Space InformationLaboratories. Scientific EnergeticMaterialsCompany and safety systemswithPacific and anin-depthlookintoautonomousflight article onthegloballaunchsitelandscape 2020). Thiseditionalsoincludesashort in Q32020(1stJulyto30thSeptember update ofthesmallsatelliteslaunched Market Intelligencereportprovidesan Catapult’s quarterlySmallSatellite This issueoftheSatelliteApplications REPORT INTELLIGENCE MARKET SATELLITE SMALL

Q3 2020 bulk loadsofsatellitesand constellationsfromotherorganisationswillstartto come intofruition. launching are that SpaceX be only won’t it year next that expecting are We years. previous with par on is which year, still they quarter This this launched have orbit. satellites small 216 only in SpaceX Without quarter. the satellites of satellites small the Starlink of 61% for accounted 700 over has now and cadence launch high its continued SpaceX the SatelliteApplicationsCatapultandKeplerCommunicationsdemonstratormission,IOD-5TARS. Mission Spacecraft Small Arianespace’s launched. satellites including inboards, customers 21 with delays of months after launched finally flight Concept of Proof (SSMS) Service Starlink 175 with numbers SpaceX the but dominated involved, organisations still 48 with quarters previous than organisations of diversity greater a shows also quarter This pandemic. the to due setbacks and delays the with especially industry satellite small the of acceleration the shows really and feat impressive an is This go. to still quarter a with year previous any double over 2020 809, to the total up brings and quarter any of total highest second the is this quarter, this launch were satellites small 288 OVERVIEW 2 LA S 0 MALL SATELLITES 2 UNCHED INQ3 0 Small Satellites(<500kg)Launches:HistoricalandProjection

02 There wasalso atechnologydemonstration ofthenewRocketLabs Photonplatform. European universities (excl.Russia).These missionsincludedformation flyingresearchand atmosphericstudies. There werealso15universities thatlaunchedscientificmissions,unimpeded by COVID-19,with8ofthembeing Space’s proposedSARconstellation. satellites) andChangGuang SatelliteTechnologyCo.(9satellites).Therewasalso thefirstsatelliteforCapella There were64EarthObservation/Remote Sensingfrom14companiesheaded byPlanet(29satellites),Spire(12 Remote Sensingsatelliteslaunched. these satellitesaretakenoutoftheequation,wecan seethatthetherewerealargenumberofEarthObservation/ Once again,thebulkofsatellitesarecommunication satellitesofSpaceX’sStarlinkprogram.However,whe • • • Applications aredefinedbytheprimaryobjectiveofmissionascategorisedbelow: APPLICATIONS Earth observation/Remotesensing:theobjectiveofmissionistoprovideimageryordata phenomena ortotestthefunctionalityofpayloadequipment; Technology/Scientific: Communications: the objective of the mission is to transmit or receive signals to/from a user terminal or gateway;

Number of Satellites Launched 100% 10% 20% 30% 50% 70% 90% 40% 60% 80% 350 100 150 200 250 300 0% 50 0 2010 2011 h ojcie f h msin s o ahr nweg t bte udrtn physical understand better to knowledge gather to is mission the of objective the 2012 Small SatellitesLaunched:byApplication 2013 2014 Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 100 120 20 40 60 80 0 Q3 2020-Technology/Scientific Historical -Communications Historical -Technology/Scientific Q3 2020-Communications SensingObservation/Remote Q3 2020-Earth Other/Unknown SensingObservation/Remote Historical -Earth 2020 withoutSpaceX n 03 companies focus onusingthecubesat format (nano)fortheirscientific missions–16outof the21satellites. coming from Swarm TechnologiesIoTconstellation (whicharecubesats withasizeof0.25U). Whilstacademic Commercial companieshave thelargestspreadacrosssizecategoriesandthis quarterincluded12pico-satellites and 22micro-satellitescame fromalarger20and12companies,respectively. OneWeb, Starlink).The189 mini-satellitesthisquartercamefromonly8companies whereasthe63nano-satellites The mini-satelliterangehas beenpopularamongasmallsubsetofcompanies launchinglargerconstellations(e.g. majority ofthiscategoryandwhenfactoredoutonly 14minisatellitesremain. From thisitseemslikemini-satellitesarethemostprevalent with189satellites;however,Starlinkmakesupthevast satellite totesttechnologiesforapotentialglobalinternetconstellation. Guodian Gaoke.PointViewTech,asuspectedsubsidiaryofFacebook,launchedanexperimentalcommunications IoT companiesalsolaunchedsatellites,BritishLacunaSpace,AmericanSwarmTechnologiesandtheChinese launched threesatellites,includingIOD-5TARSinpartnershipwiththeSatelliteApplicationsCatapults.Threeother Starlink satelliteswerenottheonlycommunicationslaunchedthisquarter.KeplerCommunications tasked todeploy12Dovecubesatsinapreciseorbit. Falling outsideofthecategories,D-OrbitlaunchedtheirION(InOrbitNow)free-flyingcubesatdeployerwhichwas SIZE ANDMASS Small Satellite<500kg Satellite

