newspace international ......indeed, its gemini missions conducted the first sextant sightings from...

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#EDITOR #NEWSPACE #NASA #SEXTANT #SPACE

Dr Amy Saunders

Editor

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst learns how to use a sextant

Space has become big business in the last couple of decades,and everyone wants their own slice of the action. With a whole

host of plans to launch humans into space from commercial companies andinternational organisations alike, there is so much to consider; launch technologies,crew capsules, crew health, deep space communications, off-world food and watersources.

One topic that doesn’t seem to come up often is navigation. I suppose that withall the incredible technology it will take to launch humans into space for commercialand exploratory purposes beyond the Moon, most of us have just assumed thatnavigation is the easy part!

However, it recently emerged that tests are currently underway on board theInternational Space Station (ISS) to assess the accuracy of sextants as a potentialemergency navigation tool for deep space trips. Sextants have been used forcenturies to help sailors navigate the world’s oceans, but now they may also beentering the space arena.

The Sextant Navigation investigation is testing a handheld sextant up on the ISS.Sextants use a small telescope-like optical sight to take precise anglemeasurements between pairs of stars from and or sea, thus enabling navigationwithout computer assistance. The investigation tests specific techniques, focusingon stability, for possibly using a sextant for emergency navigation on space vehiclessuch as NASA’s Orion spacecraft. With the right techniques, crews can use the toolto navigate their way home based on angles between the Moon or planets andstars, even if communications and computers have become compromised.

The use of sextants is nothing new at NASA. Indeed, its Gemini missionsconducted the first sextant sightings from a spacecraft, while designers built a

sextant into the Apollo vehicles asa navigation backup in the eventthe crew lost communications fromtheir spacecraft. Meanwhile, JimLovell demonstrated on Apollo 8that sextant navigation could returna space vehicle home.

“The basic concepts are verysimilar to how it would be used onEarth,” said Principal InvestigatorGreg Holt. “But particularchallenges on a spacecraft are thelogistics; you need to be able totake a stable sighting through awindow. We’re asking the crew toevaluate some ideas we have onhow to accomplish that and to giveus feedback and perhaps newideas for how to get a stable, cleansight. That’s something we justcan’t test on the ground.”

So great news all round forfuture space travellers, who willprobably appreciate a backupdeep space navigational systemmore than most!


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Letter from the Editor 3Deep space navigation

NewsBlast 6Key news from around the world

Deep space farming 10Here on Earth, farming is deceptively challenging. The perfect mix oftemperature, lighting, soil nutrients and moisture levels are all critical togrowing crops effectively. Billions of dollars have been invested inagriculture over the years, fine-tuning methods down to a ‘T’. All thisinvestment is of little help when it comes to space-based farming,however, where the risks are great, and the experience to date is almostnil.

The Space Kingdom of Asgardia declares sovereignty? 14The Space Kingdom of Asgardia, a micronation which has launched theAsgardia-1 satellite into orbit, has declared sovereignty over the spaceoccupied by that satellite. Lembit Opik, Chair of Parliament at Asgardia,discusses the future of space exploration and the need for off-worldsettlements.

Launching from the sky 16Satellite launch opportunities have never been as great as they are rightnow. From the precedent set by traditional GEO launch vehicles, we nowlive in a world of dedicated small satellite launchers, rideshare options,re-usable launch vehicles, and, looking to the future, air and balloonlaunched satellites.

Nanosatellite mission integrator 20NanoAvionics is a nanosatellite mission integrator that delivers satellitebuses and propulsion systems from its facilities in North America andEurope. Vytenic Buzas, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer atNanoAvionics, opines on the company’s future and latest developments.

Delivering fibre-like speeds 24UK-based Methera Global Communications plans to launch aconstellation of satellites into MEO to enable governments, telecomcompanies and Internet service providers to deliver digital applicationswith fibre-like speeds to areas of the world where fibre is impractical.

Space 2.0 - Satellite operations engineering in the era ofconstellations 26As a new wave of highly ambitious constellations of small satellites edgescloser to reality, questions are arising as to how these constellations willbe managed. Paul Albert-Lebrun, Junior Satellite Operations Engineer atKepler Communications, outlines the operation and maintenance ofKepler Communications’ upcoming constellation.

Front cover: Asgardia Moonbase. Artists impression JamesVaughn

EditorAmy [email protected]

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CONTENTS








http://bit.ly/2mPPXma


#VERT #ESA #NASA #TRISEPT #ROCKET #PROPELLANT

Vert blasts into secondstage of testingprogramme with ESANovaSAR-1 data deal withPhilippines

To include your news in NewSpace Internationalmagazine please contact

Dr Amy [email protected]

NASA selects TriSept tosupport new round of cubesatmissions

Engineering pioneer Vert has embarked on the secondstage of a cutting-edge research project with theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) following successfulcompletion of the initial phase of testing.

Under a programme of and funded by the ESA, thepatented Conical Rotary Compressor (CRC) technologyfrom Vert is being put through its paces as a pump forrocket propellant. The aim of the programme is to reduceweight and improve efficiency, thus allowing rockets totravel faster and further.

The Scottish company signed an initial contract withthe ESA in October 2018 to undertake a range of work todetermine whether the conical rotary compressortechnology can be adapted to suit the demands of spaceoperations. That involved laboratory testing at Vert’scompressor design centre on the southern edge ofEdinburgh, as well as work at the ESA’s testing facilitiesin the Netherlands.

David Noake, head of design at Vert, said the next stageof the project will go into further depth to see how thematerials used to make the compressor work, incombination with different propellants.

“It is a new and different application of our technology,”David explained. “We have been commerciallydeveloping the CRC for air compression and gascompression, so to use it as a pump means there are adifferent set of parameters for its operation.

“Space is quite a tough sector to get into because ofthe need for high quality assurances – your technologyhas to go through extremely rigorous testing before it willbe approved for use in space.

“Sending systems into space takes a long time andis quite expensive. A company of our size is not able todo that on its own, so being part of this ESA programmeis a fantastic opportunity.”

Vert was set up in 2013 to develop the pioneeringconical rotary compressor technology, one of thebiggest innovations in the compressed air industry forover 40 years. The technology is capable of continuousoperation producing low noise and high pressure in asingle stage.

The technology has previously been used as aprototype satellite cooling system produced inconjunction with the Ministry of Defence’s Centre forDefence Enterprise. The project led to the start of thepartnership with ESA in 2017.

David Noake, head of design at Vert

TriSept Corporation, a leading provider of launchintegration, management and brokerage servicesfor commercial and government missions, hasannounced that it has been selected as a preferredprovider to support NASA’s third round of CubeSatmissions with dispenser hardware and integrationservices.

As part of a five year, $18 million NASA indefinitedelivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, TriSeptwill be considered for CubeSat mission integrationservices and dispenser hardware procurement insupport of upcoming CubeSat launches through2025.

The award follows TriSept’s successful launchintegration for the NASA VCLS ELaNa XIX missionthat lifted 10 CubeSats into orbit aboard a RocketLab Electron from Mahia, New Zealand inDecember of last year.

Finishing up programs under the previous IDIQcontract, TriSept is also set to lead the launchintegration for NASA’s VCLS ELaNa XX mission onthe Virgin Orbit Launcher One rocket in 2020, an11-cubesat manifest that marks the first officialNASA operation aboard the new launch vehicle.

NASA’s Launch Service Program will also lookto TriSept to provide integration support to theANDESITE CubeSat which is scheduled to launchon a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle early nextyear.

“TriSept is honoured to have the opportunity tocontinue providing launch integration andhardware procurement support for NASA’sCubeSat launch support needs that continuesopening the door to more space access and agrowing number of important and diversemissions,” said Rob Spicer, TriSept CEO. “Ourexperienced launch integration and managementteams look forward to extending our collaborativerelationship with NASA’s Launch Services Programand stand ready to help enable upcomingprograms under this latest IDIQ contract.”




http://bit.ly/2Ed1ZM0


ESA Ministers commit to biggest everbudget

#ESA #SPACE19+ #SPACESTATION #MOON #SAFETY #DEBRIS #LAUNCHERS #NEWSPACE

ESA’s Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, hasconcluded in Seville, Spain, with the endorsement ofthe most ambitious plan to date for the future of ESAand the whole European space sector. The meetingbrought together ministers with responsibility for spaceactivities in Europe, along with Canada and observersfrom the EU.

