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The Terran Orbital Corporation Business Combo With Tailwind Two Acquisition Is Now Completed

Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: TWNT) (“Tailwind Two”) has completed their business combination with Terran Orbital Corporation (“Terran Orbital”).

In connection with the completion of the business combination, Tailwind Two has been renamed Terran Orbital Corporation (the “Company”) and its common stock and warrants are expected to commence trading on the New York Stock Exchange on March 28, 2022 under the ticker symbols “LLAP” and “LLAP WS,” respectively.

“We are pleased to have completed our business combination with Terran Orbital as they bring their market leading, innovative small satellites and earth observation solutions to scale,” said Phillip Krim, Chairman of Tailwind Two. “Marc Bell and his team have a significant technological moat, supported by expected build rates of over 1,000 satellites and space vehicles annually as data demands from governments and corporations accelerate over the next decade. We look forward to continuing to work with the entire Terran Orbital team in the years ahead.”

“We are well-positioned to accelerate our growth strategy as a result of this business combination,” said Marc Bell, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Terran Orbital. “The capital raised through this transaction along with our new access to the public markets will enable us to continue to expand upon our manufacturing capabilities and launch one of the most advanced earth observation constellations of small satellites on the planet.”

ESA’s + EUMETSAT’s MTG-I Weather Satellite Passes Test In Preparation For Liftoff

Following on from the success of the first and second generation of Meteosat satellites, the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) will soon take over the reins to ensure the continuity of data for weather forecasting, from geostationary orbit, for the next two decades.

This new generation of weather satellite will offer a significant enhancement of the current imager capabilities provided by the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), a real-time, lightning, imaging capability and an all-new infrared sounding capability providing early detection of the development of severe storms.

The MTG mission comprises two types of satellite: four MTG-Imagers and two MTG-Sounders.

With the first MTG-I, MTG-I1, scheduled for launch at the end of the year, it’s full steam ahead getting it ready for liftoff and its life in orbit 36,000 km. above Earth. An MTG-Imager video is available at this direct link…

Last November, the satellite was placed in the large thermal vacuum chamber at Thales Alenia Space’s facilities in Cannes, France. Following initial checkout tests, it underwent a punishing five-week campaign during which, under hard vacuum conditions, it was exposed to the extreme of temperatures it will face on-orbit.

MTG-I1 passed the tests with flying colors, with all modes of the satellite exercised faultlessly at both cold and hot operating plateau. It also survived ‘switch on’ from cold non-operating conditions.

After removal from the chamber alignment tests confirmed that no detectable impact on instrument alignments had taken place, the satellite was then prepared for a suite of mechanical tests, which have now also been completed.

Paul Blythe, ESA’s Meteosat Program Manager, said, “With over 400 accelerometer lines installed and checked out, and around two tonnes of simulated propellant loaded, the satellite was mounted onto the shaker, again at the Thales’ Cannes facilities, and was shaken to ‘within an inch of its life’ during the three-axes of Sine testing. Again thanks to the extensive development activities at module and equipment level, and the full qualification campaigns undertaken at unit and instrument level, there were few surprises for these tests and the satellite has completed the Sine campaign, confirming compatibility with the Ariane 5 launch environment.”

MTG-I1 on the shaker
MTG-I1 on the shaker.

There is still another set of tests to go and these involve a ‘fit and release’ check of the launcher clamp band and adapter, supported by Arianespace. Then follows acoustic testing, final alignment and reference performance test at the end of April.

The satellite will then be released for final functional checks, including the system validation testing with both ‘launch and early orbit phase’ and routine mission control centers, Telespazio and Eumetsat respectively.

The final documentation set for the Qualification and Acceptance Review are under preparation. The consent to ship to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, is planned for early October, with launch targeted for mid-December.

Blythe added, ‘’MTG  has been a long and challenging development, but the success of these key environmental tests has demonstrated that the significant determination, commitment and skill at all levels of the MTG satellite consortium, which comprises over 100 subcontractors, is now converging in the world-class European product that MTG-I1 represents.”

