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BUSINESS | POLITICS | PERSPECTIVE MAY 13, 2019 IRIDIUM VIA FLICKR SPECIAL DIGITAL EDITION NEWS FROM SATELLITE 2019 BROUGHT TO YOU WITH SUPPORT FROM BALL AEROSPACE 2 |S likely be intheU.S. or Canada,and that Telesat here May 9,Hudson saidthefactory would with around 200satellites. target service-start date at theendof 2022 port a monthly launch cadence ahead of a wants that production rate inorder tosup- LEO, saidtheCanadiansatellite operator and variety of antennas satellite factory, bulklaunchorders, Telesat’s LEO gameplan:dedicated of producing 20to25satellites amonth. T Telesat withitsTelesat aimstodeliver “affordable fiber-qualityconnectivity everywhere” LEO constellation of200to300lowEarthorbitingbroadbandsatellites. Speaking at theSatellite 2019conference Erwin Hudson, vice president of Telesat SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 up adedicated factory capable band satellite constellation to set builds its low Earthorbit broad elesat expects the company that CALEB HENRY - of satellites. less hardware thanprevious generations plans toselectawinnerlater thisyear. estimated at $3billion. Hudson saidTelesat this summerfor amanufacturing contract and are expectedtosubmit bidsto Telesat Space completed study contracts thismonth of Maxar Technologies and Thales Alenia new factories for theprogram. 500 —have all said theyare willing tobuild satellites but could ultimately grow toaround LEO —aconstellation envisioned as300 anticipates the manufacturer would own it. Hudson saidTelesat LEOwill rely on much Airbus Defence andSpace andateammade Prospective manufacturers for Telesat quite reliable. It’s great that ifone fails constant replacement. expensive thancheap satellites that require sturdy satellites is betterand ultimately less ing decided that having aconstellation of ellites tooperate for at least10years, hav- arrays, he said.Telesat isdesigning its sat- links, two thrustersandmultiple phased have awhole lot of partsanymore.” laser beams,” hesaid.“Thesatellite doesn’t some antennas, afew computers andsome inflight router is software — it’s basically load; it’s got software-defined radios, the “Our satellite isasoftware-defined pay- “The truth is LEO satellites need to be Each satellite will have four inter-satellite

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“We want to buy launch vehicles in quantity and we would certainly like to see good discounts relative to if you’d buy one launch.”

you can spread them out and cover the hole until you can launch a replacement, but the economics are not very pretty,” he said. Hudson said Telesat will have “quite large LEO satellites,” though the company hasn’t specified their mass. Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said May 7 that the Ka-band constellation will have 8 terabits per second of total capacity.

Launch planning Hudson said Telesat wants to have 300 satellites in orbit in 2023 about six to eight months after reaching 200 satellites. How exactly Telesat buys the satellites — an initial block with contract options or the full 300 — is to be determined, he said. Telesat’s launch procurement strategy is Telesat wants a factory capable of building 20 to 25 large LEO satellites a month so that it can have more defined. Hudson said the slowdown monthly launches. Telesat LEO Vice President Erwin Hudson said company is also working with several in multiton geostationary satellite orders is antenna builders to have user terminals ready for broadband services. having a knock-on effect on launch providers, making for plenty of launch supply. “We want to buy launch vehicles in broadband LEO constellations, Hudson didn’t steered antennas, he said. quantity and we would certainly like to see describe them as critical for every market. Only in aviation did Hudson single out good discounts relative to if you’d buy one Hudson said Telesat’s LEO business plan flat panel antennas as vital. launch,” he said. targets three primary markets: aviation, “We really think you need a phased array Telesat plans a launch cadence of “about maritime and “fixed” or stationary com- for the aero market,” he said. “You can’t put one launch a month for a number of months” munications such as backhauling cellular two antennas on an aircraft effectively and to complete its constellation, he said. The signals or connecting banks, mines and do make-before-break.” company has announced multilaunch agree- other enterprise customers. Consumer Parabolic antennas can only track one ments with Blue Origin for the heavy-lift New broadband — a focus of OneWeb, SpaceX satellite at a time, meaning two or more are Glenn and with Relativity Space for its Terran and presumably Amazon — is not a target required to ensure uninterrupted commu- 1 small launcher, but hasn’t given specifics market for Telesat, he said. nications as LEO satellites rise and set over on how many satellites each will launch. Hudson said Telesat is lining up antennas the horizon. Hudson said Telesat will launch its first for each market it is pursuing. Hudson said Telesat is working with 200 satellites to polar orbits, followed by For maritime, where it’s not uncommon numerous companies including a num- inclined orbits. The next 100 would fill out for boats to have multiple parabolic an- ber of startups developing “super crazy global coverage, he said. tennas to keep line of sight with a satellite, technology” in an effort to make low-cost traditional parabolics are a good entry tech- flat panel antennas. An abundance of antennas nology, he said. “We’re confident that we are going to have While flat, electronically steered antennas Fixed communications customers can antennas that serve each of the verticals at the that can track multiple satellites at once are leverage a mix of parabolic antennas and more right price points and the right performance largely viewed as essential for the success of capable but more expensive electronically points when we go to market,” he said. SN CALEB HENRY/SPACENEWS

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BALL.COM/GOBEYOND and [then]we kindof sat back.” honest,” hesaid.“Ithinkwe’ve done astrong jobwith C-band, have, andIthinkwe have notdone agood enough job,tobe 5 |S network andHughes Jupiter-series satellites. satellites, like SES’s O3bconstellation, Inmarsat’s Global Xpress only inrecent years have theyinvested heavily inKa-band partly lost in2007. except for alower portion of thebandthat hadalready been cations services), and were successful in keeping the majority, used mainly for television broadcasts (plus othercommuni 2015 —satellite operators rallied todefend C-band airwaves hertz asthe“single biggest threat” facingthesatellite industry. SES CEOSteve Collar described the potential loss of 28giga El-Sheikh, Egypt. the WRC-19 conference thisOctoberandNovember inSharm pected tomake apushfor the 28-gigahertz spectrum bandat losing Ka-band spectrum Satellite operators worried about A CEO SteveCollar(centerleft),Viasat CEO MarkDankberg(centerright)andTelesat CEO DanGoldberg(right) Satellite operators saidat Satellite 2019that the28GHzspectrumbandisonetheyneedtodefendmorediligently. PhotoshowsEutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer(left),SES At the most recent WRC conference — held in Geneva in “The28-gigahertz challenge will beperhaps thebiggest we Speaking May 7at theSatellite 2019conference inWashington, Cellular operators and their allied national regulators are ex But while satellite operators have used C-band for decades, SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 band frequencies coveted by 5Gcellular networks. that theyhave not made sufficient defense of Ka- looms larger, satellite operators are growing concerned s thenextWorld Radiocommunication Conference CALEB HENRY - - - lion on deploying thefirsttwo ViaSat-3 satellites alone. Commission, Viasat estimated it would spend $1.2 to $1.4 bil of capacity each. construction with Boeingdesigned tooffer at leastaterabit has three next-generation “ViaSat-3” Ka-band satellites under blue, ViaSat-1 andViaSat-2 all useKa-band.Thecompany on theimportance of Ka-band. Viasat’s three satellites — Wild in 2021with ahalf aterabit of Ka-band capacity. operator hasanothersatellite, Konnect VHTS,slated tolaunch on an Ariane 5 rocket at the end of the year. The Paris-based Thales Alenia Space called Konnect that isslated tolaunch no frequency for satellite operators.” he said. “There will be no bridging the digital divide if there is will become a problem, notonly for thembut for all people,” frequency —andthe C-band frequency where we needto—it let uscontinue tooperate, for instance,inthe28-gigahertz as avery strong concern for thesatellite industry. providing anddelivering broadband services isthat,” hesaid. fear for thefuture sustainability of ourindustry asit relates to pletely different” from C-band. Collar described thechallenge with 28gigahertz as“com “It will getsolved inacompletely different way, andmy biggest In aFebruary filing with the U.S. Securities andExchange Mark Dankberg, CEOof Viasat, saidheagreed with Belmer Eutelsat hasa75gigabit-per-second Ka-bandsatellite from “We are hoping that mobile telcos realize that iftheydon’t Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmeralso described 28gigahertz S N