Number of Satellites Launched 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 50 0

classification 0021 0221 0421 0621 0821 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Historical -MINI Historical -MICRO Historical -NANO Historical -PICO Q3 2020-MINI Q3 2020-MICRO Q3 2020-NANO Q3 2020-PICO

Small SatellitesLaunched:bySizeCatagory

Pico-satellite Nano-satellite Micro-satellite Mini-satellite Satellite

subclassification Year

Associatedwetmassrange 0.1 kg–1 1 kg–10 10 kg–100 100 kg-500

04 constellation, suchasKepler,Swarmand Iceye. many oftheupcoming constellationseither launchingtheirfirst,in thecaseofCapellaSpace, orrollingouttheir This quarteralsohadthesecond highestnumberofcommercialcompanieslaunching inonequarter.Theseincluded and 21academicsmallsatellites. commercial organisations,evenwithoutSpaceXtherewerestill86whichsupersedesthe6governmen both figuresintermsofsheernumbersandaproportionthesatelliteslaunch.261288 werefrom The trendcontinueswithcommercialsmallsatellitesbecomingmoreandpopular,thisisclearshown by ORGANISATION

Percentage of Small Satellites Launched 100% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 0% 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 0 2010 2010 2011 2011 Small SatellitesLaunched:byLaunchOrganisation 2012 2012 Government Commercial Academic Q3 Government Q3 Commercial Q3 Academic 2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 Year 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 2019 2019 2020 2020 Q3 2020 t 05 aelt pyod Ata a Aeia sallf launch small-lift American vehicle start-up,faileditsfirstorbitallaunchattempt. an Astra, wasalso payload, small satellite a -11 carrying not the Chinese although addition, of In unsuccessful. flight first The cause oftheissue–ananomalouselectricalconnection. the investigate to flights Lab Rocket in delay month-long a caused and flight Missions. the into minutes 4 occurred issue The In-Space and Planet, Inc., Electronics Canon 13th launch, failing to deliver payloads for Spaceflight Inc., Rocket Lab had their first commercial launch failure on their involving smallsatellites. This quartertherewere12launchesand2launchfailures LAUNCH Mission Service by Arianespace to position itself in the growing small satellite market, Arianespace’s Multi Launch Multi Arianespace’s market, Service (arideshare servicewiththeupcoming Ariane6rocket)will soonjoinit. satellite small growing the in itself position to Arianespace inside by Service 12 Mission the including satellites, 65 Spacecraft Small the launching of flight first the was action This countries. 13 from satellite customers 21 from Carrier, CubeSat small ION D-Orbits the of slice a got rocket Vega Arianespace’s small satelliteslaunchesa piece. The SpaceX Falcon-9 and the Chinese Space Agencies Long March rockets retain their higher launch cadence with 4 4 3 Launch Failures Launches Launch Vehicles:NumberofLaunchesandSatellitesLaunched 2 1 0 Long March Kuaizhou Electron Falcon Vega mission. significantly missedtheirintendedorbittothedetrimentof Note: Launchfailure includesorbitfailures whereby thesatellites 0 Launchfailure Satellites Failedfrom Launch Satellites Launched Launch Orbits 50 Launch Other 100 Polar 150 SSO 200

