FTC regulators and DoD continue to review the proposed merger
WASHINGTON — Christopher Kubasik, CEO of L3Harris Technologies, said Jan. 27 regulators continue to review the company’s proposed $4.7 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and expects the merger to close in 2023.
L3Harris, headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, is a global defense and aerospace firm with more than $17 billion in annual revenue. In December it announced an agreement to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne, a Sacramento, California-based manufacturer of rocket engines and propulsion systems for space vehicles, ballistic missiles and military tactical weapons.
During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Kubasik said the company has been answering questions from Federal Trade Commission antitrust regulators. He said L3Harris executives have met with Pentagon officials to address questions on the acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne and its potential impact on defense programs.
Kubasik did not comment on a recent letter sent by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to the Federal Trade Commission urging the agency to block the transaction. The FTC last year blocked Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4.4 billion bid for Aerojet Rocketdyne, arguing that the combination would give Lockheed — a major supplier of tactical missiles — the ability to “cut off other defense contractors from the critical components they need to build competing missiles.”
L3Harris said it does not expect to face these same challenges because the combination with Aerojet would be a “horizontal move” rather than a vertical integration of a missile manufacturer and a key supplier of propulsion systems.
If the acquisition is approved, Kubasik said, there are no plans to close major facilities but he estimates about $50 million in overhead cost savings during the first year. “We both have offices in D.C. We both have offices in Huntsville. There’s some low hanging fruit there,” he said.
This would be L3Harris’ second of two back-to-back acquisitions. Earlier this month the company closed a nearly $2 billion purchase of Viasat’s tactical data links business.
“We got TDL done in 92 days, and the integration is already underway, so we can focus on getting Aerojet Rocketdyne approved, and then start the integration,” said Kubasik.
“I don’t foresee us doing any acquisitions for a couple of years, as you would imagine,” he told analysts. “There’s some non-core assets that we’re going to sell, and we’re going to use those proceeds to bring down our debt over the next few years.”
WASHINGTON — Engineers are troubleshooting thruster problems on a cubesat launched last month to search for water ice at the moon, the latest in a series of technical issues among small satellites recently launched to the moon and beyond.
In a Jan. 12 update, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that three of four thrusters on the Lunar Flashlight cubesat were underperforming, or producing less thrust than expected. One explanation, JPL said, was that there are obstructions in lines feeding propellant to the thrusters, reducing the amount of propellant reaching the thrusters and thus the thrust they produce.
Spacecraft controllers are planning to operate the thrusters for longer periods, hoping that will help clear any obstructions. If the thrusters’ performance can’t be restored, project managers are considering alternative approaches that would allow the spacecraft to reach the moon and carry out its mission. The spacecraft will need to start daily maneuvers in February to be able to enter orbit around the moon in about four months.
Lunar Flashlight is designed to go into a near-rectilinear halo orbit, similar to that used by the CAPSTONE cubesat that arrived at the moon in November and the future lunar Gateway. The orbit will take the cubesat as close as 15 kilometers above the surface at the south pole, where it to use lasers to look for water ice that may exist on the surface.
The cubesat’s propulsion system uses a “green” propellant called Advanced Spacecraft Energetic Non-Toxic (ASCENT), formerly known as AF-M315E. The propellant was successfully demonstrated on NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission launched in 2019, but Lunar Flashlight is the first time ASCENT has been used on a mission beyond Earth orbit.
Artemis 1 launched Nov. 16 with 10 cubesat secondary payloads. More than half of them have experienced significant problems during launch. One example is LunaH-Map, a NASA-funded cubesat also designed to go into orbit to look for water ice. It has suffered a problem with a stuck valve in its electric thruster that is jeopardizing its ability to go into lunar orbit.
Several other cubesats have either reported problems or have failed to communicate at all with Earth. There is no obvious technical issue linking the problems with the cubesats.
Saltzman said he wants to make sure the Space Force is not caught unprepared
WASHINGTON — Before they attacked Ukraine, Russia’s armed forces were viewed as one of the most powerful in the world. But the conflict exposed that as a myth.
The lesson for the U.S. Space Force is that whenever it has to fight the next conflict, it can’t be caught unprepared, said Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, U.S. chief of space operations.
The U.S. military has the world’s most advanced satellites and hardware but space forces for decades have operated in a relatively benign environment, Saltzman noted, and have not trained for a potential conflict where satellites could become military targets.