- - - CALEB HENRY/SPACENEWS “We can’t have an “We can’thave an

era of satellites era ofsatellites generating generating massive amounts massive amounts of data and of dataand processing it, processing it, perhaps initially perhaps initially on Earth but very on Earthbutvery soon on orbit, soon onorbit, without a much without amuch greater security greater security capability.”

Security division. Cloud’s Partner Ecosystem and Cognitive Jeb Linton, chief technology officer for IBM 6 |S timistic about theirown ventures while within thenextyear, all of whom are op launches of theirsmall launch vehicles three startups that expecttoperform first conference May 8inWashington featured than government demand. shakeout, driven more by commercial rather launch vehicle market demand willdrive size of small Commercial, notgovernment, S entrants. entrants. Virgin Orbitisamongthecompaniesplanningtointroducesmalllaunchvehicles inthenearfuture,although demandwilllikely supportonlyasmallfraction of new A panelsession at theSatellite 2019 SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 of vehicles will survive alikely acknowledge that only a handful small launch vehicle market tartups in the burgeoning JEFF FOUST - launch of its Vector-R rocket thissummer, Vector, saidthecompany wasplanning atest estimated date of theirfirstorbital launch. carrier aircraft, hesaid,but didn’t give an carry flights of the modified Boeing 747 with the rocket, along with a few captive “We’ve got one thinglefttobutton down” the development of its LauncherOne rocket. pany was in the “final, final, final” phase in development at Virgin Orbit, saidthecom competing vehicles inthenextfew years. expecting acontraction inthenumber of Robert Cleave, chief revenue officer at Stephen Eisele, vice president of business - stated it plansafirstlaunch of its Alpha Delta 2,inJune or July. Thecompany has Base inCalifornia, formerly used by the of its launch site at Vandenberg AirForce his company expectstotake possession development at Firefly Aerospace, said to thesameorbit. opment, able to carry about 200 kilograms with thelarger Vector-H, also under devel kilograms into asun-synchronous orbit, vehicle will becapable of placingup to35 testing plannedinthecoming days. That with a“critical milestone” inthevehicle’s Les Kovacs, vice president of business -

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“We’re not that bullish about the megaconstellations translating into business for small launch.”

launch vehicle in December, but Kovacs acknowledged that is a “all-green-light, success-oriented” schedule. “So we will probably push into some time in 2020.” Those vehicles will join Rocket Lab’s Electron, which started regular commercial operations last year, and dozens of vehicles — more than one hundred, by some estimates — under development. Despite the growing interest in small satellites, vehicle developers acknowledged that there is only demand for a few different small launch vehicles. “Of the 100-plus companies, my assess- ment is that you’ll probably have five, six, A Firefly payload shroud on display at Firefly Aerospace’s booth at Satellite 2019 in Washington. maybe seven survive,” Kovacs said. Interest from the U.S. military in small launch vehicles will likely only support two vehicles, in order to provide the same kind of assured The introduction of satellite megacon- see some complementariness between our access to space it desires for larger satellites. stellations, he added, could support three service offerings which could potentially Commercial interest, he said, will be a additional systems. support more,” he said. far larger driver of demand. “It used to be Fred Wilson, business development lead Payload capacity, though, will not be the that, in the launch industry, the anchor for space systems at Aerojet Rocketdyne, only factor in shaping the market. “If you’re tenant was always the U.S. government, was more skeptical about the role constel- just looking at size, that’s not enough,” and that’s not going to be the case here,” lations will play in stimulating demand said Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight, a he said. “That’s going to flip, and it’s going for small launch vehicles. He noted the company that provides rideshare launch to be commercial demand that’s going to company has seen an increase in demand services for payloads on a number of launch drive the small launchers in the out years.” for electric propulsion systems it offers for vehicles. “You have to look at price per ki- “We’re tracking a large number of wan- small satellites, but expects many of those logram, and you have to look at schedule nabe launch vehicle providers,” Cleave satellites to launch either as secondary reliability. Those are two concepts that to said. He didn’t give a specific estimate on payloads on larger rockets or, in the case my mind are more important.” how many he thought would survive, but of constellations, be deployed dozens at a The panel, whose representatives were agreed it would be driven by commercial, time on large vehicles. “We’re not that bullish from the U.S. and Europe, said little about not government, demand. “The commercial about the megaconstellations translating small launch vehicles under development business case is driven by economics, and into business for small launch,” he said. elsewhere, notably China, that could play availability and reliability, and so whoever One challenge about estimating the size a key factor in the market. Blake, though, can provide those will survive.” of the small launch vehicle market is the did mention India’s Small Satellite Launch “I think today the market can probably diversity of vehicles that are included, from Vehicle (SSLV), designed to place 300 kilo- sustain three systems,” said Marino Fragnito, the Vector-R up to the Vega, which can place grams into sun-synchronous orbit with a vice president of the Vega business unit 1,500 kilograms into a sun-synchronous first launch later this year. at Arianespace, marketing the Vega and orbit. Cleave suggested several niches, at “It’s going to have super-attractive pricing,” upcoming Vega-C small launch vehicles. different payload sizes, may emerge. “I could he said of the SSLV. “It’s very capable.” SN BRIAN BERGER/SPACENEWS

