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SpaceX readies Falcon 9 for Wednesday launch of 22 Starlink smallsats

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, August 16 at 1:42 a.m., ET, (08:42 UTC on August 17) for a Falcon 9 launch of 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

If needed, four additional opportunities are available starting at 9:07 p.m. ET (1:07 UTC on August 17) until 12:00 a.m. ET on August 17 (4:00 UTC). Four backup opportunities are also currently available on Thursday, August 17 starting at 7:49 p.m. ET (23:49 UTC) until 11:11 p.m. ET (3:11 UTC on August 18).

This is the 13th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and four Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Rocket Lab to launch a NASA research mission

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has signed a double-launch deal with NASA to deliver the Agency’s climate change, research-focused mission, PREFIRE, to LEO in 2024.

Artist’s concept of PREFIRE CubeSats in space. Image is courtesy of NASA/JPL.

The two dedicated missions on Electron will deploy one smallsat each to a 525 km. circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand from May of 2024. The PREFIRE mission has specific LTAN (Local Time of the Ascending Node) requirements and a need for the second satellite to be deployed to space shortly after the first, which is made possible by Electron’s ability to deploy dedicated small satellite missions on highly responsive timelines. The launches will be the 7th and 8th missions Rocket Lab has launched for NASA since 2018.

Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Photo is courtesy of the company.

NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission will help close a gap in understanding of how much of Earth’s heat is lost to space, especially from the Arctic and Antarctica. Analysis of PREFIRE’s measurements will inform climate and ice models, providing better projections of how a warming world will affect sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise. Improving climate models can ultimately help to provide more accurate projections on the impacts of storm severity and frequency, as well as coastal erosion and flooding. PREFIRE consists of two, 6U CubeSats with a baseline mission length of 10 months.

The PREFIRE mission was awarded to Rocket Lab through NASA’s Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program, a $300 million dollar five-year contracting vehicle for placing NASA’s science and technology payloads on U.S. commercial launchers.

PREFIRE joins a long list of NASA missions awarded to Rocket Lab, including the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon on Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle and Lunar Photon satellite bus, the back-to-back launches in May 2023 of the TROPICS satellites for NASA’s hurricane monitoring mission, and the NASA Starling mission launched last month on Rocket Lab’s most recent Electron recovery launch.

“Missions like these are core to the whole reason why Rocket Lab was founded in the first place – to open up access to space to improve life on Earth – and climate change is a hugely urgent cause for us all. It’s a privilege to be able to support this important mission and an honor to be a continued trusted launch provider for small satellite missions with big impact.” — Peter Beck, Founder and CEO, Rocket Lab

Telesat contracts MDA as Prime for advanced Telesat Lightspeed LEO constellation + now fully funded

Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT) has announced that MDA Ltd. (TSX: MDA) will build 198 advanced satellites for the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) program.

Telesat also announced that Telesat Lightspeed is now fully funded through global service delivery taking into account the company’s own equity contribution, certain vendor financing, and aggregate funding commitments from its Canadian federal and provincial government partners.

By taking advantage of key technology advances, including MDA’s digital beamforming array antennas and integrated regenerative processor, the re-designed Telesat Lightspeed network will achieve increased network efficiency and enhanced flexibility to focus and dynamically deliver capacity to users. These technology advances allow each satellite to be slightly smaller than the satellites Telesat was previously considering while still maintaining the highest levels of service performance, resiliency and overall usable capacity in the network.

Importantly, these state-of-the art satellites are also highly cost effective, resulting in an anticipated total capital cost savings for the 198-satellite program of approximately $2 billion compared to Telesat’s prior capital estimate. This substantial savings facilitates the funding of the program and meaningfully improves what were already compelling projected financial returns.

Leveraging Telesat’s 54 year history of engineering excellence, the Telesat Lightspeed network was designed from inception to serve the demanding, mission-critical connectivity requirements of enterprise and government users. Service offerings for the optically-linked mesh network in space include multi-Gbps data links, Layer 2 MEF 3.0 standards, and highly secure, resilient, low-latency broadband connectivity anywhere in the world. With the signing of this contract, the Telesat Lightspeed program begins immediately, with satellite launches scheduled to commence in mid-2026 and polar and global services scheduled to begin in late 2027.

