Worldwide Satellite Magazine SatMagazineSatMagazine SmallSat Symposium 2021 Virtual February 2021 Smallsat cover image is courtesy of Planet Publishing Operations InfoBeam Features Silvano Payne, Publisher + Executive Writer SpaceX 4 Running The Numbers... On The Commercial 26 Simon Payne, Chief Technical Officer Satellite Industry by Tom Zelibor, Space Foundation Hartley G. Lesser, Editorial Director Kepler Communications 6 Launching Toward A Resilient Space Industry 30 Pattie Lesser, Executive Editor by Grant Bonin, Spaceflight Inc. Donald McGee, Production Manager D-Orbit 6 A New Age Of Connectivity 34 Teresa Sanderson, Operations Director by John Finney, Isotropic Systems Sean Payne, Business Development Director What Happens When… The Unconnected World 38 Hiber 7 Dan Makinster, Technical Advisor Lights Up by Abel Avellan, AST SpaceMobile Ticket To Ride: Pioneering In-Space Mobility 40 Exolaunch 8 Senior Columnists Will Take More Than Innovative Propulsion by Jake Teufert, Benchmark Space Systems Chris Forrester, Broadgate Publications Spaceflight 10 Orbit Congestion Encourages The Growth of A 42 Karl Fuchs, iDirect Government Services Commercial SSA Market Bob Gough, Goonhilly Earth Station by Charlotte Croison, Euroconsult Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch, Inmarsat Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) 14 Secure World Foundation — 2020 Year In Review 46 Ken Peterman, Viasat by Dr. Peter Martinez, Secure World Foundation Giles Peeters, Track24 Defence KSF Space Foundation 16 Spaceflight Inc. — 2020 Year in Review 48 by Curt Blake, Spaceflight Inc. Koen Willems, ST Engineering Newtec How Iodine Electric Propulsion Systems Can Enable 50 Speedcast 17 The Economic Sustainability Of Satellite Constellations This Issue’s Authors By Trevor Lafleur, Ane Aanesland, Laurene Richard, and Dmytro Rafalskyi, Chief Technology Officer, Ane Aanesland ISISPACE 18 ThrustMe Today’s Thin Film, Flexible Substrates 54 Abel Avellan Hughes Network Systems 20 New Space, A Shuttle For Global Economies 58 by Jaume Sanpera, Satelliot Curt Blake A Case In Point: 3D Printing Construction 60 Leaf Space 22 Of Flight-Ready 1P PocketCubes Grant Bonin by Metteo Levoni Bemposti, CRP Technology SpaceLink 23 Metteo Levoni Bemposti LiveEO 25 Charlotte Croison Advertisers John Finney Advantech Wireless Technologies, Inc. 5 APSCC 37 Trevor Lafleur AvL Technologies 11 Blue Canyon Technologies Cover (1) Comtech Command & Control / TCS 19 Dr. Peter Martinez CPI Satcom Products 23 CPI Sat Orbital Systems LLC 3 Dmytro Rafalskyi DSI—Deposition Sciences, Inc. 55 ND SATCOM Products 21 Omnetics Connector Corporation 9 Laurene Richard Radeus Labs, Inc. 13 RF-Design 7 Jaume Sanpera Satnews Digital Editions 57 SmallSat Symposium 2021 63 SpaceBridge 33 Jake Teufert Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) 15 W.B. Walton 31 Tom Zelibor SatMagazine is published 11 times a year by Satnews Publishers, 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, CA, 95476 — USA. Phone: (707) 939-9306 / Fax: (707) 939-9235 © 2020 Satnews Publishers We reserve the right to edit all submitted materials to meet publication content guidelines, as well as for grammar and spelling errors, or to move articles to an alternative issue to accommodate publication space requirements, or remove content due to space restrictions or unacceptable content. Submission of articles does not constitute acceptance of said material by Satnews Publishers. Edited materials may, or may not, be returned to author and/or company for review prior to publication. The views expressed in Satnews Publishers’ various publications do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Satnews Publishers. All rights reserved. All included imagery is courtesy of, and copyright to, the respective companies and/or named individuals. SatMagazine Page 2 February 2021 Satcom & Antenna Orbital Systems Technologies Division Operations Satellite Tracking Antenna Systems Join us live 2021 Feb 11 at 9:45 PST during the virtual SmallSat Symposium 1.5 to 7.3 meter systems Ka, K, Ku, X, S and L-band RELIABLE AFFORDABLE Single or multi-band feeds INNOVATIVE Typical delivery in 4 months Low maintenance operation URL: www.cpii.com/antenna E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +1 972 915.3669 InfoBeam The launch of the Transporter­1 mission by SpaceX. SpaceX Transporter-1 Mission Successfully Launches No hesitation on Sunday, January 24, as the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket li fted 133 commercial and government payloads to space. A feat worthy of note, as this is the largest number of satellites to be launched, all seated firmly within the rocket’s fairing. The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle attained supersonic speeds at 59 seconds after launch and, at approximately 07:58 into the launch, three of nine Merlin first stage engines ignited to return the the unit to