China is Developing Reusable Satellites to Return 600 kg to Earth

China is developing a new type of recoverable satellite that is reusable and intends to use it for commercial purposes, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, a State-owned space giant in charge of the program.

The company said the new model will be designed to meet growing demand for space-based scientific experiments from a wide range of industries, including space science, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and energy. The first such satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2020, it said.

Zhao Huiguang, chief designer of recoverable satellites at the China Academy of Space Technology, said on Monday that researchers expect that 10 to 15 such satellites will be needed in the next decade by clients from home and abroad.

Zhao explained that the weightlessness inside the spacecraft will be beneficial to conducting many scientific experiments and recoverable satellites are the most suitable platform for such experiments.

Moreover, the research and development of new materials, electronic components and medicines have also benefitted from space-based experiments on such satellites, he said.

Compared with current recoverable satellites in China, the new type will feature reusability, better technology and stronger carrying capacity, Zhao said.

"Our current recoverable satellites are able to ferry 250 kilograms of scientific payloads back to Earth. The new model will be able to carry up to 600 kg," the designer said.

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Did Something Crash Into DigitalGlobe's WorldView 2 Satellite?

The U.S. Air Force said one of DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution imagery satellites was part of what they described as a debris-causing event July 19, but the company said that the satellite remains operational.

The Joint Space Operations Center, which is the Defense Department’s nerve center for space operations and tracks space objects from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, tweeted July 19 that it had identified a debris-causing event related DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 satellite

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Video of North Korea's Apparently Successful Satellite Launch

Some information is here.

The launch appears to have been successful, at least as far as putting something into orbit.

Turkey Wants to Develop, Launch Indigenous Satellite by 2019

After having spent more than $1 billion on satellite programs, the Turks have decided that it is time to spend their resources on local industrial efforts.

They will, however, be prepared to buy foreign know-how in order to build the country’s first indigenous satellite. One senior procurement official said the target date to launch the first Turkish satellite is 2019.

“There may be delays … but the idea to build an overall Turkish satellite will not be reviewed,” the procurement official said.

He said that for the Turkish government the critical criteria to make the satellite was “software, design and platform.”

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The Disaster that was the Precision Tracking Space System

Proponents of the Precision Tracking Space System were not shy about touting its supposed benefits.

The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said PTSS represented an “unprecedented capability” to protect America and its allies against a nuclear attack by the likes of North Korea and Iran.

A key congressional supporter described it as “a necessity for our country.”

The planned network of nine to 12 satellites, orbiting high above the equator, would detect missile launches and track warheads in flight with great precision, the proponents said.

It would be able to tell apart real missiles from decoys — an elusive capability known as “discrimination.” It would help guide U.S. rocket-interceptors to destroy incoming warheads. And it would do all this at a fraction of the cost of alternative approaches.

Based on those promises, the Obama administration and Congress poured more than $230 million into design and engineering work on PTSS starting in 2009. Four years later, the government quietly killed the program before a single satellite was launched.

The Missile Defense Agency said PTSS fell victim to budget constraints. In fact, the program was spiked after outside experts determined that the entire concept was hopelessly flawed and the claims made by its advocates were erroneous. It was the latest in a string of expensive failures for the missile agency.

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Soyuz Launched Satellite Failed to Separate From Upper Stage

One of the satellites launched on December 5 by a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket did not separate from the upper block, and may be sunk, a source in the space industry said Sunday.

On Saturday, a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket laden with two defense satellites was launched from the Russian Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

"One of the space apparatuses of the military designation is experiencing issues. According to the preliminary data, it did not separate from the Volga upper stage. At the moment, there are discussions taking place on the removal from orbit and subsequent sinking of the Volga upper stage and the satellite in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry," the source told RIA Novosti.

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more info.

FAA Could Inherit Space Traffic Control Role From US Air Force

The White House and members of U.S. Congress are in early discussions about how to give the Federal Aviation Administration a greater role in monitoring the space environment and heading off collisions between commercial satellites, a task currently handled by the U.S. Air Force, sources tell SpaceNews.

The discussion has a sense of urgency, sources said, as several new businesses, many with ties to Silicon Valley, have plans to launch hundreds of satellites in the coming years. With that in mind, proponents are asking Congress to move quickly to find a new home for space traffic management.

Any such shift likely would have the blessing of the Pentagon. Leaders from Air Force Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command have said they would like to lessen the burden on military space operators so they can concentrate on preparing for potential conflicts in space.

