DAY 3 August 09, 2018 SHOW DAILY Small Launch Industry Growing, but with Growing Pains by Jeff Foust

Visit us at 239T DAY 3 August 09, 2018 SHOW DAILY Small launch industry growing, but with growing pains By Jeff Foust

he number of small launch vehicles under development continues to grow despite some high-profile setbacks and uncertainty about the demand for such vehicles. T In a presentation here Aug. 8, Carlos Niederstrasser of Northrop Grumman said his latest survey of the small launch industry, which makes use of open-source information, identified 101 vehicles that are or have been under development in the last four years. “Let that sink in for a little bit,” he said. “One hundred and one different entities are trying to build a small rocket to get all your small satellites into space. The number is staggering.” Of that total, only six are currently in service: Northrop Grumman’s own Pegasus and Minotaur; the Kaituozhe-2, Kuaizhou-1A and Long “There’s been a lot of heartbreak. We’re definitely seeing the growing pains of the March 11 vehicles from China; and Rocket Lab’s Electron. An additional industry,” Carlos Neiderstrasser said Aug. 8. 34 are in active development, he said, compared to just 20 in 2015, the first year of his survey. That small launch vehicle industry is diverse. Of those 34 vehicles, another 11 is unknown. Those defunct vehicles include government 20 are in the United States, with six in China and three each in the projects that were canceled and companies that have gone bankrupt. United Kingdom and Spain. Most are land-based vehicles, but he said “There’s been a lot of heartbreak,” he said. “We’re definitely seeing there are multiple air- and sea-launch vehicles under development. the growing pains of the industry.” The payload capacity of the vehicles varies from under 20 kilograms Those growing pains, however, do not appear to be deterring new to 1,000 kilograms, the cutoff for inclusion in the survey. entrants. In a later presentation at the conference, Yoshifumi Inatani Despite that diversity, success for any of the vehicles is not guaran- of the Japanese space agency JAXA discussed the successful launch teed. “Are any of these vehicles really going to revolutionize the way we of an experimental small launch vehicle, SS-520-5, earlier this year. do business in small launch?” Niederstrasser asked. Those vehicles, he “Everybody asks me, ‘What comes next?’” he said. The answer is a said, offer launch prices in the range of $10,000–$50,000 per kilogram, new company, Space One, which is planning a small launch vehicle far higher than existing rideshare options. capable of placing 150 kilograms to sun-synchronous orbit, with a “One thing becomes very clear very quickly: these small launch ve- first launch in 2021. hicles are not going to be the cheapest way to get into orbit,” he said. Other new small launch vehicle projects are emerging. “I’ve added “Their main selling point is convenience.” two more just in the last four days,” Niederstrasser said, based on dis- There have been casualties along the way in the development of cussions at the conference. small launch vehicles. Niederstrasser said that 11 vehicle projects “As of a minute ago I’m up to three additional ones,” he tweeted

KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS he had previously been tracking are now defunct, and the status of shortly after his talk.

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KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS NASA’s focus shifts from smallsat research to space missions By Debra Werner

ASA was an early backer of cubesat and small satellite technology, providing funding for technology N research and development as well as flight opportunities through the Cubesat Launch Initiative, which offers rides to spacecraft from NASA, educational and nonprofit organizations. Prior to the Small Satellite Conference, Spa- ceNews spoke with Chris Baker, NASA Small Spacecraft Technology program executive, and Bruce Yost, director of the Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute at the NASA Ames Research Center, about NASA’s changing role in the small satellite ecosystem.

How has NASA’s role in this sector changed? Chris Baker: NASA’s role has shifted from being an across-the-board investor and partner in technology development to more of a customer for many things. We are looking to leverage the emerging capabilities in industry and aca- demia, to support them through public-private partnerships and invest in areas where we are not seeing private capital and where there are

