GPS World

Tag: satellites

  • High-resolution Earth observation satellites ready for launch

    Space Systems Loral (SSL), a provider of satellites and spacecraft systems, built the six high-resolution small satellites for Planet for its SkySat Earth observation constellation — a fleet Planet gained through the acquisition of the Terra Bella business from Google in April 2017.

    Six SSL-built small satellites for Planet's Earth observation constellation have arrived at Vandenberg AFB for launch. (Photo: SSL)
    Six SSL-built small satellites for Planet’s Earth observation constellation have arrived at Vandenberg AFB for launch. (Photo: SSL)

    The satellites will double Planet’s high-resolution imaging capabilities and help provide information about the physical world.

    The satellites, called SkySat 8 through 13, are each about 60 x 60 x 95 centimeters, weigh about 100 kilograms, and capture sub-meter color imagery and up to 90-second clips of HD video with 30 frames per second.

    “Small satellites and Earth observation satellites are a growing focus for SSL,” said Dario Zamarian, group president of SSL. “SSL is known for working very collaboratively with our customers and it has been a great pleasure for our team to work together with Planet. For these satellites we have taken a fresh approach to manufacturing, learning from our GEO experience but also looking for new and more efficient processes that in turn also inform our large satellite manufacturing.”

    Working together with the seven SkySats already on orbit, the new satellites will dramatically increase Planet’s high-resolution imaging capabilities, enabling multiple imaging passes in a single day. These capabilities, combined with Planet’s more than 170 Dove satellites and their advanced software analytics platform, make it possible to derive timely insights from any location in the world.

    The Planet constellation provides a broad range of data, tools, and analytical services that help leaders in business and humanitarian sectors solve complex problems.

    “These SkySats double the amount of high-resolution data that we can capture and serve to users, and will power insights, inform smart decisions, and most importantly, help make the world a better and safer place,” said Will Marshall, co-founder and chief executive Sofficer of Planet. “The highly experienced team at SSL has been helpful and responsive as we work together to get the satellites prepared for launch.”

    SSL has deep experience in building and integrating some of the world’s most powerful and comprehensive solutions for services such as communications, Earth observation, in-orbit servicing, space robotics, and exploration.

    Four SkySats built by SSL were launched in September 2016, and SSL is currently building an additional eight LEOs for Planet in its SmallSat manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, where the company takes an innovative approach to satellite design, assembly and test.

  • Lockheed Martin invests $350 million in production facility for GPS III, other spacecraft

    Lockheed Martin invests $350 million in production facility for GPS III, other spacecraft

    Preliminary construction is underway on a new, $350 million Lockheed Martin facility that will produce next-generation satellites.

    The new facility, located on the company’s Waterton Canyon campus near Denver, is the latest step in an ongoing transformation, infused with innovation to provide future missions at reduced cost and cycle time, the company said.

    The new Gateway Center, slated for completion in 2020, includes a state-of-the-art high bay clean room capable of simultaneously building a spectrum of satellites from micro to macro.

    Spacecraft now in production at the site include the Air Force’s GPS III satellites (in the GPS III Processing Facility), NASA’s InSight Mars lander, NOAA’s GOES-R Series weather satellites and commercial communications satellites.

    The facility’s paperless, digitally-enabled production environment incorporates rapidly-reconfigurable production lines and advanced test capability.

    It includes an expansive thermal vacuum chamber to simulate the harsh environment of space, an anechoic chamber for highly perceptive testing of sensors and communications systems and an advanced test operations and analysis center.

    The Gateway Center will be certified to security standards required to support vital national security missions.

    “This is our factory of the future: agile, efficient and packed with innovations,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems. “We’ll be able to build satellites that communicate with front-line troops, explore other planets and support unique missions.”

    “You could fit the Space Shuttle in the high bay with room to spare,”Ambrose said. “That kind of size and versatility means we’ll be able to maximize economies of scale, and with all of our test chambers under one roof, we can streamline and speed production.”

    Lockheed Martin expects the construction effort to employ a total of 1,500 contractors during the three-year construction phase. Lockheed Martin has added more than 750 jobs to its Colorado workforce since 2014, and has about 350 job openings in the Denver area alone.

    Lockheed Martin’s planned satellite integration facility, the Gateway Center, is slated for completion in 2020. (Photo: Lockheed Martin.}

    The building will accommodate that recent growth and new future projects. State and local officials in Colorado have helped strengthen the aerospace industry and foster an environment that helps aerospace companies thrive and grow.

    “Aerospace is an engine of innovation and growth for America, and we’re investing in infrastructure and technology to help strengthen the nation’s leadership in military and commercial space and scientific exploration,” added Ambrose. “We’re transforming every aspect of our operations to help our customers stay ahead of a rapidly-changing landscape. The Gateway Center, coupled with advancements in 3D printing, virtual reality design and smart payloads, will deliver game-changing innovations while saving our customers time and money.”

    Lockheed Martin’s Waterton Canyon campus has been a hub of space innovation since the 1950s, with more than 4,000 employees and a wide range of industry-leading design, manufacturing and test facilities on site.

    Companies selected by Lockheed Martin for the project include Hensel Phelps as the general contractor, Matrix PDM Engineering and Dynavac for thermal vacuum chamber design and construction, and ETS-Lindgren for anechoic chamber design and construction.

  • ESA: Space debris enters ‘more feared exponential trend’

    ESA: Space debris enters ‘more feared exponential trend’

    Space Debris: Artist’s impression based on density data, shown at an exaggerated size to make objects visible. Image: ESA
    Space Debris: Artist’s impression based on density data, shown at an exaggerated size to make objects visible.
    Image: ESA

    In April, the European Space Agency (ESA) hosted the 7th European Conference on Space Debris at ESA’s Satellite Control Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. There, international experts discussed ways to head off the threat of space junk.

    ESA estimates there are roughly 5,000 objects larger than 1 meter, 20,000 objects over 10 centimeters and 750,000 “flying bullets” of around one centimeter.

    Risks of a collision are statistically remote, but “The growth in the number of fragments has deviated from the linear trend in the past and has entered into the more feared exponential trend,” warns Holger Krag, in charge of ESA’s space debris office.

    Many of the objects are traveling at enormous speed, up to 56,000 kilometers per hour, giving them the potential explosive force of a hand grenade on impact, said ESA experts.

    In the U.S., more than 16,000 objects are tracked and cataloged daily by crews in the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Only 1,100 of the tracked items are functional spacecraft, including GPS satellites.

    Dealing with existing debris will call for innovative solutions — the purpose of the four-day summit, held every four years since 1993.

    “It’s clear to us that the issue of space debris is serious,” Jan Woerner, ESA chief, told the conference. “No country can stand or act alone.”

  • Counting Down to Galileo

    Galileo 7 and 8 launch on March 27. The Galileo satellite navigation system remains on track after successful in-orbit validation and the salvage for navigational testing of two satellites launched into an incorrect orbit. The mini-constellation of satellites in orbit plus their associated ground segment has allowed in-depth testing of the overall Galileo system, and the performance was good. Now with the launch of the latest pair of satellites, ESA and the European Commission are progressing with the deployment phase of the program.