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CONTENTS Why We Celebrate
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Who We Celebrate: The 2018 Hall of Fame Inductees
We’re Having a Party!
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Satellite operator investment and strategy decisions set for shift amid expanding orbital-servicing market
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Highlights from the SSPI/UKSEDS 2017 Competition
Curling with the Rocky Mountain Chapter
Joseph N. Pelton Named 2017 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award Winner
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Projected growth of smallsat launch market looks gigantic, but concerns about profitability abound
Upcoming Events SSPI UK EVENT
Managing Data Sovereignty and Cybersecurity from Space, March 5, London, UK. Click here for more information. NETWORKING IN WASHINGTON
SATELLITE 2018, March 12-15, Washington DC, USA. Click here for more information. NETWORKING IN WASHINGTON
SSPI Hall of Fame Celebration, March 13, Washington DC, USA. Click here for more information. SSPI MID-ATLANTIC PANEL
On-Orbit Satellite Servicing Panel, March 22, Washington DC, USA. Click here for more information. Learn more about upcoming events at www.SSPI.org
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Why We Celebrate By Robert Bell, Executive Director The global economy is growing, but politics are a mess. North Korea made nice at the Winter Olympics - and we watched not just on TV (via satellite) but online as well. 5G is coming fast, which could be good or bad. Smart and aggressive competitors are changing the industry by making improbable technologies actually work, and creating excitement, wonder, fear and doubt all at the same time. One thing is sure: this year and next year are going to deliver plenty of surprises. So, why celebrate? Because this is what a dynamic technology industry looks like. Opportunity is born, not in predictable times, but in uncertain ones. On March 13, we invite you to raise a glass with us in honor of uncertainty and its rewards.
Celebrate with SSPI
On the second night of SATELLITE, SSPI will co-host the Hall of Fame Celebration at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Our fellow co-hosts are the Museum and DataPath, whose generous donation to the Museum has made our celebration possible. At the Celebration, we will greet the C-Level executives of the industry in our exclusive Chairman’s Reception, while our general reception gets underway in Space Hall. Then we present the Hall of Fame Ceremony in the IMAX Theater. There you will witness the induction of SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell, NASA and Loral Skynet’s Terry Hart, and commercial military satcom pioneer Otto Hoernig, Jr. They join Hall of Fame members Mark Dankberg of ViaSat, John Celli of SSL, David Thompson of Orbital ATK, Jean-Yves La Gall of Arianespace, Rene Anselmo of PanAmSat, Dr. Harold Rosen of Hughes and Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Throughout the evening, you will mix and mingle, while enjoying delightful drink and delicious food and touring the greatest collection of aerospace artifacts in the world. It will be a night to remember.
How Can You Join Us?
The Celebration is SSPI’s “thank you” to the sponsors who support our mission throughout the year, to their invited guests and SSPI Lifetime Members – and only they are receiving invitations. Tickets cannot be purchased for this event. But it is not too late to join this great networking event. We are making it
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Why We Celebrate
quick and easy to become a sponsor, with an online donation form at www.sspi. org/campaigns. Select one of our two campaigns to sponsor and click “More Information� for details. You can explore other sponsorship options by contacting Tamara Bond-Williams at tbond-williams@sspi.org. Bus transportation will be provided from the L Street entrance to the Convention Center, which is the opposite end of the main building from the Mount Vernon street main entrance. Interesting times like these are times to celebrate. They are times when we need fresh inspiration from the incredible history of aerospace. They are times to make new connections and strengthen the ones we have. You can do it all in just one night at the Hall of Fame Celebration on March 13. (More information at www. satellitehalloffame.com.) I hope to see you there.
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Who We Celebrate
The 2018 Hall of Fame Inductees The Space & Satellite Hall of Fame recognizes the invaluable contributions of the visionaries who transform life on planet Earth for the better through space and satellite technology. Members of the Hall of Fame are recognized pioneers in communications, aerospace, scientific research, or the development and delivery of space and satellite applications for business, institutions and government. At the Hall of Fame Celebration, we honor three new members:
Gwynne Shotwell
President and COO, SpaceX
In 2002, Gwynne Shotwell went to work for a new company called SpaceX as vice president of business development. After a brief meeting with founder Elon Musk, he called to encourage her to apply for the job. She was immediately hired – and began a partnership that took the company from an ambitious concept to a company valued at more than $20 billion that is revolutionizing the launch business. As VP of business development, she led the effort to build the Falcon vehicle manifest to over 50 launches representing $5 billion in revenue, including commercial resupply services for delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. She became President and Chief Operating Officer in 2008, and assumed responsibility for dayto-day operations and for managing the customer and strategic relationships that support company growth. Under her leadership, SpaceX’s backlog has grown to more than $7 billion worth of launches while achieving a set of remarkable milestones including:
HEAR MORE FROM GWYNNE SSPI Executive Director Robert Bell conducted a live online interview on February 28 with Gwynne Shotwell in which she talked about her early years, her first role in managing people and the leadership lessons she learned, how she hires and what she has learned about leading a team bringing major innovations to market. Click here to learn more.