7 | SN | NEWS FROM SATELLITE 2019 8 |S defenses paramount. that also makes strong cyber industry powerfully —achange forward and will shape thesatellite gence ismakingmassive leaps computer network. are just as secure as any other ellite communications systems satellites, wants toensure its sat stations tocommunicate with is building a network of ground Ground Station program lead. vices’ senior manager and AWS Hawthorne Amazon Web Ser secure operations,” saidShayn orbit, you’re going toneedvery of reprogrammable vehicles on capabilities. actors from exploiting theirnew curity features tokeep nefarious demand, theyalso needmore se responsive toshiftsincustomer while such satellites can be more and serve different customers. But them totake on different missions reprogrammed on orbit, allowing ware-defined satellites that canbe creasingly interested insoft [by someone else].” so theycannotbereprogrammed munications tothosesatellites … literally have to have secure com we canreprogram satellites, you of commercial civil space,said.“If president andgeneral manager Callahan, LockheedMartin’s vice maybe abarrier, issecurity,” Lisa 6 at theSatellite 2019conference. threats, apanelof expertssaidMay cybersecurity more critical Reprogrammable satellitesmake S Satellite operators are in “The thingthat’s achallenge, and Panelists saidartificial intelli Hawthorne saidAWS, which “With theadvent or theonset SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 CALEB HENRY NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 vulnerable to cyber vulnerable tocyber are also increasingly ingly rely on software atellites that increas ------been asking for lots of security been askingfor lots of security tin’s military customers have record, hesaid. than totryandhave aflawless intrusions andrespond quickly more important tolimit cyber an impenetrable network. It is on “resiliency” rather thanhaving Linton saidthefocus needstobe Security division. ner Ecosystem andCognitive officer for IBMCloud’s Part Jeb Linton, chief technology greater security capability,” said soon on orbit, without amuch haps initially on Earthbut very of data andprocessing it, per lites generating massive amounts (left), andJohnFinney, founderofIsotropicSystems(right). risks forsatellite systemsduringaMay6panelthat includedChrisJohnson,presidentof BoeingSatellite SystemsInternational Shayn Hawthorne, seniormanagerandAWS groundstation programleadforAmazonWeb (center),discussescyber Services Like other cybersecurity experts, Like othercybersecurity experts, “We can’t have an era of satel Callahan saidLockheed Mar - - - - past.” much more than we hadinthe think we are going toseethat kinds of capabilities,” hesaid.“I but [is] going to need those same as much asetof requirements, to have the need, and not only the commercial industry isgoing of that converge. but isnow startingtoseemore value inthecommercial sector, customers that didn’t have much curity features for government had developed certaincyberse national, saidinthepastBoeing Boeing Satellite Systems Inter satellite operators. can also leverage for commercial capabilities that the company “It again heightens the fact that “It againheightens thefactthat Chris Johnson, president of S N - - “We can’t have an “We can’thave an capability.” greater security without amuch soon onorbit, on Earthbutvery perhaps initially processing it, of dataand massive amounts generating era ofsatellites Security division. Cloud’s Partner Ecosystem and Cognitive Jeb Linton, chief technology officer for IBM

CALEB HENRY/SPACENEWS 9 |S get thecostmetrics right. steered antenna internally, but hasyet to Martin isdeveloping anelectronically same geographies. Portale said Lockheed deploy asmany antennas tocover the meaning the company wouldn’t need to track multiple satellites simultaneously, antennas. also more capable electronically steered antennas or shifttomore expensive, but whether tocontinue with inexpensive dish continental United States, but isevaluating “expanding quickly” with Verge beyond the goal of completing 12by theendof 2019. network of ground stations, having setthe Verge network. AWS is building its own new AWS Ground Station service with the partnership in November to integrate the that data, Portale said. request otherwise,toaccelerate accessto sent directly totheAWS cloud, unlessthey with theirspacecraftwill have theirdata panies relying on Verge to communicate erators of low-Earth-orbit satellites. Com provide communications services toop vices] cloud inthat timeframe.” that data totheAWS [Amazon Web Ser the-minute kind of service and pushing “We’ll bedownlinking data for apay-by- said at theSatellite 2019conference here. to ninemonths. the U.S. contiguous states inthenextsix of parabolic dishantennas spread across said thecompany planstohave anetwork ager at LockheedMartinSpace Systems, technology thecompany choosesnext. global build out determined by what antenna States next year, with the timeline for a for Verge ground expansion mullshigh-tech Lockheed antennas L Electronically steered antennas can Portale said Lockheed Martin will be Lockheed MartinandAWS announceda Lockheed Martinisbuilding Verge to Joseph Portale, asenior program man “It will beoperational in2020,” Portale SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 over the continental United coverage for satellites passing station network should have ockheed Martin’s Verge ground CALEB HENRY - - - - to tracksatellites. by thenumber of beamsit canproduce criteria isthecostof theantenna divided user terminals —Portale saidthedefining used inground stations —notbroadband tennas for their networks. Atlas Space also building electronically steered an don’t close yet,” hesaid. more than aparabolic, sothenumbers [electronically steered antenna] is20 times ally financially not feasible that a 12-beam Portale said. expensive thanaparabolic?” connections toLEO, isit 12timesmore antenna] can handle 12 simultaneous at,” hesaid.“If an [electronically steered ground stations forcommunications withsatellites. Lockheed Martinisinvestinginanelectronicallysteeredantennathat maychangehowitdeploysanetworkof For electronically steered antennas Other ground station companies are So far that answer is yes and then some, “That’s really what you have tolook “The factof thematter isthat it’s actu - - antennas. around theworld, eachwith multiple dish has ground stations located at 10sites given antenna.” or three satellites at thesametimewith a it would be great to be able to track two he said.“Parabolics aren’t going away, but stations aswell. in electronically steered antenna ground Region, saidhiscompany isinterested Swedish Space Corporation’s Americas military missions. another electronically steered antenna for received an AirForce contract to prototype Last month the company announced it antenna in Albuquerque, New Mexico. had deployed anelectronically steered Operations saidinAugust 2018that it White saidSwedish Space Corporation “We are looking at that on our road map,” Dan White, executive vice president of S N

LOCKHEED MARTIN sn_05.06.19_pgC4- Full Page Ad-Cobham.indd 1 5/2/19 10:53 AM awarding contracts in2020totwo domes proposals for thepurposeof competitively Center May 3released thefinal request for 11 |S Service Procurement (LSP) is the second Security Space Launch Phase2Launch tic launch service providers. TheNational the Satellite 2019conference in Washington. CEO Tory Bruno told faced inthepast,United Launch Alliance demanding mission requirements thanthey vehicles’ performance inorder tomeetmore security missions challenged by toughernational ULA CEO Bruno:Launchindustry T United LaunchAllianceCEO Tory Vulcan Bruno,secondfromleft,discussesthecompany’s rocket duringalaunchproviderpanelMay7at Satellite 2019inWashington. The AirForce Space andMissile Systems SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 SANDRA ERWIN to dramatically improve their off May 3will challenge providers competition theAirForce kicked he national security spacelaunch SpaceNews SpaceNews May 7 at May 7at - the Evolved ExpendableLaunch Vehicle and phase of theprogram previously known as Air Force will take several months toreview are submitted, Bruno said,heexpectsthe the complexity of theRFP. Afterproposals days. Bruno saidthat wasnotasurprise given tended thetime allowed to respond to 90 60 days tosubmit theirproposals but ex initially hadplannedon giving competitors through 2026. The other will get 40 percent. national security missions projected for 2022 Grumman. Onewinnerwill get60percent of as newentrants Blue Origin andNorthrop United Launch Alliance andSpaceX, waswell current national security launch providers The field of competitors is likely to include renamed National Security Space Launch. LSP proposals are due Aug. 1. The Air Force - and how that is influenced by space being and how that isinfluenced by spacebeing ernment’s best analysis of what it will need in Phase2. today cannot fly all the required missions Bruno. He notedthat thevehicles that exist a much higher level of performance, said and have challenged theindustry todeliver need toaccomplish over thecoming years, out arangeof missions theybelieve theywill and theNational Reconnaissance Office laid the EELV program, Bruno said. The Air Force tional security launches that didnotexistin and hasanewsetof requirements for na vidual providers. question-and-answer sessions with indi vendors’ bids andfollow up with extensive “The requirements are basedon thegov Phase 2isadifferent acquisition strategy - - -