government-specific needs. Chris Baker, NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program executive (center) , at SmallSat on Wednesday. When the Small Spacecraft Technology program started investing, we needed everything: communications, power, propulsion. spread our limited resources across multiple at a rate of 100 megabits per second. Is that We needed to invest across the board to help objectives. There are definite limitations to a key small satellite technology? create the capability. Now, we can focus our small spacecraft. They are not the solution for Chris Baker: We sponsored OCSD with the resources on challenging NASA-specific prob- everything but they can be part of the solution. Aerospace Corporation. We are very excited lems: deep space applications, constellations, about the outcome and are looking forward swarms, where we collect large volumes of data Bruce Yost: What if we wanted to use small to the Aerospace Corporation continuing to over a distributed space. satellites to make a telescope with better reso- push the envelope with that mission. lution than the James Webb Space Telescope? A problem across the board for spacecraft is Are there missions small satellite can’t Theoretically, you could do that with a large getting all the data down. As sensors and in- perform? number of small satellites arranged in a specific struments have become more sophisticated, the Chris Baker: You run up against some physical location in a specific orbit acting together like amount of data we are collecting has increased. constraints in the small spacecraft platforms. a virtual mirror. But the underlying technol- Our ability to downlink data back to Earth has While small spacecraft may not be the ideal ogies in timing and attitude control are still not kept pace with that. We are very interested solution for the whole mission set, there are out there in the future. That’s one example of in continuing to move forward in this area. pieces of small spacecraft technology that could something we can’t do right now. You can do a Power generation is another key area. Be- be brought into those larger class missions to majority of the missions that the NASA science cause of the limited size and form factor, the help augment them. There is a definite interest and exploration groups want to do in some amount of solar array real estate you can put in looking at new ways we can approach mis- fashion using small satellites. Some of those on a small satellite is limited. We’ve been in- sions using small spacecraft or disaggregated architectures are being invented right now. vesting in interesting ways to fold-up larger systems of multiple spacecraft to perhaps not flexible arrays in smaller and smaller packages. achieve the full capability of a larger flagship The Aerospace Corporation demonstrated There’s also a trend toward modestly increas- mission but to achieve enough of that mission the Optical Communications and Sensor ing the size of the spacecraft to try to help with

KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS at a low enough price point that enables us to Demonstration cubesats could transmit data some of these problems like power, which

DAY 3 | SPACENEWS SHOW DAILY | 3 4 Bruce Yost: innovation. market continues to drive avery rapid paceof missions. That will continue toincrease asthe ration, science and technology development an increasingly capable platform for ourexplo evolves, we are looking at small spacecraftas Chris Baker: ogy affectNASA missions? How doadvances insmall satellite technol industry align. where the interests of NASA and commercial issues you potentially have. Thisisanotherarea more power you generate, themore thermal O when real-time connectivity isrequired by turnaround timetodeploy theIDRS service add-on function will enable us to shorten our nal tailored totheqbeesatellite platform asan telecommunications providers, Laurent said. Agency, theUnited Kingdom government and is developing satellites for theEuropean Space in sixmonths, Siquier said.Now, thecompany in 2017,aftermoving from design todelivery Open Cosmosmarket development head. BGAN ground network, saidTristan Laurent, nications usingInmarsat’s spacenetwork and in low Earthorbit will have real-time commu Small Satellite Conference here. ing customers, Siquier toldSpaceNews at the useful for Internet of Thingsandremote sens executive. The new service will be particularly said Rafel Jordá Siquier, OpenCosmoschief to oursatellites usingtheInmarsat backbone,” Data Relay System (IDRS). munications through Addvalue’s Inter-Satellite Addvalue Innovation, tooffer customers com better cubesatcomms Open Cosmos,Addvalue linkupfor SHOWDAILY |

SPACENEWS “This partnership to provide anIDRS termi Open Cosmos launched its first qbee satellite For thefirsttime,operators of small satellites “It will bringnearreal-time communications goes hand-in-hand with thermal. The ment Aug. 8with Singapore-based customers, announcedanagree builds andoperates cubesats for pen Cosmos,aBritish startup that Oneof thenext inflection points As thecapacity of thecommunity A 3 DAY ------shrink instruments andsensors or distribute we may seeistheability of thecommunity to investment by larger more establishedfirms ups then become attractive targets for strategic most effectively inthebeginning.Thosestart to develop thenewtechnology thefastest and satellites, it tendstobethestartups that are able disruptive innovation like cubesats andsmall Chris Baker: for arole. and largeaerospacecompanies looking We are seeing consolidation in the market adoption of theseplatforms. spacecraft. As that starts,we will seeeven more it’s scattered amongst alot of different small them. Maybe it’s notasmaller sensor, but Open Cosmoswill offer customers adata few days,” headded. typical one-month commissioning down toa craft in orbit, Laurent said.“We canreduce the the network torapidly commission theirspace a statement. dvalue chairmanandchief executive, saidin Open Cosmocustomers,” ColinChan,Ad Tristan Larentannounceapartnershipbetweenthetwocompanies. Addvalue’s Eyal Trachtman, OpenCosmosRafael JordaSiquier, Addvalue’sRichardCoopermanandOpenCosmos As aresult of thepartnership with Addvalue, Open Cosmoscustomers will beginusing