• The first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft, to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, and to send a satellite into GEO orbit The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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• The first landing of an orbital rocket’s first stage on land and on an ocean platform • The first relaunch and landing of a used orbital rocket • The first controlled flyback and recovery of a payload fairing • The first reflight of a commercial cargo spacecraft Gwynne was born in Libertyville, Illinois. In a 2014 interview with Via Satellite, she credited a speech at a Society of Women Engineer’s event in her teenage years with inspiring her to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. She came to SpaceX after more than ten years at the Aerospace Corporation, where she held positions in space systems engineering and project management, and worked on conceptual small spacecraft design, space shuttle integration and reentry vehicle operational risks. Inspired to actually help put spacecraft together, she became director of Microcosm, a low-cost rocket builder. There she also honed the skills in business development and sales that would have such an impact on SpaceX. Gwynne has served on the California Space Authority Board of Directors and as an officer of the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee. She is a strong proponent of STEM education and has led the fundraising committee of the Frank J. Redd Student Scholarship Competition in raising more than $350,000 in scholarship funding in six years.
Terry Hart
Professor of Practice in Mechanical Engineering, Lehigh University
From F-106 jet fighters and the Space Shuttle to the executive suite, Terry Hart has piloted one of the most remarkable careers in space and satellite. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he won undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering while on active duty with the Air Force Reserve and working on the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories. At Bell Labs, he designed electronic power equipment, led development of the first certified, multilevel secure version of UNIX, and was responsible for the engineering and operations of AT&T’s Telstar satellite fleet. Terry was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1978. After serving as CAPCOM in Mission Control for multiple Shuttle flights, he flew as a mission specialist on STS 41-C. During the mission, the crew successfully deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility and retrieved the Solar Maximum scientific satellite. They achieved the first repair of a satellite aboard the Shuttle and replaced it in orbit using 6
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the Shuttle’s remote manipulator arm. Returning to the private sector, he became supervisor of the information systems engineering department at Bell Labs and was then named president of Loral Skynet, operator of the Telestar fleet. From 1997 to 2002, the company achieved revenue growth of 50% per year despite the bankruptcy of its parent company, Loral Space and Communications. He retired from Loral Skynet in 2014 as the company its North American satellites to Intelsat and transferred its international spacecraft to Telesat, another Loral subsidiary. His devotion to the engineering of space and satellite technology continued after his retirement. He became Professor of Practice in Mechanical Engineering in the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science at Lehigh University. In addition to his teaching schedule, he directs research in spacecraft attitude determination and trajectory optimization, and the NASA Hopper Spacecraft Simulator project.
Otto Hoernig, Jr.
Founder, Spacelink International
In a career spanning military service and entrepreneurship, Otto Hoernig has been a pioneering innovator in satellite communications and space based technologies. In his early career, he was Chief of Scout Launch Operations at VAFB launching NASA, International Consortium and special mission DoD satellites including the Transit Navigational Satellites, predecessor to GPS. He was a significant contributor in the development and launch of Government agency and DoD satellites, including AFSATCOM and MILSTAR. In the Department of Defense he was recognized as the top military satellite engineer, called on by the Secretary of Defense for advice on global and national satellite requirements. After his retirement from the US Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel, Hoernig began his second career with the American Satellite Company. As vice president of space systems for ASC, he managed the process of deploying ASC’s communications satellite The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
SPEAKING OF INDUSTRY LEADERS... Last month, SSPI released a research report: Bringing New Hires on Board: From Promise to Purpose, part of our Making Leaders series. In this 9-page report, written for anyone who manages talent for a living, SSPI distills lessons from some of the smartest and most experienced people in talent management about what every company, large and small, can do to maximize the chance for a new hire to become a permanent contributor, a high performer and even a leader of the pack. This report is free for SSPI members and available for purchase to others. Check it out below!