MTG is a cooperation between ESA and Eumetsat. ESA is responsible for the definition and implementation of the MTG satellites and procurement of recurrent hardware, while Eumetsat is in charge of operating the spacecraft throughout its lifetime. The MTG satellites will replace the current Meteosat Second Generation operational system.

Initial Verifications Of The QZS-1R Successfully Completed By Mitsubishi Electric

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) has completed initial verification of the functions and performance of equipment aboard the QZS-1R satellite, which the company built and delivered to the Cabinet Office of Japan and is now in quasi-zenith orbit as the successor to the original Michibiki Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS-1).

Artistic rendition of the QZS-1R satellite, courtesy of Mitsubishi Electric.

With Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Services Inc. also having completed testing of related ground systems, the Cabinet Office has started launching various positioning services via the QZS-1R.

Mitsubishi Electric, in addition to supporting these services, will continue developing satellite systems that the company intends to provide for forthcoming satellites (QZS-5 to QZS-7) that will support advanced, sustainable, high-precision positioning in Japan.

QZS-1R emblem.

The QZS-1R was launched on October 26, 2021 from Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. Compared to the first Michibiki satellite, the QZS-1R has improved durability that is expected to extend the satellite’s design life by about five years compared to its predecessor. The QZS-1R, together with the QZS-2, 3 and 4 (all launched in 2017), will support positioning, high-precision positioning augmentation and other satellite services.

QZSS is a Japanese satellite positioning system composed mainly of satellites in quasi-zenith orbits (QZO). However, the term “Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS)” can refer to both satellites in QZO and geostationary orbits (GEO). For that reason, the name “QZO satellite” is used when it is necessary to specifically refer to satellites in QZO. Satellite positioning systems use satellite signals to calculate position information. One famous example is the American Global Positioning System (GPS); the QZSS is sometimes called the “Japanese GPS.”

Rocket Lab To Launch BlackSky Earth Imaging Satellites From Launch Complex 1 In New Zealand

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”) has announced the launch window for the company’s next Electron mission. This is a dedicated mission for BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) through global launch services provider Spaceflight Inc., starting April 1, 2022 UTC.

This launch window opening in April rather than March is weather related and will result in this mission and its related revenue being recognized in Rocket Lab’s fiscal Q2 2022, versus in fiscal Q1 2022 as was previously anticipated at the time Rocket Lab provided Q1 2022 financial guidance in conjunction with its Q4 2021 preliminary earnings release on February 28, 2022. As a result, Rocket Lab is updating its expected Q1 2022 revenue outlook from the range of $42 million to $47 million that was previously provided on February 28, 2022, to approximately $40 million.

The “Without Mission A Beat” launch is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 1 Pad A carrying a pair of BlackSky rapid-revisit, high-resolution, Earth-imaging satellites to LEO, expanding BlackSky’s constellation to 14 satellites. Rocket Lab has delivered the majority of BlackSky’s constellation to orbit on Electron missions since 2019.

“Without Mission A Beat” will be Rocket Lab’s 25th Electron launch and will bring the total number of satellites launched by the company to 112. Rocket Lab will not be attempting to recover Electron for this mission.

Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said, “We’re looking forward to again providing BlackSky and Spaceflight with another dedicated Electron mission that delivers the flexibility they need to meet the unique requirements of BlackSky’s capacity-on-demand constellation. We’re proud to continue our partnership with them and look forward to helping them grow their constellation with this next mission.”

RF + GPS Telemetry Data From Spire Global To Support Slingshot Aerospace + The USSF / SSC DEEP Contract

Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) has expanded their existing partnership with Slingshot Aerospace. On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Space Force awarded Slingshot Aerospace a $2 million contract to develop a prototype analytics tool that uses space-based location data from proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) constellations to identify potential sources of electronic ground interference.

