Pegasus launches small satellites

The Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket had its first flight in almost three and a half years when it launched eight satellites for NASA. These small satellites are part of NASA's plan to collect data for hurricane forecasting. The satellites are meant to collect more efficient data about hurricanes in order to better understand their causes as well as track them. These eight satellites make up NASA's Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) NASA reported late Dec. 15 that it had established contact with all eight satellites as they made passes over ground stations. 

According to Space News, The L-1011 aircraft carrying the Pegasus XL took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 7:38 a.m. Eastern and released the rocket 59 minutes later, at an altitude of about 11,900 meters. The rocket ignited its solid-fuel motor and began its ascent, releasing its payload of eight satellites over a 90-second period about 13 minutes after launch.

The CYGNSS will detect signals from Global Positioning Systems that are reflected off the oceans in tropical regions, measuring the the amount of scattering of the signals to calculate the roughness of the oceans and the wind speeds on the surface. Scientists believe that the data collected will help improve accurate forecasts of their development. The CYGNSS is a tool that will provide the scientists with 24/7 coverage of the tropical cyclone zone and it will improve common knowledge about how hurricanes grow. 

SpaceX delays first crewed flight of its dragon capsule for NASA.

SpaceX has decided to postpone its first crewed flight of its dragon capsule for NASA. The launch was supposed to take place in late 2017 but it has been delayed in the wake of the SpaceX rocket explosion back on September 1st 2016. According to NASA, The Dragon capsule is expected to go with its original plans of a crewed flight come May 2018.

This delay was expected as many had speculated that there would be a delay after the September explosion when a Falcon rocket exploded while it was being fueled. SpaceX announced that this delay would happen as it continues to investigate the incident.  “As this investigation has been conducted, our Commercial Crew team has continued to work closely with NASA and is completing all planned milestones for this period,” SpaceX said in a statement to The Verge. “We are carefully assessing our designs, systems, and processes taking into account the lessons learned and corrective actions identified. Our schedule reflects the additional time needed for this assessment and implementation.”

SpaceX's decision to delay this launch marks yet another delay for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, the space agency's initiative to fly astronauts on American-made rockets again. Through the program, two private companies - SpaceX and Boeing - are building vehicles that are capable of carrying people into lower Earth orbit for NASA. 

With delays for SpaceX and Boeing causing longer delays for NASA's hope for a crewed spaceflight in lower orbit. Luckily, this is a sign that both companies are taking serious measures to ensure that there will be safe travels for those who are traveling onboard space crafts. 

Eight NASA Satellites will Launch Tomorrow!

On December 12, 2016, NASA will attempt to launch eight small satellites to space on board a Pegasus XL rocket, manufactured by the private spaceflight factory Orbital ATK. These satellites are called the CYGNSS mission and the probes are meant to study various aspects of tropical storms and hurricanes from orbit. The goal of this mission is to help scientists understand how these cyclones are formed. The size and cheap cost of these satellites make them more efficient than traditional satellite and weather tracking information that can get damaged by the storms. 

The CYGNSS will study the ocean surface winds within the inner cores of the hurricane. This mission will be able to use these satellites in order to see through the parts of the hurricane where its raining by receiving reflective signals from GPS satellites. The inner cores of the hurricanes are important indicators of how intense a storm can get and the small satellites will make efficient use of mapping how powerful these storms are. 

The mission will get underway tomorrow at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL and then the Orbital's Starglazer L-1011 aircraft will carry the rocket carrying the eight small satellites over the Atlantic Ocean. According to the Verge, Tomorrow’s mission gets underway at 7:11AM ET, when Orbital’s Stargazer airplane taxis onto the runway before taking off at 7:26AM ET. The launch window for the Pegasus rocket then opens about an hour later at 8:19AM ET, with release of the vehicle slated for 8:24AM ET. Up until now, weather hasn’t looked too great for the mission. There was a 40 percent chance of favorable conditions, thanks to a cold front that just moved through southern Florida.

SpaceX to launch Multiple Satellites together!

SpaceX plans to launch a small satellite constellation next year. In mid-November, SpaceX had publicly filed a request with the FCC in order to get permission for the launch. This announcement was shocking to audiences who thought that SpaceX was concerned primarily with space exploration. Satellite constellations are groups of satellites that work together for a common goal through synchronizing satellites. The satellites are launched together on a rocket rather than individually.