Currently, the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg Air Force base in California is responsible for space traffic management, providing services including orbital object tracking and collision avoidance warnings. But with hundreds of new satellites planned for launch in the next few years, the JSpOC’s workload is expected to increase while its funding likely will remain flat or decline.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), a member of both the House Armed Services and Space, Science and Technology committees, said Nov. 16 the Defense Department has inherited the space traffic control role by default.

“The DoD needs to focused on fighting wars in space,” Bridenstine said at a workshop sponsored by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the U.S Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

While the idea of offloading the military’s space traffic management responsibilities routinely resurfaces every few years, a lack of consensus over who would take over has kept it from making any real progress, although the FAA is the only agency consistently mentioned.

“We keep hearing [the Air Force] shouldn’t be the FAA for space,” Bridenstine said. “Which says to me, maybe the FAA should be the FAA for space.”

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Iran Wants to Procure Russian Satellites

Iran intends to cooperate with Russia in the area of aerospace after economic sanctions are lifted, to include satellites, weather satellites, and remote sensing devices, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Thursday.

"Iran is interested in our plans [new federal aerospace program], they want to find their place in the market of remote sensing devices. They want their own weather satellites, satellites and remote sensing devices," Rogozin told Rossiya-24 television.

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United Launch Alliance Cannot bid on US Air Force GPS Sat Launch Contract due to Lakc of Russian RD-180 Rocket Engines

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has decided to skip the bidding competition for launch of the next generation U.S. Air Force GPS military navigation satellites, a company spokesperson confirmed to Universe Today, meaning that rival SpaceX is set to win its first military launch contract as the only other certified contract contender.

Since bids for the new GPS launch contracts – which were the first to be opened by the military to a competitive bidding process – were due on Monday, Nov. 16, the door has opened for SpaceX to apparently prevail with the launch services contract, by default, since they are the only other American company certified to launch U.S. Air Force military satellites.

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Russian Luch Satellite is Observing ANOTHER Intelsay ComSat

A mysterious Russian satellite that spent five months parked between two Intelsat satellites left that location in late September and has now cozied up to a third Intelsat satellite.

The Russian satellite, alternatively known as Luch or Olymp, launched in September 2014 and seven months later moved to a position directly between the Intelsat 7 and Intelsat 901 satellites, which are located within half a degree of one another in geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator.

But in late September, the satellite moved again, according to an analysis published Oct. 5 by Brian Weeden, technical adviser at the Secure World Foundation.

The satellite has now settled at 24.4 degrees west longitude, right next to the Intelsat 905 satellite at 24.5 degrees west, according to information available on the space tracking website n2yo.com, which republishes Defense Department data.

Kay Sears, president of Intelsat General, the government services arm of satellite operator Intelsat of Luxembourg and McLean, Virginia, has described the satellite’s movements as “irresponsible.”

While the Russian satellite’s mission is not clear, sources said, its maneuvers have been the subject of classified meetings within the Defense Department and captured the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. One U.S. government official said options are being developed for addressing these types of situations.

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20 Year old Military Satellite Experiences Unexplained Temperature Spike, Explodes

A 20-year-old military weather satellite apparently exploded in orbit Feb. 3 following what the U.S. Air Force described as a sudden temperature spike.

The “catastrophic event” produced 43 pieces of space debris, according to Air Force Space Command, which disclosed the loss of the satellite Feb. 27 in response to questions from SpaceNews.

The satellite, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 13, was the oldest continuously operational satellite in the DMSP weather constellation.

Launched in 1995, DMSP-F13 provided thousands of hours of weather imagery to Air Force and Navy forecasters before transitioning to a backup role in 2006. The Air Force said its sudden loss would have minimal impact.

“Because this satellite was no longer used by the National Weather Service or the Air Force Weather Agency, the impact of the loss of this satellite is minimal,” the Air Force said. “We anticipate real-time weather data for tactical users will be slightly reduced without this satellite, but its data was not being used for weather forecast modeling.”

The Air Force still has six DMSP satellites in service following the launch last April of DMSP-F19. A seventh satellite, DMSP-F20, was under consideration for a 2016 launch as recently as November.

Air Force Space Command said DMSP-F13’s power subsystem experienced “a sudden spike in temperature” followed by “an unrecoverable loss of attitude control.” As DMSP operators were deciding to “render the vehicle safe” the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, identified a debris field near the satellite.

