A Guide to the UK's Commercial Spaceports
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In-Depth Review of Satellite Imagery / Earth Observation Technology in Official Statistics Prepared by Canada and Mexico
In-depth review of satellite imagery / earth observation technology in official statistics Prepared by Canada and Mexico Julio A. Santaella Conference of European Statisticians 67th plenary session Paris, France June 28, 2019 Earth observation (EO) EO is the gathering of information about planet Earth’s physical, chemical and biological systems. It involves monitoring and assessing the status of, and changes in, the natural and man-made environment Measurements taken by a thermometer, wind gauge, ocean buoy, altimeter or seismograph Photographs and satellite imagery Radar and sonar images Analyses of water or soil samples EO examples EO Processed information such as maps or forecasts Source: Group on Earth Observations (GEO) In-depth review of satellite imagery / earth observation technology in official statistics 2 Introduction Satellite imagery uses have expanded over time Satellite imagery provide generalized data for large areas at relatively low cost: Aligned with NSOs needs to produce more information at lower costs NSOs are starting to consider EO technology as a data collection instrument for purposes beyond agricultural statistics In-depth review of satellite imagery / earth observation technology in official statistics 3 Scope and definition of the review To survey how various types of satellite data and the techniques used to process or analyze them support the GSBPM To improve coordination of statistical activities in the UNECE region, identify gaps or duplication of work, and address emerging issues In-depth review of satellite imagery / earth observation technology in official statistics 4 Overview of recent activities • EO technology has developed progressively, encouraging the identification of new applications of this infrastructure data. -
Quality and Reliability: APL's Key to Mission Success
W. L. EBERT AND E. J. HOFFMAN Quality and Reliability: APL’s Key to Mission Success Ward L. Ebert and Eric J. Hoffman APL’s Space Department has a long history of producing reliable spaceflight systems. Key to the success of these systems are the methods employed to ensure robust, failure-tolerant designs, to ensure a final product that faithfully embodies those designs, and to physically verify that launch and environmental stresses will indeed be well tolerated. These basic methods and practices have served well throughout the constantly changing scientific, engineering, and budgetary challenges of the first 40 years of the space age. The Space Department has demonstrated particular competence in addressing the country’s need for small exploratory missions that extend the envelope of technology. (Keywords: Quality assurance, Reliability, Spacecraft, Spaceflight.) INTRODUCTION The APL Space Department attempts to be at the and development is fundamentally an innovative en- high end of the quality and reliability scale for un- deavor, and any plan to carry out such work necessarily manned space missions. A track record of nearly 60 has steps with unknown outcomes. On the other hand, spacecraft and well over 100 instruments bears this out conventional management wisdom says that some de- as a success. Essentially, all of APL’s space missions are gree of risk and unpredictability exists in any major one-of-a-kind, so the challenge is to get it right the first undertaking, and the only element that differs in re- time, every time, by developing the necessary technol- search and development is the larger degree of risks. -
Orion First Flight Test
National Aeronautics and Space Administration orion First Flight Test NASAfacts Orion, NASA’s new spacecraft Exploration Flight Test-1 built to send humans farther During Orion’s flight test, the spacecraft will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy, a rocket built than ever before, is launching and operated by United Launch Alliance. While into space for the first time in this launch vehicle will allow Orion to reach an altitude high enough to meet the objectives for December 2014. this test, a much larger, human-rated rocket An uncrewed test flight called Exploration will be needed for the vast distances of future Flight Test-1 will test Orion systems critical to exploration missions. To meet that need, NASA crew safety, such as heat shield performance, is developing the Space Launch System, which separation events, avionics and software will give Orion the capability to carry astronauts performance, attitude control and guidance, farther into the solar system than ever before. parachute deployment and recovery operations. During the uncrewed flight, Orion will orbit The data gathered during the flight will influence the Earth twice, reaching an altitude of design decisions and validate existing computer approximately 3,600 miles – about 15 times models and innovative new approaches to space farther into space than the International Space systems development, as well as reduce overall Station orbits. Sending Orion to such a high mission risks and costs. altitude will allow the spacecraft to return to Earth at speeds near 20,000 mph. Returning -