“I’m incredibly proud of the Telesat team for their innovative work to further optimize our Telesat Lightspeed design – which was already a highly advanced and high performing LEO network – resulting in dramatically reduced costs with unmatched enterprise-class service offerings,” stated . “MDA is a world class satellite prime contractor with an impressive track record and a number of recent high profile, strategic space programs announced, and it is a privilege to be working side-by-side with them on the flagship, game-changing Telesat Lightspeed constellation. MDA’s deep expertise as a LEO prime contractor, as well our own leading expertise in satellite operations and systems engineering, gives us the highest level of confidence in meeting our objectives.” — Dan Goldberg, President and CEO, Telesat

“True to our values, MDA has been committed to being a trusted Telesat Lightspeed mission partner since the beginning, and our proven performance as a LEO constellation satellite prime contractor will now be leveraged to take the constellation forward,” said . “We believe in Telesat’s mission and vision and are excited that our software-defined digital satellite product will be a key enabler in meeting their goals as we work together to usher in the next generation of space-based satellite communications.” — Mike Greenley, CEO, MDA

Telesat Lightspeed Program Funding

Telesat now has in place aggregate funding commitments from its Canadian federal and provincial government partners in the combined amount of up to approximately $2 billion, demonstrating their strong commitment and confidence in the program and the importance of the New Space Economy for Canada. The finalization of this funding is dependent on a number of conditions, including completion of confirmatory due diligence and the conclusion of definitive agreements.

This funding, combined with Telesat’s own approximately $1.6 billion equity contribution, as well as certain vendor financing, would provide the Telesat Lightspeed program with sufficient funds to launch global service, which will occur once the first 156 satellites are in orbit. Telesat will continue adding satellites that are funded using Telesat Lightspeed cash flow to complete the initial 198 satellite constellation. In addition to the approximately $2 billion in anticipated capital savings, Telesat also expects substantial savings due to significantly reduced financing costs relative to the company’s prior plan.

The capital investment for the Telesat Lightspeed program is approximately $3.5 billion and includes 198 Telesat Lightspeed satellites, satellite launch vehicles, a global ground network of landing stations and operations centers, business and operations support systems, and expenditures to support the further development of a portfolio of user terminals for Telesat’s target markets.

Telesat Lightspeed is the largest space program ever conceived in Canada and will be among the most innovative, cutting-edge broadband satellite networks in the world. MDA will manufacture the Telesat Lightspeed satellites in its state-of-the-art satellite systems design and high-volume manufacturing facilities in Quebec. The program will help bridge the digital divide, create and maintain approximately 2,000 high-quality Canadian jobs, spur Canadian-driven innovation and the development of valuable intellectual property, generate billions of dollars in economic growth, and drive domestic investment and exports.

“As a global leader in the new space economy, Canada is proud to see two domestic champions join forces on this flagship Canadian program to create high-skilled jobs and support cutting-edge innovation in the telecom industry, helping unlock economic and social opportunities in Canada’s rural and remote communities. Canada remains a strong supporter of Telesat Lightspeed and will continue to help solve some of the most pressing challenges we face here on Earth, from bridging the digital divide, to health, climate change, national security, and more.” — The Honorable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry

“We are grateful and proud to have the strong support of the Governments of Canada, Quebec and Ontario in the Telesat Lightspeed program.” — Dan Goldberg, President and CEO, Telesat

Luna 25: the first Russian spacecraft in 47 years heading to the moon

On August 11, Russia successfully launched Luna-25 heading to the Moon. This is the first lunar lander in 47 years.

The uncrewed spacecraft took off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket. The Luna-25 mission aims to collect samples of moon rock and dust, crucial for understanding the moon’s environment before any potential base construction.

The lander, roughly the size of a small car, is expected to operate for a year on the moon’s south pole. The Luna-25 spacecraft is equipped with landing rockets, solar panels, computers, and a robotic arm for collecting lunar samples. It will take about five days to travel to the Moon and is expected to touch down on August 21.

This launch marks a significant step in Russia’s space exploration efforts, reigniting its lunar program after nearly half a century.