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This is Dangerous: Russia no Longer has any Functional Early Warning Satellites

Two satellites of the old US-KS/Oko system that until recently maintained some coverage of ballistic missile launches, stopped functioning some time in the fall of 2014, leaving Russia without space-based tier of the early-warning system. Cosmos-2422 (29260, launched in July 2006) failed to perform an orbit correction maneuver due in September 2014. Cosmos-2446 (33447, December 2008) also failed in September-October 2014 and is currently drifting off its working orbit. The Kommersant newspaper, which first reported the news, appears to have an independent confirmation of the satellites' demise.

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Quantum Entangled Particle Distribution via Satellite

Entanglement over global distances via quantum repeaters with satellite links

Authors:

Boone et al

Abstract:

We study entanglement creation over global distances based on a quantum repeater architecture that uses low-earth orbit satellites equipped with entangled photon sources, as well as ground stations equipped with quantum non-demolition detectors and quantum memories. We show that this approach allows entanglement creation at viable rates over distances that are inaccessible via direct transmission through optical fibers or even from very distant satellites.

pop sci write up.

Russia Lofts Three Com Sats

On July 3, 2014 at 16:43:52 MSK (12:43:52 UTC) the Space Forces conducted a successful launch of a Rockot space launcher with Briz-KM booster stage from the launch pad No. 3 of the launch complex No. 133 of the Plesetsk test site. The three spacecraft delivered into orbit are Gonets-M communication satellites (Nos. 18, 19, and 20).

The satellites have been assigned NORAD catalog numbers 40061, 40062, and 40063, their international designations are 2014-036A, 2014-036B, and 2014-036C.

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Europe & China are Closing in on Quantum Cryptographic Satellite Communications

Europe and China are gaining the upper hand in the race to bounce perfectly secure messages off satellites in low Earth orbit.

One of the great benefits of quantum communication is the ability to send messages from one point in space to another with perfect security. Not so great is the fact that so-called quantum cryptography is limited to distances of around 100 kilometers.

That’s because over longer distances, photons tend to be absorbed by the glass in fiber-optic cables and by the atmosphere when beamed from one location to another. That causes errors that are too great for perfect privacy.

But there is a potential way around this–to send photons to an orbiting spacecraft, which then retransmits the message securely when it is over another part of the planet. That’s possible because the photons traveling straight up only have to negotiate a few tens of kilometers of the atmosphere before reaching space.

So it’s not surprising that governments all over the world are keen on exploiting space-based quantum cryptography. Indeed, last year we reported on a Chinese team that had successfully reflected individual photons off an orbiting satellite, to simulate a satellite sending photons to the ground.

The Chinese team said the demonstration was a crucial step toward space-based quantum cryptography. However, the ability to send single photons from orbit and receive them on the ground is not enough.

A key factor is the error rate in this process. If the error rate is above 11 percent, quantum cryptography does not work.

So an important unanswered question is whether the error rate is small enough.

Today, we get an answer thanks to the work of Giuseppe Vallone at the University of Padova in Italy and a few pals. These guys have bounced polarized photons off a number of different satellites and measured the error rate in the photons that return to Earth.

And they have good news. They clearly show that the error rate can be made smaller than the critical threshold.

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Russia Loses Last Geostationary Early-Warning Satellite

Russia's only geostationary early-warning satellite, Cosmos-2479, launched in March 2012, has ceased operations. In March-April 2014 the satellite did not perform its regular station-keeping maneuver and, according to Kommersant, was formally declared nonoperational by the ministry of defense in April 2014.

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Bitcoin Block Chain Sats Being Studied by Deep Space Industries for the Bitsat Project

BitCoins took one small step towards space today as Jeff Garzik's Dunvegan Space Systems and Deep Space Industries Inc. announced a preliminary design contract to develop an orbital system for the not-for-profit BitSat project. A constellation of tiny BitSats will comprise an orbital node for the bitcoin network now on Earth, continuously broadcasting the latest bitcoin block from orbit, enhancing the resiliency of bitcoin in the event of disruptions or outages to the terrestrial bitcoin P2P mesh network.

"Private spaceflight is driving down costs so that great ideas like BitSats are within reach of even volunteer nonprofits," said Garzik, organizer of a donation-supported campaign to build and fly the system. "We want to keep bitcoin healthy and free by finding alternative ways to distribute block chain data."

Bitcoin transactions become official once a group is encoded – or "solved" by independent computing efforts -- into a block and added to the blockchain, a record of every bitcoin transfer ever made. BitSats will provide a cross-check verifying the blocks available on the terrestrial network haven't been spoofed, and also providing the latest blocks to locations off the terrestrial grid.

