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Rocket Lab SPAC’s Up To Become A Publicly Traded Company + Unveils Their New Launch Vehicle, Neutron

March 1, 2021

If you happened to attend the recent SmallSat Symposium 2021, you know that one of the “hot’ topics for keynotes, panels and discussions targeted the information regarding the Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) and the associated funding possibilities for satellite and space companies. Now, Rocket Lab USA, Inc. and the Vector Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: VACQ) (“Vector”) SPAC backed by technology investor Vector Capital have entered into a definitive merger agreement that will result in Rocket Lab becoming a publicly traded company.

The transaction is estimated to be completed in Q2 2021 and, at that time, Vector will change its name to Rocket Lab USA, Inc., and the combined company will trade under the Nasdaq ticker symbol RKLB.

Record Rocket Lab is transforming the way space is used and accessed by delivering end-to-end solutions across the launch and space systems markets. Since the Company’s first orbital launch in 2018, the firm’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second-most frequently launched U.S. rocket each year. To date, Rocket Lab has delivered 97 satellites to orbit for more than 20 public and private-sector organizations and technology-leading constellation operators.

Rocket Lab’s customer base is evenly split across government and commercial organizations that include NASA, the NRO and DARPA, as well as commercial satellite leaders. As the first company to deliver regular and reliable dedicated launch services for smallsats, Rocket Lab has also played a leading role in catalyzing the growth of the commercial small satellite industry.

The satellites launched by Rocket Lab enable operations in national security, Earth Observation (EO), space debris mitigation, weather and climate monitoring, communications and scientific research. Rocket Lab has an established space systems business that develops satellite and spacecraft solutions for a range of commercial and government missions, from LEO constellations to high-complexity,deep space and interplanetary missions.

*Artistic rendition of Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft.*

Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft family delivers a satellite-as-a-service solution that eliminates the typical high cost, time and complexity customers face when building their own satellites. With Rocket Lab, customers can buy a launch, satellite, ground services and on-orbit management as a turn-key package, resulting in a disruptive reduction in cost and time to orbit. Rocket Lab has an operational Photon in orbit, with additional missions to the Moon, Mars and Venus planned.

*Photon is a family of spacecraft designed to meet unique mission requirements and is available in LEO configurations through to interplanetary exploration models.*

In 2021, Rocket Lab will employ Electron and Photon to launch a satellite to lunar orbit for NASA to serve as a precursor for Gateway, a Moon-orbiting outpost that is part of NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the lunar surface.

Rocket Lab also unveiled their medium-lift Neutron rocket — an advanced new generation, reusable, launch vehicle with an 8-ton payload lift capacity that is tailored for mega constellations, deep space missions and human spaceflight. Neutron will be able to lift more than 90% of all satellites forecast to launch through 2029 and introduces highly disruptive lower costs to the high-growth constellation market by leveraging Electron’s heritage, launch sites and architecture.

Rocket Lab’s in-house launch and space systems capabilities provide significant competitive advantages in entering the high-growth space applications market that comprises approximately $320 billion of the current $350+ billion space industry TAM. Having reached these milestones — and considering the unprecedented commercial investment and government expenditures driving rapid growth in the space economy — Rocket Lab and the firm’s Board of Directors believe that this proposed transaction is the appropriate next step to position the Company for continued success.

On March 1, 2021, Rocket Lab entered into a definitive merger agreement with Vector. The transaction reflects an implied pro forma enterprise value of $4.1 billionfor Rocket Lab, representing 5.4 x 2025 projected revenue of approximately $750million.The transaction is expected to result in pro forma cash on the balance sheet of approximately $750million through the contribution of existing cash estimated to be on Rocket Lab’s balance sheet prior to close, up to $320 million of cash held in Vector Acquisition Corporation’s trust account(assuming no redemptions by Vector’s public shareholders), and a concurrent, approximately $470 million PIPE of common stock, priced at $10.00 per share and led by Vector Capital, BlackRock and Neuberger Berman, among other top-tier institutional investors.

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of Rocket Lab and Vector, is subject to approval by Vector’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions. Following the closing of the transaction, the Company will continue to be led by Founder and CEO Peter Beck. Alex Slusky, CEO of Vector and CIO and Founder of Vector Capital, will join Rocket Lab’s Board of Directors alongside Sven Strohband of Khosla Ventures, David Cowan of Bessemer Venture Partners, Matt Ocko of DCVC and Mike Griffin, independent director.

