By Juliet Van Wagenen | January 20, 2015 | North America, Regional, Satellite TODAY News Feed, ST Briefs, Telecom
Boeing 737’s on the production line. Photo: Boeing
[Via Satellite 01-20-2015] Global Eagle Entertainment’s (GEE) Ku-band satellite connectivity system provisions will now be offerable on new Boeing 737 airplanes — the most popular commercial aircraft offering. The two companies are working on line-fit installation feasibility for catalogue offering consideration. Airlines ordering new Boeing 737 airplanes will then have the option of including pre-installed satellite connectivity by GEE in their aircraft prior to delivery.
“The ability to deliver Ku-band and future Ku-[High Throughput Satellite] HTS connectivity on new Boeing airplane orders enables us to answer the strong demand for a superior in-flight connectivity offering and provides airlines access to the most technically-advanced connectivity solution in the market as a pre-installed option,” said Dave Davis, CEO at GEE.
Accion Systems $2 Million Investment to Fuel In-Orbit Propulsion System Tests
By Caleb Henry | January 20, 2015 | Feature, North America, Regional, Satellite TODAY News Feed, Technology
Natalya Brikner, CEO of Accion Systems. Photo: Accion Systems
[Via Satellite 01-20-2015] Accion Systems, a startup company founded by graduate students fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Space Propulsion Lab, is preparing to commercialize a new miniaturized electric propulsion system for small satellites. Using an ionic liquid propellant, the company’s electric thrusters are expected to see their first use this year, along with the fulfillment of product preorders.
“2015 we are saying is the year of the launch for Accion Systems, not just product launch like other startups, but actually launching into space. We’re going to take our first product all the way through Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and Critical Design Review (CDR), and then partner with someone to launch it by the end of the year,” Natalya Brikner, Accion Systems CEO, told Via Satellite.
“We started from scratch with our approach and got rid of the neutral gas propellant, meaning we don’t need a large ionization volume, as everything is quite compact,” explained Brikner. “The thruster head itself — where all of the charged particle acceleration and ionization happens — is about a millimeter long compared to tens of centimeters. The other unique approach that we’re taking is in our manufacturing. Most components in the aerospace industry are made like one-off custom pieces of hardware, whereas we’re taking a batch approach and making thrusters the same way computer chips are made. So in one run we can make 200 thrusters at a time.”
For Brikner, this is the second space propulsion company she has started. The first did not take off. Crestfallen perhaps, but undeterred, she saw the opportunity to start Accion Systems when others began pursuing the technology she and other students were working on. Accion Systems recently received $2 million in seed stage funding for its ion electrospray propulsion technology.
“A lot of organizations and industry were trying to buy the systems from MIT or they were trying to license the intellectual property. We realized we were working on something there was some demand for. That, combined with my previous entrepreneurial interest prompted me and some of my lab-mates to form a company,” she said.
As graduate students, Brikner and partners helped build four satellites that are slated to launch in May this year. Brikner said the company now has preorders for use in an interplanetary transfer mission, and another for a small satellite operator.
“Propulsion for nano and microsatellites has been limited to date — in part due to available technology but also due to the acceptable risk profile for launch. As smaller satellites are launched via opportunistic rideshare arrangements, the primary payload operator generally does not tolerate the added risk that a propulsion system would create. Given that universities and emerging commercial ventures depend on these free or low-cost launches, the default option has been no propulsion — a limit to the range of potential applications small satellites could undertake,” Carolyn Belle, analyst at NSR told Via Satellite, adding that propulsion systems that mitigate risk to the primary payload like that of Accion Systems’ have been a popular area of research.
Laying out prime market opportunities, Brikner highlighted satellite deployments from the International Space Station (ISS), where atmospheric drag causes spacecraft to deorbit quicker than at higher altitudes. Interplanetary missions of 6U and 12U satellites traveling to Mars or a Lagrange point are also opportunities for propulsion systems on SmallSats.
Accion Systems’ miniaturized thrusters are designed for satellites ranging from CubeSats up to around 100 to 150 kilograms. Brikner said there is nothing technologically precluding the company from scaling up to address very large satellites in a few years, but for now the easier path to starting out coupled with the limited options for SmallSat designers made low-mass spacecraft the ideal first target. The company is soon shipping a demo unit to a potential customer for some ground tests. Brikner said Accion Systems’ big goal for 2015 is to launch a satellite with their product to vet the process outside of an academic environment.
