Launch Services Research Articles

MaiaSpace: Sustainability applied to the development of a semi-reusable solution for space mobility

MaiaSpace is a European NewSpace company aiming at developing a mini launcher to meet the future of the satellite market. Founded in 2022, the company is preparing for the maiden launch at the end of 2025. MaiaSpace is actively working towards environmental mitigation of its launch service through the implementation of a Life Cycle Assessment methodology from an early stage. Design choices for environmental mitigation include reusability of the first stage, the use of bio-methane as fuel, and the adding of a kick-stage for a performance increase or in-orbit services. This article aims to justify these choices in both fields of competitivity and sustainability.On the one hand, while having two markets addressed by one launcher boosts competitiveness, environmental impact remains unclear, except for the resource depletion indicator, that shows clear benefits. On the other hand, if choosing bio-methane over fossil-based methane increases costs, it theoretically leads to environmental benefits. In addition, by choosing a methane-fuelled launcher, the launch phase climate change impact could be reduced by as much as 94 % compared to a similar RP-1 fuelled one, although more research is needed to confirm. Finally, the kick-stage allows a sharp increase of the payload capacity, improving both environmental performance (measured per ton of payload sent into orbit), as well as service flexibility, in addition to its business potential for in-orbit services.

Optimal Launch Manifesting for Space Freight Forwarders

This paper proposes a novel framework to optimize a launch vehicle manifesting plan for small satellites from the perspective of a space freight forwarder. The forwarder in space logistics coordinates individual shipment orders from the launch customers and launch service providers like a freight forwarder in ground logistics does. An optimal launch manifesting problem is formulated as a variant of the vehicle routing problem involving the decisions on carriers, launch strategies (dedicated or multi-payload), launch dates, and satellite deployment sequences. A solution procedure based on the column generation method is proposed to address the challenges associated with the large-scale combinatorial optimization problem. A case study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed framework and solution procedure.

The dark side of the new space economy: Insights from the sustainability reporting practices of government space agencies and private space companies

AbstractGovernmental and private companies in the New Space Economy collaborate to realise valuable space products and services, yet this partnership raises sustainability concerns. This study investigates whether and how space companies address social and environmental aspects in their collaborative activities. Focusing on the launch service segment in Europe and the USA, we conducted a content analysis of financial and non‐financial reports and websites by using the legitimacy theory framework. This study reveals that space companies emphasise the positive social and environmental impacts of their collaboration while providing limited information on potential drawbacks. They extensively outline measures to mitigate social and environmental damages, aiming to present a favourable image of their activities. This research contributes to fostering the debate on social and environmental accounting and accountability of space actors. It sheds light on how they report on sustainability aspects offering insights into the legitimacy strategies they use and promoting their accountability.

Comparative analysis of European vertical landing reusable first stage concepts

AbstractReusable launch systems have the potential to significantly impact the space launch service market if both a high reliability and low refurbishment costs can be achieved. This study delves into the Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) methodology, as currently employed by SpaceX, and forms a segment of the ENTRAIN study by DLR. This broader study encompasses an examination of both Vertical Takeoff Horizontal Landing (VTHL) and VTVL reusable first stages, exploring their performance across high-level design parameters. This manuscript’s primary objective is to assess the quantitative impact of high-level design factors on launch vehicle performance, particularly in relation to the development of a future European reusable launch system featuring a VTVL first stage. For a two-stage vehicle with a payload performance of 7.5t into GTO, the effect of varying propellant combinations, staging velocities and engine cycles are assessed. The study encompasses an iterative, multidisciplinary analysis and sizing process for ten different configurations. Each design iteration not only entails a structural design analysis but also includes optimization of the ascent and descent trajectories. Finally, the developed vehicle concepts are compared to derive quantitative insights into the trade-offs associated with key design choices.

