aim of transporting data beyond the line of sight, “SNaP is a natural fit for the command since we are the Army proponent for space and also the SATCOM provider.”
The Navy meanwhile has been experimenting with nanosatellites to extend ultra-high frequency communications into the polar regions.
“This is a force multiplier,” Capt. Chris DeSena, program manager for the Navy Communications Satellite Program Office at PEO Space Systems, said in a Navy release.
“We are delivering war-fighting capability that naval forces and their partners need to compete, deter and win. The Arctic portion of maritime domain is becoming more active and important, and [nano-satellites] help ensure we have advantages in any challenges we might face there.”
At the same time, the Air Force, which manages a majority of the Defense Department’s military satellites, is investing in new ground control systems that could support future small-sat deployments.
The Air Force announced in January 2019 it was awarding integrator SAIC a $655m contract for satellite ground systems’ engineering, development, integration and sustainment. The move comes as part of a wider effort to develop “enterprise” ground systems that could support multiple satellites on a range of space missions.
That move toward interoperability is in line with efforts to launch fleets of smaller, more diverse satellites.
New partnerships
The Defense Department is looking to industry for the ability to inexpensively deploy and operate the next generation of satellites.
“Commercial partnership and collaboration is vitally important to [Air Force Space Command’s] ability to succeed in our mission and, more importantly, move forward in a manner that outpaces our strategic competitors,” Gen. John W. Raymond, the head of Air Force Space Command, told the House Armed Services strategic force subcommittee in March 2018.
Budget analysts endorsed this approach.
A Government Accountability Office report released in July 2018 found that “using commercial satellites to host government sensors or communications packages … may be one way DoD can achieve on-orbit capability faster and more affordably.”
The report cited Pentagon estimates that the use of commercially hosted payloads could save the Pentagon several hundred million dollars. Broadband communication is one area that some say may be ripe for commercial engagement.
“We have a base in the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan. How do we get data to and from that place? It really makes sense for the military to look at purchasing commercial bandwidth, because that is something that is already widely available from a commercial standpoint,” Weeden said.
Representatives from industry say today’s satellite providers could easily and cost-effectively pivot to be even more supportive of the military mission.
“An architecture for the future in ISR, communication, PNT or any function — it doesn’t need to be exclusively military or exclusively commercial. It needs to be an integrated architecture that leverages the best of breed,” said Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president of government strategy and policy at Inmarsat Government.
Rather than wholly own and operate satellites as it has in the past, the military could look to a hybrid business model.
“We want to leverage existing assets until the end of their lives, while at the same time achieving interoperability with a diversity of sources,” Cowen-Hirsch said.
“The military could partner with the commercial industrial base to build faster, cheaper and more responsive solutions.”
A satellite architecture comprised of various-sized constellations, supported by an effective and efficient military-industry partnership, sounds promising. However, some in the national security community who envision such a future and also point to several hurdles.
Sticking points
The military has long warned that a plethora of tiny satellites will likely introduce new complexity in the management of space assets.
“We expect to be tracking 250,000 to 500,000 objects down to the size of my fist and that’s a significant problem. A lot of people are wondering whether we’ll ever be able to find a launch corridor to launch something into when you actually can see what’s up there,” said Gen. John E. Hyten, the head of U.S. Strategic Command and a former head of Air Force Space Command, speaking at the Small Satellite Conference in 2015.
The military may need to rethink key elements of space operations in order to utilize small satellites effectively.
Because they will fly in lower orbits, small satellites won’t need as much power (that’s a plus) but they’ll also have reduced visibility. “You are constantly moving over the Earth, so you have to have enough satellites so at least one is always in view of the user,” Harrison said.
Others question whether the military will be able to overcome its own inertia in order to shift the satellite paradigm.
“The way the U.S. military and especially the U.S. Air Force has done satellite acquisitions in the past is very much in a big-project mold. They create a whole constellation to deliver a specific capability, along with a specialized ground control system,” Weeden said.
“Breaking that mindset is really difficult.”
This shift in perspective will be a prerequisite if the military is going to embrace a new satellite infrastructure.
“The focus has always been on creating these ‘Battlestar Galactica’ satellites, with these massive missions,” Cowen-Hirsch said.
