NewSpace International ... · deployment and pointing mechanism (ADPM) for Euclid SENER Aeroespacial has successfully completed ... Kepler Communications, a pioneer in nanosatellite

1www.newspaceinternational.com NewSpace International - September/October 2019

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NewSpace International - September/October 2019 www.newspaceinternational.com2

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#EDITOR #NEWSPACE #NASA #TOURISM #ISS

Dr Amy Saunders

Editor

In a surprise new move that marks the first firm space tourismplans in more than a decade, NASA announced over the

summer that it will be allowing tourists to visit the International Space Station (ISS)from 2020. It’s important to note that this isn’t the first-time tourists have beenallowed on the ISS; back during 2001-2009, Space Adventures, Inc. took the world’sfirst private space tourists for eight trips to the space station, although theprogramme was eventually cancelled.

With NASA’s new announcement, for the price of US$35,000 a night, touristswill be permitted to stay on board the ISS for up to 30 days. Two private astronautmissions will be available each year. According to NASA, private commercial entitieswill be responsible for determining the crew composition and ensuring that thetourists meet the necessary medical and training requirements. Accordingly, NASAhas selected Boeing, which is developing its Starliner spacecraft, and SpaceX,which will utilise the Dragon capsule, for transporting the crew and tourists. Theprivate companies are expected to charge the tourists somewhere in the regionof US$60 million per flight, the same price they plan to charge NASA to ferry theirastronauts back and forth.

NASA’s new move towards allowing commercial use of the ISS is set to causequite a stir throughout the NewSpace market. While other companies such asSpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are working on enabling private humanspaceflight, all reports so far indicate that this will be quite a way off. NASA hasunexpectedly pipped the frontrunners to the post in space tourism this time round,although at least SpaceX and Boeing will have a significant role to play, while alsohelping bring their names out in front on the space tourism agenda.

With a 30-night stay on board the ISS coming in at around US$61.05 million,these commercial space trips will remain out of reach for all but the super-wealthy.However, as technologies advance and opportunities increase, we can expect tosee prices come down significantly. Will prices ever be affordable for us normalpeople? Probably not, but we can dream!

Photo courtesy of NASA

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Letter from the Editor 3Space tourism takes flight

NewsBlast 6Key news from around the world

Near real-time intelligence 10Global Surface Intelligence (GSI) is just one of a handful of companiesable to provide near real-time intelligence on natural resources andinfrastructure assets serving several Forbes listed companies,governments and partners. Gavin Tweedie, CEO at GSI, opines on thecompany’s development and market

Mars habitation technology: Seperating fact fromfiction 12Is there life on Mars (in the future)? With the many missions to Marscurrently in the planning stages, and the legions of projects takingplace on Earth attempting to find solutions that would make a Marscolony possible, the future certainly looks bright (and red). LaurenceRussell, News and Social Media Editor at NewSpace International,opines on the possibilities.

Deep space health 16The whole world has its eyes set on the stars, eagerly waiting for thefirst commercial missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. While the topspaceflight companies are coming on in leaps and bounds, makingspace tourism a very real possibility, others are looking into theimplications on space traveller health.

Space-based quantum communications 22Communications are embedded so deeply in our day to day lives thatwe’ve come to take them entirely for granted. However, many liens ofcommunications are coming under attack by malicious entities andmischief-makers, prompting calls for more secure technologies.Quantum communication technologies, apparently ‘hack-proof,’ are thenext big thing coming in reliable, secure technology.

Opportunities for satellite in the era of commercialspaceflight 26The NewSpace race is on, with commercial spaceflight projects deeplyembedded at the core of the movement. While major players like SpaceX,Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are making global headlines with theiradvances, the developments are being felt across the entire aerospaceindustry. What are the opportunities and implications for satellite? SamBaird explains.

Front cover: InternationalSpace Station NationalLaboratory (ISS National Lab)

EditorAmy [email protected]

Marketing and BusinessBelinda [email protected]

Sales DirectorJill [email protected]

Sales ManagerSam [email protected]

PublisherRichard [email protected]

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CONTENTS








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#SSTL #NOVASTAR-1 #SENER #ADPM #EUCLID #AIRBUS

SSTL announcesNovaSAR-1 data deal withPhilippines

To include your news in NewSpace Internationalmagazine please contact

Dr Amy [email protected]

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) has signed anagreement with Republic of the Philippines’ Departmentof Science and Technology-Advanced Science andTechnology Institute (DOST-ASTI) to provide a share ofthe tasking and data acquisition services from NovaSAR-1, the innovative small S-Band radar satellite launchedinto a 580km sun synchronous orbit in September 2018.

The agreement gives DOST ASTI tasking priorities overthe Philippines and the ability to access the raw datadirectly from the satellite, with a license to use and sharethe data with their partners over an initial 5 year period,extendable to the actual lifespan of the satellite. SyntheticAperture Radar (SAR) has the ability to image the Earththrough cloud cover and at night, and DOST-ASTI will usedata from NovaSAR-1 in support of a number ofapplications, including disaster monitoring, agriculturaland forestry management, and coastal and maritimeapplications such as ship detection.

Andrew Cawthorne, Director of Earth Observation atSSTL said “I am delighted to welcome DOST-ASTIcolleagues to the NovaSAR-1 data team. I anticipate thatthe Philippines will benefit greatly from NovaSAR-1 data,particularly as the country has a tropical climate withfrequent cloud cover, and an extensive coastline andmaritime territory.”

“The SAR imaging capability of NovaSAR-1 is a timelyand powerful resource as we continue to push scientificdata, computing and space technology in support ofevidence-based politics and decision-making in thecountry” according to Dr Joel Marciano, Jr, Acting Directorof DOST-ASTI. “For one, NovaSAR-1’s simultaneousacquisition of SAR and Automatic Identification System(AIS) data targets enhanced maritime domain awarenessthat is expected to lead to more effective interventions”adds Mr Alvin Retamar, Chief Science Research Specialistat DOST-ASTI.

The target area for the first image acquisition was Cebucity and the nearby Mactan-Cebu International Airport.The captured image shows sea-going vessels around theshipping port together with the rugged terrain of theinterior of Cebu Island. Masbate Island in the Bicol regionof the Philippines serves as the target area of the secondimage acquisition. The resulting image reveals a cratersite hidden by forest canopy that is not visible in opticalsatellite images. Other features such as aquaculture sitesalong the coast and the rolling hills in the central regionof the island were also captured in the image.

NovaSAR-1 was designed and manufactured at SSTL,with an S-Band payload developed by Airbus Defenceand Space in Portsmouth UK, and an AutomaticIdentification Receiver supplied by Honeywell Aerospace.

The SAR payload has a dedicated maritime modedesigned with a very wide swath area of 400km toenable the monitoring of the marine environment andwill provide direct radar ship detection informationsimultaneously with AIS ship tracking data to assist withthe identification and tracking of sea-going vessels.

Mission partners already under contract forNovaSAR-1 data include the UK Space Agency,Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and IndustrialResearch Organisation (CSIRO) and the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO).

NovaSAR-1 is owned and operated by SSTL..

SENER Aeroespacialsuccessfully delivers the flightmodel for the antennadeployment and pointingmechanism (ADPM) for Euclid

SENER Aeroespacial has successfully completedthe delivery of the flight model for the Euclidsatellite's antenna deployment and pointingmechanism (ADPM). The company has beenresponsible for the design, production, integration,verification and validation of this mechanism, amission-critical component as it will allow for theHigh-Gain Antenna (HGA), the vehicle’s mainantenna, and one of the Low-Gain Antennas (LGA),to be deployed and pointed so that Euclid cancommunicate with tracking stations on Earth forthe purpose of sending scientific data.

