30 www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2019

....NewSpace

The NewSpace raceNewSpace is the proverbial gold mine of the spaceflight industry right now. This hot topic israising eyebrows all over the world, and anyone who’s anyone wants to get in on the action. Theworld’s billionaires are getting in on the ground floor of what is expected to become a long-standing multi-billion-dollar industry, where there’s literally something for everyone withopportunities as diverse as off-world settlements, additive manufacturing and deep space mining.

Blue Origin's orbital rocket New Glenn

NewSpace or Space 2.0 - the emerging private spaceflightindustry - is coming on in leaps and bounds and is alreadyhaving a major impact on the global satellite sector. The dayswhen the space domain was purely in the hands ofgovernments and defence groups around the world are gone;today, private companies dominate the sector, helpingspaceflight technologies to develop more quickly, moreefficiently, and more cost-effectively than ever before.

What is NewSpace?Here at Satellite Evolution, we’re often asked questions aboutNewSpace: What exactly is NewSpace? What does it meanfor me? How is it different from old space? There is no simpleanswer – although our dedicated NewSpace platform cankeep you up to date on all the latest news and developmentsat https://www.newspaceinternational.com/.

The NewSpace movement is incredibly varied and wide-reaching, encompassing a whole host of sub-sectors. Someof the more traditional satellite segments have been evolvingin recent years to accommodate the increased focus on thecommercial side of the industry and the myriad of newapplications coming into play:

Launch servicesLaunch services, something all of us in the satellite sectorare well-versed on, are seeing a revolution from within withthe NewSpace movement, with fantastic new ideas taking

ME

V. P

hoto

cou

rtes

y of

Nor

thro

p G

rum

man

new.pmd 21/05/2019, 15:2930

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

31www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2019

NewSpace....

hold. There are the industry old-timers such as Arianespace,which is enabling a lot of NewSpace satellite launches throughrideshare models and more flexible payload options, as wellas the more recent ventures such as SpaceX and Blue Origin,arguably the most advanced in their effor ts towardsdeveloping reusable launch vehicles, with their Falcon 9,Falcon Heavy, BFR, New Shepard and New Glenn rockets.Virgin Galactic is exploring in-air launch capabilities for smallsatellites with its LauncherOne and SpaceShipTwo vehicles,while NanoRacks is launching CubeSat missions from onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Rocket Lab, theowner of the world’s first private orbital launch complex,completed the first commercial flight of its small satellitelaunch vehicle, Electron, at the end of 2018, while fellow smallsatellite launch start-up Orbex is preparing for its first launch.

Satellite manufacturingGoing hand-in-hand with next-generation launch capabilitiesis the production of an entirely new generation of satellites;small satellites (including mini, micro, nano, pico, femto, andof course, CubeSats) are enabling a whole host of new space-enabled applications, while the world’s first software definedsatellites are improving existing satellite applications withenhanced cost-efficiency, lead time, and on-orbit flexibility.Satellite manufacturing is becoming more specialized thanever before; Clyde Space, Boeing, Surrey Satellite TechnologyLtd (SSTL), Lockheed Martin, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation,Orbital ATK, SSL and Thales Alenia Space are all heavilyinvested in small satellite manufacturing, while AirbusDefence and Space has made spectacular progress with theinauguration of several serial production lines in France andthe USA for the assembly, integration and testing of OneWeb’ssmall satellites. Meanwhile, production of the world’s firstsoftware-defined satellite, Eutelsat QUANTUM, has beencompleted by Airbus Defence and Space.

3D printing3D printing or additive manufacturing has becomeincreasingly advanced in the last ten years, with newtechnological developments rendering it a cost-effectivealternative to traditional manufacturing methods, enabling lowlead times and incredible flexibility. 3D printing is being utilisedin a number of industries, including the space sector, whereit is being utilized to create ground equipment, satellites and

their components, launch vehicles and their components. BlueOrigin’s BE-4 engine is being developed with 3D printed OxBoost Pump (OBP) components, while CRP Group haslaunched several small satellites utilising 3D printedcomponents. Relativity Space has developed the world’slargest metal 3D printer, Stargate, to produce its all-3D-printedAeon 1 engine, which will power its all-3D-printed Terran 1launch vehicle. Aerojet Rocketdyne now has a line of 3Dprinted engines and propulsion systems, while LockheedMartin is creating 3D printed satellite fuel tanks and isexploring the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) andadditive manufacturing technologies. See 3D printing focusin this issue.