06 Materials CompanyandSpaceInformationLaboratories andhowitcanbringlaunchtothenextlevel. capabilities aswelladiveintoAutonomousFlight SafetywithcontributionsfromthePacificScientificEnergetic This articlewillgiveabriefinsightintothegloballaunch siteecosystemincludingtheUK’supcominglaunch sites arenotexclusivetothesecompanies. as early2022,andthehorizontalSpaceportCornwallisplanningaVirginOrbitlauncharoundsimilar time.The small-lift launchvehicles.SutherlandSpaceportinScotlandiscurrentlypairedwithOrbexandplanninga firstlaunc The UKisnowalsoembarkingoncreatingnativelaunchsites,bothhorizontalandvertical,tosupportthe upcoming cheaper costs.Thisisanothercrucialfacetofmodernorbitallaunch. safety systemscanreducetheburdenonlaunchsitesandenablehighercadences,responsivelaunches and development overthepast50yearsbutarenowalsobreakingnewground.Developmentsinautonomous flight Flight safetysystemsareanotheraspectoflaunch,verycloselylinkedwithlaunchsites,thathavenotseen much Lab’s LaunchComplex1ontheMahiaPeninsulainNewZealand. the modernspaceport.Onlyin2018firstprivatespaceporttohostorbitallauncheswasintroduced with Rocket vehicles (facilitatingthemarketofsmallsatelliteconstellationslookingforaride)haveopenedupopportunity for popular. Therearehintsofnewactivityinthelaunchsiteworld-developmentscommercialsmall progress shouldnotbeseenasnegativeanditisexpectedthattraditionallaunchsitesinprimelocations willremai 1 we launchfrom,infact7ofthe10mostactivesitestodaywereallfoundedbefore1970 Although thenumberoflaunchesperyearhavebeenincreasingferventlytherehasnotmuchchange inwhere launch sites. force inthemarket.Yetthereisoneaspectofspacesectorthathasnotquitehadequivalentprogress – commercialisation ofsmallsatellites;theyhavenotonlycomeintofruitionthisdecadebutarenowalsoa dominatin There hasbeenaproliferationofactivityinthespacesectoroverlastdecade.Aprimeexampleis Introduction SYSTEMS FLIGHT SAFETY AUTONOMOUS LAUNCH SITESAND SatelliteApplications Catapult–SatelliteandLaunch Database2010-2020 1 . Thelackofprevious se n h g

07 will suitthegrowingsmall satellite marketthatwantthesepolarorbits. meaningful toasuccessful launchsite.Havingsitesawayfromtheequator,such asSutherlandSpaceportintheUK, With increasedpopularityofpolarorbits,includingsun synchronousorbit,thisadvantageisbecomingless Atlantic Oceantoitseastforsafelaunches. in aprimepositionforthisbenefitasitislocatedonly 500km,5degrees,abovetheequatorandithassparce m/s attheequator).Thisisespeciallyimportantforequatorial orbitssuchasgeostationaryorbit.FrenchGuianais orbits iflaunchedneartheequatorinaneasterlydirection, asthismaximizesuseoftheEarth’srotationalspeed(46 Rockets requireflightpathsthataresafelyawayfrom populationsandalsocanmosteasilyreachcertainsatellite capabilities withinyourownborders,andthephysical advantagesoflaunchlocation. Geography isimportantandwhenitcomestolaunch sitesthisprovesevident.Thisisbothabouthavinglaunch time willtellhowfartheimpactbebeyondjustlaunchvehicleopportunity. and itsspaceindustry.TheUKalreadyhasarobustsectorthatcanprovideitselfmarketfor launch and Unfortunately, thismeansthereislittleevidencetoshowtheimpactofdevelopinganewlaunchsiteon country LOCATION spaceport fororbitalandhumanlaunches–theBaikonurCosmodrome before thesestatisticsstarted–and31960.Interestinglythemostactivespaceportisalsoworld’s first of launchsites.Outthe10busiestsitesinlastdecade,7werefoundedbefore1970–over 40 years order ofmosttoleastlaunches:Russia,China,USA,FrenchGuiana,IndiaandJapan.Thisisnotadiverse portfolio counting BaikonurasRussian)andtherehaveonlybeen6countriestohostmorethan15launches.They are,in a privatelaunchsitecourtesyofRocketLab.Inthelastdecade,only11countieshavehostedlaunches(again lea sedtoRussia,FrenchGuianawhoareaproxyforEuropeanlaunch,andNewZealandonlyrecently have the abovegraphhavegovernmentoperatedlaunchprograms;exceptionsareKazakhstanwhose siteis Launch siteshavehistoricallybeendictatedbygovernmentinitiatives.Nearlyallcountriesthatlaunch sitesin WHEREWELAUNCH Figure 1OrbitalLaunchSites2010–Present (verticallaunchonly)(larger markerindicatestwospaceportsincloseproximity) 1 .