Roadmap to Smart Cities in Saudi Arabia: Key Challenges and Opportunities

Technologies are constantly evolving and finding applications in both business and government organizations for various purposes such as improving operational efficiency, increasing customer satisfaction, and reducing the cost of transactions. Technology adoption is a well-researched phenomenon in the academic world. Based on the current state of e-governance in Saudi cities and the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things and Blockchain in e-governance, this research study aims to study factors influencing the adoption intention of AI and Blockchain technologies in citizen services delivery within a smart city in Saudi. This article explores AI, IoT and Blockchain technologies adoption intention in the context of smart cities within a developing country like Saudi. Finally, the study provides a set of practical recommendations for smart city officials while planning to launch service applications using AI and Blockchain technologies. More specifically, the study emphasizes the importance of ethics, data privacy and security, and transparency in building trust between smart city systems.

Government Policy or Market Mechanism, Which Is Better for Chinese Private Rocket Enterprises

In 2015, Chinese Government issued the<i> Notice on the National Civil Space Infrastructure Medium - and Long-Term Development Plan (2015-2025)</i>, announcing that it would support and guide social capitals to participate in the application and development of national civil space infrastructure construction. Later, Chinese private companies are allowed to apply for launch licenses, breaking the traditional model of allocating funds from the state budget and developing rockets only by the "national teams". Many Chinese private rocket companies were registered and established afterwards, and some of them have successfully launched rockets several times in recent years. At the same time, Chinese private rocket enterprises are also facing with many problems, including the low success rate of rockets, the risk of rocket debris falling, high space insurance rates, space junk, talent competition, and corporate survival, etc. In 2023, the Chinese Government issued <i>Notice on Strengthening the License Management for Civil Space Launch Projects</i>, which requires the third-party liability insurance policy and space debris mitigation plan for launch licenses application, meanwhile the last sub-stage of the launch vehicle should de-orbit according to the regulations after taking measures such as passivation, using government policy tools to regulate and guide the development of private rockets. In conclusion, in order to promote the healthy development of commercial launch service industry, the market mechanism should play a leading role, while appropriately regulation and adjustment from the government policy are also needed. In addition, this paper also suggested that the Chinese government should carry out overall planning for the division of labor and product models of state-owned and private rocket companies.

Autonomous flight termination system: The need for an international regulatory frame

Among the unmanned launch service providers, the autonomous flight termination concept is no longer an unknown actor around the table. The goal of these systems is to limit the consequences of the potential feared events caused by a launch vehicle malfunction by automatically terminating the flight of the vehicle in a safe manner, replacing the human component on the traditional flight termination decision in case of failure.Although some public and private players have already designed (and even flown) an autonomous flight termination system, the problem arises when looking into the safety standards that need to be to be applied to launch from different locations, which are highly dependent on the respective safety authorities.This paper aims at analysing the gap in the current launch safety policies and proposing the guidelines to be followed to widen the range of spaceports capable of hosting a launch vehicle with such a feature.

China's Space Export Strategy

China views promoting space exports as a key national priority and is devoting considerable energy toward boosting its market share in the global space economy. This is yielding dividends, helping China become a major space exporter of satellites, launch services, and space data. This paper will examine the strategic rationale for China's expanding sales of satellites, space launch services, and space data, an understudied element of Chinese foreign policy. It will conclude that Beijing's sale of space products is strengthening China's national power by building technical dependencies, bolstering international prestige and cultural influence, accelerating the global adoption of Chinese technology, and proliferating space systems that China can sometimes access.

Chinese Commercial Space Launchers: Historical Perspective; Policy Framework

The topic of Chinese commercial space has been the subject of a growing number of publications in English since the beginning of the decade, which raises the necessity of clarifying the concept and policy framework. This article focuses on the case of launcher industry and launch services. A historical review allows to underline the existence of two waves in the country's commercial space launch activities, which should be distinguished: an “old commercial space” or commercialization from the 1980s, mainly concerning state-owned enterprises; and a “new commercial space” from the middle of the decade 2010, seeking to involve capital and companies not stemming from the central state. This evolution is reflected in the selection of three primary texts for which clarification is given in terms of nature, enacting bodies, organization, content, and relevance. Chinese commercial launch policy framework shows its integration into broader economic concerns at two points in time in a specific historical context: encouragement of the national military–industrial conglomerate to engage in profit-making activities – via international marketing of Long March launch services –in the first case and in the second case, invitation of non–central state and private investors and entrepreneurs to participate in innovation priority fields. As means to implement the latter objectives, several policy instruments are identified: definition of the desired activity and clarification of organs in charge, authorization system, and economic incentives.