Peter Beck, CEO and Founder of Rocket Lab, said, “In the history of spaceflight, Rocket Lab is one of only two private companies that has delivered regular and reliable access to orbit. Not only are we the leader in small launch, we are the second most frequently launched rocket in the U.S. annually and the fourth most frequent launcher globally. Space has defined some of humanity’s greatest achievements,and it continues to shape our future.The satellites we build and launch are keeping countries connected and borders protected, monitoring weather and managing waste, providing insights on climate change, and helping us manage resources for future generations. Since day one, our talented Rocket Lab team has demonstrated stellar execution and a keen ability to seize growth opportunities. Now, we are thrilled to build upon this momentum and welcome Alex Slusky, a seasoned technology investor and public company director to our Board as we come together with Vector to become a publicly traded, pure-play, end-to-end space company. This milestone accelerates Rocket Lab’s ability to unlock the full potential of space through our launch and spacecraft platforms and catalyzes our ambition to create a new multi-billion-dollar business vertical in space applications.”

Alex Slusky, CEO of Vector and Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Vector Capital, said, “Rocket Lab is a once-in-a-generation company that is democratizing access to space through its constant innovation, leading technology and proven execution. Peter is a true visionary who has built a world-class company with discipline and grit. Rocket Lab is ideally positioned to continue to capture market share in the rapidly expanding space launch, systems and applications markets. Vector Capital has a nearly 25-year track record of identifying and building high-growth technology businesses and we are thrilled to partner with Peter and Rocket Lab’s talented team to support the Company’s next generation platforms and capabilities.Vector is thrilled to partner with Rocket Lab as it seeks to capitalize on unprecedented commercial and government spending in the burgeoning space economy.” Key

Additional information about the proposed transaction, including a copy of the merger agreement and investor presentation, will be available in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by Vector with the Securities and Exchange Commission and at www.sec.gov.The investor presentation can also be found on Rocket Lab’s investor website at www.rocketlabusa.com/investors.

ISRO’s PSLV-C51 Launches Amazonia-1 + 18 Co-Passenger Smallsats

February 28, 2021

*The ISRO PSLV-C51 mission launch. Image is courtesy of ISRO.*

PSLV-C51, the first dedicated launch for NSIL, successfully launched Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites from Sriharikota, India.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C51 successfully launched Amazonia-1 along with 18 co-passenger satellite son February 28, 2021, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR.

*Photo of the Satash Dhawan Space Center, First Launch Pad, with PSLV-C51 awaiting launch. Photo is courtesy of ISRO.*

PSLV-C51 lifted off from the First Launch Pad of SDSC SHAR at 10:24 hours (IST) as planned. After a flight of about 17 minutes 23 seconds, the vehicle injected the Amazonia-1 into its intended orbit and in the succeeding 1 hour 38 minutes, all of the 18 co-passenger satellites successfully separated from the PSLV in a predetermined sequence.

Amazonia-1 is the optical Earth Observation (EO) satellite of National Institute for Space Research (INPE). This satellite would further strengthen the existing structure by providing remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory.

PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 is the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under Department of Space.

The 18 co-passenger satellites onboard PSLV-C51 included four from IN-SPACe and 14 from NSIL. Out of the four satellites from IN-SPACe, three were UNITYsats designed and built as a joint development by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur (JITsat), G.H.Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakti Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat) and one was Satish Dhawan Sat (SDSAT) from Space Kidz India. The 14 satellites from NSIL carried were the commercial satellites from India (1) and USA (13).

PSLV-C51 is the 53rd flight of PSLV and 3rd flight of PSLV in ‘DL‘ configuration (with two, strap-on motors). This was the 78th launch vehicle mission from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.

With this launch, the total number of customer satellites from foreign countries placed in orbit by PSLV is 342 from 34 countries.

Coming Down The Virgin Orbit Pipeline

February 28, 2021

Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl and a LauncherOne flight. Photo is courtesy of the company.

As Virgin Orbit‘s first customer payloads take their victory laps around the Earth, the company is already looking ahead to the upcoming missions set to fly on LauncherOne later this year.

In the wake of the successful Launch Demo 2 mission in January, Virgin Orbit has since announced the addition of two exciting new customers to the launch manifest: SatRevolution, a satellite company based in Poland, and the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF).