Spire will play a pivotal role in the contract by supplying Slingshot Aerospace with GPS telemetry data, a task underway since the two companies began collaborating in 2021. Slingshot’s pLEO Data Exploitation and Enhanced Processing (DEEP) prototype will automate manual data exploitation techniques to deliver intuitive, easily digestible data products at low latencies for military operations. The DEEP prototype contract is funded through the Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Commercially Augmented Space Inter-Networked Operations (CASINO) program, which develops and demonstrates the military utility of proliferated LEO satellite architectures.

Identifying and mitigating ground-based radio-frequency (RF) and GPS interferences is a critical component of national security and U.S. Space Force operations. RF signals intercepted in open airspace are liabilities that directly threaten on-orbit space assets and military missions. Even in the absence of enemy interference and intentional jamming, RF signals from radio stations, cell phones, and various electronics cause interruptions and interferences – a problem exacerbated by the growth of modern communications technology. The DEEP prototype is an effort by the U.S. military to take advantage of existing commercial satellite telemetry data to readily identify these sources of interference and correct any potential problems before they become a threat.

Spire’s pLEO constellation of 100+ satellites are collecting and disseminating data to enable monitoring and detection of GNSS radio frequency interference (RFI) that degrade the quality, reliability, and usability of GNSS/GPS position, navigation, and time (PNT) services. With more than 40, science-grade GNSS receiver payloads deployed across a range of LEOs, Spire is capable of providing persistent near-global coverage of a wide range of GNSS observables and payload telemetry.

The DEEP prototype contract was awarded on September 30, 2021 through the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC) OTA vehicle managed by NSTXL. Spire will provide data to Slingshot Aerospace for the contract duration.

“Safe, reliable, and dependable space operations rely on the signals from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS. Today, radio frequency interference of those signals pose a direct threat to everyone’s on-orbit space systems. The DEEP project is focused on the ability to identify and characterize the potential sources of that interference, anywhere on the planet, as a critical step in preserving the safe and reliable operation of global space assets,” said Melanie Stricklan, CEO and Co-founder, Slingshot Aerospace.

“Spire is excited to deepen our existing partnerships with both Slingshot Aerospace and U.S. Space Systems Command. Through the DEEP effort, Spire will support both Slingshot and SSC with our mission critical expertise in GNSS signal processing and demonstrated ability to detect terrestrial GNSS interference sources, including GPS jammers,” said Kamal Arafeh, Senior Vice President of Sales, Spire.

Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, offering access to unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy, and speed. Spire uses one of the world’s largest multi-purpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire, valuable data and enriches it with predictive solutions. Spire then provides this data as a subscription to organizations around the world so they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage, and mitigate risk. Spire gives commercial and government organizations the competitive advantage they seek to innovate and solve some of the world’s toughest problems with insights from space. Spire has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, Washington DC, Cambridge, Ontario, Glasgow, Oxfordshire, Luxembourg, and Singapore

Spaceflight + Astrocast Extend Their Smallsat IoT Constellation Launch Contract

Spaceflight Inc. has initiated an extended multi-launch agreement (MLA) with long-time customer and Internet of Things (IoT) constellation developer, Astrocast. This agreement will add two missions to accommodate Astrocast’s fast-growing IoT constellation which helps track assets in some of the world’s most remote regions.

In February of 2020, Astrocast and Spaceflight signed an MLA for the launch of 10 additional IoT smallsats, representing the sixth launch booked with Spaceflight. In total, Spaceflight is now set to launch a majority of the satellites that will complete the Astrocast IoT Nanosatellite Network.

Spaceflight has already managed the successful launch of 10 Astrocast spacecraft, including demonstration models on Spaceflight’s historic SSO-A mission in 2018 and PSLV-C45 in 2019. The companies most recently partnered and successfully launched an additional five smallsats on Spaceflight’s SXRS-5 in January of 2021.

The uniqueness of Astrocast’s constellation lies in a very low signal and small antenna and terminal with long battery life. The small size lets the company put the terminal on everything from fishing buoys to animals. For example, Astrocast is helping its customers track illegal fishing, endangered animal species, and heavy machinery in remote locations. By default, IoT solutions implemented in many of these situations are deployed in remote locations – from mines to farmland, ships to oil platforms. Astrocast’s solution minimizes the need for human intervention and repair, wherever possible, safeguarding the business case.

