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Eutelsat Contracts Airbus To Build The EUTELSAT 36D Satellite

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has signed a contract with Airbus for the procurement of EUTELSAT 36D to succeed EUTELSAT 36B, expected to reach its end of life at the end of 2026, at the key 36° East orbital position.

With coverage of Africa, Russia and Europe, 36° East is a key orbital slot for Eutelsat, ranking third in terms of overall revenue generation, after 13° East (HOTBIRD) and 7/8° West, and second for Government Services, with an exceptional fill rate reflecting the ongoing robust demand in its footprint. Eutelsat’s two satellites, EUTELSAT 36B and EUTELSAT 36C, together notably support the broadcast businesses of major anchor customers including Multichoice and ZAP in Africa and Tricolor and NTV+ in Russia.

Artistic rendition of the EUTELSAT 36D satellite, courtesy of Airbus.

With 70 physical Ku-band transponders, the all-electric EUTELSAT 36D will assure all the main legacy missions of EUTELSAT 36B, with enhancements to coverage areas and performance. Based on the state-of-the-art Airbus Eurostar Neo platform, it combines increased payload capacity and more efficient power and thermal control systems with reduced production time and optimised costs.

The satellite is due for launch in the first half of 2024 with a substantial protection loop that reflects its mission-critical importance to its main customers. This procurement does not alter Eutelsat’s capital expenditure objective.

Pascal Homsy, Eutelsat’s Chief Technical Officer, said: “We are delighted to rely once again on one of our longstanding partners, Airbus, to assure this critical satellite program. This new state-of-the-art satellite will assure enhanced service continuity for our key DTH customers in the major markets of Africa and Russia.”

François Gaullier, head of Telecom Systems at Airbus, added, “We are delighted to help Eutelsat provide broadcast and data connectivity, including to remote regions where it’s needed most. More personally, the continuing confidence of Eutelsat in our products is high praise of the reliability of our work and a source of pride for our skilled teams.” 

UPDATE: Astroscale’s ELSA-d Launch Is Rescheduled

Astroscale has informed all that GK Launch Services has postponed the launch of the firm’s ELSA-d has been rescheduled to Monday, March 22, at 06:07 UTC.

The company’s launch livestream will be hosted by the company’s Founder and CEO, Nobu Okada, from Tokyo and will include live coverage of the Baikonur Cosmodrome liftoff.

Coverage will be in Japanese with English translation — to listen to the English audio translation of the event, follow these steps: 　

1.Download the Interactio App from the Apple Store or Google Play store, or access the web app from your laptop: https://app.interactio.io/​. 　

2. Enter the event code GOELSAD 　

3. Plug in headphones. 　

4. Open the App and select the English or Japanese channel.

Arianespace To Send 36 OneWeb Satellites To Orbit Via Soyuz

The next Arianespace mission is planned from Vostochny Cosmodrome with Soyuz on March 25, 2021, to deliver 36 satellites into orbit.

By operating this fifth flight on behalf of OneWeb, Arianespace will bring the total fleet to 146 satellites in LEO.

Flight ST30, the second commercial mission performed by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, will put 36 of OneWeb’s satellites into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers. The mission will have a total duration of three hours and 51 minutes and will include nine separations of four satellites, that will raise themselves to their operational orbit. This launch will bring up to speed Arianespace’s operations this year to the benefit of OneWeb, and will raise to 146 the number of satellites deployed for the global telecommunications operator.

OneWeb’s constellation will deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity services to a wide range of customer sectors including aviation, maritime, backhaul services, as well as governments, emergency response services and more. Central to its purpose, OneWeb seeks to bring connectivity to every place where fiber cannot reach, and thereby bridge the digital divide.

Once deployed, the OneWeb constellation will enable user terminals that are capable of offering 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access globally – by air, sea and land.

OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space, is the constellation’s prime contractor. The satellites were built thanks to its leading-edge satellite manufacturing process that can build up to two satellites a day on a series production line dedicated to the assembly, integration, and testing of the satellites.

A total of 110 OneWeb satellites have already been orbited by Arianespace: the first six were successfully orbited by Arianespace from French Guiana on February 27, 2019. On February and March 2020, Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate successfully launched 68 OneWeb satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome on two successful Soyuz flights. On December 2020, the team successfully delivered an additional 36 satellites into orbit, with first commercial flight operated from new Vostochny Cosmodrome.

Pixxel To Build World’s Highest Resolution Hyperspectral Satellite Array

“We are very excited to finally speak about what we are building at Pixxel. Our new funding enables us to build a health monitor for the planet through the world’s most advanced hyperspectral small-satellites...