“An observation from Ukraine is you’ve got on paper, a very capable Russian military, but they didn’t necessarily have the training, they didn’t necessarily have the operational concepts for multi-domain operations,” Saltzman said on a Space Force Association webcast that aired Jan. 12.
Sometimes leaders focus on the weapon systems “and miss the fact that if you don’t have trained personnel, operational concepts and the tactics to execute with the weapon systems against the thinking adversary, that you only have half the equation,” he said.
“The Russians didn’t have C2 [command and control] structures and sustainment capability. And they’re coming up a little short,” Saltzman said. In the Space Force, “we have to make sure that not only do we have the systems to do the mission, but that our operators have the training, the experience, and we have validated tactics that actually enable those capabilities.”
To train for space warfare, operators will require a mix of live and virtual training ranges, he said. Space Force units will need to practice electronic warfare, operations against GPS jamming and how to maneuver satellites. Most of the current training infrastructure was inherited from the Air Force and the Space Force has to invest in updated capabilities.
“We have to build the infrastructure and the processes and procedures to make sure [Space Force guardians] have got what they need, whether it’s a test and training infrastructure, simulators that can replicate adversary threats and the interactions you would get with multiple units working together to solve operational challenges,” he said. “All of that needs to take place before we get into an actual conflict so that our operators are fully ready. And that’s really the priority that I’m going after.”
For example, he said, guardians will have to practice tactics to “control the space domain so that we can do what we want to do with our space assets, achieve the effects that we want to achieve, while denying the adversary the ability to use their space capabilities” to target U.S. forces.
“So we have to have the operational concepts for how we are going to do that. What are those techniques, procedures, and then you have to practice it … What I want to do is make sure we have the skills and the experience on day one of the conflict.”
An option under consideration for NSSL Phase 3 is to create “on ramps” to allow emerging launch providers to compete
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is likely to change how it selects providers of national security launch services and how it awards contracts, a program official told SpaceNews.
The changes would affect the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 procurement. United Launch Alliance and SpaceX won the Phase 2 competition in 2020, and their current contracts will be re-competed in 2024.
NSSL acquires launch services for heavy and medium lift class national security satellites.
The Phase 3 procurement strategy is still being finalized and will be released in a draft solicitation expected in the second quarter of 2023, Col. Douglas Pentecost, deputy director of the Space Force’s launch enterprise, said Jan. 13 in an email.
Compared to Phase 2, where only ULA and SpaceX were selected to launch all national security missions over five years, Phase 3 would create “on ramps” for other players to compete.
“The NSSL Phase 3 acquisition strategy is still in development but seeks to meet warfighter requirements while optimally exploiting ongoing advancements in the United States’ ever-growing commercial launch market to best combat the pacing challenge,” Pentecost said.
“A dual-lane contracting approach is being considered,” he said. One would be an IDIQ contract, short for indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity “with an unlimited number of providers.”
An IDIQ contract would allow the government to purchase launch services on an as-needed basis without committing to a specific amount. Pentecost said this vehicle would be used for less complex NSSL launches where there is likely to be more competitors. “This allows annual on-ramping of new capabilities for the less stressing NSSL missions.”
The second lane would be like Phase 2, or an indefinite delivery requirements contract with two selected providers for the more demanding NSSL missions.
Launch providers will be briefed on the details after the draft request for proposals is released, said Pentecost. “This will provide an opportunity for potential vendors to submit clarifying questions which will inform the final NSSL Phase 3 RFP planned for summer 2023.”
The dual-lane approach would satisfy congressional concerns about DoD restricting competition. “Some analysts have questioned the Space Force’s decision to award only two launch services contracts in NSSL Phase 2,” noted the Congressional Research Service in a report.
If the Space Force decided to continue working with only two providers in Phase 3, said CRS, “Congress could consider directing the Space Force to select more than two launch providers in Phase 3, directing the Space Force to examine alternative procurement models.”
DENVER – Cybersecurity specialist SpiderOak raised $16.4 million in a Series C investment round led by Empyrean Technology Solutions, a space technology platform affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm.
Method Capital and OCA Ventures participated in the round.
“Today, space-based assets are mission essential in all civil and military operations and rapidly becoming mission critical for all national and corporate infrastructure,” Charles Beams, SpiderOak executive chairman, said in a statement. “The Space Force and the space industry consensus is that a cyber-attack is the most likely and most damaging threat to these assets.”