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a contested environment,” he said. The requirements in Phase 2 are “obviously traced to what we had in the past, but they are harder,” Bruno said. “There’s more reference orbits, the masses are often larger, and the orbits and higher energy and more difficult to reach.” For the first time the Air Force is attempting to give the industry a long-term projection of its future needs, he said. By comparison, the last EELV purchase of launches was structured as individual procurements, “sometimes one rocket for one mission at a time, or grouped in small numbers,” Bruno said. In the most recent EELV Phase 1A, ULA and SpaceX ended up each winning six missions. “The selection criteria was unique to each mission. What we United Launch Alliance published this infographic May 7 via Flickr to illustrate the variety of heritage technology that offered was what we had.” will be incorporated into the Vulcan Centaur rocket it is developing for commercial and government missions. For Phase 2, the Air Force will depend on newly designed vehicles to perform more complex purpose built for those require- said. Presenting “less risk to the constellations. missions. Bruno said the Air Force ments, it was a deliberate choice government” is one factor in Megaconstellation operators will has closely monitored the devel- that we made,” he added. “Had the evaluation criteria, he said. create two potential markets for opment of all providers’ vehicles. we designed our rocket to be Bruno cautioned that he couldn’t launch providers, he said. One is Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop optimized for the commercial speculate on why that provision for the deployment of the initial Grumman in October were col- marketplace, it would have been was included but said allowing population of satellites. The other lectively awarded Launch Service smaller.” an alternative vehicle would is the follow-on maintenance. Agreement contracts worth $2.3 In one of the more controversial certainly reduce the risk that a “The initial population will be billion to help partially fund the provisions of the Phase 2 RFP, mission could not be accom- launched on medium and heavy development of their vehicles the Air Force would allow the plished on time. lifters,” Bruno said. Launching and build the infrastructure to winners to offer an alternative Although Vulcan was designed 40 to 50 satellites on Vulcan, for launch national security payloads launch vehicle if the rocket they for the national security launch example, could get a constella- in preparation for the Phase 2 bid initially is not ready to fly na- program, Bruno said the vehi- tion up and running quickly. The LSP. SpaceX did not win an LSA tional security missions by 2022. cle will be less expensive than maintenance phase — when only contract but is expected to com- ULA’s competitors have argued Atlas 5 and will be positioned to a few satellites will be deployed pete in Phase 2. that provision heavily favors compete for commercial work. to replace out-of-service space- “The government has observed ULA as it would be able to offer ULA expects to fly its first com- craft — would be best performed our vehicle designs for years,” the Atlas 5 if Vulcan is behind mercial mission in April 2021 by small vehicles. “I see a niche said Bruno. “They have been schedule. By law the Air Force followed by a second mission market for a limited number of following us. They’ll have a really can purchase Atlas 5 launches two to three months later. The providers to do that mission,” said good idea of how well our rockets until Dec. 31, 2022. Congress company needs to complete at Bruno. ULA does not plan to get are going to perform against the mandated that the Air Force least two Vulcan missions with into the small vehicle market, requirements.” stop using that vehicle because commercial customers to get he said. Small vehicle providers ULA is developing its next-gen- its main stage is powered by the certified by the Air Force to fly like Rocket Lab right now do not eration Vulcan rocket to replace Russian RD-180 engine. national security payloads. pose a competitive threat to big the Atlas 5. Because of the more Bruno said he is still studying In the longer term, said Bruno, rocket companies, said Bruno. stringent technical demands of the RFP and could not comment one potential source of business “Wherever the market goes in the Phase 2 competition, ULA on what ULA might bid. “Other for Vulcan could be bulk launches the future we’ll follow. Right now, decided to make it larger than people may have more than one of dozens of small satellites for we’re focused on finishing the originally planned. “Vulcan was rocket configuration as well,” he operators that are building large development of Vulcan.” SN UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE

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sn_05.06.19_pgC3- Full Page Ad-NRO.indd 1 5/2/19 10:54 AM 14 |S an $805million contract. MQ-25, which Boeingisdeveloping under unmanned mid-airrefueling tanker, the launch customer will betheNavy’s future will beinproduction nextyear and the antenna and a multi-channel terminal to military aircraft. that would bringhigh-speed broadband broadband tomilitaryaircraft Boeing flatantennatobring B The Navy’s MQ-25 unmannedaerialrefuelingtankerThe Navy’s willbethelaunchcustomerforBoeing’snewphased arraysatellite antennaforwidebandcommunications. The low-profile electronically steered SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 SANDRA ERWIN a newflat satellite antenna nology arm,isintroducing company’s advanced tech oeing Phantom Works, the - at theSatellite 2019conference. of data. Aphasedarray antenna would narrowband terminals that get kilobits connectivity. Most military aircraft have One, most military aircraft have limited centers such asthepresident’s AirForce Phantom Works, told integration mission solutions at Boeing Thomas Gathmann, director of mission Force’s KC-46 aerial refueling tanker, vy’s P-8 surveillance aircraft andtheAir of militarized Boeing jetslike theNa antenna andterminal will beoperators Compared toairborne command The initial market for thephasedarray SpaceNews SpaceNews May 7 - sition toKa,hesaid.“We’re really targeting market move toKaband,” saidGathmann. only supported Ku-band. “We’ve seenthe generations of phased array antennas band satcom providers. Boeing’s earlier Satcom constellation or commercial Ka- tap into themilitary’s Wideband Global three services simultaneously souserscan be configured with up tofive modems and throughput, Gathmann said. vide from 10sto100sof megabits of data commercial Ka-bandsatellites that pro give them access to government and There wasalearningcurve in the tran The terminal that Boeing designed can - -

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“We’re really targeting increased performance at a cost point that is comparable to mechanically steered parabolic antennas with radomes.” Thomas Gathmann, director of mission integration mission solutions at Boeing Phantom Works

increased performance at a cost point that is comparable to mechanically steered parabolic antennas with radomes.” Cost has been a hurdle in the adoption of electronically steered antennas. Al- though the military market has a higher price point than commercial, Boeing needed to make its latest product more competitive. In 2014, the company teamed with Panasonic to design an electronically steered phased array antenna that cost $1 million each, which was too expensive to compete with mechanically steered antennas. Gathmann said he could not give specific prices but suggested the new antenna would be in a price range closer to $500,000. By comparison, the holy grail for commercial airlines is $100,000 per Boeing displayed a low-profile electronically steered antenna and a multi-channel terminal it aims to antenna. “The technology is not quite introduce next year to bring high-speed broadband to military aircraft. there but we’re getting close,” he said. Jeff Bennett, head of Boeing Phantom Gathmann said the military fleet has been and fixed-wing aircraft that has become a Works global sales and marketing, said slow to adopt modern satcom systems. workhorse in military operations around the new hardware was designed to solve Cost is one reason but also concerns the world. multiple problems raised by customers. about having to take aircraft needed in “It’s been described by customers as One is the ease of installation. the field to maintenance depots to get the most comms-deficient aircraft in the The antenna is less than 8 centimeters new hardware installed. DoD fleet today,” Gathmann said. “They tall and would not impact aircraft perfor- Boeing will have to persuade buyers have a thin pipe of comms.” mance, Bennett said. that the installation of the equipment The pilots have adequate communi- Another demand from customers is to will not disrupt operations. “Typically cations but the Marines going into an have access to multiple services — gov- with customers we’re in an education operation often don’t have access to live ernment and commercial Ka-band as well mode,” he said. streaming so they can get up-to-the- as future broadband constellations in low The MQ-25 aircraft carrier-based un- minute intelligence. Earth orbit that are starting to get built. manned refueling tanker was chosen as “The guys in the back don’t have updated Aircraft operators flying over long the launch customer because of its de- situational awareness,” Gathmann said. distances want to be able to seamlessly manding requirements for data storage Both the Marine Corps and Special switch from one satellite link to another, and streaming. The Navy also plans to Operations Forces, who also fly the V-22, said Bennett. With new LEO services use it as an intelligence collector. “They are target customers, he said. coming, “the only way you could possibly need a big pipe on board,” Gathmann said. The new antenna is expected to be track these satellites is with electronically Another potential customer is the Marine in production by the second quarter of steered arrays.” Corps’ V-22 Osprey, a hybrid helicopter 2020. SN SANDRA ERWIN/SPACENEWS