2022 promises to be a year of unprecedented innovation and leadership for Spaceflight, with approximately 20 planned missions across its diverse portfolio of launch vehicle partners. In January 2022, NASA named Spaceflight to provide launch services for the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions. The company also successfully executed its first launch with Astra last week and plans to debut the next two variations of its Sherpa OTV family with its much-anticipated quarter lunar slingshot mission, GEO Pathfinder.

“Flexibility is a key differentiator going forward,” said Astrocast CFO, Kjell Karlsen. “Spaceflight has already demonstrated their flexibility in launch timing and availability across multiple vehicles in our existing contract. Assured access to space is critical for Astrocast to grow our constellation and we’re looking forward to working with Spaceflight to continue to efficiently build out our constellation in orbit.”

“We’re pleased to expand our relationship with Astrocast,” said Curt Blake, president and CEO of Spaceflight. “Having a portfolio of launch options and the expertise to move quickly to accommodate changes is something we’re very proud of, and one that fast-growing constellation builders like Astrocast rely on.”

Cobham SATCOM Selects CPI As The RF Supplier For Telesat Lightspeed Landing Station Terminals

Cobham SATCOM has selected Communications & Power Industries (CPI) to provide state-of-the-art Ka-band amplifiers for the gateway tracking antenna systems that Cobham will be supplying for the Telesat Lightspeed Landing Station Terminals. CPI is a global manufacturer of electronic components and subsystems focused on the communications and defense industries.

CPI’s new GaNLink™ 80 W Ka-band SSPA/BUC, Model SB49KOA

CPI’s next-generation 160W Ka-band GaNLink™ series block up converter (BUC) provides a versatile but compact solution, combining highly linear RF power with wideband internal block-up conversion. CPI will produce the units at its Georgetown, Ontario facility, which has manufactured a range of space and ground station RF units for more than 50 years.

“CPI has been a trusted supplier to Cobham SATCOM for over 20 years, and we have incorporated their RF units across many of our Gateways and tracking antenna systems,” said Kirby Nell, vice president, business development for Cobham SATCOM. “We have long championed the use of national content, but in this case, it is a secondary benefit as the CPI amplifier is ideal in terms of performance, experience and reliability for Lightspeed’s business-critical terminals.”

“This long-term partnership between CPI and Cobham SATCOM has driven product innovation that will further enhance the Lightspeed Constellation,” said Pam Lugos, vice president of business development for the Satcom Products group of CPI’s Satcom & Medical Products Division. “This next-generation Ka-band amplifier is built on CPI’s years of experience providing thousands of Ka-band amplifiers that are now fielded around the world.”

Comtech Unveils World’s Fastest 5 Gbps Gateway Modem To Optimize Satellite Constellations + Large VSAT Networks

Comtech has unveiled their new, advanced, high-speed CDM-780 Gateway modem, capable of managing unprecedented amounts of data delivered over new ultra-powerful and complex wideband GEO, MEO and LEO satellites and constellations to provide high-speed trunking services to gateways and support massive VSAT networks of hundreds-of-thousands of sites. 

The CDM-780 Gateway Modem, with five times the bi-directional speed of the nearest offering, further extends Comtech’s successful portfolio of advanced high-speed trunking and broadcast modems with a level of flexibility capable of delivering 2.5 Gbps simplex and 5 Gbps duplex data rates over a single solution.  

The modular CDM-780 modem can be equipped with up to three modulators, three demodulators, or a combination of both to enable high-speed trunking or hitless satellite handover capabilities. Each modulator and demodulator is capable of supporting users at 500Msps and 2.5Gbps data rates.

Comtech’s new modem features a broad range of built-in redundancy features – from dual data management interfaces and power supplies – that allow the modem to run simultaneously on two different grid sources to keep the gateway link and its customers always on and operational.