The Member States were asked to approve acomprehensive set of programmes to secure Europe’sindependent access to and use of space in the 2020s,boost Europe’s growing space economy, and makebreakthrough discoveries about Earth, our Solar Systemand the Universe beyond, all the while making theresponsible choice to strengthen the efforts we aremaking to secure and protect our planet.

Significant boost in fundingFor the first time in 25 years, there will be a significantboost in funding for ESA’s world-class and inspirationalscience programme, pushing the boundaries of ourunderstanding of who we are and where we come from.It will allow the first gravitational wave detector in space,LISA, to fly alongside the black hole mission Athena andenable fundamental advances in our understanding ofthe basic physics of the Universe. There is also a strongreinforcement and accordingly funding for research anddevelopment and ESA’s laboratories, to underpin themissions of the future.

With worldwide partners, Europe will take its placeat the heart of space exploration going farther than wehave ever gone before – we continue our commitment

to the International Space Station until 2030 as well ascontributing vital transportation and habitation modulesfor the Gateway, the first space station to orbit the Moon.ESA's astronauts recruited in 2009 will continue toreceive flight assignments until all of them have beento space for a second time, and we will also begin theprocess of recruiting a new class to continue Europeanexploration in low Earth orbit and beyond. Europeanastronauts will fly to the Moon for the first time. MemberStates have confirmed European support for a ground-breaking Mars Sample Return mission, in cooperationwith NASA.

Commercial benefits of spaceESA will help develop the commercial benefits of spacefor innovators and governments across the MemberStates, boosting competitiveness in the NewSpaceenvironment. We will develop the first fully flexiblesatellite systems to be integrated with 5G networks, aswell as next-generation optical technology for a fibre-like ‘network in the sky’, marking a transformation in thesatellite communication industry. Satellitecommunications will join forces with navigation to beginsatnav for the Moon, while closer to home commercialcompanies can access funding for new applications ofnavigation technologies through the NAVISPprogramme.

ESA Ministers have secured a smooth transition tothe next generation of launchers: Ariane 6 and Vega-C,and have given the green light to Space Rider, ESA’snew reusable spaceship.

Prospecting in space



Our Member States have committed to theresponsible use of our environment both on and off ourplanet. ESA’s world-leading position in Earth observationwill be strengthened with the arrival of 11 new missions,in particular addressing topics linked to climate change,Arctic and Africa.

Space safetyThere was also a significant development with theadoption of Space Safety as a new basic pillar of ESA’sactivities.

This will lead to new projects in the areas of keepingthe space environment operational – through theremoval of dangerous debris and plans for automationof space traffic control – and early warnings andmitigation of damage to Earth from hazards from spacesuch as asteroids and solar flares. The Hera missionmarks a joint collaboration with NASA to test asteroiddeflection capabilities. New investments in the field ofcyber-resilience and cyber-training have also beenconfirmed.

The coming years will also see ESA reinforce itsrelationship with the European Union and increase itsown organisational agility, effectiveness and efficiency.

“Bringing together our Member States, 22governments that change regularly, and agreeing onsuch inspirational projects to share a joint future in spacemight seem an impossible task on paper. But in two daysin Seville, we have proved it is possible,” said ESADirector General Jan Wörner. “It is possible because wework together to develop good programmes, and it ispossible because people are dedicated, and invest alltheir effort in a long and thorough decision processinvolving the scientific community, industry and nationaldelegations.

“Together we have put in place a structure that sees

inspiration, competitiveness and responsibility underpinour actions for the coming years, with ESA and Europegoing beyond our previous achievements withchallenging new missions and targets for growth alongwith the wider industry.”

Co-chairing the meeting, Manuel Heitor, PortugueseMinister of Science, Technology and Higher Educationdeclared: “Today at Space19+ in Seville, together withmy colleagues Ministers from ESA Member States, wesecured a further step to foster Europe’s competitiveposition in the global space arena. We approved anambitious portfolio of space programmes, andaddressed the challenges linked to the sector. Wetherefore invited all ESA Member States to seriouslyengage in taking stock of space activities in a continuousway and strengthen the role of ESA in Europe in closearticulation with EC. In addition, we invited ESA MemberStates to work with ESA to take the necessary stepstowards modernising ESA´s industrial policy andguarantee the agency evolves in a way to match aconstantly changing environment, changing marketsand a fast rate of digital transformation of our societies.”

Also co-chair of the meeting, French Minister ofHigher Education, Research and Innovation, FrédériqueVidal said: “Space19+ has demonstrated the value ofspace as a critical infrastructure and enabler for our dailylives. Thanks to the European excellence in space, weare able to mutually tackle human and global challengessuch as climate change, space safety and security. Insubscribing to the programmes, Member States havemade a great step towards inspiring society andrenewing our ambition to address those challenges. Thehigh level of subscriptions that was decided at the Sevillaministerial conference will permit to strengthen theEuropean excellence in space and will also commit ustowards European citizens.”

Space debris courtesy of SIG

#ESA #SPACE19+ #SPACESTATION #MOON #SAFETY #DEBRIS #LAUNCHERS #NEWSPACE



#FARMING #SPACE #ISS #NASA #PLANTS #STUDENTS

Deep space farmingHere on Earth, farming is deceptivelychallenging. The perfect mix of temperature,lighting, soil nutrients and moisture levels areall critical to growing crops effectively. Billionsof dollars have been invested in agricultureover the years, fine-tuning methods down toa ‘T’. All this investment is of little help when itcomes to space-based farming, however,where the risks are great, and the experienceto date is almost nil.

We live in an era where the concept of deep spaceexploration and off-world settlements has moved fromscience fiction to a very distinct possibility. Launchtechnology is evolving, with the re-landing and re-useof rockets bringing prices down, and the developmentand testing of crew capsules is well underway. Studiesare leading to new innovations to make long durationspace stays more accessible, and with improvedastronaut health.

However, one of the biggest challenges remains;accessing food in space. Current space programmes seeastronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS)limited to a very narrow and specially formulated dietwhich provides everything needed by the body butleaves little room for the enjoyment of food so many ofus have become accustomed to. Accordingly, a greatmany projects are currently exploring the possibilitiesof space-based farming.

Off-world farming challengesAlthough commonly depicted in science fiction films andseries, with sophisticated hydroponics systems yieldingan impressive variety of crops, farming in space isexpected to be a lot more complex than many realise.Plants on Earth have had many millions of years toevolve and adapt to the conditions found here, after all,and additionally, the global agriculture sector has spentbillions of dollars refining methods, developingpesticides and fungicides, and genetic modificationresearch.

Farming in space, whether it be on board a spacestation or on another celestial body like the Moon orMars, is first and foremost complicated by themicrogravity environment; with such differentgravitational forces from Earth, plants that thrive downhere are unlikely to fare well in space without somemajor environmental modifications. Roots grow down,and shoots grow up, but in the absence of a stronggravitational field, how will this work? Furthermore, theEarth’s complex atmosphere – the balance of nitrogen,oxygen, carbon dioxide – is not easy or cheap to replicatein space, and yet, it is what all of today’s crops areaccustomed to. Increased radiation, reduced sunlight,and different atmospheric pressures and temperaturesare also major hurdles.

Projects exploring the possibilities of off-worldfarming have a great many challenges to overcome,however, the future of space exploration depends onthe success of such projects. One astronaut on board

the ISS requires 1.8kg of food and packaging per day; itis simply not feasible for longer duration space missions,such as the planned missions to Mars, to take all thefood they need, or be re-supplied from Earth cost-effectively. For off-world settlements to become reality,off-world agriculture is an absolute must.