“There is military culture that says: ‘My job is to fly this big satellite or to acquire new big satellites,’ and the military doesn’t change readily.”
In order to reposition, the military may especially need to develop a fresh perspective on the economics of satellite infrastructure.
“They need to break out of the sunk-cost evaluation, this fallacy that says: We have already spent so much money, we should not do any future investing in the same way,” said Cowen-Hirsch.
“It’s true there is a very significant investment in the large architectures and you don’t want to turn your back on that. But that shouldn’t prevent you from making future investments.”
In any case, some say, cost ought not be prime consideration here. While a single small satellite is cheaper than a big one, a fleet of nano-satellites might not reduce the overall mission cost, and that might be acceptable to military leaders.
“It’s not about being cheaper; it’s about being more resilient,” Harrison said.
“Adversaries want to disrupt, degrade and destroy our space capabilities, and when you have just three or four satellites covering the whole, that’s a vulnerability.” (Source: C4ISR & Networks)
10 Apr 19. GomSpace, TESAT and KSAT Partner and Introduce Optical Comms for Smallsats. TESAT, KSAT and GomSpace have partnered to introduce full optical communications capability for new and innovative smallsat missions and space-based services.
Until now, this technology has mainly been used on large and expensive satellites but is now further developed, miniaturized and ready for use on smallsats and new constellations. The new technology will be launched in the PIXL demonstration mission later in 2019.
Optical communication technology offers a number of important benefits that will add to the value of future space-based infrastructures; this includes support for dramatically higher data rates and improved security through narrow beam-widths.
To ensure a successful and accelerated market introduction of the technology, the partners have put all their competences together to demonstrate – by end of this year – that optical downlinks are ready to be used as operational downlink technology for smallsats.
TESAT has successfully miniaturized the technology to allow its efficient use on satellites down to 3 kg. and with data rates from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
KSAT, a leading ground station network provider for new space customers through its KSATLite offering, is committed to building out a compatible network of optical ground stations and scaling it with increasing customer demand.
GomSpace has – in collaboration with TESAT – validated compatibility and integration between GomSpace satellite busses and TESAT’s miniaturized optical terminals. The PIXL demonstration mission will be launched later in 2019 to demonstrate the full capability. TESAT with research partner DLR provides the terminal, which is integrated with a GomSpace provided satellite platform. A cost-efficient ground station solution will be operated by KSAT. The partners are looking forward to a future where optical communication will be used for satellite downlinks and inter-satellite links and will become a standard. (Source: Satnews)
10 Apr 19. Nanosatellites see the light – laser communication for a new age in space. TESAT, KSAT and GomSpace have partnered up to introduce full optical communications capability for new innovative small satellite missions and space-based services. Until now this technology has mainly been used on large and expensive satellites but is now further developed, miniaturised and ready for use on small satellites and new constellations. The new technology will be launched in the PIXL demonstration mission later in 2019.
The benefits of optical communications in space
Optical communication technology offers a number of important benefits that will add to the value of future space-based infrastructures; this includes support for dramatically higher data rates and improved security through narrow beam-widths.
To ensure a successful and accelerated market introduction of the technology, the partners have put all their competences together to demonstrate – by end of this year – that optical downlinks are ready to be used as operational downlink technology for nanosatellites.
A valuable collaboration
TESAT, the world leader in optical satellites communications, has successfully miniaturised the technology to allow its efficient use on satellites down to 3 kg and with data rates from 100 Mbps to 10 Gbps.
KSAT, the leading ground station network provider for new space customers through its KSATLite offering, is committed to building out a compatible network of optical ground stations and scaling it with increasing customer demand.
GomSpace, the world leader in nanosatellite design and manufacturing, has – in collaboration with TESAT – validated compatibility and integration between GomSpace satellite busses and TESAT’s miniaturised optical terminals.
End-to-end demonstration
The PIXL demonstration mission will be launched later in 2019 to demonstrate the full capability. TESAT with research partner DLR provides the terminal, which is integrated with a GomSpace provided satellite platform. A cost-efficient ground station solution will be operated by KSAT.
The partners are looking forward to a future where optical communication utilised both for satellite downlinks and inter-satellite links becomes standard and look forward to showing potential customers how soon that future can be a near term reality. (Source: ASD Network)
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