5

08 article. no redundantgroundstationsandsafelytraverseclosertopopulatedareas.WearediscussingAFSSlater oninthis caused bygeography.Byhavingtheterminationprocessonboarditallowsforvehiclestoflyrouteswhere thereare Development oftechnologiessuchasAutonomousFlightSafetySystems(AFSS 2 China oroneoftheothercountriesconcern”. origin content,regardlessofsignificance,whetherit’sincorporatedintoaforeign-madeitem,cangoto technology beingallowedonChineselaunchvehicles.TheBureauofIndustryandSecuritysaid,“Thatis,noU.S.- The UShasalsoshownthepoliticalimportanceofhavingnativelaunchsitesandplacedrestrictionson capacity. harder featthanlaunchingitwithEarth’snaturalassistancepenalisingroughly30%oftherocket’spayload is uniqueasitmeanstheyneedstolaunchinaretrogradeorbit–counterEarth’srotationwhichmuch Shavit rocketsovertheMediterraneanSeatoavoiddroppingtheirspentstagesonneighbourseast.This indigenous end-to-endlaunchcapabilitiesbuthavehadtoovercomegeographichurdles.Theytheir Israel’s launchsite(figure2)atPalmachinAirbase,nearTelAviv,isaninterestingexample.Theyneededtheirown https://spacenews.com/u-s-itar-satellite-export-regimes-effects-still-strong-in-europe/ Figure 2IsraelPalmachinAirbaseLaunch 2

) candiminishthedifficulties

9 launchers willstronglyaidtheglobalisationoflaunches. historic trendsarenotanaccuratepredictoroffuture trendsandthedevelopmentsofprivatesites This showsaclearcorrelationbetweensatelliteslaunched andtheaccessacountryhastolaunchfacilities.Howev growing markets. home. Havingthecapabilityoflaunchoncontinent ofEuropewillbeabletoserveonethebiggestandfastes Figure 3showsthesize,wealthanddiversityofEuropean spacesector,yettheyhavethefewestsitescloseto only hasRocketLab’sprivatesitewhichfirstlaunched in2018. larger Ofeqsatellites,Iranhasonlyhad3successful orbitallaunches(since2010)fromthatsite,andNewZealand launch sitesandarenotinthistopthenIsrael,IranNewZealand.Israelmainlyfocusedonlaunching their capabilities fromFrenchGuiana,allthesecountrieshavetheirownlaunchsites.Theonlythat current Aside fromCanada(whohavestronglinkswithlaunchesintheUSA)andEuropehavingsemi-native launch satellites thisdoesslightlyvarythestatistics,withRussiacomingoutstronger. constellations, butavarietyofcompaniesandacademicorganisationsinvolved.Whentakingaccountlarger success ofacountriesnewspaceupstreamsectorasitisimportantforthenotonlytohavefew successful past decadeandhowmanydifferentorganisationshavebeeninvolved.Thesearetwokeymetricsindetermining th Figure 3showsthetencountries,andalsoEuropeasagrouping,thathavelaunchedmostsmallsatellites, inth Small SatellitesOrganisationsandLaunchesbyCountries Figure 3SmallSatellitesLaunchedbyCountry er e t e

