BlackSky seeks to extend operations of satellites running on empty

BlackSky is requesting permission to operate two of its satellites in lower orbits as the spacecraft are running out of propellant. The company filed a request for special temporary authority (STA) with the Federal Communications Commission April 28, asking the FCC to allow the company to continue operations of its Global 7 and Global 8 imaging satellites below the originally authorized lower limit of 385 kilometers. The company is requesting permission to operate the satellites at altitudes as low as 340 kilometers. Much of the publicly available request is redacted, including a section under the heading “Emergency”. However, several passages in the document refer to refer to the spacecraft running out of the propellant needed to maintain their orbits. The company said it is asking that the STA, initially lasting for 30 days for each satellite, “commence from the point in time that, due to the anticipated loss of remaining propellant, each such satellite is not able to be maintained at or above 385 kilometers.” Elsewhere, the document notes that the extension of operations will not affect plans for post-mission disposal of the satellites through uncontrolled reentries. “BlackSky’s orbital debris mitigation plan is, and has always been, that the satellites will descend to the earth by force of gravity after exhaustion of propulsion capability,” the company stated. “Since the operational missions of the satellites will be extended for short periods after the loss of propulsion, the post-mission orbital lifetime of the satellites will be commensurately shortened.”

Rendering of BlackSky's constellation of imaging satellites in low Earth orbit. Credit: BlackSky

The company said it set 385 kilometers as the minimum altitude of operations for the satellites based on the expectation that atmospheric drag and other forces on the satellites would reach the limit of “operational stability” for them. However, the satellites have not shown any signs of reaching those limits, it noted.

“Taking into account this operational experience and BlackSky’s engineering analysis based upon this experience, BlackSky is confident that it can operate the satellites as they descend below 385 kilometers while maintaining necessary stability at least until its satellites reach the new requested minimum altitude of 340 kilometers,” it stated.

The unredacted portions of the request provide no details about why the spacecraft are running out of propellant, although it appears to be earlier than expected. The two spacecraft launched as rideshare payloads on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink mission in August 2020, and the STA notes the spacecraft have a three-year design life.

According to the space tracking service Celestrak, the average orbital altitude of Global-7 has been declining since the beginning of the year, when it was at nearly 400 kilometers, with a steeper decline starting in early March, taking it to 389 kilometers as of May 4. The altitude for Global-8 has been going up in the last two months, from 388 kilometers at the beginning of March to 393 kilometers as of May 4. However, there has been a longer-term trend of declining altitudes dating back to June 2022, when it was at an altitude of 406 kilometers.

The company said in the STA, which is still pending at the FCC, that it is coordinating with other government agencies to ensure the operations of the two satellites in lower orbits do not cause any communications interference with other satellites. It is also seeking to amend its commercial remote sensing license issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to allow imaging at altitudes below 385 kilometers.

“The system is designed with significant reserve and redundant capacity to eliminate impacts of any individual satellites that, as expected, will come in or out of service over time,” Lyn Chassagne, vice president of marketing at BlackSky, said in a statement to SpaceNews May 5. “With respect to the FCC filing, we will occasionally raise or lower altitudes of individual satellites as part of normal course of operations which can extend mission life, deliver increased performance, or support maintenance operations.”

The company, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, has not made any other regulatory filings about the satellites. BlackSky is scheduled to release its first quarter financial results on May 10 before the markets open.

SpaceX scrubs Starlink launch with two BlackSky satellites

SpaceX scrubbed Friday's plan to launch additional Starlink satellites in a mission that had another paying customer on board - what SpaceX calls its ride-share program. The change in plans was not weather-related. "Standing down from Friday's Starlink mission; team needed additional time for pre-launch checkouts, but Falcon 9 and the satellites are healthy. Will announce new target launch date once confirmed on the Range," SpaceX said in a tweet. A Falcon 9 rocket was set to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 57 Starlink communications satellites for Elon Musk's SpaceX, along with two small Earth observation satellites for Seattle-based BlackSky Global. SpaceX also postponed the launch Thursday, but didn't give a reason. Eventually, SpaceX aims to launch thousands of Starlink satellites. Launching Starlink regularly means SpaceX can take other paying customers, such as BlackSky, along for the ride - and for revenue. SpaceX launched three small imaging satellites for San Francisco-based Planet, formerly Planet Labs, earlier this month. Industry observers have said SpaceX's plan for more frequent, regularly scheduled ride-sharing launches will unleash new growth in the small-satellite industry, leading to easier and cheaper rollouts for new communication networks. There will be a lot of opportunities for government agencies, universities and provate enterprise to piggyback their satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket.

SpaceX has 30 rocket launches in 2020 and 2021 that can accommodate small satellites. Its customers can buy space on the missions for as low as $1 million - which would allow a launch up to 440 pounds - a previously unprecedented price to put a satellite into orbit.

Reserving an entire launch on the company's Falcon 9 rocket costs at least $50 million.