When you have a potentially - - - By Debra Werner informed decisions. has accesstothebestinformation tomake and conferences. We want to make sure NASA organize andsupport study groups, workshops government agencies andindustry, andwe industry andacademia. We interact with other vide it tothesmall satellite ecosystems:NASA, technology. We collect information andpro to helpNASA keep on top of thechanging Bruce Yost: tual Institute? What is the Small Spacecraft Systems Vir aerospace industrial base. sect with thecapabilities of theestablished have increased tothepoint where theyinter when thecapabilities of thesmall spacecraft and broadband communications company. Addvalue Technologies Ltd, isadigital, wireless processing on theground.” constellations to downlink animagefor further said. “Thiswill beuseful for remote sensing ellite to pass over a ground station,” Laurent amount of data, without waiting for thesat burst service. Addvalue Innovation Pte,asubsidiaryof “At any time,we candownload amassive We stoodit up inJanuary 2017 - - - -

KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS

KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS Empower unveils plans for global optical data distribution By Debra Werner The trio has been in stealth mode, lining up funding and working with an optical terminal developed at JPL

hree space industry startups Xene- sis, Atlas Space Operations and Laser Light Communications have joined T forces to create the Empower Space Alliance, a venture aimed at creating a global optical data distribution service for spacecraft. The team has been in stealth mode for about two years, working with an optical terminal developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, lining up funding and negotiating about $20 million in hardware sales, Mark LaPenna, Xenesis founder and chief executive, told SpaceNews. “Our goal is by November or December 2019 to be fully subscribed at $1.5 billion in services and about $600 million in hardware,” LaPenna said at the Small Satellite Conference here. Sean McDaniel, CEO of Atlas Space Operations (left) and Xenesis CEO Mark LaPenna answer questions at the Atlas booth Aug. 8. Empower plans to use 12 satellites into me- dium Earth orbit and 100 ground sites with three optical telescopes at each location, all connected for information on a global scale, McDaniel Rocket Lab announced directly to wide-gauge fiber, to offer spacecraft told SpaceNews. JUST IN an agreement Aug. 7 the ability transmit data at speeds as high as 100 LaPenna declined to discuss financing for the with a new Dubai-based smallsat company for gigabits per second, LaPenna said. venture, saying only that it “has plenty of funding.” 10 launches of its Electron small rocket. The deal To use the service, customers would equip Xenesis, a startup based in Naperville, Illi- features 10 dedicated Electron launches starting spacecraft with a Xenesis optical unit that nois, is focused on producing and distributing in the fourth quarter of 2019. Those launches are weighs about two kilograms and consumes the “set-top-box” satellite operators will use to planned to take place either from Rocket Lab’s 160 watts of power. Because the unit is not reach the optical backhaul network. Xenesis has existing New Zealand launch site or one the yet flight-proven, Xenesis has an agreement a memorandum of understanding with Space company plans to develop in the United States. with the Center for Advancement of Science Florida to establish offices, research and manu- in Space, the nonprofit that operates the U.S. facturing facilities in part of the NASA Kennedy The launch agreement also served to announce national laboratory on the International Space Space Center’s former Shuttle Landing Facility, the existence of Circle Aerospace, a company Station and NanoRacks for a three-month LaPenna said. based in Dubai that plans to be a “one-stop shop” demonstration in 2019. Washington-based Laser Light Communica- for smallsat customers in the Middle East. The Sean McDaniel, Atlas Space Operations chief tions, led by Robert Brumley, plans to deploy a company says it will handle manufacturing of executive, said Atlas is focused on relieving the global optical hybrid communications network smallsats and the operations. Rocket Lab will be bottleneck in the communications pathway called HALO. the exclusive launch provider for those spacecraft. between collection of data in orbit and delivery Atlas Space Operations of Traverse City, Mich- of data to users. The Empower joint venture igan, is a ground-to-space communications will help Atlas respond to growing demand service provider. KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS KEITH JOHNSON FOR SPACENEWS