Satellite constellationsSatellite constellations have been big news in recent years,with existing systems such as the Iridium network, Globalstarand O3b Networks demonstrating the possibilities. MediumEarth orbit (MEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) have remainedlargely unused to date, with the majority of satellites launchedthroughout history being placed into geostationary orbit. Allthat is about to change with the planned Iridium NEXT, O3bmPOWER, OneWeb, LeoSat, Telesat, Boeing, Fleet,Samsung, Kepler Communications, SpaceX and Facebookconstellations edging closer to becoming reality. It’s broadlyexpected that around 2,000 new commercial small satellites

Mission to Mars. Photo courtesy of SpaceX

new.pmd 21/05/2019, 15:2931

http://www.satellite-evolution.comhttp://bit.ly/2bgHaP9

32 www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2019

....NewSpace

will be launched by 2026, including almost 1,000 for OneWeb.Most of the planned constellations will target the globalconnectivity market, delivering low-cost high-speed Internetservices, and are expected to help bridge the digital divide.Earth observation is the next biggest market for these satelliteconstellations.

Moving on from the evolution of the traditional space andtechnology sectors, the NewSpace movement is also openingup doors to entirely new industries:

On-orbit satellite servicingWe’ve been hearing about on-orbit satellite servicing for afew years now, and these services are set to remove thesingle biggest lifetime limiter of satellites today; fuel supplies.A typical geostationary telecommunications satellite is retiredafter 15-20 years, not because any of the components ceaseto operate, but because they no longer have enough fuel tomaintain station-keeping duties and attitude control. Now,several companies have announced upcoming services tomeet this niche market.

Possibly the biggest name in on-orbit satellite servicing,Orbital ATK (since absorbed by Northrop Grumman) hasplans for two Mission Extension Vehicles (MEVs) – one duefor launch this year, the other due for launch in 2020, both ofwhich will service Intelsat satellites – and Mission RoboticVehicles (MRVs) that will transport 10-12 Mission ExtensionPods (MEPs), which will offer on-orbit robotic servicingcapabilities – due for launch in 2021. Meanwhile, EffectiveSpace Solutions Ltd is developing the SPACE DRONE, asatellite servicing spacecraft which docks to a host satelliteto provide station-keeping and attitude control capabilities;the first two SPACE DRONE spacecraft are due for launch in2020. In an example of the type of public-private partnership

that is expected to become increasingly ubiquitous in theNewSpace era, the US Government’s DARPA has selectedSSL as its commercial partner for its own Robotic Servicingof Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) programme, which willdevelop technologies for cooperative inspection and servicingin GEO. NASA is working on its own robotic satellite servicingplan with the Restore-L mission – due for launch in 2022 -but with a focus on servicing satellites in LEO.

Off-world miningAs we edge closer to reusable launch technologies and cost-effective deep space travel, the prospect of off-world miningbecomes ever closer to reality. The extraction of valuable rawmaterials from planets, moons or asteroids can providerenewed access to elements depleted on Earth, as well assupporting deep space missions of the future.

Planetary Resources is refining its deep space miningtechnologies, starting with the 2018 launch of its Arkyd-6CubeSat, which will detect water resources in space; thecompany ultimately aims to identify, extract and refineresources from near-Earth asteroids. Meanwhile, Deep SpaceIndustries (DSI) is exploring deep space resource utilizationwith the development of cost-effective access to space vianew spaceship technologies, while Moon Express is focusingon the extraction of minerals and water from the Moon, forconversion into rocket fuel.

Asteroid Mining Corporation (AMC) has ambitious plansfor a prospector satell ite, a space-based additivemanufacturing system, and an asteroid-mining probe, andTransAstra Corporation wants to see thousands of asteroidstransformed into refuelling stations and plans to supplyasteroid mining, space solar power, space tourism and space-based manufacturing processes.

Axiom Station forward view. Photo courtesy of Axiom Space

new.pmd 21/05/2019, 15:2932

http://www.satellite-evolution.com

33www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2019

NewSpace....

Manufacturing in spaceHand in hand with deep space mining and 3D printing isspace-based manufacturing. There are several advantagesto manufacturing items outside a planetary atmosphere; theunique environment of space can enable industrial processesthat cannot be readily reproduced on Earth; potentiallyhazardous processes can be performed in space with minimalrisk to Earth’s environment; raw materials, mined off-Earth,can be used in space instead of being transported back toEarth at great expense; items too large to be launched intospace economically can be assembled there instead;equipment and tools can be rapidly and cost-effectively bemanufactured in space instead of being shipped from Earthat great expense and with delay.

The Made In Space (MIS) Additive Manufacturing Facility(AMF) was launched to the ISS in 2014, since when it hasbeen demonstrating closed-cycle manufacturing, carrying outrepairs, upgrades and installations, and exploring thepossibilities of 3D printed food, among other tasks.Meanwhile, Firmamentum, a division of Tethers Unlimited,Inc. (TUI), launched the Refabricator experiment, a 3D printerwhich will accept plastic materials of various shapes and sizesand transform them into feedstock, at the end of 2018.

