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Of significant interest to the military are inter-satellite optical links that allow satellites to transmit huge amounts of data to other satellites and ground stations.
WASHINGTON – Among the 143 satellites that flew into orbit on January 24 with SpaceX’s record-breaking carpool were technology demonstrations and payloads of interest to the U.S. military, including satellite components, laser communications in the space and remote sensing.
Blue Canyon Technologies has deployed new satellite components that it plans to incorporate into Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency satellites. Now owned by Raytheon, Blue Canyon produces a spacecraft for DARPA’s low-earth orbiting constellation Blackjack. Company CEO George Stafford said the new components include attitude control systems and reaction wheels intended to improve satellite performance.
Other small satellites that flew on SpaceX’s Transporter-1 were laser communications payloads – called inter-satellite optical links – that allow satellites to transmit massive amounts of data to other satellites and to ground stations. . Germany’s Tesat-Spacecom has sent into orbit a laser communications terminal that the company says is the smallest in the industry, weighing less than a pound.
Tesat-Spacecom spokesperson Matthias Motzigemba said News the company plans to test the optical communications payload for a period of up to two years and to conduct experiments aimed at building a global network of space and ground nodes.
Motzigemba said he could not disclose the customers of these terminals, but that Tesat is currently providing inter-satellite optical links to US companies building constellations in low Earth orbit.
The Pentagon’s space development agency is particularly interested in lightweight laser communication terminals for the fleet of LEO satellites it plans to deploy in the coming years. DARPA and SDA hoped to launch two inter-satellite optical link cubesats on Transporter-1, but the satellites were accidentally damaged at the payload processing facility.
SDA Director Derek Tournear commented in a social media post that losing these two satellites was “painful” and that Transporter-1 would have had 145 satellites on board had the two laser communications payloads been successful.
SpaceX in this mission flew 10 of its own Starlink Internet satellites equipped with laser links. The US military plans to use Starlink to connect planes and other platforms, and inter-satellite optical links are preferred because they are more cybersecure than traditional radio frequency communications.
The largest share of the small satellites in Transporter-1 were imaging satellites from Planet as well as radar imaging satellites from Capella Space and Iceye, and radiofrequency mapping satellites from HawkEye 360. These companies and others are expanding their fleets like the Pentagon and community intelligence plan to increase the use of commercial remote sensing services.
Better technology needed for satellite tracking
The US military currently serves as a space traffic controller. Space Command’s 18th Space Control Squadron monitors satellites and space debris for close-range approaches and displays their location on space-track.org.
The unprecedented number of small satellites launched by SpaceX in a single flight draws attention to the challenges of space traffic management as orbits become more congested.
Satellite tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell said Transporter-1 included satellites from 24 different owners and operators, most from the United States and a handful from 10 other countries.
Concerns about the safety of spaceflight are creating opportunities for startups like Kayhan Space Corp., which has developed cloud-based software to help military and commercial satellite operators plan maneuvers to avoid collisions.
The company was awarded two US Air Force Small Business Innovation Research contracts to support satellite tracking efforts.
“There is a lot to do in tracking space objects,” said Kayhan Space CEO and co-founder Siamak Hesar. News. Today it is difficult to pinpoint the location of small objects like cubesats, he said. As ridesharing becomes more common, Hesar said, the 18th Space Control Squadron and civil organizations will need better tools to manage congestion and avoid costly accidents.
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