DAY 3 | SPACENEWS SHOW DAILY | 5 in toughdata-buymarket Spire weathers adversity tocompete 6 sector. TheNational Oceanic andAtmospheric striving tomake inroads intheweather data time andhard proof togeteveryone on board.” how thingsare currently done,” hesaid.“It takes in understanding that thisisoften achangeto deliver high-quality data. “We’re also cautious tification System (AIS)beacons. tracking ships through theirAutomatic Iden payloads for monitoring maritime traffic and whose namehecould not disclose. It also tested company isworking with apotential customer sensors that trackaircraft, Johnson said.The Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads inits constellation. It usedAutomatic flexible launch schedule.” produce up totwo satellites perweek andvery a design andmanufacturing process that can short amount of time.That’s thanksinpartto applications andgettheminto orbit inavery we canhostvery significant signals intelligence of,” Johnson told what we typically think a 3U cubesat is capable solar panels and antennas to extend beyond been tryingtochangethenarrative. have limited capability, and the industry has of theobstaclesisperception that cubesats corporations andgovernment agencies. One stepped up marketing of its data services to on orbit andmore coming, thecompany has the weather 100timesaday. With 61cubesats to track ships and airplanes, and to monitor Scotland —useradio frequency technology solutions of Spire Global, asix-year-old startup. president andgeneral managerof government using small satellites,” saidKeith Johnson, vice flexible systemsandlower costs. aggressively asgovernment agencies seekmore is at aturningpoint where it cancompete more Executives, however, believe thesmallsat industry surveillance are dominated by large satellites. C SHOWDAILY |

SPACENEWS Spire andcompetitor GeoOptics have been Johnson said the tests proved cubesats can Spire Global recently testedtheuse of hosted “It’s amazingwhat you cando with deployable Spire Global satellites — manufactured in “On average, there iscautious optimism about where services like weather data and tough sell inthegovernment market to produce. ubesats arefastandeconomical SpaceNews But theyremain a . “That meansthat A 3 DAY - SpaceNews data fell short of expectations. lays. NOAA officials saidthequality of Spire’s to provide data because of satellite launch de radio occultation data. GeoOptics wasunable nies received contracts in2016toprovide GPS SpaceNews mercial satellite weather data pilot program. Administration is about to start a second com as it tries to put up a 175 cubesat constellation. Lab launch delays have beenasetbackfor Spire smallsat companies across theboard. Rocket in theform of hardware andsoftware upgrades.” revisions tothesensor, deployed themtoorbit Since theNOAA tests, “we’ve done significant “very early version of Spire’s Stratos sensor.” first round of thepilot program camefrom a current NOAA contract opportunity.” on trackandwe will compete againfor the solved. “Since then our launch schedule is back experienced more than ayear ago have been to track and visualize fishing vessels off the west coast of the United States. to trackandvisualizefishingvesselsoffthewestcoastofUnited States. In thesceneabovefromlate July, SpireGlobalsoftwarecombinessatellite data andalgorithmstoallowcustomers GeoOptics CEOConrad Lautenbacher told But Johnson saidsuch delays, andeven the Launch availability has been a challenge for Johnson saidthedata that wastestedinthe last week that the launch problems reported inMay that bothcompa

By Sandra Erwin - - - aircraft trackingservices. weather data, shiptrackingand,more recently, how many. Spire’s 5-kilogramsatellites provide flights, though the companies did not disclose agreement includesoptionsfor additionalVega least eight”satellites onthe2019mission.The told smallsats. JennyBarna,Spire director of launch, mission featuring a new dispenser optimized for number” of cubesats on the Vega rocket’s first anespace onWednesday and seeabig market for.” predictable. It’s something we are pushingfor provided by government satellites,” headded. a day, said Johnson. “Far more than currently will beabletocreate 100,000weather profiles set of orbits.” hurdle when you’re tryingtoreach adiverse “The physical launch will almost always bea occasional failure, are built into theschedule. JUST “We want tomake weather forecasting more Once theentire constellation isup, Spire SpaceNews IN thecompanywilllaunch“at contract withAri Spire tocarry“a significant

announced a

SPIRE GLOBAL

ISTOCK IMAGE “We believe advanced data analytics in the form of machine learning is a key to our future success… No one in business really wants to look at pictures.”

