This year is going to be an extra busy one for launch – we’ve got so many upcoming missions, we had to upgrade our integration facilities! We are excited that our new cleanroom and integration facility in Auburn, WA (about 30 miles south of our headquarters in Seattle) is complete. We put a lot of extras into it to ensure our customers have an exceptional experience with their spacecraft....
1st @SpaceflightInc @BlackSky_Inc 1-meter-res sats now qualified, awaiting launch w/ 3 others w/in 12 months on @SpaceX & non-US rockets. BlackSky 60-sat constellation to be built in partnership with @Thales_Alenia_S of Europe, at new Seattle facility.
SpaceQuest, Ltd. (“SpaceQuest”), a U.S. corporation headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, requests FCC experimental authorization to test and evaluate an advanced RF Transceiver developed by Myriota, a spin-off company from the University of South Australia. Myriota has designed a novel communications protocol that uses a Software Defined Radio (SDR) and advanced signal processing that allows very large numbers of low power signals from user terminals to be received on the same frequency channel. Myriota desires to evaluate the ability of this advanced radio to function in a space environment. If successful, this would bring a cost-effective data communication technology to a new class of users – those with operations that require direct-to-orbit access to small amounts of data from numerous low-power devices. The primary objective of the mission is to investigate, identify and resolve potential technical and implementation issues with its advanced satellite SDR radio design. Another important objective is to demonstrate the ability to upload and run new firmware that can introduce new features to the SDR Radio after it is on orbit. The results of this three-phase experiment will (1) demonstrate and validate the ability to uplink large numbers of messages to a satellite using a single channel, (2) demonstrate the ability to downlink messages to different ground devices on a single channel, and (3) implement Myriota’s advanced signal processing algorithms on board a satellite to provide highly spectrally efficient bidirectional communications....The 3U CubeSat is scheduled to be launched by Spaceflight on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in July 2018.
Due to the delay in the SpaceX launches, the start was postponed to the second half of 2018....PW-Sat2 is a satellite built in the CubeSat 2U standard by students from the Students’ Space Association at the Warsaw University of Technology. The main mission of the satellite is to test the deorbit sail, which will shorten the satellite’s lifetime in orbit from several years to several months. On board, there will also be a Sun Sensor, deployable solar panels, two cameras and an original power system. The experiments were entirely designed and built by the University students. The launch of the satellite is currently planned for the second half of 2018 (June-September), however, the deadline is subject to change.
ROSE-1 is a 6U experimental spacecraft designed to provide anorbital test-bed for the Phase Four Radio Frequency Thruster (RFT). Total satellite mass at launch, including all propellants and fluids: 10.0 kg.Dry mass of satellites at launch: 9.8 kg.Description of all propulsion systems (cold gas, mono-propellant, bipropellant,electric, nuclear): The Radio Frequency Thruster (RFT) uses radiowaves to excite xenon inside of a specially designed chamber. The xenon is thenaccelerated out of the thruster using a magnetic nozzle. The RFT can also operate asa cold gas thruster by ejecting gaseous xenon with no radio waves applied. 192grams of xenon propellant are included on-board ROSE-1.Identification, including mass and pressure, of all fluids (liquids and gases)planned to be on board and a description of the fluid loading plan orstrategies, excluding fluids in sealed heat pipes: ROSE-1 will include a pressuresystem with two 55 cubic centimeter pressure vessels containing a total 192 gramsof xenon propellant with a system Maximum Expected Operating Pressure (MEOP)of 3,000 psia.
MinXSS-2 is ready for delivery to launch in mid 2018, with a planned 5-year mission.
The Capella Satellites that are the subject of this application will operate in a sunsynchronousorbit. The first satellite launch will be on Spaceflight’s Sun Sync Express launchvehicle, also known as Sun Synchronous Orbit-A (SSO-A), with a nominal altitude of 575 kmand a Local Time of Descending Node (“LTDN”) of 10:30 a.m. There is a possibility the firstlaunch will be switched to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle (“PSLV”), with a sun-synchronous orbit at a 550-600 km altitude and a LTDN of 12:00p.m. Should Capella decide to switch the first satellite launch from the SSO-A to the PSLV, thenCapella will notify the Federal Communications Commission of its decision. The secondsatellite launch will be on the PSLV9, with a nominal altitude of 630 km and a LTDN of 10:00a.m.
SpaceCap (Capella Space test satellite) FCC ELC File Number 0066-EX-CN-2018 (pending)QuoteThe Capella Satellites that are the subject of this application will operate in a sunsynchronousorbit. The first satellite launch will be on Spaceflight’s Sun Sync Express launchvehicle, also known as Sun Synchronous Orbit-A (SSO-A), with a nominal altitude of 575 kmand a Local Time of Descending Node (“LTDN”) of 10:30 a.m. There is a possibility the firstlaunch will be switched to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle (“PSLV”), with a sun-synchronous orbit at a 550-600 km altitude and a LTDN of 12:00p.m. Should Capella decide to switch the first satellite launch from the SSO-A to the PSLV, thenCapella will notify the Federal Communications Commission of its decision. The secondsatellite launch will be on the PSLV9, with a nominal altitude of 630 km and a LTDN of 10:00a.m. Apparently these guys are still learning how to fill out the regulatory paperwork, they need to figure that out soon if they're going to make SSO-A. Their ODAR doesn't really have a description of the satellite, but based on a list of some parts it's bigger than a CubeSat.
New window is now reportedly September.... Is this due to spacecraft integration (Spaceflight side) or SpaceX?
Aaaaaand SSO-A has begun early integration in a brand-new cleanroom! Only like a 20 minute drive away from where I live... may have to try to get a tour before it ships to Vandy Photo and update were posted on April 14.http://spaceflight.com/new-integration-facility-is-open-say-hello-to-our-new-clean-room/
Hiber, which has offices in the Netherlands and the US, plans to launch its first satellite in July, from India. The second will launch from the US in August.
Hiber has secured enough funding to launch its first two small satellites in the Spring of 2018 and is currently discussing next steps of funding. “We decided to go for two satellites on two launchers to spread the risk,” explains Janssen. “We are piggybacking on scheduled launches by the Indian Space Research Organisation and SpaceX. Anyone who has ever launched a small payload knows this can drive you crazy, since the big contractors get to make all the decisions and might suddenly delay the launch.”
Iridium Communications, in the first of what the company signaled could be many similar partnerships with new smallsat operators, has announced a collaborative agreement with a startup to expand its offerings in the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) market.Iridium signed a memorandum of understanding Sept. 7 with Magnitude Space, a Dutch startup that plans to launch its first two satellites next year, to work together on space-based IoT services.