SpiderOak has quickly raised its profile in the space sector by winning U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contracts for OrbitSecure, an off-the-shelf product designed to enhance satellite and constellation cybersecurity.
“Space is a demanding environment in many ways and SpiderOak’s proven zero-trust solution, using its patented distributed ledger technology, is well positioned to address these cyber threats head-on,” said Beames, a former Defense Department principal director for space and intelligence systems.
With funding from the investment round, SpiderOak plans to complete on-orbit testing and obtain flight heritage for its second-generation space product, OrbitSecure 2.0.
In addition, SpiderOak is moving its headquarters from Chicago to Reston, Virginia, and establishing a space cybersecurity laboratory. In the new laboratory, SpiderOak will provide for hardware-in-the-loop qualification testing.
“SpiderOak brings a wealth of industry experience in cybersecurity solutions to national security, an area we are already heavily invested in,” Matt Norton, Madison Dearborn Partners managing director, said in a statement. “Their proven track record in developing commercial zero-trust technology is backed by a substantial patent portfolio.”
SpiderOak CEO Dave Pearah, said in a statement that the company’s software is “backwards compatible with legacy space systems, to allow current on orbit systems to take the step to much higher cybersecurity protections.”
For decades, open systems architectures and open standards have helped accelerate innovation to end users in aerospace and defense applications through the development of interfaces that are open, key, and well-defined. Today, space system designers and developers are truly embracing the SpaceVPX (VITA 78) standard, which leverages the OpenVPX (VITA 65.0) architecture through its slot profile and module profile level building blocks, which create interconnect solutions based on the user’s need.
Explore the basics of SpaceVPX with the designers of the VPX and SpaceVPX interconnect. Learn about the standard’s origin, the advantages of SpaceVPX vs. OpenVPX, recent changes to the standard and the importance of standard interconnects which drive down cost, results in a more robust supply chain, and maintains a path for future expansion.
SpaceVPX is a standard for creating plug-in cards (PICs) from its slot profile and module (protocol) profiles. In turn, these building blocks create interconnected subsystems and systems. Developed under the auspices of The Next Generation Space Interconnect Standard (NGSIS), it is the result of a government-Industry collaboration. The primary goal of SpaceVPX is to cost-effectively remove bandwidth as a constraint for future space systems.
SpaceVPX is based on the VITA (VMEbus International Trade Association) OpenVPX standard with enhancements that extend the standard for space applications.
The NGSIS team selected the OpenVPX standard family as the physical baseline for the new SpaceVPX standard because VPX supports both 3U and 6U form factors with ruggedized and conduction-cooled features suitable for use in extreme environments. The infrastructure of OpenVPX also allows for prototyping and testing SpaceVPX on the ground.
SpaceVPX is built upon several standards, some of which are part of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/VITA and European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) OpenVPX family:
VITA 46 VPX and its ANSI/VITA 65.0 OpenVPX derivative – baseline standard
ANSI/VITA 60 and ANSI/VITA 63 – compatible connectors
ANSI/VITA 48.2[3] – mechanical extensions
ANSI/VITA 62 – standardized power module
ANSI/VITA 66 and 67 – replacement of electrical segments with RF or optical solutions
ANSI/VITA 46.11[4] – management protocol, the basis for fault-tolerant management of the SpaceVPX system
ECSS – SpaceWire standard
ECSS – Remote Memory Access Protocol (RMAP)
ECSS – SpaceFibre standard
Gigabit Ethernet
OpenVPX is a defined set of system implementations within VPX that specifies a set of system architectures. OpenVPX organizes connections in four major interconnect planes — data, control, utility, and expansion.
Data Plane The data plane incorporates high-speed multigigabit fabric connections between modules to carry payload and mission data.
Control Plane The control plane, also a fabric connection, typically has less capacity and is used for configuration, setup, diagnostics, and other operational control functions within the payload and for lower-speed data transfers.
Utility Plane The utility plane provides setup and control of basic module functions for power sequencing, low-level diagnostics, clocks, and other base signals needed for system operation.
Expansion Plane The expansion plane may be used as a separate connection between modules using similar interfaces or to bridge heritage interfaces in a more limited topology such as a bus or ring.
Pins not defined as part of any of these planes are typically user-defined and are available for pass-through from daughter or mezzanine cards, or to rear transition modules (RTM). For maximum module reuse, the user-defined pins should be configurable so as not to interfere with modules that use the same pins in a different way. Consult ANSI/VITA 65.0 for more detail.