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system which featured the first encrypted / protected satellite command link. His responsibilities included satellite and control center design and development, selection of launch vehicles, scheduling launches at Cape Canaveral and acceptance of the on-orbit spacecraft. Otto was the designated ASC Payload Specialist aboard Space Shuttle STS-71 to help orbit ASC-2 and Skynet 4B, scheduled for launch in January 1987. One year earlier, however, the explosion of the Challenger caused the mission to be cancelled. Otto testified before Congress on the urgent need to resume NASA’s partnership with industry, which helped speed the return of the Shuttle to commercial operations. When Contel acquired ASC, he became vice president for defense communication & networks for its Federal systems division, where he managed a $100 million line of business providing services to the Department of Defense and other agencies. He left Contel to become CEO of International Microspace long before smallsats became mainstream. IMS focused on exploiting new technologies to downsize space systems and reduce costs. The company was sold after Otto led the acquisition of a major contract. Otto also negotiated the purchase of Telesat’s Anik D2 and its transfer to Arabsat, where it became Arabsat D1. Then in 1994, Otto seized the opportunity created by rising conflict in the Balkans and Middle East to found Spacelink International. Spacelink provided the DoD with essential commercial satellite communications services. The company specialized in supporting US and coalition warfighters. At that time, the idea of using commercial satellite capacity for military operations was new, and Spacelink became the first private company to operate an extension of the Defense Information Systems Network. To meet the fast-growing need of the deployed warfighter, the company won international carrier licenses in European countries, becoming one of the first private satellite service providers in Germany. In 2001, Spacelink along with two other companies won the largest smallbusiness contract ever to be awarded in the history of the DoD to provide comprehensive commercial satellite communications in support of the US Government. As a technologist and entrepreneur, Otto greatly expanded the opportunities available to the satellite business in service to the nation. Otto has an engineering degree from Texas A&M, and a management degree from USC. Gwynne Shotwell, Terry Hart and Otto Hoernig, Jr. will be honored at the 2018 Hall of Fame Celebration, March 13 in Washington, DC. They will join the leaders who created, sustained and expanded the industry over the past 60 years, including Dr. Arthur C. Clarke, Dr. Harold Rosen, Rene Anselmo, Takuya Yoshida, David Thompson, Mary Cotton, Romain Bausch, Pradman Kaul, Sidney Topol, John Celli, Giuliano Berretta, Mark Dankberg, James Monroe III, Peter Jackson and Jean-Yves Le Gall. 8
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March 13, 7:00pm to 10:00pm Washington, DC We’re having a party! SSPI is doing something new! This year, we are celebrating the 2018 Hall of Fame induction at the National Air and Space Museum, in an open reception where attendees can enjoy the museum’s exhibits amidst an elegant array of food and dessert stations, passed hors-d’oeuvres and an open bar. We are celebrating our industry, which is transforming to incorporate new technologies and new market opportunities, and which has played an integral role in bettering the world and improving the lives of millions... no, billions of people. Indeed, we are celebrating our industry which saves lives every day. And, we are celebrating Gwynne Shotwell, a woman who is leading a company that continually raises the bar while inspiring all of us to imagine an expanded spacefaring future. We are celebrating Otto Hoernig, Jr., an industry trailblazer whose life of service and entrepreneurship has made lasting impact. We are celebrating Terry Hart, a former astronaut and former president of Loral Skynet, who today continues to contribute to the development of future innovators as a professor at Lehigh University. It’s a party - but it’s more than that. It’s a CELEBRATION! And we’re looking forward to seeing you there. The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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Highlights from the SSPI/ UKSEDS 2017 Competition At the annual UKSEDS conference in March, the Cransfield University team, CranSEDS, and the University of Sheffield team will each be awarded a cash prize for their designs of a global continuous coverage communication services constellation. In the 2017 Competition, Small Sats – The Next Generation, SSPI and UKSEDS challenged students to develop a design for a communications satellite under 150 kg capable of delivering 50 Mbps of data connectivity from LEO to small antennas on the ground. Each team leader told as a bit about their experience and the winning reports they submitted.
CranSEDS: Small Sats – The Next Generation 2016-2017 competition
It has been a pleasure to represent Cranfield University in the “Small Sats – The Next Generation” competition organised by the SSPI. The CranSEDS team is extremely satisfied with the result and we feel very grateful to the SSPI for considering our proposal worthy of the first prize. The experience of participating in this competition has been very helpful for our development as engineers in the Space industry. It is a serious challenge to face a design project like this and can be overwhelming for any group of young students like us. Fortunately, we utilised the outstanding preparation that the MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering of Cranfield University provided us. The different group design projects proposed by the team formed by Dr Jennifer Kingston, Dr Stephen Hobbs, Dr Pau Sanchez and Prof David Cullen that we had to develop for the Master’s course gave us very good knowledge on how to approach the design of any space mission. We divided the design into work packages in the same way we did for our group projects – which also worked well with the way the competition required us to create the report. Launch, Propulsion, Power, Communication, Structures, Mechanisms and ADCS (Attitude Determination & Control System) are some of the many subsystems that are present in any space mission. Since the main goal for this mission was to achieve global communication, another necessary part was the design of the constellation of satellites that would perform the mission. The name of our mission Figure 1. HERMES constellation providing is called HERMES named after the ancient Greek God global coverage who was a messenger of the gods and the link between humans and the Gods; we thought this was a very fitting name considering what the constellation would be used for.