When used as the DVB-S2X outbound for Comtech’s new Next-Gen ELEVATE VSAT platform, leveraging superior speed and statistical multiplexing, the CDM-780 modem can support five times the remote sites over a single outbound carrier compared to other platforms. It’s a key differentiator that will allow providers to serve both data hungry and light applications using less overall satellite bandwidth.

The CDM-780 Gateway modem was designed to be the most efficient, highest throughput trunking and feeder link modem across the market. The advanced platform delivers space segment efficiencies that reduce both capital and operating costs.

“The CDM-780 Gateway modem is the world’s fastest, most reliable and scalable modem, set for commercial rollout by summer to support new advanced satellites and constellations beginning to initiate service in multiple orbits,” said Louis Dubin, Senior Vice President of Product Management for Comtech Satellite Network Technologies. “This state-of-the-art platform offers global connectivity and the unparalleled reliability and resiliency content providers must have to meet mission-critical network demands around the world.”

AvL Technologies’ Reveals New COTM Terminal, New X-Y Antennas, Intelsat Antenna Qualifications, New Tri-Band Antenna + An SES Contract

AvL Technologies has announced a new Communications-On-The-Move (COTM) terminal, new X-Y antennas and terminal qualifications with Intelsat. These new products are being showcased in the AvL Technologies booth this week at SATELLITE 2022.

COTM Terminal
AvL has developed a unique, multi-band COTM terminal for land and sea applications. Designed for today’s evolving battlespace and emergency response environments, the terminal is band reconfigurable to support multi-orbit GEO and MEO applications. This new product features an operator friendly interface and a simple band reconfiguration capability. Customers will also appreciate the life cycle costs and ease of maintenance.

The AvL COTM terminal operates with high efficiency for greater throughput over an entire range of networks, enabling a lower cost per bit to operate. It was developed with best-in-class performance, reliability and ruggedness, and high precision mechanical steering for fast acquisition and re-acquisition tracking. Key features include pre-commissioned plug and play technology, modem agnostic, OpenAMIP, open and closed loop tracking, user friendly graphical interfaces, multiple non-pen rooftop mounts, and easy maintenance with its modular design and field replaceable components.

1.3 meter and 2.4 meter X-Y Antennas
AvL has designed new X-Y antennas for operation in GEO and MEO orbits. The 1.3 and 2.4 meter antennas operate in pairs and support make-before-break uninterrupted links, and the antennas feature rapid retrace ability to operate independently for many applications. The antennas operate with full hemispheric coverage and eliminate the overhead pass keyhole with the X-Y positioner, enable high gain with AvL’s uniquely shaped optics, and maintain accurate and reliable beam pointing with AvL’s AAQ antenna control system.

The antennas are transportable and pack into cases, with the 1.3 meter antenna packable in three, airline checkable cases and the 2.4 meter antenna packable in four, MIL-STD-1472G two-man lift/carry cases. The antennas can be assembled and acquire a satellite signal within 15 minutes and both operate in X-, Ku- and Ka-bands with optional customized frequency bands.

Intelsat Qualified Terminals
Three AvL terminals are now certified for operation on the Intelsat GEO network. The AvL terminals are the 0714 75cm 25W BUC, 0914 98cm 25W BUC, and 1314 1.35m 25W BUC terminal.

“2021 was an incredibly busy year for AvL Technologies with the development of the COTM terminal, the new XY antennas and Intelsat terminal qualifications among other efforts,” said Mike Proffitt, President of AvL Technologies. “We’re excited to debut our new products and Intelsat qualified terminals at SATELLITE 2022..”

Plus, AvL Technologies has revealed a new 1.55 meter, tri-band, manual point terminal. The antenna is being showcased in the AvL Technologies booth this week at SATELLITE 2022.

The antenna features include high efficiency X-, Ku- and Ka-band feeds integrated with high power Mission Microwave block upconverters, an all-new AvL quad-pod positioner and the company’s Terminal Interface Unit with high-stability 10Mhz reference and built-in graphical user interface for ease of satellite acquisition and peaking. Importantly, this terminal includes standard and high wind configurations and has been demonstrated in extremely harsh environments during 25m/sec (56 mph) winds with minimum gain loss with the optional high-wind kit. The terminal packs into 4 lightweight cases and can be assembled by two people in 15 minutes.

