SIA PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MEMBER NEWS FOR NOV 2020
Since our last SIA Member News Summary, press releases and posts from many SIA Members including Eutelsat, Hughes, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Leonardo DRS, Lockheed Martin, Omnispace, Planet, SES, SpaceX, Telesat and ULA have released news. Please see the summary of stories and postings below and click on the COMPANY LINK for more details.
On Nov 24th, SpaceX announced the successful launch of 60 additional Starlink broadband satellites. As seen above, the satellites were launched from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on board a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. This was the 16th successful Starlink LEO satellite launch. (Photo credit: Image courtesy of SpaceX)
TELESAT On Nov 24th, Telesat Canada announced it had entered into an agreement with Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL) (Loral) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) pursuant to which Telesat Canada and Loral will become subsidiaries of Telesat Corporation (Telesat), a new publicly traded Canadian incorporated and controlled company. The shares of Telesat will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market at the closing of the transaction. The transaction allows public market investors, including Loral’s stockholders, to own Telesat directly, and, moreover, provides Telesat access to the public equity markets to support its compelling growth initiatives, including its revolutionary, highly advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. Telesat’s state-of-the-art LEO network will enable affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband connectivity everywhere on Earth, positioning Telesat to be a leader in this high growth industry. The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2021, subject to the receipt of required approvals and conditions.
INMARSAT On Nov 23rd, announced the availability of the world’s first ever publicly-available, real-time link between satellites in high and low earth orbits. After a five-year collaboration, Inmarsat and Addvalue Innovation were pleased to announce the introduction of the Inter-satellite Data Relay System (IDRS) service, following the successful demonstration of the first live data connectivity between customer Capella SIA PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MEMBER NEWS FOR NOV 2020
Space’s Control Center and its recently launched Sequoia satellite in low earth orbit. This success paves the way for satellites in low earth orbits to continuously maintain communications with the ground, receiving and transmitting data on demand and in real-time. The new on-demand IDRS service was successfully commissioned on Capella Space’s Sequoia satellite on November 12th. The Capella satellite, situated in low earth orbit, communicated with Inmarsat’s I-4 satellite network, which operates at the L- band spectrum and sits in a high earth, geostationary orbit. Capella Space is a market leader by being the first LEO satellite operator to leverage this enhanced functionality to offer an unprecedented level of responsiveness to its customers.
HUGHES On Nov 18th, Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES) announced it had been named an Industry Innovator by the Government Innovation Awards, which celebrate the transformative government projects, individual change agents and industry partners that are reimagining public - sector IT. Hughes was selected as a winner for its work at the forefront of government network modernization. “This recognition underscores the efforts of the entire team at Hughes to connect federal, state and local government agencies and workers – even those in areas unserved by terrestrial broadband – to the technologies and services they need to serve their constituents,” said Tony Bardo, assistant vice president, Government Solutions, Hughes. “We are proud to serve our government customers and eco-system partners with innovative solutions that help solve some of their most pressing IT challenges.”
NASA and PLANET On Nov 19th, NASA announced that it is aiding disaster response in Central America after the region was hit by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. With up to 155-mph winds, Hurricane Iota smashed record books on Nov. 16 as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in Nicaragua. Iota reached Category 5 strength before making landfall as a Category 4 storm near the town of Haulover, Nicaragua. The onslaught of destructive winds and heavy rainfall was unfortunately familiar to a region that recently suffered another Category 4 landfalling storm – Hurricane Eta – just two weeks earlier. NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences Disasters Program supports disaster response and risk reduction efforts throughout the world — before, during, and after disasters strike – and is working to aid Central America with the impacts from these storms. Landslide detection maps from the Semi-Automatic Landslide Detection (SALaD) project, use machine learning to analyze data from commercial Planet satellites and the European Space Agency (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite.
EUTELSAT On Nov 16th, Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announced the successful entry into service of its new-generation EUTELSAT KONNECT high throughput all-electric satellite at the 7° East orbital position. Launched aboard an Ariane rocket on 16 January 2020, the availability of EUTELSAT KONNECT had been delayed due to Covid-related interruptions in the roll-out of the ground segment, but having now completed its testing, this much anticipated spacecraft is now operational and will gradually ramp up with 80% of the capacity in service by year-end and 100% by March 2021. Coverage will initially be split between Europe with circa 55% of the capacity focused on high-demand areas namely France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK, and Africa where it will considerably supplement and gradually replace the capacity leased from a third-party operator.