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Highlights from the SSPI/UKSEDS 2017 Competition
Some interesting technical details of our design are, for example, the number of satellites that will be necessary using this constellation, which reaches a total of 242 satellites. Having this number of satellites enabled us to provide global coverage with our constellation. The peak data rate capability that this system can provide is 155 Mbps, which is inside the range of current 4G systems (100 – 1000 Mbps). The small and low cost satellites come with 4 antennas for communication between satellites and one phased-array for communication with the users. With a mass of 150 kg, the structure of the satellites is made by aluminium-skinned honeycomb panels and a ‘fold-and-roll-up’ solar panel.
Figure 2. 3D model of the design of the satellite. Based on the SSTL-150 Platform
The key of our success with this project was the research that the team did before starting the design. We made sure that we covered all real life missions that were similar to ours, we analysed the pros and cons, and we tried to take the best solution possible, whilst adhering to the rules and requirements of the competition. Having a multicultural team, with people from the UK, France, Nigeria, Spain, Bulgaria and Greece made this part of the process both challenging and more interesting. Once everybody was on the same page, the design process was very straightforward, with fluid coordination between the different work packages. If our results can be considered feasible and interesting from the industry’s point of view, it is thanks to the good management that we had, which enabled our technical skills to produce a technically accurate and detailed design. Click here to see our team’s full report, including the main technical outcomes of our design organised by subsystem. The team performed significant iterations and co-operation to come up with our complete design. Proof of this is shown in Figure 3, which depicts the large differences between the initial estimated mass distribution and the final one.
Highlights from the SSPI/UKSEDS 2017 Competition
Figure 3. System mass comparison between initial estimation and preliminary design mass
Nonetheless, the final design presents an innovative solution to avoid interferences with geostationary satellites. However, as the constellation is located in LEO, broadcasting information down to ground using Ka bands, there will be interference with telecommunication satellite using the same band but located in GEO. The main way of mitigating interference is to move the signal of the satellite in a manner where it is not parallel to the signal of GEO satellites. The selected way of doing this is to use phased array antennas. In a phased array antenna, the beam can electronically be steered in the required direction. This method will allow only the redirection of the beam and not the entire antenna or the whole satellite when crossing the GEO satellites’ beam. This problem has been already encountered by the OneWeb constellation, but our solution avoids performing manoeuvres during mission operation. After the publication of our mission, as young, enthusiastic and ambitious space engineers, we hope that this will help us to develop our careers, by increasing our value for future opportunities in the industry. The evolution of the Space industry and communication and navigation systems are critical; knowing how important the interest and cooperation of talented engineers and scientists is, we are looking forward to contributing to it. Below you can find the list of the participants who developed the HERMES mission: • Gabriel Faleiro Rodríguez – Baseline & Budget • Yamen Alsayed Omar – Launch, Propulsion & End-of-life • Víctor Villalba – Requirements & Risks • Tristan Mallet – Thermal & Configuration
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Highlights from the SSPI/UKSEDS 2017 Competition
• • • • • •
Muhammad Ishaq – Payload & Communications Devprotim Das – Constellation Panagiotis Papadeas – Attitude, Determination & Control System Camille Dijoux – Legal & Communications Jaime Cervera – Structures & Mechanisms Vanessa Appeah – Power & On-Board Data Handling
University of Sheffield - SSPI Experience
By Iain Brechtelsbauer. Participating in the SSPI UKSEDS competition provided a great opportunity to apply principles learnt during university studies to a novel space application. What was particularly interesting was the inter-disciplinary nature due to the range of areas covered in the project; communications engineering, aerospace engineering and orbital mechanics to name a few. This needed a team effort of utilising members specific areas of knowledge. This was challenging at times in where to compromise on certain design aspects. Click here to see our team’s full report. What was particularly useful through these challenges was the mentor assigned to our team. To work with someone with 25 years+ first hand experience in the space industry really was invaluable not only when taking part within the competition but also taking forward in further studies. Overall, the competition was a great experience not only from a technical aspect of applying engineering knowledge to a real-world example but also softer skills in working in a diverse team with discussions and presentations to the final written report. I feel these are invaluable in aiding studies but also in job applications to talk about working in a technical team on a complex project. The University of Sheffield team would like to thank SSPI and UKSEDS for organising the competition and would definitely recommend people to get involved in future editions! Team Members: • Andrew Barnes • Iain Brechtelsbauer • Lawrence Carslake • James Foster • Edward John • Ben Peters • Ben Schofield • Ewan Wright
Figure 1. Satellite shown with deployed solar array in three phases The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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Satellite operator investment and strategy decisions set for shift amid expanding orbital-servicing market By Craig Barner, January 11, 2018 - Satellite executives could take a deeper look at their investment and strategy choices as orbital servicing grows after the announcement of a new life-extension mission and another on the horizon. Starting the year on an auspicious note, satellite builder Orbital ATK (NYSE:OA) and satellite operator Intelsat (NYSE:I) announced a second life-extension contract. Tom Wilson, president of Orbital ATK subsidiary Space Logistics, told SatelliteFinance in September that the company was in negotiations for a new contract.