The result is a precision mechanism developedby SENER Aeroespacial that has three axes, onefor deploying the antennas and the other two forpointing them. Two radio frequency signals aretransmitted through the mechanism from thesatellite to the antennas. The signals are in the K-band for the high-gain antenna and in the X-bandfor the low-gain antenna. The K-band signal relieson a rotary joint and an actuator, both of whichwere developed exclusively by SENERAeroespacial.




https://www.satellite-evolution.com/


Kepler delivers world’s first arctic high-bandwith satellite service

#KEPLER #NANOSATELLITE #MOSAIC #AZUR #AIRBUS #ARCTIC #POLARSTERN

Fifty years ago: the successful launch of Airbus’Azur research satellite

Kepler Communications, a pioneer in nanosatellite telecommunication services, has demonstrated delivering over100Mbps connectivity service in the Arctic region to the German icebreaker Polarstern. The vessel is located around85oN and is the home to the MOSAiC scientific expedition. The demonstration marks the first time in history that thecentral Arctic is successfully connected through a high-bandwidth satellite network.

Kepler’s two polar-orbiting satellites are being used to transfer data for scientists taking part in MOSAiC, the mostextensive research expedition ever to the North Pole. MOSAiC is an international expedition consisting of hundreds ofscientists and operations crew, which will remain locked into the Arctic ice sheet to study the environment. The teamwill spend the next 12 months drifting along with the ice sheet, with the purpose of the mission being to take theclosest look ever at the effects of climate change on the Arctic.

Thanks to Kepler, the Polarstern is equipped with the world’s only high-bandwidth satellite data link delivered fromlow-Earth orbit (LEO) that is available in the Arctic. With the vessel operating well outside the range of traditional high-throughput satellites, Kepler is providing 100x higher data speeds, when the satellite passes the vessel than would beotherwise available to the ship. This improved data transfer capability means scientists can share large data filesbetween ship and shore, improving the ability to share, analyze, and disseminate information.

“Our Global Data Service provides a cost-effective means to transfer large data volumes that will be gathered overthe course of MOSAiC,” explained Mina Mitry, CEO at Kepler. “Rather than only storing data locally and analyzing oncephysical storage can be sent back with supply vessels, we are giving scientists the ability to continuously transfer testand housekeeping data sets over our unique LEO satellite network.”

Kepler’s Global Data ServiceTM will save time, money and, most importantly, improve the ability for MOSAiC scientiststo carry out their critical mission of studying climate change.

In charge of MOSAiC’s logistics is the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research(AWI), from Germany. They are responsible for leading this international expedition that involves the joint efforts of 19countries around the world. With over USD 158 million in funding, the most advanced technology on a researchicebreaker, and an astonishing quantity of planning and logistics, MOSAiC is the largest expedition to the North Poleever in history.

"The high polar regions are the last frontiers of the globe where high bandwidth data connections could not beestablished so far,” outlined Professor Markus Rex, MOSAiC project leader and atmospheric scientist at the AlfredWegener Institute in Potsdam. “Kepler's new Global Data Service now enables us to send back bulk data, includingkey data files for monitoring the status of instruments together with experts at home. This will contribute to the successof MOSAiC."

The MOSAiC expedition began when the Polarstern set sail from Norway this past September and will continue formore than a year. Findings from the mission will help better assess the future of Earth’s climate, and provide valuableinformation to help fight climate change.

Kepler is the world's only provider of high-bandwidth satellite services in the poles. Aboard the Polarstern, Keplerhas demonstrated data rates of 38 Mbps downlink and 120 Mbps uplink to a 2.4m Ku-band VSAT (Very Small ApertureTerminal).

This year has already marked 50 years since the first landing on the Moon and 50 years since Airbus was founded.Now there is another 50th anniversary on the horizon: 50 years ago, Germany was elevated to the status of aspacefaring nation following the successful launch of Azur, its first research satellite. On 8 November 1969 at 2:52am (CET), a Scout launch vehicle lifted off from Vandenberg, California, USA, carrying Azur into space. In doingso, Germany joined the club of nations that had placed their own satellites in orbit.

Azur was developed and built at what are now Airbus sites in Bremen (formerly ERNO), Friedrichshafen (Dornier)and Ottobrunn (MBB). Specialist magazines at the time reported on the importance of Azur: “The construction ofthe Azur research satellite, in which all German space companies were involved, heralded the end of the learningphase of the 1960s.” To this day, the Azur, which weighs 72 kg, is often seen as the breakthrough in Germany’semergence as a space research and industry nation.

The research satellite was used to study cosmic ray particles and how they interact with the magnetosphere,as well as to investigate the Northern Lights and solar winds. Even then, scientific interest was fierce: more than100 experiments were proposed, of which seven ultimately made it aboard Azur. The mission ended on 29 June1970.



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#GSI #REAL-TIME-INTELLIGENCE #LIDAR # IOT

Near real-timeintelligenceGlobal Surface Intelligence (GSI) is just one ofa handful of companies able to provide nearreal-time intelligence on natural resourcesand infrastructure assets serving severalForbes listed companies, governments andpartners. The company consolidates openand commercial satellite, LiDAR, IoT andground survey reference data transforming itinto commercially valuable information.Processed on its machine learning platform,GSI provides answers-as-a-service on aproduct subscription basis to reveal the truevalue, health, performance and condition ofnatural and infrastructure assets for assetowners, investors and stakeholders. GavinTweedie, CEO at GSI, opines on thecompany’s development and market

Gavin Tweedie, CEO at GSI

Question: Can you provide an overview of GSI’scapabilities and expertise?Gavin Tweedie: GSI is at the cutting edge of AI, remotesensing, environmental science and softwareengineering. We combine these disciplines to provideanswers to difficult questions involving the location,health, performance, condition and value of naturalresources, such as forests, crops and biomass,infrastructure assets such as pipelines, transmissionnetworks, renewable energy infrastructure and transportnetworks.

Never has it been possible to sensibly combine theexpertise across these domains into a commercialproduct offering which can be licensed on a subscriptionbasis. Historically, most work which has gone into thisdomain has been academic research projects relyingon grant funding but hasn’t subsequently translated intocommercialised product offerings. At GSI we arefocused on delivering tangible business outcomeswhere innovation becomes product reality by addingreal value to organisations looking to expand theirportfolio of product offerings with more near real-timeinformation.

Question: Let’s discuss the application of geospatialanalytics; what are the possibilities for the widerworld?Gavin Tweedie: Firstly, the wider world can benefit fromcontinuous Earth observation providing insights intoprecious resources for human, environmental andeconomic benefit. Secondly being able to assess howsustainably these resources are being maintained andconsumed and act if required. This is a key role whichgeospatial analytics provide.

In practical terms, for analytics of any kind to beuseful, they must not only inform, but enable the userto decide, act and realise tangible and measurable

benefits. There is little point in providing an alert to achange in land use somewhere unless it’s going to beactioned – what we refer to as a ‘find and fix,’ rather than‘find and forget’ approach.

There are two ways which GSI data is being used byclients currently:

• The first is management by exception which involvesdeciding which assets and areas need to bespecifically monitored from space on a continuousbasis, deciding on the monitoring interval,establishing business rules to recognise when riskthresholds have been breached which thenalert responsible groups to apply well definedcounter measures to mitigate those risks. Geospatialdata which has been expertly examined andcompared against business rules withinautomated workflows make this possible. GSIassembles and creates earth observation workflowproducts of this kind to provide clients with visibilityand control over their most important natural and infrastructure assets.