Agriculture on board the ISSReaching forever for the stars, NASA has already donea great deal of research into off-world agriculture witha number of collaborations and partnerships, makinggood use of the ISS. The association is tackling allmanner of space agriculture challenges, including light,gravity, pressure and soil variations, as well as exploringwhich crops can best adapt to the unique spaceenvironment, while also providing valuable nutrition toastronauts.

Back in 2015, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center andFairchild entered into a partnership to help advanceNASA’s plant research. Part of the Growing Beyond EarthChallenge (GBE) saw Fairchild deliver equipment whichmimics the conditions on board the ISS to its network ofmore than 150 schools in order to expand food optionsand increase plant diversity for spaceflight by evaluatingplants that meet NASA’s criteria for size and edibility.The mini botany labs, consisting of a specially designedgrowth chamber, LED lighting, capillary watering system,pots, soil, fertilisers and seeds, have been used to testfactors that may influence plant growth, flavour andnutrition. Impressively, the challenge has yielded someinteresting results, including several new candidateplants, including cress, kale, and pak choi, for growingin Veggie, the plant-growing habitat maintained on theISS.

The programme is still ongoing today, now reachingmore than 170 schools in Florida, Colorado and PuertoRico. Since the start of the programme in 2015, around130 plant varieties have been tested under differentconditions. “Every year, it’s something different,” saidNASA’s Kennedy Space Center plant productionscientist Gioia Massa. “Last year, they were looking atphotoperiod, how plants respond to different durationsof light. This year, they’re looking at the neighbour effect,how different plants influence each other by growingnext to each other.”

Earlier in 2019, astronaut David Saint-Jacques begangrowing two new crops, Wasabi Mustard Greens andExtra Dwarf Pak Choi, on board the ISS as part of theVeg-03 H experiment. Six ‘plant pillows’ were placed into

Three different varieties of plants growing in theVeggie plant growth chamber on the InternationalSpace Station were harvested this morning. CreditNASA slash ISS




the veggie growth chamber. Each pillow serves as a potdesigned for space with pre-packed seeds, a substancefor the roots to grow into, controlled-release steriliser,and a way for the gardeners to water the plants inmicrogravity. The Extra Dwarf Pak Choi had beenidentified as part of the Growing Beyond Earth challengeas a potential space crop candidate.

Completed after 30 days, the experiment hasprovided food safety and data for comparison withground studies in order to establish a baseline. “I thinkthe astronauts will be surprised to learn that the ExtraDwarf Pak Choi that they grow and eat has the sameamount of Vitamin C by weight as does a fresh Floridaorange, and the leaves don’t taste much different thanother fresh leafy greens,” said NASA scientist MattRomeyn.

In addition to its Veggie habitat, NASA has also morerecently installed the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) onboard the ISS. The size of a mini fridge, the APH wasdesigned to test which growth conditions plants preferin space and provides specimens a larger root and shootarea than previous growth habitats on the ISS. The APHhas grown a number of crops since its installation in 2018,including Dwarf Wheat.

The new habitat’s monitoring and environmentalcontrol systems regulate temperature, oxygen, andcarbon dioxide levels, and the settings can be adjustedfor growing different types of plants. Although thesystem is largely autonomous, the crew adds water tothe chamber and changes atmospheric elements suchas an ethylene scrubber, carbon dioxide scrubber andbottles, and filters. The APH has an upgraded LEDsystem that goes beyond the red, blue and green LEDsused at low, medium and high settings in the Veggie;indeed, the APH is equipped with white, red, blue, green,

and far red LEDs and has a wide variety of settingscapable of producing light from zero to 1,000micromoles (the Sun produces 2,000 micromoles onEarth). Humidity and temperature can also bemanipulated.

According to NASA, the APH provides the first trueforay into studies involving space-based agriculturalcycles, with the ability to grow ‘seed to seed.’ This meansthat an entire line of plants could be grow from one seedbrought from Earth, creating generations of offspringdestined for life among the stars.

In the next step forward for off-world agriculture,NASA is set to grow space’s first fruit in the APH in thecoming months. Seeds for a hybrid version of a NewMexico chili plant, the Española Improved, are expectedfor launch to the ISS in March 2020, in a bid to prove thatthe APH can grow fruiting crops as well as leafy greens.The hybrid chili has a shorter growth cycle and thrivesin confined areas, compared with other chili plants.

“… If we do go on a deep space mission, or we do goto the moon or a mission to Mars, we will have to figureout a way to supplement our diets,” said Jacob Torres,NASA researcher. “Understanding how to grow plantsto supplement the astronaut’s diet would be essentialto our mission to going to Mars. So that kind of fuels ourresearch that we’re doing now.”

Tackling Martian soilGiven the number of projects ongoing with the aim oflanding humans on Mars, it will come as no surprise thatthere are several programmes underway exploring thepossibilities of developing agriculture on the red planet.Struck by the same challenges of space-based farmingalready discussed, one aspect researchers seem keento focus on is the problem of Martian soil.

Students participate in Fairchild Challenge events held at the Fairchild TropicalBotanic Garden in Miami, Florida. Credit Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden/Maureen Tan




The planet’s soil is nothing like our own, beingextremely iron-rich, lacking in water, ‘Earth-air,’ and ofcourse, organic matter – the dead plant matter and livingmicrobes that are a critical ingredient in good qualitysoil here on Earth. And although we haven’t (yet)transported a sample of Martian soil back to Earth,scientists have a pretty good idea of its make-up thanksto the probes sent there over the years. Indeed, fauxMartian regolith (soil to you and me) is available to orderover the Internet for as little as US$10 per pound.Research facilities all over are getting through tonnesof the stuff in their exploration of Martian agriculturalstudies, and, naturally, universities are heavily involvedin such work.

At the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), inpartnership with NASA, the Research to Advance theDevelopment of Integrated Space Horticulture (RADISH)was the first of its kind back in 2017 to test and documentplant growth in Mars regolith simulant (in this case,volcanic soil from Hawaii) to enhance in situ resourceutilisation. A variety of plants, including lettuce, peas,tomatoes and peppers, were grown in the reoglithsimulant in a light and temperature-controlled chamber,before harvesting and undergoing a range of chlorophylland protein analysis tests.

“Establishing a permanent colony on Mars is theultimate act of sustainability,” said Physics and SpaceSciences Department Head Daniel Batcheldor. “Not onlywill it make us a multi-planet species, and inspiregenerations of young scientists and engineers into thefuture, but the technology development needed tomake a Mars colony a reality will enable us to modifyour behaviour back here on Earth to ensure thesustainability of our home planet.”

The FIT has also been active in another NASA spacefarming partnership, namely the innovative FarmBotproject. Space-based agriculture is of vital importance,but astronauts’ time is sorely limited, and any repetitivetasks that can be handed over to robots free upastronauts to perform more important duties. Last year,the robot farmer FarmBot became the newestcrewmember of Mars Base 1 at the Kennedy SpaceCenter. It’s job? To plant seeds, add nutrients, water theplants, and maintain plant health. FIT studentsconducted remote experiments to test FarmBot’seffectiveness, connecting with FarmBot via a RaspberryPi computer, and monitoring its progress via webcameras. The students replicated the Mars Base 1conditions as closely as possible at their lab inMelbourne, for effectiveness comparisons.

Similar to FIT, Villanova University is also getting inon the Martian soil experiments. Students were taskedwith utilising Mars regolith simulant in a dimmedgreenhouse to cultivate nutritious plants that might besuitable for growing on Mars. The results were mixed;the regolith was too clay-like and dense for new plantroots to penetrate (with the exception of lettuce), andshredded cardboard had to be incorporated into theregolith in order to grow other crops like sweet potatoes,mint, garlic, basil, peas, carrots, green onions and hops.Of course, shredded cardboard won’t be freely availableon Mars, given the cost of shipping it all the way there.The research continues with collaborators from acrossthe globe; one California tech company is reportedlykeen to partner on the removal of toxins from Martianregolith – real Martian soil contains toxins hazardous to

humans – and to experiment with ‘plant-like’ organismsthat can break up and aerate the dense soil.