Under the agreement, Orbital ATK will manufacture, test and launch the MEV-2, which will provide mission extension services in mid-2020. The value of contract, the satellite to be serviced and other details were not disclosed. Kenneth Lee, SVP of space systems for Intelsat, told SatelliteFinance that the operator
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Satellite operator investment and strategy decisions set for shift amid expanding orbital-servicing market expects to have a full understanding of the capabilities of the vehicle as the company prepares for the launch of the MEV-1 next year. Intelsat expects to launch MEV-1 aboard International Launch Services’ Proton vehicle in the latter part of 2018, with operation to begin around Q3 2019, Lee said. The mission will extend the life of the 18-year-old Intelsat-901 satellite, which is low on propellant, by five years. The spacecraft will dock on the old satellite and take over the orbital maintenance and attitude control. Each MEV has a 15-year life with the ability to perform numerous dockings and repositionings during its life span, Orbital ATK said. The company was unavailable to comment before the deadline. In June, on-orbit satellite service startup Space Infrastructure Services (SIS) announced the venture’s first contract for an undisclosed amount with satellite operator SES (EPA:SESG) to provide a life-extension service with options for further missions. SIS has awarded a US$228m contract to satellite builder Space Systems Loral, a subsidiary of holdco SSL MDA, to design and build a satellite-servicing spacecraft. A subsidiary of Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR), SSL MDA is an investor in SIS.
Changing investment profile
As these plans are implemented, observers say orbital servicing might take on a higher priority among executives than it has previously. Dennis Wingo, who sold eight patents developed by his company Orbital Recovery to Orbital ATK to become its MEV programme, highlighted how GEO operators want to reduce cost as demand for satellite services increases and the birds become more powerful and expensive. Cost-benefit analysis of fleets could increasingly incorporate the advantages of life-extension missions. Though the analysis would involve a large quantity of variables, one would be the potential for savings, he told SatelliteFinance. For instance, the cost to operate a 48-transponder GEO satellite in the Ku-band falls between US$20m-50m annually, Wingo said. If US$35m is the median cost, an operator would save money if a five-year life-extension mission costs less than US$175m a year, he said, emphasising that the ultimate analysis would involve a considerable number of additional considerations. The potential for savings extends beyond the cost of satellite operations. Financing and insurance costs for satellites are likely to fall, too. “When there is a clear and compelling case to be made, you’ll see in-orbit servicing being adopted as risk is reduced and implementation more general,” Wingo said.
Being conservative
Operators appear to be taking a conservative approach to orbital servicing, even if they are embracing the concept. Orbital servicing “is a tool in my toolbox,” Intelsat’s Lee said. Indeed, he contends that the company’s second life-extension mission does not change the investment profile for the The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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Satellite operator investment and strategy decisions set for shift amid expanding orbital-servicing market satellite operator at all. Operating about 50 satellites, Intelsat has contracted for two life extension missions in part to provide more robust service to its customers, Lee said. In addition, the company can generate more revenue without replacing a bird. “The art of the possible is in the future,” he added. Nevertheless, elements of Intelsat’s strategy, at least on the fringes, are likely to take on a new complexion due to the company’s life-extension contracts. In fact, CEO Stephen Spengler said in July, during the company’s Q2 2017 earnings call, that Intelsat is focusing on four key operating priorities as the building blocks for success, one of which is “financial discipline with respect to our fleet investments and orbital rights development”. The three-year capital expenditure guidance, which anticipates savings of US$175m through capital efficiencies, includes the company’s use of MEVs to defer capex for the replacement of satellites at certain orbital locations, Spengler said. In October, a spokesperson said Intelsat’s debt pile stood at US$14.523bn. The company in June failed to push through a tie-up with Softbank and OneWeb that would have reduced its debt. The life-extension missions also give the company the time to study new satellite technology and the potential to benefit from the next stage in the engineering cycle, Lee said. And with the benefit of time, the company can see “where the market is headed”, he said. Life-extension missions also enable Intelsat to accommodate unexpected issues in orbit, Lee said. For example, on rare occasions a reflector on a satellite might not deploy properly. A life-extension vehicle can give the satellite a “nudge” to get the reflector properly deployed. As orbital servicing changes, Intelsat will reassess its options, Lee said. Until then, the company is comfortable with its existing approach. “I’ve looked at a lot of different systems over seven years,” he said. “This is a very conservative technology approach.”