India Today

Germany’s DCUBED to be the first “disruptive enabling technology” demonstrating in-space manufacturing

DCUBED, the German NewSpace hardware manufacturer, announced it will demonstrate in-space manufacturing as part of a demonstration mission expected in Q1 2024. This will be the first time ever that a product has been manufactured in free space.

The demonstration will see the production of a roughly 30 centimeter high, 3D printed truss structure, and is designed to prove the efficacy of in-space manufacturing and highlight the game-changing potential that such capabilities promise to deliver for production in-orbit.

Revolutionizing Space Exploration: In-Space Manufacturing with DCUBED

“Payload limitations and costs are real barriers hindering the use of space for the benefit of mankind. There is an urgent need for large structures in orbit to support an ecosystem providing services as diverse as internet from space, IoT, and Earth observation. The establishment of our new key business division shows that we at DCUBED always want to push the boundaries of what is possible, enabling our partners and customers to think big in space. Our demonstration of manufacturing in free space promises to revolutionize in-space fabrication and repair of space structures and trigger a paradigm shift in how we approach the production of space hardware, opening many doors which we can’t even imagine right now. This is a truly disruptive enabling technology.” Dr. Thomas Sinn, CEO & Founder, DCUBED.

The upcoming demonstration is a major milestone in DCUBED’s efforts towards establishing in-space manufacturing capabilities for larger space structures, especially for SmallSat applications, due to be demonstrated by the company in the next couple of years. This program includes an in-orbit experiment of truss-structure manufacturing in 2025 and an in-orbit mission demonstration, in 2026, for a multiple kilowatt (KW) SmallSat solar arrays.

A space mechanism builder with 15 products already in orbit, DCUBED, which is headquartered outside Munich, Germany, is establishing an office in Broomfield, Colorado, an ideal location within the key United States space market.

UPDATE: Success as SpaceX’s 22 Starlinks soar turning the early morning sky pink

UPDATE: On Friday, August 11 at 1:17 a.m. ET, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 22 of the second-generation “V2” mini satellites, that are larger and have four times the bandwidth of the previous models, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This was the ninth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19, and now five Starlink missions.

The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, landing at sea on the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions about 8.5 minutes after launch.  

Previously: SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket originally scheduled to launch 22 of the second-generation “V2” mini satellites, that are larger and have four times the bandwidth of the previous models, is now rescheduled to 12:27 a.m. EDT (0427 UTC) early Friday morning. The 22 Starlink satellites will head into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX’s photo of its Starlink V2 Mini satellites at Cape Canaveral.

If needed, an additional launch opportunity is available at 1:17 a.m. ET (5:17 UTC). Five backup opportunities are also currently available on Friday, August 11 starting at 9:30 p.m. ET (1:30 UTC on August 12) until 12:52 a.m. ET on August 12 (4:52 UTC). This will be the 11th launch of the V2 minis.

The company’s internet service is available in more than 60 countries and has more than 1.5 million subscribers according to reports in May of this year.

The first stage booster previously launched the Cargo Dragon CRS-24, Eutelsat Hotbird 13F, OneWeb 1, and SES-18/SES-19 missions, plus four Starlink deployment flights. Its last flight was the Starlink 5-12 mission on June 23, 2023.

After separating from the second stage about two and a half minutes into flight, the first stage booster, that had previously flown the Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER and the Starlink 4-4 mission, will target landing on the drone ship, Just Read the Instructions stationed east of the Bahamas in the Atlantic. The booster’s last launch was 37 days ago.

The booster had previously flown the Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER and the Starlink 4-4 missions. Its last launch was 37 days ago.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink V2 mini small sats delayed and rescheduled

SpaceX‘s Falcon 9 rocket originally scheduled to launch 22 of the second-generation “V2” mini satellites, that are larger and have four times the bandwidth of the previous models, is now rescheduled to 12:27 a.m. EDT (0427 UTC) early Friday morning. The 22 Starlink satellites will head into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX’s photo of its Starlink V2 Mini satellites at Cape Canaveral.

If needed, an additional launch opportunity is available at 1:17 a.m. ET (5:17 UTC). Five backup opportunities are also currently available on Friday, August 11 starting at 9:30 p.m. ET (1:30 UTC on August 12) until 12:52 a.m. ET on August 12 (4:52 UTC). This will be the 11th launch of the V2 minis.