Innovative dual-application materialsWith so much focus on creating humankind’s first off-world settlement, and all eyes presently on Mars,building materials are of the utmost import. With callsfor greener, more holistic environmentally-friendlysolutions than the concrete, bricks and mortar widelyused around the world today, scientists are exploringthe possibilities of new materials which can also solveother challenges, such as the lack of accessible water –which, of course, is key for agriculture.

In recent news, a new paper from the NatureAstronomy journal reports that researchers haveproposed that an aerogel material might one day helphumans build greenhouses and other habitats at Mars’mid-latitudes, where near-surface water ice has beenidentified. Aerogel, a Styrofoam-like solid comprised of99 percent air, is an excellent insulation material, andhas already been utilised on all of NASA’s Mars rovers.Being translucent, aerogel allows visible light to passthrough, but blocks harmful UV radiation.

Researchers at Harvard University allowed light froma lamp tuned to simulate sunlight on Mars, pass through2-3cm of silica aerogel, which was found to raise thetemperature of the surface beneath up to 65°C. This isenough to melt near-surface water ice on Mars. Bothsolid sheets and crushed pieces of aerogel can be usedto heat the surface. The paper reported that varyinglevels of illumination, designed to simulate the differentseasons on Mars, were tested, and the results showedthat, as well as being used to melt near-surface waterice, the aerogel could also be utilised to provide heatingin the cold Martian winter, where it reaches -90°C.According to researchers, the next step is to take theaerogel to Martian analogue environments such asChile’s Atacama Desert or Antarctica’s McMurdo DryValleys.

That’s not to say that NASA is ready to race off with aone-size fits all solution. It would take at least twoMartian years (four Earth years) of warming to create apermanent region of liquid water at the Martian surfaceutilising the aerogel. And although the aerogel is 99percent air, large quantities would have to be shippedto Mars to build enough structures and melt the requiredwater ice; alternatively, the material would need to bemanufactured in situ. Silica aerogel is also extremelyfragile and would require layering with another materialor combining with flexible materials to prevent fractures.This could also help increase the air pressure within thestructure, allowing the liquid water to pool more easilyon the surface instead of vaporising.

A future of possibilitiesA great deal of further research is needed in all mattersof off-world farming – indeed, humankind is only justmaking its first scratches at the surface of this extremelycomplicated topic. Universities, commercial companiesand governmental organisations alike will have to worktogether to develop the best solutions for this majorhurdle in deep space exploration. With the best mindsin the world working together, and the incorporation ofstudents and robots to spread the man hours around,the future of space agriculture is looking some way off,but bright!



#MARS #HABITATION #COLONY #SPACEX #NASA

http://bit.ly/297Mdms


#ASGARDIA #MOON #SATELLITE #EARTHARKS #MOONARKS #STARARKS

Observing the Earth from spaceThe Space Kingdom of Asgardia declaressovereignty?

Question: What can you tell us about the founding ofAsgardia, its principles, aims, and constitution?Lembit Opik: On 12 October 2016, during a pressconference at the Ritz hotel in Paris, Dr Igor Ashurbeyliannounced the creation of Asgardia, a Space Nation -the first in the history of humanity. Asgardia aims tocreate the society that will be required for when humanseventually live in space. We want to democratise accessto space, giving ordinary people who are undoubtedlythe future of the human race, the chance to take part inspace exploration and policy creation.

Asgardia is a truly avant-garde, technocratic and

Lembit Opik, Chair ofParliament at Asgardia

The Space Kingdom of Asgardia, amicronation which has launched theAsgardia-1 satellite into orbit, has declaredsovereignty over the space occupied by thatsatellite. The Asgardian people have adopteda constitution and intend to access outerspace free of the control of existing nations,and to establish a permanent settlement onthe Moon by 2043. Lembit Opik, Chair ofParliament at Asgardia, discusses the futureof space exploration and the need for off-world settlements.

futuristic state. But we call it a space kingdom. Because,first and foremost, Asgardia is a reflection of humanity’sbeautiful and ancient dream of a divine and peacefulland in Heaven, a place that people have always strivenso ardently to reach. A place where there is no pain orhatred, just love and joy. Is not this romantic vision ofthe free human spirit more important than thepragmatism of our entire world on Earth?

Question: What’s your assessment of the future forhumans in space?Lembit Opik: At some point in the future, space willcease to be the preserve of solely the highly trainedand specialist astronauts that currently make uphumanity’s presence in space. There will have to be afully functioning society if the human race is to continueits survival away from Earth. A huge part of this will bethe birth of the first baby in space, requiring – in our eyes– artificial gravity and protection from harsh radiationfrom space that is normally deflected by the Earth’smagnetosphere.

Question: Asgardia plans to establish a permanentsettlement on the Moon by 2043. What are your plansto achieve this, and why the Moon?Lembit Opik: The Moon is just one part of Asgardia’splans for the future of space infrastructure. Asgardia’splans include settlements in Earth Arks, Moon Arks andStar Arks alongside Moon settlements. We recentlyhosted a conference in Darmstadt, Germany to discusshow this can be achieved in the next 22 years. We had



#ASGARDIA #MOON #SATELLITE #EARTHARKS #MOONARKS #STARARKS

academics, scientists and astronauts from around theworld come together to present their ideas on how toface these challenges. The conference topics rangedfrom the science behind a baby being born in space tothe way that investment in space projects will manifestin the near future.

Securing a safe water supply is essential for thecreation of a Moon base. It is a basic human requirementand technology for water purification and creation willbe a key part of making a settlement a reality. Otherchallenges will come up as we get closer and closer tomaking this a reality in the near future. It is hard to exactlypredict which will be the biggest challenge, it may turnout not to be physical at all. Human psychology is oftenmisunderstood and the effect that living in space or onthe Moon could well be the biggest barrier in our way.At this point we just don’t know, but that is what makesexploration exciting.

Question: What impact do you feel off-world humansettlements will have on humankind as a whole?Lembit Opik: The impact will be the continuation of thehuman race’s survival if something were to happen tothe Earth in the short, medium or long-term. This is theprimary impact, but undoubtedly the nations andpeoples of Earth will benefit enormously from theadvances in technology that will facilitate us living inspace and on other terrestrial bodies.

Question: We’re now 50 years on from the Apollo 11landing. What impact have space technologies hadon our lives since then?Lembit Opik: Our everyday lives are – obviously –immeasurably different to those of 50 years ago, butthe influence of the Apollo program and wider spacerace cannot be understated. From communications andnavigation to new materials we are now constantly in

contact with technology – directly or indirectly – thathas come from the development of new solutions tothe problems presented by space travel.

Question: The NewSpace sector is booming right now,with a whole host of technologies like re-usablelaunch vehicles, off-world mining, 3D-printing inspace, and off-world agriculture all receiving a greatdeal of attention. What’s your assessment of theNewSpace sector as it stands now?Lembit Opik: As a sector it looks to be set to really takeoff – pardon the pun – in the next few years. There issome really exciting stuff going on as well as the topicsmentioned in this question. For example, in data storage,off-world industry and power generation. It could be thatin future many of the so called ‘dirty’ industries that wecurrently have to facilitate on Earth are moved to space,helping to create a more hospitable planet. The coldnessof space means that computing could be made hugelymore efficient, with natural cooling and the vast amountof room that space affords we could see this present asolution to the vast amounts of data we are nowrecording about every facet of our daily lives.

Question: What are your expectations for the next 25years of space exploration?Lembit Opik: We have already set out an ambition tosee the first baby born in space within 25 years, Asgardiais now three years old – leaving us 22 years left toachieve this. If we look back over the last decade, wehave come so far in terms of bringing down the cost ofspace travel, in the next 25 years we are likely to seespace tourism, space-based internet and settlements –and that is just basing a prediction on the currentcompanies that have set out their plans already. Withouta doubt we will see more projects such as these developin ways that we cannot possibly predict.