Future of orbital servicing
That does not mean a broad look is out of the question. The possibilities of orbital servicing could put options in the hands of operators as the technology expands, confidence increases and strategies change. For instance, satellite builders could move to a more modular approach to construction and launch, Wingo said. The benefit would be reduced insurance cost for operators. Then, as demands increase for individual satellites, units could be completed via on-orbit assembly. LEO constellations could also be the focus of orbital servicing contracts in the future, he said. Regulatory agencies might even require orbital servicing, given the size of constellations being proposed. Boeing (NYSE:BA), OneWeb and SpaceX have proposed constellations that would entail swarms in the thousands, with OneWeb getting the goahead from the FCC in June for 720 birds.
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Satellite operator investment and strategy decisions set for shift amid expanding orbital-servicing market “If you got 4,000 satellites and one fails hard, such as a cascade failure, I can foresee a regulatory agency requiring” satellite servicing, he said. One goal might include the prevention of collision, which would be a “high” possibility given the traffic, among satellites. As SatelliteFinance previously reported, the FCC has received petitions that would entail 20,000 commercial satellites to be deployed in LEO in the Ka- and Kubands. As a comparison, there are currently 400 to 500 commercial satellites with FCC licences in LEO. “What you’re seeing are the first pebbles of the avalanche” in orbital servicing, Wingo said. In addition to life extension and on-orbit manufacturing, the spectrum of orbital serving Effective Space Solutions’ Space Drone will dock on old satellites, includes refueling, repair and inextending their life. space transportation, Wingo said. Providers include his current company Skycorp, as well as Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Effective Space Solutions, NanoRacks and Thales Alenia Space, in addition to Orbital ATK and SIS. Life-extension missions will soon have another active player in UK-based Effective Space Solutions. The company expects to have an announcement soon, managing director Daniel Campbell told SatelliteFinance, declining to be more specific. The company’s Space Drone spacecraft will provide life extension to satellites for as little as a couple months to as much as 15 years or more, though five years is projected to be the typical term. Focusing on GEO, Space Drone will rely on a docking system to take over the operations of a satellite. The vehicle can dock on a satellite, undock from it, drift and go to another satellite for 15 years or longer. “Nothing will prevent us from porting with any satellite,” Campbell said. Effective Space has secured private capital over two rounds of funding since 2013, including a series A that Campbell said was larger than typical. In 2018, it will seek series B funding that will entail a mixture of equity and debt supported by an export credit agency.
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Curling with the Rocky Mountain Chapter The SSPI Rocky Mountain Chapter had its first Curling event on February 2. It was a great success with lots of folks from Lockheed Martin, Digital Globe and other organizations attending. The event’s design allowed members to network and work as a team at the same time. The Canadian Consulate in Denver even provided swag to hand out. The Rocky Mountain Chapter plans to do it again next year and invite more students. “Promotional materials were donated to the curling bonspiel by the Consulate General of Canada in Denver, a strong supporter of the aerospace and satellite industries,” said Jon Vince, Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter. The Curling event raised awareness of SSPI in the Rocky Mountain region among industry members and even the staff at the curling facility. It also provided a venue for encouraging students to apply for the Dean Olmstead Memorial Scholarship, for networking among the members of the space and satellite industry and, most importantly, for a great time! Check out some highlights below.
