Military/Aerospace Electronics

The race for comms from space is heating up. Viasat, the satellite communications company, and Skylo Technologies, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) service provider, have announced the launch of a global direct-to-device (D2D) network. Their infrastructure agreement will, they say, allow Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), device makers and chipset manufacturers to take 3GPP Release 17 compliant products to market using Viasat’s ...

Ireland is set to launch its first spacecraft,  the Educational Irish Research Satellite-1 (EIRSAT-1). This is a European Space Agency (ESA) project led by students at University College Dublin (UCD), and EIRSAT-1 – a 2U CubeSat – will provide an in-orbit demonstration of three Irish developed payloads. First, there is GMOD, a scintillator based detector, developed in UCD, which aims ...

The race for 5G from space is speeding up. Lockheed Martin has completed a final demo of what it describes as its first regenerative non-terrestrial network 5G Satellite Base Station (gNodeB). Basically, where a satellite provides signal regeneration, for bridging comms between Earth and a satellite network. It was the final demo prior to a self-funded space mission. The plan ...

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) has announced funding for research involving the refuelling for an upcoming mission to remove space junk. The aim, for sustainability, is to help prolong the life of satellites and prevent adding more debris to the space environment. Such In Orbit Servicing (IOS) missions are likely to be a key tool for ensuring the long-term sustainability ...

Terran Orbital has announced additional configurations of its new, largest Enterprise satellite platform, aimed at large constellation deployment. The satellite manufacturer – based in Boca Raton, Florida – says a new power storage system has been designed to reduce weight and increase the power available to the payload. Specifically, there are now three configurable, configurations: A, B, and C. Each ...

The ESA has signalled its intent to foster commercial competition to deliver space cargo return services, following the ESA Space Summit in Seville. At the gathering, the idea for competition was announced – open to “innovative companies based in Europe” – for a space cargo service. It will see a European commercial provider both deliver supplies to the International Space ...

The Andøya Spaceport in Norway has officially opened, readying itself to be the future launch site – for small and medium sized satellites – of Isar Aerospace and its Spectrum rocket. Located at Nordmela on the Norwegian island of Andøya, the site’s opening ceremony was presided over by H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, pictured below. The spaceport describes itself ...

Following its acquisition of Inmarsat, Viasat has announced it is making approximately 800 people from its workforce redundant, representing about 10%, spread across the business in terms of geographies and divisions. The company says it has completed “a rationalization of roles in its global business”, to achieve both operational and cost efficiencies. It also expects to achieve $100 million in ...

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) is receiving a £3.5 million funding boost from the UK Space Agency to help with its plans to vertically launch satellites from the SaxaVord spaceport in the Shetland Islands. Specifically, the money – via the European Space Agency’s Boost! programme – will be received by the UK subsidiary of the Bavarian company, which will have exclusive ...

The UK and Japan space agencies have agreed to develop a satellite-based launch telemetry system for the Japanese H3 launch vehicle. The goal is to provide an in-orbit telemetry relay service called “InRange” to reduce the dependency of launch providers on ground-based infrastructure. Instead, it will provide a global system using Viasat’s geostationary ELERA L-band satellite network. By using the ...