— Nick Karangele, Trident Space president and CEO

“We strongly believe that the future of Earth imaging is in providing businesses government agencies and [non-governmental organizations] with critical information that can be extracted automatically from the SAR imagery we collect,” he tells SpaceNews. More Trident Space has begun discussions with data analytics companies on possible ways to apply machine learning to SAR imagery, he By Sandra Erwin says. “Our strategy is teaming with selected than a blip data-analytics partners for specific markets where information extracted automatically from SAR imagery can provide compelling value.” Trident Space’s challenge: Standing out Karangelen predicts Trident Space satellites operating in inclined orbits will have higher from the crowd of SAR satellite startups revisit rates than satellites in sun-synchronous orbits and will be capable of imaging through adar images are not pretty. They Trident Space’s president and CEO, Nick an eclipse. SAR smallsats will collect images tend to invite comparisons to grainy Karangelen, says “affordable services” and from one-meter to 0.3-meter resolution. black-and-white TV broadcasts timely data is what will help startups like Tri- Pricing for one-meter-resolution SAR im- R from the 1950s. But in the age of dent compete in a crowded market. agery will be about $10 per square kilometer. artificial intelligence, a treasure trove of data Trident Space is designing the satellites, Karangelen says that price will ensure the can be extracted from these grainy images. including the bus structure, payload and elec- company can compete aggressively in the Another plus: unlike electro-optical satel- trical power system. “We are evaluating several United States and internationally. lites that need light and clear skies to gather potential business partners who will assume “We expect that a majority of our SAR imagery imagery, radar satellites can see through any responsibility for the remaining bus avionics will be purchased by government and military weather, day or night. and spacecraft assembly, integration, and test users in the U.S. and allies,” says Karangelen. More companies and investors are moving for our first flight unit,” said Karangelen. The “We have no intention of competing directly to capitalize on the potential of small satellites partner will then manufacture approximately for Defense Department or intelligence com- equipped with synthetic aperture radar, creating 12 spacecraft per year for each of the constel- munity contracts but are discussing strategic what looks likely to become a highly compet- lations that are built for various customers. relationships with potential partners to sell into itive market. SAR services through low-cost “We expect to make a final decision on our the U.S. government as well as foreign markets.” smallsats is a segment of the industry that is manufacturing partner this year as we prepare Over the next few years, companies like being closely watched. Governments around to start the first flight unit for launch in 2020.” Trident will be closely monitoring advances the world also have been paying attention. As with any remote-sensing service, refresh in SAR technology. The miniaturization of One would-be player in this sector is Tri- rate is key. The first of Trident’s SAR satellites electronics for space is a key issue. “SAR per- dent Space Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia. It plans to will offer two to five revisits per day for most formance is highly dependent on antenna launch its first SAR smallsat in 2021, followed latitudes. The six-satellite constellation will size,” says Karangelen. Improved composite by six more satellites in 2023, and 12 each year provide an average of 20 revisits per day. The technology and manufacturing techniques thereafter, eventually building a 48-satellite fully populated 48 satellite constellation will have helped slash the cost of large aperture

SPIRE GLOBAL ISTOCK IMAGE constellation in low Earth orbit. bring revisit times to below 10 minutes. X-band antennas. Trident Space recently

DAY 3 | SPACENEWS SMALLSAT SHOW DAILY | 7 8 million square kilometers at 1meterresolution, a lifetime SAR imagecollection capacity of 44 satellites with anon-orbit life of four years and storage andprocessing. mission planningsegment, anddata product design review looked at theground segment, he said.In addition tothespacesegment, the tent with ourbusinessandtechnical goals,” show adequate system design margin consis and spacecraftpower electronics. “Theresults thermal design, X-band high-power amplifier unique totheSAR mission —antenna, bus was focused on satellite subsystemsthat are satellite design, said Karangelen.Thereview neering services companies that specialize in with theassistanceof aselectgroup of engi options. commercial dedicated andride-share launch that iscompatible with thegrowing lineup of that thebestoption isa300-kilogram satellite sign review for its SAR smallsats. It concluded constellation? five revisits perday. satellites will offertwoto The firstofTrident’s SAR SHOWDAILY | Nick Karangelen,Trident SpacepresidentandCEO

SPACENEWS At 300 kilograms, these are “not-so-small” The design review was developed internally completed aninternal preliminary de