Artists impression courtesyof James Vaughn



#SATELLITE #LAUNCHERS #VIRGIN #ARIANESPACE #DELTA #SPACEX #PEGASUS

Launching from the skySatellite launch opportunitieshave never been as great as theyare right now. From theprecedent set by traditional GEOlaunch vehicles, we now live in aworld of dedicated small satellitelaunchers, rideshare options, re-usable launch vehicles, and,looking to the future, air andballoon launched satellites.

LauncherOne separates from Cosmic Girl for drop test

For as long as satellites have beenlaunched to orbit, the rockets we’ve allbecome familiar with - Ariane, Vega,Falcon, Proton, Long March, PSLV,Electron, Kosmos, Soyuz, Atlas, Delta -have been the key to delivering thesepayloads into space. Traditional single-userockets, and more recently, re-useablerockets, have served the space sectorexceptionally well; when you consider thefeat these vehicles are achieving, it’sstaggering that there are so few failures.

Despite humankind’s long and positive history withland-launched rockets, several commercial andgovernmental entities are now researching alternativemethods; in-air launches from planes, and balloonlaunches. Today, we’re looking at entirely new methodsfor launching satellites into orbit.

The possibilities of air launchesWhy the move away from rockets? Some advocatesclaim that air launches hold significant advantages overland launches, because of the reduced mass, thrust andcost of the rocket itself. Indeed, much of the fuelrequired for traditional land launches is needed to liftthe rocket and its payload beyond Earth’s low and denseatmosphere. The higher densities at lower altitudesproduce larger drag forces on the rocket, while thrust islost due to over-expansion of the exhaust at highpressure (near the ground) and under-expansion at lowpressure (during the launch).

Air launches, in contrast, require much less fuel toescape Earth’s atmosphere, and the rockets can beoptimised for lower ambient pressures, making themmore efficient. Planes, which lift the rocket into theoptimal air launch position, can make this initial flightmuch more efficiently than a rocket alone, not requiringan oxidiser. This reduction in rocket weight means thatthe payload itself can be larger, reducing launch costsper pound. Air launches are also less constrained by badweather: Rain or storms are not often the cause ofgrounded passenger planes, and aircraft can manoeuvrearound bad weather systems.

Air launches do come with their own disadvantagesthough; they are far from a one-size-fits-all solution.There is a very definitely limit to the size of payload whichcan be launched, whereas today’s land launch

companies are increasingly focusing on increasingcapabilities for the very small (through rideshares ordedicated launchers) and very large (via new massiverockets such as SpaceX’s BFR, a stepping stone on theway to deep space exploration) launch needs. It’s alsobeen highlighted that planes may well generate largelateral forces that could damage sensitive payloads.

Back in 2016, SpaceX’s Elon Musk opined at a RoyalAeronautical Society lecture that air launches are justnot worth it: “…you’re high up there and so surely that’sgood and you’re going at 0.7 or 0.8 Mach and you’vegot some speed and altitude, you can use a higherexpansion ratio on the nozzle, doesn’t all that add up toa meaningful improvement in payload to orbit? Theanswer is no, it does not, unfortunately. It’s quite a smallimprovement. It’s maybe a five percent improvement inpayload to orbit...and then you’ve got this humungousplane to deal with. Which is just like having a stage. FromSpaceX’s standpoint, would it make more sense to havea gigantic plane or to increase the size of the first stageby five percent? I’ll take option two. And then, once youget beyond a certain scale, you just can’t make the planebig enough.”

Despite the naysayers, quite a few people are bettingon air launches becoming a viable addition to today’scollection of satellite launch options.

Virgin Orbit completes first drop testMost famously, there’s Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit,which in June 2019 tested its satellite delivery rocketfor the first time. Virgin Orbit has been developing its airlaunch system since 2015, which will utilise a modified747 plane (Cosmic Girl) to carry a rocket to a high altitude;once there, the rocket will be released from beneaththe wing of the plane, fired up, and will carry its payloadinto orbit.




The company envisions that LauncherOne will havea 500kg capacity for equatorial orbit launches, and a300kg capacity for Sun-synchronous orbit launches.

In June, the company flew its LauncherOne rocketinto the air and released it over the Mojave Desert forthe first time. The drop test validated the design of thecarrier plane, Cosmic Girl, and demonstrated theeffectiveness of the launch system and its ability toutilise regular airstrips instead of rocket launch pads. Tosimulate the weight of a payload, the rocket was filledwith water and antifreeze, and was flown to 35,000 feetbefore its release.

“The whole flight went incredibly well. The releasewas extremely smooth, and the rocket fell away nicely.There was a small roll with the aircraft, just as weexpected. Everything matched what we’d seen in thesimulators well – in fact, the release dynamics and theaircraft handling qualities were both better than weexpected. This was the best kind of test flight sortie froma test pilot’s perspective – an uneventful one,” said PilotKelly Latimer.

Virgin Orbit’s next steps include the construction ofits first orbital test flight rocket. On the company’swebsite, Richard Branson stated: “The purpose of thetest was to ensure the rocket and aircraft separatedcleanly and to observe how the rocket freefell throughthe air. The team are now hard at work analysing theresults as we move towards our first space shot. Wewill now focus on testing the rocket we’ll send to spacein the very near future, while still building the rocketsfor subsequent missions.”

The end for Scaled Composites?Another billionaire-fronted company, the now lateMicrosoft co-founder Paul G. Allen’s Scaled Composites,

has been working on air launch technology since 2011.The company has spent years developing its ScaledComposites Model 351 Stratolaunch aircraft; the largestplane ever flown has a wingspan of 385 feet and isintended to carry a whopping 250,000kg payload up to35,000 feet. The goal was to carry as many as threeOrbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman) Pegasus XLrockets for satellite air launches into orbit by 2022.

In April 2019, the record-breaking plane made itsvirgin flight. Staying aloft for 149 minutes andsuccessfully landing back in Mojave, this was a greatfirst step for the company. Despite this momentousachievement, reports in the interim from anonymoussources have rumoured that the company is closing upshop. However, the company itself rigorously denies therumours, and asserts that ‘Stratolaunch remainsoperational.’ The future for the company remainsunclear, with other rumours signalling there may be asell off of its IP – We’ll have to keep a close eye on thisone.

Generation Orbit Launch Services completes CriticalDesign ReviewFounded in 2011, Generation Orbit Launch Services (GO)is developing air launch technology for the delivery ofsmall payloads into orbit with improved flexibility,reduced costs, and reduced time to launch. TheSpaceWorks Enterprises subsidiary is working on theGOLauncher family, a collection of high-speed flight andspace launch systems, which utilise a Learjet 35 aircraft,first flown in 2014, for air launch.

GO is currently focusing on the GoLauncher 1 (GO1),a single stage suborbital rocket specifically designedfor hypersonic flight research, now designated X-60A.The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Aerospace

Pegasus is carried to40,000 feet on theStargazer L-1011 carrieraircraft




Systems Directorate, High Speed Systems Division, isworking in partnership with GO on the development ofGO1. This is the first Air Force Small Business InnovativeResearch program to receive an experimental ‘X’designation, in a long line of historical X-planes thatincludes hypersonic vehicles such as the X-15 and X-51A.

As of March 2019, the X-60A has completed its CriticalDesign Review, moving the project on to the fabricationphase, with the maiden flight planned for 2020. AFRL’smotivation for the X-60A program is to increase thefrequency of flight testing while lowering the cost ofmaturing hypersonic technologies in relevant flightconditions. While hypersonic ground test facilities arevital in technology development, it is also important totest those technologies with actual hypersonic flightconditions.

Northrop Grumman: A stalwart in air launchesInitially designed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, whichbecame Orbital ATK, and was later acquired by NorthropGrumman, the Pegasus air launched rocket is the oldestin existence, first flying in 1990, and still active today.Pegasus is carried to 40,000 feet on the Stargazer L-1011 carrier aircraft before being released and is capableof carrying small payloads of up to 443kg into low Earthorbit (LEO).