15 | SN | NEWS FROM SATELLITE 2019 called Blackjack buses underaprogram last falltobuildsatellite DARPA tappedAirbus 16 |S U.S. militaryLEO constellations Airbus eyes infuture opportunities facility, Chamussy said.“It’s anopportunity citizens aswell astheFlorida production U.S.-based design teamsstaffed with U.S. plant isinToulouse, France. It now has constellation inLEO. production capabilities tobuild amilitary the commercial industry’s masssatellite ment Agency. He saidtheSDA will tap into and isnow headof theSpace Develop Kennedy conceived the Blackjack project payloads. Former DARPA official Fred satellite buseswith military sensors and and meshnetworks. the military utility of LEOconstellations program, anexperiment intended toshow duce satellite buses for DARPA’s Blackjack vanced Research Projects Agency topro contract lastfall from theDefense Ad 2019 conference. tems told the outgoing headof AirbusSpace Sys government buyers, Nicolas Chamussy, intelligence community and other U.S. to fill orders for theDefense Department, Web but also hopes toramp production manufacture up to648satellites for One assembly lineon Florida’s Space Coastto broadband venture OneWeb. It built an out 32satellites every three weeks for the missile trackingtonavigation. over military space missions ranging from serve as a communications layer and take produced satellites inlow Earthorbit to T Airbus’ mainsatellite manufacturing DARPA will marryup commercial The company received a$2.9million Airbus is preparing tostart cranking SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 SpaceNews SANDRA ERWIN constellation of commercially Agency will betodesign alarge created Space Development he first project of the newly May 6at theSatellite - - - - - “With DARPA, we are learninghow towork possibly otherprojects, Chamussy said. fense programs andasasteppingstone to valuable toAirbuslearnabout U.S. de duce classified spacecraft,hesaid. satellites but it could beexpanded topro of thesecapabilities, hesaid. for theU.S. government” totake advantage operator Telesat, which also received a satellite supplier to Canadian satellite in U.S.,” saidChamussy. have a design team and dedicated facility or weather payloads. “Thisisthebeauty of (PNT), electronic warfare, Earthobservation carry positioning, navigation andtiming he said. but “we caninstall whatever you want,” satellites andinstalling OneWeb payloads, U.S. government.” our platform is a valuable asset for the together, we are tryingtounderstand if Airbus isrampingupsatellite productioninFloridatoproducesatellites forOneWeb. The contract with DARPA hasbeen Airbus ishoping tobechosenasthe For themilitary, thesamesatellites could The company isfocused now on making The U.S. plant only builds commercial - - stay at Airbusor inwhat capacity. declined tocomment on whether hewill executive Jean-Marc Nasr. Chamussy be replaced by AirbusDefence andSpace under AirbusDefence andSpace. He will vice president of Airbus Space Systems mussy will besteppingdown asexecutive tems andmanagedservices. not justthesatellites but also ground sys for afull “end toend”systemthat includes because the Canadian operator is asking concept is very different from OneWeb proposals,” hesaid. “We are still waiting for therequest for submit aproposal inthecoming months. ence May 6that thecompany expectsto Chamussy told reporters at a news confer lion tobuild Telesat’s megaconstellation. for acontract worth anestimated $3bil Technologies-Thales Alenia Space team military systems. use of commercial buses in LEO-based DARPA Blackjackcontract tostudy the Airbus announcedlastmonth that Cha Chamussy insisted that the Telesat Airbus iscompeting againstaMaxar S N

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AIRBUS SPACE AND DEFENCE 17 |S Hughes andYahsat of Abu Dhabi, Vantage satellite. A satellite and Telesat’s Telstar-19 leased payloads on Eutelsat’s 65West Yahsat’s Al Yah 3 satellite and Hughes’ of Ka-band capacity supplied from more than65gigabits persecond 6 that the newjoint venture will use focused on broadband inBrazil. second jointventure Hughes, Yahsat target Brazil with old satellite, Measat-2, out of The company took a22-year- the Middle East and Africa. providing coverage over Asia, 10-year-old Measat-3a satellites. 13-year-old Measat-3 andthe will “progressively replace” the communications satellite that will build Measat-3d, a new turer Airbus Defence andSpace geostationary orbit. two agingsatellites it hasin single satellite that will replace Defence andSpace tobuild a replacement for two satellites Measat buyingsingle M S Germantown, Maryland-based Germantown, Maryland-based The companies announcedMay Measat operates five satellites, European satellite manufac SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 CALEB HENRY CALEB HENRY NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 joint venture, this time joint venture, thistime have formed asecond Hughes and Yahsat atellite operators selected Airbus selected Airbus on May 6 said it operator Measat alaysian satellite - L-band navigation payload for 2021, the companies said. 2021, thecompanies said. Maxar Technologies, launches in piter-3, ahalf-terabit satellite from will gainmore capacity when Ju - Brazil’s population. The joint venture ellites cover more than95percent of in Brazil.” as the“logical partnerfor Hughes Pradman Kaul described Yahsat started operations inDecember. southwest Asia. That company across Africa, theMiddle Eastand year focused on satellite broadband UAE, formed ajoint venture last co-locate thesatellite at the91.5 announced alaunch provider. years. The company hasnot the satellite for more than15 in orbit in 2021 and to operate tation Satellite System. as partof theKorea Augmen Korean satellite operator KTSAT payload for internet connectivity. as ahigh-throughput Ka-band other telecom services, aswell home television broadcasting and Ku-band payloads for direct-to- types. Its design calls for C- and carry multiple different payload as the company hinted last year, operation lastyear. Hughes andYahsat’s newjoint Hughes and Yahsat say theirsat In a statement, Hughes President Once launched, Measat will Measat planstohave Measat-3d Measat-3d will also carryan The newMeasat-3d satellite will, - - degrees eastorbital slot with its remaining 20percent. No cashwas venture, with Yahsat owning the own 80percent of theBrazil joint ference May 6,saidHughes will regulatory approvals. this year afterreceiving customary which isexpectedtofinalize later shareholder inthe joint venture, backhaul data over satellite. cellular companies who want to desiring theirown networks and target markets include businesses community Wi-Fi hotspots. Other directly toconsumers andthrough venture will offer internet access in Malaysia while continuing to ments of 4G&5Gmobile networks will “serve the growth require cer Edmund Kong saidMeasat-3d Measat-3a andMeasat-3b satellites. Measat-3d will“progressivelyreplace”twooldersatellites inMeasat’s fleet Kaul, speakingat a news con Hughes will bethemajority Measat Chief Technology Offi - - - the United States. segment, like Hughes’ businessin certainly bethelargest market consumer broadband will almost 40 percent is already in use. He said available tothe joint venture, 30 to 65 gigabits persecond of capacity 80 percent of thefirstjoint venture. stake. Yahsat owns theremaining Yahsat’s CEO, said was a 20percent what Masood M. Sharif Mahmood, its firstjoint venture with Yahsat for joint venture. company, he said, unlike the first exchanged informing theBrazilian laysia, hesaid. coverage will reach all of Ma 8K intheAsia-Pacific region.” video inHD, 4K andultimately tional distribution capacity for provide redundancy andaddi Kaul estimated that of the roughly Hughes invested $100 million in The satellite’s broadband S S N N - -