*Artistic rendition of a SatRevolution STORK smallsat on-orbit.*

SatRevolution has tasked the company with launching their first pair of smallsats — STORK-4 and STORK-5 (nicknamed MARTA) — of their 14-satellite STORK constellation. Once deployed, STORK-4 and MARTA will collect multi-spectral medium-resolution imagery and data for agricultural and energy customers in the US, in Poland and abroad.

SatRevolution’s broader ambition is to become the largest worldwide operator of Earth Observation(EO) satellites, with a plan in motion to launch more than 1,000 satellites to LEO by 2026 to provide round-the-clock data collection.

General Atomics-EMS Contracts Rocket Lab To Launch The Argos-4

February 24, 2021

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has signed a contract with Rocket Lab to launch the GA-EMS developed Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite carrying the Argos-4 Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS) hosted payload.

*Artistic rendition of the Argos-4 on-orbit.*

The contract was awarded to GA-EMS by the United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) under a USSF Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) delivery order, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The anticipated launch will occur between late 2021 and early 2022 using Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle.

The Argos-4 A-DCS mission is supported by the NOAA Cooperative Data and Rescue Services Program. Argos is an international program that collects data from thousands of sensors and transmitters located around the world. Currently, data is collected and distributed for use in numerous applications, including ocean buoy tracking, wildlife and fishery monitoring, and maritime security, as well as non-environmental uses.

“We are excited to work with Rocket Lab to launch the Argos-4 satellite,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “GA-EMS is continuing to expand our presence in space. This contract demonstrates our commitment to quickly and reliably launch new payload technologies to space and meet our customer’s schedule requirements.”

“We’re proud to be teaming up with the GA-EMS team and providing a streamlined path to orbit for Argos-4,” said Peter Beck, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rocket Lab. “It’s a privilege to be able to provide tailored, reliable access to space for a program that makes such a significant contribution to monitoring and protecting our oceans and wildlife.”

“Rocket Lab has demonstrated success in reliably deploying small satellites to their targeted destination in low-earth orbit,” stated Nick Bucci, Vice president of Missile Defense and Space Systems at GA-EMS. “The flexible, modular OTB platform used for Argos-4 continues to demonstrate its versatility both in terms of payload integration and launch vehicle integration and compliance, enabling a cost-efficient solution to meet a wide variety of requirements. We look forward to incorporating our satellite with Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and putting the important Argos-4 A-DCS technology on orbit so it can perform its mission.”

Two Smallsats Launched By Nanoracks Via The NG-15 Cygnus Mission

February 22, 2021

On February 22, the Northrop Grumman NG-15 Cygnus spacecraft berthed with the International Space Station (ISS), carrying two cubesats in the Nanoracks External Cygnus Deployer (E-NRCSD).

The Cygnus arrived at the ISS after launching from Wallops Flight Facility Pad 0A on February 22, 2021 at 17:36 UTC. The NG-15 Cygnus has been named in honor of Katherine Johnson, a NASA mathematician who had a vital role in early human space flight missions.

This launch is Nanoracks’ ninth mission providing opportunities for cubesat deployment from the Cygnus. The CubeSats onboard this launch, IT-SPINS and MySat-2 (DhabiSat), were built by students and researchers at Montana State University and Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.

*The Nanoracks cubesat deployer on ISS.*

The Cygnus will remain at the ISS for several weeks to complete its primary science and technology goals. After the Cygnus departs from the ISS, it boosts to a higher altitude, where the E-NRCSD dispenses the cubesats into orbit.

The IT-SPINS cubesat was selected for launch by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) as part of the Educational Launch of Nanosatellites-33 (ELaNa-33) mission complement, sponsored by the NASA Launch Services Program (LSP).

*Annotated exploded view of IT-SPINS spacecraft (left) and fully integrated IT-SPINS spacecraft (right).*

MySat-2 (DhabiSat) is the second cubesat built by Khalifa University to be launched by Nanoracks. MySat-1 was deployed from the NG-10 Cygnus spacecraft in February of 2019. These smallsats enable students to design, implement and test software modules for attitude determination and control systems.

*Khalifa University’s MySat-2 (DhabiSat).*

“It’s an amazing accomplishment to build and launch a satellite. It’s even more amazing that these CubeSat teams were able to do so in a time when working together has never been more difficult,” said Nanoracks Mission Manager, Jake Cornish. “COVID-19 has caused us to rethink how to perform even normal tasks, so these individuals have accomplished something very special. We are extremely proud to work with groups who continuously push the boundaries of what’s possible, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.”