PREREQUISITES FOR CREATING ULTRA-LIGHT LAUNCH VEHICLES WITH POLYMER BODIES

The relevance of the problem of creating new light and ultra-light launch vehicles from the point of view of the development of the modern space industry is shown. First of all, this problem is related to the expansion of the market and the scope of use of small satellites, most of which are now launched into orbit as passing load by medium and heavy launch vehicles, which is not at all prompt and too expensive. The estimated forecast of the small satellite launch market, which is presented herein, indicates a growing demand for their launch services. A low-cost launch vehicle for the launch of small satellites would greatly expand their use, development, and production. This indicates the need for creation of special-purpose cheap transport vehicles for the operative decision of tasks of launching such satellites into orbit. It is shown that the main directions for increasing the efficiency and reducing the cost of launches are reducing the cost of making a transport space system, increasing of mass the payload, increasing the multiplicity of reusable uses, and reducing one-time costs per start. World trends in solving this problem are connected with the solution problem of creating ultra-light launch vehicles. The historical review of studies on prototype rockets that use the principle of reducing the mass of a launch vehicle during flight by burning spent structural elements indicates the possibility of creating launch vehicles on this principle by using complex hydrocarbon polymers as structural materials. It is shown that polymer materials, in particular polyethylene, can become the main material for the manufacture of fuel tanks for solid rockets, which use the new principle of burning the design during flight. The use of fuel tanks as fuel will give a possibility to reduce the cost of the propulsion system, which is one of the most expensive parts of the launch vehicle. The development of such launch vehicles and the commercialization of scientific research will allow domestic aerospace companies to occupy a niche in the market of small satellite launches.

To infinity and beyond: A teaching case on Rocket Lab and the emergence of New Zealand's space ecosystem

This teaching case focuses on the relationship between entrepreneurs, their ventures and the broader context—the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem (I&EE)—in which entrepreneurial activity occurs. Building on secondary data and informal conversations with industry experts, the case recounts the story of Rocket Lab, an aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider founded in 2006 in New Zealand. The case elaborates on how unique contextual conditions in combination with the founder's vision and skills enabled Rocket Lab to become a dominant force in the space sector, even though the firm was founded in a country with virtually no history in spacefaring and highlights that Rocket Lab's emergence constituted the foundation of a burgeoning space industry in New Zealand. In doing so, the case sensitises students to the importance of self-reinforcing and mutually interdependent relationships in well-functioning I&EEs and the role policymakers play in this context. At the same time, it allows a critical discussion of I&EEs, particularly if they are dominated by a small number of anchor firms.

Satellite Launch and Production Services and Arbitration in the Chinese Private Sector

China has grown to become one of the largest producers and launchers of rockets and satellites in recent years. Both Chinese private companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are in this sector, and there are reports of satellite launch and sale contracts being signed between Chinese and foreign parties. Over the past decade, South Korea, India, the United States, France and other countries have had experience with very large arbitration claims being made arising from satellite contracts. Chinese companies have not yet had such arbitrations, but they may in the future. What likely issues might such arbitrations involve? This article examines. Arbitration, commercial space contracts, satellites, launch services, production services, China, Belt and Road

Multi-Objective Evolutionary formulations for design of hybrid Earth observing constellations