INTELSAT On Nov 13th, Intelsat announced that it and Inland Cellular, a regional mobile network operator (MNO) serving communities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, had partnered to bring reliable 4G LTE broadband coverage to people in rural areas of Washington state. Inland Cellular needed an efficient way to extend its high-performance service to customers no matter where they live, work or travel – particularly customers in rural areas and at remote construction, mining and camping sites. Intelsat CellBackhaul, an end-to-end managed service launched earlier this year, proved an ideal solution because it overcomes the technical, but mostly importantly, the economic challenges often associated with traditional, terrestrial backhaul deployments for rural coverage. Intelsat CellBackhaul delivers a fully managed end-to-end cellular backhaul service that provides connectivity over Intelsat’s global network. The service includes on- SIA PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MEMBER NEWS FOR NOV 2020
site installation and maintenance of equipment, such as antennas and modems, and is available through a number of flexible service plans configured to meet differing MNO business needs. Today, 97% of the U.S. is considered rural, with low levels of population density, and large parts are still without 4G coverage, a need which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ULA On Nov 13th, ULA announced that an Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. “Thank you to our mission partners, the NRO and the United States Space Force for their continued confidence and partnership with ULA,” said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. “This launch was the inaugural launch of our new GEM 63 solid rocket motors, an instrumental step for ULA to build flight experience in preparation for the Vulcan Centaur, our next generation launch vehicle.”
OMNISPACE On Nov 10th, Omnispace announced it had signed a launch agreement with Exolaunch, the rideshare launch and deployment services provider for the New Space industry. Exolaunch will deliver two Thales Alenia Space-built satellites into orbit aboard SpaceX's rideshare missions. Exolaunch will provide launch, mission management, integration and deployment services for the two Omnispace satellites, targeted for launch in 2022. Omnispace is combining the global footprint of a non-geostationary orbit satellite constellation with the world's leading mobile wireless networks into a seamless 'one global network.' The network will support 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and 5G telecommunications standards with the satellite component operating in the S-band. The company aims to set new standards for global connectivity solutions for the internet of things (IoT), mobile satellite and mobile broadband markets.
TELESAT On Nov 9th, Telesat announced that the Company and the Government of Canada completed an agreement to ensure affordable, high-speed broadband connectivity across all of Canada with Telesat’s advanced, state-of-the-art Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. The $600M (CAD) agreement enables Internet and mobility service providers to acquire Telesat LEO capacity at substantially reduced rates to bring universal broadband connectivity to rural, Northern and Indigenous communities across Canada. Telesat will be eligible to receive amounts under the agreement over a ten year period once the Telesat LEO constellation enters service. Telesat LEO will provide the reliable, secure, fibre-like broadband connections needed to bridge the digital divide in Canada. In the wake of the global pandemic, dependable connectivity for Canadians has never been more important. “Telesat LEO will transform connectivity in Canada, and this agreement will bring affordable enterprise grade, high-speed connectivity to underserved Canadians no matter where they live and work,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO.
PLANET On Nov 6th, Planet announced that it was thrilled to partner with the NASA-Resources for the Future (RFF) Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES). This program is a cooperative agreement between RFF, a longstanding leader in economic analysis and policy innovation for managing environmental and natural resources, and NASA to measure how satellite information benefits people and the environment when it is used to make decisions. Planet is the first commercial Earth observing data provider to join the consortium. “We want to help Earth scientists explain why what they’re doing matters in more than just papers,” says Dr. Yusuke Kuwayama, RFF Fellow and Director of the VALUABLES Consortium. To accomplish this, VALUABLES funds researchers to conduct analyses based on the impact on decision making and outcomes for the environment and human life.
LOCKHEED MARTIN On Nov 5th, the Company posted the following. “The fourth Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)-built Global Positioning System III (GPS III) satellite is now headed to orbit under its own propulsion. Following a successful launch earlier this evening, GPS III Space Vehicle 04 (GPS III SV04) SIA PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MEMBER NEWS FOR NOV 2020
separated from its rocket and is now using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit, approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth. In the coming days, GPS III SV04's onboard liquid apogee engine will continue to propel the satellite towards its operational orbit. Once it arrives, the engineers will send the satellite commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas, and prepare GPS III SV04 for handover to Space Operations Command. GPS III SV04 is the latest next-generation GPS III satellite Lockheed Martin designed and built to help the U.S. Space Force modernize today's GPS satellite constellation with new technology and capabilities. GPS III satellites will provide significant capability improvements over previous GPS satellites.”
