April 2018
Future Cubesat swarms pose significant communications challenges
... Though not CubeSats, in comparison the Iridium system features 66 operational satellites in six planes of 11 spacecraft each in polar LEO at 780 km altitude [5]. Each payload has a data rate up to 100 kbit/s for 90 percent of the orbit, and < 1 Mbit...
January 2018
Maximising the economic opportunities of deep space
.... Recent start-ups focusing on ion based propulsion in LEO include Accion Systems, a spin-off from MIT that ...called Analytical Space is focused on demonstrating this capability from LEO. The technology, however, could be used to build ...
February 2018
Growth drivers, requirements and threats in the smallsat industry
... more than tenfold worldwide increase of payloads launching into LEO. The forecasts foresees demand ranging between 4,040 payloads...production of satellites. Beside the huge initial demand for LEO satellites and launches, there is a consistent need for...
September 2017
Engaging the private sector in space exploration
...reliable and flexible space services for autonomous European access to LEO. This initiative, fully supported by ESA Member States,...and flexible space services for autonomous European access to LEO. The US company Sierra Nevada Corporation leads the ...
April 2020
Satellite mega-constellations pose threat to ground-based astronomy
...observation of satellites reveals objects in low Earth orbit (LEO), and the spacecraft observable from any location on Earth ... if several companies execute their plans to fill LEO with overwhelming quantities of communications satellites. If these...
October 2015
How to 3D-print a habitat on Mars
Inspired by centuries-old construction techniques, LavaHive is a Mars colony built using the planet’s own sand and dust. Such in-situ resource utilization makes it possible to make significant savings on the mass and cost of a mission to the Red ...