• Second is taking stock of their assets which relatesto knowing the true location and current value of theirassets today. This has always been important, butperhaps is becoming more necessary asavailability of natural resources and usable landbecomes more depleted and climate impact makesasset performance less predictable. For example, amortgage cannot be obtained without a survey ofthe asset first to establish its true current value. Ifthe survey took several days to complete and costan extreme amount, it’s unlikely there would be alot of movement in the property market. Demandfor more efficiency and the latest information inperforming large scale inventories of forest assets,land assets is increasing. Geospatial data can be usedto generate this near real-time information in anefficient and prudent manner.



#GSI #REAL-TIME-INTELLIGENCE #LIDAR # IOT

Question: Artificial intelligence is everywhere in thecommunications industry right now. How does GSIutilise artificial intelligence and deep learning in itseveryday operations?Gavin Tweedie: We are seeing many organisationsexhibit interest in new technologies and embracingindustry 4.0. These include: AI and machine learning,remote sensing, LiDAR, IoT, and drone data acquisitionand filtering technologies. However, at GSI, we havebeen combining some of these technologies as earlyas 2013 (patenting some of the methods) which havesince become integral to our earth observationmonitoring system. AI is a key enabling technologywithin this.

Firstly, we train the machine learning/AI platform torecognise objects of interest within imagery and pixels.Meaning that our system automatically scrutinisesimagery and data collected from space every day tolook for matching patterns within pixels. Machinelearning allows us to seek out key findings andobservations of interest which impact the value,performance and condition of natural and infrastructureassets to corporate clients and partners.

In practical terms, our machine learning platform isdesigned to be trained to look for points of interest andchanges in and around natural resources and manmadeinfrastructure. For example, identifying forest andvegetation species, biomass, volume and inventoryinformation and how it is changing over time.

Outcomes of this work include discovery andmeasurement of biomass resources, determiningwhether food supply chains are sustainable, predictinglarge scale crop failure, detecting potential insurancefraud or certification and custom assurance violations,and tracking the spread of disease across forests. It’scommon to find that stakeholders in different verticalscan be interested in the same information; it’s just thecontext that changes across the assets being monitored.

Question: Which markets are you targeting with yourservices, and how do you expect them to develop inthe years to come?Gavin Tweedie: A broad set of organisations areinterested in what we do; corporates and governmentsare interested in assessing natural and man-madeassets within their supply chains. This includesbusinesses replacing fossil fuel with biomass energy,those seeking to measure and adhere to their ESG(environmental social governance) objectives,governments seeking to measure performance andexecute against UN sustainable development goals, andcommodity traders looking to locate and measure howmuch sugar cane is available this season. Verticalindustries also have a need for current information andpredictions into their assets.

Industries which have been quick to embrace thisnew source of information on their assets include theenergy sector, TIC (test, inspection and certification),assurance and insurance.

We expect to see demand increase for NRTintelligence in man-made and natural resources assets.These industries will drive, and place demands on theirvertically integrated service providers and globalconsulting providers. As with all transformationaltechnologies, the masses will become more educatedas mainstream media educates us to the commercial

possibilities of using this rich source of space derivedintelligence.

Question: Artificial intelligence is also the subject ofsome controversy in a number of spheres. What areyour expectations for the technology in the future, andwhat challenges do you see in its wider roll-out?Gavin Tweedie: AI always relies on the availability ofreliable and relevant reference data on which to trainthe platform and then to ground truth to verify thepredictions are correct. Working with AI requires a similarapproach to training a new employee up to perform arole. You need to provide training, clear direction,procedures to follow, provide adequate referencematerial, allocate enough time for practical experiencewith the support and guidance of experiencedemployees. At GSI we devote a lot of energy to qualitycontrol, verification and tool creation that help thebeneficiaries of our intelligence have confidence in thepredictions and results. A key challenge we must dealwith in delivering AI enabled systems is setting realisticexpectations with clients. There are no shortcuts andno overnight successes. It takes the same kind of timeand vigour to implement an effective AI system and it isonly as good as the training and references it’s beenprovided.

Question: In June 2018, GSI was named as one of thefirst six companies to benefit from the UK’s first SpaceCamp Accelerator. How did this award benefit GSI?Gavin Tweedie: Taking part in the Space Camp programin London gave GSI exposure to the wider spacecommunity globally allowing us to form internationalpartnerships. Participation in the program also providedmore validation of the company progress and helpedto elevate our brand amongst our peers.

Question: In August 2018, GSI closed a majorinvestment round, enabling the company to respondto strong commercial appetite for its unique datarefinery services. What can you tell us about thisachievement?Gavin Tweedie: The company received funding fromboth Par Equity and Scottish Investment Bank last yearallowing us to scale up the overall GSI operations froma part-time effort to full time and establish an HQ inEdinburgh. We’ve also been able to increase headcountby 55 percent in the last 12 months. We won’t bestopping there, however, and are continuing to expandour team to create solutions of significant global impact.

Question: What are your expectations for GSI for therest of 2019 and beyond?Gavin Tweedie: We’ve had a strong 18 months, havingalready grown our customer base by securing projectswith several Forbes Global 2000 organisations andgrowing our partner base internationally – from NorthAmerica to Australia. As a business, we have veryambitious growth plans over the next 3-5 years whichwill be accelerated through VC investment planned forlater next year.

‘A broad set of organisations areinterested in what we do...’



#MARS #HABITATION #COLONY #SPACEX #NASA

Mars habitation technology: Separating factfrom fictionIs there life on Mars (in the future)? With themany missions to Mars currently in theplanning stages, and the legions of projectstaking place on Earth attempting to findsolutions that would make a Mars colonypossible, the future certainly looks bright (andred). Laurence Russell, News and SocialMedia Editor at NewSpace International,opines on the possibilities.

Oleg Artemyev exercising on the ISS

Image: HUBER+SUHNER

Since humankind reached the Moon, our aspirationsaround space technology have steadily shifted awayfrom merely visiting the planets of the solar system tofinding a way to stay there after the journey.

If we can survive in and travel through space, surelyhabitation on extra-terrestrial bodies is the next greatachievement in the history of human space exploration.Of course, such an outlandish concept requires manysophisticated technologies working in tandem, most ofwhich we are more familiar within the realm of sciencefiction than science fact.

The surface of the red planet is closer to theconditions on Earth in terms of temperature and sunlightthan that of any other planet or moon within our vicinity,which has long earned it the reputation amid the humanimagination as our eventual first step towardinterplanetary colonisation.

As technological innovation continues to eclipse whatwas once impossible, and ambitious businessmen

continue to promise ever more mind-boggling results,popular misconceptions over space habitationtechnology is as common as it ever was.

As a new era of space exploration beckons and thedream of life on Mars becomes ever more possible,certain scientific challenges are closer than ever to beingsolved, while others are just as distant as ever.

Intelligent autonomous systemsEvery human in a crew presents a significant cost atevery stage of the mission. The additional provision formore people includes the amount of energy and weightrequired, not to mention the months of training theyrequire. Any role onboard that can be automated by aneffective intelligent system would go a long way,

Mizuna lettuce growing aboard theInternational Space Station beforebeing harvested and frozen for returnto Earth




SpaceX's Big F Spaceshippictured near a conceptual

moonbase - Credit -TeslaRati

especially mathematically intensive tasks and crisisresponse.

In 1998, NASA successfully tested an artificialintelligence (AI)-like software system called RemoteAgent to diagnose faults on their Deep Space 1spacecraft. Today, AI software directly developed fromRemote Agent is used on Martian rovers like Opportunityand Curiosity.

While this technology shows promise, the decision-making AI we currently possess may not be appropriatefor us in space. The largest breakthroughs in artificialintelligence over the last decade have come from theacuity with which systems process data from theinternet, which may not organically translate to theinterpretation of the unique environments of space. Ofcourse, classified military AI may be closer to deliveringsolutions appropriate for space missions, but we simplydon’t know, so it may be some considerable time beforewe see AI technology reach its full potential amongstthe stars.

