News from #SmallSat | Smallsat industry seen as robust enough to survive any bubble

View this email in your browser SpaceNews' show daily for the 31st Annual AIAA/USU Conference on Small Satellites Today is Wednesday, August 9, 2017   Smallsat industry seen as robust enough to survive any bubble LOGAN, Utah — Is the smallsat industry in the midst of a bubble? Yes and no, according to one group of experts. A panel discussion about smallsat business and finance issues during the 31st Annual Conference on Small Satellites here Aug. 8 argued that while the recent surge of investment in small satellite ventures will likely lead to future consolidation, the underlying industry itself is not in danger of collapse. "I think the trend is absolutely to smallsats," said Randy Segal, senior partner at law firm Hogan and Lovells. "I think the existence of smallsats, going from big sats to smallsats, is not a bubble. It's going to stay." SEE FULL STORY Harris pivots from hosted payloads to small satellite LOGAN, Utah — The company that played a leading role in promoting hosted payloads and sold excess space on Iridium Communications satellites, is turning its attention to small satellites "because that's where the market is," said Sid Stewart, senior program manager for responsive and geospatial solutions in Harris Government Communications Systems. Harris is pairing commercially available small satellite buses with its own sensors to provide customers with complete missions. "We basically become a prime who does the satellite, the ground system and the data exploitation and dissemination," Stewart told SpaceNews at the Small Satellite Conference here. "We like to call it soup to nuts." Traditionally, Harris offered customers a variety of space sensors including large-aperture unfurlable mesh reflectors for communications satellites. With its 2015 acquisition of Excelis Inc., Harris expanded its role in the sensor market. Now, Harris is seeking to draw on some of that expertise to trim the cost of sensors destined for small satellites. SEE FULL STORY Clyde Space to build cubesats for Audacy technology demonstration LOGAN, Utah — Scotland's Clyde Space will build buses for three small satellites Silicon Valley startup Audacy plans to send into medium Earth orbit in 2019, according to an agreement announced Aug. 8 at the Small Satellite conference here. Audacy is seeking to establish a commercial version of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, which transmits communications from satellites to ground stations. With satellites in medium Earth orbit, Audacy plans to offer simultaneous access to its network for customers operating thousands of satellites, launch vehicles and human spaceflight missions. Before establishing its operational constellation of satellites weighing hundreds of kilograms, Audacy wants to demonstrate its technology, including customer satellite terminals featuring K-band antennas and software defined radios, on the cubesats built by Clyde Space, James Spicer, Audacy chief engineer, said by email.  SEE FULL STORY . NASA wants to hear from smallsat builders interested in hitching rides on SLS LOGAN, Utah — As NASA prepares to launch cubesats on the first Space Launch System flight, the space agency is asking satellite developers to share information on small spacecraft they would like to fly on subsequent missions. "We are seeking your input," said Kimberly Robinson, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's SLS secondary payloads manager. "We want to make flexible options and accommodate the type of cubesats you want to fly in the future." NASA plans to fly 13 cubesats to gather data on the sun, moon, asteroids and Earth on the first SLS test flight slated for 2019. For the following SLS mission, a test flight of SLS with the Orion crew capsule known as Exploration Mission-2 scheduled to launch in 2022, NASA is redesigning the second stage to loft 105 metric tons into orbit. SEE FULL STORY Smallsat market forecast to exceed $30 billion in coming decade French consultancy Euroconsult forecasts that significant expansion in terms of capabilities and demand is underway in the smallsat market. More than 6,200 smallsats are to be launched in the next 10 years, with the market value expected to reach up to $30.1 billion, compared with $8.9 billion in the previous decade, according to a report Euroconsult released last month. "The smallsat market from 2017-2026 will be driven by the roll-out of multiple constellations accounting for more than 70 percent of this total, mainly for commercial operators," the consultancy said. "Of the total $16.5 billion manufacturing market value from 2017 to 2026, $3.7 billion is absorbed internally by in-house manufacturing; the remaining $12.8 billion is considered part of the open market." Meanwhile, European smallsat industry players diverge on their evaluation of the outlook. While various observers recognize a positive growth trend, they also caution to take the forecast with a pinch of salt. SEE FULL STORY Stop by our booth to sign up for free trial subscriptions. We're in the Field House next to the stage. Follow SpaceNews Advertise with Us Copyright © 2017 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314

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