10 in thelaunchsupplychain. companies tolaunchfromtheUKandalsobeinvolved an agreementthatwouldmakeitpossibleforUS in June2020theUSandUKgovernmentssigned in Europe.Europewon’tbetheonlycustomeralso, in acountrywithoneofthestrongsectorpresences will beoneoftheonlynearbyoptionsforlaunchand to beahubforEuropeansmallsatellitelaunchesasit vehicles atitsdisposal.ThisgivestheUKapotential comes tolaunchwithmultiplesightsand The UKwillsoonhaveanarrayofoptionswhenit orbital vehiclelaunchedby2023. achieving over26kmandaimtohavetheirSkylarkXL tested theirsub-orbitalSkylarkMicroinIceland a payloadof315kg,fromtheUK.Theyhaverecently aiming toprovideanorbitallaunchservice,capableof is anotherUK-basedlaunchvehiclecompanythat be launchingitssmall-liftvehiclein2022.Skyrora orbital launchservicescompanythatisexpectedto satellite launchmarkettotheUK. 6 5 4 3 vehicle Prime.Orbex Scotland isplanningtohostOrbex’sorbitallaunch Sutherland SpaceportontheA'Mhòinepeninsulain launch optionsintermsofinclinationsandlocations. This collectionofsiteswillgivethemalargevariety US, JapanandtheUKtolaunchVirgin’sCosmicGirl. as ofthetimewritten,haveannouncedsitesin Newquay, CornwallforusebyVirginOrbit.Orbit, The UKisalsodevelopingahorizontallaunchsitein and someRussianCosmodromesthathavebeenlaunchingsatellitessincethe1960s. desirable. ThisproposedUKlaunchsitewillhavelatitudessimilartothatofthePacificSpaceportComplexinAlaska the fewplacesinEuropetobeabledoso.Theriseofsmallsatelliteshasmadepolarorbits(includingSSO)very The UKverticallaunchsiteplannedinSutherland(Figure4)provideseasysafeaccesstopolarorbits,itisoneof suitable forlaunch,withthevastAtlanticOceanbeingwestwardsandlaunchesinthisdirectionlessefficient. only clearseastoitsnorth,theUKisaprimesiteforlaunchinEurope.Unfortunately,notallofUK’scoastline (Figure 3), having a launch site close to home would be hugely advantageous. Sitting above Western Europe and with to launch.Europeisahubforthespacesectorwith262smallsatelliteslaunchedand121organisationstakingpart unpopulated spaceforsafelaunches,andthosethatdo-overtheAtlanticOceanarewest-boundlessefficie Europe sitsinatrickyspotwhenitcomestofacilitatingsatellitelaunches.Veryfewcountrieshaveclearrouteof UK LAUNCH https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/17/new-uk-us-agreement-allows-us-companies-to-launch-from-uk-spaceports/?guccounter=1 https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/18/skyrora-launches-its-small-demonstration-rocket-from-mobile-launch-site-in-iceland/ https://www.skyrora.com/ https://orbex.space/ 3 isaUK-basedprivate,low-cost 6 Thisbringsthebiggest 5