Electric Propulsion System Scaling for Asteroid Capture-And-Return Missions
Electric propulsion system scaling for asteroid capture-and-return missions Justin M. Little⇤ and Edgar Y. Choueiri† Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544 The requirements for an electric propulsion system needed to maximize the return mass of asteroid capture-and-return (ACR) missions are investigated in detail. An analytical model is presented for the mission time and mass balance of an ACR mission based on the propellant requirements of each mission phase. Edelbaum’s approximation is used for the Earth-escape phase. The asteroid rendezvous and return phases of the mission are modeled as a low-thrust optimal control problem with a lunar assist. The numerical solution to this problem is used to derive scaling laws for the propellant requirements based on the maneuver time, asteroid orbit, and propulsion system parameters. Constraining the rendezvous and return phases by the synodic period of the target asteroid, a semi- empirical equation is obtained for the optimum specific impulse and power supply. It was found analytically that the optimum power supply is one such that the mass of the propulsion system and power supply are approximately equal to the total mass of propellant used during the entire mission. Finally, it is shown that ACR missions, in general, are optimized using propulsion systems capable of processing 100 kW – 1 MW of power with specific impulses in the range 5,000 – 10,000 s, and have the potential to return asteroids on the order of 103 104 tons. − Nomenclature -
AFSPC-CO TERMINOLOGY Revised: 12 Jan 2019
AFSPC-CO TERMINOLOGY Revised: 12 Jan 2019 Term Description AEHF Advanced Extremely High Frequency AFB / AFS Air Force Base / Air Force Station AOC Air Operations Center AOI Area of Interest The point in the orbit of a heavenly body, specifically the moon, or of a man-made satellite Apogee at which it is farthest from the earth. Even CAP rockets experience apogee. Either of two points in an eccentric orbit, one (higher apsis) farthest from the center of Apsis attraction, the other (lower apsis) nearest to the center of attraction Argument of Perigee the angle in a satellites' orbit plane that is measured from the Ascending Node to the (ω) perigee along the satellite direction of travel CGO Company Grade Officer CLV Calculated Load Value, Crew Launch Vehicle COP Common Operating Picture DCO Defensive Cyber Operations DHS Department of Homeland Security DoD Department of Defense DOP Dilution of Precision Defense Satellite Communications Systems - wideband communications spacecraft for DSCS the USAF DSP Defense Satellite Program or Defense Support Program - "Eyes in the Sky" EHF Extremely High Frequency (30-300 GHz; 1mm-1cm) ELF Extremely Low Frequency (3-30 Hz; 100,000km-10,000km) EMS Electromagnetic Spectrum Equitorial Plane the plane passing through the equator EWR Early Warning Radar and Electromagnetic Wave Resistivity GBR Ground-Based Radar and Global Broadband Roaming GBS Global Broadcast Service GEO Geosynchronous Earth Orbit or Geostationary Orbit ( ~22,300 miles above Earth) GEODSS Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance -
Detecting, Tracking and Imaging Space Debris
r bulletin 109 — february 2002 Detecting, Tracking and Imaging Space Debris D. Mehrholz, L. Leushacke FGAN Research Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques, Wachtberg, Germany W. Flury, R. Jehn, H. Klinkrad, M. Landgraf European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany Earth’s space-debris environment tracked, with estimates for the number of Today’s man-made space-debris environment objects larger than 1 cm ranging from 100 000 has been created by the space activities to 200 000. that have taken place since Sputnik’s launch in 1957. There have been more than 4000 The sources of this debris are normal launch rocket launches since then, as well as many operations (Fig. 2), certain operations in space, other related debris-generating occurrences fragmentations as a result of explosions and such as more than 150 in-orbit fragmentation collisions in space, firings of satellite solid- events. rocket motors, material ageing effects, and leaking thermal-control systems. Solid-rocket Among the more than 8700 objects larger than 10 cm in Earth orbits, motors use aluminium as a catalyst (about 15% only about 6% are operational satellites and the remainder is space by mass) and when burning they emit debris. Europe currently has no operational space surveillance aluminium-oxide particles typically 1 to 10 system, but a powerful radar facility for the detection and tracking of microns in size. In addition, centimetre-sized space debris and the imaging of space objects is available in the form objects are formed by metallic aluminium melts, of the 34 m dish radar at the Research Establishment for Applied called ‘slag’. -
Space Launch System (Sls) Motors