An evaluation of OpenVPX for space usage revealed several shortcomings. The key limitation was the lack of features available to support a full, single-fault-tolerant, highly reliable configuration. Utility signals were bused and, in most cases, supported only one set of signals via signal pins to a module. As a result, a pure OpenVPX system has opportunities for multiple failures. Additionally, a full management-control mechanism was not fully defined with VITA 46.11.
From a protocol perspective, SpaceWire is the dominant medium-speed data and control plane interface for most spacecraft, yet the typical OpenVPX control planes are peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) or Ethernet which are not generally used in space applications. (Note: Gigabit Ethernet was added to the 2022 revision of the SpaceVPX standard.)
The goal of SpaceVPX is to achieve an acceptable level of fault tolerance, while maintaining a reasonable level of compatibility with existing OpenVPX components including connector-pin assignments for the board and the backplane (Figure 1.).
Figure 1 | The goal of SpaceVPX is to achieve an acceptable level of fault tolerance by way of redundancy and switching. Illustration: VITA.
For the purposes of fault tolerance, a module (defined as a printed wire assembly which conforms to defined mechanical and electrical specifications) is considered the minimum redundancy element, or the minimum fault containment region. The utility plane and control plane within SpaceVPX are all distributed redundantly and are arranged in star topologies, dual-star topologies, partial-mesh topologies or full-mesh topologies to provide fault tolerance to the entire system.
To meet the desired level of fault tolerance, the utility plane signals must be dual-redundant and switched to each SpaceVPX card function.
A trade study, conducted in 2010 through a government and industry collaboration with the support of the SpaceVPX Working Group, compared various implementations including adding the switching to each card in various ways and creating a unique switching card. The latter approach was selected so SpaceVPX cards can each receive the same utility plane signals that an OpenVPX card receives with minor adjustments for any changes in topology. This became known as the Space Utility Management module (SpaceUM), a major foundation of the SpaceVPX standard.
A 6U SpaceUM module contains up to eight sets of power and signal switches to support eight SpaceVPX payload modules — the 3U version of the SpaceUM can support up to five. It receives one power bus from each of two power supplies and one set of utility plane signals from each of two system controller functions required in the SpaceVPX backplane. The various parts of the SpaceUM module do not require their own redundancy. They are considered extensions of the power supply, system controller and other SpaceVPX modules for reliability calculation.
Each slot, module and backplane profile in OpenVPX is fully defined and interlinked. Adapting these profiles for use in space requires specification of a SpaceVPX version of each profile.
Slot Profile A slot profile provides a physical mapping of data ports onto a slot’s backplane connector, which is agnostic to the type of protocol used to convey data from the slot to the backplane.
Module and Backplane Profiles Module profiles are extensions of their accompanying slot profiles which enable mapping of protocols to each module port. A module profile includes information on thermal, power and mechanical requirements for each module. Some module profiles for SpaceVPX are similar to OpenVPX which enables use of OpenVPX modules and backplanes for prototyping or testing on the ground. However, most module profiles for space applications are significantly different from profiles for ground applications so full specifications consistent with SpaceVPX are required. The section of the SpaceVPX standard that defines these profiles forms a majority of the standard.
Interconnects are one more critical part of SpaceVPX. As with other elements of the standard, they are based on interconnects developed for OpenVPX, but designed for the extreme space environment.
Problematic temperatures, vibration, outgassing and other factors can catastrophically compromise interconnect systems as well as signal and power integrity. For decades, designers for space applications have relied on customized interconnect designs to ensure the reliability of embedded electronics exposed to the extremes of space. The high cost and long lead times of a custom interconnect solution were once considered a worthwhile investment against failures that are extremely costly or impossible to fix in space.
Today, the use of standard interconnects drives down cost, improves availability and maintains a path for future expansion.
By leveraging the OpenVPX architecture, SpaceVPX brings in the interconnect solutions which are defined in VITA standards and have gone through extensive testing to support their use in space.
The SpaceVPX slot profiles define the use of VPX connectors (VITA 46 or alternate VPX connectors) and enable implementation of RF (VITA 67) and optical (VITA 66) modules at the plug-in module to backplane interface. Power supplies follow the VITA 62 standard, which also defines the power supply connector interface. For XMC mezzanine cards in plug-in modules, XMC 2.0 connectors per VITA 61 are recommended. Rather than defining new connectors with special characteristics, SpaceVPX slot profiles reference the appropriate VITA connector standards that support the OpenVPX architecture.