The other application of interstellar automationcomes from hardware. Human beings are extremelyvulnerable in space, and costly to protect from all itshazards. Sophisticated autonomous robotics can betheoretically developed to perform the same role asastronauts without endangering life.

NASA’s Robonaut technology aims to do exactly that.The first working Robonaut, R1B, was developed in 2002,a simple mobile prototype. It’s descendant, R2 wasdeveloped in 2010, and while also a prototype, missionmanagers were so impressed with its capabilities thatthey sent it to the International Space Station (ISS) forfield testing, where it performed cleaning tasksalongside the crew. In 2018, NASA announced that R2would be returning home for maintenance andmodification for relaunch in a year’s time. Eventually, theRobonaut system will be capable of operating in thevacuum of space to perform external repairs andconduct scientific experiments.

There are all sorts of other exciting robotics projectsintended for interstellar operations. SPHERESmicrosatellites, the ATHLETE ambulatory rover and theRASSOR excavator all present exciting avenues forautonomous engineering. While a brave new world ofautonomous spacecraft repair and robotic space miningmay remain distant, we’re likely to see autonomousrobotics make up a big part of space strategy in theimmediate future.

Re-usable launch technologyWithout the abundance available on Earth, the use ofenduring machinery is paramount in space. Capable, re-usable rockets allow for cheaper spaceflight, allowingengineers to deploy resources elsewhere, potentiallyresulting in less required launches overall, leading to akinder environmental impact.

In 2012, SpaceX announced plans to produce a fullyreusable super-heavy lift rocket called BFR (Big FalconRocket) for launching crewed excursions into LEO andbeyond. The rocket will break records for its payloadcapacity, carrying 150 tons into orbit, with its secondstage ‘Starship’ constructed for carrying both cargo andpassengers.

Realistic estimates suggest that the BFR will becapable of transporting 100 people and will requirerefuelling via an autonomous orbital tanker, although

realistic estimates and ambitions of interplanetarycolonial expansion within the decade typically don’t mix.

The BFR is being designed to be capable of terrestriallanding via its launch mounts, eliminating the need forlegs, although in June 2019, Musk stated the first fewlandings would be made with legs to avoid damage tolanding pads.

In 2017, Musk ambitiously detailed plans to deploythe BFR to Mars twice in 2022, followed by a total offour times in 2024, all of which will require orbitalrefuelling. These missions aim to create theinfrastructure necessary to produce rocket fuel on Marsallowing for easier interplanetary travel.

He also warned: “If there are any hitches, expectthings to get pushed back.” Which has already occurred.Amongst other hiccups, a stage 2 prototype was blownover by the wind in January 2019, before it could attemptlow altitude flight testing.

At the same presentation, Musk stated: “It’s 2017 - Weshould have a lunar base by now. What the hell’s goingon?”

You tell us, Elon.

Exo-agricultureThe distant, perhaps naïve, goal of Martian developmentis the conception of a second Earth; the mythical planetB climate change experts tell us we can’t have.Unfortunately, such an undertaking would requirecenturies, perhaps millennia, of boundlesslysophisticated terraforming measures. The more realistic,shorter term goal of growing plants and vegetables in acontrolled environment to create food and oxygen fora Martian habitat is much more reasonable.

NASA has predicted that a three-year Mars missionwould require 24,000 pounds of food, all precooked anddehydrated for longevity. With an active capability toproduce fresh food through micro-agriculture, the strainof those numbers could be handily reduced.

There are a number of ambitious programs currentlyunderway to produce vegetation in space, althoughExpedition 44’s crop of Romaine lettuce served as thefirst vegetable to be successfully grown and eaten byAmerican astronauts in space when they were




Observing the Earth from spaceconsumed in August 2015. More recent experimentssuch as the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) and theVEGGIE system were developed very recently and arestill in the process of determining what is and what isnot possible.

On their own, the successful results from experimentslike these bode well for the future of agriculture beyondEarth, and with the contributions of geneticallyengineered crops, perhaps the process could be madeeven smoother.

Of course, successful and sustainable agriculture inspace requires a lot of water, something crewed spacemissions greatly struggle with already. Raising largequantities of crops, on top of hydrating the Martiancolonists will require access to, and filtration of Mars’water, presenting a new engineering challenge.

That, combined with the need for many crops topollinate, makes large-scale exo-agriculture a ratherfuturistic hurdle to full actualise.

Human adaptationWith the markedly different physical and socialenvironment of Mars, the subject of habitation comesto encompass psychological and physiologicalprovision. The most perfect Martian habitat doesn’t meanmuch if its colonists aren’t able to adjust to physicallyliving there.

In October 2018, NASA published data suggestinglengthy journeys into space, such as a ‘conventional’journey to Mars, would be likely to result in significantdamage to a human’s internal organs due to cosmic ionradiation, which has the potential to be even moredamaging than gamma radiation. “With the currentshielding technology, it is difficult to protect astronautsfrom the adverse effects of heavy ion radiation,” saidKamal Datta, a Senior Scientist at Georgetown UniversityMedical Centre and NASA. “Although there may be away to use medicines to counter these effects, no suchagent has been developed yet.”

While we may soon be able to appropriately shieldourselves from cosmic radiation, microgravity posesanother danger. ISS astronauts that have served in long-term missions lasting around a year have exhibited boneand muscle loss, cardiovascular problems, immune andmetabolic disorders, visual disorders, balance andsensorimotor problems, and many other issues. With theslight gravity of Mars, some of these issues may bemitigated, although over a longer timeframe, the healthproblems associated with microgravity are likely toradically reduce the human lifespan.

That is to say nothing of the psychological toll of beingsubjected to a small social group completely abstractedfrom the rest of the human race, engaged in anunchanging routine.

The realities of the cosmic environment seemradically inhospitable to life as we know it. Even thedeepest of Earth’s sea trenches or its highest mountainpeaks are considered vastly friendlier to humanhabitation than Mars.

There are few, if any, realistic solutions to these sortsof health problems. Much like terraforming, the truesolutions lie firmly in the realm of science fiction. Partialgravity is not like living in a different country, whereadaptation is merely a question of time. Thousands ofyears of evolution have tailored our biology to suitsociable lives on Earth. True adaptation will require the

colonist to adapt their skeleton, musculature, organs,circulation, and skin to handle the stress of partial gravityand cosmic radiation.

Subterranean habitationSince the Viking orbiter landings of the mid-1970s, we’vebeen aware of Mars’ network of lava tubes. Long,snaking tunnels beneath the Martian surface, whichformed as a result of fast-moving basaltic lava flows,have long been speculated as prime locations for futurehabitation.

These volcanic caverns delve tens of metres belowthe surface, providing natural shelter from the extremeconditions of the Martian surface such as solar radiation,micrometeorites, or regolith dust storms. These featurescould make for safer shelters for certain missions in theshort-term, and potentially in the long-term, a safesubterranean network for transportation.

Unfortunately, data from the European SpaceAgency’s (ESA) Mars Express mission launched in 2003revealed the presence of volcanic activity dated to thelast two million years, which is recent enough ingeological terms to speculate that Mars is not yetvolcanically extinct.

If this is indeed the case, these volcanic tunnels wouldprove far less longitudinally habitable than initiallypresumed.

The InSight robotic Lander, manufactured byLockheed Martin and managed by NASA’s JetPropulsion Laboratory, launched in May 2018 and landedin the Elysium Planitia in November 2018, is currently inthe process of measuring Mars’ seismic activity and theheat flow from the interior of the planet to estimate thesize of the planet’s molten core, which should shedsome light on Martian volcanology.

Until we have more information, it’s anyone’s guessif Martian lava tubes are a realistic avenue for habitation.

