Plus: Spire names new CEO, and Sateliot secures funding for satellite expansion
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 12/04/2024 | | | | | Lockheed Martin argues that GPS is not as vulnerable to disruption as some claim. While GPS is widely viewed as an indispensable backbone of the global economy, it is simultaneously seen as a fragile technological system vulnerable to sophisticated electronic warfare techniques and signal disruption. That narrative, the company claims, overlooks security upgrades and technological innovations being developed to enhance GPS, particularly for military users. That includes the M-code signal that is "very difficult, if not impossible, to spoof" and other advanced security features being incorporated on the next generation of satellite to resist jamming. [SpaceNews]
Sateliot, a Spanish company developing a satellite constellation for remote connectivity, has received a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan, valued at 30 million euros, will help Sateliot add 16 more smallsats to its constellation by the end of next year. The company also has commitments for 45 million euros in a Series B funding round with a target of 70 million euros. The company launched its first four commercial satellites in August that use 5G protocols to communicate with mass-market tracking and monitoring devices. [SpaceNews]
X-Bow Systems has won $60 million in Navy contracts to modernize solid rocket production facilities. The contracts will support improvements at a Naval Surface Warfare Center facility in Maryland to produce solid rocket motors using additive manufacturing for use in missiles. The contracts build on the company's recent defense deals, including selection to develop solid propulsion for hypersonic missiles and for the Standard Missile program. [SpaceNews]
Two European startups are partnering on a series of microgravity missions. Atmos Space Cargo and Space Cargo Unlimited announced Tuesday they will work together on a series of missions to fly microgravity payloads into low Earth orbit and return them to Earth. Space Cargo Unlimited has developed the microgravity research platform, called BentoBox, which will first launch in late 2025 on a SpaceX rideshare mission. Atmos Space Cargo is providing a capsule to return the payloads to Earth. The companies argue this approach is better suited for microgravity manufacturing than attempting to do it on the International Space Station. [SpaceNews]
Sierra Space will work with two companies on semiconductor manufacturing in orbit. Sierra Space said Wednesday it signed MOUs with Astral Materials and Space Forge Inc. to study how Sierra Space's Dream Chaser and future commercial space station technologies could be used to support semiconductor manufacturing proposed by those companies. The startups argue that the microgravity environment can lead to improved production of semiconductor crystals. [SpaceNews]
German materials technology startup FibreCoat has raised 20 million euros to apply its technologies to the space industry. The company announced the funding round Wednesday led by NewSpace Capital and Goose Capital. FibreCoat has developed approaches for coating fibers with metals and plastics that have been used in the automotive and construction industries so far. The company now wants to expand into the space and defense sectors, believing its technologies can provide new ways for spacecraft and launch vehicles to handle harsh environments. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites this morning, setting another record in the process. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 5:13 a.m. Eastern Wednesday and placed 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 24th flight of this Falcon 9 booster, designated B1067, a new company record for the most flights by a single booster. [Spaceflight Now]
China launched a radar imaging satellite late Tuesday. A Kuaizhou-1A lifted off at 11:46 p.m. Eastern from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Its payload was Haishao-1, a synthetic aperture radar satellite. [Xinhua]
India's space agency ISRO called off the launch of a PSLV rocket early Wednesday because of an issue with the payload. ISRO said an unspecified anomaly was detected in ESA's Proba-3 spacecraft during the final minutes of the countdown, scrubbing the launch. ESA said only that a "technical issue" with the spacecraft caused the scrub. The launch has been rescheduled for no earlier than Thursday at 5:42 a.m. Eastern. [ESA]
A proposed combination of European satellite manufacturers has advanced to the point where it has a code name. "Project Bromo," named after an Indonesian volcano, is the internal name given to discussions among Airbus Defence and Space, Leonardo and Thales Alenia Space about combining their satellite manufacturing work into a joint venture. The companies are modeling the plan, still in its early stages, on Europe's MBDA, a joint venture of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo that produces missiles. Combining satellite manufacturing into a joint venture is intended to make Europe more competitive as Airbus in particular deals with financial problems with its space unit. [Reuters]
Spire Global is changing CEOs. The company announced Wednesday that Theresa Condor, currently COO of the company, will become CEO on Jan. 1. She will succeed founder Peter Platzer, who will become executive chairman. Spire described the change as part of a "planned leadership transition" for the company, which operates a constellation of satellites that provide weather data and tracking services. Celia Pelaz, a former Airbus executive, will take over as COO when Condor becomes CEO. [Spire]
A tiny asteroid burned up in the atmosphere over Siberia Tuesday just hours after it was discovered. The object, given the provisional name C0WEPC5, was detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) observatory several hours before hitting the atmosphere over the Yakutia region of Siberia. The asteroid, estimated to be only 0.7 meters across, burned up harmlessly in the atmosphere, but created a bright fireball seen on the ground. This was the fourth small asteroid found just before hitting the Earth this year. [New Scientist]
| | | | | | Cable Overload
"You train in these mockups that are pretty pristine and clean, and there's some nice pictures on the wall, and then you get up there, and it's just like cable overload. You look at every wall, and there's just cables running everywhere from years of experiments happening."
– NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, discussing life in the International Space Station during an event on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
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