Southern Space - 12 August

Southern Space is a weekly newsletter produced by SIAA to inform the Australian space industry?

Register Now - SIAA Space Masterclass??

SIAA’s one-day Space Masterclass presents?an overview of the industry, current developments and future directions. This unique event is tailored to engage space industry professionals with adjacent industry. We look forward to welcoming 150 professionals for SIAA's Space Masterclass on Thursday 25th August at NSW Parliament House. Register now . ?

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Industry News??

Australian Launch Agreement: SIAA member Gilmour Space Technologies has signed an agreement with Commercial Space Technologies to offer a launch capacity of up to 50 kilograms on Gilmour’s Eris Block 1 vehicle. CEO of Gilmour Space Technologies Adam Gilmour commented, “As Australia’s leading launch services provider, we look forward to working with CST to offer more affordable and dedicated launches to small satellite customers globally”. Eris Block 1 is due to launch from Australia as soon as this year. ?

SpaceLink R&D Agreement with US Army: US subsidiary of SIAA Foundation member EOS, SpaceLink , has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command Technical Center. The organisations will partner to explore alternative space communications pathways to ensure resiliency and reduce latency. ?

Space Debris in Australia: A SpaceX team has?travelled to Australia to investigate space debris that landed on properties in regional NSW last week. A SpaceX spokesperson noted during a NASA press conference last week that there were ‘no injuries, no damage’ caused by the debris. The company is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration and the Australian Space Agency to coordinate its investigation. SpaceX is yet to confirm if the debris is from a Crew-1 Dragon spacecraft.??

South Korean Lunar Orbiter Exchanges First Signals with Australian-based NASA Ground Station: The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) successfully launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket last week. The orbiter exchanged first signals with a NASA ground station in Canberra less than an hour after it successfully unfurled two solar panels. KPLO is carrying six payloads and is reported to be on its planned trajectory to the moon, with the orbiter’s yearlong mission expected to begin in January 2023.???

India: The Indian Space Research Organisation’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) failed to deliver its satellite payloads to their planned orbit during its inaugural launch last week. Following a loss of data from the rocket five hours after lift-off, the mission was announced as a failure as the payloads were deployed in an elliptical orbit instead of the intended circular orbit. This unstable orbit rendered the satellites not usable, and the ISRO Chairman reported that the satellites have “already come down” but did note that “every other new element that has been incorporated in this rocket performed very well”.??

First Spacewalk on a Private Mission Expected for December: Funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, the Polaris Program is planning to undertake its first crewed launch at the end of this year. The mission has three goals: to break the record for the highest crewed mission in Earth orbit, to test communications with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation and to conduct the first spacewalk from a Crew Dragon spacecraft and private mission. These goals require SpaceX to upgrade the life support systems necessary to depressurise the spacecraft as well as develop a spacesuit.??

European Space Agency: The ESA has announced that it will no longer look to restore the operation of its Sentinel 1-B radar imaging satellite following its malfunction last year and instead move to launch a new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload. The replacement satellite is scheduled to launch in the first half of next year, with the ESA and European Commission supplementing the current SAR data gap by buying data from other nations operating SAR satellites.?

Building Domestic Space Supply Chains: SIAA Foundation member Northrop Grumman will partner with Firefly Aerospace to develop a new first stage for Northrop’s Antares launch vehicle and its future medium-lift launch rocket. The partnership allows for the Antares rocket to be developed through a domestic supply chain, solving the current need to rely on suppliers in the Ukraine and Russia. The new first stage will increase the vehicle’s payload capacity by 2,400 kilograms, with this capacity also allowing Northrop to deliver an additional 1,250 kilograms of cargo to the ISS.??

Russia Launches Iranian Satellite: This week Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Kazakhstan with an Iranian satellite aboard. There is some contention around the initial user of the satellite, with some reporting that Russia will use the satellite as part of its conflict in Ukraine. However Iranian authorities assert that Iran?will have control of the satellite “from day one”.??

Lockheed Martin Ventures: The venture capital arm of SIAA Foundation member Lockheed Martin will increase investments by USD$200 million in the coming weeks, doubling overall investments in tech start-ups to a total of USD$400 million. Areas of potential investment?relevant to the space industry?include innovative ways to capture data from space, on-orbit logistics and satellite servicing technologies. ?