Approaching the threshold of the Martian Age ofspaceflightThere is plenty about the current state of spaceexploration to be excited about, and more projectedmissions from a greater span of countries than ourspecies has ever supported before. As the missions andexperiments we perform on our extra-terrestrialneighbours become ever more advanced andlongitudinal, it seems very likely that an astronaut willwalk on Mars within the next decade.

Experts are cynical that true Martian habitation iswithin reach, and often passionately advocate that weinvest in fixing our own planet first, before we clumsilyattempt to claim another. After all, we already have allthe technology and understanding to ensure our ownplanet’s future habitability, and very little of what wewould need to do the same with Mars, some of which,like the health risks of microgravity or a method ofeffective terraforming, are beyond even the realm ofscience fiction.

That is not to say that the red planet is beyond ourreach. With everything that we have already achievedin the field of space exploration, it is difficult to believethat man will never be born on Mars to live a fulfillinglife there, comparable to Earth. As we await a time whenthat inconceivable dream may become more practical,the mere thought of it proves sublime enough tocontinue striving for.



#SATELLITEVU #EARTHOBSERVATION #POLLUTION

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#HEALTH #TWINS #MOON #MARS #GRAVITY #SPACE

Deep space healthThe whole world has its eyes seton the stars, eagerly waiting forthe first commercial missions tothe Moon, Mars and beyond.While the top spaceflightcompanies are coming on inleaps and bounds, making spacetourism a very real possibility,others are looking into theimplications on space travellerhealth.

Twin study: Now retired twin astronauts, Scott and Mark Kelly, aresubjects of NASA’s Twins Study. Scott (right) spent a year in spacewhile Mark (left) stayed on Earth as a control subject. Researcherslooked at the effects of space travel on the human body. The researchis published in Science. Credits: Derek Storm, www.derekstorm.com

Space does funny things to the humanbody. On Earth, humans are subject to avery specific set of conditions, includinggravity, temperature, pressure, humidity,etc. Over the millennia, humans haveevolved to thrive in these conditions.However, in space, the human body issubject to an entirely new set of conditionswhich it has not evolved to accommodate.

Documented effects of microgravity onthe human body include muscle atrophy and skeletaldeterioration, slowed cardiovascular system functions,a reduction in reed blood cell production, eyesightdisorders, changes to the immune system, balancedisorders, fluid redistribution, loss of body mass, sleepdisturbance, accelerated aging and congestion. That’squite a fun collection of very serious bodily concernsfor those excited to finally be able to buy their way intospace!

As space tourism increasingly nears reality,investigative efforts into the effects of spaceflight onthe human body have boomed. Gaining a betterunderstanding into the long-term impacts on humanhealth, and finding ways to mitigate them, is consideredthe biggest challenge in the commercial spaceflightindustry today, after the financial challenges ofaccessing space.

Testing twinsEarlier in the year, NASA reported the results of its year-long study of identical twin astronauts Scott and MarkKelly. During the study, Scott Kelly spent a year on theInternational Space Station while twin Mark Kelly, whois retired, remained on Earth. Twin studies have long heldgreat value in the scientific fields because their identicalgenetic makeup means that any differences betweenthem can be attributed to environmental factors. Thefirst of its kind study, which compared molecular profilesof the twins, revealed surprising and positivelyreassuring data of how the human body can adapt tothe extreme environment of space.

Ten research teams reported their results, which isexpected the be used for decades to come:

Telomeres: The ends of each strand of DNA havetelomeres which protect our chromosomes. Telomere

lengths tend to get shorter as we age; lifestyle factors,stresses and environmental exposures can also affectthe rate at which this shortening occurs. Scottexperienced a change in telomere length dynamicsduring spaceflight and within days of landing. Resultsfrom this investigation may help to evaluate generalhealth and identify potential long-term risks.

Immunome: Scott received three flu vaccines, eachone year apart; the first on Earth, the second in spaceand the third back on Earth. Scott’s body reactedappropriately to the vaccine, which is significant becauseit allows NASA to have greater confidence that theimmune system responds appropriately in space, shoulda vaccine ever be needed, during long-durationmissions.

Gene Expression: Samples taken before, during andafter Scott’s mission in space revealed changes in geneexpression. Mark experienced normal-range changes ingene expression on Earth, but not the same changes asScott. Changes Scott experienced may have beenassociated with his stay in space. Most of these changes(about 91.3 percent) reverted to baseline after hereturned to Earth; however, a small subset persistedafter six months. Some observed DNA damage isbelieved to be a result of radiation exposure. Thesefindings help demonstrate how a human body was ableto adapt to the extreme environment of space and helpresearchers better understand how environmentalstressors influence the activity of different genes,leading to a better understanding of physiologicalprocesses in space.

Cognition: Scott’s cognitive performance (such asmental alertness, spatial orientation, recognition ofemotions) remained largely unchanged during his timein space, and relative to Mark on the ground, suggestingthat astronauts can maintain high levels of cognitive

http://www.derekstorm.com




The Human ExperimentationResearch Analog (HERA) at

Houston's Johnson Space Centercan house a mock space crew for

up to 45 days. (Image NASA)

performance for longer durations in space. However, amore pronounced decrease in speed and accuracy wasobserved after he landed and persisted for six months,possibly due to re-exposure and adjustment to Earth’sgravity, and the busy schedule after Scott’s mission.

Biochemical: Scott’s body mass decreased by sevenpercent during flight, likely due to increased exerciseand controlled nutrition while on his mission; but he alsoconsumed about 30 percent fewer calories thanresearchers anticipated. His bone breakdown and bonereformation cycle occurred at a faster rate during thefirst six months he was in space but slowed down in thesecond half when his exercise volume was lower. Hischemistry of blood and urine samples indicated that hisfolate status (vitamin B-9) was low before flight but wentup during flight, likely due to better food choices fromthe space food system. There is a correlation betweenScott’s folate status and telomere dynamics.

Microbiome: A highly diverse microbiome (bacteriain the gut) is generally associated with good health.Scott’s gut flora was found to be profoundly differentduring flight from preflight. This could be due to the foodhe consumed while on the space station (mainly freeze-dried or thermo-stabilized prepackaged food) althoughother space-specific environmental factors may havecontributed. When he landed back on Earth, Scott’smicrobiome returned to preflight state. Observing howmuch Scott’s gut bacteria returned to normal wasreassuring. Findings from this study may provideresearchers with a better understanding of how to helpimprove overall health, such as adjusting astronauts’diets to help beneficial bacteria thrive.

Epigenomics: This study looked at how the twins’environments influenced changes in DNA methylation,which has a significant impact on many biochemical

reactions in the body. Researchers found Scottexperienced epigenetic changes inflight, but the degreeof changes was no greater than Mark’s on Earth. Mostof Scott’s epigenetic changes took place during thesecond six months of the mission and would not havebeen observed in a shorter mission. Scott’s white bloodcells revealed genes, or regions of the genome, whereDNA methylation was altered in flight but returned tobaseline upon his return. These regions were differentthan those identified in Mark, helping researchersidentify genes that appear most responsive to the spaceenvironment. These results open the door to epigeneticmeasurements of astronauts on long-duration spacemissions and may help determine whether spaceflight-associated changes are transient or long-lived. Theycould also help identify which preventativecountermeasures might better protect astronauts’health.

Metabolomics: Researchers looked for signs ofatherosclerosis (narrowing of the inside of an artery walldue to plaque build-up) which may be caused byinflammation and oxidative stress during spaceflight.They found indications of inflammation and carotidartery wall thickening in Scott during and immediatelyafter his mission, but no such changes were observedin Mark. Whether this adaptation is reversible remainsto be determined.

