Space Development Agency to launch 13 satellites in late June

The Space Development Agency is preparing to launch at least 13 satellites in late June, the agency’s director Derek Tournear said May 26. This will be SDA’s second launch of Tranche 0 satellites for its proliferated low Earth orbit constellation. Tranche 0 is a 28-satellite demonstration constellation. The first 10 spacecraft — eight communications satellites made by York Space and two missile-detection satellites made by SpaceX — launched April 2 on a SpaceX Falcon 9. SDA initially planned to launch all 18 remaining in June but made some late changes to the manifest, Tournear said in an interview with SpaceNews. The upcoming mission — scheduled to fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late June from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California — is now projected to launch 11 communications satellites (10 made by Lockheed Martin and one made by York Space) and two missile-tracking satellites made by SpaceX. There were two Tranche 0 York satellites on the manifest but one is likely to be kept on the ground so SDA can use it for software tests, said Tournear. Four L3Harris Tranche 0 satellites were scheduled to launch but were taken off the manifest due to production delays, he said. The four satellites will fly to orbit on a separate mission planned by the Missile Defense Agency. MDA is preparing to launch two prototypes — one made by L3Harris and the other by Northrop Grumman — for its Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS). SDA and MDA are collaborating closely on missile tracking and missile defense architectures, said Tournear. The agencies agreed to deploy L3Harris’ wide field-of-view satellites made for SDA in the same orbit as the HBTSS medium field-of-view missile defense satellites.

This will help both agencies figure out how they will integrate future sensor networks, said Tournear.

The new plan turned out to be a “win win,” he said. “Once MDA agreed that we could put our L3Harris satellites on their launch, it became a very easy choice.”

MDA has not yet announced a launch date for the HBTSS mission.

SDA’s first 10 satellites in good health

Of the 10 satellites launched April 2, both SpaceX tracking satellites have reached the intended orbit about 1,000 kilometers above Earth.

“We will be able to get tracking data very shortly,” said Tournear. “We have to make sure we have the payloads and the software in place to be able to do the tracking mission.”

The eight York satellites haven’t performed their orbit raising yet because SDA needs extra time to test the Link 16 payloads onboard those satellites, he said.

Link 16 is a data exchange and radio communications network widely used by the U.S. military and NATO allies.

Once the York satellites complete their orbit raising, SDA will test the inter-satellite laser communications links, which requires more separation between the satellites.

“Our plan is to have everything tested, checked out and ready to do initial mission demonstrations in late June. early July,” said Tournear.

The Tranche 0 satellites are what SDA calls a “warfighter immersion tranche” that will give military users an opportunity to experiment with the technology and better understand the capabilities of LEO satellites for missile tracking and for data relay.

Following the Tranche 0 deployment, SDA plans to launch dozens more satellites on a monthly cadence starting with Tranche 1 in late 2024.

The Tracking Layer is envisioned as a global network of sensors that will provide a defense shield against Russian and Chinese ballistic and hypersonic missiles. The data collected by missile-tracking satellites will be sent via optical links to the Transport Layer. That would ensure that if a missile threat is detected, its location and trajectory data can be transmitted securely through space and downlinked to military command centers.

SpaceX’s final Tracking Layer satellites

Tournear said the four tracking satellites made by SpaceX for Tranche 0 are likely to be the company’s last. SpaceX did not bid for the Tracking Layer Tranche 1 contract, which was won by L3Harris and Northrop Grumman.

To meet SDA’s required satellite orbit at 1,000 kilometers, SpaceX built the four satellites using a customized bus, not the one the company mass-produces for its Starlink internet constellation, Tournear said.

To track hypersonic missiles in all phases of flight, DoD determined that satellites 1,000 kilometers above Earth will be better positioned to see these targets.

SpaceX informed SDA it did not bid for Tranche 1 because the requirements could not be met with the Starlink bus, said Tournear, However, “we’re working with them to see how they can participate in the future.”

SDA is seeking input from LEO internet companies like SpaceX, Amazon and others on how they might provide a low-Earth orbit “backhaul” capability to support military data transport.

“We are looking for how commercial providers could augment the overall Defense Department space data transport layer and have a seamless integration with the SDA data transport layer,” said Tournear. “So there’s certainly activities like that that are going on.”