General Atomics EMS Selects Firefly Aerospace To Take MAIA To Orbit

February 19, 2021

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has awarded a contract to Firefly Aerospace Inc. to launch a GA-EMS developed Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite carrying NASA’s Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) instrument.

The launch vehicle delivering the satellite to space will be Firefly’s Alpha rocket and is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2022.

MAIA’s planned three year on-orbit operation will measure airborne particulate matter in the atmosphere to allow team members to correlate MAIA’s measurements with adverse human health issues such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, initially focused on 12 primary target areas around the world.

MAIA is a Venture-class mission within NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA is responsible for the MAIA instrument design, development, and delivery.

“The Alpha rocket meets all technical and performance requirements to launch GA-EMS’ OTB spacecraft with the MAIA instrument as the primary payload on a rideshare mission,” said Scott Forney, President of GA-EMS. “By leveraging Firefly’s inventive launch capabilities with our novel approach to satellite design and development, GA-EMS is able to assure our customers keep pace with the demand to launch missions like MAIA to advance NASA’s Earth Science research goals.”

“We are honored to have been selected by GA-EMS to launch this important NASA science payload,” said Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly’s CEO. “The Firefly team and our industry partners look forward to supporting GA-EMS on this exciting mission. The MAIA payload is a perfect example of people all around the world directly benefiting from a leading-edge space mission.”

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) Group researches, designs and manufactures first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and electric power generation systems. GA-EMS’ history of innovation has led to an expanding portfolio of specialized products and integrated system solutions that support aviation, space systems and satellites, missile defense, power and energy, and processing and monitoring applications for critical government, defense, industrial, and commercial customers worldwide.

Firefly is developing a family of launch and in-space vehicles and services that provide industry-leading affordability, convenience and reliability. Firefly’s launch vehicles use common technologies, manufacturing infrastructure and launch capabilities, providing LEO launch solutions for up to ten metric tons of payload at the lowest cost/kg in the small-lift class. Combined with Firefly’s in-space vehicles, such as the Space Utility Vehicle and Genesis Lander, Firefly provides the space industry with a one-stop shop for missions to the surface of the Moon or beyond. Headquartered in Cedar Park TX, Firefly has additional presence in Vandenberg, California, and Washington, D.C.

UPDATE 1: Perseverance Pays Off — ULA Lands NASA’s Rover Successfully Landing On Mars

February 18, 2021

Artistic rendition of NASA’s Perseverance rover deploys a supersonic parachute from its aeroshell as it slows down before landing on Mars. Hundreds of critical events had to be executed perfectly and exactly on time and the rover to landed safely on February 18, 2021. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Cheers erupted in mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as controllers confirmed that NASA’s Perseverance rover, with the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter attached to its belly, has touched down safely on Mars. Engineers are analyzing the data from the spacecraft.

A post landing briefing is expected at 5:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. PST) on NASA TV and YouTube.

The largest, most advanced rover NASA has sent to another world touched down on Mars after a 203-day journey traversing 293 million miles (472 million kilometers). Confirmation of the successful touchdown was announced in mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California at 3:55 p.m. EST (12:55 p.m. PST).

Packed with groundbreaking technology, the Mars 2020 mission launched on July 30, 2020, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Perseverance rover mission marks an ambitious first step in the effort to collect Mars samples and return them to Earth.

*The ULA launch of the NASA Mars mission.*

“This landing is one of those pivotal moments for NASA, the United States, and space exploration globally – when we know we are on the cusp of discovery and sharpening our pencils, so to speak, to rewrite the textbooks,” said acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk. “The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission embodies our nation’s spirit of persevering even in the most challenging of situations, inspiring, and advancing science and exploration. The mission itself personifies the human ideal of persevering toward the future and will help us prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet in the 2030s.”

About the size of a car, the 2,263-pound (1,026-kilogram) robotic geologist and astrobiologist will undergo several weeks of testing before it begins its two-year science investigation of Mars’ Jezero Crater.

Jezero Crater’s Ancient Lakeshore: Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touching down on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/JHU-APL/ESA

While the rover will investigate the rock and sediment of Jezero’s ancient lakebed and river delta to characterize the region’s geology and past climate, a fundamental part of its mission is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. To that end, the Mars Sample Return campaign, being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), will allow scientists on Earth to study samples collected by Perseverance to search for definitive signs of past life using instruments too large and complex to send to the Red Planet.