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Joseph N. Pelton Named 2017 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award Winner The 2017 Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award has been given to Joseph N. Pelton, founding President of SSPI, in recognition of his lifelong dedication to advance the science of space safety and cosmic hazards prevention for the greater good of humankind. Furthermore, in addition to his academic writings he has tirelessly pursued the education of the general public about the threats to humanity that can come from solar storms, comets and asteroids, and orbital debris. Joe pioneered the idea of the creation of LAPSE (The Lagrangian Protector against Solar Ejection), an electromagnetic shield to be deployed at L-1 to mitigate the effects of the Earth’s diminishing natural shielding provided by the Earth’s magnetosphere. He has, along with Dr. Jim Green of NASA, advocated this novel concept to shield the planet Mars so that the Red Planet could develop an atmosphere. He recently collaborated with Professor Ram Jakhu of McGill University to co-edit a fundamentally important new book regarding Global Space Governance that addresses such key regulatory issues as minimization of orbital space, coping with cosmic hazards and planetary defense, and environmental protections related to outer space activities. This trailblazing initiative was well received by many experts from spacefaring nations and recently helped him to earn the distinguished Leonardo da Vinci Space Safety Award for Lifetime Achievement, the highest accolade of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety. The Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award is annually bestowed upon a respected scientist or public figure who has warned of a future fraught with dangers and encouraged measures to prevent them. Read the original announcement at https://lifeboat.com/ex/ guardian2017 and more about the Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award at https://lifeboat.com/ex/guardian.award.
The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
MAKING A BETTER WORLD SSPI’s newest Better Satellite World video, Satellites and the Deep Blue Sea, shows how mariners rely on satellite technology to keep them safe on the sea and able to deliver needed goods and personnel.
The rigors of life at sea present the shipping industry with a challenge. Economic growth is making opportunities ashore ever more attractive, and recent studies predict the industry will face a hiring shortfall of more than 360,000 mariners by 2050. The challenges of the mariner’s life are rapidly becoming a problem for ship owners – and the solution for both is right overhead. Click here to read more.
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Projected growth of smallsat launch market looks gigantic, but concerns about profitability abound By Craig Barner, January 31, 2018 - Rocket Lab plans to launch its Electron vehicle on a small satellite mission every month by the middle part of this year and every two weeks in 2019, CEO Peter Beck said. On its face, the plan is ambitious, but its daring is magnified given that Electron had its first successful launch – and second launch overall – two weeks ago for US$5m. After liftoff from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, the Electron mission, which was dubbed Still Testing, reached orbit as the vehicle carried a Dove Pioneer Earth-imaging satellite for Planet and two Lemur-2 satellites for weather- and ship-tracking satellite operator Spire. The small satellite, or smallsat, market is growing “exponentially,” Beck told SatelliteFinance. “We’re backlogged for the next couple years,” he said. Some constellations being proposed are so massive that one of these could consume Rocket Lab’s entire launch capacity, he said. Indeed, so many smallsat operations are in planning that launch fees are less a concern among operators than certainty of schedule and certainty of orbit. Rocket Lab is hardly alone, as US-based rideshare specialist Spaceflight forecasts 25-30% more signings and deployments this year over 2017, president Curt Blake told SatelliteFinance. The company is in talks with Rocket Lab, Vector Space Systems and Virgin Orbit for its smallsat launches.
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Projected growth of smallsat launch market looks gigantic, but concerns about profitability abound “The advent of small launch vehicles is huge for the industry,” Blake said. “It really fills a niche that needs filling.”
3,600 to 10,000 smallsat launches
Data and forecasts for the smallsat market all point to hypergalactic growth as new uses for smallsats are seemingly discovered every month. Though definitions vary, smallsats are generally defined as those with masses of less than 200 Kg. Global consulting firm Euroconsult has predicted that up to 3,600 smallsats are likely to be launched in the coming decade. The number could reach more than 10,000 smallsats if even a fraction of the planned broadband constellations is deployed, it said. Boeing (NYSE:BA), OneWeb and SpaceX have each announced possible swarms ranging between 2,000 and 4,000 birds in LEO. This is explosive growth given that about 700 smallsats were launched between 2006 and 2015, according to Euroconsult. Requests-for-proposal from commercial and government entities go up each month on average about 5%, Beck said. “Every month we learn about a new [smallsat] program or constellation we’ve never heard of,” he added. Smallsat is maturing not only by quantity and but also in application, according to Northern Sky Research in its recently updated Small Satellite Markets report.
Global small satellites to launch by application. (Source: NSR) The firm forecasts that smallsats for communications will overtake all other uses – Earth observation, technical development, science and others – by the latter part of this year or early 2019. Smallsats for communications indicate that business people and entrepreneurs The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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Projected growth of smallsat launch market looks gigantic, but concerns about profitability abound see their commercial value. Communication smallsats will grow substantially through 2021, Northern Sky Research found. That year the analysis firm projects that more than 300 communication smallsats will be launched. In 2017 about 10 to 20 communication smallsats were launched. And, growth is reaching the specialty sectors of smallsat, such as picosats, nanosats and microsats. Analytics firms SpaceWorks Enterprises estimates that a record of more than 300 nano/ microsatellites – birds with masses between 1 and 50 Kg – were launched in 2017, a 205% increase from 2016. About 10% growth is projected annually through 2023.