“It’s one thing that MIT is demonstrating the technology, but as the Accion team we want to go through the exercise too to get all our manufacturing channels in place, to work as a team and actually build a product. Through that exercise we’ll set up all of the necessary steps so that we can start to fill up the preorders towards the end of the year,” she said.
VP Operations at Satellite Equipment and Bandwidth
Backpack Satellite Communications
Jan 15, 2015
Disaster can happen far from roads or aircraft landing strips, but the news still needs to be reported!
Norsat manufactured a solution for that problem. Shown above is their backpack satellite system. Two men can carry the entire communication system and within 30 minutes the coverage can be transmitted to the satellite.
We have one of these complete packages in stock, already tested and warranted. We even made a short video showing it in operation -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk2hyWyI5Kw
Cleansat: New satellite technologies for cleaner low orbits
(12 January 2015) What goes up must go down. When it comes to satellites, this dictum has become a statutory requirement. Otherwise, key low orbits may well become unusable as they fill with debris.
In March, European satellite manufacturers will come together to discuss redesigning low-orbit missions to meet anti-debris regulations.
Prompted by ESA’s Clean Space initiative, devoted to safeguarding the terrestrial and space environments, they will consider new technologies devoted to cutting down on derelict satellites being abandoned, reducing the risk of orbital collisions from increasing debris while also reducing the threat posed by reentering satellites.
“This workshop is an essential step for involving the whole European space sector in shaping the way forward for low-orbiting satellites,” explained ESA organiser Jessica Delaval.
“Companies will have the opportunity to put forward their own technologies for debris mitigation.”
There are more than 12 000 trackable items of space debris larger than 10 cm orbiting Earth, including derelict satellites, spent upper stages and fragments of old missions – all presenting a clear and present danger to current missions.
The highest debris collision risk is found at Earth's poles, now and in the future. (courtesy: ESA)
The number of smaller, untraceable objects is in the millions: hundreds of thousands of 1–10 cm pieces and literally millions of smaller particles. At orbital speeds, a 1 cm nut can strike with the force of a hand grenade.
Today, international regulations state that minimal debris should be left to propagate within heavily trafficked orbits, especially the low orbits favoured by Earth-observing missions and some classes of communication satellite, not to mention manned spacecraft and the International Space Station.
For these orbits, extending up to about 2000 km above Earth, the requirement is that satellites are removed within 25 years of ending their lives. Either they should end up at an altitude where atmospheric drag gradually induces reentry, or alternatively be despatched up to quieter ‘graveyard orbits’.
So mitigation methods are having to be built into new low-orbit missions, with important implications for their design – not least because any mass added to the platform means less is left for the payload, the part of the satellite that actually achieves the mission goal.
That means smaller satellites find it more difficult to meet mitigation requirements.
The workshop at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre on 17–18 March will promote a common approach to debris mitigation, summarising the current state-of-the-art for both passive and active deorbiting approaches, as well as detailing ESA's new CleanSat programme - seeking to adopt debris mitigation techniques within common platform building blocks.
[SatNews] Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, has announced that, following an international consultation, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), has been selected to launch the company’s second satellite, Es’hail 2, in the fourth quarter of 2016 on board a Falcon 9 rocket.
Es’hail 2 is currently under construction by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) in Japan. A high-performance satellite with Ku- and Ka-band capabilities, Es’hail 2 will be positioned at the 26 degrees East hotspot position to provide TV distribution and government services to strategic stakeholders and commercial customers who value broadcasting and communications independence, interference resilience, quality of service and wide geographical coverage.
Ali Al Kuwari, Chief Executive Officer of Es’hailSat, said, “We are delighted to have selected SpaceX to launch our second satellite. Now a proven GTO launcher, SpaceX was able to meet our special technical requirements and most importantly to meet the time critical mission to launch Es’hail 2 at the end of 2016. Securing the launch of Es’hail 2 marks another key milestone in Qatar’s satellite program and we look forward to working with SpaceX on this important mission”.
Gwynne Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX, added, "The two companies worked closely together to develop a launch solution that enhances the capabilities for the Es'hail 2 mission; SpaceX is proud to partner with Es’hailSat and we look forward to their successful launch.”