“Because of today’s exciting events, the first pristine samples from carefully documented locations on another planet are another step closer to being returned to Earth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA. “Perseverance is the first step in bringing back rock and regolith from Mars. We don’t know what these pristine samples from Mars will tell us. But what they could tell us is monumental – including that life might have once existed beyond Earth.”

Some 28 miles (45 kilometers) wide, Jezero Crater sits on the western edge of Isidis Planitia, a giant impact basin just north of the Martian equator. Scientists have determined that 3.5 billion years ago the crater had its own river delta and was filled with water.

*Labeled pull-apart view showing the major components of the MMRTG, or Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. Image credit: NASA*

The power system that provides electricity and heat for Perseverance through its exploration of Jezero Crater is a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided it to NASA through an ongoing partnership to develop power systems for civil space applications.

Equipped with seven primary science instruments, the most cameras ever sent to Mars, and its exquisitely complex sample caching system – the first of its kind sent into space – Perseverance will scour the Jezero region for fossilized remains of ancient microscopic Martian life, taking samples along the way.

*The rover’s onboard instruments, image is courtesy of NASA.*

“Perseverance is the most sophisticated robotic geologist ever made, but verifying that microscopic life once existed carries an enormous burden of proof,” said Lori Glaze, Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division. “While we’ll learn a lot with the great instruments we have aboard the rover, it may very well require the far more capable laboratories and instruments back here on Earth to tell us whether our samples carry evidence that Mars once harbored life.”

Paving the Way for Human Missions

“Landing on Mars is always an incredibly difficult task and we are proud to continue building on our past success,” said JPL Director Michael Watkins. “But, while Perseverance advances that success, this rover is also blazing its own path and daring new challenges in the surface mission. We built the rover not just to land but to find and collect the best scientific samples for return to Earth, and its incredibly complex sampling system and autonomy not only enable that mission, they set the stage for future robotic and crewed missions.”

Perseverance Rover’s Entry, Descent and Landing Profile: This illustration shows the events that occur in the final minutes of the nearly seven-month journey that NASA’s Perseverance rover takes to Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

The Mars Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation 2 (MEDLI2) sensor suite collected data about Mars’ atmosphere during entry, and the Terrain-Relative Navigation system autonomously guided the spacecraft during final descent. The data from both are expected to help future human missions land on other worlds more safely and with larger payloads.

*This artist’s concept depicts astronauts and human habitats on Mars. NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will carry a number of technologies that could make Mars safer and easier to explore for humans.* *JPL is building and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.*

On the surface of Mars, Perseverance’s science instruments will have an opportunity to scientifically shine. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable science cameras on Perseverance’s remote sensing mast, or head, that creates high-resolution, color 3D panoramas of the Martian landscape. Also located on the mast, the SuperCam uses a pulsed laser to study the chemistry of rocks and sediment and has its own microphone to help scientists better understand the property of the rocks, including their hardness.

This image, taken in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility’s High Bay 1 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on July 23, 2019, shows a close-up of the head of Mars 2020’s remote sensing mast. The mast head contains the SuperCam instrument (its lens is in the large circular opening). In the gray boxes beneath mast head are the two Mastcam-Z imagers. On the exterior sides of those imagers are the rover’s two navigation cameras.

Located on a turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, the Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) and the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instruments will work together to collect data on Mars’ geology close-up. PIXL will use an X-ray beam and suite of sensors to delve into a rock’s elemental chemistry. SHERLOC’s ultraviolet laser and spectrometer, along with its Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) imager, will study rock surfaces, mapping out the presence of certain minerals and organic molecules, which are the carbon-based building blocks of life on Earth.

The rover chassis is home to three science instruments, as well. The Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) is the first ground-penetrating radar on the surface of Mars and will be used to determine how different layers of the Martian surface formed over time. The data could help pave the way for future sensors that hunt for subsurface water ice deposits.

Also with an eye on future Red Planet explorations, the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) technology demonstration will attempt to manufacture oxygen out of thin air – the Red Planet’s tenuous and mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere. The rover’s Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) instrument, which has sensors on the mast and chassis, will provide key information about present-day Mars weather, climate, and dust.

