Virginia Startup Raises 11 Million Dollars to Send Small Satellites into Orbit!

Herndon,Virginia startup HawkEye360 recently announced that it has raised around 11 million dollars to send seven fleets of small satellites into low-Earth orbit. Once these satellites are in orbit, they will track radio frequencies from space. The company plans to launch its first cluster of satellites in late 2017 after it raises more capital. The outcome of this first cluster will help determine its schedule for the next cluster of launches.

By tracking radio signals, these satellites are taking a different approach than other commercial imaging services that tend to use advanced cameras. Tracking radio waves can be useful for tracking ships and when combined with small satellites could be used on a global scale by numerous companies. Agencies such as the Coast Guard could also use this technology in order to locate endangered ships.

According to the Martinsville Bulletin, HawkEye360 is working on a mapping capability that would display signals on a single screen, like a radar system that sits on the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere. This would allow anything with a signal to be tracked by this system. Having a capability to track signals and a screen that makes it easy to navigate and locate specific objects is just another excellent and efficient way that small satellites can be used.

HawkEye360's funding comes largely from Razor's Edge Management, a Reston, Virginia based startup that is associated with the government intelligence community. HawkEye360 is a subsidiary of Allied Minds', a holding company focused on venture creation within the life science and technology sectors.

Small Satellites Could Improve Predicting Hurricanes

In my last article, I noted that NASA is planning on launching constellations of small satellites for a variety of projects that involve studying the Earth. Well I can now rejoice because they are launching eight small satellites next month in an effort to improve improve wind measurements inside hurricanes. Being from Florida, hurricanes are always a constant worry especially during this time of the season so I'm glad to see NASA working on this.

According to GCN.com, The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) constellation will attempt to alleviate two of the current challenges with measuring wind speed inside hurricanes: interference with rain and the time it takes to collect measurements. This will allow researchers to understand the inside of the hurricane. The inability to see inside the hurricane will severely limit us in the future if it isn't addressed. Small satellites are proving to be a valuable tool to address this and other matters.

The goal of this project is to use satellites with wavelengths that will have better resistance to environmental interference such as raindrops. This will allow data to be processed more efficiently in order to make prediction models accurate. The larger satellites took around 3 days to fully record the full Earth data. Now these eight CYGNASS satellites can record numerous measurements in seconds. 

The CYGNSS is the first complete orbital mission competitively selected by NASA's Earth Venture program, which focuses on low-cost, rapidly developed, science driven missions to enhance Earth Science understanding. The CYGNSS is scheduled to be sent into Orbit on Dec. 12.

NASA Launches a Suite of Six Satellite Missions!

This month, NASA is aiming to launch the first of a suite of next generation, Earth-observing small satellite missions in order to demonstrate new methods for studying our planet. These satellites range in mass from a few pounds to hundreds. The lower development and launch costs are beneficial to this assignment because they can attach them to a rocket rather than spending a hefty amount on launching larger satellites.

According to Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, "NASA is increasingly using small satellites in order to tackle important science problems across our mission portfolio." These satellites allow NASA the opportunity to test new technological innovations in space and allow students and researchers to gain more experience in this field as well. These advances in space technologies have changed the way that researchers approach studying the Earth from space.

Five of the suite of six satellite missions are aiming to launch new methods for measuring hurricanes, Earth's energy budget, aerosol and weather. The use of low cost satellites will help advance Earth science and also provide societal benefit through the applications as well. NASA is using these applications to help faculty and students understand the Earth better but also how to find better measurements using the small satellite approach.

Small Satellite Market is Expected to be Worth 5.32 Billion USD by 2021.

Great news for those entering the small satellite industry. A new report shows that the small satellite market is set to grow by billions into 2021. With the rise of personalization and new methods to complement satellite launching, new start-up activities, the small satellite industry is being fueled for a groundbreaking takeoff. Satellites are now made for various tasks for various consumers.

According to Whatech.com, The small satellite market has been estimated to be worth USD 2.22 Billion in 2016 and is projected to be valued at USD 5.32 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 19.14% during the forecast period. This report covers the forecast of the small satellite market and its dynamics over the next five years, while also recognizing market application gaps, evolving technologies, recent developments in the market, and high potential geographic regions and countries.