Propulsion Products Catalog SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM (SLS) MOTORS For NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), Northrop Grumman manufactures the five-segment SLS heavy- lift boosters, the booster separation motors (BSM), and the Launch Abort System’s (LAS) launch abort motor and attitude control motor. The SLS five-segment booster is the largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight. The SLS booster shares some design heritage with flight-proven four-segment space shuttle reusable solid rocket motors (RSRM), but generates 20 percent greater average thrust and 24 percent greater total impulse. While space shuttle RSRM production has ended, sustained booster production for SLS helps provide cost savings and access to reliable material sources. Designed to push the spent RSRMs safely away from the space shuttle, Northrop Grumman BSMs were rigorously qualified for human space flight and successfully used on the last fifteen space shuttle missions. These same motors are a critical part of NASA’s SLS. Four BSMs are installed in the forward frustum of each five-segment booster and four are installed in the aft skirt, for a total of 16 BSMs per launch. The launch abort motor is an integral part of NASA’s LAS. The LAS is designed to safely pull the Orion crew module away from the SLS launch vehicle in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during ascent. Northrop Grumman is on contract to Lockheed Martin to build the abort motor and attitude control motor—Lockheed is the prime contractor for building the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle designed for use on NASA’s SLS. -
The SKYLON Spaceplane
The SKYLON Spaceplane Borg K.⇤ and Matula E.⇤ University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA This report outlines the major technical aspects of the SKYLON spaceplane as a final project for the ASEN 5053 class. The SKYLON spaceplane is designed as a single stage to orbit vehicle capable of lifting 15 mT to LEO from a 5.5 km runway and returning to land at the same location. It is powered by a unique engine design that combines an air- breathing and rocket mode into a single engine. This is achieved through the use of a novel lightweight heat exchanger that has been demonstrated on a reduced scale. The program has received funding from the UK government and ESA to build a full scale prototype of the engine as it’s next step. The project is technically feasible but will need to overcome some manufacturing issues and high start-up costs. This report is not intended for publication or commercial use. Nomenclature SSTO Single Stage To Orbit REL Reaction Engines Ltd UK United Kingdom LEO Low Earth Orbit SABRE Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine SOMA SKYLON Orbital Maneuvering Assembly HOTOL Horizontal Take-O↵and Landing NASP National Aerospace Program GT OW Gross Take-O↵Weight MECO Main Engine Cut-O↵ LACE Liquid Air Cooled Engine RCS Reaction Control System MLI Multi-Layer Insulation mT Tonne I. Introduction The SKYLON spaceplane is a single stage to orbit concept vehicle being developed by Reaction Engines Ltd in the United Kingdom. It is designed to take o↵and land on a runway delivering 15 mT of payload into LEO, in the current D-1 configuration. -
Virgin Galactic Launcherone Service Guide
LauncherOne Service Guide Version 0.2 his is this cover page) SERVICE GUIDE Virgin Galactic, LLC Version 0.2 25 March 2016 1 Cleared for Public Release by the DOD Office of Prepublication and Security Review LauncherOne Service Guide Version 0.2 Revolutionizing Space Access for Small Satellites If the key selling points of small satellites are that they are agile, flexible, and affordable, then these satellites need a launch service with the same qualities. Virgin Galactic has invested in the team, technologies, and facilities required to build just such a customer-focused launch service, LauncherOne. Air-launched from a 747-400 carrier aircraft, LauncherOne is the space access service that will accelerate the small satellite revolution. Overview LauncherOne is a simple, expendable, two stage launch vehicle designed to place small satellites (up to 500 kilograms) into a wide range of Low Earth Orbits (LEO) at an affordable price. LauncherOne System Expanded View 2 Cleared for Public Release by the DOD Office of Prepublication and Security Review LauncherOne Service Guide Version 0.2 Capabilities LauncherOne missions are highly customized to suit each customer’s specific requirements. Operating commercially through the FAA, LauncherOne operates independently of many of the external factors that can delay ground based launches: weather, offline radar tracking assets, boats in the launch pad stay out zone, and traffic jams on the increasingly crowded Eastern and Western ranges. Service Value Payload Payload Capability • Up to 300 kg / 661 lbm to 500 km / 270 nmi Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) • Up to 500 kg / 1100 lbm to 200 km / 108 nmi circular 28.5 degree inclination Low Earth Orbit (LEO) • Due to LauncherOne’s high degree of customization, payload capabilities are best calculated for each customer based on their specific requirements. -
L AUNCH SYSTEMS Databk7 Collected.Book Page 18 Monday, September 14, 2009 2:53 PM Databk7 Collected.Book Page 19 Monday, September 14, 2009 2:53 PM
