Weather has caused a one-day delay in the launch of a Japanese navigation satellite.
The Japanese space agency JAXA said the launch of its third Michibiki satellite has been postponed one day to Saturday because of poor weather at the launch site.
The nine-hour launch window will open at 1 a.m.Eastern. [JAXA]
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The U.S. Air Force has developed a concept of operations, or CONOPS, for fighting a war in space.Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, head of Air Force Space Command, said Tuesday that the focus of the CONOPS will be on ensuring command and control of space assets, as well as integrated space awareness and warning. Raymond said development of the plan was prompted by growing concerns that potential adversaries are developing capabilities to block access to those space capabilities for the U.S. and its allies. [SpaceNews]
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency plans to establish public-private partnerships that will give organizations access to government imagery in exchange for algorithms to analyze them. NGA Director Robert Cardillo, speaking at the Conference on Small Satellites this week, said the agency is working to win approval for the partnerships whereby NGA would provide access to government images to companies, universities and think tanks. In return, NGA would get access to various tools they develop to analyze that imagery in new ways. [SpaceNews]
Cardillo also endorsed efforts to reform commercial remote-sensing licensing. In that speech, he said several government agencies had recently signed an updated memorandum to improve interagency reviews of license applications. He said more reform work is needed to improve the current approach, which treats commercial imaging constellations the same as satellites built by students. Cardillo said he expected to work with the new National Space Council on this issue. [SpaceNews]
Inmarsat believes it is immune to satellite overcapacity plaguing much of the rest of the industry.Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce said in a recent earnings call that mobile satellite services, the company’s specialty, remained “relatively well insulated” from overcapacity issues in other parts of the satellite communications sector. Inmarsat ordered a fifth Global Xpress satellite earlier this year to provide additional mobile services, with a total cost including launch and insurance of about $200 million. [SpaceNews]
Space Systems Loral has completed a key review of a NASA satellite servicing program whose future remains uncertain. The company said Tuesday that it completed the preliminary design review for the Restore-L mission, which is scheduled to launch in 2020 to demonstrate satellite servicing technologies, including refueling of the Landsat-7 spacecraft. The White House sought to end the mission in its 2018 budget request, consolidating it into a more general satellite servicing technology effort, but the program has won support in House and Senate versions of appropriations bills that would fund NASA. [SSL]
The government of Afghanistan is reportedly asking India to launch an “exclusive” satellite for the country. Officials in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Telecommunications and Technology have approached Indian counterparts about such a program, but reports did not disclose what Afghanistan would use the satellite for. Afghanistan is one of several countries that have access to capacity on a “South Asian” communications satellite launched by India in May. [The Economic Times (India)]
Harris, a long-time advocate of hosted payloads, is shifting its focus to smallsats. The company, which sold excess space on Iridium’s next-generation satellite for hosted payloads, said that the market is now with small satellites. The company is pairing its instruments with commercial smallsat buses from other companies, as well as other services, to offer complete missions to customers. [SpaceNews]
NASA is seeking input from smallsat developers who want to fly their spacecraft on the Space Launch System. The first SLS launch will carry 13 cubesats, and NASA is looking for input from developers on how it can accommodate cubesats and other smallsats on future SLS missions. That could include flying smallsats on the anticipated SLS launch of the Europa Clipper mission, although there is, as of yet, no allocation for smallsat secondary payloads on that launch. [SpaceNews]
A new smallsat developer has an agreement with another company to use their ion propulsion systems. York Space Systems announced this week that it will offer electric propulsion units from Accion Systems as an option on its smallsats. York is building a factory in Denver capable of producing up to 200 smallsats a year, while Accion has been developing ion thrusters specifically designed for smallsats. [SpaceNews]
Clyde Space has won a contract to build three small satellites for startup company Audacy. The cubesats will demonstrate key technologies for Audacy’s proposed constellation of medium Earth orbit small satellites intended to provide commercial data-relay services for other satellites. The cubesats built by Clyde Space will launch in 2019. [SpaceNews]
A Lithuanian company has won funding to commercialize a smallsat propulsion system recently demonstrated on a cubesat. NanoAvionics said it won a $3.7 million government grant for its Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites, which uses a non-toxic “green” monopropellant. The company said it successfully tested a version of that thruster on LituanicaSAT-2, a cubesat launched in June. [SpaceNews]