"Deep Space is about using space resources – including space itself," said Rick Tumlinson, DSI Chairman. "BitSat is actually very much in line with our spacecraft development plans, including another private system we will be announcing in a few months using many of the same components and systems. This means much lower costs - very important for the BitSat effort."

"I believe space is the future, and can also be useful right now," said Garzik. "I chose DSI for this project based on their proposal, the expertise they have internally and within their network and the fact that they are pushing the cutting edge – just as we are at Dunvegan."

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What Would Air-Sea Battle do About Orbital Assets?

The threat of China’s Anti-Access and Area Denial (A2/AD) systems looms large in the minds of U.S. military thinkers and planners. The threat posed to U.S. naval forces by anti-ship ballistic missiles, submarines, and swarms of small combatants are well known to the readers of this blog. Air-Sea Battle, however, will not simply be fought in the air and seas of the Asia-Pacific but in space as well. The Air-Sea Battle Concept recognizes that “all domains will be contested by an adversary—space, cyberspace, air, maritime, and land.” While space is usually thought of as an Air Force domain, the Navy can make an important contribution to ensure the success of U.S. operations.

Space systems are a key source of U.S. military advantage. The United States has been uniquely successful in leveraging satellite communications, space-based intelligence capabilities, and the GPS constellation to enable global power projection and precision strike. This tremendous success has also made the United States particularly vulnerable to attacks on its space assets. Seeking to exploit this vulnerability China has invested heavily in counter-space systems. The potential of China’s counter-space program was illustrated most clearly by its successful test of a direct ascent anti-satellite weapon in 2007, destroying an obsolete Chinese satellite and filling low earth orbit with thousands of pieces of debris.

While the dependence of U.S. forces on space systems is relatively common knowledge, less appreciated is China’s increasing dependence on space to accomplish its own military missions. China uses space assets not to enable global power projection (at least, not yet) but as key parts of its A2/AD kill chain. China is building a maritime reconnaissance-strike complex, much like the one fielded by the Soviet Union during the cold war, including optical and radar imaging satellites as well as electronic intelligence satellites, that will allow it to locate U.S. ships at sea. Weather satellites will also aid China’s over-the-horizon radars tracking U.S. ships in the Western Pacific. Once Chinese satellites locate U.S. carrier groups and other targets, the Beidou satellite constellation, China’s counterpart to GPS, will guide long-range missiles to their targets.

Faced with the threat to important U.S. space assets and the threat from Chinese space assets, what contributions can the Navy make to the Air-Sea Battle fight in space?

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An Update on DARPA's Phoenix Modular Satellite Program

Imagine self-healing satellites built in space. One sensor breaks down and another sensor elsewhere on the satellite takes up the slack. And the satellites are launched in modular pieces, on a series of different rockets, then are assembled by a robot arm in orbit. Parts can be replaced. The satellite can be refueled to prolong its operational life. This isn’t yet the space dock servicing the USS Enterprise, but it may mark the first steps toward such a capability.

It’s the stuff of science fiction and, as often happens, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA) is the place experimenting with the new technologies and concepts of operations to make it real. Since the program, known as Phoenix, is expected to consume a tiny $40 million to $50 million this year (in its third year), don’t expect miracles any time soon.

Today, satellites have to be built with the knowledge that once they go into orbit they’re on their own. If something goes wrong or they just get old and die, there’s little that can be done beyond sending corrective signals to them from Earth and hoping it fixes the problem. Phoenix would change that equation.

Part of the approach, Phoenix program manager David Barnhart says, relies on what he calls “satlets,” small, self-contained pieces of satellites that would be plugged together to create the larger birds. The original Phoenix concept, as its name implies, was to bring old satellites back to life by refueling them or sticking new sensors or other gear such as communications transponders on them.

The Phoniex program has already built a prototype robot arm to help refuel, repair, or build those satellites and has created a modular payload box to take the components into orbit.

But the technology clearly can be used for a wider array of purposes. One of the other benefits of this approach would be that the various components could be launched as what are known as hosted payloads. In other words, they hitch a ride with a larger satellite. Hosted payloads have long been advocated as one way to bring down the sky-high costs of launching satellites. But while commercial satellite firms hoped military programs would flock to them and bring down their own costs, the Pentagon has worried about a whole constellation of potential problems: control of their sensors should they be launched with a commercial satellite; interference from other sensors or transponders on the satellites; and quality control when the military payload is mated with the host.

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SpaceX Falcon9 SES-8 Launch Video