Investor excitement
The excitement among investors about the opportunities in commercial space is palpable. In a report last fall, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said it expected commercial space to grow from a US$350bn market now to US$2.7tn by 2045 – an almost eightfold increase. A bit less bullish, Morgan Stanley is nevertheless optimistic about commercial space as it also expects the market to reach US$1.1tn by 2040. More investment money is going into the development of smallsat launch vehicles, said Dino Lorenzini, CEO of US-based SpaceQuest. It has launched and operated 12 satellites, including its first two 13-Kg birds for communications and collection of maritime data in 2002, but more recently concentrates on the manufacture of microsat components. Smallsat launch vehicles are expected to grow substantially in the near term as they have lagged the market for some time. Indeed, Lorenzini estimates about 15 to 20 new launch vehicles are in development. Like Rocket Lab, US-based Vector Space Systems is close to commencing launch operations. And, a China-based contractor is already in commercial operations with the Kuaizhou launch vehicle, a rocket manufactured by ExPace, a subsidiary of state-owned contractor China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. Agreeing was Beck: “I think you’ll see other smallsat launchers.” As launch fees fall and launch capacity increases, satellite users are thinking about new applications for space, Blake said. This, too, increases incentives for more launch companies. Other smallsat launchers include GK Launch, Interorbital Systems, Mishaal Aerospace and Ventions, in addition to ExPace, Rocket Lab, SpaceFlight, Vector Space Systems and Virgin Galactic, Lorenzini said. Orbital ATK (NYSE:OA), SpaceX and a few space agencies – Russia’s Roscosmos with its Soyuz vehicle and India’s ISRO with PSLV – offer piggyback rides for smallsats. About 20 companies worldwide are building smallsat constellations, such as AAC Microtec/Clyde Space (FN Stockholm:AAC), Iceye, Sky & Space and others, Lorenzini said. Some recent smallsat investments are noteworthy, especially three toward the end of 2017. Japan’s SoftBank (TYO:9984) became a return investor in OneWeb with an additional US$500m infusion, bringing its total investment in the broadband startup to US$1.5bn. Less dramatically, Canada-based startup UrtheCast (TSX:UR) secured US$175m-plus
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The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
Projected growth of smallsat launch market looks gigantic, but concerns about profitability abound in financing from undisclosed institutional investors to fund its UrtheDaily smallsat constellation. Almost the same day, Spire announced that it has received a US$70m infusion from the Luxembourg Future Fund as part of a series C round for a total raise since the company was founded of US$142m.
Profitability concerns
Though a massive amount of money is being invested into applications for smallsat, it is not yet a profitable business, Lorenzini said. In fact, he said that maybe 10% to 20% of smallsat constellations will end up as profitable business ventures. Some emerging players with promising ideas have already departed the smallsat market, unable to find the revenue or investment for sustained operations, Northern Sky said in its Small Satellite Markets report. The recently acquired Clyde Space between 2014 and 2017 saw its revenue increase at an annual rate of 40%, reaching £5.3m (US$7.1m) in 2017, yet its EBITDA in 2017 was a humble £200k (US$267k). It’s clear there will be major “hits” to players in the smallsat market, Beck said. At the same time, it is a relatively new industry, even if the technology is there. “We’ve yet to see the big giant wins,” he added.
Youth and age
The smallsat market might be a relative youth to the adult commercial space industry, but it is already showing signs of maturation. For instance, US- and New Zeland-based Rocket Lab plans to build more launchpads at its Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula, Beck said. Also, the company has agreements with NASA and Alaska Aerospace to provide launch services at Florida’s Cape Canaveral and in Alaska, respectively. Finland’s Iceye is plowing new ground with its synthetic-aperture-radar smallsat constellation for Earth observation in development, Lorenzini said. Its microsatellite constellation can see through weather and dark conditions that limit camera-based services, as darkness or clouds cover two-thirds of the planet at any given time. In August Iceye announced it had raised US$13m in new funding with plans to make the first of at least three launches before August. Taking a broader look, telecoms are showing more interest in constellations at lower altitudes and in rideshare missions, Blake said. They are traditionally the most prominent users of GEO satellites. Further ahead, consolidation could happen in smallsat, Lorenzini said. Companies like SpaceX and OneWeb are building huge constellations, and these well-funded companies will eventually dominate the LEO communications market. The other players are much smaller, and the successful ones could eventually be rolled up by the larger space companies. “It’s a tough industry,” Blake said. The Orbiter Why We Celebrate
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