The small-satellite market is poised to generate $1 billion a year over the next decade, according to Northern Sky Research, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., and specializes in the satellite and space markets.

The SpaceX schedule for small satellites is in addition to its regular missions to the International Space Station or for large customers like the U.S. military.

SpaceX has noted that dedicated ride-share missions will not be delayed by trouble with another passenger's schedule.

"If you are ready to fly during the scheduled launch period, you will fly," the company said.

Customers who run into delays that prevent them from launching can book another launch with a 10 percent rebooking fee, SpaceX said.

BlackSky offers images and monitoring from space for industries that include defense, energy, construction and research. BlackSky obtained a $50 million investment in 2019 from Luxembourg-based Intelsat, a communications satellite service, to build a new constellation of Earth-imaging satellites.

A successful launch would boost BlackSky's space network to six satellites, with a short-term goal of 16 satellites in orbit. They weigh about 120 pounds each and are designed to last only a few years before they need replacement.

SpaceX also hopes to generate significant revenue from its fledgling Internet service.

SpaceX began sign-ups June 12 for users who want to try the Starlink Internet in what the tech community calls a beta test - a validation of new technology in a small sample of the targeted eventual user.

Starlink will be available to any individual or organization, the company said, but the cost of the service hasn't been announced.

"Private beta testing is expected to begin later this summer, followed by public beta testing, starting with higher latitudes," SpaceX said in an email sent to those who signed up.

Deep Space Industries to provide Comet satellite propulsion for BlackSky, LeoStella

Deep Space Industries (DSI) has signed a contract to provide its Comet water-based satellite propulsion systems for the BlackSky Earth observation constellation of smallsats. DSI will provide an initial block of 20 water thrusters for the BlackSky satellites which are scheduled to start launching later this year. This announcement comes on the heels of Spaceflight Industries' recent $150 million funding and the development of LeoStella LLC, a joint venture between Spaceflight Industries and Thales Alenia Space. LeoStella is developing a Seattle-based facility to manufacture the low-cost, high-performance BlackSky satellites and is tasked with building the next 20 spacecraft with the Comet propulsion technology between now and 2020. These smallsats are part of an ultimate constellation of 60 satellites that provide high revisit rate Earth imagery and when combined with other space and terrestrial based sensors, will enable delivery of innovative global monitoring solutions and geospatial activity-based intelligence services. "The launch-safe propulsion features of the Comet system are well aligned with BlackSky's performance needs to enable affordable and flexible satellite systems," said Nick Merski, vice president of space operations, Spaceflight Industries. "We're looking forward to working with the DSI team on this and future projects."

"Customers like LeoStella are exactly why we developed the Comet propulsion system," said William Miller, chief executive officer of Deep Space Industries.

Comet is the first propulsion system in Deep Space Industries' line of green propulsion solutions designed for small satellites. While other propulsion systems use either high-pressure or toxic propellants, DSI propulsion systems are designed to be low-pressure, non-toxic, and therefore launch-safe, while still offering suitable performance for small satellites.

Comet is ride-share compatible, easy to work with, and customizable for many mission types and size. Furthermore, and in the context of DSI's longer-term goals, all its propulsion systems use propellants that can be sourced from space resources.

BlackSky readies to launch its first Earth Imaging Smallsat

BlackSky, the geospatial intelligence service of Spaceflight Industries, has announced the first of its next generation of small Earth observation satellites is complete, qualified, and awaiting launch. This spacecraft, called Global-1, is the first of four smallsats that are scheduled to launch in in the next year on both US and foreign launch vehicles.The Global series of spacecraft builds on the success of BlackSky's initial technology demonstration spacecraft, called Pathfinder, which was launched in September 2016. The Global spacecraft provides 1-meter resolution and features improved image quality, geolocation accuracy, and on-orbit lifetime. The spacecraft is complemented by an enhanced ground system to minimize the latency between image tasking and receipt."The Global satellites are an important step forward for the satellite industry," said Nick Merski, vice president of space operations at Spaceflight Industries. "We are continuing to advance the boundaries of what can be achieved in terms of price point, capability and form factor, and these improvements ultimately help to make space more accessible for a broader set of business applications."

BlackSky's Global smallsats will join the virtual constellation of commercial imaging satellites accessible through the BlackSky geospatial platform. Within the platform, users can access BlackSky Spectra's on-demand imagery service to search, purchase, task, and download visual imagery and multi-spectral data from a global collection network.

They can also subscribe to BlackSky Events, the platform's global event monitoring service that fuses news, social media, industry data services, and physical sensor networks to provide early warning and insights on risks, threats, and opportunities that can impact their business.

The platform is currently in use by several large government and commercial organizations to actively monitor global assets.

"This is an important milestone for Spaceflight Industries and for our BlackSky geospatial information business," said Jason Andrews, chairman and CEO of Spaceflight Industries.

"Qualifying the Global generation of spacecraft paves the way for mass production and launch of our full constellation, as well as achieving our vision of deploying a high revisit rate constellation in the near future."