The VITA 46 VPX connector is the original VPX interconnect. It is based on TE Connectivity’s (TE) MULTIGIG RT 2 connector which was released in the VITA 46 standard in 2006.
The MULTIGIG RT connector family gives designers an easy-to-implement, modular, standardized and cost-effective interconnect system that helps ensure the reliability of their embedded-computing applications for space systems.
MULTIGIG RT connectors have gone through extensive testing by TE to establish suitability for space, including:
Compliant (press-fit) pin technology Testing has been performed at min-max board hole sizes and different printed circuit board (PCB) platings to verify the reliability of the compliant pin designs. Today, numerous space applications use compliant pin technology (as compared to traditional soldered connections), and implementation is increasing.
Vibration The VITA 72 study group was formed to address extreme vibration applications. The group devised a vibration test that subjected a 6U VPX test unit to random vibration levels of 0.2 g2/Hz for 12 hours, a severe requirement compared to the original VPX standard. TE’s MULTIGIG RT 2-R connector — featuring an enhanced quad-redundant backplane connector contact system and rugged guide hardware — tested successfully as part of this effort and has been used in highly rugged applications since 2013.
Extreme temperature MULTIGIG connectors were subjected to a temperature range of -55 ˚C to +105 ˚C when initially qualified for VPX in 2006, which met the VITA 47 standard for plug-in modules. In direct response to requirements from space-systems developers, MULTIGIG RT connectors have since been tested and survived -55 °C to +125 °C, including exposure to 1,000 hours of heat at 125 °C and 100 thermal shock cycles from -55 °C to +125 °C.
Outgassing Unlike heavy polymer plug-in module connectors used in conventional backplane connector designs, MULTIGIG RT connectors incorporate air gaps, so less polymer is required. The polymer reduction reduces weight and decreases outgassing. With MULTIGIG RT connector materials, total mass loss (TML) is less than 1% and collected volatile condensable materials (CVCM) is less than 0.01%, which meets NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) outgassing requirements.
Current capacity When VITA 78 was developed, there was a need for VPX connectors to support new pinouts (not defined in VITA 46) to support the requirements for redundant power distribution and redundant management distribution. TE completed extensive testing for current carrying capability on multiple adjacent MULTIGIG power wafers within plug-in module connectors and also released new wafer configurations to support the VITA 78 Space Utility Management module architecture.
Most space system designers use MULTIGIG RT connectors to meet their requirements with no physical change to the design or materials and finishes. If minimal changes are required (e.g., higher lead content [40%] in the contact tails is specified for increased tin-whisker mitigation), additional screening tests are required based on the user or program requirements, but the connector-manufacturing processes are relatively the same which helps improve cost and availability.
RF and optical connector modules can be integrated within an OpenVPX slot to carry signals through the backplane to/from the plug-in module. These connector modules are mounted to the boards (including standard aperture cutouts on the backplane) to house multiple coaxial contacts or optical fibers. They can replace select VITA 46 connectors within a slot. These RF and optical connector modules and contacts have been used in satellite systems and are suitable for other applications in space.
VITA 67 is the base standard for RF modules. VITA 67.3 is used for SpaceVPX architecture with apertures defined within specific slot profiles for RF and optical connector modules. VITA 67.3 offers coaxial contact solutions with the initial sub-miniature push-on micro (SMPM) contacts as well as higher-density coaxial interfaces NanoRF and switched-mode power supply (SMPS), which can increase the contact density two to three times over SMPM. A new revision to VITA 67.3 has begun to add 75 Ohm coaxial interfaces to support higher speed video.
VITA 66 is the base standard for optical modules, with MT ferrules as the primary optical interface between the plug-in module and backplane. The apertures in SpaceVPX slot profiles accommodate optical and hybrid RF/optical connector modules meeting the requirements of VITA 66.5. MT interfaces can be specified for 12 or 24 fibers for highest density.
XMC mezzanine cards can be implemented on SpaceVPX plug-in modules to add I/O and other features. VITA 61 XMC 2.0, the standard based on TE’s Mezalok connector, is the recommended XMC connector in the SpaceVPX standard. The Mezalok connector features multiple points of contact per pin, supporting the redundancy required for space applications. The connector meets outgassing requirements and has been tested to extreme environments — including 2000 thermal cycles from -55 ºC to +125 ºC with no solder joint failures.