databk7_collected.book Page 17 Monday, September 14, 2009 2:53 PM CHAPTER TWO L AUNCH SYSTEMS databk7_collected.book Page 18 Monday, September 14, 2009 2:53 PM databk7_collected.book Page 19 Monday, September 14, 2009 2:53 PM CHAPTER TWO L AUNCH SYSTEMS Introduction Launch systems provide access to space, necessary for the majority of NASA’s activities. During the decade from 1989–1998, NASA used two types of launch systems, one consisting of several families of expendable launch vehicles (ELV) and the second consisting of the world’s only partially reusable launch system—the Space Shuttle. A significant challenge NASA faced during the decade was the development of technologies needed to design and implement a new reusable launch system that would prove less expensive than the Shuttle. Although some attempts seemed promising, none succeeded. This chapter addresses most subjects relating to access to space and space transportation. It discusses and describes ELVs, the Space Shuttle in its launch vehicle function, and NASA’s attempts to develop new launch systems. Tables relating to each launch vehicle’s characteristics are included. The other functions of the Space Shuttle—as a scientific laboratory, staging area for repair missions, and a prime element of the Space Station program—are discussed in the next chapter, Human Spaceflight. This chapter also provides a brief review of launch systems in the past decade, an overview of policy relating to launch systems, a summary of the management of NASA’s launch systems programs, and tables of funding data. The Last Decade Reviewed (1979–1988) From 1979 through 1988, NASA used families of ELVs that had seen service during the previous decade. -
Grey and Gold Grungy Classroom Newsletter
T H E M A R T I A N D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 9 THE MARTIAN M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Greetings! Back in May 2019, we founded the GD Goenka World School's Astronomy Club, with tremendous support from our Respected Director-Principal Ma'am Dr. Neeta Bali, DHM Ms. Shahnaz Banoo Butt, IBDP Coordinator Dr. Manisha Mehta, all the IB teachers, and the students. Today, all the members of the Astronomy Club proudly speak for all that they have learnt and explored, be it from the wonders of physical Astronomy, to the mysteries of black holes. We started with our very own Solar System - the Sun, Planets, Satellites, Comets, Asteroids and went on as far as the enormous El Gordo. Our classes include lectures, debates, quizzes, interactive games and RIP TO THIS videos, and brainstorming sessions. In the coming months, we aim to learn more about the mysteries of DYNAMIC DUO the universe. We bring to you the maiden edition of our Astronomy For seven years, NASA’s Van Allen Club's Monthly Newsletter, titled 'The Martian'. Probes have studied one of the nastiest We thank our club members Sumer Kaistha, Rehaan radiation environments known to Chibber, Aekum Kamboj, Jeevesh Raj Gupta, Naman humans: the Van Allen radiation belts. Akankshi, Omar Mir, and the Deputy Director Jusjeev They're an extremely important factor Singh for their effort into bringing this magazine to to plan for when it comes to satellite you. -
Space Industry Bulletin July 2019
VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 7 www.spaceindustrybulletin.com Space Industry Bulletin Market analysis and business intelligence for the space community Commercialising LEO will need destinations beyond the ISS ommercialisation of low investors. And it will depend on and a few private companies Earth orbit will require having destinations beyond just does not make a sustainable in - Cnew models for public- the International Space Station. frastructure. So how do we build private partnership, and it will be For almost two decades, the this community? built on a technology infras- ISS has been the sole hub for Kerry Timmons, LEO com - tructure that will include the commercialisation activities, pro - mercial programme manage - CONTENTS likes of robotics and machine viding unique access to research ment lead at Lockheed Martin learning. and development in a micro- Space, said: “It requires collab - Industry news 2 But commercial success will gravity environment. oration. It needs ‘old space’ and l Virgin Galactic to go public hinge on an infrastructure that Doug Comstock, deputy chief ‘new space’ working in partner - following merger “buys down the risk” for financial officer for integration ship. It needs the commercial l Launch of balloon marks the commercial partners and at NASA, said: “The ISS has 14 market to be energised to bring beginning of a new space era different facilities built by 11 dif - their money and ideas to space.” l Innovation loans offer a share of ferent companies. We don’t want When we talk about commer - £10m funding a gap in capability for human cialising LEO, it’s important to l Galileo outage helps build the access to LEO.” recognise that space is not the case for sovereign UK GNSS Along with destinations, suc - first frontier, and also that Earth l OneWeb takes sustainability into cessful commercialisation of LEO imagery is an industry success orbit and calls on the wider industry will depend on a community, story.