Currently attached to the belly of Perseverance, the diminutive Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration that will attempt the first powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Project engineers and scientists will now put Perseverance through its paces, testing every instrument, subsystem, and subroutine over the next month or two. Only then will they deploy the helicopter to the surface for the flight test phase. If successful, Ingenuity could add an aerial dimension to exploration of the Red Planet in which such helicopters serve as a scouts or make deliveries for future astronauts away from their base.

Once Ingenuity’s test flights are complete, the rover’s search for evidence of ancient microbial life will begin in earnest.

“Perseverance is more than a rover, and more than this amazing collection of men and women that built it and got us here,” said John McNamee, Project manager of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission at JPL. “It is even more than the 10.9 million people who signed up to be part of our mission. This mission is about what humans can achieve when they persevere. We made it this far. Now, watch us go.”

Original posting…

A United Launched Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket launched NASA’s Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter on July 30, 2020. After a seven-month journey, the rover is planning to land on Mars on Thursday, February 18. This event caps a 293-millon-mile journey at began atop a United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.

ULA and the company’s heritage vehicles have launched every U.S. mission to the red planet — the launch of Mars 2020 marked ULA’s 20^th trip. Perseverance launched aboard an Atlas V rocket in the 541 configuration, with a 5-meter payload fairing and four solid rocket boosters. The Atlas V rocket delivered Perseverance on an ultra-precise interplanetary trajectory to intercept Mars.

*ULA’s Delta V rocket liftoff with Perseverance.*

The Perseverance rover will explore an ancient river delta in Jezero Crater to study what the planet was like in its ancient history, seek signs of past microbial life, collect and store samples of selected rock and soil for future return to Earth, and prepare for future human missions. The rover will also deploy the Ingenuity helicopter, a technology demonstration to prove that powered flight can be achieved on Mars.

*Artistic rendition of the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter operating on Mars.*

The primary goal of the mission is determining whether life ever existed on Mars. Scientists believe evidence of microbial life may be preserved in Jezero, which holds rocks and minerals that could only form in water, and Perseverance is the first rover mission designed to discover signs of past life.

The Perseverance landing will be especially difficult as the rover will face the most challenging terrain ever targeted by a robotic spacecraft. Jezero Crater is a 28-mile-wide impact basin with steep cliffs, sand dunes, boulder fields, and smaller impact craters.

To date, ULA has launched 142 times with 100 percent mission success. ULA is proud to have been part of such a significant science mission continuing the Mars legacy to provide crucial knowledge and understanding of the red planet.

The Perseverance rover is scheduled to touch down on Mars on Thursday, February 18, at approximately 3:55 p.m. EST.

View the launch at this direct ULA streaming link…

Telesat Signs An MoU With Québec + Receives Millions Of C$ For Investment In The Lightspeed Constellation

February 18, 2021

Telesat has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Québec for an investment of C$400 million into Telesat Lightspeed, Telesat’s LE) satellite network.

Telesat will invest C$1.6 billion into Québec, both directly and through its supply chain, which will include a significant portion of Lightspeed manufacturing and operations.

The Lightspeed program will create 600, high-paying, STEM jobs, leverage Québec’s substantial aerospace expertise and infrastructure, and allow the province to harness the significant economic growth from the burgeoning New Space economy.

Under the terms of the MOU, the investment by the Government of Québec will consist of C$200 million in preferred equity as well as a C$200 million loan. It is expected that a final agreement will be completed in the coming months. This collaboration comes on the heels of Telesat’s selection of Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for Lightspeed and its recently completed C$600 million partnership with the Government of Canada to affordably bridge Canada’s digital divide through Telesat Lightspeed.

*Artistic rendition of the Telesat Lightspeed constellation on-orbit. Image is courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.*

As a result of this agreement and given Québec’s world-class expertise and competencies in the aerospace sector, the province will be a key partner for the manufacturing and operations of Lightspeed. Specifically, the province will be home to a large, Telesat campus that will house a broad range of Lightspeed technical operations, including the Network Operating Centre (NOC), a satellite control centre, the cybersecurity operations centre, the engineering lab and an advanced landing station that will provide secure, high-capacity communication links to the Lightspeed constellation. This new campus will host approximately 320 new, highly skilled, Telesat jobs, largely in STEM.