With the recent advances in satellite miniaturization, communication and information technologies, and the advent of affordable small satellite launch services, there has been a paradigm shift in space exploration missions involving the transition from monolithic architectures formed by a large satellite to the concept of Distributed Spacecraft Missions (DSM), which fly multiple simpler and less costly satellites to offer increased capabilities such as better temporal, spatial, and angular sampling. Despite the potential to provide higher science return and novel data products, the orbit selection problem for Earth Observation DSMs requires a much more complex constellation design process, which involves several interrelated design variables and conflicting objectives. Because of this, prior work has focused mostly on relatively simple DSM architectures consisting of a single type of constellation, such as homogeneous Walker constellations. This paper presents a novel evolutionary formulation (i.e., chromosome and operators) in the context of Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEA) that allows for the exploration of large tradespaces of non-Walker hybrid satellite constellations with diversity of orbital parameters. The idea behind this new formulation is that it allows to search through the space of different types of constellations – such as Walker formations, Sun-synchronous trains and string-of-pearls among others – and combinations thereof. This type of hybrid constellations have not been studied in detail. The methodology presented in this paper helps overcome the combinatorial explosion resulting when opening up the design space to include non-symmetrical configurations and relaxing constraints in the values of some orbital parameters (e.g. choosing a common altitude or inclination for all satellites forming the constellation). The proposed formulation is compared with a state-of-the-art evolutionary formulation using a variable-length chromosome in 5 different problems including the observation of symmetrical, asymmetrical, connected and disconnected regions of interest. Results show that the proposed formulations achieve better convergence and convergence rate than the state-of-the-art. The proposed method can reduce the effort required to design a problem formulation for each problem instance, while also reducing the risk of missing potentially good architectures due to formulations that are too restrictive and rely too much on previous experience and expertise.

Advancements in Mission Assurance Standards for Expendable and Reusable Launch Vehicles

The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center’s Launch Enterprise and The Aerospace Corporation (Launch Enterprise/Aerospace) continue to advance the systems engineering, mission assurance, and acquisition processes for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) services. The Launch Enterprise/Aerospace team has proactively evolved the mission assurance process to embrace new capabilities such as reusable launch vehicles and additive manufacturing. The mission assurance process also evolved to incorporate new technologies, increase flexibility, reduce cost, and incorporate lessons learned for application to expendable launch vehicles and reusable launch systems. This paper provides a top-level summary on 1) the advancements made to the mission assurance process, 2) the development of new technical standards, 3) the tailoring of standards, and 4) the adoption of standards to address lessons learned. Furthermore, the application of these advances to the NSSL acquisition of launch services is also discussed because it is a key U.S. Space Force objective to launch every National Security Space satellite with high reliability and low risk to achieve full operational capability.

The in-space rescue capability gap

The United States government and commercial spaceflight providers have no plans in place to conduct a timely rescue of a crew from a distressed spacecraft in low Earth orbit, or anywhere else in space. Without rescue plans and dedicated resources, today's space travelers will journey at their own risk. U.S. rules and regulations governing commercial spaceflight simply require launch service and space travel providers to inform the crew and passengers that there are risks. The United States, however, as the world's greatest space faring nation, has the wherewithal to develop and employ effective in-space rescue capabilities if it chooses to do so. This paper seeks to raise awareness of the need to revisit space rescue policies and close capability gaps through historical analogs such as the ancient maritime explorers that embarked upon epic journeys with multiple ships, effective submarine rescue operations, and the rich history of human spaceflight. Potential solutions to improve safety during space travel are identified and policy options are discussed.

A survey on the service quality of launch terminal in Bangladesh based on customers satisfaction

Quality of the service and effectiveness of service operations system are considered as important aspects of achieving the customers' satisfaction of any service organization. Since it is considered as the low cost, safe and enjoyable travelling method by the passengers, it is need of the hour to identify the customer satisfaction towards the development of transport service methods in the Bangladesh especially in Launch Service. The major objective of this study is to identify the impact of inland transport service quality on passengers' satisfaction. The present study has been attempted to understand and examine the factors influencing the passenger’s satisfaction in the Launch Service. The study is exploratory in nature and used factor analysis to identify the foremost significant factors of Passenger’s satisfaction with service quality. By questionnaire survey we put our survey into five category those are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy (24 type question). Also, we took a part in photography survey. From photography and questionnaire survey we made a data and put that data into analysis. By analysis the data we made some pie chat and find a result. Though the satisfaction level is not good. From the result it is shown that bollard quality, dock railing system, mooring ropes quality, staff accommodation; those four parts of the launch terminal is very poor. Although bollard quality, cleanliness, dock to dock joint, snapback zone, watchtower service; those five parts of launch terminal is poor. Also, the docking system, lighting system, loading and unloading system, security system for passenger’s, hawker’s volume, terminal maintenance is average; those five parts of launch terminal is good. It is disappointing to say that there isn’t any canteen facility for the passengers. The rest of the part of the launch terminal is good. We also recommended some suggestion which improvement could make a far better passenger’s satisfaction. Keywords: Service Quality; Service Variables; Launch Terminal; Structural Equation Modeling