Proteomics: The proteomics team studied fluid shiftsin the body, the structure of the eye, and proteins inurine to see if changes in protein pathways in responseto fluid shifts might contribute to some astronauts’ visionproblems. They found that a protein, AQP2, was elevatedin Scott in space as compared to Mark on the ground.AQP2 regulates water reabsorption in the body and is auseful indicator of hydration status.




Integrative Omics: The longitudinal integrated multi-omics analysis team examined all of the biomedical andmolecular data collected from the other nine researchteams to produce the single most comprehensive viewof how the human body responds to spaceflight.Researchers found three strong indications ofinflammation in Scott in space. Interestingly, some ofthese markers were elevated in Mark as well.

Although a great many changes were recordedduring Scott’s time in space, many of his responsesreturned to pre-flight levels by the end of the study,including body weight, gut bacteria, epigenetic changes,immune responses, and serum metabolites. Otherfactors were affected only after landing, such asinflammation and immune response. Meanwhile, a smallnumber of changes remained at the study’s end,including DNA disruption, ocular changes, geneexpression, telomere dynamics and cognitive functions.Findings from the study are expected to be utilised forboth applications here on Earth, as well as for futurehuman spaceflight missions.

Tissues on a chipThe International Space Station National Laboratory (ISSNational Lab) made an intriguing partnership withNational Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Center forAdvancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and NationalInstitute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering thatis now coming to fruition.

The Tissue Chips in Space Initiative was conceived in2016 with the goal of creating tissue- and organ-on-chipplatforms that mimic human physiology in the extremespace environment in order to better understand therole of microgravity on human health and diseases, andtranslate those findings to improve human health onEarth. During the first phase of the initiative, researchersdeveloped and tested the tissue chips on the ISSNational Lab in a microgravity environment. Now thesecond phase has been entered, with the December2018 and May 2019 SpaceX resupply missions whichtransported the first tissue chips to the ISS, researcherswill demonstrate the functional use of the tissue chipmodels on the ISS for more defined experiments.

The chips will reportedly be held in an incubator fortwo weeks, and then frozen and preserved prior totransport back to Earth for analysis. The tissue chips willenable studies of organs at the cell and tissue levelsunder reduced gravity, contributing to ourunderstanding of the aging process, and potentiallyrevealing molecular targets that could slow the process.

“We expect this research to give scientists newinsights into the molecular basis for many humanconditions, which in this particular project relates to howmicrogravity induces aging of the immune system thatmay lead to the development of novel therapies hereon Earth,” said Danilo Tagle, Ph.D., NCATS Acting DeputyDirector and Associate Director for Special Initiatives.

Space-based stressPhysiological conditions in and of themselves are notthe only challenges faced by current and futureastronauts.

Spaceflight places immense psychological pressureon travellers; separation from friends and family, isolationfrom ‘normal’ everyday life, loneliness and

claustrophobic feelings. Stress is not just a problem inthe mind and the ability to function well cognitively,either. It’s been well-documented now that stress has avery real impact on the physical health of sufferers, partof the reason so many forward-thinking employersthese days offer no-quibble ‘mental health days’ offwork.

Stress caused by work, family, housing or personalissues prompts the well-known ‘fight or flight’ response,wherein the release of adrenaline causes the heart rateand breathing to increase, blood pressure to rise andmuscles to clench, while the release of cortisol increasesblood sugar levels, enhances the brain’s use of glucose,and increases the availability of substances that repairtissues. It also curbs functions that are not required in afight or flight situation, such as the digestive system,growth, and immune responses. Short term stresscauses few long-term issues, but when stress levelsremain high for sustained periods of time, the long-termimpacts on health can include depression, anxiety,headaches, heart disease, digestive problems, weightgain, and memory impairment. Such problems areconcerning enough for people on Earth struggling withstress, but when it comes to astronauts, the problemscan be more challenging to deal with.

Back in February, a study utilising the NASA JohnsonSpace Center spacecraft simulator, the HumanExperimentation Research Analog (HERA), evidencedthat astronauts were only able to finish given tasks 20-60 percent of the time, suggesting that spaceflight crewsmight struggle to solve problems or think creatively onlong-term space mission, such as the upcoming missionto Mars. Crews stayed inside HERA for up to 45 days ata time, complete with the sleep deprivation, vibrations,sound effects and communications delays experiencedin space.

“Creative thinking and problem-solving are the verythings that are really going to matter on a Mars mission,”said Co-Investigator Leslie DeChurch, Communicationand Psychology Professor from Northwestern Universityin Illinois, who is working on the project with NoshirContractor, a Behavioural Scientist at Northwestern.

In order to help NASA better understand possibledifficulties amongst future space crews, in particular forlonger duration missions such as to Mars, the researchteam is creating a predictive model. The researchers areconsidering space travel challenges in two analogueenvironments, the HERA and the SIRIUS mission at theInstitute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Russia.Predicting the issues faced by astronauts ahead of majormissions is vital for the future of space exploration andthe large communications delays between, for example,Earth and Mars, estimated at 20 minutes. Theresearchers, who are also working on three other NASAprojects to optimise crew relations on long journeys, willinvestigate how to better structure crew workflow inorder to accomplish tasks in an effective manner andhow to predict the likelihood of certain crew membersworking together. Ultimately, they aim to establish theeffects of isolation and confinement on teamfunctioning, identify methods to improve teamperformance, and develop a predictive model that NASAcan use to assemble the ideal team.

Meanwhile, new research from NASA earlier this yearrevealed that the stressful conditions imposed from thevery start of a spaceflight experience is to blame for the



#MOON #SPACE #WATER #MOONBASE #NASA #ESA

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Tissue Chip in Space

reactivation of dormant viruses within astronauts.Indeed, the longer astronauts stay in space, the morelikely these viruses, including herpes (both HSV-1 andHSV-2), chickenpox and shingles, are to reactivate.

According to the research, published in the Frontierin Microbiology journal, 47 out of 89 astronauts (53percent) on short space shuttle flights, and 14 out of 23(61 percent) on longer ISS missions, shed herpes virusesin their saliva or urine samples.

These results are markedly raised in samples frombefore or after flights, or indeed when matched withhealthy controls. Stresses such as exposure to

microgravity, cosmic radiation and extreme G Forcesduring take-off and re-entry, as well as the confinementwithin very small spaces, sleep disturbance andseparation from friends and family, all cause very realchanges within the body that can see dormant virusesreactivated. While this reactivation doesn’t alwayscorrespond with a return of symptoms (only six of thosefor who the herpes virus was detected showed anysymptoms), there is still the very real risk of spreadingtheir infection to others upon their return to Earth, sinceevidence of the virus was still evident in body fluids upto 30 days after their return.



http://bit.ly/2LBqUPk


Space-basedquantumcommunicationsCommunications are embedded so deeply inour day to day lives that we’ve come to takethem entirely for granted. However, manyliens of communications are coming underattack by malicious entities and mischief-makers, prompting calls for more securetechnologies. Quantum communicationtechnologies, apparently ‘hack-proof,’ are thenext big thing coming in reliable, securetechnology.

MiciusSatellite. Credit JIAN-WEI PAN

Air Force Starfire Optical Range. Credit US Air Force

#SPACE #QUANTUMCOMMUNICATIONS #ENCRYPTION

When it comes to communications, security isparamount. In recent years, we’ve heard countlessstories of communications being hacked; privateconsumer data being stolen, and, critically, top secretmilitary and government information being breached.These sorts of breaches can have horrific after-effectson the lives on countless consumers or endanger troopsin the heart of a battlefield. As communicationstechnology becomes increasingly sophisticated, so toodo our adversaries, and a new solution must be sought.