By leveraging the OpenVPX architecture, SpaceVPX can also leverage the OpenVPX interconnect roadmap which addresses solutions having faster speeds, higher density, smaller size, and lighter weight. There is significant activity with new and revised VITA standards to define technologies supporting next-generation embedded computing.
Higher data rate MULTIGIG RT 3 connectors are available and standardized in VITA 46.30 (compliant pin) and 46.31 (solder tail) to support channels to 25-32 Gigabits per second, supporting 100G Ethernet and PCI Gen 4 and 5. These can be incorporated in a SpaceVPX slot replacing VITA 46.0 connectors.
The latest revision of the VITA 67.3 standard includes higher-density RF interfaces NanoRF and SMPS, reducing size and weight — both of which are critical for space systems — and accommodating higher frequencies to 70 GHz. A new revision to VITA 67.3 has begun to add 75 Ohm coaxial interfaces within a connector module to support higher speed video protocols.
The VITA 66.5 standard will be released in 2022, documenting higher-density optical interfaces, bringing up to three MT interfaces into a half-module and enabling integration of a fixed edge-mount transceiver. In addition, VITA 66.5 provides solutions with NanoRF contacts and optical MTs integrated into a common connector module, providing unprecedented density within an OpenVPX slot.
New VITA 62 power supply standards have addressed three-phase power (VITA 62.1) and higher 270VDC input voltages (VITA 62.2). New MULTIBEAM XLE connectors from TE with isolating fins provide this upgrade for higher voltage levels while maintaining the same VITA 62.0 interface.
SpaceVPX is a set of standards for interconnects between space system components developed to cost-effectively remove bandwidth as a constraint for future space systems.
The goal of SpaceVPX is to achieve an acceptable level of fault tolerance while maintaining a reasonable level of compatibility with existing OpenVPX components.
SpaceVPX interconnect are based on interconnects developed for OpenVPX, adapted for the extreme space environment.
TE connectors have gone through extensive testing to establish suitability for space and have been used in satellite systems and other space applications.
New and revised VITA standards continue to define technologies that support the next generation of embedded computing while reducing costs, improving availability of components, and maintaining a path for future expansion.
Download the Factors Affecting Interconnects in Space Whitepaper
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Patrick Collier is Open Systems Architect and lead systems engineer at Aspen Consulting Group. He focuses on the development and use of open architectures for both space and nonspace applications. Prior to this, Patrick was an Open Systems Architect and Systems Engineer at L3Harris. Previously he was a lead hardware engineer at PMA-209 NAVAIR, where he focused on the development of the Hardware Open Systems Technology (HOST) set of standards. His first assignment was as a senior electrical research engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate. While at AFRL, he founded the Next Generation Space Interconnect Standard (NGSIS) with Raphael Some (NASA JPL). Patrick also founded and is currently chair for the VITA 78 (SpaceVPX) and VITA 78.1 (SpaceVPXLite) efforts. He is also a cofounder of the Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA) and chair of its Hardware Working Group. Additionally, he was a lead for the Space Universal Modular Architecture (SUMO), where he worked to incorporate existing space-related standards and architectures into SUMO.
Michael Walmsley, global product manager for TE Connectivity, has more than 40 years of experience with interconnects, primarily in engineering and product management roles. His areas of expertise include interconnect solutions for embedding computing, rugged high-speed board-level, and RF connectors. Michael is a board member for the VITA Standards Organization (www.vita.org), which drives technology and standards for the bus and board industry. He is also actively involved in both VITA and Sensor Open System Architecture (SOSA). Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester and an MBA from Penn State.
WASHINGTON — Impulse Space announced Jan. 4 it will launch its first orbital transfer vehicle late this year on a SpaceX rideshare mission.
Impulse Space said its LEO Express-1 mission, using a transfer vehicle it is developing called Mira, is manifested for launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 rideshare mission currently scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2023. LEO Express-1 will carry a primary payload for an undisclosed customer.
Barry Matsumori, chief operating officer of Impulse Space, said in an interview that the mission can accommodate additional payloads, like cubesats. The mission profile is still being finalized, but he said the vehicle, after making some initial deployments, may raise its orbit, then lower it to demonstrate operations in what’s known as very low Earth orbit, around 300 kilometers.
