BLOGS
2024
2024 Blog: Accelerating a New ERA in Space: Efficiency, Reliability and Autonomy
Efficiency, reliability, autonomy – three words that are of tremendous importance in 2024’s space industry. Having continuous access to funding and investment, a talented workforce, and reliable materials, components and parts, is imperative for successful missions and to retain a strong, sovereign position in space.
The sector is taking leaps and bounds: while we are only three months into 2024, we have been lucky to witness three lunar lander launches – two US-based commercial companies, Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic, as well as a mission by Japanese space agency JAXA.
2023
2023 Blog: Transformational Software: Emerging Technologies Redefining Space
In the NewSpace era, innovations in the space industry are certainly not hard to come by. For the majority of the sector’s history, hardware has been the backbone of space. However, more recently we are starting to see some exciting developments in space software.
The shift towards the digitalization and digitization of space operations and services is pushing for developments in software capabilities and applications. Here, we take a look at three exciting emerging technologies which will be shaping the industry in the years to come.
2023 Blog: The Rise of Optical Communications in Space
Rapid advancements in space technology mean that satellites are gathering and transmitting more data than ever, with traditional radio frequency (RF) communication systems no longer being able to provide the bandwidth required to do so.
The rise of optical (or laser) communications for space applications is set to provide a solution to current limitations of RF technology. However, this is not to say there are not also some challenges that need to be addressed before the technology can become fully-fledged within the sector.
2022
2022 INDUSTRY BLOG: Start-ups and Small Businesses: An Expanding Nucleus in America’s Space Supply Chain
As the Covid-19 pandemic took hold on economies and societies across the globe in 2020, supply chains were disrupted due to the traveling restrictions and lockdowns imposed. However, while many supply chains suffered, the aerospace industry in the US remained open and strong due to its essential value to government and commercial missions. Ever since, the US-domestic space industry has experienced tremendous investment, which will most likely result in a growth spurt of its commercialization and its downstream capabilities and values.
2022 INDUSTRY BLOG: Why the Recent Increase in US-domestic and Global Launches Truly Reflects the Growth of the Space Technology Industry
The growth of the space sector is often analyzed through investment and numbers of satellites launched. However, in order see the true scale of the rapid development in the industry in the blink of an eye, analyzing launch numbers from the last five years can give you a clue into just how much this market has been burgeoning recently.
2022 INDUSTRY BLOG: Providing In-space Servicing and Debris Mitigation Solutions to Help Tackle the Space Traffic Management Emergency
Space debris is becoming a recurring theme in mainstream media, as defunct rocket boosters, satellites and other space garbage are posing increasing collision threats to our operational satellites and research stations in orbit. Sooner or later, the threat will become a reality and the consequences could be disastrous to our functioning on Earth.
2021
Microwave Journal Feb Satellite and Radio Communications Issue Available Online
Microwave Journal has published their Feb Satellite and Radio Communications issue online featuring new antenna technologies and a story on the history and evolution of the Iridium LEO satellite system for global mobile communications.
2021 Blog post: Exploring Innovative Testing Solutions for Next-gen Spacecraft Engineering
Testing is a crucial part of space system development – without reliable testing, spacecraft would simply not fly. There have been many developments within the space industry that affect testing processes, such as the introduction of new materials through metal additive manufacturing, the arrival and increased implementation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components and the commercialization of space in general.
2021 BLOG POST: Overcoming Digitization Challenges to Accelerate Spacecraft System Design and Manufacturing
Smart manufacturing and software integration into the design, engineering and manufacturing process can greatly reduce production times and allow for new ways of design thinking. These technologies have all the buzz but what challenges need to be overcome in order to implement these technologies successfully?
2021 BLOG POST: Spearheading Collaboration and Innovation Between Commercial, Civil and National Security Space
Programs and contracts set out and shared by national security forces and civil agencies have long been the key driver for commercial organizations within the US space industry. As the space industry has become increasingly commercialized, the relationship between the three pillars of civil, national security and commercial space has become stronger and is progressively reliant upon each other.
2021 BLOG POST: Using E-Band for Wideband Satcom: Opportunities and Challenges
The growing volume of data traffic to and from wireless devices calls for high bandwidth to connect users to the internet. Two 5 GHz frequency bands are available in E-Band for commercial very high throughput satellite (VHTS) communication systems. However, adopting these high frequencies makes RF component and subsystem development challenging for the satellite communications (satcom) system as well as the test and measurement (T&M) equipment and setups for working in E-Band. At these frequencies, propagation and atmospheric attenuation require higher power and lower noise figure components for the communication links
