A Starship Monopoly? - SATELLITE 2024

Satellite 2024 Coverage From SpaceNews

This marks the end of the SATELLITE 2024 Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C. In this final update, Arianespace senior vice president Marino Fragnito warns that Starship may give SpaceX a monopoly, Hanwha Phasor will soon release a multi-orbit terminal called the Phasor L3300B, Capella Space wants to expand around the world, and broader satellite news including Defense Innovation Unit contracts and more. Starship could have a big impact on small launch vehicles By Jeff Foust WASHINGTON — A large launch vehicle could end up having a big effect on the small launch vehicle market through low prices and encouraging customers to build larger satellites. The emergence of SpaceX's Starship vehicle, which is designed to place 100 metric tons or more into low Earth orbit, has captured the attention of companies developing vehicles that can place one metric ton or less into orbit because of Starship's potential to further reshape a market already affected by the company's Falcon 9. "Starship for sure will disrupt further the launch business and the space business in general," said Marino Fragnito, senior vice president and head of the Vega business unit at Arianespace, during a panel at the Satellite 2024 conference March 20. "One scenario is that [SpaceX Chief Executive Elon] Musk could really monopolize everything." SEE FULL STORY Hanwha Phasor aims to release debut multi-orbit terminal this summer By Jason Rainbow WASHINGTON — U.K.-based Hanwha Phasor plans to release its first flat panel antenna this summer to join a wave of multi-orbit broadband terminals coming to the market in 2024. Phasor L3300B is designed to connect land vehicles for government and commercial users seeking connectivity from Ku-band satellites, such as those in Intelsat's geostationary fleet or the low Earth orbit (LEO) OneWeb network. Weighing 30 kilograms with a 15-centimeter thickness, the electronically steered antenna is mainly targeting users of military and first responder vehicles. SEE FULL STORY Capella Space sets sights on international market for radar satellites By Sandra Erwin   WASHINGTON — Capella Space, an American company that builds and operates synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites to image the Earth, is setting its sights on international markets. While the U.S. government remains a key customer, Capella Space CEO Frank Backes said foreign governments are emerging as a significant driver of future growth. While the U.S. government has been Capella Space's biggest customer for its satellite imagery generated by SAR satellites, the government of Japan is now the company's second-largest customer for SAR data, Backes told SpaceNews.  The company is also pursuing opportunities to build SAR satellites for the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Both nations are looking to purchase satellites that they can operate independently and integrate into their national space architectures.   SEE FULL STORY Defense Innovation Unit awards three contracts for space logistics technologies By Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's commercial technology arm, the Defense Innovation Unit, announced March 20 it is funding three projects to explore ways to create a more robust space infrastructure that can support military operations beyond low Earth orbit. The projects were awarded to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and Spacebilt. "Each of the companies selected for an award showed strong research and development  investments into their particular solutions for use in the commercial market," said DIU. DIU is partnering with Blue Origin on a space mission called Dark-Sky 1 that will send to orbit a heavy multi-orbit space tug based on the company's Blue Ring platform. The vehicle will be launched as a rideshare payload on a U.S. Space Force national security mission. SEE FULL STORY Millennium Space Systems is an end-to-end mission prime contractor delivering advanced small satellite constellations for operational National Security Space missions, including mission engineering, design, qualification, build, integration, test, launch integration and support, and mission operations.   House advances four space-related bills By Jeff Foust   WASHINGTON — The House Science Committee advanced four space-related bills March 20 addressing issues from commercial remote sensing to space resources. The committee advanced the bills by unanimous votes during the markup session that also considered four other bills on unrelated topics. The bills now go to the full House. H.R. 272, the Astronaut Safe Temporary Ride Options (ASTRO) Act, would formally authorize transportation for official duties for NASA astronauts once they return to Earth until they are medically cleared to drive. Currently, such transportation has to be approved on a case-by-case basis by the NASA administrator. SEE FULL STORY China launches second batch of Yunhai-2 satellites By Andrew Jones   HELSINKI — China has launched a new batch of Yunhai-2 meteorological satellites likely for use by its military. A Long March 2D with a Yuanzheng-3 upper stage rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 1:27 a.m. Eastern (0527 UTC) March 21. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), confirmed launch success around three hours later, also revealing the payloads for the mission to be the Yunhai-2 (02) batch of satellites.  The satellites were likely released into a series of orbits following a series of burns by the YZ-3 upper stage. The launch follows a similar mission from 2018 which saw a first group of six Yunhai-2 satellites put into orbit by a Long March 2D and YZ-3 combination. SEE FULL STORY Copyright © 2024 Multiverse Media Inc., All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Fillmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.