Pixxel, India’s first private Earth imaging company, said it has closed its $7.3 million seed round with new capital from Omnivore and Techstars joining alongside previous investors Lightspeed Ventures, Blume Ventures, growX and Ryan Johnson, ex-President at Planet Labs.

Also, for the first time on Thursday, Pixxel lifted the veil of secrecy and publicly discussed its mission to build the world’s highest resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation. The company’s first hyperspectral satellite will launch within the next few months.

Compared to the common multispectral satellites prevalent today, Pixxel’s hyperspectral earth-imaging satellites will beam down 50x more information by capturing light reflected from the earth in far more detail and in much narrower bands than just red, green and blue. This allows Pixxel to capture exact chemical signatures and offer much more accurate solutions to seemingly unsolvable issues in agriculture, energy and environment conservation. Once deployed, Pixxel’s constellation will provide 24-hour global coverage in higher quality resolution and lower cost than any existing satellite competitors.

The additional funding will be utilised to boost Pixxel’s efforts in making the agricultural industry more efficient in the country and worldwide. The satellite imagery with agricultural datasets can help in improving the existing crop and water management analytics as well as identifying a spectrum of issues that crop up during the growing season. The funding will also enable Pixxel to continue to rapidly scale its operations to meet the growing demand for high-quality remote sensing data through hyperspectral imaging.

To date, Pixxel has built partnerships and worked alongside the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Maxar, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Pixxel, is expected to soon launch its first remote-sensing satellite on the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) workhorse – the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). For this, the Bengaluru-based firm has entered into an agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under the Department of Space.

The agreement with NSIL is one of its kind and one of the first since the setting up of IN-SPACe, the authorization and regulatory body under the Department of Space (DoS) to enable private players undertaking space activities in India.

The DoS and Pixxel will work in collaboration to enhance utilisation and maximize the benefits of space assets for India. This first-of-a-kind private earth-observation mission will help provide solutions to many pressing environmental and agricultural issues, among other things.

Pixxel has also signed an agreement with Silicon Valley-based in-space satellite transportation and infrastructure company Momentus Inc, to launch its second satellite into space. The launch is scheduled for this year on top of a SpaceX Falcon-9 to SSO orbit (Sun-synchronous orbit), a particular kind of polar orbit.

Pixxel co-founders Awais Ahmed (on the right) and Kshitij Khandelwal (on the left)

“We are very excited to finally speak about what we are building at Pixxel. Our new funding enables us to build a health monitor for the planet through the world’s most advanced hyperspectral small-satellites. This enables us to capture some of the richest imagery that’s ever been beamed down to Earth,” said Awais Ahmed, CEO, Pixxel. “Our hyperspectral satellites will allow society to tackle many of humanity’s most pressing issues and we believe they will become the holy grail of remote sensing – providing the best combination of spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions to date and empowering humans to see the earth like never before,” he said.

By Peerzada Abrar, From Business-Standard.com

From Baikonur, 38 SmallSats Preparing For Push To Orbit By GK Launch Services

On March 20, at 9:07 a.m., Moscow Time, a launch of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage by GK Launch Services is scheduled from the Baikonur Cosmodrome that will deliver 38 spacecraft from 18 countries into three Sun Synchronous Orbits (SSO).

CAS500-1 smallsat of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), a government-funded research institute, engages not only in developing aerospace-related technologies but also in supporting a national aerospace development policy, is undertaking the implementation of Compact Advanced Satellite 500-1 (“CAS500-1,” hereafter) program for the Republic of Korea. The CAS500-1 program is a national program of Korean government to develop and operate 500 kg class medium size satellites with high resolution electro optical payload for earth observation mission on the low earth orbit. The primary mission of CAS500-1 is to provide high-resolution electro-optical images.

  • a communications subsystem in the UHF band
  • an X-band transmitter, an experimental GNSS (global positioning satellite system) receiver
  • an optical payload for attitude determination
  • laser ranging from ground for precise orbit determination.

ELSA-d smallsat, Astroscale Company, Japan, will be the first satellite to demonstrate the core technologies necessary for space debris docking and removal.

Four GRUS smallsat, Axelspace Company, Japan, are designed for the Earth observation at strict revisit rate.

NAJM-1 smallsat, Saudi Arabia, is an experimental/educational small satellite pathfinder mission for low-duty cycle earth imaging and communication from LEO.