Additionally, AvL Technologies has been selected by SES to develop and produce 2.4 meter, X-Y Ka-band transportable antennas to operate with O3b mPOWER, SES’s second-generation, MEO constellation. The antennas are now in development and a pre-production prototype is featured in AvL’s booth this week at the SATELLITE 2022 show.

AvL is developing two types of transportable 2.4 meter X-Y antennas for O3b mPOWER to be used as high-throughput user terminals or transportable gateways. The X-Y antennas will track O3b mPOWER satellites in MEO and provide direct overhead satellite tracking. The antennas operate in pairs and also feature enhanced retrace speeds that are optimized for robust network operational performance.

The AvL antennas will allow SES’s customers, ranging from governments to mobile network operators, to leverage the soon-to-be launched O3b mPOWER system that will provide unprecedented flexibility, performance coverage, and scale. The software-driven O3b mPOWER communications system is capable of delivering secure and intelligent connectivity services from tens of megabits to multiple gigabits per second to any customers who require rugged, portable land mobile applications across the globe.

AvL and SES have a longstanding relationship of collaborating on antennas as AvL developed 85cm, 1.2m and 2.4m terminals that operate with O3b, SES’s first-generation network. AvL recently upgraded and certified three traditional AvL GEO terminals to provide field-upgradeable (re-configurable) MEO operability on the SES first-generation O3b network, including 1.0 meter and 1.2 meter vehicle-mount terminals and a new 2.2 meter ultra lightweight, flyaway terminal.

“We’re thrilled to continue the long relationship between SES and AvL,” said Mike Proffitt, President of AvL Technologies. “Together AvL and SES will continue to innovate and take SATCOM to new dimensions, with the output being impressive new high bandwidth applications suited for AvL’s rugged and resilient antennas with O3b mPOWER intelligent connectivity services.”

Viasat + Inmarsat Reach Agreement With The UK Government On Their UK Space Sector Plan

Viasat and Inmarsat, the US and UK satellite communications groups, have agreed on a package of legally-binding, economic undertakings with the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of the proposed combination of the two companies. BEIS welcomed the constructive discussions that have taken place with both companies on their future plans. The transaction remains subject to the regulatory processes of the UK.

The Deed provided to the UK Government includes undertakings ranging from three to five years in duration to:

  • Expand the number of highly skilled jobs in key areas, including the design and development of satellites, ground stations and other advanced technologies
  • Increase overall R&D spending in the country by 30% and create a UK R&D Centre of Excellence
  • Maintain core satellite, network and cybersecurity operational capabilities in the UK
  • Ensure continued ownership of Inmarsat’s current satellite fleet by a UK company
  • Leverage the UK supply chain, particularly for delivery of national critical infrastructure
  • Preserve the use of the Inmarsat brand with a focus on the maritime segment
  • Create a UK Board of Directors with approval authority over key strategic decisions for Inmarsat Group entities
  • Establish the global international business headquarters of the combined company in London

Viasat will also continue with its previously announced plan to invest £300 million in the UK over a 10 to 15 year period, with a minimum of £75 million within five years after the closing of the transaction.

“We are fully committed to ensuring that our combination with Inmarsat supports the UK’s National Space Strategy with additional investment and job creation,” said Rick Baldridge, president and CEO of Viasat. “I am confident that together we can build upon the UK’s space agenda and help propel the country to the forefront of the global space race. I want to thank the UK Government for their engagement and look forward to a productive relationship for decades to come.”

Rajeev Suri, Inmarsat CEO, said, “With this agreement, the combination of Inmarsat and Viasat will result in more highly-skilled jobs and R&D investment in the UK than Inmarsat could achieve on a standalone basis. This milestone is a great step for the UK and while they certainly have challenged us to put our best foot forward, I am delighted they have accepted our economic Deed of Undertakings.“