Australian Space Agency: Last week, Australian Space Agency CTO Aude Vignelles and Director of National Missions Reece Biddiscombe?visited SIAA member Av-Comm Space and Defence’s satellite ground station integration facilities at Brookvale. Av-Comm showed Agency representatives its ground segment capabilities, included Australia’s first sovereign manufactured satellite ground system – the Cassowary. The Cassowary system is configurable to support single and multi-frequency band missions and designed using X over Y geometry, eliminating the key-hole effect experienced by other antenna mounts.?

China: Over the past 30 days, China has completed nine orbital missions, most recently sending 16 satellites into orbit aboard a Long March 6 rocket. One of these orbital missions was undertaken by private Chinese rocket company Galactic Energy that carried two Earth observation satellites and one technology demonstration satellite into orbit. Following a successful third flight, Galactic Energy is now the first private Chinese company with a commercially ready launch vehicle.?

Risk Management in Outer Space Activities:?This new publication assesses selected risks associated with space activities, from an Australian and New Zealand perspective. The book explores the rise of commercial space activities and considers the development of Australia and New Zealand’s regulatory frameworks, and how they are equipped to address new and emerging risks in the space sector. Find out more here .?

Space to Aircraft Laser communications: The Space Development Agency issued a special notice last week asking for proposals on how companies would conduct a live demonstration of laser crosslinks between SDA’s Transport Layer satellites and a moving aircraft. Previous attempts to test this technology last year were unsuccessful, reflecting the technical difficulty of pointing and navigating optical communications while maintaining a link to a moving aircraft. The final submission date for proposals is 2nd September. ?

Russian ASAT Debris: Debris from a Russian anti-satellite weapons test is impacting a new series of Starlink satellites. Between December 2021 and May 2022, Starlink performed 1700 collision avoidance manoeuvres in relation to Russian ASAT debris. ?

Upcoming Events ?

SIAA Southern Space Symposium??

When: 22 November - 23 November??

Where: Hotel Realm, Canberra?

The Southern Space Symposium brings together space industry experts and decision-makers from across Australia. This year’s Symposium will connect the space industry together with government and parliament for two days to help shape the future agenda of Australian space’s aspirations.?

Participants will include federal government departments and agencies, international agencies and missions, defence and space prime contractors, listed space companies, academic and research organisations, small and medium enterprises, space start-ups, and individual space professionals.?

Registrations opening soon.

SIAA Member Profile: SITAEL Australia??

SITAEL Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Italy’s largest privately-owned Space Company, SITAEL S.p.A. SITAEL S.p.A. has over 30 years of heritage providing space technology and satellite solutions including small satellite design, manufacture, integration test and operations, with specialities in spacecraft avionics and electric propulsion.?

SITAEL offers customers a range of services, including a complete Small Satellites Product Line with?smart, modular, scalable all-electric range of satellites from 50 to 350 kilograms. This product line has a range of applications such as Earth Observation, small Telecom,?IoD/IoV?and science missions across LEO and MEO. SITAEL’s capability also includes space propulsion systems manufacture and commercialisation as well as space avionics, designing and producing electronic equipment for large space missions. The company?is currently one of the leading companies providing Earth Observation payloads and avionics for spacecraft and launchers.?

SITAEL Australia is currently undertaking Spacecraft Systems Engineering and Technical Project Management on multiple small satellite development projects in Australia for both civilian and Defence customers, with its team based at Lot Fourteen, Adelaide.?SITAEL Australia?maintains close relationships to and continually invests in?relevant research & development to help develop new technologies and skills, create synergies between training and industry and evolve its product portfolio.???

Last month, it was announced that the?SpIRIT spacecraft ?has been booked with launch service provider ISISPACE to launch on a Falcon 9 Transporter 8 rocket in April 2023. Built by an Australian consortium led by the Melbourne Space Laboratory at the University of Melbourne,?SpIRIT?is the first satellite the Australian Space Agency selected for funding. SITAEL Australia is part of the consortium that is developing the?SpIRIT?spacecraft, in collaboration?with other Australian industry partners.???

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Header Image Credit: "International Space Station Over Earth (NASA, 08/19/07)" (NASA.GOV)