Companies Successfully Demonstrate the Performance of a 5G Non-Terrestrial Network in a Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) Environment

TYSONS, VA., September 12, 2022 (Omnispace PR) – Omnispace, the company redefining mobile connectivity, and GateHouse Satcom, a market-leading software developer for the satellite communication industry, today announced that they have successfully modeled the performance of 5G new radio (NR) non-terrestrial network (NTN) waveform in an NGSO environment.

The Omnispace 5G NTN system, operating in low-earth orbit (LEO), will seamlessly integrate with terrestrial networks to deliver a ubiquitous connected experience for commercial 5G smartphones and IoT devices globally. The Omnispace network will utilize the company’s 2 GHz spectrum allocation and operate in 3GPP standard band n256, identified for NTN operation.

Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to launch the four nanosatellites in October 2022 under commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO.

SEATTLE, September 12, 2022 (Spaceflight Inc. PR) – Spaceflight, the leading global launch services provider, today announced it will launch four Astrocast 3U spacecraft aboard India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission under a commercial arrangement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL). This mission, scheduled for October 2022, will launch from Sriharikota, India’s Satish Dhawan Space Center, carrying the Astrocast spacecraft as a co-passenger to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) along with the Indian national primary satellite.

FAA Statement

The FAA will oversee the investigation of Blue Origin’s NS-23 mishap that occurred at its Launch Site One location in West Texas.

The anomaly that occurred triggered the capsule escape system. The capsule landed safely and the booster impacted within the designated hazard area. No injuries or public property damage have been reported.

This was a payload only mission; there were no humans aboard.

Before the New Shepard vehicle can return to flight, the FAA will determine whether any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap affected public safety. This is standard practice for all mishap investigations.

The FAA is responsible for protecting the public during commercial space transportation launch and reentry operations.

Editor’s Note: The FAA’s authority over these flights is limited to protecting the uninvolved public, i.e., public and property not involved in the flight. The basic goal here is that the government doesn’t want one of these things going off course and hitting an elementary school (or anything else, for that matter).

Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital spacecraft carrying scientific research suffered an in-flight abort during a launch from West Texas on Monday morning. The capsule landed safely under parachutes after its abort motor carried it away from the failing booster. The rocket’s BE-3 engine flashed at least once before visible exhaust flames began to appear. The capsule then fired its abort engine. There was no further view of the reusable booster, […]

LOUISVILLE, Colo., September 8, 2022 (Sierra Space PR) – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company at the forefront of creating and building the future of space transportation and infrastructure for low-Earth orbit (LEO) commercialization, announced today the signing of a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) with the United States Department of Defense’s Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM). The two organizations will work together to develop solutions using Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser^® spaceplanes, Shooting Star™ cargo modules, and on-orbit infrastructure that provides unique capabilities for precise, cost-effective and timely global delivery of Department of Defense logistics and personnel.

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 9, 2022 (SciTec PR) — SciTec, Inc. was awarded a $272M contract by U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) for Mission Data Processing Application Provider (MDPAP) to deliver critical applications for the Space Force’s missile warning mission as part of the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) program. The FORGE program supports the continued operations of legacy Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) capabilities while delivering modernized enterprise solutions extensible to the next generation of Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) sensors.

This contract resulted from a year-long prototype competition conducted through the Space Enterprise Consortium Other Transaction Authority (SpEC OTA) among three teams led by non-traditional companies.  

“The prototyping effort under SpEC allowed us to develop and demonstrate key aspects of our modular, scalable, extensible, and cyber-resilient applications for FORGE Mission Data Processing (MDP) that we build upon through this follow-on contract to meet the no-fail mission.” said David Simenc, SciTec’s Executive Director and lead for FORGE. “We’re thrilled to be leading the same purpose-built team who’ve been with us throughout the prototype and continue our partnership with SSC and the entire FORGE team to rapidly deliver the next generation capabilities for the nation.” 

Galaxy Space of China has completed a new round of financing that raises the company’s valuation to 11 billion yuan (USD $1.59 billion). The amount of the raise was not disclosed. CCB International led the latest financing round. Anhui Sanchong Yichuang Fund, Hefei Industrial Investment, and Zhenwei Fund also invested along with existing shareholders Legend Capital and Chaos Investment. Galaxy Space is developing a 13,000 satellite constellation that will provide […]

by Douglas MessierManaging Editor Firefly scrubbed the second launch of its Alpha booster from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sunday evening. Firefly aborted the countdown in the final minute due to a drop in helium pressure in Alpha’s second stage. The company attempted to launch at the beginning of a four-hour window that began at 3 pm PDT. Firefly recycled the vehicle to attempt a launch later in the window. […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The satellite communications competition heated up over the past week with three of the five launches carrying multiple spacecraft designed to provide advanced services around the world.

SpaceX launched 85 Starlink broadband satellites on two Falcon 9 launches conducted from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The company has orbited 1,349 Starlink satellites on 27 Falcon 9 rockets launches this year. The first stage on the Saturday flight launched and landed for a record 14th time.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Companies and government agencies in China, South Korea and Iran have launched a total of 10 suborbital rockets to support the development of multiple new launch vehicles during the first eight months of 2022.

A Chinese company launched a reusable suborbital vehicle that took off vertically and landed horizontally at an airport. Another Chinese company conducted a series of launches to support the development of a reusable suborbital space tourism vehicle.

There were two suborbital launches of future orbital boosters in South Korea. Iran also conducted a suborbital test of an orbital rocket.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — After disconnecting the ground and rocket-side plates on the interface, called a quick disconnect, for the liquid hydrogen fuel feed line, teams have replaced the seals on the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage associated with the liquid hydrogen leak detected during the Artemis I launch attempt Sept. 3. 

Both the 8-inch line used to fill and drain liquid hydrogen from the core stage and the 4-inch bleed line used to redirect some of the propellant during tanking operations were removed and replaced this week.  

WASHINGTON (Department of Commerce PR) — The United States Departments of Commerce (DoC) and  Defense (DoD) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) formalizing the organizations’ relationship for basic space situational awareness (SSA), space traffic management (STM), and coordination for civil and commercial entities. The agreement defines how the two departments will work cooperatively to implement the National Space Council’s Space Policy Directive 3 (SPD-3). SPD-3 seeks to advance SSA and STM science and technology; provide federally-supported basic SSA data and STM services to the public; and improve SSA data interoperability to enable greater SSA data sharing.

“Establishing and maintaining coordinated SSA and STM technology, data, and services for civil and commercial entities is the foundation of the Department of Commerce’s efforts to ensure the continued safe and sustainable growth of the commercial space industry,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Rick Spinrad, Ph.D., who signed the MOA on behalf of the Department of Commerce. “We are pleased to partner with DoD on this important and timely effort as we collectively support new services, research and innovations to further our vision of a sustainable space environment for all.”