Every 10mins. A 3 DAY The full full The - - - ing data-analytics companies while it teststhe SAR data analytics development.” hope toestablish afoundation for automated gorithms,” he says. “Using thisapproach, we to support training of machine learning al a portfolio of annotated SAR imagedata sets tical imagesat thesameresolution, tocreate images, andconcurrently collected electro-op collected from space.“We will usetheseSAR angles, resolution andquality that would be to collect SAR imageryat thesamegrazing gathering starting in early 2019. The plan is periodic high-resolution airborne SAR data training,” says Karangelen. image data setsrequired for neural network delayed by thelackof large, affordable SAR tions of machine learning to SAR has been a booming industry. “However, theapplica information from electro-optical imageryis business decisions.” mation required tosupport theirmostcritical reliable, consistent source of affordable infor really wants tolook at pictures. Theywant a future success,” hesays. “No one inbusiness the form of machinelearningisakey toour will bethesecret sauce, however. performance of thepayload electronics.” of these tests “confirm sub-meter resolution ern Maryland.Karangelensaidtheresults and collected raw SAR data around South payload electronics on asmall aircraft flew theengineeringmodel of the Trident Systems Inc. Thecompany technology wasdeveloped by a Cessnaaircraft. Thepayload electronics hasbeentestedon the company’s SAR payload cost of about $42million. a satellite with anon-orbit pacity of $440million for lifetime earningca kilometer, that’s a At $10persquare Karangelen says. Trident Space wants toteamup with emerg In response, Trident Space planstoconduct The useof machinelearning toextract “We believe advanced data analytics in Turning data into insightful information An engineering model of ------of financinginSeptember. pects toclose on a$7million Series Around future will belaunch availability.” says. “Ibelieve ourbiggest schedule risk inthe able accessfirsttoLEOandthen beyond,” he subscribed astheyoffer small satellites afford space race.Companies like Vector will befully launch will setthepaceinthisnewgeneration small-lift startup Vector. “In my view, affordable is also aninvestor inTucson, Arizona-based survival of thisindustry, says Karangelen,who continue toimprove inincremental steps.” power, and available antenna aperture size will small satellites. “RF power, payload processing are increased power and storage capacity for Some important technical achievements of late be accomplished on aSAR smallsat,” hesays. platforms. “Certainly, there are limits to what can increasingly more capable asremote-sensing of SAR prior to the launch of the first satellite. market for businessinformation applications Trident Space is privately funded and ex Low-cost launch will beessential tothe Karangelen predict smallsats will become - -

TRIDENT SPACE

MOMENTUS Silicon Valley startup hopes to make a splash with water plasma engines By Debra Werner

Momentus is not alone is seeing water as a promising propulsion source

ikhail Kokorich, the space indus-

try investor who founded Russian Left: Momentus engineer Yuqi Wang worked for SpaceX as a thermal fluid engineer before joining Momentus to small satellite builder Dauria Aero- work on electro-thermal propulsion systems. Above: Momentus thruster hardware undergoes testing. M space, is the founder and president of Momentus, a Silicon Valley startup focused on water plasma propulsion. California. After Y Combinator’s demonstration “We are developing the Momentus plans to demonstrate Vigor, its day in August, the culmination of the three- first water plasma thruster, by sending it into month program, Momentus will announce plans first in-space rockets orbit in February 2019 on a 16-unit cubesat to attract investment, including its fundraising powered by water plasma launched from a Russian Soyuz rocket. In 2020, goal, Kokorich said. engines… One of the main Momentus plans a flight demonstration of the Kokorich, who founded a home products problems we solved is how to Ardor thruster it is developing for its Ardoride retail chain in Russia before moving to the propulsion system to power 500 to 1,000-kilo- United States, is also a co-founder of Astro Dig- make sure that plasma will gram spacecraft. For now, Momentus’s Ardor ital, an Earth imaging and analysis firm based not vaporize the chamber technology is undergoing laboratory testing, in Mountain View, and an investor in Helios walls and nozzle” Kokorich said by email. Wire, a satellite-enabled internet of Things “We are developing the first in-space rockets startup in Vancouver. — Mikhail Kokorich, founder and president powered by water plasma engines,” Kokorich Momentus is not alone in seeing the promise of Momentus said. “We use solar energy to heat water with of water as a propulsion source. Deep Space microwaves up to the sun’s surface temperature Industries sells Comet, a water-based small and eject the superheated gas through the noz- satellite propulsion system. Tethers Unlimited zle to create thrust. One of the main problems offers Hydros, a water electrolysis thruster. And we solved is how to make sure that plasma will the Aerospace Corp. built water-fueled thrusters not vaporize the chamber walls and nozzle.” for the NASA Ames Research Center’s Optical

TRIDENT SPACE MOMENTUS Momentus is participating in Y Combinator, Communications and Sensor Demonstration a startup accelerator based in Mountain View, mission launched in November 2017.