4

Figure 4 UKLaunchSites nt

11 Officers canbereplicatedinthissoftware. an arbitrarynumberofmissionrules,itisthecontention thatthedecision-makingprocessusedbyFlightControl flight processors.Bybasingthesedecisionsonactual instantaneousimpactpointpredictionsandbyprovidingfor make flightterminationdecisionsusingsoftware-based rules,configuredpriortoflight,implementedonredundant mounted onboardalaunchvehicle.Thiscantakevehicle navigationdatafromredundantonboardsensorsand The AFSSoperatesanindependentAutonomousFlight TerminationUnit(AFTU),aself-containedsubsystem transmissions, andriskinherenttohumanreaction decisionmaking. ranges andtheircustomers.Conventionalflightsafety systemsarealsochallengedbythelagtime,lineofsight Maintaining andoperatingthesesystems,oftenatisolatedlocations,hasbecomeamajorexpensetolaunch The conventionalsystemreliesonsignificantgroundsupportinfrastructureandman-in-the-loopdecision making. Autonomous FlightSafetySystems(AFSS) radar andcommandtransmittersitesarerequired. systems relyonline-of-sightradiofrequencytransmissions,asthevehiclefliesadditionalcoveragebyredundant ground transmitterstosendaterminationcommandon-boardreceiversterminatetheflight.Since these to computersandhumansatRangeSafetyCenter,monitoringitsprogressand,ifnecessary,usinghigh powered precision radars,returningtheEarthCentered,Fixed(ECEF)XYZpositionandvelocityoflaunch vehicle of theflight.Sincebeginningspaceflightthishasbeenaccomplishedbytrackinglaunchvehicle with available tothoseresponsiblefortheprotectionofpropertyandpublicsafetyisquickcertaintermination When anun-mannedspacelaunchvehiclefliesoffcourse,puttingpeopleandpropertyatrisk,theultimate action Traditional FlightSafetySystems future systemsthataidgroundcontrolwithsafetydecisions. Laboratories’ teamofAutonomousFlightSafetySystems(AFSS)expertstounderstandmoreabouthistorical and For thispiecewehavecollaboratedwithPacificScientificEnergeticMaterialsCompanyandSpaceInformation cadences andresponsivelaunchcapability. allowed SpaceXtocarvenewpolarflightroutesfromCapeCanaveralandRocketLabaimforsuper high launch type oftechnologythatcannotonlyimprovecostsandsafetyforlaunchsites,butalsoenhancecapabilities.Ithas that alsoreducetheburdenandlimitationsawayfromlaunchsite.AutonomousFlightSafetySystemsareone There aresometechnologiesthatcanbeimplementbylaunchvehicleorganisationstoimprovethesafetyof 7 1996 aLongMarch3Bveeredoffcoursestrikingnearbyvillagekilling6andinjuringover50 safety problem.Launchesfromthissitehaveshowereddebrisacrossthevillagesdottedalongflightpath,andin Lying inland,XinchangSatelliteLaunchCentreinChinaisanexampleofalaunchsitethathasencounteredthis launch vehiclehaseverythingneededforasuccessfullaunch. stations (Radar,Telemetry,FlightTerminationandLocalWeatherSites)otherresponsibilities,toensurethe sites, forexamplerequiringheavygroundsupportinfrastructureandresources,aredundantnetworkof is athresholdthatvehiclesandlaunchsitesneedtoovercomeforreliablelaunch.Alotoftheonuson Launch sitesarehostsofcontrolled,butvolatile,explosivetransportsystems–thereforesafetyisparamount.Safet AUTONOMOUS FLIGHTSAFETY https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/chinese-rocket-crushes-houses-after-government-warning-to-residents.html 7 .