The performance of Mira depends on how much payload it is carrying, but he estimated that the vehicle can provide about 1,000 meters per second of delta-v, or change in velocity, with a payload of 300 kilograms. Its propulsion system, using storable propellants, has been extensively tested, with more than 1,000 seconds of runtime, while other elements of the vehicle are in various stages of design and manufacturing.
Impulse Space plans additional missions in 2024, he said. The company will take advantage of future SpaceX Transporter missions as well as opportunities on other vehicles like Relativity Space’s Terran.
Matsumori said the company is seeing growing demand for in-space transportation services. “The market for customers for either LEO transfers or other orbit transfers is developing at about the same pace as the in-space transportation capabilities are developing,” he said. “In the last three months, we’ve seen many more customers than we did in the prior six months.”
The number of options for in-space transportation services is also growing. On the Transporter-6 mission SpaceX launched Jan. 3, D-Orbit flew two of its ION satellite carriers that will deploy nine cubesats and support three hosted payloads. Momentus flew Vigoride-5, its second transfer vehicle carrying one cubesat and one hosted payload. Launcher flew its first Orbiter vehicle, with eight customers on board.
Matsumori said that Impulse Space plans to stand out from competitors based on performance. “Most everyone out there has fairly low delta-v’s for the mass they’re carrying,” he said. “We’re pretty much on the high end of the capabilities of the vehicles.”
Mira is the first in a series of vehicles Impulse Space is developing, with future vehicles capable of placing payloads into geostationary transfer orbits or direct insertions into geostationary orbit. “In-space is an infrastructure of capabilities, just like on Earth,” he said. “We have pickups, we have larger vans, and then we have 18-wheelers to be able to do logistics on Earth. Space is going to be no different.”
Raytheon’s infrared sensing payload will be integrated on a Lockheed Martin LM400
WASHINGTON — Raytheon Intelligence & Space announced Jan. 4 it selected a Lockheed Martin bus to build a missile-tracking satellite for the U.S. Space Force.
The U.S. Space Systems Command selected two satellite designs — one by Raytheon and the other by Millennium Space Systems — for a planned constellation of sensors in medium Earth orbit (MEO) to detect and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Both companies’ proposals last year cleared Space Force design reviews.
The Pentagon is adding a layer of MEO satellites to the nation’s missile-defense architecture to provide extra eyes on enemy hypersonic missiles. Compared to current sensors in geostationary satellites, sensors in medium orbits would see closer to Earth and track a wider area than satellites in low Earth orbit.
Raytheon won a contract of undisclosed value to develop a prototype satellite, ground systems and data processing applications.
“This is an advanced solution to counter emerging missile threats facing our country,” said Roger Cole, executive director of strategic systems at Raytheon Intelligence & Space.
Raytheon’s infrared sensing payload will be integrated on a Lockheed Martin LM400, a new medium-size satellite bus the company introduced in 2021 with security features aimed at the military market.
“Lockheed Martin is excited to provide our mid-sized, rapidly-producible LM400 bus to Raytheon,” said Mike Corriea, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s overhead persistent infrared mission area.
A “system critical design review” is scheduled for 2023, and the goal is to deliver the satellite for a 2026 launch. Work for this program will be performed at Raytheon’s facilities in El Segundo, California, and Lockheed Martin’s in Aurora, Colorado.
WASHINGTON — NASA will allow three aging Earth science missions to participate in an upcoming senior review of extended missions even as the agency warns of budget pressures on its overall portfolio of missions.
During a town hall Dec. 15 at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, NASA officials said they agency had invited the Aqua, Aura and Terra missions to submit proposals in the 2023 senior review of Earth science missions that are in their extended phases.
The three spacecraft, launched between 1999 and 2004, remain functional but are running low on stationkeeping propellant. The spacecraft have started to drift from their original operational orbits, which prompted concerns about impacts on the science they can perform and data continuity.
Julie Robinson, deputy director of NASA’s Earth science division, said the agency collected feedback about those missions through a request for information and a virtual workshop in November attended by more than 500 people. “One outcome of that is that Terra, Aqua and Aura will be invited to the senior review,” she said. In a senior review, missions that have completed their original prime missions make the case for continued funding to extend their missions.
Being invited to the senior review, though, is no guarantee that the missions will be able to secure funding. Robinson said the upcoming senior review will be particularly challenging given limited funding available for mission extensions.
“The senior review is not going to be an easy one this year,” she said. “We don’t have the money in the budget to extend every mission that comes to the senior review.” The agency will ask the panel that reviews the mission to advise it on various trades it can make among the missions.