According to Northrop Grumman, Pegasus has

completed 43 missions from six launch sites around theworld.

Far from aloneVirgin Orbit, Scaled Composites, Generation Orbit andNorthrop Grumman have been in good company overthe years.

NASA spent a good few years on its towed glider air-launch system (TGALS), a two-stage air launchedreusable launch system that utilises a glider, tow planeand rocket, to carry small satellites into orbit. Asuccessful maiden test flight of the glider took place in2014, however, there has been very little further news,and the project appears to have been archived for now.Meanwhile, ARCA Space Corporation, which specialisesin rockets and unmanned aircraft, spent decades in theaerospace industry, with brief forays into air launcheswith its Helen 2 rocket lifted via hot air balloon. Again,there’s been little news out of the company in recentyears about its air launch capabilities.

We can expect to see the air launch sector come onin leaps and bounds in the coming years if Virgin Orbitand Generation Orbit have anything to say about it; thefuture of Scaled Composites is unclear, but we lookforward to hearing more news on the company goingforwards. Meanwhile, new market entrants will no doubtmake themselves known off the back of the success ofthe early adopters.

Virgin Orbit’s Long Beachfactory as seen in April2019



#MOON #SPACE #WATER #MOONBASE #NASA #ESA

http://bit.ly/2nIGzBi


#NANOAVIONICS #NANOSATELLITE #M6P #IOT #LEO

Nanosatellite mission integratorNanoAvionics is a nanosatellite missionintegrator that delivers satellite buses andpropulsion systems from its facilities in NorthAmerica and Europe. With more than 75successful satellite missions and commercialprojects, shipped to 27 different countries, thecompany continues to forge ahead in thesatellite sector. Vytenic Buzas, Co-Founderand Chief Executive Officer at NanoAvionics,opines on the company’s future and latestdevelopments.

Vytenic Buzas, Co-Founder and ChiefExecutive Officer atNanoAvionics

Question: Can you provide us an overview ofNanoAvionics’ capabilities and expertise within thesatellite sector?Vytenic Buzas: When we founded NanoAvionics, wewanted it to be a partner for the private sector thatrequires revenue streams dependant on satellitetechnology, offering them faster, better, and more cost-efficient access to satellite communication services andapplications.

Our M6P nanosatellite bus was the first preconfiguredsatellite bus in the market, suitable for a highly diverserange of commercial and scientific missions. Its unifieddesign allows NanoAvionics to use an industrialised,mass production approach in nanosatellitemanufacturing for even faster lead times and cost-efficiency.

NanoAvionics were also the first company to put ananosatellite, LituanicaSAT-2, with environmentallyfriendly ‘green’ chemical propulsion, developed in-house, into orbit. Its usage contributes to ESA’s andNASA’s clean space initiatives. Of course, all the satellitesin our planned global IoT constellation-as-a-service willbe equipped with that, too.

Our Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites(EPSS) is capable of performing high-impulsemanoeuvres such as orbital deployment, orbitmaintenance, precision flight in formations, orbitsynchronisation and atmospheric drag compensation,which before were features more associated with largersatellites.

Question: Over the summer, NanoAvionics and aconsortium of patterns were awarded Euro10 millionfor the first demonstration of the precursor stage ofthe Global Internet of Things (GIoT) nanosatelliteconstellation. What can you tell us about this project,and how you expect it to develop?Vytenic Buzas: NanoAvionics’ future Global Internet ofThings (GIoT) infrastructure is a tremendous project thatwithout our fantastic partners and people at KSAT andAntwerp Space wouldn’t have been possible toconceive. And the financial support by our investors atthe EU and ESA among others show their confidence inthe project.

At the moment, there isn’t a single communicationstechnology that can reach all the possible markets andusers requiring IoT connectivity across the globe, with

many dead zones that cannot be easily be reachedthrough conventional methods. NanoAvionics’ plannedGIoT constellation combines the core strengths of theconsortium’s partners providing a one-stop-shop offerto establish an IoT infrastructure. It will give IoT andmachine-to-machine (M2M) service providers the meansto put their payloads into orbit and run their servicesthrough the interconnected network, allowing them tobe economically viable, globally scalable andcompetitive. NanoAvionics’ constellation-as-a-servicewill also give them a ten-fold reduction in the cost oftheir global IoT/M2M communications. I really believethe GIoT system will lower the entry barriers for IoTinnovators and enable them to devise new ways of M2Mcommunications.

The GIoT system consists of several maincontributions from each partner. NanoAvionics will addits reliable nanosatellite buses which are powered by‘green’ chemical propulsion and enabling constellationsynchronisation. We will also provide a modular andscalable mission control system and integration as wellas launch services. The global real-time connectivity willbe established via KSAT’s network of ground stationsnetwork and Antwerp Space’s inter-satellite link.

At the end of next year, the pre-cursor stage,consisting of two to three of NanoAvionics’interconnected nanosatellites, will be launched into lowEarth orbit (LEO). This will already allow IoT/M2M serviceproviders to offer services via our infrastructure. We willcontinue to add more nanosatellites and the final GIoTconstellation with an interconnected network of 72satellites and global real-time coverage will be readytowards the end of 2023.

Question: The IoT is starting to penetrate everydaylives all across the world. Which areas do you thinkwill feel the greatest impact as the IoT becomes morecommonly used, and what is the outlook for satelliteoperators?Vytenic Buzas: That’s right. There’s hardly an aspect ofmodern life that doesn’t in one way, or another involveIoT. Employing LEO IoT infrastructure based onnanosatellites with inter-satellite links would allowservice providers access to the vast opportunity



represented by the mainstream IoT/M2M market, witha high market potential uptake. The industries I expectto be among the first to widely adopt and benefit fromIoT technologies are discrete manufacturing,transportation, agriculture, construction logistics andutilities.

One has to bear in mind that existing cellular networkstoday only provide complete coverage of denselypopulated parts of the world’s landmass, whichcomprises less than 20 percent of the total Earth surface.That means 80 percent aren’t covered, and let’s notforget there are maritime applications too. Therefore,satellite operators have a massive opportunity to coverthese remaining 80 percent with communicationservices.

According to Northern Sky Research’s latest M2M andIoT via satellite report, revenues of US$11.6 billion willbe generated over the next 10 years. And MachinaResearch predicts that the total worldwide IoT marketopportunity will be worth US$3 trillion in 2024. In thelong-term, NSR also expects small satellite IoTconstellations to disrupt the market. More than half ofthese figures comes from application development,systems integration, hosting and data monetisationwhich is the targeted market segment of theNanoAvionics’ GIoT service. There are hugeopportunities for nanosatellite mission integrators likeNanoAvioncs.

Question: At the start of the year, NanoAvionicsopened a new sales and technical support office inthe UK. What impact has this had on the business todate, and why the UK?

Vytenic Buzas: Even before we established the officeat Harwell Campus, we had been successfully workingwith UK-based companies. However, we noticedadditional relationship-building opportunities of beingphysically surrounded by innovative space-relatedcompanies, many of which have been emerging in theUK and are frequently relying on cost-efficient accessto space provided by nanosatellites like theNanoAvionics M6P. The Harwell Space Cluster is a greatenvironment with access to excellent talent. So far it hasbeen serving our need perfectly and our decision to setup an office there has paid off.

Question: Later in August, NanoAvionics opened a newfactory and office in the USA and appointed a new CEOfor the US and new Business Development Managerfor Western Europe. What can you tell us about thenew site and appointments, and what it means forNanoAvionics as a whole?Vytenic Buzas: We are growing rapidly. Last year alonewe have doubled our staff, now counting 80 employees,and revenue went up almost five times. With both F.Brent Abbott as our new CEO North America and RobinSampson as business development manager for the UKand Western Europe we have hired two world-classtalents and veterans in the spacetech industry who willbe instrumental to advance NanoAvionics position inboth regions. To continue our plans for businessexpansion both North America and Europe are veryimportant markets.