Further on, the report noticed a growing trend among specific market segmentations. On the basis of application, the small satellite market has been segmented into communication, earth observation and meteorology, scientific research and exploration, mapping and navigation, and surveillance and security. Earth observation and meteorology is estimated to hold the largest small satellite market during the forecast period.

These satellite are capable to monitor situations, such as cyclones, storms, floods, fires, volcanic activities, earthquake, landslides, oil slicks, environmental pollution and power plant disasters, among others.

America is currently the leader in the small satellite market followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific, Asia-Pacific, and the rest of the world. The North American market is expected to hold the largest share in the small satellite industry for the near future. Research and development is becoming increasingly lucrative for more firms in the industry. It's becoming the highest portion of internal value followed by the manufacturing of key parts. 

Sky and Space Global Announces Partnership With Virgin Galactic.

Sky and Space Global, a telecommunications opportunity has announced signing a letter of intent with Virgin Galactic to use its vehicle LauncherOne to launch up to 200 micro-satellites into space from 2018. This is a partnership that will not only provide significant cost savings to Sky and Space Global through Virgin Galactic's LauncherOne, but also more flexibility and launch times of small satellites.

According to Sky and Space, using Virgin's LauncherOne will provide significant cost savings, as several satellites can be launched at once, in addition to flexibility in terms of launch timelines and orbital parameters.

"Virgin Galactic is a truly global company with significant resources and support, and this agreement is the first step in what we believe will be a long-term relationship, and it provides Sky and Space Global a genuine and highly sought-after opportunity," Sky and Space Global CEO Meir Moalem said in a statement.

Virgin Galactic had previously committed to developing a commercial satellite-launching program with LauncherOne, which launches from a Boeing 747 already in "advanced study" at the company's Long Beach California manufacturing facility. The LauncherOne enables companies to launch their small satellites through a commercially attractive process. 

India’s PSLV launches Cartosat-2C and 19 Small Satellites, Including 13 Commercial U.S. Spacecraft

On June 22, 2016, India's PSLV delivered the Indian Cartosat-2C high-resolution optical Earth observation into a 507-kilometer polar low Earth orbit along with 19 smaller satellites, including 13 U.S. commercial spacecraft. The Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) confirmed that the 19 co-passengers had been placed into their intended orbits. They said the vehicle achieved a high injection accuracy of 507 kilometers for Cartosat-2C. The target was 505 kilometers. 
According to Space News, the officials from the ISRO hailed this as significant progress in the nation's growing launch-service reaches full autonomy in space launch-service competence as a reliable supplier for small satellite owners all over the world. The officials also used this accomplishment as a means of encouraging India's space industry to take a larger role in PSLV manufacturing. production rhythm to permit the PSLV to launch as many as eight or more times per year. The current maximum is six per year. The June 22 launch was the fourth in 2016 for the PSLV, equaling the record set in 2015.

Airbus has a solution to the space debris problem!

Airbus is solving the space debris problem in the form of the Zephyr. Currently there are over 171 million pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth or 58 years worth of space debris. These objects which travel at high speeds can cause severe damage so solutions have been underway to collect the space debris. In the meantime something must be done in order to ensure that our communication networks stay running in space. The Zephyr is one of those inventions.

According to Geek.com, "Zephyr is a UAV, but unlike other UAVs it has been designed to fly forever, or as close as you can come to that. It’s 100% solar powered, flies at an altitude of 20km meaning it’s above the weather, and can be outfitted with a range of equipment allowing it to act like a satellite. Airbus refers to it as a High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS).

Test flights have already proven the Zephyr’s potential, as it has flown for 8x longer than any other UAV, with its longest flight time so far being 336 hours 22 minutes and 8 seconds (2 weeks). The next step is to increase that to months, then hopefully years. And because the Zephyr remains within the atmosphere, it’s a relatively simple and cheap craft to land. That allows for easy equipment upgrades and ultimately a reusable UAV.

This type of object will ensure that communication is not only improved in space, but also that communication is stable despite the debris that is floating around in space that could disrupt it. Airbus is currently working on the Zephyr 8 which will be available this year and improved upon for 2017. It’s capable of offering 100Mbps broadcasts, NIIRS 6 imagery, HD video, AIS, and narrowband mobile comms. It’s also cleared for both military and civil controlled airspace.