DMSAT-1 smallsat is developed for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre to perform multi-spectral observations in the visible and near-infrared bands in order to detect and monitor aerosols in the upper atmosphere.

3 ADELIS-SAMSON (1, 2, 3) smallsat, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, are designed for demonstration of long-term autonomous cluster flight of multiple satellites and geolocation of the position of a terrestrial transmitter.

2 Kepler 6/7 smallsat, Kepler Communications Inc., Canada, are designed for the wideband and high data-rate communication in Ku-Band, as well as low-data rate narrowband communication in S-band. The spacecraft provide data transfer services to locations, assets, and IoT systems distributed across the globe with the Global Data Service (GDS) and EverywhereIoT services.

NANOSATC-BR2 smallsat is a scientific, academic and technological satellite designed for monitoring of the Earth’s Ionosphere and Magnetic Field, Southern Regional Space Research Center, University of Santa Maria, Brazil.

KMSL smallsat is a scientific satellite (experiments in microgravity), College of Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.

Pumbaa and Timon smallsats are designed for obtaining images of solar corona—including the region that is 10 times the Sun’s angular diameter. Astrodynamics and Control Laboratory of Yonsei University, Seoul City, Republic of Korea.

4 Beesat-5,-6,-7,-8 smallsats, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany.

Hiber-3 smallsat, the Netherlands, are designed for the provision of satellite connectivity to “internet-of-things” (IOT) devices.

Unisat-7 smallsat, GAUSS Srl, Italy, has been developed for the tryout of technology for the precise orbit insertion of small satellites of CubeSat format. The mission is based on the successful idea of acting first as an in-orbit deployer of third-party satellites, then operating as a flexible in-orbit demonstrator for space technology, while maintaining the telemetry RF link open for radio amateurs worldwide. UNISAT-7 will release six smallsats:

  • Unicorn-1, tryout of technology for the precise orbit insertion of small satellites of CubeSat format, Germany
  • DIY-1, test of deorbiting mechanism and verification of space qualification of the radio and solar cells, Argentina
  • FEES, educational and scientific research satellite, Italy
  • STECCO, educational and scientific research satellite, tryout of attitude control technology using the gravity gradient, Italy
  • SMOG-1, Educational and scientific research satellite, Hungary
  • BCCSAT-1, Educational and scientific research satellite, Thailand.

The First smallsat of High School of Economics “NIU VShE — DZZ”. The NRU HSE Earth Observation spacecraft has been developed through joint efforts by the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics (MIEM) and SPUTNIX. The 3U CubeSat is equipped with an experimental camera based on the stepped (Fresnel) lenses developed by the Samara University, and with a high-speed X-range transmitter. MIEM students were responsible for qualification of the satellite’s control systems.

3U CubeSat of Sirius Center and NRU HSE. The spacecraft is equipped with an improved DeCor-type instrument to monitor quick changes in the space radiation fluxes. Researchers from the Sirius University and the Moscow University’s Scientific and Research Institute of Nuclear Physics are in charge of the project’s scientific component – handling the space radiation detector and mission’s mathematical algorithms.

6U CubeSat Zorkiy (Sputniks). The satellite is equipped with a high-resolution (up to several meters per a pixel) telescope camera manufactured by the Lepton Research and Production Association (NPO Lepton). This makes it stand out among other spacecraft of a similar size.

SIMBA smallsat, Sapienza – University of Rome, is designed for monitoring of the wildlife behavior.

GRBAlpha smallsat, University of Košice, has been developed to demonstrate the detector technology and electronics for the future “Cubesats Applied for MEasuring and LOcalizing Transients” (CAMELOT) mission, which is a planned constellation of nanosatellites providing all-sky coverage with high sensitivity and localization accuracy following detections of gamma-ray transients.

Open Cosmos, the space company that provides end-to-end satellite missions, is the supplier of two of the missions to be launched on board. The company has been responsible for the design, manufacturing, integration and mission management of the custom-built nanosatellites for Lacuna Space and Sateliot.

Challenge One smallsat is an “Internet of Things” satellite, includes an innovative communication technology developed in TELNET facilities by Tunisian expertise. This Tunisian Satellite Launch will be the basis for the creation of a new space ecosystem for Tunisia and its region.

KSU CubeSat by the College of engineering (COE) at King Saud University is sending telemetry data and photos from the space to the ground station.

Lacuna Space based in UK and NL provides global connectivity for Internet-of-Things devices.