About 50 percent of the global demand for smallsatellites comes from US customers and some USgovernment customers are required to buy satellites

Photo courtesy of NanoAvionics





manufactured in the United States. We had been lookingfor a way to enter the US market for years and foundone through our agreement with Avellan SpaceTechnology & Science, which is refurbishing the Midlandmanufacturing plant in Texas that previously housedXCOR Aerospace.

In the Midland facility we will manufacture satellitesfor the US market. It will also give us the space andcapabilities to produce satellites for Europeancustomers who need high volume production.

Question 5: Another fairly recent deal sawNanoAvionics sign a second contract with LacunaSpace for the integration of the Lacuna Space LoRa-based Space Gateway into NanoAvionics’ M6Pnanosatellite bus. We understand this isn’t the firsttime you’ve worked with Lacuna Space.Vytenic Buzas: We’ve been successfully collaboratingon the first Lacuna Space technology demonstrationmission launched aboard the Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle (PSLV C45) from India’s Satish Dhawan SpaceCentre on in April 2019. We used our MP6 bus to hostthe payload.

The MP6 is a versatile and volume-efficientnanosatellite bus optimised for IoT, M2M, AIS (automaticidentification system for maritime vessels), ADS-Bapplications (allowing aircrafts to broadcast their identity,position and other information) and it supports Earthobservation payloads. The mission is still in progress,

but they had a successful conclusion of the first phaseof testing. According to Lacuna Space, the satellite andthe Space Gateway outperformed their expectations.

Even with those excellent results, being chosen againby Lacuna Space is very significant because returningcustomers are not a frequent thing in this industry. I amtherefore very proud that they choose us again as ananosatellite bus and integration services supplier.

This new agreement will add another M6P-basedsatellite to join Lacuna Space’s internet of things (IoT)satellite constellation. Their aim is to optimise theperformance of the payloads and to validate theperformance of the pilot service by demonstrating thesystem in tests with users in many locations around theworld.

Question 6: What’s on the horizon for NanoAvionics in2020?Vytenic Buzas: We will continue growing the businessand keep working on the in-orbit demonstration of ourGIoT constellation and our ongoing discussions with trialcustomers.

Over the course of next year, we are going to expanda significant portion of our research, development andmanufacturing activities to the United States. While Icannot reveal names, yet I can confirm thatNanoAvionics has 16 new nanosatellites in ourproduction line for various customers and some of thesewill be built in our new US facility in Midland.

Photo courtesy of NanoAvionics



https://www.satellite-evolution.com/


#METHERAGLOBALCOMMUNICATIONS #MEO #SATELLITES

Delivering fibre-likespeeds

The office of Satellite Application Catapult, where Methera Global is co-located

Question: Methera is a pretty new entrant to the spacesector; what’s your assessment of the industry as itstands, and the potential for Methera within it?David Gilmore: Methera is focussing on the voraciousdemand for broadband capacity which is more thandoubling year on year. The satellite broadband demandhas mostly been met by geostationary (GEO) satellites,which have been expensive, in fact too expensive for aquality and affordable consumer service. The continuedrapid development of high throughput satellite (HTS)technology is disrupting the GEO replenishment cycle

UK-based Methera Global Communicationsplans to launch a constellation of satellitesinto MEO to enable governments, telecomcompanies and Internet service providers todeliver digital applications with fibre-likespeeds to areas of the world where fibre isimpractical. David Gilmore, CCO, outlines thecompany’s plans for success and thetechnologies that will enable it.

and creating uncertainty for satellite operators. As aconsequence, there are fewer large GEO satellites beingordered and launched. GEO satellite capacity pricing (£/Mbps/month) is under serious threat from emergingLEO constellations, promising global broadbandcoverage at a much lower price point.

Since the LEO networks need between one hundredand several thousand satellites, their CAPEX is very high(billions of pounds). Methera’s initial 16-18 satellite MEOnetwork does not attempt to cover the entire Earthconcurrently but will focus its capacity into narrowbeams into selected targeted nations – therebydelivering a huge amount of capacity into each region.As we sign more customers, we will add capacity to thenetwork by launching more satellites. CAPEX for ourinitial network will be an order of magnitude lower thanthe LEO networks, and our end-user price point will behighly competitive.

This year, having fully established our team, we haveworked on confirming the market and system design,and will continue to grow our customer base.

Question: In May, you were selected as one of justseven companies to attend the Seraphim Space CampAccelerator program. What sets you apart from therest?David Gilmore: We were delighted to be selected forthe Seraphim Accelerator, and areas that we have beentold were key include our diverse and talentedleadership team, the fact that our system approach is



#METHERAGLOBALCOMMUNICATIONS #MEO #SATELLITES

almost the opposite of our competitors, our innovativeuse of proven technology building blocks, and thetremendous support given to the programme by the UKGovernment.

Question: In your releases, you’ve been quiteenthusiastic about providing sustainable economicgrowth for underserved areas. What are Methera’slong-term plans regarding its impact worldwide?David Gilmore: We plan to operate initially in a handfulof carefully targeted nations, working with thegovernments to introduce very affordable Internetconnectivity to facilitate the use of digital applicationssuch as health, education and trade for the benefit ofthe consumers and the nations. For example, one of ourcustomers has developed a key community hubdelivering education, entertainment and healthcare.Initially there will be some government assistance, butthe centres will quickly become self-sustainingenvironments run by local organisations…

We are seeing more of these initiatives andopportunities across the globe and we are encouragingand working with application developers in areas suchas fintech, agritech, health, education and many othersto collaborate on developing and delivering solutionsfor such environments. The Methera Partner Programmeis our initiative to bring such parties together tocollaborate and develop real world services that willutilise and benefit from affordable, high capacitybroadband.

Our system is scalable and in response to marketdemand we will add capacity increasing nationalcoverage and introducing service in new countries.

Question: We were excited to learn you plan to put aconstellation of 16 new medium Earth orbit (MEO)satellites up in 2022, is there anything new you cantell us about this remarkable plan?David Gilmore: So are we! Our plan is to launch the firstof three or four batches of satellites at the end of 2022and the balance in the next year. We’ll start fullcommercial service in 2023 after a period of satellite inorbit testing and end to end network commissioning.

We expect to send out tenders for the spacesegment, ground segment and launch vehicle in thevery near future.

It’s great building a company to realise our initial ideas.We are now firmly focussed on bringing the system intoservice and having a transformational effect on defencecommunications, teleservice providers, and mostimportantly of all, bridging the digital divide andimproving lives in emerging countries.

Question: There are a lot of planned low Earth orbit(LEO) constellations in the works, but very few in MEO.Why do you think that is, and what advantages doesMEO have over LEO?David Gilmore: The LEO operators have a very differentbusiness model and customer-base to Methera. Theirsystems ‘revolve’ around providing a thin veneer ofcapacity around the Earth and hoovering up as manycustomers as they can. Whereas we are ‘focussed’ ondelivering huge amounts of capacity into targetedregions; thereby creating a step-change in capabilitiesfor governments, teleservice providers and defence.MEO provides the optimum flexibility to enable multiple

satellites to deliver services anywhere on Earth atextremely short notice; thereby supporting ourrequirement for dynamic, high density broadbandprovision.

LEOs can provide global coverage continuously,however increasing capacity in any particular region isextremely difficult for them. Methera is the opposite; weexcel at providing surge capacity but are not attemptingto continuously cover the whole globe. Maybe a futurepartnership will see us providing the ‘best of bothworlds;’ global coverage with real-time surge capability.

Question: The UK’s aerospace industry is sometimesovershadowed by those of its allies, but you’ve beenvery ambitious. Do you anticipate being a competitivepresence on the world stage, and if so, how do youintend to maintain your edge?David Gilmore: Introducing a novel, global broadbandservice to support defence, teleservice providers andemerging countries can only succeed if it is competitiveon the world stage. We started small with a disruptivebusiness model and target customer set; themomentum is growing, and to Methera, flexibility andagility remain key to not only our service offering, but tothe very heart and culture of the company.