*Artistic rendition of a Telesat Lightspeed satellite. Image is courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.*

In light of their world-class expertise, Telesat has selected Canadian space technology company MDA to manufacture the cutting-edge phased array antennas to be incorporated into the Lightspeed satellites. In manufacturing these antennas, MDA will leverage 3D additive manufacturing and will incorporate advanced beam hopping technology that will allow the Lightspeed constellation to dynamically and flexibly focus high capacity broadband links into rural and remote communities and other demand hot spots around the world.

Telesat’s prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, will establish the final manufacturing of the advanced Lightspeed satellites at an assembly, integration and testing facility in Québec and, in this regard, is in discussions with Québec-based partners. This state-of-the-art facility will leverage next-generation manufacturing capabilities to deliver, on average, one Lightspeed satellite per day.

“Telesat welcomes and appreciates the strong support and participation of the Government of Québec as we embark on Lightspeed, the most ambitious and consequential program in our more than 50-year history,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “The vast aerospace expertise resident in Québec, coupled with the Government’s leadership and vision for the fast-growing New Space Economy, provides an overwhelmingly compelling rationale for Telesat to make substantial investments in the province, including the manufacture of the Lightspeed satellites and the establishment of our extensive technical operations. We deeply value the world-class talent and capabilities in Québec and we are excited to welcome that talent into the Telesat family.”

François Legault, the Premier of Québec, said, “Today’s news is extraordinary, both for Québec’s aerospace sector and for Québec as a whole. The preservation of 650 jobs and the creation of a further 600 jobs at about $100,000 a year is an example of how Québec will bridge the wealth gap with neighbouring jurisdictions. I am in politics to achieve this goal. The pandemic will have an ongoing impact on aircraft construction, and this is the ideal time to accelerate the pace of satellite development, a new and promising field for the aerospace industry. Your government will continue to invest to create better-paid jobs in Québec, to build a more prosperous Québec, and ensure a prouder Québec.”

Pierre Fitzgibbon, Québec’s Minister of Economy and Innovation, remarked,“The Telesat project will raise the international profile of Québec engineering and our space industry. It gives us a key position in the new, private-sector space race. This investment will boost our aerospace industry, which has suffered over the last year. Québec is already a leader in the field, but with today’s announcement, we show that we will do what it takes to remain a leader into the future.”

Mike Greenley, Chief Executive Officer, MDA, said, “We are very proud to be selected for this critical role on Telesat Lightspeed, which will enable us to expand our presence in Québec and create highly-skilled, high-paying jobs while engaging with our local supply chain on this ground-breaking program. With this key role in developing next-generation antenna technology, combined with our advanced manufacturing capabilities, we anticipate major growth in our Montreal-based Satellite Systems business. We would like to thank Telesat for its confidence in MDA, and the Government of Québec for its financial support.”

MDA will provide one of the critical technology subsystems on Telesat Lightspeed — with advanced antenna design and manufacturing capabilities at its modern facility in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, this job-creating project enjoys the support of the Government of Quebec through a financial contribution.

MDA will develop the Direct Radiating Array (DRA), a revolutionary phased array, electronically-steered multi-beam antenna that will provide unlimited coverage flexibility and agility through advanced beam-forming technology. This configuration will achieve any-beam, anytime, anywhere coverage over the entire visible Earth.

This new technology represents a major and key investment for the success of MDA’s Satellite Systems business, as it is expected that most LEO, Medium MEO and GEO satellite markets will migrate to these technologies in the future. MDA will deliver more than 1,000 units and the company is also in advanced discussions with Thales Alenia Space for the Lightspeed satellites’ final assembly and manufacturing in Québec.

The scope of MDA’s work on this project is expected to involve an investment of over C$200 million by MDA and create approximately 280 jobs over a period of five years, while sustaining MDA’s overall highly-experienced and specialized Quebec-based engineering workforce. With the development of next generation satellite technologies, MDA expects significant growth in its Montreal-based satellite systems business. To support this strong economic activity, Investissement Québec will provide a loan of C$50 million.

Spaceflight Details Their Upcoming Amazonia-1 Launch From Satish Dawn Space Center

February 17, 2021

Spaceflight Inc. has revealed the details about the upcoming launch of their largest customer satellite launch to date, the Amazonia-1 spacecraft.

To accommodate the nearly 700-kilogram satellite, Spaceflight purchased an entire NewSpace India Limited’s (NSIL) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The mission, named PSLV-C51/ Amazonia-1, is targeted for launch at the end of February from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota (SDSC, SHAR), India.