Space tourismOne of the most widely-discussed NewSpace applications isthe possibility of space tourism. What’s news to many peopleis that there was actually a space tourism programmeoperating in the 2000s – Space Adventures transported sevencommercial astronauts to the ISS before the means oftransportation became unavailable. Space Adventures plansto enable new space tourism opportunities within the nextten years, including orbital spaceflight missions to the ISS,zero gravity flights, cosmonaut training programmes,

spaceflight qualification programmes, circumlunar missionsaround the Moon, and is taking reservations for futuresuborbital spacecraft.

Plans for commercial space stations are rife: Roscosmoshas started work on its own space tourism programme, withplans for a luxury space hotel module on the ISS in 2022, inpartnership with contractor RKK Energia. Similarly, BigelowAerospace, the only company commercializing NASAexpandable module technologies, aims to create a modularset of space habitats for creating standalone or expandingexisting space stations, for the realisation of commercialspace station habitats starting in 2022.

In competition with Bigelow is Axiom Space, which plansto manufacture the world’s first commercial space station,linking a module with the ISS in 2019, and expand it withadditional modules upon the retirement of the ISS in 2028.Orion Span, too, has announced plans for the Aurora SpaceStation, a six-person capacity private space station reportedlydue to accept its first guests in 2022.

On the non-space station space tourism front, Elon Muskhas been very vocal in his plans for SpaceX to enter thecommercial spaceflight sector by bringing humans to Mars;he plans to send the first cargo mission to Mars in 2022, witha crewed mission on the cards for 2024.

The lesser-known Blue Origin is also developing newlaunch vehicles to provide commercial access to space, andthe company plans to release tickets shortly for eight-minuteflights some 307,000ft above the Earth on board its sub-orbitalcrew capsule. Virgin Galactic, alongside sister companiesThe Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit, is developing anew generation of reusable space vehicles to open space tothe masses and plans to run a regular schedule of spaceflightfor private individuals from its operational hub at New Mexico’sSpaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial

new.pmd 21/05/2019, 15:2933

http://www.satellite-evolution.comhttp://bit.ly/29f5Tnc

34 www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2019

....NewSpace

spaceport. KosmoKurs is another start-up with plans for areusable suborbital space complex (MSCC) consisting of areusable suborbital rocket (MSRN) and reusable suborbitalspacecraft (MSCA); commercial flights are expected to beginin 2025.

Off-world settlementAnother topic straight out of science fiction, off-worldsettlements is something several entities are actively workingtowards. The primary argument for colonisation is the long-term survival of human civilisation, although there are manychallenges to overcome before it becomes a reality;transportation, sustainable habitats, settler health and well-being, energy, resources, terraforming, communications withEarth, etc., the list goes on and on.

SpaceX’s Elon Musk has stated that one of his longer-term goals is the colonisation of Mars, while the Mars Oneproject, headed by Bas Lansdorp, is aiming for a permanentmanned Mars landing in 2032. Lockheed Martin has outlinedits Mars Base Camp concept, a crewed Mars laboratoryorbiter, for NASA; the company is also working with NASAon the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), a plannedlunar-orbit space station. NASA is also targeting the Moonwith Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which will be the first

integrated unmanned test of its SLS rocket, Orion spacecraftand ground systems in 2020 – manned missions will followsoon after.

In other news, Japan’s JAXA is working on a Smart Landerfor Investigating Moon (SLIM) project, which will essentiallyland wherever desired, rather than wherever is easy; the firstlaunch is expected in 2021. China, too, is getting in on theaction, with the 2018 launch of the Quegia relay satellite andthe Chang’e 4 rover, to the far side of the Moon. In othernews, PTScientists is also targeting lunar exploration withplans for the world’s first private mission in the second halfof 2019, while Moon Express plans to offer commercial lunarrobotic transportation and data services with a long-term goalof mining the Moon for resources.

A time for changeNewSpace is as varied a sector as any other, and more sothan many. The opportunities available today for traditionalspaceflight companies and start-ups alike are incredible, andprivate sector and venture capital investment is at an all-time high.

We’re at a time of great change, with new pressures andnew possibilities emerging after decades of industrystagnation. Now is the time to strike.

Mars Express. Photo courtesy ESA/TG medialab: Mars: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

new.pmd 21/05/2019, 15:2934

http://www.satellite-evolution.com

Untitled-1 18/05/2018, 16:411

http://bit.ly/2eUOJgi