Sateliot is the satellite telecommunications operator that will launch a constellation of nanosatellites to democratize the Internet of Things with 5G coverage. The company plans to deploy 16 satellites from 2022 reaching 96 and an investment of over 100 million euros by 2025.

The launch operator is GK Launch Services (a subsidiary to the Roscosmos State Corporation).

GK Launch Services is a company established by Glavkosmos (a subsidiary of ROSCOSMOS State Space Corporation) and International Space Company Kosmotras. Its business is focused on setting-up and management of Soyuz-2 commercial launches from the Russian spaceports.

Omnispace Demo’s Sat5G Capability With U.S. Navy + Marine Corps

Omnispace has successfully demonstrated 5G satellite capability with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) as well as with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Omnispace was selected by NSIN in 2020 to pilot its technology in connection with Verizon’s new 5G “Living Lab.”

Omnispace successfully tested an initial 5G-via-satellite capability in a LinQuest lab demonstration for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. A number of commercial-off-the-shelf 5G devices communicated voice and data services via an emulated 5G radio access network (RAN), to Omnispace’s on-orbit satellite, leveraging LinQuest Corporation’s lab facility in Northern Virginia.

Omnispace is continuing the development of a global hybrid 5G communications network based on 3GPP standards, which will the ensure security and interoperability of devices all over the world for a wide array of enterprise and government customers.

The company plans to make its direct-to-satellite 5G NTN connectivity solutions available through its ‘one global network,’ which will use the company’s existing 2 GHz priority spectrum rights. Initial elements of the Omnispace network will enter into service in 2022. 

Campbell Marshall

“Omnispace is honored to have been selected to work with the U.S. Navy and Marines to demonstrate 5G capability from space,” said Campbell Marshall, Vice President, Government and International Markets, Omnispace LLC. “The development of standards-based 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) technology powered by Omnispace’s S-band spectrum will allow small tactical 5G devices to communicate directly and seamlessly with 5G-capable satellites and terrestrial networks, giving our warfighters ubiquitous global connectivity and true comms-on-the-move.”

“5G will be a critical technology for our military operations in the very near future, and those operations aren’t limited to dense urban environments where most 5G infrastructure is being deployed,” said Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Newell, Director, SoCal Tech Bridge, Naval X, a driving force behind some of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) 5G initiatives. “Truly global, mobile 5G connectivity in aero, maritime and remote areas will be essential across a broad spectrum of our government and military operations.”

SpaceX Continues Their Historic Starlink Launches

On Sunday, March 14, at 6:01 a.m. EDT, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This was the ninth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously supported launch of Crew Dragon Demo-1, RADARSAT Constellation, SXM-7, and five Starlink missions.

A video replay of this mission is available at this direct link…

Satellogic Partners With Four Major Space Organizations

Satellogic has announced new partnerships with four, major, US-based space organizations: The United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), SmallSat Alliance and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).

Through its partnership with USGIF and INSA, Satellogic will help promote the application of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) toward national security challenges, as well as advance intelligence and national security priorities. These organizational goals align with Satellogic’s long-term mission of providing the public sector with geospatial insights that enable decision makers to improve or protect their environments, including border, resource and infrastructure monitoring.

The SmallSat Alliance similarly aligns with Satellogic’s strategic goals through the Alliance’s trusted relationship with Congress and broader government officials. By joining the SmallSat Alliance, Satellogic will be able to help promote the usage of smallsat capabilities to complement government programs and roadmaps.

Through their member-driven consensus process, OGC serves as the leading authority on geospatial standards, ensuring that location information is findable, accessible, integratable and reusable. Together with OGC, Satellogic plans to lead discussions that ensure interoperability of geospatial data. Particularly given Satellogic’s global employee and customer-base, compatibility of geospatial data across country and use case is a leading priority for the company.

This series of partnerships comes on the heels of Tirman and VanMatre’s recent hires, which further expanded Satellogic’s US presence. Driven by Satellogic’s industry-leading in-orbit capacity and high-resolution imagery, Satellogic has a growing base of US government, international governments and commercial partners.

Matthew Tirman

“The US government is leading the way when it comes to partnerships with commercial space companies, and we are thrilled to see them diversifying their portfolio to partner with companies like Satellogic to leverage the potential of high-frequency, high-resolution data,” said Matthew Tirman, Head of Satellogic North America. “US officials know that they can take full advantage of the power of industry to help fuel and support their missions, and organizations like USGIF, INSA and SmallSat are instrumental in ensuring the long-term success of these relationships. As the commercial provider with more capacity in orbit than any other, it makes sense for Satellogic to play a leading role through these partnerships.”