the recovery vessel, Ms. Chief, awaiting the landing, positioned in the Atlantic Ocean. This return (photo below) was accomplished without any apparent anomalies at 07:22 minutes post­launch. Note the honeycomb appearing This launch, part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program, was the fifth devices at the base of the first stage (image to the right)… those assist with launch of 2021 by SpaceX and the 73rd recovery by the company of an the first stage’s navigation to the recovery vessel. orbital class rocket. SpaceX’s Transporter­1 flight delivered 143 payloads from a range of companies, including Spire, Capella, NanoAvionics, Spaceflight, HawkEye, PlanetiQ, Astro Digital, D­Orbit and 10 Starlink satellites. All news story imagery is courtesy of SpaceX’s live webcast of the launch via screen capture… SatMagazine Page 4 February 2021 InfoBeam Eight Kepler Space Smallsats Mina Mitry, CEO of Kepler Communications, said, “We’re excited to continue Rendezvous With Space, Launched By SpaceX our network deployment in response to the overwhelming global demand for our network capacity. As our network continues to grow, we move closer to recognizing Kepler’s vision of providing connectivity on and off the surface of the Earth.” Wen Cheng Chong, CTO of Kepler Communications, added, “The launch of 8 GEN1 satellites on the Falcon 9 merely a few months after the launch of 2 GEN1 pathfinder satellites clearly demonstrates Kepler’s ability to 10x our capability in a short period of time; practically unheard of for a company of our size. This showcases the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our Engineering team and the company at large. We’re well on our way to recognizing Kepler’s vision of providing the internet in space.” D-Orbit’s ION SCV Laurentius Smallsat Launched By Spacex Kepler Communications have welcomed eight new satellites into their constellation, further expanding the firm’s active constellation to 13 satellites in total. Kepler SDR. These eight satellites, KEPLER­8 through KEPLER­15, were successfully launched via SpaceX’s first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission at approximately 10:00 AM EDT on January 24. Once fully operational within the constellation, these smallsats will significantly increase the capacity of Kepler’s Global Data Services offering. Kepler’s GEN 1 satellites were assembled at the company’s facility in Toronto, Canada. The GEN1 platform represents an evolution beyond Kepler’s pathfinder satellites, with an increase to a 6U­XL satellite system. The increased size accommodates significant technology enhancements, including additional power and antenna capabilities that allows the support of both Ku and narrowband spectrum from a single satellite. This multi­spectrum support is achieved with Kepler’s proprietary On January 24th, 2021, at 4:00 pm CET, D­Orbit launched another So ftware Defined Radio (SDR) which has been proven onboard the five ION Satellite Carrier atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space satellites already on orbit. Launch Complex 40 (SLC­40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Kepler’s launch plans include several additional launches in 2021, with (CCSFS), Florida. On the same day, 1 hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds launches planned for the first half of 2021 in March and June, which will add later, the vehicle was successfully deployed into a polar orbit. additional GEN1 satellites to the Kepler constellation. As with this launch, The spacecraft, named ION SCV Laurentius, is an upgraded and enhanced these satellites will service the growing customer demand for Global Data version of the vehicle launched in the fall of 2020 which precisely deployed Services and increase our ability to provide an industry leading service. 12 satellites in orbit. ION Satellite Carrier is a space cargo designed to ION SCV Laurentius. SatMagazine Page 6 February 2021 InfoBeam “At D­Orbit we focus on our customers’ success, no matter what it takes. We are the company with most heritage, reliability and results accomplished in the market in this business. It has been just two months since the historical success of our previous ION Satellite Carrier mission, and we are back in space already,” said Luca Rossettini, D­Orbit’s CEO. “We are already building the space logistics infrastructure enabling the next trillion­dollar space economy.” Hiber’s Green Propulsion Smallsat, Hiber Four, Launched Via The SpaceX Transporter-1 Mission accommodate several satellites, transport them into space and release them precisely into independent orbits and orbital slots. ION’s integrated IoT solutions provider Hiber has successfully launched their 3U capabilities also enable the spacecraft to perform on­orbit demonstration cubesat, Hiber Four, onboard SpaceX’s dedicated rideshare (IOD) services for third­party hosted payloads. mission: Transporter­1. The