SDA’s vision is to deploy “translator satellites” that would allow SDA spacecraft to talk to commercial remote-sensing and communications providers.

“We are looking for ideas from companies on how they could tie their company’s offerings into the transport layer,” he said, “so that we can have multiple different pathways to get low latency, tactical data link, and also be able to augment or back that up with commercial systems.”

MDA receives commercial contracts for on-orbit servicing technologies

The OSAM-1 mission, formerly known as Restore-L, will demonstrate robotic servicing technologies in orbit, including satellite refueling, assembly and in-space manufacturing. The SPIDER payload's lightweight 16-foot (5-metre) robotic arm will assemble multiple antenna reflector elements to form a single, functional 9-foot (3-metre) communications Ka-band antenna. MDA has announced that it has signed multiple contracts with Maxar Technologies to provide advanced space robotics technologies for the Space Infrastructure Dexterous Robot (SPIDER), a technology demonstration on NASA's On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission. MDA will deliver an enabling technology suite of advanced robot control software and interfaces to help achieve assembly and servicing tasks never done to date. These include:

+ A dexterous end effector;
+ Robotic arm control software;
+ Motor control software;
+ Robotic console command and control software and computers;
+ Grapple fixtures and targets for on-orbit assembly interfaces, and
+ Compact cameras and controllers for situational awareness and robotic arm operation.

MDA will also deliver the Motor Control Electronics and Arm Control Electronics on the SPIDER robotic arm. These essential components drive and control each of the motors and joints of the arm as well as providing the data routing and interfacing between joints and cameras.

The work on these three contracts will be performed at MDA facilities in Brampton and Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. These products will be delivered in mid-to-late 2021 and incorporated into Maxar's robotic system. They will not only support the goal of making on-orbit assembly commercially viable, but could also support other on-orbit services like debris removal, anomaly resolution, life extension, and salvage of stranded spacecraft.

There is a clear need to service the world's space infrastructure, both commercial and government, and MDA is well positioned to address this burgeoning market.

MDA has unparalleled and proven space servicing capabilities developed through various government programs over the last 40 years, including the Canadian government's Canadarm program for the US Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs as well as other on-orbit servicing demonstrations such as the successful DARPA Orbital Express mission and NASA's Robotic Refueling Missions on the space station.

Maxar Technologies' MDA to design lunar rover concept for Canadian Space Agency

MDA has been selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to provide a conceptual design of a lunar rover for science exploration and to prepare for human missions on the lunar surface. As part of MDA's concept, the rover would be engineered to travel up to 600 km over its lifetime in the harsh lunar environment via tele-robotic control and advanced autonomous mode, relying on artificial intelligence controlled from the proposed Lunar Gateway and from Earth. The proposed lunar rover concept would conduct expeditions on the far side of the moon near the South Pole region using a robotic arm and a sample capture system to collect samples, carrying a suite of science instruments up to 120 kg. The rover would then return to its lander and deposit the samples into a small rocket known as an ascent vehicle that will carry them to the Gateway. The samples would later be returned to Earth for analysis to improve our understanding of the moon and the early formation of our solar system to prepare for extended human presence beyond Low Earth Orbit. Advancing science is a major goal of this mission and for the rover, the sample selection could utilize MDA-developed sensors for sample selection. "MDA's innovative robotic solutions have been expanding our understanding of space since the 1980s, with the space shuttles' Canadarms and the International Space Station's Mobile Servicing System, comprised of Canadarm2, a highly dexterous two-armed robotic arm known as "Dextre" and the Mobile Base System," said Mike Greenley, group president of MDA.

"The development of the Lunar Gateway and lunar rover are critical next steps in deep space exploration, and MDA is proud to support these initiatives and advance Canada's leading position in space."

The rover concept design forms part of a larger study that includes contributions from the European Space Agency, the Japanese Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, with the objective of preparing technologies and operations for landing astronauts on the surface as early as the late 2020s. In preparation for these landings, this study will define a plan to land the rover by the mid-2020 timeframe.

Key challenges for the rover include operating during the hot lunar day and cold lunar night, each of which lasts approximately 14 consecutive Earth days. The lunar dust is unlike the dirt and soil found anywhere on Earth and affects moving parts and optical coatings and can be problematic for navigation.

MDA will leverage experience gained in development of elements of the ExoMars rover, scheduled to launch in 2020, in development of the Lunar rover.