SES On Nov 2nd, SES announced its financial results for the nine-month period ending Sept 30, 2020 along with the following statement from its CEO Steve Collar. “Our solid performance continued into the third quarter, despite ongoing COVID-19 headwinds, with sustained growth across Networks and stable revenue quarter-on-quarter in our Video business. We were delighted to announce a substantial extension of our relationship with Canal+ across three orbital locations and valued at over EUR 230 million, as well as a meaningful extension of our strategic partnership with Microsoft as an Azure Orbital connectivity partner and satellite partner for Azure Modular Data Centres. We took measures early in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the bottom line and the benefits of these cost-saving measures are reflected in our resilient Adjusted EBITDA performance. Execution remains the priority with the business well placed to deliver on our full year outlook.”
OMNISPACE On Nov 2nd, Omnispace announced it was award recipient of the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN)’s Starts Navy & USMC 5G pitch competition. Omnispace was among the 50 initial competition entrants and one of only four companies selected to receive an award. Omnispace, along with its partner, LinQuest, a leader in space systems technology solutions for U.S. defense and intelligence communities, will also have the opportunity to pilot its technology with the Navy and Marine Corps at the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Verizon’s 5G “Living Lab.” Omnispace will leverage the award to further its development of the world’s first global hybrid 5G communications network based on 3GPP standards. The NSIN Starts 5G event was held in partnership with NavalX SoCal Tech Bridge and the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific). It was designed to highlight the DoD’s continued investment in 5G technology from companies innovating in the sector. The DoD identified 5G as one of its top strategic technological priority areas and will be investing significant resources to acquire and develop capabilities.
LEONARDO DRS On Nov 2nd, Leonardo DRS Inc. announced that its Cypress, California, facility had been chosen as an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Center of Excellence within the network of the Leonardo Labs, the high-tech laboratories established by parent company Leonardo SpA. The Leonardo DRS Cypress team works with academia and industry partners, as the company’s Electro-Optical & Infrared Systems business Advanced Engineering Center of Excellence, to develop and produce cutting-edge technologies for the U.S. military and government agencies. Their expertise ranges across multi-domains from space to airborne applications and for terrestrial platforms.
PLANET On Oct 20th, Planet posted the following. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on not only human health, but also economic impacts around the world due to the severe disruption of our daily lives. Individuals in regions where smallholder farms comprise most of the agricultural production sector, such as many sub-Saharan African countries, are at greater risk of economic and food insecurity due to disruptions to supply chains and local food markets. However, up-to-date, and high-resolution spatial information about croplands (often called cropland or crop type maps) are often lacking in these regions, making it difficult for governments to locate farmers and assess food security and production. Planet, in partnership with NASA Harvest, NASA’s Food Security and Agriculture Program, run out of the University of Maryland (UMD), aims to enable and advance the adoption of satellite Earth observations to benefit food SIA PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MEMBER NEWS FOR NOV 2020
security, agriculture, and human and environmental resiliency, which has become increasingly necessary in the midst of COVID-19.” For more details, please click on the PLANET link above.
INTELSAT On Oct 7th, Intelsat released the following blog post and photo. “After Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm on the U.S. Gulf Coast in August, Intelsat and its customer Cubic provided critical internet connectivity to first responders and residents in Lake Charles, Louisiana. According to news reports, Hurricane Laura rolled onto shore with winds upwards of 150 mph. It devastated large swaths of Louisiana, killing at least 28 people and causing severe flooding. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to nearly 615,000 homes and businesses. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, Cubic and Intelsat sprang into action, providing crucial internet connectivity to the area’s first responders, medical personnel and other local residents for eight days while their traditional communications infrastructure was re- established. “We understand the importance of bringing connectivity to help people in times of need,” said Intelsat General Sales Director Dan Ortiz. “People are trying to contact family, deal with insurance, find an alternate place to stay or any other needs they may find themselves in after a life-altering crisis like this. Not to mention the first responders who need the internet to stay connected and complete critical tasks.”
Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Intelsat
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