Accordingly, quantum communications are expectedto be the next big thing in delivering secure, ‘hack-proof’communications the world over. Utilising quantum

encryption, the principle of photon entanglement shouldsafeguard against any form of interference or decryptionby a third party, enabling long-distance communicationsover thousands of kilometres. Current quantumcommunications technologies, still in their infancy, areparty to some pretty severe limitations that researchersthe world over are getting to grips with.

A world-first in quantum satellitesThe world’s first foray into quantum communications viasatellite have been underway for several years now.While most in the industry regard China’s QUESS (moreon this later) as the first demonstration of quantum



http://bit.ly/2Tcta03



communications from space, Singapore actually beatChina to the punch in 2015 when it launched the Galassiananosatellite, a 1.65kg spacecraft built at the NationalUniversity of Singapore (NUS). Dubbed ‘Small Photon-Entangling Quantum System (SPEQS), Galassia createspairs of photons and measures their properties on board.

“This is the first time anyone has tested this kind ofquantum technology in space,” Alexander Ling, PrincipalInvestigator at the university’s Centre for QuantumTechnologies, told IANS.

The researchers consider Galassia a success, fulfillingtheir objective of developing techniques to assemblethe optics necessary for a space-capable photon-pairsource that, in future, might be utilised to producepolarisation-entangled photon pairs. Future projects areexpected in which entangled photons will be transmittedto Earth and to other satellites with the aim ofestablishing a space-based quantum networkcomprising a series of CubeSats and array of groundstations.

Quantum Experiments at Space ScaleHot on the heels of Singapore’s success and takingthings one step further, Quantum Experiments at SpaceScale (QUESS), an international research project inquantum physics, launched the world’s best-knownquantum satellite, Tiangong-2 (nicknamed Micius), backin 2016, in order to space-to-ground quantumcommunications.

Quantum communications are enabled on boardMicius using a Sagnac effect interferometer, whichproduces pairs of entangled photons, one of which istransmitted to the ground. This enables quantum keydistribution, namely the transmission of a securecryptographic key that can be used to encrypt anddecrypt messages, to two ground stations. To utilisequantum key distribution for secure communications,two parties share a key transmitted via pairs of entangledphotons sent with random polarisation; each partyreceives half of the pair. The key enables the parties tocommunicate through normal channels without beinghacked; attempts to intercept or decrypt the key disturbthe entangled state, which can be detected by theparties. Quantum key distribution has previously beenattempted terrestrially with poor results; both fibre opticcables and the atmosphere cause scattering, whichdestroy the entangled state.

The first experiment demonstrated quantum keydistribution between the Xinjiang AstronomicalObservatory near Ürümqi and the Xinglong Observatorynear Beijing, some 2,500km apart, as well as teleportinga photon state between the Micius satellite and theShinquanhe Observatory in Ali, Tibet. Later on, QUESSdemonstrated quantum key distribution between Chinaand the Institute for Quantum Optics and QuantumInformation in Vienna, some 7,500km, enabling the firstintercontinental quantum video call in 2016.

Japan demonstrates quantum communications frommicrosatelliteIn 2017, Japan’s National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology (NICT) launched theworld’s smallest and most lightweight quantumcommunication transmitter (SOTA) on board theSOCRATES small satellite. The NICT succeeded indemonstrating quantum communications from space,

receiving information from the SOCRATES satellite in asingle photon regime in an optical ground station inKoganei.

SOCRATES transmitted a laser signal to the groundat a rate of 10 million bits per second from an altitude of600km and a speed of 7km/s. According to the NICT,this evidences that satellite quantum communicationscan be implemented with small, low-cost satellites,opening a new page for future global communicationsnetworks. Utilising lasers will be useful since it ensuresthere is a readily available frequency band capable oftransmitting at higher power efficiency, with smaller andlighter terminals.

With this demonstration completed using low-costsatellite technology, many more academic andcommercial institutions are expected to jump on board.The technology isn’t just limited to orbit-to-Earthcommunications either but is expected to help open upnew options for deep space communications.

The NICT plan to continue their research, increasingtransmission speed and improving the precision of thetracking technology to maximise secure key delivery, inorder to create a truly secure global communicationnetwork.

Italy demonstrates satellite-to-satellite quantumcommunications with GLONASSMeanwhile, at the end of 2018, a research team out ofItaly demonstrated the feasibility of quantumcommunications between satellites in the GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GNSS) and a ground station,with an exchange at the single photon level over adistance of 20,000km.

“Space quantum communications (QC) represent apromising way to guarantee unconditional security forsatellite-to-ground and inter-satellite optical links, byusing quantum information protocols as quantum keydistribution (QKD),” said Co-lead Author Dr GiuseppeVallone from the University of Padova, Italy.

Reported in the journal ‘Quantum Science andTechnology,’ the results showed the first-ever exchangeof photons between two different satellites in theRussian GLONASS constellation and the Space GeodesyCentre of the Italian Space Agency. While satellites inGEO pose a large challenge for quantumcommunications due to the losses from opticalchallenges, those in low Earth orbit (LEO) move at veryhigh relative speeds, limiting their visibility from any oneground station.

“Our experiment used the passive retro-reflectorsmounted on the satellites. By estimating the actuallosses of the channel, we can evaluate thecharacteristics of both a dedicated quantum payloadand a receiving ground station,” said Co-lead AuthorProfessor Paolo Villoresi. “Our results prove the feasibilityof QC (quantum communications) from GNSS in termsof achievable signal-to-noise ratio and detection rate.Our work extends the limit of long-distance free-space single-photon exchange. The longest channellength previously demonstrated was around 7,000 km,in an experiment using a medium Earth orbit (MEO)satellite that we reported in 2016.”

Air Force demonstrates quantum communicationsduring daylightIn May it was reported that the Air Force Research




Laboratory (AFRL) Starfire Optical Range (SOR)demonstrated quantum communications under daylightconditions, representative of space-to-Earth satellitelinks.

“This is the world’s first such demonstration,integrating quantum communication with a novelfiltering technique enabled by adaptive optics (AO), atechnology pioneered at the SOR,” said Dr KellyHammett, Director of the AFRL Directed EnergyDirectorate.

An adaptive optics (AO) system was developed toenable quantum communication through the air duringdaylight; this is a big move, because so far, free-spacequantum communications during the daylight has been

a massive challenge as it is negatively impacted bybackground light. Transmitting individual photons overlong distances and being able to detect them againstbackground light is essential for quantumcommunications to be brought into use. Furtherdemonstrations are expected going forwards toadvance other quantum communication techniques.

“The demonstration is an important advancementtoward a future global-scale ‘quantum Internet,’”commented Dr Mark Gruneisen, Principal Investigatorfor quantum communication research at the SOR.“Continued research and development by AFRL andothers will bring new capabilities to the warfighter andmankind.”

SOCRATES satellite. Credit JAXA



Photo courtesy of AMC

After decades of governmental monopoly, thespaceflight sector has exploded onto the commercialstage. The Space Age, pegged at starting in 1957 withthe launch of Sputnik 1, has become the NewSpace age,and everyone wants a piece of the action. Massivegovernment organisations, slow to move andencumbered by strict regulations, tight budgets and anold-school mentality, have been surpassed by moreagile private spaceflight companies with new ideas and(seemingly) cash to burn.

The NewSpace arena seems to be split into twocamps; a small number of companies founded bybillionaires with dreams of the stars i.e. Jeff Bezos withBlue Origin, Elon Musk with SpaceX, Richard Bransonwith Virgin Galactic; and more traditional companiesfounded by forward-thinking innovators such as RocketLab, Vector Launch, PTScientists, etc., whose goal is to

Opportunities for satellite in the era ofcommercial spaceflightThe NewSpace race is on, with commercialspaceflight projects deeply embedded at thecore of the movement. While major playerslike SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galacticare making global headlines with theiradvances, the developments are being feltacross the entire aerospace industry. What arethe opportunities and implications forsatellite? Sam Baird explains.

meet new market demands with profit-generatingsolutions.