Question: Ambitiously, you claim your high-densitysystems can not only deliver unprecedented levelsof high performance, but also lower bandwidth costs,making them more affordable. How are you gettingthe best of both worlds?David Gilmore: We can deliver all the capacity in oursystem to exactly where we want, and where ourcustomers need. None of it is wasted over water forexample. We expect a higher fill factor than the LEOsystems and therefore a greater efficiency. Couple thatwith designing the system to a strict cost target gives aleading edge.

Methera has also designed and proven a low-costuser terminal, which we are moving to development.The end user cost is dependent on a service cost and aterminal cost; LEO systems are planning to useelectronically steered antennas, and we believe ourmechanically steered terminal will be significantlycheaper for a long period, while the electronicallysteered antennas gain manufacturing volume to comeanywhere near our price potential.

David Gilmore, CCO, Methera GlobalCommunications



#SPACE2.0 #KEPLER #SATELLITES #CONSTELLATION

Space 2.0 - Satellite operations engineering inthe era of constellations

The last 20 years have seen a radical reduction of thebarriers to space access and the enablement of anunprecedented level of private development in orbit.Decreased launch costs, rideshare programs, and thestandardization of satellite components and launchintegration have all contributed to this opportunity boom.These advances have set the stage for a deluge of newprivate space ventures, with many proposing to orbitlarge constellations of hundreds, or even thousands ofsatellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).

However, the challenges of managing systems ofsuch outsized proportions are often underdiscussed.Traditionally, a satellite launched into space will have

As a new wave of highly ambitiousconstellations of small satellites edges closerto reality, questions are arising as to how theseconstellations will be managed. Paul Albert-Lebrun, Junior Satellite Operations Engineerat Kepler Communications, outlines theoperation and maintenance of KeplerCommunications’ upcoming constellation,and how the current methods for managingtelecommunications satellites will beadvanced.

an entire team of highly technical staff dedicated tooperating its onboard systems and troubleshooting anyissues encountered during its mission. Using thisapproach, the management of a thousand satelliteswould require a small army! This is an example of onechallenge that new LEO constellation operators mustface.

Toronto’s Kepler Communications Inc. – a startuplooking to orbit 140 telecommunications satellites in LEO– is one such group. Kepler already has two satellites inorbit today but plans to rapidly increase this numbersuccessively over the next three years until its 140-satellite constellation is complete. To accomplish thismission, Kepler has needed to reshape and redefinetraditional satellite operation procedures to suit itsmodern-era system.

Old-school methodologies demanded manualattention for every piece of telemetry received from asatellite – necessary to safeguard the hundred-million-dollar investments that they used to represent. But suchsolutions aren’t scalable for constellations. Efficientmanagement of large constellations now demands thatmany of these same processes be automated, reducingthe subset of critical telemetry that requires attentionby operations staff.

But when it comes to the challenges of space,redefining the old is no simple task. Amongst the many

[Left to Right] Paul Albert-Lebrun Junior Satellite Operations Engineer, and Jakub Urbanek Lead Satellite Operations Engineer fromKepler Communications




aspects that must be considered, one must incorporatethe legacy procedures in a way that meshes withmodern times. What does this mean practically?

Automating telemetry analysis and responseOne of the critical functions of a satellite operationsengineer is to keep satellites healthy and fully functional.Because space is shared, anomalous behavioursencountered on orbit can carry ramifications foreveryone. For example, a rogue transmitter could spewinterference into antennas on the ground and otherspacecraft. Therefore, operations engineers must becapable of identifying and debugging on-board errorsquickly and efficiently. But, since spacecrafts arecomplex systems operating in a harsh environment, thistask is formidable even for a single satellite, much lesstens or hundreds of them.

Consider an example of a car dashboard with 10possible warning lights, each illuminated when certainsensors report an issue. While driving in heavy traffic,three lights turn on. The driver decides that the bestimmediate response is to pull over to a safe stop andinvestigate the possible causes for the lights. After aninitial inspection, they decide that a mechanic is needed.The mechanic must then diagnose and repair the car,while the driver reschedules what they were supposedto do that day. Now, consider that there are 100 cars,each with hundreds of possible dashboard lightcombinations and that the drivers and their cars needto remain operational for upwards of 99 percent of timeeach. The number of inspections needed to be done byboth drivers and mechanics will surge. Two distinctchallenges emerge from this situation. First, the routingand scheduling of cars to mechanics now becomes alogistical challenge in its own right; and second, theregular handling and correction of such a staggeringnumber of faults (each of which could be unique) wouldbe a stupendous task.

Moreover, LEO constellations tend to exist acrossmultiple orbital planes, and will therefore haveconstraints on when and where ground commands canbe issued from. In the car example, this would beequivalent to mechanics trying to simultaneously service

tens of cars while they all move in different directions.And if things weren’t tricky enough already, themechanic cannot see or touch the car!

The scale and reliability requirements of managingsuch fleets would dictate massive operational resources,even granting that all satellites are unlikely to flag a suiteof problems at the same time. The criticality ofautomating telemetry analysis and response cannot beunderstated. To tackle this challenge, Kepler’s satelliteoperations team breaks down autonomous behaviourassessment into three key aspects:

1) What is considered a notable behaviour and howis it defined?

2) What decision paths can automation take? 3) How is a decision carried out?

Assume our car is autonomous: It relies on a suite ofsensors to make real-world decisions that relate to itsmission. If a benign bug causes a sensor to start reportingstrange data, a modern car will be intelligent enough torun self-diagnostic and restart the sensor - likely solvingthe problem on its own. For many small satellites, thestandard procedure would be to log the anomalousevent, and likely stop all non-critical operations and waitfor help, regardless of severity. But both the car and ourspacecraft cannot practically receive a ‘mechanic’ forbenign problems. By systematically addressing thesethree questions for each satellite platform, aconstellation can be scaled safely and reliably.

Anomalies that go beyond the logic implementedDistinguishing operations that can be reliably automatedfrom those that merit human intervention is fundamentalto success. Implementing an automated response is notalways trivial and can be complicated by corner cases.Addressing this effectively requires designing for it inevery element of the system.

To that end, Kepler continually revises its operationalpractices and develops them with the knowledgeobtained from its presently operating satellites. Its newsatellites are launched gradually, allowing it to validateits concept of operations and carefully identify


http://bit.ly/2aFuxOA



operations suitable for automation. With time, theinstances that require manual intervention will shrink.However, it is important to acknowledge that not allaspects of satellite operations can be automated. Thisunderstanding is critical for the safe scaling of Kepler’sconstellation and ensuring the reliability of its futurenetwork.

Operating in-houseTo attain better control over the network, reduce risks,and allow it to iterate and innovate quickly, Keplerperforms all of its own satellite operations in-house. Thisgives Kepler the opportunity to learn from its satellitesdirectly, troubleshoot anomalous behaviours andimplement solutions at an aggressive pace. As the fleetcontinues to grow and its automation becomes morecapable, Kepler will be able to continually reduce theoverhead required for the safe operations of its network.

The new entrepreneurial space race is an excitingtime for satellite operators. Constellation operationpresents entirely novel challenges that demandoperators to rethink well-established practices. New,cutting edge technology will need to be carefullyintegrated with existing prudence to overcome thesechallenges, an exciting road to say the least. Further,automated tasks could be applicable to more than justsatellite health. Communication with ground stations andoptimal routing of intersatellite links would both benefitfrom intelligent onboard decision making. For some ofthese purposes, it might be possible to extendfunctionality beyond the confines of a singleconstellation, incorporating different systems within aninter-operator network. Exactly how the landscape willchange remains anyone’s guess, but one needn’t go farto imagine the advancements that might be witnessedin the years to come.

Photo courtesy of Kepler



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Photo courtesy of Kepler



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