The Es’hail 2 satellite is scheduled to launch in the fourth quarter of 2016 from SpaceX’s Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Es’hail 1, Qatar’s first satellite, entered commercial service on Qatar National Day, December 18, 2013. Through its existing and planned satellites, Es’hailSat will broadcast diversified and high quality premium content with anti-jamming capabilities across the MENA region.
Al Jazeera and beIN SPORTS are already using Es’hail 1 capacity for high definition broadcasting of their premium channels.
Additional information may be located at the Es'hailSat infosite: http://www.eshailsat.qa/
Further details regarding the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle may be located athttp://www.spacex.com/falcon9
By Veronica Magan | December 17, 2014 | North America, Regional, Satellite TODAY News Feed, ST Briefs, Technology
Raytheon researches Gallium Nitride at the Radio Frequency Components Foundry in Andover, Mass. Photo: Raytheon
[Via Satellite 12-17-2014] Satellites may soon carryRaytheon’s Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology into orbit. The company has successfully validated its GaN Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology for use in space-bound equipment.
Raytheon GaN MMICs, manufactured at its Andover, Mass. foundry, demonstrated the radiation hardness required for space through Single Event Burn-out (SEB) and Total Ionizing Dose (TID) testing. The results showed the devices are not susceptible to catastrophic failure caused by heavy ions. Further testing showed no loss of performance at exposure levels up to 1 Mrad, significantly more than is needed for typical space applications.
GaN-based components are more than five times as powerful as semiconductors presently used in radars and other types of sensors resulting in lighter, more capable electronics, according to Raytheon.
Airbus, ESA Conduct Gigabit Laser Connection Between Satellites
By Caleb Henry | December 1, 2014 | Europe, Regional, Satellite TODAY News Feed, ST Briefs, Telecom
An ESA graphic of the European Data Relay System (EDRS), also known as the Space Data Highway. Photo: ESA
[Via Satellite 12-01-2014] Airbus Defence and Space and the European Space Agency (ESA) have completed a test linking the Thales Alenia Space-built Sentinel 1A satellite with the Airbus-built Alphasat satellite using Laser Communication Terminals (LCTs). The data transfer between Sentinel 1A, orbiting at 700 km in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and Alphasat at 36,000km in Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) reached 0.6 Gbps out of a possible 1.8 Gbps over 45,000 km.
The laser communications system is part of ESA’s Space Data Highway. The test, which beamed images from Sentinel 1A to Alphasat and back to the ground, follows successful LCT operation between two LEO satellites since 2008. The Airbus Defence and Space subsidiary Tesat-Spacecom developed the terminal with support from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and funding by the German Ministry of Economics.
The Space Data Highway will be used for the Copernicus Earth observation project, for more efficient transfer of large near-real-time data. According to Airbus Defence and Space, the remaining bandwidth will be commercially available for a variety of applications such as maritime border control, beyond line of sight control for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), and for controlling and re-configuring satellites in orbit. ESA’s Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications Magali Vaissiere said the link could grow from 1.8 Gbps to 7.2 Gbps in the future.
Aerospace Corporation Tests Electric Satellite Thrusters from Busek
By Caleb Henry | November 18, 2014 | North America, Regional, Satellite TODAY News Feed, ST Briefs, Technology
Busek’s BHT-1500 Hall Effect Thruster. Photo: Busek
[Via Satellite 11-18-2014] The Aerospace Corporation has tested Busek Co.’s BHT-1500 Hall Effect Thruster, used for electric propulsion of satellites. The nonprofit found the thruster to be largely unaffected by test facility pressure. According to Busek, the BHT-1500’s design enables it to operate with higher efficiency in the high-vacuum conditions of space.
“The BHT-1500’s superior performance translates to more than 10 percent in propellant savings versus other systems, without sacrificing high thrust and efficiency. For a geostationary all-electric satellite, that means we can eliminate more than 100 kilograms of propellant from the spacecraft,” said Vlad Hruby, president of Busek.
Busek’s BHT-1500 thruster system uses a virtual magnetic field wall to minimize erosion. During orbit-raising mode, the thruster produces more than 120 milliNewtons (mN) of thrust with 1,700 seconds total specific impulse (Isp) at 1,800 Watts of power. When used for station keeping, the thruster produces more than 100 mN thrust and 1,900 seconds Isp.