The billionaire-fronted companies seem primarilyfocused on incredibly ambitious projects with the endgoal the priority, rather than the incredible technologydeveloped on the way. Elon Musk’s aim is settlementon Mars, for example, and SpaceX continues to developits re-usable rocket technology towards that final goal;the revenues produced from satellite launches alongthe way seem largely coincidental to the externalobserver. Other more traditionally-minded companies,however, have revenue-generating and profitabilitymore closely on their minds, aiming to developinnovative new small satellite launch vehicles thatgenerate profit from a very real present-day need, as isthe case for Vector Launch.

NewSpace opportunitiesThe NewSpace era of commercial spaceflight reallybegan to take hold in the 2000s. Space Adventures, Inc.made history in 2001 when it launched Dennis Tito, theworld’s first space tourist, to the International SpaceStation (ISS) for an eight-day trip.

The company organised a total of eight trips to theISS over eight years, ending in 2009. Space Adventurescan be considered one of the earliest pioneers in theNewSpace era, paving a path that many others are nowattempting to follow.

Around the same time, in 2000, Amazon founder JeffBezos quietly launched Blue Origin, which, unlike

#SPACE #SPACEFLIGHT #SPACEX #BLUEORIGIN #VIRGINGALACTIC



SpaceX, stayed below the radar until its first attemptedre-usable rocket launch in 2015. Meanwhile, in 2001, ElonMusk announced several ambitious Mars plans includingthe Mars Oasis project, which were never realised dueto the launch costs. Appropriately, one of his currentaims is to make access to space more affordable; today,SpaceX’s Falcon 9 re-usable rockets cost some US$50-60 million each, considerably less than competitors inthe US$100 million range. Virgin Galactic, too, can traceits history back to the early 2000s. In 2004, pilot andastronaut Mike Melvill flew SpaceShipOne to space in atest trip, and after two more test trips and the award ofthe US$10 million X-Prize, Virgin Galactic and ScaledComposites incorporated that technology intoSpaceShipTwo, a passenger vessel intended to takeprivate citizens into suborbital space for the trip of alifetime with a very reasonable US$250,000 price tag.

Technology has come a long way since the early2000s. While both SpaceX and Blue Origin havesucceeded in landing and re-using rockets for satellitelaunches, Blue Origin has also successfully flown andsafely landed its crew capsule, whereas in May 2019,

SpaceX’s attempted launch of its Crew Dragon capsulesaw it explode during a test fire. Boeing, too, is workingon a crew capsule; its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft is being developed incollaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Programand we may see test launches later this year. Meanwhile,in December 2018, Virgin Galactic flew its first privateastronauts on board SpaceShipTwo to suborbital space.According to recent announcements, Virgin Galactic ismoving its development and testing activities fromMojave, California to its commercial headquarters,Spaceport America in Mexico, as part of the finalcountdown to a regular commercial spaceflight service.Most recently, in June 2019, NASA announced that itplans to allow 30-night stays on board the ISS for thevery reasonable cost of US$35,000 a night, starting in2020.

And these are just the big-name companies. A littlefurther away from making the headlines on a regularbasis are the lesser-known NewSpace organisations,progressing towards their goals in leaps and bounds.

Barriers to spaceCommercial space tourism has been ‘just around thecorner’ for a couple of decades now. According toSpaceX et al, 2018 was the year when the first spacetourists of a new generation would see their dreams ofvisiting the stars realised. Alas, this was not to be; SpaceXand Blue Origin are still a long way off to launchinghumans into space, and Virgin Galactic was the onlyorganisation to meet the 2018 target.

Critics have been overly (in my opinion) harsh in theirjudgement of these slipping space tourism timelines.Each commercial spaceflight company has beenembarking on a massive array of tests – as you’d hope,if you’re one of the lucky few with realistic goals ofheading to space any time soon – of every possibleaspect of their rockets and crew capsules. Sure, therehave been a number of catastrophic failures, includingSpaceX’s May 2019 explosion of its Crew Dragoncapsule, and parachute deployment for crew capsulere-entry seems to be a particular challenge for most ofthe companies involved. However, testing on this

CRP USA's KySat2 in Windform XT2



http://bit.ly/2aFuxOA


Amazon founder Jeff Bezos quietly launched Blue Origin, which, unlike SpaceX, stayed below the radar until itsfirst attempted re-usable rocket launch in 2015

magnitude, and for projects of this ambitious a scale,are going to invite some pretty significant failures on theway to making sure everything is fine tuned and safefor the first paying customers.

Financially speaking, it takes a lot of cash to embarkon some of the ambitious spaceflight programmesrunning right now. Jeff Bezos reportedly sells US$1billion of Amazon stock each year to fund Blue Origin’scampaign – a remarkable amount, but then, he is richerthan all the other spaceflight billionaires combined(apparently), and Blue Origin is operated as a non-profit.SpaceX, on the other hand, is bringing in significantrevenues from a steady stream of satellite launches, aswell as resupply missions for the ISS. In addition, whilethe US Government no longer operates a humanspaceflight programme, both SpaceX and Boeing havebeen contracted to transport astronauts to and from theISS in the near future.

Investment into commercial spaceflight is massive,and can only really be supported by massive companies,government backing, investment fund interest, or privatebillionaires, since return on investment is, if we’re honest,a long way off. However, when that day does finallyarrive, NewSpace companies have a whole host ofincome-generating opportunities, including spacetourism with both orbital and suborbital jaunts,transporting supplies to space stations, satellitelaunches, support of off-world settlements, etc.

Impacts on the satellite sectorThe satellite sector stands to benefit greatly from thisnew era of commercial space tourism.

For one, the whole host of new launch options,including lower cost reusable vehicles which can belaunched to any orbit desired, will make future satellitelaunches more versatile than ever before. Launchfrequency is a small but growing issue among satelliteoperators as increasingly large numbers of satellites are

due for launch; as the 20,000+ planned small satellitelaunches for the next few years grow nearer,competition for launch bookings is set to rocket. Inaddition, launch to less common NGSO are also rampingup in availability, opening up doors for interesting newprojects.

Today, and in the near future, we can expect satelliteoperators to have more choice in launch provider thanever before, too. As more and more companies get inon the action, with satellite launch capabilities either theirmain goal or just a stepping stone along the way, launchsector competition is set to increase, helping ease pricesfor operators, on top of availability. Never before hasthere been such strong demand for satellite launchcapabilities, and accordingly, there is a rapidly growingnumber of dedicated small satellite launch organisationscoming into their own. Going beyond traditional rocketlaunches, in-air launch systems on high altitudeplatforms (HAPs) like space planes and balloons, are alsogaining ground.

Then there are the ‘off-world’ opportunities. Satellitesare, of course, in common use around the world,whether the general public has any idea of the true scaleor not. However, as private organisations andgovernment bodies edge closer to off-worldsettlements or other-world industrial hubs,interplanetary communication becomes a very realchallenge.

The most obvious solution to enable reliablecommunications between the Earth and Mars, forexample, is a satellite network. This opens the door to awhole host of new satellite opportunities for the mostinnovative of satellite manufacturers and operators.

You can bet your bottom dollar, too, that once mankindhas established off-world activity, we won’t be looking atjust one deep space satellite network, but a collection ofnetworks offering a variety of services, bothcomplementary and in competition with one another.





Photo courtesy of Shutterstock



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NewSpace International ... · deployment and pointing mechanism (ADPM) for Euclid SENER Aeroespacial has successfully completed ... Kepler Communications, a pioneer in nanosatellite