Per the official FCC file, SpaceX intends to “deploy a large constellation of small satellites for low-latency, worldwide, high-capacity internet service in the near future.” Latency is the data transmission delay of the satellites; low latency means that the transmission delay will be very small, which means faster connectivity connectivity to the internet. According to theavion.com, testing of the SpaceX System will begin with the launch of two demonstration satellites: MicroSat-1a and MicroSat-1b, which will both likely be launched in 2017 on a Falcon 9 rocket. The final system will consist of 4,425 large satellites (plus spares), orbiting at altitudes ranging from 1,110 km to 1,325 km, which is classified as a Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The configuration of the constellation will allow communication services to cover virtually all parts of Earth from one system. The system will also use different orbital planes, which allows for some satellites to orbit around the poles and others around the equator. The proposal has been reviewed and accepted by the FCC, and after more testing, full-scale development of this massive system can commence.

The development of this satellite system will lead to direct competition with the OneWeb satellite constellation which is designed to provide global internet access with a system of 648 small satellites. The first set is planned to launch in 2019. While, the SpaceX system definitely will have its benefits when it comes to increasing internet access, it will also greatly increase the amount of objects in space. Because of the rise in traffic, there will need to be a strong sense of traffic management especially if SpaceX intends to have internet access connecting smoothly across the world. 

A Missile Giant is Targeting 20% of the Market in Order to Launch Small Satellites

Chinese Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the largest missile making company in the country, is taking aim at 20 percent or more of small satellite launch contracts in the world by 2020, company executives said. Space.com had reported back in November that CASIC had created Expace Technology Co. to market the solid-fueled Kuaizhou rocket globally. In an effort to bid for small-satellite space business worldwide expects to launch 10 of its Kuaizhou solid-fueled rockets per year between 2017 and 2020.

In a statement published by China Daily, Zhang Di, vice president of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC) Fourth Academy, said Expace Technology Co. would charge around $10,000 per kilogram of satellite payload, which he said was less than half the prevailing commercial price. In addition to being vice president, Zhang is also chairman of Expace. 

Not only is CASIC investing in special rockets but it is also making it cheaper to launch it's satellites in order to attract other businesses to utilize its services. This is a double whammy for companies that are looking to enter the market as they have compete with even cheaper and efficient services. Businesses are entering the small satellite industry because the products are cheaper than traditional small satellites and this move by CASIC is perfect timing for providing an even better bargain.

"We estimate that from 2017 to 2020, we will send aloft at least 10 solid-fuel carrier rockets each year, to send about 50 small satellites into orbit," said Guo Yong, president of the CASIC Fourth Academy, in an exclusive interview with China Daily in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. That, he said, would account for "about one-fifth of the estimated total annual missions of solid-fuel rockets around the world in that period".

CASIC is currently getting launches ready for many overseas clients. Designers said the Kuaizhou 11 has a liftoff weight of 78 metric tons and will be able to place a 1-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, or a 1.5-ton payload into a low Earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km.

Big Data Becomes a Big Market for Small Satellites

Data seems to rule everything these days. Big Data is being collected not just from third parties and social media but for advertisers and has rapidly expanded to new industries. It has expanded so much that it has become a big market for small satellites. While the growth surely won't quell the fears of scientists who are worried about a glut of Earth Satellite observations, growing demand for imagery and other data will likely fuel the growth of these systems.

According to SpaceNews.com, Carissa Christensen, managing partner of consulting company The Tauri Group, noted that investor interest in the space industry was driven in part by reduced costs enabled by advances in small satellites. The reduced costs have huge returns because the small satellites can offer data sets that can cover the entire Earth in seconds because of a frequency that is higher than traditional satellites. 

Small Satellites have the advantage in the market over traditional satellites now in terms of data but could the fears of a glut still come? It's indeed possible that there could be a glut of constellations in the future especially since more and more companies are appreciating the advantages of small satellites. However, as we've seen in past articles, more companies are finding customer service services to work well within this industry. As the glut grows, there could be innovations to address this glut.