y 12 7 licensed toflyevery72hours,andAFSSenablethemaimsohigh. Termination, becomingtheonlyotherUScompanytodoso9.RocketLabs’privatelaunchsiteinNewZealand is interfere withsignalssenttohumandecisionmakers8.Inlate2019RocketLabflewafullyAutonomous Flight populated Caribbean.Itisimportantthevehicleitselfmakesthisdecisionasfactorssuchrocketplumbs can ensures themeansofself-destructionifvehiclestraysorsomethinggoeswrong–crucialwhenflying overthe from CapeCanaveralin50years.SpaceX,andcurrentlyonlycandothisbecauseoftheirAFSS that Autonomous systemshavecleardemonstrableadvantages.SpaceXshowedthisrecentlywiththefirst polar launch from theoutset. and Spaceportsanoutstandingopportunitytoestablishadvantageoverrangesbyimplementingthese systems work towardstheimplementationofAFSSasstandardovernextdecadegivingUK&Europeanlaunch provider are nowahighlyestablishedpartoftheirlaunchinfrastructure.TheirSpaceportsandprovidershave plansto Conventional flightterminationtechnologieshavebeendevelopedextensivelyintheU.S.overpast 50 yearsand How willthisbenefitUKLaunchSites? rules withinallowabletimestoensuresafeactionsaretaken. ingest informationfromonboardsensors,predictimpactpoints,andevaluatethewithrespect tothose which maychangebasedonvehiclepositionandvelocity,previousflightevents.Computersarenow ableto sufficient memoryandspeedtohandleasetofmissionrulesinstantaneousimpactpointalgorithmpredictions unforeseen toinventorsofthetraditionalground-basedflightterminationsystemsisadventcomputerswith qualified andflightproventodemonstratenolossofvehicletrajectorylockonalaunch.Atechnologicaldevelopme information atahighrateusingGPSReceivers,INSandIMUsensorson-boardthelaunchvehiclethathasbeen An importantpartoftheAFSSiscapabilitysupplyinghighlyaccuratetime,ECEFpositionandvelocity Why now? longer needtobelaunchedfromadedicatedsite. loss, providinganaddedlayerofsafety.ItalsoprovidesglobalcoveragebecauselaunchvehiclesusingAFTUno historically usedforthispurpose.Theonboardsystemcanmakedecisionswithoutfearofanyinterferenceorsignal launching payloadsbyeliminatingtheneedforgroundpersonnel,transmitters,telemetryreceivers,andradars The abilitytouseautonomousflightsafetysystemsonthelaunchvehicleresultsintremendouscostsavingsfor AUTONOMOUS FLIGHTSAFETY https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/chinese-rocket-crushes-houses-after-government-warning-to-residents.html

s nt

13 Laboratories (https://www.spaceinformationlabs.com/)forcontributingandprovidetheirexpertisetothisarticle. Thank youtoPacificScientificEnergeticMaterialsCompany huge stepsforthecommercialisationandglobalisationofspacesector. launch vehiclesandthesitestoanewlevelwillplaybigroleinmakingspacemoreaccessible.Theseareboth market forlaunchesintheUK,Europeandpotentialevenfurtherafield.AutonomousFlightSafetySystemswillbrin advantage oftheseopportunitiesandbeapartthischange.Itisanattractivepropositioninhelpingservethe are emergingandnewtechnologiessuchasAFSSwillchangehowwelaunch.TheUKiswellpositionedtotake The launchecosystemisabouttoundergosomesignificantchanges.Privatesitesfromnewlocations CONCLUSION 9 8 https://www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/updates/rocket-lab-debuts-fully-autonomous-flight-termination-system/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/30/21407389/spacex-falcon-9-rocket-launch-polar-orbit-cape-canaveral-florida (https://psemc.com/) andSpaceInformation g 14 Disclaimer: whilst every eff every whilst Disclaimer: welcome feedbackon information thatiseasytoaccessanduse.We is report Intelligence Market Satellite Small The Contact team andwewillmaketheamendments. to implied, astoitsaccuracyorcompleteness. make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or to up and correct is we such as and only information general for provided information been has it date, the that ensure to strive we Whilst this us with:‘Copyright©SatelliteApplicationsCatapultLimited2020’. of portions reasonable to attributed properly reuse are reproductions such that may provided document You reserved. are rights All Copyright ©SatelliteApplicationsCatapultLimited2020 W: T: E: us at: would be or case. If any reader would like to contribute edits we recognisethat this might sa.catapult.org.uk/small-sats-market-intel provide accurateand suggestions to +44 (0)1235428199 designed as [email protected] of value toinclude. a our reports,kindlyemailthe free data source to share other datapointsthat up todateinformation, ort has been made been ort has not always be the You cancontact

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