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14043_AIR_Telecoms_273x209_Space_News_1.0.indd 1 17/08/2017 09:20 sn_05.06.19_pgC2- Full Page Ad-Airbus.indd 1 5/2/19 10:55 AM 19 |S startups inanovercrowded market Investors seekdisruptive space connectivity plays, but there’s alot of money disadvantage. “We continue tomeetwith pursuing systems,putting late entrants at a area where there are toomany companies model behindthis.” I’ll beabletoget,what’s thenewbusiness “as opposed towhat are thenewinsights the addition of hyperspectral capabilities, focused on improvements inresolution, or he’s seenfrom companies inthat field have Boeing HorizonX Ventures. Thepitches said Brian Schettler,managingpartnerof nology-driven thanbusinessmodel-driven,” lites. Thosestartups “are much more tech constellation of small Earthimagingsatel to duplicate the success of Planet and its tion companies, where startups are trying are notlooking at asnewinvestments now.” Seraphim Capital. “That isanarea that we managing partnerof space-focused VC firm the small launch earlier,” saidMatt O’Connell, “I kindof wishwe hadgotten into some of ing to invest in similar new ventures now. such vehicles makes other investors lesswill stage nanosat launch vehicle, tobehonest.” of development. “We don’t need another two- than 100such vehicles are invarious stages hicle market, where by some estimates more particularly thecaseinsmall launch ve at venture capital firm Data Collective. That’s Chris Boshuizen, entrepreneur inresidence version 1.1of thesamebusinessplan,” said the competition. vation systemsthat offer little advantage over like small launch vehicles andEarthobser too many startups are pursuingbusinesses 2019 conference May 6inWashington, said bigger returns. novel approaches that could offer much S Broadband satellite constellations isanother The situation issimilar inEarthobserva The large number of companies pursuing “There are alot of people that are doing A panelof investors, speakingat theSatellite SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 market andinsteadseekmore ingly overcrowded partsof the should stay away from increas pace startups seekingfunding JEFF FOUST ------time,” giving the company a huge advantage. cheaper thanany platform inspaceat that a dollar-per-pixel basis, “a thousand times of Planet,whose initial cubesats were, on advantage,” hesaid. new and disruptive that gives you a massive different from competitors. “Find something “disruptive” businessideas that are dramatically think that’s anarea that’s going togettough.” announcement of its Project Kuiper system.“I said O’Connell, referring toAmazon’s recent SpaceX andOneWeb andnow [Jeff] Bezos,” in it right now, and you’re competing with Planet Labsbut we’re hyperspectral.’” different companies thanthe‘Hey, we’re of magnitude difference makes themreally ments by comparison. “That multiple orders he said,are offering only modest improve New startups intheEarthobservation sector, companies inthefield,like Rocket Lab,todowell. Investors thinktherearetoomanycompaniespursuingsmalllaunchvehicles,butstillexpectsomeleading It looked veryprofessional. Thetagline was,‘Startedby Boshuizen said startups should focus on Boshuizen saidstartups should focus on He cited his experience as a co-founder “I didfindanothercompany that hadagreat website.

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Chris Quilty andChris Boshuizen, discussingtheoverwhelming number of smalllaunch vehicle startups “A combined42yearsofindustry experience!” during aninvestor panelsessionattheSatellite 2019conference. three 14-year-olds.’” - and going tobeastrong contender.” computing businesses.“Ibelieve he’s aforce Amazon generates from its retail andcloud connectivity,” O’Connell said,given theprofits “Bezos doesn’t have tomake money selling they’re powerful enough toshape themarket. right sector tobeaunicorn first,” saidSchettler. Valley parlance.“Ithinksmall launch isthe of $1billion, makingit a“unicorn” inSilicon latest funding round in November, in excess a company that hasavaluation, basedon its vehicle company. elists primarily saidit would asmall launch “good exit” intermsof anacquisition, pan are mostlikely toeither go public or have a market will do well. Asked what companies the companies that emerge on top of that small launch vehicle startups, investors think Latecomers canalso still besuccessful if Some specifically mentioned Rocket Lab, Yet, despite the apparent oversupply of S N -

AIRBUS SPACE AND DEFENCE satellites, the first inwhat the will carrymore than40small 20 |S for “thissummer,” Fragnito gave the launch wasonly scheduled sun-synchronous orbit. released into a515-kilometer said thespacecraftwould be ianespace release about ESAIL ellites on thevehicle. TheAr due tothemassof all thesat orbit hadtobelowered slightly conference inWashington. discussion at the Satellite 2019 mission during aMay 8panel unit at Arianespace,said of that president of theVega business mance,” MarinoFragnito, vice have nogramleftof perfor be added tothemission. ESAIL isthefinal spacecraftto a large collection of smallsats. use of therocket for launching mission todemonstrate the the SSMS “Proof of Concept” will join 41othersatellites on signals from vessels. Identification System (AIS) satellites that track Automatic will join exactEarth’s fleetof the European Space Agency, a partnership program with bourg-based LuxSpace through The satellite, built by Luxem nadian company exactEarth. smallsat called ESAIL for Ca sion Service (SSMS)launch, a initial Small Spacecraft Mis May 9thefinal contract for its dedicated rideshare missions. company hopes tobeaseries of for Vega rideshare mission Arianespace completesmanifest A While Arianespace saidthat “We are fully booked. We The 110-kilogram ESAIL Arianespace announced He added that themission’s SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 JEFF FOUST later thisyear that for aVega launch nalized thepayload rianespace hasfi ------as possible.” want to do SSMS as frequently on aspecific flight rate yet. “We the company hasn’t decided the future, although he said missions on aregular basis in for launches from there. of orbital inclinations available he noted, wasthewide range port in Kourou, French Guiana, using theVega from thespace was aware of. Anadvantage of specific orbit that hesaid first rideshare mission tothat sun-synchronous orbit, the That will fly on a“dawn-dusk” fully booked, Fragnito said. planned for 2020,andisalmost a success.” think this is what we would call take themonboard,” hesaid.“I asking tocome, but we cannot the rocket. “We hadcustomers could beaccommodated on customers for that mission than cubesats, Fragnito said. kilograms down tosingle-unit microsatellites weighing 160 Sitael. Thesatellites rangefrom as well assmallsat developer Space, D-Orbit andSpaceflight, providers Innovative Solutions in mission are rideshare service nounced for thefirstSSMS missions. in theoverall schedule of Vega “some manifest adjustments” due todelays inthesatellites and and argued that theslippage was still beingclose toon schedule, that slip of several months to he said.He saidheconsidered geted alaunch inMarch 2019,” mission two years ago, we tar “When we startedplanningthis during the panel discussion. a specific launch date, Sept.5, Arianespace plans to fly SSMS Arianespace planstofly SSMS A second SSMSmission is There were more prospective Among thecustomers an S N - - - launch inSeptember, thefirstinaseriesofdedicated ridesharemissions. Arianespace hasfinalizedthemanifestof 42smallsats that willflyonaVega