The company’s internet service is available in more than 60 countries and has more than 1.5 million subscribers according to reports in May of this year.

The first stage booster previously launched the Cargo Dragon CRS-24, Eutelsat Hotbird 13F, OneWeb 1, and SES-18/SES-19 missions, plus four Starlink deployment flights. Its last flight was the Starlink 5-12 mission on June 23, 2023.

After separating from the second stage about two and a half minutes into flight, the first stage booster, that had previously flown the Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER and the Starlink 4-4 mission, will target landing on the drone ship, Just Read the Instructions stationed east of the Bahamas in the Atlantic. The booster’s last launch was 37 days ago.

The booster had previously flown the Crew-6, SES O3b mPOWER and the Starlink 4-4 missions. Its last launch was 37 days ago.

Planet Labs and MAXAR images provide updates of Maui fires’ devastation

Overview of Lahaina on Maui in Sept. 2022 and Aug. 2023, after the wildfire. Photo: Planet Labs PBC

Reports from Maui indicate that that the death toll from a wildfire that has turned the resort town of Lahaina on Hawaii’s Maui island into smoldering ruins was expected to rise “very significantly” on Thursday, according to Hawaii Governor Josh Green. “We will need to rebuild the entirety of Lahaina, I believe,” Governor Green told KHON 2 TV.

Lahaina square on June 25 and Aug. 9. Photo: Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

Official reports indicate that 36 people have died after the fires broke out late on Tuesday, and more have suffered burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries. Search and rescue efforts continue, and thousands of people have fled the area, into emergency shelters and off the island.

The governor indicated that the death count will climb into the 40s later on Thursday.

The fires were the worst disaster to befall Hawaii since 1960, one year after it became a U.S. state, when a tsunami killed 61 people.

Europe’s HyPrSpace and Precious Payload team up as a sort of SpaceX service

French rocket startup, HyPrSpace, and Precious Payload, a satellite launch provider, have teamed up to simplify the process for payload developers to reserve launches using HyPrSpace’s Orbital Baguette-1 (OB-1) rockets. These rockets can deliver 250 kg to LEO, with the maiden launch set for 2026. HyPrSpace caters to the needs of smallsats and satellite constellations with dedicated launches and rideshare opportunities.

The OB-1, (pronounced like the Star Wars character Obiwan), promises launches at half the cost of traditional micro-launchers. Its hybrid propulsion system employs a patented innovation, significantly reducing R&D and industrialization costs. Its architecture requires fewer components and has simpler geometry than traditional systems, eliminating the need for turbopumps. HyPrSpace was founded in 2019 by a team of space engineers who created its Orbital Baguette-1 (OB-1) micro-launcher and innovative hybrid propulsion technology, to provide cheaper, safer, and greener space access.

“HyPrSpace’s hybrid engines represent the next generation in space propulsion technology. We believe their approach, which can be scaled to serve a family of launch vehicles and space tugs, and have a potential to lower barriers to space access and enhance in-space mobility,” said Andrew Maximov, CEO and founder of Precious Payload.

Precious Payload is a space tech company that developed Launch.ctrl, a marketplace for satellite operators to book a launch and the necessary services to take their payloads from the ground to space. This process revolutionizes the way space access is bought and sold, with a wide range of launch providers listed on their platform.

HyPrSpace’s hybrid engines are non-explosive, posing less of a fire hazard compared to liquid propulsion. Embracing a greener approach, HyPrSpace’s technology can use various types of solid fuels, including recycled and plant-based HDPE, a type of plastic, commonly found in items like soap bottles, milk containers, and plastic bags.

Sylvain Bataillard, Co-Founder & COO of HyPrSpace, said, “The OB-1 is our leap towards a future of cheaper, safer, and more efficient space access. After two successful engine tests in 2022, we’ve scheduled full-stage configuration ground testing this year, supported by the General Directorate of Armament (DGA), which brings us a step closer to achieving our goal.”

HyPrSpace’s recent collaboration with the French Ministry of Armed Forces’ DGA, which grants access to the DGA Missile Testing site in Gironde, validates the way for further innovation and testing. This strategic alliance strengthens HyPrSpace’s potential to ‘disrupt the launch market’. This unique opportunity enables the company to plan its debut suborbital test launch in 2025.

