“DARPA and NASA have done [servicing] demonstrations in the past but to get traction for a sustained business is a big deal.” — Al Tadros, SSL vice president for space infrastructure and civil space. Credit: SSL

SSL aims to parlay NASA, DARPA work into viable in-orbit repair business

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SSL is investing in on-orbit servicing because “mission extension is a game changer,” said Michael Gabor, advanced programs director for SSL Government Systems.

From the Magazine satellite servicingSSL
An Orbital ATK technician monitors a ground demonstration of MEV docking systems. Credit: Orbital ATK

Orbital ATK’s giant leap into satellite servicing begins with baby steps

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Orbital ATK subsidiary SpaceLogistics plans to offer customers a wide range of products and services, beginning with its Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) and progressing to in-orbit spacecraft assembly, repair and cis-lunar transportation.

From the Magazine MEVOrbital ATKsatellite servicingSpaceLogistics
This NASA Goddard Space Flight Center illustration shows a servicing spacecraft, left, approaching a satellite needing assistance. Credit: NASA Goddard

Orbital ATK, SSL and others are gearing up to make house calls to ailing satellites

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Satellite owners, satellite manufacturers, NASA and DARPA are planning a series of demonstrations to prove spacecraft can be repaired or refueled in orbit without the type of ambitious and expensive effort NASA devoted to servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.

From the Magazine DARPAOrbital ATKsatellite servicing
An Orbital ATK Mission Extension Vehicle docks with a satellite to take over pointing and station keeping. Credit: Orbital ATK

In-orbit services poised to become big business

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The Mission Extension Vehicle built by Orbital ATK on behalf of subsidiary SpaceLogistics, will the first of several such robotic craft that are poised to compete for a share of about $3 billion worth of in-orbit services that satellite operators and government agencies are projected to buy over the coming decade.

From the Magazine in-orbit servicingOrbital ATKsatellite servicing
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at U.S. Northern Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Credit: DoD

On National Security | On matters of space, Congress keeps up pressure as it demands change

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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are not letting up on efforts to keep the Air Force and the Pentagon focused on space issues.

From the Magazine Jim MattisSpace Force
OHB System will build the PLATO spacecraft and its instruments at OHB Optics & Science Space Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. Credit: OHB System

OHB System to sign PLATO construction contract in June

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German satellite manufacturer OHB System expects to finalize a contract in June with the European Space Agency to build a spacecraft to search for exoplanets.

From the Magazine European Space AgencyOHBPLATO
Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos. Credit: SpaceNews photo illustration/KREMLIN.RU

Putin’s sanctioned space boss a new wrinkle for U.S.-Russian relations

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The U.S.-Russian space partnership is one of technicalities, not of personalities. But Dmitry Rogozin is potentially toxic to this relationship from the standpoint of technicality.

From the Magazine Dmitry RogozinRoscosmosRussiaVladimir Putin
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine watches the May 5 launch of NASA’s InSight spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

An open letter to NASA’s administrator: Let’s beckon the future together

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We stand ready to support you and your tenure at NASA and look forward to continued advancements in American leadership in space as we beckon the future together.

From the Magazine Jim BridenstineNASA
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine delivers the keynote speech at the Humans to Mars Summit May 9 at the George Washington University in Washington. Bridenstine joined more than 20 NASA scientists and technologists at the three-day event sponsored by Explore Mars Inc. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

New NASA boss Jim Bridenstine faces his first challenge: a balancing act between the moon and Mars

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New NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was well known from his time advocating for space in Congress, but how he would run the agency, and the priorities he would emphasize, were less clear.

From the Magazine Jim BridenstineNASA
DARPA Director Steven Walker. Credit: U.S. Air Force Photo by Michael Pausic

On National Security | Big hurdles for small satellites in the military market

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The Pentagon’s research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, wants to disrupt the military space business.

From the Magazine DARPAMilitary Space
During an ‘industry day’ held May 8 at NASA Headquarters in Washington, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine asks commercial companies to help get the agency back to the moon as quickly as possible. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

An open letter to NASA’s administrator: Democratizing America’s space enterprise

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In 50 years American citizens will look back on today and thank NASA for bringing all of us along with them as America expands into the solar system.

From the Magazine Jim BridenstineNASA
HawkEye360 is about to launch its first cluster satellites to track ships via their radio signals. Credit: HawkEye360

Geospatial industry exploiting radar, RF data for maritime security and disaster response

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What is making SAR more desirable is the magic that happens when the data is fused with optical images, radiofrequency and hyperspectral data.

From the Magazine SAR
As MDA joins the Maxar Technologies’ family, which includes DigitalGlobe with its WorldView constellation, “we are looking at how to unlock the market that can benefit from the combined use of RadarSat and optical WorldView imagery in ways that were not envisioned before or were difficult to achieve from two independent companies,” said Dave Belton, vice president of MDA’s Geospatial Services Group. Credit: MDA

Not convinced of the promise of commercial radar satellites? Meet the radar mafia.

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Startups backed primarily by private venture capital have announced plans to launch dozens of small SAR satellites within a decade to take advantage of the miniaturization of electronics.

From the Magazine GEOINTSAR
The 70-kilogram ICEYE-X1 satellite launched Jan. 12 on a PSLV rocket carrying India’s Cartosat-2 and 30 smaller satellites. Credit: ICEYE artist's concept

Q&A | ICEYE achieves the ‘impossible’ with miniature radar satellite

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In January, ICEYE proved it could operate a synthetic aperture radar on a microsatellite. Now the company is preparing to launch a constellation.

From the Magazine IceyeSAR
This computer-generated view depicts part of Mars at the boundary between darkness and daylight, with an area including Gale Crater beginning to catch morning light. Curiosity was delivered in 2012 to Gale crater, a 155-kilometer-wide crater that contains a record of environmental changes in its sedimentary rock. Credit: NASA JPL-CALTECH

Foust Forward | What do we want? Mars! When do we want it? Uhhh…

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Few in Congress are bigger proponents of sending humans to Mars than Ed Perlmutter, and he has the bumper sticker to prove it.

From the Magazine Mars
The value of smallsats will be fully realized when the disorganized flock is transformed into a carefully orchestrated constellation. Credit: NASA illustration

Op-ed | NewSpace 2.0: Moving beyond the Minimum Viable Product

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Owing partly to the emergence of small satellites, NewSpace startups are disrupting commercial space by addressing these and other questions on shoestring budgets compared to government programs.

From the Magazine NewSpaceSmallsat

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