ARIANESPACE 21 |S one of the thrusters could be used on a for ground testing, although Cassidy said thrusters toJPLsummer, primarily it may behundreds of satellites,” hesaid. probes, whereas for some of ourcustomers missions might bebuilding one or two company anticipates. “Many of theJPL reflects thedifference indemand the and long-lead-time components. That that reduces theuseof exotic materials “design tomanufacturability” changes nology andcommercialize it, including will beup to10 timeshigher. longer: Cassidy estimated its impulse shielding allows thethrustertolastfar newton-seconds of impulse. Magnetic ventional Hall thrustertoabout 200,000 inside of thethruster,” hesaid. inside aHall thrusterfrom eroding the magnetic field linestostop theplasma plasma generated by thethruster.“It uses shielding toprotect components from the benefit of MaSMiisits useof magnetic Fusion, saidinaninterview that akey company hasbeendeveloping. the existingelectric thrustersthat the will provide higher performance than the Apollo Xenon Engine(AXE),which technology in an electric thruster called three thrustersthat usethat technology. well asacontract toprovide JPLwith or MaSMi, Hall thruster technology, as for JPL’s Magnetically Shielded Miniature, exclusive worldwide commercial license May 7that it signed adeal that gives it an technology. ing it accesstoadvanced Hall thruster NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, giv thruster technologyfrom JPL Apollo Fusion obtainsHall S The company will deliver thethree That erosion limits thelifetime of acon Mike Cassidy, chief executive of Apollo The Silicon Valley-based company said Apollo Fusion planstotake that tech Apollo Fusion planstousetheMaSMi SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 through anagreement with expanding its product line startup Apollo Fusion is atellite electric propulsion JEFF FOUST - - - want thehigher performance todecrease including all-electric GEOsatellites that those developing high-power satellites, AXE, hesaid,will likely be of interest for watt andkilowatt-level thrusters,” hesaid. complementary. Cassidy said the two thrusters will be linewtons of thrustfor ACE. However, of thrust, versus 400 watts and 24 mil 1000 watts of power and55millinewtons Apollo Constellation Engine(ACE), with formance over thecompany’s existing AXE thrustersinearly 2020. will startcommercial production of the future spacecraft. He said the company a longer lifetime than existing systems. a longerlifetimethanexistingsystems. Apollo Fusion islicensingtechnologyfromJPLtocreate anewhigh-powerHallthrustercalledAXEthat offers “There’s strong interest in both the 400- AXE will offer higher thrust and per - - to do this.That’s impressive.’” “They’ve said,‘Wow, JPLpicked you guys of ourcommercial customers,” hesaid. really gotten agreat response from alot additional benefit for thecompany. “We’ve to testit. a cubesat mission designed specifically will fly inthesecond half of theyear on yet tofly inspace, but Cassidy saidone Earth orbit satellites. That thrusterhas from companies developing smaller low thrusters. is lighter thantwo or three smaller ACE ary orbit. AsingleAXEthruster,hesaid, the transit timetotheirfinal geostation Cassidy added that theJPLdeal hasan Apollo Fusion still seesinterest for ACE S N -

R. CONVERSANO, JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALTECH Nations Operating Spacecraft, 2016 - 2018

2016 2017 2018

61 68

*Including Multinational Bodies – EUMETSAT, European Commission (EC) and European Space Agency (ESA) As of February 20, 2019 The Space Report Online BY THE END OF 2018, HOW MANY NATIONS OPERATED SATELLITES IN SPACE?

BY WHAT PERCENTAGE DID THE NUMBER OF NATIONS OPERATING SATELLITES IN SPACE GROW FROM 2016 - 2018?

Know the Answers. Order Today. NEW – The Space Report is now a quarterly report. Included in online subscription and as an ebook. TheSpaceReport.org Answer: 75 and 23% as of February 20, 2019

SN4_tsro.indd 1 2/27/19 9:19 AM sn_05.06.19_pg25- Full Page Ad-SF.indd 1 5/2/19 10:56 AM 23 |S commercial launch andreentry licenses forts, such asproposed rules for reforming commercial space regulatory reform ef real-time information tonavigate inspace.” that companies justlike yours have thebest government andcommercial sensors “so That repository will combine data from situational awareness data thissummer. architecture data repository” for space ment will unveil thefirstpartof its “open announce that theCommerce Depart Directive 3,publishedlastJune. He did management as described in Space Policy issues about satellite spectrum. spectrum for 5Gservices, andnotspecific spectrum, includingupcoming auctions of focused on more general issues about of hiscomments that followed, though, access to wireless spectrum,” he said. Most “We will ensure that you have continued in hisremarks. was little intheway of newdevelopments relevant to the audience. However, there and otheraspectsof commercial space initiatives, particularly incommunications rity, ourprosperity andourvery way of life.” leadership isessential toournation’s secu leadership in space,” Pence said, “because we’ve worked to restore America’s proud moon inthenextfive years. his recent call of landinghumans on the lish aSpace Force toregulatory reform to on spaceissues, from proposals toestab ministration hadtaken inthelasttwo years Pence outlined thevarious efforts thead Satellite 2019conference inWashington, new announcements. policy efforts without makingany major support for space Pence reaffirms administration’s V He also mentioned in passing other One example was access to spectrum. His speech touched upon several ongoing “Since day one of ouradministration, In a20-minute luncheon keynote at the He also cited the work on space traffic SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 Trump administration’s space conference May 6torestate the speech at a major space industry ice President Mike Pence useda JEFF FOUST - - - - - published lastmonth for public comment. not, though, addnewdetails about either of ahuman lunar landing by 2024.He did Pence announced in aMarch 26 speech establish aSpace Force andthegoal that such astheadministration’s proposal to and national security space initiatives, be publishedsoon. they expect revisions to current rules to latory reforms, but industry sources said going commercial remote sensingregu orbit aswell.” Earth, andit’s going towork in low Earth he said.“We figure that works here on “We’re streamlining and deregulating space,” U.S. VicePresidentMike PencespeakingMay6duringtheopeningdayofSatellite 2019inWashington Pence usedthespeechtoreiterate civil Pence didnotspecifically mention on - - challenge.” the bestof bothworlds tomeetthisgreat and private partnerships in order to get tion of space.And,it isleveraging public has significantly enabledcommercializa processes. It has crushed bureaucracy. It his work on thecouncil. “It hasstreamlined mined leadership,” Bruno saidof Pence and space council. Pence for his work as chairman of the Group. Bruno, inhisremarks, praised National Space Council’s Users’ Advisory Launch Alliance who also serves on the president andchief executive of United initiative inhisconference remarks. “We are giftedwith visionary anddeter Pence was introduced by Tory Bruno, S N - -