Benchmark raises million$$ + moves to new HQ with world-class test + mfg. capabilities

Benchmark Space Systems has raised $33 million in Series B funding and has moved the firm’s headquarters to facilities that feature state-of-the-art testing systems plus 4x manufacturing capacity.

The funding round will enable the company to intensify new innovations and accelerate the strategic transition from R&D to production to meet growing demand for non-toxic propulsion systems.

Benchmark’s new HQ enables the company to scale manufacturing and cut production times with unprecedented in-house capabilities that include quality, performance and testing for new mission profiles.

The 40,000 square foot, Vermont-based facility features full end-to-end delivery capability from engineering through test and integration, including hot fire chambers, vibration tables, thermal vacuum chambers and lean production flow lines housed in ISO 7 clean-room environments. The advanced systems and expanded space will enable enhanced onsite team collaboration, predictable quality and visibility across all phases of program delivery for Benchmark’s complete product line of 1 milli-newton to 500 newton chemical and electric thrusters and propulsion systems.

This new facility enables a key objective for Benchmark to vertically integrate quality control, production, test and integration under one roof as a key enabler to scaling its delivery quality and on-time performance for the company’s mission partners.

The company is on the verge of delivering the first key shipments of all three product lines from the new facility to government and commercial customers this quarter. Benchmark’s operations leadership team estimates production will reach up to one-thousand thrusters per year on the new manufacturing lines.

Delivering on lead times at a consistent and high quality level is critical to support satellite operator manufacturing goals. The company estimates the new facility will improve lead times more than 30%, as the company dramatically cuts testing and production timeframes with new end-to-end, internal test and manufacturing capabilities.

The company is laser focused on providing non-toxic chemical, electric and hybrid propulsion systems capable of enabling in-space mobility and the emerging space economy. Benchmark is currently fulfilling contracts for dozens of its new Xantus metal plasma thrusters (MPTs), with some on the verge of playing a key role in upcoming in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) satellite docking demonstration missions.

Benchmark combines the electric metal plasma thrusters with its high-test peroxide (HTP)-powered chemical propulsion systems to provide satellite and mission operators with go-fast and precision mobility capabilities in a non-toxic hybrid solution capable of enabling everything from station keeping and pointing of mesh networks to collision avoidance maneuvers. The company is producing hundreds of its 2N Lynx bi-propellant (HTP + fuel) thrusters this year to meet increasing demand for low Earth orbit (LEO) and cislunar missions.

Benchmark continues to innovate and collaborate in the assessment and thoughtful development of new propellants to meet both technical and geopolitical requirements, especially in support of government operations. The accessibility of HTP and the team’s proven ability to rapidly integrate and deploy new high-thrust, long burn duration engines are playing key roles in enabling the emerging space economy.

“Many of our mission partners are scaling to build dozens or hundreds of satellites per year. With this move we will be able to leverage multiple dedicated assembly lines and develop a mature supply chain to consistently produce quality systems at scale, including our Xantus metal plasma thruster and Halcyon Avant and Starling Ardent chemical propulsion systems.” — Ryan McDevitt, CEO, Benchmark

“Benchmark has become a trusted and proven propulsion partner and innovator across the space industry, and our new headquarters operation, with in-house production and testing capabilities, enables us to build on that trust and deliver on our commitment to meet growing demand. We’ve eliminated the need to ship thrusters and teams to specialized test and manufacturing facilities throughout the country for weeks at a time. As a result, we have greatly simplified and streamlined our operating and production model, which allows us to boost our agility and ability to support customers with even faster speeds to market for tailored and rapid deployment thrusters and propulsion systems.” — Wesley Grove, Chief Operations Officer, Benchmark

“Benchmark has transitioned to a new level of production and space mobility capabilities that allows our teams to serve more of the propulsion market with confidence that our standardized, specialized, and new thruster lines will be ready to go when our customers need them,” said . “With a pareto of market demand, and this operational transition in-phase, we can now inventory common subsystems and maintain our lead time advantage, as well as expand our mission planning services with hardware-in-loop and digital twin simulations. The result is our consistent ability to ensure our propulsion systems deliver the quality and performance necessary for highly critical and tailored operations in space.” — Chris Carella, Chief Commercial Officer, Benchmark