Page 65 - SAMENA Trends - April 2020

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NASA's New Solar Sail System to be Tested On-Board NanoAvionics' Satellite

NanoAvionics has been selected to build the solar sail during and after deployment. planetary spacecraft." As part of this
a 12U nanosatellite bus for an in-orbit "I'm tremendously proud and excited agreement the company will also supply
demonstration of NASA's Advanced that NanoAvionics will be part of NASA's a mechanical testbed model and a FlatSat
Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3). effort to validate a new beam-powered model. In addition, a team of NanoAvionics
This a result of a contract between propulsion system, eventually leading to engineers will provide the support required
NASA Ames Research Center and AST more marvelous deep-space missions for testing, integration and operations
for a 12U bus to carry NASA's payload following the first inter-planetary CubeSats of the nanosatellite. The FlaSat model
into low Earth orbit (LEO) including an MarCO-A and B (Mars Cube One)," said F. has identical software functionality as
approximately 800 square foot (74 square Brent Abbott, CEO of NanoAvionics North the final 12U bus hardware, hosting the
meter) composite boom and solar sail America. "The technology demonstration actual payload. It allows NASA Ames to
system. The aim of the ACS3 mission is using NanoAvionics' 12U bus will be run tests via remote network connectivity
to replace conventional rocket propellants the first ever in-orbit trial of NASA's without having to ship equipment back
by developing and testing solar sails using composite booms as well as sail packing and forth. The mechanical testbed model
sunlight beams to thrust the nanosatellite. and deployment systems for a solar sail. can be used for testing payload integration
These solar sail propulsion systems are It will guide the development of a next and other mechanical tests, such as the
designed for future small interplanetary generation nanosatellites with solar deployment of solar sails.
spacecrafts destined for low-cost deep- sail propulsion system for small inter-
space and science missions requiring
long-duration, low-thrust propulsion. With
already more than 75 successful satellite
missions and satellite-related commercial
projects, NanoAvionics will assemble
the 12U bus at its new Columbia facility
in Illinois, while the final integration of
the payload will be carried out at NASA
Ames facilities. Matching NASA Ames'
mission requirements, the 12U bus shares
the same flight-proven subsystems as
NanoAvionics' flagship M6P bus but with
up to 10U payload volume. The larger
volume will be necessary to provide
enough room for the 4.6 kg payload that
includes the composite boom and solar
sail system as well as cameras to monitor

Public Trials of SpaceX Satellite Internet Service to Begin within 6 Months

If all goes according to plan, the public home broadband. Expect download speeds to launch as many as 40,000 satellites
will have a chance to try out SpaceX’s of up to 1Gbps with a latency ranging in the coming years. On Wednesday, the
satellite internet service in six months. between 25 to 35 milliseconds, on par company successfully deployed another
CEO Elon Musk mentioned the timetable in with ground-based broadband services. 60 Starlink satellites into space for a total
a tweet. “Private beta begins in ~3 months, Although satellite internet is nothing new, of 420 currently in operation. According to
public beta in ~6 months, starting with SpaceX’s network is designed to achieve its website, SpaceX’s goal is to launch the
high latitudes,” he said. In another tweet, faster speeds by using low Earth orbit broadband service for the US and Canada
Musk said the German market qualifies (LEO) satellites. The plan is to have them later this year. Starlink is then scheduled
as high altitude. Dubbed Starlink, the fly around the planet from a distance of 200 to go global in 2021. Cost has not been
upcoming service is promising to bring miles to 700 miles above the surface while announced, but the company plans on
fast and affordable internet to any location they ferry data between ground stations supplying customers with a Starlink
in the world. It’ll be particularly appealing and internet users below. To get the terminal you can easily place in your home.
for people who live in remote areas or service up and running, the company has
underserved markets with few options for been securing approval from regulators

65 APRIL 2020