Satellite News

Space debris endangers active satellites and space stations. The aim of international and national efforts is therefore to prevent collisions and damage to satellites more effectively in the future. This can be achieved by constantly monitoring as many potentially dangerous objects as possible on different Earth orbits. To this end, SCISYS already started in mid-2018 to set up and operate a central database for DLR space management as part of the European project “EU Space Surveillance and Tracking” (EUSST).

CubeRover, an ultralight, rechargeable planetary rover developed by Astrobotic, has been awarded a US$2 million NASA Tipping Point contract. The rover, roughly the size of a shoebox and with a mass of approx. 2 kg, can carry its own payloads or team up with other CubeRovers as “scouts” for larger rovers and landers.

Astroscale announced that it will collaborate with the University of Southampton on a project to investigate collision risks between satellites, highlighting the necessity for financial incentives for satellite operators to engage with active debris removal services.

GHGSat, a private company which owns and operates the world’s first and only satellite designed to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, has named its third satellite (GHGSat-C2), Hugo.

Ball Aerospace delivered the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) for Landsat 9, completing development of the instrument on schedule and under budget. Ball will continue to support instrument integration and spacecraft-level testing, working closely with NASA and the Landsat 9 spacecraft provider.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., announced that it received a US$7.5 million award to enhance the Enterprise Management & Control (EM&C) architecture with a Satellite Situational Awareness, Common Operating Picture (SA-COP). In addition, Kratos will introduce new orchestration capabilities that automate the configuration of terminals and supporting networks and scale this capability to support a world-wide network of satellite gateways, terminals and terrestrial infrastructure.

Thales Alenia Space and the Brazilian Space Agency under the authority of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) signed an agreement to transfer technology that will enable Brazil to enhance its capability to design and develop optical instruments for Earth observation satellites.

Eutelsat Communications has unveiled its ELO constellation project targeting the Internet of Things (IoT) market.