DAY 3 | SPACENEWS SMALLSAT SHOW DAILY | 9 SHOW DAILY DAY 3

Chinese startup aims for Q4 launch By Andrew Jones

merging private Chinese company In an email to SpaceNews last month, a Landspace is set to launch its first OneSpace representative said that a payload rocket into orbit in the final quarter has been arranged for this first flight as it looks E of 2018, carrying a small satellite for find its place in the market. a state-owned television company. OneSpace, along with other emerging Landspace announced Aug. 2 that the three- companies, have come a long way since their stage solid-propellant LandSpace rocket, named founding following a Chinese government Zhuque-1, will carry the China Central Television policy shift to allow private enterprise into the (CCTV) satellite for space science experiments space sector in 2014. Availability of talent and and remote sensing before the end of the year. technology have been key to progress. It is expected to be China’s first private orbital “OneSpace [has] already gathered 130 talents launch with the privately developed satellite to all from first-class universities and scientific operate for two years in a Sun-synchronous institutes,” according to Luo Zihao of OneSpace, orbit (SSO). Measuring 320 by 295 by 248 mil- who also said access to mature technology limeters, the satellite is roughly the size of a has been crucial. three-unit cubesat. “The launch success rate of China’s rockets Zhuque-1 is a 19-meter-tall, 1.35-meter-diam- is at the international advanced level. Thus, eter rocket with a takeoff mass of 27 metric tons China already have mature space technolo- and thrust of 45 tons, able to carry 200 kilograms gies. What private enterprises do is to apply to 500-kilometer SSO and 300 kilograms to a original military aerospace technologies into 300 kilometers low Earth orbit. private rockets.” No launch site was named in the Aug. 2 Luo explained that Chinese President Xi press release but a contract signed by Danish Jinping promoted military-civilian integration cubesat maker Gomspace and Landspace for a as a national strategy in 2015 and the Chinese rideshare service in 2018 previously identified government began to solicit opinions on com- the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre, China’s mercial space industry from all stakeholders. new coastal launch site, as the location for “Policies for Chinese commercial space Landspace’s debut launch. industry have opened gradually, and private Beyond this demonstration, Landspace has capital began to enter into this specific area, much grander plans. Last month the company which raised a new development trend of the said it had designed a methane- and liquid-oxy- commercial space industry. All of the above have gen-powered rocket it aims to test launch in 2020. provided us with very good support,” Luo said. The two-stage Zhuque-2 (ZQ-2) rocket will With its OS-M series rockets OneSpace, “aims measure 48.8-meters tall with a diameter of 3.35 to provide launch service to small and micro meters and be capable of delivering a 4,000-ki- satellites, providing customers launch service logram payload capacity to a 200-kilometer low with efficient, reliable and rapid response at a Earth orbit and 2,000 kilograms to 500-kilometer competitive price.” SSO, using 80-ton and 10-ton methane engines. Coordination with the national launch The future ZQ-2A, B and C three-stage rock- sites — three inland at Jiuquan, Taiyuan and ets will aim to be able to lift 6,000, 17,000 and Xichang and the coastal Wenchang complex 32,000 kilograms to 200-kilometer low Earth — and proving the reliability of OS-M1 rocket’s orbit, respectively — indicating ambitions that components were stated as the major chal- currently go well beyond those of other emerging lenges OneSpace faces in establishing itself private launch companies in China. as a launch provider. Also in the road ahead: competition from OneSpace, others to follow into orbit Landspace and many others. OneSpace, established in 2015, last month announced it had test fired the first-stage rocket Landspace’s Zhuque-1 is a three-stage solid- motor for its OS-M1, the first of an orbital series of propellant rocket designed to carry 300 kilograms rockets, which is also now expected to fly around of payload to low Earth orbit. LANDSPACE the end of 2018.

10 | SPACENEWS LANDSPACE Innovation right vehicleatthetime. and competitivepricing,theVegais launch capacity.Withitsperfectrecord otherwise remaingroundedduetolackof new satellitecompaniesthatwould democratize accesstospaceforcountless payload dispenserwillrevolutionizeand that prevailsatArianespace.TheSSMS (SSMS) isaproductoftheinnovativeculture Vega’s SmallSpacecraftMissionSystem

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