The spacecraft was produced by INPE, the National Institute for Space Research (in Portuguese: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais), Brazil’s leading entity dedicated to space research and exploration and is the first Earth Observation (EO) satellite to be completely designed, integrated, tested and operated in Brazil.

Amazonia-1 will launch under a commercial arrangement with NSIL, an Indian government company under Department of Space (DOS) and the commercial arm of ISRO.

A Sun Synchronous Orbiting satellite (SSO), Amazonia-1 will carry an optical camera that can autonomously generate images of any part of the world every five days, providing value in developing applications such as deforestation alerts in the Amazon. This will be the debut satellite based on the Brazilian Multi Mission Platform (MMP), a general-purpose service bus for 500 kg class satellites.

Spaceflight was awarded a multi-year contract to provide launch services for INPE through a highly competitive government procurement process among global launch providers in December of 2018. The Brazilian-built spacecraft is 1.7 meters in diameter and 2.6 meters tall and will be deployed to a mean altitude 752 kilometers SSO, while the additional secondary rideshare spacecraft will be deployed at a lower altitude.

In addition to PSLV, Spaceflight works with a portfolio of global launch vehicles, including Falcon 9, Antares, Electron and Vega, to provide a variety of launch options to its customers. Most recently, Spaceflight successfully launched and deployed spacecraft on the company’s next-generation Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX1, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission last month.

*The Sherpa FX-1 OTV, image is courtesy of Spaceflight.*

This year, Spaceflight plans to launch multiple Sherpa vehicles in addition to many other rideshare missions, totaling more than 10 missions across the company’s global launch vehicle portfolio.

“This mission is an important milestone for Brazil, INPE and Spaceflight and it has been an honor for our team to ready the inaugural Amazonia payload for launch,” said Marcy Mabry Rugland, Senior Mission Manager at Spaceflight. “Launching a satellite of this size posed unique complexities that our team expertly orchestrated, leaning on their expertise and years of experience managing missions on the PSLV. At Spaceflight, we are committed to opening up space access for any satellite company, regardless of size, preferred orbit or budget, and to find a way to successfully launch a spacecraft while meeting specific mission needs.”

“The launch of our debut satellite for INPE is a significant achievement and we are grateful for Spaceflight’s dedication and support throughout our mission,” said Adenilson Silva, Amazonia mission responsible. “The deployment of Amazonia-1 will allow us to capture images and monitor the environment and agriculture throughout the Brazilian territory which will help us better understand the expansive terrestrial environment in the region. In addition to the technological achievements of the mission, it also represents the last step of MMP development. Spaceflight’s end-to-end launch services gives us confidence that our mission needs are managed and enables our team to fully focus on the satellite we’re preparing to launch.”

Spaceflight offers a comprehensive suite of launch services and Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles. The company provides launch flexibility to ensure customers’ smallsats get to orbit exactly when and where they want through a combination of long-standing relationships with a diverse portfolio of launch partners, innovative satellite integration capabilities, including flight and ground support hardware, licensing and logistics management, and extensive mission management expertise. Based in Seattle, Spaceflight has successfully launched hundreds of satellites and is a part of the Mitsui & Co., Ltd. portfolio, operating as an independent, U.S.-based company.

SpaceX’s 19th Starlink Launch Is A Success

February 15, 2021

*Image is a screen capture for the live video stream by SpaceX of the Falcon 9 launch.*

The 5th SpaceX Starlink launch via a Falcon 9, two-stage rocked occurred successfully on Monday, February 15, 2021, at 10:59 p.m., ET, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This was the 19th Starlink launch and the 5th launch for 2021.

The rocket propellants loaded at T-39 minutes. The Falcon 9 is 229 feet tall which is greater than the wingspan of 747 aircraft. With this two stage configuration, there are 9 Merlin first stage engines.

At T-30, the “Go For Launch” was received. At about 2-1/2 minutes into the flight, separation with 2nd stage occurred and the first stage descended for re-landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” — the landing failed to successfully occur.

*Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.*

The second stage features a single Merlin engine and pushed the 17 ft. tall payload fairing that protects the satellites to the vacuum of space, whereupon the fairing was ejected. This was the first flight of this particular fairing.

Note: Starlink domestic and international beta is now open for orders at Starlink.com and a $99 deposit is required — that deposit is fully refundable.