BRIAN BERGER/SPACENEWS 24 |S 24 stars or colors —will beused. sort of scoring system—anumeric score, will go into therating systemor even what project saidtheystill must figure out what buildings. However, thoseinvolved with the systems that rates theenergy efficiency of Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ity Rating tobesimilar totheLeadership in a market point of view,” hesaid. way will prevent any unfairadvantage from one tooperate inasimilar andsustainable deorbiting of satellites. “Incentivizing every sociated with such measures asend-of-life operators toaccept the economic costsas the newrating initiative asway toencourage at Boeing Space and Launch, also welcomed resource, space,asasign of maturity.” space sustainability index for what isascarce operator SES.“Iseeinitiatives like creating a Ruy Pinto, chief technology officer of satellite It’s growing. There’s alot of disruption,” said orbital debris. concerns about thegrowing population of desire tobegood stewards of spaceamid voluntary rating process todemonstrate their believed satellite operators would support a conference May 6inWashington, saidthey appearing on apanelat theSatellite 2019 sustainability of space. follows guidelines toensure thelong-term an individual satellite, or satellite system, Rating, ametric that will define how well on development of aSpace Sustainability Technology (MIT)Media Lab,will work one ledby theMassachusetts Institute of the European Space Agency, togetherwith behavior inspace. that its backers hope will encouragegood rate thesustainability of spacesystems,one sustainability” ratings todevelopConsortium “space T Backers envision the Space Sustainabil “The spaceindustry isgoing through change. Backers of theproposed rating system, Bruce Chesley, senior director of strategy WEF announced May 6 that a team from SN N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 agencies to develop a system to agencies to develop a system to of companies, universities and (WEF) hasselectedaconsortium he World Economic Forum JEFF FOUST - - - to helpshape that definition. at Austin, canprovide aneutral perspective and Technology andtheUniversity of Texas the MITteam,which includes Bryce Space erence for space sustainability.” She said that really seethevalue of makingapoint of ref MIT Media Labinvolved intheproject. “We Rathnasabapathy, aresearch engineerat the definitions of spacesustainability,” saidMinoo be accepted on aninternational basis,” she a wide rangeof countries. “We want thisto emphasis, shesaid,on gathering input from users of therating system.There will bean of workshops togather input from potential working with theWEF, will likely hold a series a satellite, shesaid. take thisquestionnaire andput arating” on an unbiasedmathematical model that will “What we’re hoping todo isput together and manufacturers through a questionnaire. information, provided by satellite operators access toproprietary or export-controlled licly available data, avoiding issues such as sustaitability rating system it hopes will encourage good practices by satellite operators. sustaitability rating systemithopeswillencouragegoodpracticesbysatellite operators. As theamountoforbitaldebrisgrows,World EconomicForumisspearheadinganefforttodevelopaspace “Right now there are somany different Rathnasabapathy saidtheconsortium, The rating systemwill make useof pub - - measurable indollars inthefirstplace.” there will beincentives, even ifthey’re not lites, which could lower premiums. “I think to areduction ininsuranceclaims on satel be encouragedby therating systemmay lead who’s participating init.” give straightaway adiscount toeveryone think we have theroom at themoment to ment of therating. But, headded, “Idon’t insurer Swiss Re, supported the develop to quantify. Jan Schmidt, headof spaceat near-term financial ones might be harder tem might provide intangible benefits, Rating systemonce it’s operational. serve asthehostof theSpace Sustainability discussion, hesaid,iswhat organization will may be ready in about two years. Also up for year with satellite companies. Afinal version to beginbetatestingof therating systemnext at theWEF, saidafterthesession that hehopes Nikolai Khlystov, lead for aerospace industry or aEuropean initiative.” said. “It shouldn’t beseenasaU.S. initiative However, he said good behavior that could While a good score on any rating sys That consultative process will take time. S N - - -

NASA ILLUSTRATION 25 |S services totheexistingandfuture customer baseof XTAR. the Middle East,Africa Europe andAsia. It will continue providing of theglobe, ranging from theUnited States andSouth America to protection againstnuclear radiation. protection for anti-jamming andanti-spoofing, plushardened on theprevious SpainSAT fleet.Bothsatellites will have advanced will also be involved. UHF is a new capability that was not available band payloads. Othercompanies from theSpanish spaceindustry Thales Alenia Space inSpain will provide theUHFandmilitary Ka orbital slots tooperate inX,military KaandUHFbands. The two newsatellites will besituated indifferent geostationary capacity for Spain’s military andtosupport NATO requirements. have anoperational lifetime of 15years. provider hasnotbeenselectedyet. TheSpainSAT NG satellites will vices totheSpanish Ministryof Defense, Chamussy said.Alaunch must belaunched nolater than2023toensure continuity of ser have beeninservice for more than12years. Thenewspacecraft will replace theexistingSpainSAT andXtar-EUR satellites which at theSatellite 2019conference inWashington. the outgoing headof AirbusSpace Systems told reporters May 6 the bulk of thework will bedone by Airbus,Nicolas Chamussy, awarded toaconsortium of AirbusandThales Alenia Space but with Hisdesatof Spain Airbus inks two-satellite deal existing SpainSAT andXtar-EUR spacecraft Two newsatellitesdubbedSpainSAT NG1andSpainSAT NG2willreplacethe The satellites will be based on Airbus’ new geostationary Airbus in Spain will be responsible for the Xband payload, while Hisdesat islooking toincrease satellite-based communications The newSpainSAT fleet will provide coverage of alarge portion Two newsatellites dubbed SpainSAT NG 1andSpainSAT NG 2 our customers.We have noaspirations toput people onMars,ortoput millions ofpeople to S SN “We have noaspirations forcreating ourown network, aconstellation tocompete against N |NEWSFROM SATELLITE 2019 work andplay inspace.Theyhave much bigger goals thanwhat we’re looking todo. NEWS FROMSATELLITE 2019 aging military communications spacecraft. agreed tobuy two satellites from Airbustoreplace We’re justlooking toprovide alaunch serviceforacommercial customer.” The contract, whose value wasnotdisclosed, was pain’s government satellite operator Hisdesat has

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Kirk Pysher, president of International LaunchServices, differentiating his company from ventures like BlueOriginandSpaceX SANDRA ERWIN during aMay 7paneldiscussion attheSatellite 2019conference. - operator Hisdesat. partnership between the European Space Agency and the satellite the Development of Industrial Technology under a public-private of Industry, Trade andTourism, aswell astheSpanish Centre for platforms. market. AirbusandThales Alenia Space are bothmarketing Neo satellites andhelpEuropean manufacturers compete intheglobal European Space Agency tobesignificantly cheaper thancurrent digital processors for Xandmilitary Kacross banding. ically steered antennas with in-orbit reconfiguration and onboard in technologies like electric propulsion, flexible payloads, electron importance” because it validates thecompany’s decision toinvest mussy saidSpain’s selection of theNeo platform is“of significant telecommunications satellite product called Eurostar Neo. Cha SpainSAT NGdeal. Nicolas ChamussyofAirbus(left)andMiguelAngelPanduroHisdesat sign The SpainSAT NG program is supported by the Spanish Ministry The Eurostar Neo platform wasdesigned by Airbuswith the S N - -

AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE m a a s y u 2 a, 0 – c 22 na, 2019 pasade America’s engineering and manufacturing meeting place for space technology  Cutting-edge solutions  Innovative technologies   Global perspectives  Unlimited networking 

Participating companies include:

www.spacetechexpo.com // [email protected]

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