“As commercial space capabilities become more accessible globally, and public-private partnerships become increasingly important to both commercial and federal space entities, the relevance of interoperability through standards and policy cannot be understated,” said Thomas VanMatre, Vice President of Global Business Development at Satellogic. “That’s why Satellogic is proud to join the Open Geospatial Consortium and help guide discussions around the future use and integration of our impactful data.”

Founded in 2010, Satellogic is a global company with more than 200 employees and offices across the United States, South America, Europe and Asia. The company’s LEO satellite constellation, platform, and data science teams work together to deliver high-frequency, high resolution, end-to-end solutions at the right price point.

Speedcast Exits Chapter 11 Via Centerbridge Partners Ownership

Speedcast has successfully completed its restructuring process and has emerged from Chapter 11 proceedings under the ownership of Centerbridge Partners, L.P. and its affiliates.

Following Centerbridge’s $500 million equity investment in the company, Speedcast now has a clean balance sheet with no secured debt and a healthy cash balance, optimally positioning it as a stable, long-term partner for its employees, customers and vendors.

Over the past 12 months, Speedcast has taken meaningful steps to reduce its cost structure and strengthen its operations. Now under new ownership, the company is moving forward on the course it set to transform its business and help customers evolve what their remote operations can achieve with fully connected systems that harness future-ready technologies and applications. Part of this effort includes integrating the company’s previous mobility networks to build a comprehensive, unified global platform capable of supporting the most demanding customer operations and digital transformation requirements.

Joe Spytek

“We are pleased to have reached the completion of this process which is the culmination of a lot of hard work from our entire team,” said Joe Spytek, Chief Executive Officer, Speedcast. “I especially want to thank our customers and partners who extended us their trust as we completed our restructuring, and our employees for their dedication to supporting client operations throughout this process. I’m eager to work with Centerbridge to position the business for success and give our customers the tools to advance the performance of their operations in today’s changing market landscape.”

“We look forward to supporting Speedcast’s management team in building upon the company’s strong foundation to realize the growth opportunities that exist as they move forward,” said Jared Hendricks, Senior Managing Director, Centerbridge. “We are excited to work together to help Speedcast further strengthen its service offerings to ensure the company is poised to thrive.”

Speedcast is advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as global legal counsel and Herbert Smith Freehills as co-counsel. Michael Healy of FTI Consulting, Inc. is Speedcast’s Chief Restructuring Officer, and FTI Consulting, Inc. is Speedcast’s financial and operational advisor. Moelis Australia Advisory Pty Ltd and Moelis & Company LLC are Speedcast’s investment bankers. KCC is Speedcast’s claims and noticing agent. Centerbridge is advised by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

USSF Awards Four Task Orders For FY21 Phase 2 Launch Missions

The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), awarded four National Security Space missions to Space Exploration Technologies, Inc. (SpaceX) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) under the Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement contracts on March 9, 2021.

SMC’s Launch Enterprise awarded USSF-36 and NROL-69 to SpaceX (both using the Falcon 9 launch vehicle) and USSF-112 and USSF-87 to ULA (both using the Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle).

USSF-36 has a scheduled launch date in the second quarter of FY23, NROL-69 in the fourth quarter of FY23, USSF-112 in the third quarter of FY23, and USSF-87 in the fourth quarter of FY23. 

SMC issued ULA task orders for USSF-112 and USSF-87 for $225 million, which include basic launch services and mission integration. SMC issued SpaceX task orders for USSF-36 and NROL-69 for $160 million, which include basic launch services and mission integration for USSF-36 and only basic launch services for NROL-69. The NRO will fund its mission integration separately.

Colonel Robert Bongiovi

“Today, we are making it possible for our National Security Space team to accomplish our mission of providing on-orbit space capability to the warfighter,” said Colonel Robert Bongiovi, Director of SMC’s Launch Enterprise. “The National Security Space Launch Phase 2 Launch Service Procurement contracts provide our customers affordability, flexibility, and extremely high reliability. This is the second order of the five-year Phase 2 ordering period. We are very pleased with the flexibility offered by our Phase 2 providers to make the best launch choices and adjustments as we proceed.”

The Space and Missile Systems Center, located at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California, is the U.S. Space Force’s center of acquisition excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems. The Center’s portfolio includes the Space Launch and Range Systems, Global Positioning System, Military Satellite Communications, Defense Meteorological Satellites, Satellite Control Networks, Space Based Infrared Systems and Space Situational Awareness capabilities.