The Role of the Commercial Space Industry within the US National Security under the Trump Administration

The US space activities from their inception have been closely connected with the private sector. However, only in 2010s private space companies have come to play a prominent role not only on the global market of space services but in the field of international security as well. At the same time, this trend towards commercialization of outer space use and the growing role of the private space sector in ensuring national security is still understudied. This paper aims to partially fill this gap by assessing approaches to these issues adopted by the administration of D. Trump. In the first section the author notes that both conceptual and legal frameworks of private space activities lack clarity and proposes an operational definition of the phenomenon. The second section provides a brief overview of the key strategic policy documents of the Trump’s administration including those on commercial use of space in general and its implications for the US national security in particular. The third section identifies the trend towards the institutionalization of the US Space Forces as one of the priorities of the Trump’s administration military policy. The fourth section thoroughly examines key forms and areas of the public–private partnership in commercial use of space, including launch services, communication services, intelligence gathering, as well as production and maintenance of satellites. Finally, the fifth section assesses the prospects for private space activities given the current tightness of the space services market and growing competition. The author concludes that private space plays a subsidiary role within the US national security and is still heavily dependent on state support. Nevertheless, the scope of public–private cooperation is expanding and the models of interaction are changing. The Trump’s administration has contributed to the development of the industry through liberalization of regulations and involvement of private sector in the new large-scale projects, such as the Artemis program. The other important outcome of the space policy of the 45th President of the United States is anchoring of private space activities in the US national security strategy documents.

Completed Careers

We lost a long-time member of and great contributor to the IEEE EMC Society when Ron Brewer passed away last year. I'm sure many of you remember visiting with Ron at the annual IEEE EMC Symposium. He attended regularly during his time as Vice President of Electromagnetic Compatibility Services for Instrument Specialties Co., Inc. and later when he was employed as a Consulting Systems Engineer in Launch Ser-vices at the Kennedy Space Center. After he retired in 2016 to form his own consulting company, he continued to attend the Symposium to visit with colleagues and check out the technical sessions. You could also find him “shopping” in the exhibit hall searching for the latest and greatest products. We are grateful to his good colleague, Gary Fenical, who provided the following information on the illustrious EMC career of Ron Brewer.

Detecting Ships in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone: Requirements for a Dedicated SmallSat SAR Mission

The performance tradeoffs of a smallsat synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system for maritime surveillance in the coastal waters of New Zealand are investigated. The lower costs of smallsat platforms allow for a constellation of SAR satellites that can be launched from New Zealand using an existing local launch service provider. The minimum SAR image quality necessary for a smallsat system to achieve a desired detection performance is determined using existing X-band satellite data. The image quality is specified in terms of noise-equivalent sigma zero (NESZ) and resolution. It was found that for a resolution cell of 4 m <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> a system NESZ of -1.7 dB is sufficient to detect small fishing vessels with a probability of detection of 0.5, while maintaining the probability of false alarm below 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-10</sup> . These requirements are translated into a preliminary SAR system design.

Small-Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar for Continuous Global Biospheric Monitoring: A Review

Space-based radar sensors have transformed Earth observation since their first use by Seasat in 1978. Radar instruments are less affected by daylight or weather conditions than optical counterparts, suitable for continually monitoring the global biosphere. The current trends in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) platform design are distinct from traditional approaches in that miniaturized satellites carrying SAR are launched in multiples to form a SAR constellation. A systems engineering perspective is presented in this paper to track the transitioning of space-based SAR platforms from large satellites to small satellites. Technological advances therein are analyzed in terms of subsystem components, standalone satellites, and satellite constellations. The availability of commercial satellite constellations, ground stations, and launch services together enable real-time SAR observations with unprecedented details, which will help reveal the global biomass and their changes owing to anthropogenic drivers. The possible roles of small satellites in global biospheric monitoring and the subsequent research areas are also discussed.