NASA requested more than $2.4 billion for Earth science in its fiscal year 2023 budget proposal. However, the omnibus spending bill enacted in late December provided just under $2.2 billion for Earth science. While that is an increase of $130 million from 2022, it comes as NASA is ramping up work on its line of Earth System Observatory missions and other projects.
At the town hall, one scientist said it was “pretty shocking” that NASA would even consider not extending those three missions given their performance and the community of researchers using data from them. Robinson again turned to financial challenges facing the overall Earth science program.
“In the case of Terra, Aqua and Aura, one of the challenges we have is that these systems, because they’ve been operating so long, they’re really expensive,” she said. NASA’s fiscal year 2023 budget request projected spending $30.7 million each on operations of Terra and Aqua and $20.5 million on Aura. One part of the senior review will be to look at reducing those operating costs, but she did offer an estimate of the range of potential reductions.
“There are really painful trades in Earth System Observatory. There are also painful trades in deciding how much money to put on extended missions and how to operate them,” she said. “I can promise we will never make everybody happy with those trades.”
WASHINGTON — An independent review warned of potential cost overruns on a future major NASA Earth science mission, prompting NASA to consider removing some instruments from it.
NASA is in the process of conducting reviews known as Key Decision Point (KDP) A for three elements of its Earth System Observatory line of missions: Atmosphere Observing System (AOS), Mass Change, and Surface Biology and Geology. The KDP-A reviews would allow the proposed missions to move into Phase A of initial development.
NASA, though, delayed the KDP-A review for AOS, which had been scheduled for December, after receiving an independent review of the Earth System Observatory effort commissioned by NASA in June and completed in October. That review concluded that AOS, which will include satellites both in polar and mid-inclination orbits, would cost $2.4 billion, $500 million more than the project’s own estimate.
“That is a warning that got a lot of attention at the agency level,” said Julie Robinson, deputy director of NASA’s Earth science division, during a town hall meeting about the mission at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union Dec. 16. “It’s a red flag.”
A major factor for the cost growth in the opinion of the independent review board (IRB) is the low technical maturity of two instruments planned for it, a dual-band Doppler radar that would operate at Ka and W bands, and a high spectral resolution (HSRL) lidar. The radar would enable measurements of clouds and precipitation, while the lidar would characterize aerosols in the atmosphere.
While the independent review suggested saving money by replacing the dual-band with a single-band one, and the HSRL lidar with a more conventional lidar, Robinson said it was too early in the development of AOS to make that decision.
“We really need more time to study it,” she said, something that can be done during Phase A of AOS. That includes studies on building the instruments in-house versus procuring them, and requests for information to assess industry’s capability to provide those instruments.
NASA now plans to hold the KDP-A review in January, a delay she said was primarily intended to coordinate work among centers involved in AOS as well as international partners. Canada and Japan are providing their own spacecraft for AOS, along with instruments from France.
The prospect of removing the dual-band radar and HSRL lidar had alarmed scientists, who worried it would significantly reduce the scientific productivity of AOS. Robinson agreed, but noted the agency had not made any decisions about those instruments. “The IRB report did discuss that these descopes are significant, and we recognize that as well. This is not what you were hoping to get out of this mission,” she said. “We have to do these Phase A studies.”
However, she said that the agency needed to find some way to reduce the cost of AOS to avoid cuts elsewhere in the overall Earth System Observatory. “If it would really be half a billion dollars more than is budgeted to do AOS,” she said, “then we would need to drop another mission.”
The independent review concluded the costs of the other two missions, Mass Change and Surface Biology and Geology, were close to project estimates: $454 million for Mass Change and $752 million for Surface Biology and Geology. The review, though, warned that Mass Change, which it described as a “near-copy” of the current GRACE-FO mission, carries risks from using that design and doesn’t improve on resolution and sampling as recommended by the Earth science decadal survey.
NASA initiated the Earth System Observatory effort in 2021, using it as the umbrella for the missions that will implement the five “designated observables” from the decadal survey: aerosols; clouds, convection and precipitation; mass change in snow, ice and water; surface biology and geology; and surface deformation and change. AOS will handle the aerosols and clouds, convection and precipitation observables.
The agency has not started formal planning yet for the mission to implement the fifth designated observable, surface deformation and change. Instead, NASA will use data from the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission scheduled for launch in 2024 to support science involving surface deformation and change.
